Artefacts

My players are set to find a trove of artefacts stashed by a noble next session. What are some cool or unusual things that could be there? System is pathfinder.

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How powerful do you want the artifacts to be? I mean there are so many ideas for artifacts. Specialized weapons, Magical books, runic portals, bags of infinite holding, what are you looking for?

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A lot of minor artefacts, a few that are a little more powerful, maybe one or two big ones.

Well, one item that I always like to give out is a bottle that always refills what you put into it. It may seem like nothing but it will always come in handy (if your players have to have food and drink, depends on how you are DMing.)

Also have a few I have come across online.

Ring of Viral Dominate
Wear the ring, cast Dominate Person at-will until someone fails a will save to it. DC is as though you were a Wizard of your level, with your highest stat for the bonus, and Heightened with no cap. That person now, in addition to the normal effects of dominatedness, has an aura that casts Dominate Person, same high DC, on a random target within 30 feet every hour. The people dominated by this gain the same aura, etc.. All who are dominated are directly commanded by the wearer of the ring. If the ring is worn by someone else, all Dominate effects are cancelled.

Dagger of Life

"It seemed blunt to the touch, our warforged lost his finger"
This plain dagger is made of an unknown substance that is both light but very resilient. It has many different colors but no actual shift in substance could be found.
This dagger automatically resizes itself to the user's size category and does damage as if it was 2 sizes larger than that. Any metallic material it comes into contact with is easily cleaved in two.
When making an attack against an enemy that wears metallic armor, the attacker gets an automatic sunder attempt against said armor as long as he hits the opponent.
If used to attack any organic being the dagger loses all momentum the moment it touches the skin of said being.
Against objects and beings made of metal however it always deals maximum damage and ignores all hardness or DR.
For all other aspects it is a +5 vorpal dagger.

These are great! My party happens to be mainly mages, so if you have any that suit mages really well that would be fantastic!

>a bottle that always refills what you put into it

How do you empty the bottle so you can put something else in it? Could be a one-use-only item

Once you put a new fluid into it the other goes away. It's magic bro, don't question it.

Okay i have a few.

Sword that glows when (race of your choice) goes next to it. DM chooses the race (Yeah I know it is a lord of the rings thing.)

Magical book that is actually a portal to an interdimensional lair. (pretty high level stuff here, weakness is though when in the dimension the book is vulnerable to theft and or destruction)

Runic stones that binds Demons for a short period.

Hat of short teleportation. Allows the user to teleport short distances. (Bad rolls can get user stuck in a wall, cooldown depends on what the DM wants it to be.)

Gender Bender (3.5e Equipment)
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This content is not designed for use in regular games, and may affect overall balance and gameplay. Take caution when using this material.
This girdle appears upon inspection to be a belt of giant strength +2, but when donned the Gender Bender has some unexpected side effects. Instead of granting a Strength bonus, the girdle changes the wearers gender to the opposite sex. This usually has no effect on most gameplay mechanics, but can be quite disturbing. One could be more specific with the girdle's effects, but such things are best left to the imagination. Once is put on, the Gender Bender cannot be removed unless a remove curse spell is cast upon it.
Moderate transmutation; CL 12th, Craft Magic Arms and Armor; bestow curse, alter self; Price 300 gp.

Puppet minion. A toy puppet has been bestowed with minor intelligence.

Book of Origami- Book allows you to summon an origami paper minion (can make stats to what DM wants) Each minion rips a page from the book.

Demonic staff- Allows user to trap a demon into the staff and use states (DMs Choice) if the staff is broken will release said demon. That demon will not be happy with that either.

Caged hammer- Giant hammer with a cage on it. Inside the cage is a demon, every time you hit someone with it the demon emits flames. You can also use the demon as a source of light (if he allows it, make the imp a jerk if you want to so he doesn't do certain things your players ask)

Hearthstone- Allows user to teleport back to an area (Must have two stones. One stone placed where they want to teleport, the other kept with them. Stone can be moved by outside sources)

Scryers orb- We all know how this works.

Walking bag- A bag has been imbued with minor intelligence! It can also walk!

Flint and tinder- Start fires. Shit works wonders when you need a fire quickly. Once used it to light oil on fire and take down a swarm of spiders.

Earthquake ring- When placed on the ground the earth begins to shake! Does not work on metal or wood surfaces.

I always love the idea of a pair of rings (the kind you wear on your finger) with linked portals. There's so much cool dumb shit you can do with them

These are great, do you have any more?

a magic sword that gains some of your xp and levels up. You level up slower with it but you get a really kick ass weapon.

a chest with a false bottom that is an extra dimensional dungeon. after clearing out the dungeon the PCs have a portable base.

