Dungeons^Hagons^fEdition Official Game Accessory

Book of AH€ if acts

Incredible Magic for All Campaigns!

CreditsDesign: David "Zeb" CookAdditional Artifact Design: Rich Baker, Wolfgang Baur, Steve and Glenda Burns,

Bill Connors, Dale "Slade" Henson, Colin McComb, Thomas M. Reid, andDavid Wise

Supervision and Development: David "Zeb" CookEditing: Thomas M. ReidAdditional Editing and Proofreading: David WiseCover Art: Fred FieldsArt Coordination: Peggy CooperInterior Art and Icons: Daniel FrazierGraphic Coordination: Sarah FeggestadTypesetting: Gaye O'Keefe

TSR, Inc.POB 756

Lake GenevaWI53147 U.S.A.

TSR Ltd.120 Church End, Cherry HintonCambridge CB1 3LBUnited Kingdom

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\i ble of Contents

Introduction 3Acorn of Wo Mai 11All-Knowing Eye of Yasmin Sira 12Apparatus 13Artifurnace 16Axe of the Dwarvish Lords 17Axe of the Emperors 19Baba Yaga's Hut 21Blackjammer's Cutlass 24Book with No End 25Codex of the Infinite Planes 27Coin of Jisan the Bountiful 28Crystal of the Ebon Flame 29Cup of Al'Akbar 30Talisman of Al'Akbar 30Death Rock 32Hammer of Gesen 33Hand of Vecna 35Eye of Vecna 35Herald of Mei Lung 37Heward's Mystical Organ 39Horn of Change 42Invulnerable Coat and Arnd 43Iron Bow of Gesen 44Iron Flask of Tuerny the Merciless 45Ivory Chain of Pao 46Jacinth of Inestimable Beauty 46Johydee's Mask 49Kuroth's Quill 50

Mace of Cuthbert 52Machine of Lum the Mad 53Mighty Servant of Leuk-o 58Monocle of Bagthalos 61Obsidian Man 63Orbs of Dragonkind 65Psychometron of Nerad 77Queen Ehlissa's Marvelous Nightingale 78Recorder of Ye'Cind 79Regalia of Good 80Regalia of Neutrality 80Regalia of Evil 80Ring of Gaxx 90Rod of Seven Parts 91Rod of Teeth 93Scepter of the Sorcerer-Kings 95Seal of Jafar al-Samal 97Silencer of Bodach 98Sword of Kas 100Teeth of Dahlvar-Nar 101Throne of the Gods 103Triad of Betryal 105Creating Magical Items 107Recharging Magical Items 130Appendix A: Common Rechargeable

Magical Items 137Appendix B: Random Power Tables 138Appendix C: Song List for Heward's

Mystical Organ 159

Random House and its affiliate companies have worldwide distribution rights in the book trade for English language products of TSR, Inc.Distributed to the book and hobby trade in the United Kingdom by TSR Ltd.Distributed to the toy and hobby trade by regional distributors.

ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, AD&D, DARK SUN, DRAGONLANCE, FORGOTTEN REALMS, GREYHAWK, RAVENLOFT, GAMMA WORLD, andSPELLJAMMER are registered trademarks owned by TSR, Inc.AL-QADIM, DUNGEON MASTER, DM, BATTLESYSTEM, MONSTROUS COMPENDIUM, and the TSR logo are trademarks owned by TSR, Inc.

All TSR characters, character names, and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks owned by TSR, Inc.

This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or other unauthorized use of the material or artwork containedherein is prohibited without the express written consent of TSR, Inc.

Printed in U.S.A.Copyright ©1993 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved.1-56076-672-7

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Introduction

Welcome to the big Book of Artifacts! Within thesepages is one of the most amazing, diverse, andcolorful collections of arcane magic ever assem-bled for use in AD&D® campaigns. Before get-ting started, though, it's time to clear up a fewmisconceptions:

"Artifacts are too powerful for a campaign."Not true! Artifact does not mean immensely pow-erful. The Herald ofMei Lung is useful, but it can'tblast anyone to ashes the way the Axe of theEmperors might. It's not the power, but the his-tory and role-playing opportunities that reallymake the difference.

"All artifacts have horrible curses that keepthem from being useful." All artifacts have sideeffects that reflect their nature, but not all sideeffects are curses. The fiend trapped in the Acorn ofWo Mai is definitely evil, and freeing him wouldbe a bad thing. The truthfulness imposed by theCrown of Law isn't evil, although it may create dif-ficulties for the player character. These side effectscreate opportunities for role-playing as charactersare faced with the choices, changes, and dilemmasthat great power brings. With prudence and goodjudgement, most artifacts can be used safely byPCs, but only by testing their mettle.

"Artifacts are just collections of random pow-ers." It used to be that artifacts had very little def-inition—a bit of history, one or two powers, and alot of fill-in-the-blanks that relied on randomtables. In the Book of Artifacts, there are all types.Some still let the DM choose powers while othersare completely defined. The majority of artifactshere have their major powers defined while thelesser powers are left for the DM to pick.

