Creating homebrew (wish granting) Artifact

[jburner1234]

Hello Everyone. So Basically I am attempting to create a relatively balanced yet still very powerful artifact that is capable of granting wishes. Just to be clear, when I say balanced I mean, I want its pros ballenced against its cons. A side grade item more than an upgrade item. My main idea is a small gem, capable of being fitted to a ring or other piece of jewelry, that has a high chance of killing the one who makes a wish.

What I have so far:

The Forlorn Hope
This powerful artifact grants the user a single wish as the wish spell. Upon resolving the spell the wisher makes a concentration check (DC 10+ the spell level) Upon success of the check, the caster takes 1d10 damage per level of the spell being cast(6d10 for a level 6 spell). If the check fails the caster dies in 1d4 minutes and is unable to be resurrected except through divine intervention. All wishes must be preceded by the phrase "I wish." making and casting the wish is an immediate action.

So currently I am undecided about the types of checks I should use, what the DC's should be, and the kinds of restriction I should place to prevent it from being abused. One possible abuse I can see is players might try to trick another creature into making wishes for you. Are there any other flaws or potential abuses I am missing with this item? Also, is there anything else I should maybe include in the item description? I plan on making this item a drop for a powerful yet still secondary villain in my campaign.

[rferries]

The description would seem to indicate that it's a single-use item, which isn't too abuseable.

If it allows multiple wishes, that's a problem. You'll need some other provisos:

-damage from the wishes can't be healed magically, only naturally
-a limit on uses (even once per day is probably too much)
-mitigate the penalty for failure; unavoidable death means the PCs probably won't risk using it. Maybe an unavoidable geas or bestow curse afflicts them instead?

[jburner1234]

The description would seem to indicate that it's a single-use item, which isn't too abuseable.

If it allows multiple wishes, that's a problem. You'll need some other provisos:

-damage from the wishes can't be healed magically, only naturally
-a limit on uses (even once per day is probably too much)
-mitigate the penalty for failure; unavoidable death means the PCs probably won't risk using it. Maybe an unavoidable geas or bestow curse afflicts them instead?

Thanks for the feedback. In response I have made a few changes:

The Forlorn Hope (Minor Artifact)
This clear red gem glows with a low pale light.
This powerful artifact grants the user a single wish as the wish spell. Upon resolving the spell, the caster makes a concentration check,(DC 10+ the spell level) using character level for caster level. Upon success of the check, the caster takes 1d10 damage per level of the spell being cast(6d10 for a level 6 spell). This damage cannot be healed magically, only naturally. If the check fails the damage received is doubled. All wishes must be preceded by the phrase "I wish." and both making and casting the wish are an immediate action. The concentration check is made using character level and is charisma based. Item can only be used once a month and only after it is bathed in the light of a full moon. Damage dealt is negated for the month if the gem was bathed in the light of a blood moon.

The Forlorn Hope can only be destroyed by means of a wish made on the stone after having been bathed in the light of a blood moon.

[rferries]

Looks good! One minor edit, edit this sentence:

(DC 10 + the spell level)

to:

(DC 10 + the user's character level + the level of the spell being duplicated)

And delete this phrase:

The concentration check is made using character level and is charisma based.

[jburner1234]

Fixed. Thanks again. Now that I look at it not only was that last bit with the Concentration check a little sloppy but it may also gave the user a bit of an unnecessary edge when trying to survive the wish.

Hmm. Another thought occurs to me. I wonder should I also add something about how since the damage cannot be healed with magic they cannot be raised if killed by this damage.
Something like: (If damage dealt this way exceeds the casters remaining hit points then caster dies and is unable to be raised except by divine intervention) or ( and cannot be raised except by a wish spell?

The Forlorn Hope (Minor Artifact)

This clear red gem glows with a low pale light.

This powerful artifact grants the user a single wish as the wish spell. Upon resolving the spell, the caster makes a concentration check(DC 10 + the user's character level + the level of the spell being duplicated). Upon success of the check, the caster takes 1d10 damage per level of the spell being cast(6d10 for a level 6 spell). This damage cannot be healed magically, only naturally. If the check fails the damage received is doubled. All wishes must be preceded by the phrase "I wish." and both making and casting the wish are an immediate action. Item can only be used once a month and only after it is bathed in the light of a full moon. Damage dealt is negated for the month if the gem was bathed in the light of a blood moon.

The Forlorn Hope can only be destroyed by means of a wish made on the stone after having been bathed in the light of a blood moon.

