Finding the Path: Artifacts of Great Power

While Pathfinder has a lot of guides to creating customised magic items, from mixing and matching weapon special abilities, to the rules for building intelligent items, sometimes you want something that just doesn't have any rules similar to what you actually want. And as cool as the Janus Trident and the Angelheart Vial are, they are not the first things that spring to mind when thinking about artifacts from Magic: the Gathering.

Illustration by Wayne Reynolds

My Zendikar campaign went in a sudden unexpected direction after the death of Lithios the paladin, when, instead of travelling back to Stoneforge to obtain a raise dead spell, the party decided instead to go to the closer Crying Leaf Village to get a reincarnate spell instead. (Though it is a lot cheaper, this is generally a bad idea as you have no idea what the dead player will come back as.) This detour tangled the party up in the machinations of the Mul Daya shaman Mira Sarith, which ultimately resulted in the permanent death of Atlas the sorcerer, and the appearance of a fetchling named Drozil.

After the shocking assassination of Atlas, the group were, understandably, hesitant to venture in to the Shadow Realm, so I threw in a line about there being a reward in store for them. Which meant I had to suddenly come up with one.

When it come to weapons from Magic, my thoughts turn immediately to a cycle of five swords usually referred to by the helpful term 'the swords'. Since almost the beginning of the campaign, I had been trying to make one - the Sword of Light and Shadow. But none of the weapon special abilities fitted well for the 'return a creature' concept, and a weapon that healed the wielder seemed a bit too powerful. So I was intending to instead put the Sword of Fire and Ice in Hook Mountain for them to find after slaying the ogre king.

Except, we were now off on a completely different side adventure in the Shadow Realms, I needed a cool prize from there, so it had to be Light and Shadow now. It was just too perfect a convergence. But this time something clicked, and I realised I could make a sword that, while not copying the card directly, was very much in the same spirit. Even though I was worried about giving out a weapon that could heal.


Sword of Light and Shadow
Aura: strong conjuration and necromancy
Caster Level: 12th
Slot: Wielded
Price: 50000gp
Description
It is said that the sword of light and shadow was once a blade of pure light, wielded by a powerful angel, until she met her demise at the hands of a demonic halo hunter, who took up the blade and used it for great evil. He in turn was slain in battle during the first Eldrazi War. The Eldrazi have no need for weapons, so the sword was left where it fell, in a cavern deep below the riefs of Tazeem, until it was taken up by the shadowy goddess known only as the Black Butterfly, who took it to the city of Solitare, where it was kept safe until Zendikar needed it once again. The sword of light and shadow is a +2 mithral longsword with a split blade, and a guard shaped like the crescent moon. One half of the split blade glows with sunlight, while the other half absorbs all light that strikes it, seeming to be permanently in shadow. On a successful hit against a living foe, the sword deals an extra 1d6 points of negative energy damage, and also heals the wielder for the amount of negative energy damage dealt to the target.

Illustration by Chris Rahn

So far, it hasn't broken the game (possibly because I've given everyone overpowered items and then made them fight stuff that is just as overpowered). I did have to add in the living creature clause to the weapon after a few games, as I realised hitting undead with a negative energy weapon is actually going to do the exact opposite of what a sword is intended to be for.

Speaking of overpowered - there are a few cards in magic that are so powerful, they are banned or restricted in every format of the game. Artifacts that may even be powerful enough to power time-bending spells. The sword was not the only thing the party found in the Shadow Realm - though it took them quite a few weeks to finally track down someone who could actually tell them what it was. Behold, the Mox Sapphire.


Mox Sapphire
Aura: overwhelming divination
Caster Level: 25th
Slot: Neck
Price: Priceless
Description
One of a series of five amulets collectively known as the moxen, the mox sapphire has two possible uses. The amulet can store a single spell of the divination school, or with the air or water descriptor. A spellcaster must cast the spell while holding the amulet, which absorbs the spell. Once per day, the wearer can use the amulet to cast the stored spell as a full-round action, without needing a use magic device check. The caster level is equal to the character level of the wearer, and the spell DC is based on the wearer's highest mental ability score (intelligence, wisdom or charisma). Alternatively, once per day, the amulet can be used by a spellcaster to apply the echoing spell metamagic feat to a spell of the divination school, or a spell with the air or water descriptor. This does not change the the spell slot of the altered spell, but extends the spell's casting time to a full-round action.

Illustration by Volkan Baga

The Mox Sapphire is, rightfully so, an insanely powerful item, granting either a once-per-day spell to a class that normally doesn't get it, or duplicating a spell that the user can cast. And it has no limit on the level of the spell, which is...a pretty dangerous design. But it has some hidden limitations, which I will not mention specifically, other than to say, I'm in charge of the game, and the players can't do stuff without my permission.

Surprisingly, the party managed to find a second mox - in the possession of retired adventurer Koya Vashti, who not coincedentaly. She is going to be hanging onto it, as she is an occultist, a class who are very much dependent on magical implements. Oh, did I not mention the occultist in my list of classes a few months back? Well I should probably fix that omission.

Occultist
Moderate Attack * Moderate Psychic Spells * Intelligence
The occultist is Pathfinder's version of John Constantine. The occultist collects objects with great psychic and magical significance, granting them a small number of spells. Their spell list is severely limited, but they cast like psychics, which makes up for it. Their best tricks, however, are their focus powers, magical abilities they can channel from they various objects they have collected. Theyare quite flexible, able to focus on spell damage, or instead put on armour and wade into melee with a magic-imbued weapon. At first glance Occultists look pretty complicated, but they are a lot easier to play than they seem.