"Artifacts are all created by gods thatshouldn't be involved in the campaign." No,many are the work of heroes from ages long pastand a good number have their origins lost intime. The Coin ofjisan the Bountiful is tied to thatgoddess and may not be suitable for every cam-paign, but the same cannot be said of the Machine

ofLum the Mad. There are more than enough arti-facts available that are free of the troublesomeinterference of gods.

"Artifacts are found only in the GREYHAWK®campaign." The first artifacts did appear in theGREYHAWK setting, and most of those are foundin here, but the GREYHAWK world has no lockon artifacts. All the old favorites and many newones appear in this book, suitable for any cam-paign. There are also artifacts designed for theFORGOTTEN REALMS®, DRAGONLANCE®,DARK SUN®, SPELLJAMMER®, RAVENLOFT®,and AL-QADIM™ settings.

"If the characters stumble across an artifact,it could ruin the campaign." Purely and simply,nobody ever "stumbles upon" an artifact. Arti-facts are special, and no one just finds themlying around. There are no treasure tables forartifacts; they do not appear in random treasurepiles. In fact, the only time characters can find anartifact is when the DM wants them to. It'sassumed that the characters won't be given anartifact unless the DM is ready to deal with it.

"A character with an artifact will ruin theadventure." The artifact is the adventure, and isthere because the adventure needs it. Artifactsare about stories, and characters find thembecause there is a special need. Throughout theBook of Artifacts, there are adventure suggestionsbuilt around the artifacts.

"Artifacts are nothing but a headache." Ofcourse they are if the DM and players don't usethem well. Give a character Baba Yaga's Hut with-out a little planning and thought, and disaster willcertainly follow. With a little preparation, how-ever, artifacts make for memorable adventures.

With all these misconceptions out of the way,it's clear that artifacts can be used in ways thatwon't unbalance the campaign, destroy playercharacters, muck up the world, or even ruin anadventure.

Now, doesn't that feel better?

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What's In Here? What is an Artifact?

The Book of Artifacts is a supplement for thecore rules of the AD&D® 2nd Edition game. Inother words, everything in this book is optional.This is not something every DM must have or abook every player should read. DM's who wantto use the material here can, others don't haveto. The Book of Artifacts is not a vital piece forevery campaign.

As one might expect, the Book of Artifactsincludes descriptions of artifacts for use in thegame. These descriptions fill the better part ofthe book. Each description includes a historyand advice for creating adventures that revolvearound the artifact.

To aid the DM in using artifacts, there is also achapter of general information about artifacts. Init the DM can find advice on creating new arti-facts, building adventures around artifacts, get-ting artifacts out of a campaign, and how torepair a damaged campaign if an artifact getsout of hand.

Although not directly related to artifacts, twochapters dealing with the creation and recharg-ing of magical items have also been included.These give detailed rules and guidelines to helpthe DM when player characters decide to maketheir own magical items. Now, when the PCmage wants to recharge a wand of frost or make apotion of spider climbing, the DM will be ready.

After all this comes a host of appendices.These cover tables for artifact powers, diagramsof the control panels for the Machine of hum theMad and the stops of Hezvard's Mystical Organ,listings of artifacts suitable to particular AD&Dworlds, and more. The DM can use these to cre-ate and integrate his own artifacts into the cam-paign.

The best way to approach this material is toskip around. DM's are encouraged to readthrough the chapter on artifacts first. The artifactdescriptions can be read in any order desired ornot read at all. The information on magical itemscan be read when needed; none of the rules thereis needed to use any artifact in a campaign.

Since this book is about artifacts, it helps tohave a clear idea of just what an artifact is andisn't. It's not what a lot of people expect.

One occasional point of confusion is that thereare two different names for the same thing—artifact and relic. Artifacts are powerful magicalitems that have wizard, priest, or other powersand are made by gods, lichs, wizards, and otherspellcasters. Relics are powerful magical itemsthat have wizard, priest, or other powers, aremade by gods and priests, and have some holyimportance to a particular temple. Otherwise,the two types are identical. Throughout thisbook, the term "artifact" refers to both artifactsand relics. "Relic" refers only to that group ofartifacts that have holy significance.

A common assumption is that an artifact isany ultra-powerful magical device. This is nottrue. A staff of the magi is considered by many tobe an ultra-powerful device, but it is not an arti-fact. Indeed, many artifacts have fewer powersthan this staff. While most artifacts are potent(because the DM wants them to be memorable),sheer power is not a defining quality. An artifactmust have three properties: it must be unique, itmust have a history, and it must be important tothe adventure.

Unique. Artifacts are one-of-a-kind items, andthat's part of what makes them valuable. There'sonly one Talisman of Al-Akbar. If there weremore, they wouldn't be as special. In most cam-paigns, this means there's only one in the entireworld. In those campaigns that cross to differentworlds (as a SPELLJAMMER® game would), itmeans there's only one in all the worlds andplanes. This also means that characters who arebrought from one DM's campaign to anothercannot bring artifacts with them. The DM gets tokeep those toys.

