Dungeons and Dragons Lore: Artifact Books

[@Bluecho4]

While back, I came up with a dungeon idea, wherein you have a magical map showing the layout of a building. When a proper magic word was spoken while touching the map, the speaker was transported to a demiplane that matched the layout of said map, with environs looking like 3D renderings of the drawing, and filled with illustrated monsters come to life. In essence, the map WAS the dungeon. Now I'm thinking: what if you had an entire BOOK full of such magic maps, connecting into a single huge megadungeon? When you opened to a page and read the magic word (or perhaps deciphered it, if the magic word is encoded), you plopped down at the nearest "exit" depicted on that page. I can imagine this being an artifact from some ancient civilization, whose magic was so mighty they could craft custom demiplanes through nothing but the artistry of their illuminated manuscripts. An entire forgotten culture's remnants - their artwork, inventions, libraries, magic items, even people (or their remains) - preserved forever within the pages of that book. Waiting for someone to plumb their depths...if they can survive the innumerable monsters and traps that protect these relics.

[@AJPickett]

Wow! That is an awesome idea!

[@CrimsonTheFoxGod]

Kind of like the D'ni of Myst.

[@saeyabor]

I can't shake the feeling Halaster Blackcloak has one.

[@johnnikyecole9114]

Ohhhh....might have to use a version of this for my game...damn good idea dude

[@jonathanmarcelo5469]

The Codex of Infinite Planes is one of the definite world and or universe changing artifacts in D&D. Based on theories presented in the old Maldin's Greyhawk website, it was a major element in the histories of Greyhawk and Spelljammer, and definitely other universes. Also very dangerous - usually a one-time use item where the user - after surviving many trials to find, study and attempt to read the Codex - suffers a bad fate, and the Codex is teleported to some random universe or world.

[@TheWonkster]

DM’s that are afraid of artifacts are DM’s that let their players bully them. It’s important not to run over your players, but YOU are the DM, you have the power.

[@That80sGuy1972]

Well put.

[@handlebarfox2366]

By the power of Grayskull, YOU HAVE THE POWERRRR!!!!

[@That80sGuy1972]

@@handlebarfox2366 **nostalgia high-five**

[@jacobfreeman5444]

The whole group has the power. It is just defered to the DM as he is providing the world the players play in. The world is the DM's character.

[@MrSpikethefirst]

You have a point however, put yourself in the players' shoes, your dm gives this really good item and you find a way to use it really effectively only to have your dm say "no you can't do that." with no further explanation. This happens time and time again until you give up trying to use the item at all.

[@spunkyspaz]

4:10 Thor's hammer Mjolnir is also a 'failed' magic item. It's short handle wad due to a mistake during it's manufacture.

[@draxthemsklonst]

Imagine the full size version returning to his hand.

[@empoleonmaster6709]

Please cover more books like this, I LOVED this video.

[@williamsmith1741]

Required reading for every wizard

[@nullvoid4063]

Alright, I love Artifacts! Thanks AJ. By the way, the current big bad in the campaign I'm playing in is Asmodeus and some of your videos have proved invaluable. Hey, it's not metagaming if your character has a 22 intelligence. (Okay, maybe a little)

[@jamesforgie6594]

Ahhh, three of my favourite KZbinrs upload at the same time, on the day I have lots of work to do!

[@royhenning7867]

Definitely would like to see more artifact videos! Great work AJ

[@AfroChef]

I love artifacts as well. Look at Fellowship of the Ring or even the trilogy as a whole, Frodo gets an artifact before his first adventure, cursed but it's literally the driving force of the trilogy, one magic ring. Even his Mithril mail and Sting his sword is much higher than Frodos player level

[@johnsnow9210]

Plot armour of +4

[@AJPickett]

Phew, that sounds much better.

[@Morrowind4732]

Wow that was a quick fix. Thanks AJ, love listening to your uploads.

[@taylor6123]

Yea, that was really fast. Great video as always AJ!

[@mrkojak-ci1zm]

Unrelated subject but how much would a small piece of fan art cost?? I watch another channel called "meme the left". ( Informative and funny) Wanted to have a "crackin seal of approval" in a border. Have a stylized " meme the left" stacked in the middle. With a laughing kraken over the top and tentacles spiraling around the border. If it's something that can be done I'd like to take price .

[@AJPickett]

@@mrkojak-ci1zm Not sure what you are asking... to pay or to be paid?

[@mrkojak-ci1zm]

@@AJPickett I'd pay for someone to make it

[@garniebollingiii341]

Yay you got the background music perfect from the earlier stream! Still an awesome video I always love watching these!

[@Nymic]

Thank you so much for the video! I'm currently working on a Skyrim mod involving a magical book and was looking for inspiration. Please AJ, whenever you get the time, I would love to see more videos on these unique books especially those related to necromancy like the Book of Vile Darkness.

