D&D: The Five Most Iconic Artifacts
We’re hungry for power this week, as we grasp at five of the most iconic artifacts in all of D&D.
Artifacts are the stuff of legends. Their names are whispered in hushed voices. Villains and heroes might dedicate their careers to seizing or destroying them. Legends of their power spreads far and wide throughout the world. Entire adventures, if not,campaigns revolve around them. In the right hands, an artifact can reshape the world. In the wrong hands it can be disastrous. Artifacts attract everyone from adventurers to gods. Here are five artifacts that have changed the course of D&D.
The Hand and Eye of Vecna.
Perhaps the most famous set of artifacts in D&D. The Hand an Eye are reputed to be all that remains of a powerful lich and sure, you have to cut off your hand and gouge out your own eye if you want to use these, but that’s the whole “price for power” thing. But wait, you might be saying, shouldn’t evil artifacts be seductive? Gouging out your eye is all konds of body horrory.
But, you do gain sone wicked powers that might one day consume your soul. So there’s that.
The Axe of the Dwarvish Lords
Powerful enough to have its own high-level adventure, the Axe of the Dwarvish Lords was forged when the world was new by a master dwarven smith who loved to create so much that Moradin himself undertook to teach him the arts of crafting. This axe as been many things throughout the ages: symbol of Dwarven High Kings, cause of at least one civil war, prophecied tool of legendary heroes yet to be. Functioning as both deadly weapon and powerful tool, the Axe of the Dwarvish Lords is the capstone to any adventuring dwarf’s career.
The Rod of Seven Parts
The only one of these to have its own novel, the Rod of Seven Parts has everything you’d want in an artifact: ancient item of power, destroyed long ago in battle between order and chaos, scattered throughout the world, needs to be reassembled to stop a powerful evil–the whole thing is an adventure that practically writes itself (although I believe it was Skip Williams that actually did that–it culminates in a fight against an evil lich).
The Wand of Orcus
The signature weapon of its namesake, the Wand of Orcus has appeared throughout the ages. From 1st – 5th edition, the wand has been at the side of the Demon Prince of Undeath as he battles against his ancient foe, Demogorgon. Rightly called the wand of death, this artifact once had the power to destroy nearly any being in the cosmos (a 50% chance, anyway). Most of the time, this artifact appears in a campaign as an item the PCs MUST destroy.
The Orbs of Dragonkind
If the Wand of Orcus was wielded by an iconic monster, the Orbs of Dragonkind revolve around THE iconic monster. It’s right there in the name of the game, right after the ampersand. And like the Rod of Seven Parts, these artifacts stepped out of the game and into fiction, appearing in the classic Dragonlance novels as well (aother iconic part of D&D). There seems to be a version of their origins for just about every edition, campaign setting, or age category you can think of. Yes, wherever people fight against dragons, the Orbs of Dragonkind can’t be far behind.
These are five of the most iconic artifacts from D&D. Think we left some out? Let us know in the comments below.