History. One of the most important features ofevery artifact is that it has baggage. Someone orsomething made it, used it, and eventually man-

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Introduction

aged to lose it. The history should explain or atleast hint at the reason the artifact exists andwhat it was originally used for. The tale mayalso tell what has happened to the artifact sinceit was made, particularly the great or wondrousfates of successive owners. Histories are impor-tant. They provide something for the playercharacters to research and a means for the DM togive clues about the item's vast powers. A color-ful if not wholly accurate description of the terri-ble fate that met the last owner of the Crystal ofthe Ebon Flame is certain to make the player char-acters cautious, should they ever find the samedevice.

Story. This is the most curious qualifier for anartifact since it doesn't really affect the powersof the item or any other aspect of the game rules.It does affect how the DM uses an artifact andthe information players might gain.

Purely and simply, artifacts exist to tell stories.Characters don't just "find" an artifact. They

discover it because the DM put it there as part ofa specific adventure. The minute an artifactturns up, smart players will know the DM has aspecial adventure in mind for their characters.

As befits the unique nature of artifacts, adven-tures built around them can't be ordinary ones.The DM should make every effort to create amemorable challenge for the players. With theirhistories, artifacts have the tools to make goodstories, but it is up the DM to finish the job.

So there it is. Artifacts are unique and colorfulmagical items that provide adventure tools forthe DM. They don't have to be powerful items,although, because of their histories, most are.

One last point—artifacts are optional! No DMmust include artifacts in a campaign. Even ifthey are used, no DM has to use every artifactlisted in this book. DMs can always pick andchoose those liked best and declare that the restdo not exist in the campaign.

More importantly, no player has the right totell any DM that an artifact must exist in the

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campaign. In a normal group, with only oneDM, this is seldom a problem. It is important toremember this, however, for those groups whereseveral DMs may be running the same playercharacters at different times. If Martha is DMingand introduces the Sword ofKas for an adven-ture, players should not insist that John let themuse the Sword ofKas when he is DMing the samecharacters in a later adventure. If it is necessary,remember that artifacts always have an amazingability to vanish unexpectedly, only to reappearinnocently at some later date.

Creating ArtifactsThe artifacts described in this book are not the

only artifacts that can be used in a campaign.Artifacts, with their detailed histories and pow-erful effects, are personal things, so it makessense that the DM should create artifacts uniqueto an individual campaign. In fact, that's justwhat the DM should do. Every campaign shouldhave artifacts that are truly unique to it, therebyensuring that the DM's world is different fromevery other campaign out there.

Great idea, the DM may say, but how do I doit?

Don't worry. It's really not that hard. By fol-lowing a few simple guidelines, DMs discoverthat artifacts practically create themselves. Thissection provides a step-by-step example of thewhole process.

Guideline #1: Artifacts CheatArtifacts are about wonder—not power like

many players think. Artifacts are the highest ofall magic in a normal campaign, so they have tobe surprising, awe-inspiring, and unpredictable;in other words, all the things that make theworld wondrous. Artifacts can't be ho-humdevices bound by the standard rules of magicaldevices—the dreary realities of charges, com-mand words, and the like. Artifacts exist tobreak the rules.

By the strict game rules, nobody could buildthe Machine of hum the Mad—but Lum did. Bythe game rules, no one would make the Rod ofSeven Parts—but it was made. The pseudo-sci-entific Apparatus doesn't conform to the rulesfor spells and magical devices—but it doesn'tmatter. It's the effect that is important, the feelof wonder and mystery that is added to thecampaign.

When creating an artifact, consider first theeffect. A good idea is to choose something that isimpossible by normal spells and magical items.This makes the artifact special and desirable.The effect doesn't have to be all-powerful, onlyimpossible by the current rules. Make that theprincipal effect of the artifact.

This artifact makes a wizard's spells permanent, so henever has to memorize spells.

That's pretty powerful and impossible, andit's a good example for an artifact's effect. So,where does one go next?

Guideline #2:Artifacts are born, not made

Any wizards or priests worth half their saltcan make a magical item. They get a bunch ofmaterials, research a few spells, lock themselvesaway in a tower or cellar, and poof-bingo-bango!—there's a magical item. While the materials andsteps needed may be a mystery, the process itselfis not mysterious. Everyone knows spellcastersmake magical items, so no one is surprisedwhen Jalarko the Magnificent comes out of histower waving a long sword +1.

Artifacts, though, are not just things. Theyquickly take on a life of their own. It's better toimagine an artifact as being born rather thanbuilt. Birth implies mystery and strangeness,wonder beyond a mere manufacturing process.

As much as characters might like to, nobody inthe present history of a campaign "makes" arti-facts. Artifacts always come from times more dis-tant, a few centuries to a few millennia in the

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