[@3dagalathor]

wow what a difference in music volume that was, thanks for the fix Sir

[@Greenscyth22]

I don't mind the introduction of Artifacts, cursed or blessed doesn't matter to me. But the addition of a competitor is a must. Something that powerful is no ordinary magic item, or wondrous items. If you somehow stumbled upon Vecna's Eye and Hand, or Bahamut's fang or even Obad-Hai's birch wood britches, you had better believe there is somebody else after it. If a adventuring party somehow comes into possession of Boccob's Master Spellstaff (or whatever), every mage, wizard, warlock, Spellsword and sorcerer would be after them until they could properly hide it or they were obliterated.

[@bernardodias7160]

the artifacts related to vecna would be awesome!

[@abec666]

Wow i really liked this topic. More artifact lore explanation would be cool. Good job.

[@Andonios88]

Love it! Bring me the Axe of the Dwarvish Lords!

[@marvalice3455]

"Why is my female elvish fighter growing a beard!?" Should have read the fine print ;)

[@gregavant1992]

Love the vid as always! I think for an artifact video, the Death Rock would be a good one to dig into.

[@KoljaWolfi]

that was a quick fix. well done. and thanks

[@chriscalvin5083]

Great video AJ

[@Im-Not-a-Dog]

PIERCER & ROPER (Continued from Baphomet video.) _Theme Music Starts_ _Piercer & Roper logo pops on screen_ Announcer: “Last time on Piercer & Roper!” _Flashback montage starts_ “We heard the hour-by-hour reports of our daring duo’s stakeout, as read by Captain Azmorda, detailing the pair’s observations from when they first got into position up to when they entered the Apothecary. When we left, Piercer & Roper we’re standing in front of the captain’s desk like children that had been sent to the principal’s office, and Roper was preparing to explain what happed inside the Apothecary.” _Scene starts exactly where the previous segment stopped, with Piercer & Roper standing in front of an oversized desk, behind which is preached a massive Aboleth wearing an MZPD badge and a little clip-on tie._ Roper: “YOU SEE, WHAT HAD HAPPENED WAS...” Roper: _In voice over_ “FIRST I STEALTHILY GAINED ACCESS TO THE CELLAR!!!” _scene fades to black as Roper starts talking then fades back in to Roper standing amongst some stalagmites in the alley behind the Apothecary and we can see a tarp covered cart pulling out of the alley in the background. Once the cart is fully out of sight, Roper creeps out from the stalagmites ands over to the dumpster._ Roper: (Quietly to himself) “OK. JUST A LITTLE PUSH...GOTTA STAY QUIET.” _as Roper pushes the dumpster off of the cellar door, it bumps into a garbage can on the other side of it and knocked it over. Sending it clanking loudly into a stack of crates, which in turn toppled onto a neatly stacked pyramid of empty liquor bottles behind the bar next door, resulting in a cacophony that could have awoken a sleeping Terasque. Roper froze in place as he heard the door behind him open after everything had fallen._ Voice: “I swear if it’s you lovebirds again, I’ll have the both of ya flogged!” _The voice says as the door flies open. Then we see the well armored Drow that seemed to be Snipdik’s second in command step out and look towards the pile of broken bottles and smashed crates._ Drow: “Bloody ‘ell! Gadross, you fall into the garbage again? I told you that mace was too big for ya, mate. Come on, we’ll get the goblins to cle...” *KLAGN KLNAG KLANG KLANG!!!* _As he stepped past Roper, mistaking him for a stalagmite, looking for his coworker in the trash, Roper shot out two tentacles around the Drow’s neck and proceeded to bash his head against the dumpster until he was thoroughly unconscious._ *KLANG!!!* _Roper gave him one more bash for good measure, then handcuffed and gaged him before throwing him in the dumpster and closing the lid._ Roper: _In voice over_ “THEN I ENTERED TO PROCESSING FACILITY, MAKING SURE I WASNT FOLLOWED!!!” Roper: “ONE DOWN, WHO KNOWS HOW MANY TO GO.” _Roper opens the cellar door and slowly slinks down into where they took the Ooze, quietly closing the door behind him. As he makes his way down the stairs, Roper draws his service weapon, a chromed Smit’s & Western Semi-Automatic 11mm Pistol. Weapon drawn he proceeds up to the door at the bottom of the stairs and peeks through a small window in the middle of the door. Shot changes to Roper’s perspective as he peers in on the room behind the door. We see a large room with the tables and shelves and some industrial equipment set up on one end of the room and several Derro and Svirfneblin workers, wearing nothing but their underwear and white paper masks, processing the Pink Ooze into powder. Some are scooping globs of Ooze out of aquariums and spreading it out in a thin layer on a baking sheet. Another group is taking the Ooze covered trays, placing them into a large kiln, removing other trays that have been in the kiln and placing them onto a cart. The cart is then taken by one of the workers to a third group who scrape the dried Ooze into large bowls and grinding it down. Then a forth group takes the powdered Ooze, weighs it out and pours it into molds that are then placed under an industrial press. One last group then takes