Suggestions for Level 3 Artifact Armor

[ElricOfMelnibone 15]

If a Character spent 3 CP for an Artifact and asked for an Armor, what level of equipment would you give him? The guy wants to wear a full field plate (his Level 1 character has enough Wear Armor to do so without penalties...). I assume a Level3 Artifact should be something unbearably powerful, since it completely drains the initial amount of CP a character has. I accept any suggestion, thanks!

[Hrathen 1,463]

The equipment section of the book talks about quality bonus of +5, + 10 and +15.  I would assume that those correspnd with 1, 2 and 3 CP spent.  But I have yet to run a game.

[Geist06 0]

There used to be a very interesting "Create your Own Artifact" thread floating around.  If I find it again, I'll toss you the link.

While, yes, there is +5 / +10 / +15 versions of equipment, I'd have to say that 3 in Artifact grants far beyond just a "+15."  At that point, I would imagine that you have a true artifact of legend.

A good start would be +15 Armor of their choice.  Maybe it has some Resistances, or can ignore a particular number of intensities of elements.  Consider it something like a Freelance Monster with 300 DP, perhaps?  What you spend in skills gives bonus, and has a 15 Gnosis to buy "Monster Powers" ontop of it being a +15 armor?

[ElricOfMelnibone 15]

Thanks for your advice...I'd really enjoy the link, if you find it. I also believe a Level3 Artifact should be something more than a mere +15 Armor, I think it should be some powerful magical device...perhaps a +25 (maximum bonus applicable) rare armor should be enough?

[TheTenth2 0]

as I feel what's said in the equipment section for quality items, you can find the price (x 20) for quality 2 items, quality 3 would be GM decision, and artifacts most likely can't be bought in shops at all ; so technically an artifact would be +20 or better quality or at least +15 with special advantages or powers (some say a 1 CP artefact can be built with 75 points as for "creation of beings", 2 Cp : 150, 3 CP : 225 but no official rules exists - it was announced as being in "secrets of the supernatural" but confirmed it's not in the book)

artifacts are usually immune to breakage ; lvl 3 artifact could (should?) be sentient, maybe even using magic (but again there's no official rules about it)

[ElricOfMelnibone 15]

Thanks to The Tenth for the reply.

Has anyone else any more suggestions? I guess the Armor is going to be magical and possibly immune to breakage...is making it a +25 item too much? Or should I still add it something? I'm really new to the system so I'd prefer some idea from some experienced player/master.

Thanks.

[TheTenth2 0]

"+25" would be a good level of power (maybe add some low power - like regeneration, bonus to resistances ...) for the flavor, an artifact is ancient and powerful, but usually it has a story, been created by soemone special for a purpose ... and maybe it could gain new powers or discover hidden ones during the campaign)

but it won't be "+25", it's for weapons, it will be : -25 to armor penalty, initiative and armor requirement, +5 to AT, +250 presence, +50 fortitude, -5 movement penalty.

[ElricOfMelnibone 15]

Thanks again, The Teth. I'm full aware of the bonuses awarded by "+5" multiples to armors. I guess the Great Helm which comes with the armor should also get the bonus...but since helms don't give any armor penalty/movement penalty I believe I'll reduce accordingly by -25 (or +25 depending on points of view) the perception penalty.

For the time being, I believe I'll only add some minor bonus to resistances (+5? +10?) and allow the Armor/Helm to "reconstruct by itself" (with due time) should it suffer enough damage to be broken (an artifact like that should be indestructible, but I prefer it this way, because I don't want the player to go rampage being aware his cuirass is indestructible). If the campaign progresses I might consider to have it develop new powers...but it'll work as a reward if I like the way the character is being played and interpreted.

[ElricOfMelnibone 15]

In the end, I decided the Armor will be +25 and earh +5Elan (Noah) and +10 MM per level. Since the armor is an artifact of Noah, the hero will have with time to act accordingly to this Shajad code. Should the hero's Elan with Noah ever decrease, he'll face problems since the armor will look for some more adept guy. Also, he won't be allowed to have Elan with anyone else as long as he's in possession of the Armor. I think that if his Elan gets worse than 50 (he starts with 65 since he took Level 3 Elan as another advantage), he might face the fury of the Shajad and the armor might loose some of its power (bonus will start to decrease).

[midnightprince 0]

 First of all, there are some great ideas and suggestions here.

I agree that the book implicates that the bonus is +5, +10, +15 for the CP respectively. I also agree however that the max artifact advantage of 3 should be pretty amazing.

The max may be a little too much perhaps. I'd suggest maybe a +20 at most rather than the +25 and include some amazing abilities and backstory. An artifact like that will have a nice history and even a nicer look. Think of the premise of your armor, or culture it may come from if you will. 

Another thing I loved in the book is the metal material's section. Now I've yet to fully delve into this but it appears as though in order to be a + whatever armor, it would have to be made of some pretty amazing material. This could be a very exciting item to make up, but it's likely to take some time.

Another thing to remember when constructing this (and you don't wanna necessarily overpower a character) is that the bonus itself confers certain abilities.