[Crim the Cold]

I see we have the same taste in anime. You might make the item sentient and able to mitigate or entirely remove it's own positive and negative effects. I had a sentient wish granting trap I mean item that was hard of hearing. Never did anything of consequence. All the wishes were misheard into harmless or barely beneficial wishes. It was limited to once a day because it was old and got tired after a wish and needed to sleep. The only wish guaranteed to work was to ask for knowledge about very specific subjects. Example: "I wish I knew what kind of animal this is." Anything broader than that like, "I wish I was a master of arcana." would be misheard as something, "You wish you had a sister named Hannah. Alright here you go." Any other wish I rolled a D100 and on a 100 the wish would be heard and interpreted exactly as the wisher intended.

[jqavins]

The basic premise in the original post is flawed. A single item can't be either balanced or imbalanced, because balance is fundamentally a question of comparing two or more things. What is it you want this item balanced against? If you want it balanced against a Ring of Three Wishes then it is probably underpowered. If you want it balanced against the characters and foes in an E6 campaign then it is certainly overpowered.

The damage wording is backwards. Since the concentration check is essentially a saving throw, just say that the ring causes 2d10 or 1d20 damage, and then it's half on a successful save like so many other things.

[jburner1234]

The basic premise in the original post is flawed. A single item can't be either balanced or imbalanced, because balance is fundamentally a question of comparing two or more things. What is it you want this item balanced against? If you want it balanced against a Ring of Three Wishes then it is probably underpowered. If you want it balanced against the characters and foes in an E6 campaign then it is certainly overpowered.

The damage wording is backwards. Since the concentration check is essentially a saving throw, just say that the ring causes 2d10 or 1d20 damage, and then it's half on a successful save like so many other things.

Ah. Yeah, I guess I wasnt very clear was I. I want the items pros to be ballenced against its cons. I want it to be a sidegrade item not an upgrade item. Great reward Great risk that kind of thing.

Like an example of a powerful but still ballenced spell or abilithy would be one that lets you sacrifice a certain amount of your health in order to give or take that same amount of health from or to another creature.

Also yeah I guess the damage wording was backwards so I switched up the wording a bit.

The Forlorn Hope*(Minor Artifact)

This clear red gem glows with a low pale light.

This powerful artifact grants the user a single wish as the wish spell. Upon resolving the spell, the caster takes 2d10 damage per level of the spell being cast(12d10 for a level 6 spell), this damage cannot be healed magically, only naturally. Caster takes half damage on successful will save(DC 10 + the level of the spell being duplicated). All wishes must be preceded by the phrase "I wish." and both making and casting the wish are an immediate action. The item can only be used once a month and only after it has been bathed in the light of a full moon. Damage dealt is negated for the month if the gem was bathed in the light of a blood moon.

The Forlorn Hope can only be destroyed by means of a wish made on the stone after having been bathed in the light of a blood moon.

Better? I am wondering if I should include weather or not the wish resolves if the caster is killed as a result of the wish. Furthermore If the caster is unable to heal by magical means would that not also insinuate that, if killed by the wish, resurrection is impossible?

[jburner1234]

I see we have the same taste in anime. You might make the item sentient and able to mitigate or entirely remove it's own positive and negative effects. I had a sentient wish granting trap I mean item that was hard of hearing. Never did anything of consequence. All the wishes were misheard into harmless or barely beneficial wishes. It was limited to once a day because it was old and got tired after a wish and needed to sleep. The only wish guaranteed to work was to ask for knowledge about very specific subjects. Example: "I wish I knew what kind of animal this is." Anything broader than that like, "I wish I was a master of arcana." would be misheard as something, "You wish you had a sister named Hannah. Alright here you go." Any other wish I rolled a D100 and on a 100 the wish would be heard and interpreted exactly as the wisher intended.

really? ^_^ Which anime? did I make a referce or something without realizing it?

[Crim the Cold]

Yu Yu Hakusho, the forlorn hope is an artifact of darkness that grants the user a wish during the full moon in exchange for the user's life. I'd tell you more about it and the story arc it is in but that would spoil the story if you ever decide to watch the show. I really recommend it.

[jburner1234]

Yu Yu Hakusho, the forlorn hope is an artifact of darkness that grants the user a wish during the full moon in exchange for the user's life. I'd tell you more about it and the story arc it is in but that would spoil the story if you ever decide to watch the show. I really recommend it.

HOOOLY CRAP! Its been years since I saw that show. I remember enjoying it though, and I kind of want to watch it again now. Huh, I compleatly forgot about the shows virsion of the item and yet I referenced it almost perfectly? Wasnt it a mirror or something like that? Weird, how the subconcious mind works eh?

Edit: So yeah just looked it up, it was a mirror. Kind of want to change my item discription now. :3