the bricks of compressed Ooze Powder out of the molds and wraps them in clear plastic before placing them into crates that are stacked against the far wall of the room. As the camera pans across the work area, it stops on one person standing apart from the workers, presumably the Overseer, a Kobold in stained and ratty leather armor holding a short lash made from thin metal cables braided together. The shot switches back to Roper outside the door, he takes a deep breathe then kicks the door in with a tentacle and breaches the room. As He does this, we see a bit of light begin to creep down the stairs as the cellar door slowly opens above, though Roper doesn’t notice._ Roper: _In voice over_ “AT WHICH POINT I CALMLY ARRESTED THE WORK CREW WITHOUT INCIDENT, AND READ THEM THEIR RIGHTS!!!” Roper: _pointing gun in general direction of the workers_ “MZPD!!! PUT YOUR HANDS UP AND BACK AWAY FROM THE OOZE!!! _points gun at Overseer_ “DROP THE WEAPON AND PUT YOUR HANDS UP!!! EVERYONE STAND AGAINST THE WALL!!!” _The group of workers and Overseer freeze in place with their hands in the air, then slowly begin to walk to the back wall of the room by the crates._ Roper: “YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT, ANYTHING YOU KNOW MUST BE TOLD TO AN OFFICER OF THE LAW!!! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO AN ATTORNEY, YOU...” *KONK!!!* _Suddenly Roper is hit across the back and sent slamming into the floor, dropping his pistol. When he hits the floor he quickly rolls over and looks up to see the Svirfneblin Thug from earlier hefting his oversized mace above his head, ready to deliver it down on to Roper’s face._ *CRRAACKK!!!!! SHKWISHK!!!!* _Suddenly the ceiling above the Thug explodes open with Piercer shooting down through it and into the top of the Thug’s head, popping it as the momentum of Piercer’s fall propels him through the Thug’s head and neck and into his chest cavity._ Roper: _In voice over_ “THATS WHEN PIERCER ARIVED AND HELPED DEAL WITH AN UNRULY SECURITY GUARD!!! THEN WE MADE OUR WAY UP TO THE MAIN FLOOR!!!” Roper: “NICE OF YOU TO DROP BY!!! COME ON, LETS GET THESE ONES CUFFED UP AND HEAD UP STAIRS!!!” Piercer: _Dislodges himself from the still standing but very much dead Thug and falls to the floor as whats left of the Thugs body falls behind him, whereupon he curls one of his tentacles into a rudimentary “Thumbs Up”._ _The pair proceed to handcuff all of the workers to a pipe running along the back wall, seemingly manifesting pair after pair of handcuffs out of thin air. Once done, the shot changes to one of the back door to the Apothecary from inside the shop. The door comes flying inward to reveal Roper, his badge held high in a tentacle, his pistol in another._ Roper: “MZPD!!! EVERYBODY FREEZE AND PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!!! PIERCER SECURE THESE PEOPLE THEN CALL THIS IN, I’LL FIND SNIPDIK!!!” Roper: _In voice over_ “AFTER LEAVING PIERCER TO DEAL WITH THE STOREFRONT, I MADE MY WAY INTO THE BACK OF THE APOTHECARY AND APPREHENDED THE SHOP’S OWNER.” _As Piercer begins handcuffing people, Roper makes his way to the back of the shop. When he opens the double doors leading to the stockroom, we see Snipdik’s legs sticking out of a small window, kicking about as he tries to wiggle through, but his robe is caught on the shelf he had climbed on to reach the window._ Roper: “HOLD IT RIGHT THERE SNIPDIK!!!” _Snipdik’s wiggling intensifies as he desperately attempts to escape._ Roper: “YOU’RE NOT GETTING AWAY THAT EASILY” _shoots a tentacle toward Snipdik, wrapping it around his waist then yanking him out of the window and throwing him against the floor, knocking him unconscious. Roper then handcuffs him and drags him out with the others._ Roper: “NOW WE JUST WAIT FOR THE BOYS TO SHOW UP!!!” _Both Piercer & Roper curl up a tentacle into a tight knot and “Fist Bump”._ _Screen fades to black, then fades back in to the shot of Piercer & Roper standing in front of Captain Azmorda’s desk._ Roper: “SHORTLY AFTER THAT IS WHEN THE OTHER OFFICERS ARRIVED, SIR.” Cpt. Azmorda: “Detective Piercer, is this how you recall the incident?” Piercer: _Stares expressionlessly_ Cpt. Azmorda: “Good. That’s what will go in the official report. There was something else I wanted to speak to you about. Officer Halimno was able to get some very interesting information out of the Drow you apprehended. Something about a rogue Drow family. Go see her for the full briefing. I don’t want you two off this case until you find out where this Ooze is coming from and shut it down. Now get out of my office.” _Screen fades to black_ Announcer: “Looks like our intrepid investigators have managed to avoid the Captain’s ire, but it looks like this investigation runs deeper that previously believed. Now permanently assigned to the case, Piercer & Roper head off to the Interrogation Wing of the station to see what information Officer Halimno was able to extract from the Drow. But what will this new lead yield? Will they finally catch whoever is bringing in the Ooze? Or will this only lead them deeper down the rabbit hole that is Menzoberranzan‘s criminal underworld? Find out next time on...” _theme music starts_ “Piercer & Roper!!!” _Credits Roll_

