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I have this idea of having like 9 mystical swords with insane powers, and I want to give one of them to my players so they can hide it because everybody wants to take the sword and use its power for himself, but my problem is that I don't want my players to be able to use the sword yet, so I was thinking of making the sword's power work with the D20, like if you roll and get a natural 20 you can use it safely but if you got from 1 to 19 your body will explode and you might also kill your friends in the process, so what do you guys think? and do you have in suggestions?

NathanS
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SAL
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    Welcome to the site! Take the [tour]. A question asking for suggestions is usually better suited to a discussion forum like one of these. That is, the site can't help generate ideas. However, once you've the mechanics figured out you can totally ask a question like Is this homebrew magic item balanced? Thank you for participating and have fun! – Hey I Can Chan Jul 13 '18 at 15:50
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    (By the way, there's probably a semi-site-appropriate question in here like What's a fair way to balance an extremely powerful magic item? (along the lines of this question but, y'know, like, on purpose), but that, too, might be closed as primarily opinion-based. However, How can I future-proof an extremely powerful magic item against potential abuse were it to fall into the hands of the PCs? might be acceptable. In all cases, though, a description of the magic item'll probably be necessary.) – Hey I Can Chan Jul 13 '18 at 15:56
  • I can see why this question as written would invoke primarily opinion based answers but, as Quadratic Wizard has demonstrated with his answer, there are official caveats in the dnd-5e DMG related to doing something like what the OP wants (as well as other official forums -- e.g. Sage Advice). -- So this question is not as wrong as it might seem at first glance. -- I would vote to reopen with perhaps some minor editing. – user23715 Jul 14 '18 at 03:28

1 Answers1

9

This will cause problems, and is not recommended

Highly powerful artifacts have always been a thing in D&D—see your Dungeon Master's Guide (p. 219) for guidelines on creating and using artifacts in a campaign—but I recommend against making an item as dangerous as this.

You have a 95% chance of the item killing the player character outright. Even if they're somehow aware of the risk this item poses before they use it, it's so dangerous that they're unlikely to use it at all. If they're unaware of the item's danger before they use it, they will find the destructive property unfair.

In general, it's not particularly useful to create nine artifact swords, even if that pattern worked fine in Lord of the Rings—remember, that story was only really about one single artifact, and even that item was too powerful for the "campaign". As per the DMG p.219, artifacts should be used only rarely:

Characters don't typically find artifacts in the normal course of adventuring. In fact, artifacts only appear when you want them to, for they are as much plot devices as magic items.

The DMG's artifact guidelines do suggest major drawbacks which deal a lot of damage to the user, although it's once-only when you acquire the artifact and not an instant kill unless you're low level:

61-65 You take 4d10 psychic damage when you become attuned to the artifact.

66-70 You take 8d10 psychic damage when you become attuned to the artifact.

Drawbacks such as these and the other in the DMG's artifact section (beginning p. 219) may be more appropriate and have the effect you desire for your artifact.

As for there being nine such artifacts, while that's an entirely reasonable piece of setting lore, I recommend avoiding spending too much time detailing things your players will not often encounter. In my experience, there's a fine balance between creating the sense of a greater world outside your players' actions, and investing too much energy in things the players won't get to see.

Quadratic Wizard
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