Major Artifact Descriptions
The Moaning Diamond: The
Moaning Diamond appears to be an uncut diamond the size of a
human fist. At all times, it gives forth a baleful moaning sound, as if in pain. Despite the noise, the
Moaning Diamond is not evil. The wielder of the stone can, three times per day, call upon it to reshape earth and stone as if by the spell
stone shape, affecting 5,000 cubic feet of material. The
Moaning Diamond can summon an elder earth elemental with maximum
hit points that serves the caster until it is slain. Only one such elemental can be summoned at a time; if it is slain, a new creature cannot be summoned for 24 hours.
The Orbs of Dragonkind: Each of these fabled orbs contains the essence and personality of an ancient dragon of a different variety (one for each of the major ten different chromatic and metallic dragons). The bearer of an
Orb can
dominate dragons of its particular variety within 500 feet (as
dominate monster), the dragon being forced to make a DC 25 Will save to resist. (
Spell resistance is not useful against this effect.) Each
Orb of Dragonkind bestows upon the wielder the AC and
saving throw bonuses of the dragon within. These values replace whatever values the character would otherwise have, whether they are better or worse. These values cannot be modified by any means short of ridding the character of the
Orb. A character possessing an
Orb of Dragonkind is immune to the
breath weapon-but only the
breath weapon-of the dragon variety keyed to the
Orb. Finally, a character possessing an
Orb can herself use the
breath weapon of the dragon in the
Orb three times per day.
All
Orbs of Dragonkind can be used to communicate verbally and visually with the possessors of the other
Orbs. The owner of an
Orb knows whether there are dragons within 10 miles at all times. For dragons of the
Orb's particular variety, the range is 100 miles. If within 1 mile of a dragon of the
Orb's variety, the wielder can determine the exact location and
age of the creature. The bearer of one of these
Orbs earns the enmity forever of all dragonkind for profiting by the enslavement of one of their kin, even if she later loses the item.
Each
Orb also has an individual power that can be invoked once per round at 10th
caster level.
•
Black Dragon Orb: Fly (Will DC 17 negates).
•
Blue Dragon Orb: Haste (Fortitude DC 17 negates)
.•
Brass Dragon Orb: Teleport (Will DC 19 negates)
.•
Bronze Dragon Orb: Scrying (Will DC 18 negates)
.•
Copper Dragon Orb: Suggestion (Will DC 17 negates)
.•
Gold Dragon Orb: The owner of the gold
Orb can call upon any power possessed by one of the other
Orbs-including the
dominate and
breath weapon abilities but not AC, save bonuses, or
breath weapon immunity-but can only use an individual
power once per day. She can use dominate on any other possessor of an Orb within 1 mile (Will DC 23 negates).
The Saint's Mace: This relic appears to be a simple, well-used cudgel, but its simple appearance hides great power. The
saint's mace has a +5 enhancement bonus and functions as a heavy mace with the holy, lawful, and disruption
special abilities. The wielder can project
searing light from the mace at will, at
caster level 20th.
The Shadowstaff: This
artifact was crafted centuries ago, weaving together the wispy strands of shadow itself into a twisted black
staff. The
Shadowstaff makes the wielder slightly shadowy and incorporeal, granting him a +4 bonus to AC and Reflex saves (which stacks with any other bonuses). However, in bright
light (such as that of the sun, but not a torch) or in absolute
darkness, the wielder takes a -2 penalty on all
attack rolls, saves, and checks.
The Shadowstaff also has these powers.
•
Summon Shadows: Three times per day the
staff may summon 2d4 shadows. Immune to turning, they serve the wielder as if called by a
summon monster V spell cast at 20th level.
•
Summon Nightshade: Once per month, the
staff can summon a nightcrawler nightshade that serves the wielder as if called by a
summon monster IX spell cast at 20th level.
•
Shadow Form: Three times per day the wielder can become a living shadow, with all the
movement powers granted by the
•
Shadow Bolt: Three times per day the
staff can project a
ray attack that deals 10d6 points of cold
damage to a single target. The shadow bolt has a range of 100 feet.
The
Shield of the Sun: This
+5 large shield, emblazoned with the symbol of the sun, allows the wielder to cast spells as if she were a 20th-level
paladin with a Wisdom score of 20. The spells gained are cumulative with any existing spells per day that the character might have, even if she's already a
paladin. The
Shield of the Sun also grants
spell resistance 15 to its wielder. It absorbs the first 10 points of
damage from any energy attack (fire, cold, acid, electricity, or sonic). In return for all this, once per year the
shield's owner must undertake a quest (no
saving throw to avoid) at the behest of a lawful good deity.
A character who is evil or chaotic (LE, NE, CE, CN, CG) gains four negative levels if she attempts to use this
artifact. Although these negative levels never results in actual
level loss, they remain as long as the
shield is in hand and cannot be overcome in any way (including
restoration spells). The negative levels disappear when the
shield is stowed or leaves the wearer's possession.