[@AJPickett]

Woo hoo! I love these :)

[@Im-Not-a-Dog]

AJ Pickett Thank you. 😁

[@danielrowan4716]

AJ, this one is near and dear to me. I have a “lesser” Codex of the Infinite Planes as a center piece to my current campaign. It is something of a cross between the original Codex and Saurons ring from LOTR. The book caused a great cataclysm in the ancient past and has resurfaced in The Forbidden City (I2). So far no one has dared open it lest they suffer a horrid fate. It’s more McGuffin than power item but it can be used… at a price.

[@andrewthemaroon8608]

Axe of the dwarven lords sounds fun. I feel like every gm has a different "(item) of the dwarven lords" in their worlds. whether its a ring, crown, armor, or any kind of weapon so it will be interesting to a see a published axe from the dnd universe

[@16michaelf]

I like this episode very much! Would you ever think about doing more episodes about magical items? That would be awesome 😊👍

[@cookiemonstrarrr]

Great video

[@MRDicristofaro]

great video as always . this could be a great campaign idea , it be great if you did the history and lore on the orbs of dragonkind .

[@bumblingbureaucrat6110]

UUUUUNLIIIIIIIMITED POOOOOOWEEER!

[@onemisterfranko]

I liked this video and the idea of going over the bigger artifacts of the game perhaps next you could tackle the book of vile darkness?

[@AJPickett]

seems like that is the most popular choice

[@onemisterfranko]

@@AJPickett can't imagine why. :)

[@denewst01]

Something I enjoy with the legend lore is that it's precisely that - knowledge of the legends around a thing/person/whatever... no-one said that the legends are totally accurate. If the big bad evil had control of a bard's guild or something they could potentially put out all kinds of misleading information to confuse players.

[@kannathraymaker]

Love these videos. Gives me a sense of nostalgia. :)

[@zacharygadzinski3147]

Interesting. I can see the book of no end being used by a warlock/witch or a sorcerer/sorceress and said caster slowly getting corrupted by the book. Imagine an orc sorceress transforming into a goddess of calamity and omens to where she keeps the book until she achieves goddess status before sealing it away. Then said goddess goes about creating highly destructive breed of orcs imbued with magical powers making them a physical and magical powerhouse. As for the codex imagine it unleashing a God or Goddess of madness and dark prophecies. Niw imagine the horror as the deity warps reality to their whim and can only be defeated by being sealed away.

[@brianc8821]

AJ. What a legend.

[@mikemccoy5092]

Remember the codex as the example adventure in the 3rd edition epic handbook and my character trying to run off with it couldn't Remember what it did and why he wanted it so badly good video and memories

[@sanddry738]

Can you imagine the poor sod somewhere in the multiverse who probably had the codex of the planes fall out of the sky and crush them?

[@nicocrestmere9688]

In an infinite equation any possibility that can happen does happen so this has come to be infinite times before and hence.

[@schrokittyschrokatzerl1050]

Hmmmmm...what if someone was being turned by a vampire right as the codex was dropped on them? If the vampire that stooped over the hapless victim was killed the moment after he drained the last point of constitution its conceivable (since the book is made of very earthen materials) that the resulting full fledged vampire who rises would have all the multiverse functionally his "native earth" as the "soil/earth" that buried him from above was in fact the codex itself. And i doubt that would be the only resulting abnormality. Could be a very plausible freak origin of a powerful quasi-divine vampire or even a vampire god. By 3.0/3.5 rules he could also possibly use the haunt ability on any plane of existance. Or at the very least haunt the book.

[@sanddry738]

Schrokitty Schrokatzerl Sounds like the makings of a dangerous campaign villain with a great/hilarious backstory!

