Artifacts in Dungeons and Dragons can be both a boon and curse for adventurers who encounter them. As the most powerful Lich in Zanzian history I am an expert on such matters. But there is someone far more knowledgeable than I am. And I want to introduce you to him. For those of you familiar with Joseph Mohr’s adventure entitled “The Castle of Aandoran the Defiler” you might remember this gentleman. He is an Ancient Vampire. He is the oldest known vampire on the continent of Dunar and makes his home in the Dark Forest in northeast Zanzia near the border.
Aandoran is a lonely vampire. He has a massive castle in the forest but few come calling. Those who do visit rarely stay for long. Aandoran plays his pipe organ night and day in that dark castle. The pipe organ itself is a powerful artifact. It can create armies of undead as colored smoke rises from the pipes of the organ while it plays. One who learns and masters the keys and pedals of this organ can create a nearly invincible army of undead to serve him. Of course one needs to be evil to control this device. Sometimes sacrifices need to be made.
Aandoran agreed to do a series of guest posts on this blog to discuss his second favorite subject. Obviously playing music is his first love. But artifacts are a close second. Without further ado I hand it over to Aandoran.
Guest Post From Aandoran The Defiler
Welcome friends. I am so glad to make your acquaintance. I am here today to discuss a subject of paramount importance for adventurers and dungeon masters. The subject is artifacts. Sometimes they are referred to as relics. Artifacts and relics come in many forms in Dungeons and Dragons. And they existed in the game from the very beginning. Original Dungeons and Dragons had several of them. Many of these carried over into first edition. Some of the artifacts in these early editions still exist in the 5th edition of this fantastic game. Sometimes they appear to be normal objects. Other times it is readily apparent that they are valuable and rare.
Sources of Artifacts
The first edition Dungeon Master Guide has several pages regarding artifacts. Pages 155 to 164 cover the subject of Artifacts and Relics in 1st Edition. Tables are provided for the Dungeon Master to personalize these items to make them unique to their own campaigns.
Second Edition, however, put out an entire book on the subject. This book is well made and expands greatly upon the information provided in the earlier works on the subject. This book has detailed coverage of several major artifacts from Gary Gygax own campaigns as well as other prominent early Dungeon Masters.
Presumably the image shown on the cover of that fine book is the orb of power. Who the hand belongs to that is offering to the adventurers is unknown. Perhaps it is some undead minion of mine……
Other Sources of Artifacts
Many other publishers have offered works on the subject of artifacts. They are presented here for your enjoyment should you wish to research the subject further.
Arcane Creations – AKA Artifacts of the Arcane Volume One
Artifacts of the Arcane Volume Two
Artifacts of the Arcane Volume Three
Artifacts of the Arcane Volume Four
And there are many other works out there. I could not possibly describe all of them for you in one article. But there is nothing that says you cannot create your own artifacts for use in your campaigns. And well be talking about that a bit later in this article.
One other work I should mention was written by my good friend Malcon the Firebringer. It is more general than just the subject of artifacts. His covers magical items unique to the land of Zanzia and includes discussion of many Zanzian artifacts.
The Good and Bad of Artifacts in Dungeons and Dragons
Artifacts are powerful magic items. And they are unique. No two are ever alike. And while their powers are amazing and even earth shattering it is not all peaches and cream. Using artifacts does not come without risk. Great risk.
For a Dungeon Master to put magical items in their campaigns that are all super powered and have no negative effects is to invite total disaster. Magic items come without a price. Artifacts always come with a price. Using an artifact must have severe consequences or else the player with the artifact is going to steamroll every monster he or she meets from that point on.
The writers of the early books understood this all too well. Great discussion was made on the subject of side effects, minor malevolent effects and major malevolent effects. The idea was simple. Every time a major power, minor power, primary power or whenever the artifact is even held there is a risk of some powerful adverse side effect. Using artifacts needs to be dangerous every single time they are used. There must be a risk of something truly awful occurring or the player will use the thing every encounter thereafter.
More Sources for Artifacts
There are many other sources for artifacts. Mythology is a great source. Many of the normal magic items from the early editions of Dungeons and Dragons came from mythology. But there are more out there.
But some of these early Dungeons and Dragon core books are a wonderful source of creating new ones that have not been detailed elsewhere. We will be discussing that in great deal in my next installment.
Creation of Your Own Artifacts
Creating artifacts for your game is not that difficult. You need to select some basic history for the item. After all…..it is legendary….
It needs to have some powers. And it needs to have some major drawbacks and risks to using it. Ultimately those risks and drawbacks need to be harmful enough to make the user wonder if it is really worth using at all. It is also a good idea to decide upon a method of destruction of the artifact. In Lord of the Rings the One Ring had to be thrown into the lava in Mordor in order to destroy it forever. Every artifact should probably have it’s own unique method of destruction. And that method should not be easy. It should take an epic adventure or herculean effort to destroy an artifact. We will talk about that subject more in a later article as well.
Artifacts Can Be Evil
Just because it is an object does not mean it has no personality of it’s own. My organ, for example, is surely an evil artifact. Who but someone evil like me would want to play an organ that creates undead. Undead are evil like me aren’t they? Well most are.
Artifacts Can Be Adventure Hooks
Rumors about the discovery of an artifact is a major potential adventure hook. But finding one can be as well. Once found it may have a mind of it’s own. It may need to be destroyed. It may need to be used in order to prevent some major calamity. It is quite possible that adventurers may discover something that they are unfamiliar with and cannot identify by normal means.
This can create adventures that would not otherwise be considered by the players. They find an object. They know it is magical. But they do not know what it does exactly. And they will desperately want to find out. They may visit a sage. They may need to go on a journey to some ancient oracle. They might need to complete some minor quests in order to find the knowledge or to satisfy payment to the sages and oracles.
Artifacts in Dungeons and Dragons Are Legendary
Artifacts tailored to your own campaign give your game world a flavor all of it’s own. These artifacts are legends. The people have heard of them. The bards in the taverns sing about them every night. The urchins in streets of the city tell stories to each other about them. Sages and scholars do research about them. And your adventurers may discover them.
