[Divine] Artifact - Agony & Ruin

These two darts are bone fragments of Qhyrra the Painweaver, granted to a worthy champion of the God of Pain and Misery. They represent the instruments used to weave the Tapestry of Pain that binds all living things. When Qhyrra grants these darts to a mortal champion, it is more of a test for the champion rather than a tool for any ultimate goal.

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Agony & Ruin

Weapon Set (dart), artifact (requires attunement)

To attune to these darts, you must spend the duration of the attunement period in intense pain with them piercing your flesh. You must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw try attuning to these darts. On a success, you attune to the darts and your maximum hit points decrease by 15 until the attunement ends; any physical damage you take while attuned permanently scars your body as a badge of honor. On a failure, do not attune to the darts and you become paralyzed for 1d4 hours.

Envoy. The darts grant the following benefits while you are Qhyrra's Envoy:  

• The darts grant a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with them, and deal an extra 1d4 acid damage on a hit. You can pull a dart from your flesh as part of an attack made with it. 
• You can use a bonus action to teleport one or both darts back to your flesh from any location as long as they are on the same plane of existence you are on. 
• The two darts are named Agony and Ruin, each dripping with a different ichor. Immediately after you hit a target with one of these darts, you can force the target to make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw (no action required). On a failed save, the dart lodges in the target for 1 minute or until a creature uses an action to pull it out. While the dart is lodged, if you hit the target with the other dart, you impose a bonus effect on the target: if you hit the target with Agony, it is poisoned; if you hit the target with Ruin, your attacks and spells deal an extra 1d4 acid damage to the target. These bonus effects last until the original dart is dislodged. This property of the darts can't be used again until the next dusk, unless you lose 2d8 hit points to use it again.

Herald. The darts grant the following additional benefits while you are Qhyrra's Herald:  

• The darts' bonus to attack and damage rolls increases to +2. 
• The saving throw DC to resist Agony and Ruin increases to 15. 
• You have resistance to acid damage while at least one of these darts is in your flesh.

Champion. The darts grant the following additional benefits while you are Qhyrra's champion:  

• The darts' bonus to attack and damage rolls increases to +3. 
• The saving throw DC for lodging Agony and Ruin into a target increases to 17. Additionally, a creature must now succeed on a DC 17 Strength check to pull out a lodged dart. 
• While at least one of these darts is in your flesh, you can cast disintegrate from it (save DC 17), dealing acid instead of force damage. Affected targets are reduced to sludge instead of gray dust. This property can't be used again until the next dusk.

Destroying the Darts. To destroy Agony and Ruin, they must be washed for seven days with the cleansing flames of a phoenix's tears. The darts slowly shrivel away over these 7 days to reveal its marrow core: thin rods of blood rubies. Two disintegrate spells must be simultaneously cast on these rubies within 24 hours to reduce them to golden dust — otherwise the darts vanish and reappear on the Tapestry of Pain fully regrown.

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DESIGN COMMENTARY

Wow way to kick off this month. We're heading into Divine Favors, which started out as a collection of godly boons but has instead turned into 10 Artifacts of 10 Gods of the Aureliate. The Gods themselves may be somewhat detailed, but you could totally graft their artifacts into any world.

I initially designed a number of Artifacts and toyed with a couple progression systems, but eventually gave in to the Vestige of Divergence design method. Having 3 Artifact tiers is a great way to introduce Artifacts earlier in a campaign and be somewhat usable by PCs, instead of introducing them as untouchable Macguffins. They should feel like a rare weapon to start out.

For this one, I really like the idea of constant pain.