[@schrokittyschrokatzerl1050]

Hmmm...i do dm some campaigns. But ive never done a campaign that involves a lot of multiplanar spread. Do you think its an interesting enough idea i should make a multiplanar campaign (not a messily large number of planes. Like not 20+. More like 8 to 12) with him playing a major villain role? I'm glad you like my idea. Like maybe an undead cosmipocalypse (lol just pulled that word out of my b$$$ lewis carrol style) where some of the idealized planes are behaving as if being slightly "touched" as if through a refraction effect? Like perhaps the city of brass is being plagued by outbreaks of blackfire (like the spell) that are behaving as if an actual elemental corruption of natural flames behaving like it (draining levels)? And various other planes having similar refraction effects? Or do you think if i were to use it it should be in a different kind of role? Or a different kind of campaign?

[@sanddry738]

Schrokitty Schrokatzerl I mean it depends on the story and villain. If this vampire is bound tot he codex of the planes then he’s also going to be a literal walking disaster due to the nature of the book. So would he try to weaponize it or stay as far away as possible from civilizations and leave it up to minions? Important to know the wants of the villain and how he utilized this strange circumstance As for the outer-planar idea, you could say the book randomly teleports him occasionally and he ends up becoming this unintentional omen of disaster wherever he shows. An undead apocalypse may be suited to another villain perhaps I’d say unless you really want to and can give a good reason as to why the book caused that. Things like the black fire one sounds really cool! Not sure what the spell’s damage is but maybe an explanation can be the codex opening up a portal to the negative energy plane and ends up merging that energy with fire energy which causes the breakout

[@marvalice3455]

Wait, it's bound in Evil Babyskin? I don't know how to process this. Honestly making things out of dragons has always seemed a bit screwed up to me.

[@BigusGeekus]

Other dragons certainly never seem to appreciate it. :P

[@marvalice3455]

@@BigusGeekus if opossums started making magic items out of human parts, I know I would be very upset with them.

[@johngleeman8347]

The Mighty Servant of Leuk-o or the Despoiler of Flesh. :3

[@MisterTutor2010]

The Dissertation of Doom was an artifact created by an insane PhD student (really narrows it down) :)

[@fhuber7507]

I like to go back to 2nd Edition version Identify. It tells you some stuff, probably not everything about any magic item with more than one power. The caster is risking being cursed if the item is cursed, so identify was not the total prevention of being cursed that it seems to be in 5e. 5e identify almost removes the need for Legend Lore for anything other than an artifact, which is not the way it should be.

[@AJPickett]

Legend lore tells the story and history of an item.. so much better

[@WisdomThumbs]

Books and scrolls and tablets and rope knots and stelae and coded messages are some of my favorite things to slip into loot tables. I let my players choose tomes from an ancient library on what once was the seed world of Mount Celestia. The library's spectral keeper let one player pick two tomes, because their character has two souls, but one tome had to be picked from a short list of recommendations. Every other tome the players picked had to be improvised on the spot. Keep in mind the party accidentally made themselves the perfect Four Winds in what was meant to be a oneshot, so the entire campaign sprang naturally from their theme and improvisation. The East Wind asked for a book about the "Four Winds," to shortcut to understanding some prophecies and songs. He received a book made of leaves and vines from the four seasons, written in High Celestial and Druidic. The final unlock requires the book to be unfurled in strong winds, so I can make the players travel at high speed on their huge Rolling Hall. That unlock = three songs that overlap perfectly, full of clues, including one short song I wrote and sang myself, which must all be played diegetically by bards. It also grants the ability to cast "Control Winds" once per day. The West Wind asked for a book about dreams and psionics, but received a book of dry, boring orc genealogies, including her family and all the incarnations of Gruumsh and Luthic. She's learned that Luthic was her great-great-great(x500)-great-aunt, and Gruumsh was always her stalker who kills her or forces her to marry him. The final unlock = knowledge that the West Wind's family is the last orc family in existence without Gruumsh's blood, and their psionic powers were the birthright of all orcs until Gruumsh stole them away (and he's currently seeking a reincarnation of Luthic to marry). This lore also grants the ability to cast "Dream" once per day. The North Wind asked for a book about shadows, as he's shadowbound with two other souls, and all three of them cast each other's shadows. He received the Binder of Shadows, an overstuffed folder of leather with dark clasps, written in many different exotic languages of neutrality and evil. Readers risk madness checks, but the final unlock = the ability to use one's own shadows to make bonus action attacks, and the option to learn Shadow Jaunt or the minor illusion cantrip. This also increases CHA by 1 if the reader doesn't go mad, similar to a Dragonmark of Shadow. The "Rogue Wind," a frequent guest player and pinch healer, asked for a book of Fey music to please his patron. He was granted a Bough of Autumnal Druidic, made from a coiled whip of a magic tree branch, with pinecone-esque leaves that unfurl like fractals, and extradimensional flowers that burn hot without flame. The final unlock = the ability to shapeshift into any Small or Tiny bird, and the ability to cast Fireball after learning the song of flames (because Wildfire Druid sucks without those abilities). The South Wind initially wanted a Book of Golems, but thought it impossible to use. So she asked for a Tome of Clear Thought, and also was offered a second book by recommendation, because she has two souls. The recommendation she chose for her second book was a Datapad of House Cannith. She did nothing but read the Datapad until sleep deprivation nearly killed her, until she unlocked its secrets: her mother was the last scion of the Canniths, and her father who apparently sold her into Gith slavery was the last Captain of the Spelljammer, which held the last Life Forge in all existence... Now the South Wind can make imitation warforged like mini-golems, but her split personality might just be the Lord of Blades. *She went insane for a rolled ten hours and rolled the "laugh uncontrollably" trait. If she'd rolled anything longer than ten hours, she probably would've died of Exhaustion levels.* (since she's an artificer who wears her own Bag of Holding as a witch's hat/helmet, I'm also giving the South Wind the ability to create or improve magic weapons to +2, but she'll need a master's workshop to do so; meanwhile, to create true Warforged she'll also need a Life Forge [perhaps astrally conjured, since she and the West Wind are psionic])

