Aandoran again. I am here to continue my discussion on the subject of artifacts in Dungeons and Dragons. Last time we talked about Arch Devils and their heirlooms and possessions. It is pretty clear that these items are intended to be artifacts. But if you are not so sure about this consider the following gentleman and his items. One of them was a listed artifact in the First Edition Dungeon Master Guide. If his possessions are artifacts then there should be no question about Arch Devil’s possessions being artifacts. This guy is a prince of a fellow. A Demon Prince that is.
Orcus
Orcus is a Demon Prince. According to legend he has a terrible and powerful wand called the Wand of Orcus. This wand is described in the Dungeon Master Guide as an artifact in 1st Edition. It is shown in his portrait in the Monster Manual.
Unfortunately this picture is small. But you can see that the tip of this terrible wand is a skull. Page 18 of the Monster Manual briefly describes this wand as being a rod of obsidian with a skull at the top. Anyone (not a god, devil, demon or similar divine or fiendish creature) dies if touched with the tip of this wand. Other powers are unknown but ther are many rumors about them.
Fortunately this wand is described in both the 1st Edition Dungeon Master Guide and in the 5th Edition Dungeon Master Guide. In both places the item is described in great detail. The specific powers are left up to the Dungeon Master to determine using the guidelines in those two books.
No other items are discussed for Orcus but it is likely that he would have others at his disposal.
Demogorgon
Demogorgon is a powerful Demon Prince. No artifacts are mentioned for him yet it seems rather obvious that he would have some. He is listed as being possibly the most powerful Demon Prince. Yet Orcus has his wand of death. And Demogorgon appears to have nothing of the like. Perhaps you should remedy this inequity.
With his new found fame on Stranger Things Demogorgon deserves better treatment doesn’t he? He is a celebrity now. He will soon have his own star on the walk of fame in Hollywood. But he has no artifacts of his own. This is a disgrace!
Jubilex
What kind of artifacts could a Demon Prince of slime have? Who knows. None are listed for him. But are we sure that he has none of his own?
Yeenoghu
Yeenoghu is possible the weakest of the 1st Edition Demon Princes. Yet he has a known artifact too. He carries a three headed flail that does awful damage with each head of it. Each ball of the flail does something different but terrible to the victim. It is a powerful weapon of destruction.
The three balls of this flail have a chance to hit the victim in each round. One ball of this dreaded flail One merely does 3-18 points of damage. Another paralyzes a victim. And another causes confusion. The flail is seven feet long and has chains made of adamantite. It seems likely that this flail might have other powers beyond those detailed.
But a look at this picture and you can see two other items that might be potential artifacts. He wears a bracelet on the right arm. And he has a belt. Are these artifacts as well? Possibly.
Demons and Devils Do Not Get All of the Fun
Deities, Demigods and even some epic heroes are also known to have artifacts in Dungeons and Dragons. A look at the Deities and Demigods tome from 1st Edition will provide more inspiration for such items. Some of these items are specifically mentioned. Some are not. But the pictures of the Deities themselves show items that in all likelihood would be artifacts usable in game play. I won’t go through all of the potential Deities in that book but will mention just a few as examples in this article.
Thor’s might hammer is a well known artifact. It is shown in the picture here from Deities and Demigods. But the hammer is not the only potential artifact in this picture. He wears gauntlets, boots, armor, a belt and a helm. Would some of these items be magical? Almost certainly. Would they be artifacts? Probably. Perhaps they would be minor ones.
In the picture above Ares carries a spear, wears a helm, wields a shield, has boots on and presumably is wearing armor. Some or all of these items would likely be artifacts. All would at least be magical. His items might be war related.
Athena is shown above. She is known as a goddess of both wisdom and combat. Clearly her weapons are going to be magical but would probably be artifacts. She wears a robe, carries a shield, wears a helm and presumably would have armor under that robe. She probably wears rings and jewelry as well. Some or all of these items would be artifacts in all likelihood. Some of these items would likely e related to wisdom or combat or both.
Ra is seen in this picture wearing and carrying several things that are probably artifacts. He wears a face mask, has wrist bands or bracelets, carries an Ankh, wears a robe and is probably wearing jewelry. These things might very well be artifacts. As he is a sun God it is likely that many of these relics might be sun related.
Odin is called the “All Father.” He is considered the supreme ruler of gods. Naturally anything connected to him would likely be an artifact. In this picture he is wearing a helm, carrying a spear, wearing a cape, wearing boots, and wearing armor. It is likely that he wears jewelry of some sort but none is clearly visible here as he wears gauntlets that cover his hands.
Artifacts in Dungeons and Dragons Are Awesome
People who see artifacts should be awed by them. They are objects owned by gods, devils, demons and legendary heroes. They should have awesome and terrible powers alike. And they should have horrible curses and side effects to prevent overuse of them by mere mortals who are not powerful enough to control them.
Artifacts in Dungeons and Dragons owned by Demon Princes should have evil purposes and histories of evil use and creation. These items are imbued with the evil personalities that created and use them regularly. Possession and use of them should come with a terrible price tag for the mortals daring to do so. The more one uses such devices the more one becomes like demon princes that wield them. Continuing to use them should result in the user learning to regret their reliance on them.
Often an artifact can be an important part of a story line in a campaign. There may be one truly important, perhaps even essential, time to use the relic. And then it should be discarded as soon as possible after. But players are not going to want to throw away such power. And that can lead to their doom.
Every artifact should have a complicated and difficult method of destroying it. This alone might take a long and dangerous quest to complete. At the end of that quest the artifact is destroyed but the adventurers will realize that they are now much stronger for it.
A good example of this is the one ring in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. This ring is clearly an artifact and not just some ordinary magical item. Ordinary magic items do exist in the LOTR series. The sword “sting” that Bilbo (and later Frodo) wields glows blue when orcs are near. The Mithril that Bilbo gives to Frodo is what D&D calls Elven Chainmail. To destroy the one ring one has to travel to Mordor and throw the ring into the lava in which it was forged. In my opinion that kind of thing is exactly what every artifact should require in the game. Artifacts are powerful magic. And it takes such magic to destroy them as well.