Couple from a book I've just read or loosely based:
- A box that can summon anyone if something strongly connected to them is placed inside.
- A ring that makes the user invisible but projects an exact illusion of him 2m to the side.
- A glove that shoots concussive blasts.
- A sword with a bound entity that can be summoned to wield it.
- Something like the hearthstone posted above but in a bell form, you ring it to be teleported away.
- A potion that temporarily gives you access to some school of magic.
- A monocle that feeds you concrete knowledge about objects you look at. For example you look at a log of wood and you somehow know the exact length and weigth of it.

Sure. Kind of just going off of stuff I made or have seen in movies and comics. I have a character that travels interdimensionally trading rare artifacts. He is a Kenku that hates humans but loves money. He split his tongue to speak common.

Sword of blinding light- Allows the user to blind those around him. (can also blind the user if looking at the sword.)

Bagged medusa head- Turns those who see it into stone (more powerful deities are not affected.) Can also get your own by killing a medusa.

Cloak of minor invisibility- Shades the user into the shadows. Only can be used for a short amount of time.

Water Compass- A small spherical bottle like object with a pointer with an embedded gem floating inside.
The arrow will always point to the closest source of fresh water with the gem changing colors based on distance. Filling the bottle with water will enchant it with healing properties overnight.

dandwiki.com/wiki/Artifact

Some cool stuff here.

My personal favorite is a book that when read gives you the ability to trace a rune on a surface to replicate the effects of a spell on an area. I have lots of varieties that depend on the power of the spell involved, basically just count it as an infinite scroll that they don't have to carry around. I had a fighter with crazy high con find one that let him cast fireball, but he'd be caught in the blast. "Pelor Ackbar" was a common phrase from then on.

The guiding lantern - A typical lantern. When lighting it if you feel lost the flame will manifest into a wisp that will guide you to your intended destination. Should a harmful obstacle be in the way the wisp will crash into it as an attack. The size of the wisp depends on the size of the flame that lighted the lantern.

Conch Horn of Opening: Upon sounding the horn it casts Knock at whatever level you want. Can only recharge if submerged in water when the sun rises.

These are great. Any ideas for small scale items? Or really powerful ones?

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Snake Sword - Looks like a small dead snake but with a word or a thought it stiffens up straight and its mouth opens and a slimy sword comes out. The sword naturally deals poison damage. In the same way the sword can retract and the snake will go limp. The handle is the snake and its open mouth the guard.

Element Sword - Sword that's nothing but a hilt, if you press the guard on anything and pull back it will pull back with a broadsword made from that material. The sword persists for one hour. It can be anything really. Glass, water, earth, wood, steel, magma, flesh, etc.

Dragonscale Compass - Compass with an exterior made from dragonscale. It never points north, but rather to the nearest dragon or whatever it might consider a dragon.

The Sided Sandals - Sandals which can change their sole's appearance on command. Basically enables you to have four different types of tracks.

>I always like to give out is a bottle that always refills what you put into it.
How does this work? How does it refill something if its not there anymore?

makes no sense, IMHO

>- A monocle that feeds you concrete knowledge about objects you look at. For example you look at a log of wood and you somehow know the exact length and weigth of it.
that's dangerous to DM, you are bound to make a weight and length mistake, players might abuse of it, and you will have to be prepared to bullshit whatever the fuck the PCs are looking at.

Honestly, ma favourite kind of artifact comes in two flavours.

midly usefull: Handy haversack, an latern that never runs out of oil for it's fire and +1 weapon come to mind

And the powerfull but demanding kind: Think of gut's berserk armor, A sword that can't be put away bevore it kills someone, A shield that absorbs blows only to give them back at sunrise/set. You know, things that make the players wonder "do i "really" need it now ?"

Also there is the third kind, but i don't really like them

The why-the-fuck-would-you-do-this. We all know those, the bracers of defenselessness, the transgender belt and the metric ton of other harmfull clothes and armor.
Why the hell would anybody use his time, money, and knowledge to create a item that is basically one-use, while he could create somethin actually usefull for his own troops with the same effort... like a cloak of displacement for his best combatan.

A less shit game

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I'm gonna copy the second one you posted. The shield and sword. The lantern that never runs out isn't my style.

I mean I do grant my players something that does exactly that, but not a lantern. Could be stone, shining glasses, or a ring than when you hit it with a finger in generates light for some time. You know, bullshit that does the same thing than a torch would do but with a twist. That's when you realize players will do anything, no matter how weird it is, as long as they don't have to buy torches, or fuel the lantern. The greedy fucks.

A better system

buump

Bumping for last minute ideas