[@johntheherbalistg8756]

10:12 That wizard caught a catfish 🤣🤣🤣

[@andrewmcgee9759]

First off love the knowledge you impart on your viewers. If been tossing this idea around for some years now what if someone made a ring from a unicorns horn that aloud them to see portals to the Fay when worn or dose this item already exist or something like it.

[@AJPickett]

That sounds like a fairly standard Wondrous item 🙂

[@Mare_Man]

Sounds like a "kill me!" beacon for any Fey that might see such a ring on a character's finger

[@idavisband]

I'm running a campaign for my bro set in a time before magic is figured out. Right now he has a npc that's a necromancer who's talks like the farmer on South Park that says you don't won't to go down that road. But he turned him into his Inn keeper and in his free time he's studying all magic and making the tombs calling some friends to help him out.

[@chriscalvin5083]

AJ these artifacts videos are great

[@docop8926]

I love your vids on powerful artifacts

[@claytonwhitacre1752]

I would like to see the Book of Vile Darkness. It's also my favorite sourcebook

[@docbaker3333]

I love your artifact videos please do one on the Book of Vile Darkness because that thing is so wonderfully disturbing.

[@SageofCancer]

The Tarot in occultism is called the book of life due to its flexible interpretations. The Deck of Many Things is a 'powerful magic item.' But to me it counts as an artifact book.

[@That80sGuy1972]

Great video AJ. I love artifact books and all of my campaigns had at least 6. Rarely was one or more ever acquired and used by my players but the possibility was always there. I'm sure you are sick of me saying this but I have a lot of homebrew stuff, artifact books included. You ever play the Ultima computer games in the 80s and 90s? I have codexes and other things based upon those games. The Codex of Ulitmate Wisdom and the Codex of Abyssal Insight are Ultima inspired artifacts. They are huge books, so adventuring with them is not really worth it. They are awesome as books kept in an arc to be part of the party's convoy cart or kept in their stronghold. When either book is opened, the pages turn themselves and runes even shift patterns based upon who is looking in it. Each one has a paragraph of what it can do, what it does just by gazing into it. Both have effects in the region they are kept in and special powers (with a price) for the one "in possession" of the book. A "minor" artifact is Diabla's Grimoire. Diabla was a PC wizard hero from one of my first campaigns. Her race was my version of a Teifling ("Subdiaboli", teiflings didn't exist yet). This artifact can be used as a spellbook, it is in the form of an ornate Travellers' spellbook with no blank pages. Flip through the book and you can find any spell in existence, you just have to have an idea of what you want in mind. It can also be used to research new spells and work as an entire library. Its side-effects are pretty much coveting it (both the player and other wizards who hear about it), forsaking all other books, picking magic use over any other action (save to resist), potion hoarding, scroll hoarding, and paranoid suspicion of anyone even looking at the Grimoire too long ("It's mine! Look away! Don't touch!"). The side-effects apply after the first time the book is used. The biggest thing a DM must do with artifacts is imposing all aspects of said artifacts, even the pain-in-the-butt ones like continuous effects and "side effects" (curses, backfires, etc).

[@AJPickett]

You could make a random artifact book creation table you could roll on.

[@That80sGuy1972]

@@AJPickett Awesome! Out of all the tables I created, I never even thought about that one.

[@zmishiymishi5349]

Thanks for lore!

[@gamerdodo8581]

I keep looking for lore and details about the shark pc race. But im having trouble finding any. Can you maybe do a video on the aquatic player character races. Or if enough information is available an in depth video on the shark race.