On a last note; I really hope a player in my game will take this advantage as it's a great way to mold a story. Make the artifact sought after, important and relevant. For example (a Tolkien one, yes) If you possessed the legendary sword Kira Shang, slayer of the immortal elves, you can bet every elf will seek the blade (although cautiously) as well as every enemy of the elves. Artifacts make for great stories.

[ElricOfMelnibone 15]

Actually the character I'm building is an NPC which will travel around with the party for most part of the game (the party will be assigned as an escort to this Level 1 Weaponmaster to find some cure for its Serious Illness). I'll treat it as a PC, by the way, since it'll help me (as master) to get accustomed to playing mechanics from both sides.

The artifact IS somewhat a cursed item. It's an Armor sacred to Noah, granting Elan and Martial Mastery per Level and a +25 bonus on the Full Field Plate "chassis", hence a reasonably monstruous item. It's designed to "forge the Vanquisher". The character has inherited the suit which was kept in a vault since it's considered cursed. It ACTUALLY brings misfortune, since the bearer is constantly strained through achieving betterness in whatever field he's mastering at the moment. The bearer won't ever consciously retreat even in the face of death and will get more and more willing to set new scores as Elan progresses, hence he can't relax. Real penalties will appear should the character lose Elan points. First of all Elan penalties for misbehaviour will be doubled for this character...Noah is expecting much from him and won't tolerate any weakness. If the character's total of Elan points when he reaches level-up is lower than it was at the beginning of the same level, he won't get any extra Elan. Also if the total Elan obtained during the Level was -5, he won't even get the Martial Mastery bonus. Should the character's elan ever below 50 (this character starts with a total of 65), the bonus conferred by the armor (including the shield) starts to lower, getting to +20 if it's between 40-49, +15 if 30-39 and so on...Hence the character cannot afford to loose Elan. I might think of something special upon reaching Elan 100, but it won't be anytime near (and should the party fail to find a cure, the character should be dead by then). Also the character has the Mystical Shield advantage, which will be lost, should he reach 0 Elan...

Now I know some of you might be thinking that this character is illegal having 7CP spent on advantages (well...8, since it ALSO has Level 1 Starting Wealth). Of course this guy has 5 points of penalties. Unfortunate, to begin with, Serious Illness and Level 2 Slow Reactions. I believe that both advantages and disadvantages should somehow be "acquirable" or "loosable" during the game (due to quests and peculiar circumstances...like being Ambidextrous but loosing an arm...). And it will be up to the party to find a cure for this guy's Illness (I know of course what they should do...) and with due time I believe also the Slow Reactions could be overcome, but for sure there will be a cost. Probably removing these Disadvantages (should they be able to do so), will cause other (lighter) disadvantages to appear.

[midnightprince 0]

 In my opinion, NPC's are allowed to bend the rules. If it fit's the story and revelant issues, sure I'd say spend more CP's. You can also justify the CP's by upping his level a little and using the alternative CP rule in the ToolKit. But either way, players won't be privy to the details, so I'd say it's all "cosher".

[ElricOfMelnibone 15]

Playing this NPC will work like some sort of "exercise" to play as a PC in the future, so I prefer not bending rules, although on general terms I'm ok with a certain degree of rules bending: games are for having fun, if something gets the game funnier for those who play it, imposing rules that prevent it is simply ridiculous.

[Hrathen 1,463]

First I would like to point out that I can not find the word artifact anywhere else in the book.  An since you need pretty amazing metal just to make something with a quality bonus of 15, I think that when the book talks about quality bonus they are talking about more than simply well made stuff.

So I stand by my +15 statement before.

I don't think the D&D meaning of Artifact (which is usually interpreted as really powerful and supper rare magic) does not really apply here.

 

However, I am more interested in what you said about this being for an NPC.  It is of course true, that you can do what ever you want for an NPC.  But I think we have all been in a game where the GM sent along his supper cool (way more powerful than us) NPC along in the party.  And I think the experience left us with role playing horror stories that we still tell our friends about bad GM's from days gone past.

I am not saying that you are going to make a supper cool characters that will inevitably lead your players to hate your for all eternity, but remember you control the whole world, let your players, at least, be the main characters.   That doesn't mean that you can't have a NPC or as we often call them in my Group GMPC (since it is more like a PC, but it is just controlled by the GM)  But I would recommend that you make sure that the NPC/GMPC is noticeably weaker than the player characters.  For that reason, I would error on the side of restraint when handing out artifacts.  Sure you can (since he is an NPC) pretty much give him anything you want, but that does not mean that it is good idea.  By good idea I mean good for the game or fun for your players.

 

 

[ElricOfMelnibone 15]

I don't believe, the character I made will rob other characters from having fun. Besides, it seems that none of the players wants to be a main tank, and since none of them is able to heal, it's better to have some "wall" between them and incoming damage (at least for a while). Besides, thaks to Serious Illness, Level 2 Slow Reactions and Unfortunate, he's sure to let the other heroes take their decisions. Anyway, I've already planned that after the heroes find a way to heal the guy, they'll be parting for a while...