[@AJPickett]

Sure, but they may be somewhat restricted in their social skills

[@adamholcomb1906]

The video was awesome very inspirational I think next you should look into doing a video on “book of exulted deeds” and The book of vile darkness” For your adding of artifact books😈💯

[@michaelkelligan7931]

Good evening Master Pickett,quick question....have you had a PC that has created an artifact or relic that was a book? My Necromantic Deity did just before he gained godhood it's called, "I NECROMANCER,A journey down the dark path,sojourner of deep places" its an interesting treatise of necromancy and all its black secrets including the secret of raising the dead without using faith magic! How about you m8? Ever made a powerful tome?

[@AJPickett]

I have not, no. Though i have had PCs who re-assembled an artifact.

[@michaelkelligan7931]

@@AJPickett ahhh i see let me guess.....the Rod of 7 parts?

[@AJPickett]

@@michaelkelligan7931 No, though that was the focus of one campaign I DM'ed, the one I was a player in was quite complex, featuring three player characters, one very high level, one medium-high level, and one low level, each part of a group tasked by the elders of a world to save it from being taken over by a supreme evil being. The elders had broken the laws of magic and sent our team back through time to stop the creation of a powerful artifact weapon, thus weakening and turning the tide of battle already fought and lost by our most powerful characters. Along the way, it became necessary to recruit the companions (servants) of the superheroes to clean up the mess the medium heroes left in their wake. It was essentially the disassembly of an artifact weapon, via time travel and a lot of sheer dumb luck. This was the campaign where my Gnome character managed to roll a Nat 20 with a Vorpal sword in the first round of combat with a huge and powerful giant.. lopped his head clean off his shoulders. You should have seen the DM's face, it was priceless.

[@michaelkelligan7931]

@@AJPickett interesting,im curious though,how does a 3ft tall being (your gnome) vorpally remove the head of a creature with a minimum ht of 16 ft?(giant)

[@AJPickett]

@@michaelkelligan7931 magic, and cardio

[@erikmartin4996]

The intro to this one was awesome. I’d like to make a request. You mentioned at the end of the realmspace video that you would do videos on all the planets of the system Toril inhabits. Are these in the works or was there not enough interest to do that series?

[@AJPickett]

Its coming up

[@dragonlord498]

in 4e their was a type of soft metal called orium that some ancient spellcasters made books from (smong other things like enhancing enchantments on items with beneficial decorations or such) though not entirely sure what benefits it gave didn't really say though some methods of making orium made it toxic to handle so if it was that type would make it harder for things not immune to it too handle it/steal it i guess +also said to ehnhance magic though didn't say how though it also doesn't say what the toxin does

[@cameronpearce5943]

Wanna use the Tome of Infinite Planes to break in to Acererak’s phylactory demiplane

[@AJPickett]

You better go loaded for bear!

[@twitchswitchvideos]

10:02 Codex of the Infinite Planes

[@16michaelf]

I like the opening very trippy 😵

[@RubrDuky1]

Are you going to be doing the Book of Vile Darkness? I would REALLY love to know more about it.

[@purplehaze2358]

Certainly a lot more interesting than real books. -Coming from a book addict.-

[@vadermardark]

Awesome video....how about the dragon spheres

[@Im-Not-a-Dog]

Can the next one of these videos be on famous named weapons and their origins?

[@adamwelch4336]

Artefacts and ancient magic long forgot diffent lost civilizations forgotten by time and lost by the hero's of a bygone age!

[@janpetrie5498]

There was an artifact that I remember from second edition for the God Tempus called the “Red Book of War”. I cannot Remember too many details about it and I have searched and searched all the forgotten realms sourcebooks And have still not found the entry again. Does Anyone remember this artifact?

[@janpetrie5498]

After much more research I have found only one reference to the Red Book of War stating that it’s a holy relic, a text that was lost at sea. It also references the Invulnerable Coat of Blacksaddle

[@tommcd5943]

Hammer of thunderbolt, axe of dervish lords, and ravenloft please

[@pariswashington5543]

what about the book of vile darkness or the demonomicon of iggwilv

[@AJPickett]

Good request!

[@reachcole514]

There's also the Book of Exalted Deeds, and the book written by the god Cyric, called Cyrinishad.

[@TheWonkster]

And you could cover the actual physical book

[@leosciotti1389]

This is the kind of stuff you need to throw in a portal to the sun...

[@smokeymcpot0429666]

Your awesome

[@SuperSupper2]

Woah, cool intro!

[@coreyeaston6823]

Lower the background music a bit, beyond that history and backgrounds of artifacts is awesome!

[@TerrariaGolem]

Not Books! Knowledge is too powerful! My brainnnnnn!

[@joemerino3243]

Awesome intro this time.

[@Sagetower7]

Who created the first drawing shown in the video (0:10)? I like it a lot and would like to see what else the illustrator made.

[@lorekeeper685]

I love codex's must read every page to destroy it condition

[@dylanslaugh3250]

Sorry I keep missing the live streams so I’m going to ask my question. If a pc were to kill one personality of Adimarchus and then flee to heal and become better prepared going back into the fight would that personality have regenerated or is it gone?

[@AJPickett]

Adimarchus? Hmmm I don't know

[@dylanslaugh3250]

Okay I guess that’s for the DM to decide. Thanks.

[@dominictaylor6759]

Love funny items like these 🤪

[@cloudread1k]

hello i am relatively new to D&D(only started a year ago) and as my fav class is wizard (unfortunately i play with people that do not want wizards in there games"wizards suck. you should play a [insert class hear]") i like to learn about all the cool items/ways wizards can help or TPK there friends by accident (>.>) (

[@dragonballtalk8527]

I use artifacts in many different games

[@Qwerty95ish]

Please do Ebonbane

[@genghiskhan7041]

I had a mage that read the entire Codex of the Infinite Planes. He ended up being a hated enemy of a pantheon of gods!

[@Scarab51]

Serious question. How does hitting the like button help the youtubers? I never hit it, but I may start based on if it REALLY helps.

[@AJPickett]

It increases stats for audience engagement, which improves the reach of the channel on promotion algorithms

[@Scarab51]

AJ Pickett got it. Thanks for letting me know

[@handlebarfox2366]

10:02 catfish!!

[@onlycorndog6322]

Codex of the Infinite Planes sounds like an SCP.

[@AJPickett]

Potentially all artifacts are.

[@jgr7487]

a book isn't bad enough if it doesn't have an Allip curse tied to it besides all other terrifying curses and abilities it might already have.

[@matthewhamlin392]

I gave my players an artifact that could create weapons,armor, rings, wands, and rods, for epic levels. When they got back to town with raw materials of silver, mitheral, and adamantine they sold it all and each got 1 weapon and 1 suit of armor. Im face palming myself in my mind and saying in my thoughts "You stupid players." This campaign started at 20 and ended at 35. It was fun to run but watching the players buy gear was sad, especially when they were mostly broke. To make things worse to make them use the artifact I made prices way more expensive. So long story short when the campaign was over i discarded the artifact. Recreating it will be easy because I will never forget what the artifact did, just don't remember its name I gave it.

[@endeavor8114]

make a video on the ring of winter

[@TheBroot0999]

And here I thought I was being trolled

[@noahdavies4431]

Where would one find information on the book of no end? I've been googling around and I can't find any information at all

[@philipboardman1357]

7:40 Should this be an increase of 50%? An increase of 150% is 250% of the original amount.

[@AJPickett]

I'll take your word for it, numbers are not my friends.

[@philipboardman1357]

@@AJPickett It's the kind of mistake I would make myself.

[@sevrono]

in our campaign, artifacts are immune to antimagic

[@genostellar]

Which edition of D&D is "The Book With No End" included in? I found a PDF for the roleplay it's involved in, but I don't know what version of D&D it is or where any of the locations are in regard to the rest of the roleplay world. Does anyone have the answers to these things?

[@mikemccoy5092]

Artifacts suggestions how about special ones u created for games since there's plenty of

[@mikemccoy5092]

Examples of crazy homebrew ones

[@skelyjack3899]

How would you handle one of these items being awakened?

[@AJPickett]

The first would have the captured portraits of wizards animated and able to speak, the second would babble in different voices, each sentence composed of words from different languages that only the tongues spell would allow any interpretation. The book would be babbling about prophecies for obscure planes and seemingly unimportant objects and individuals located on them.

[@smile-tl9in]

maybe it is possible to completly read the book of infinite plane in a dead magic zone ? Or a personal demiplane while having invulnerability cast so the doom do not affect outside ?

[@AJPickett]

Sounds like someone is pitching hail Mary ideas at the DM 😁

[@smile-tl9in]

@@AJPickett well if you're going to risk your life reaching ultimate power by reading a madness inducing artifact of immense power you better be prepared. On a side note, clones are an option too

[@Enforcer_Hound1]

Is there 5e version of the books or links to them ?

[@debreczeniarpad9956]

Why arent there are just books with 10-20 random spells? Maybe with a skeleton in the hat

[@abrahamsorby8193]

So...im gonna play an order of the scrolls wizard and want to create a sentient artifact book. And....IDEAS...Go

[@ianwithani310]

Do zombies and skeletons have souls? What happens to the souls of those whose bodys are turned into undead?

[@dynamicworlds1]

This may be out of date lore, but my memory is the standard D&D skeletons are animated by essentially being possessed by a shadow (or some other comparable negative-energy entity) which gains resistance to things like sunlight (and may not be entirely destroyed or banished when the skeleton is, but instead temporarily dissipated). The souls perviously inhabiting the bodies would be uneffected by such an occurrence.

[@andrewgiles1977]

Has anyone covered the Books of Keeping…?

[@devinkibe6174]

Book of vile darkness please