So I had an idea for a magic item, and I'm looking for ways to tweak it to make it fair and balanced for a level 5 character, but can also help at higher levels as well (ideally it should be usable, if not the best option, all the way up to level 20).
Sections I'm not sure about at all will be highlighted in bold: sections I'm not entirely sure about but am pretty sure they're how I want them to be are underlined. If you don't care for more narrative description and would prefer to get right to the pure stats and effects of the armor, it'll be in the sections labeled "After Attunement" and "Primal Fury".
The Primal Hunter's Armor
The Premise
When I first had the idea for this armor, I wanted to make a piece of light or medium armor that could provide better benefits than pure +1 to AC. I'm not denying that +1 AC helps, especially in 5e, but it seems that magic items lack flavor to make them stand out (weapons such as Hazirawn excluded), and the attunement process is just silly. Because spending an hour holding an item is enough to be able to use its powerful abilities... With this in mind, I decided to make an item with a unique attunement and effect, so that it would stand out among the masses of simple magic items. However, its power comes with a drawback to provide a bit of balance and stop it being utterly broken.
The Description
Nothing more than flavor text, which isn't strictly required, but I like to have it to describe what my players are seeing. The Primal Hunter's Armor is a set of +1 scale armor fashioned from the hide of an enormous reptile, and can imbue its wearer with the power and ferocity of a fearsome colossus that once stalked the land. When you hold it (but are not attuned), you can feel a great power lying dormant within.
Before Attunement
Before you become attuned to the armor, it acts as just another set of +1 scale mail. Nothing to get too worked up over, but enough of a bonus to keep using it, at least temporarily.
Unusual Attunement
Now for the fun bit. I know that the 5e attunement process is made to streamline the play experience a bit, but come on. An hour spent holding a rare and powerful item probably shouldn't give you mastery over it, so I decided that to unlock this armor's power you should have to get unlucky. Very unlucky. Unlucky enough that your frustration boils over from real life and into the game, releasing your character's inner fury. How unlucky? If you get hit with a critical hit (ie natural 20), or attack an enemy and critically miss (ie natural 1), the attunement process begins.
The Attunement Process
"Now we've established the situation that causes attunement to occur, what happens next?" I hear you asking. That's a very astute question. First of all, you let out an ear-splitting roar, far more of a reaction than rolling a critical failure or being critically hit deserves, and the armor glows with a fell red light. Not too bright, though... Just enough for the party to ask "What the hell's going on?" before the fun starts. At this point, you have awakened the hidden power in the armor, which brings out your own primal fury. The first time this state occurs, you gain its most extreme effects. You gain 10 temporary hit points (before your opponent makes their damage roll), 10 points to Strength, and 10 to Dexterity, ignoring your normal caps for those stats. At this point, pause for a moment and allow the players' jaws to hit the floor. Then continue: you lose 10 points in Intelligence and Charisma, but as normal they cannot be reduced below 1. As you are in touch with the more primal aspects of your being, you lose the ability to comprehend or speak any languages, and you must attack a hostile creature if possible. While the effect lasts, you are incapable of pulling your blows and always strike to kill. This state ends after 1d4 + 1 turns: when it does, you lose any temporary hit points remaining, your stats revert to normal, and your actions and mind are entirely your own; you then lose 1d6 hit points for each turn you spent in primal fury (and/or gain one or more levels of exhaustion, am going to decide after playtesting it).
After Attunement
Once everyone recovers from their shock, and combat has ended, the hidden power of this armor can be told to the wearer. While attuned, your bonus to AC becomes one-third your proficiency bonus, rounded down. You may use a bonus action to enter the state of primal fury, as detailed below.
Primal Fury
Heralding to the dawn of time, this armor allows you to temporarily unleash the power of the beast from which the piece has been fashioned. When you enter this state, the armor glows with a fell red light that illuminates a radius of 5ft, centered on you, with dim light. When you enter this state, roll 1d10: You gain that many temporary hit points, that many points in Strength and Dexterity regardless of your limit to those stats, and lose that many points in Intelligence and Charisma (they cannot go below 1) for the duration. You lose the ability to comprehend or speak any languages for the duration, and you must attack a hostile creature on your turn if it is possible. You may not choose to knock an enemy unconscious for the duration. You may exit primal fury as a bonus action: when you do, your stats revert to normal, you lose any temporary hit points remaining from using primal fury, and you lose 1d6 hit points for each of your turns spent raging. After primal fury has been used, it cannot be used again until after you complete a long rest.
Alright, that's all of it. Let me know what you think in the comments, I'd really like to be able to include this without breaking my campaign!
Sections I'm not sure about at all will be highlighted in bold: sections I'm not entirely sure about but am pretty sure they're how I want them to be are underlined. If you don't care for more narrative description and would prefer to get right to the pure stats and effects of the armor, it'll be in the sections labeled "After Attunement" and "Primal Fury".
The Primal Hunter's Armor
The Premise
When I first had the idea for this armor, I wanted to make a piece of light or medium armor that could provide better benefits than pure +1 to AC. I'm not denying that +1 AC helps, especially in 5e, but it seems that magic items lack flavor to make them stand out (weapons such as Hazirawn excluded), and the attunement process is just silly. Because spending an hour holding an item is enough to be able to use its powerful abilities... With this in mind, I decided to make an item with a unique attunement and effect, so that it would stand out among the masses of simple magic items. However, its power comes with a drawback to provide a bit of balance and stop it being utterly broken.
The Description
Nothing more than flavor text, which isn't strictly required, but I like to have it to describe what my players are seeing. The Primal Hunter's Armor is a set of +1 scale armor fashioned from the hide of an enormous reptile, and can imbue its wearer with the power and ferocity of a fearsome colossus that once stalked the land. When you hold it (but are not attuned), you can feel a great power lying dormant within.
Before Attunement
Before you become attuned to the armor, it acts as just another set of +1 scale mail. Nothing to get too worked up over, but enough of a bonus to keep using it, at least temporarily.
Unusual Attunement
Now for the fun bit. I know that the 5e attunement process is made to streamline the play experience a bit, but come on. An hour spent holding a rare and powerful item probably shouldn't give you mastery over it, so I decided that to unlock this armor's power you should have to get unlucky. Very unlucky. Unlucky enough that your frustration boils over from real life and into the game, releasing your character's inner fury. How unlucky? If you get hit with a critical hit (ie natural 20), or attack an enemy and critically miss (ie natural 1), the attunement process begins.
The Attunement Process
"Now we've established the situation that causes attunement to occur, what happens next?" I hear you asking. That's a very astute question. First of all, you let out an ear-splitting roar, far more of a reaction than rolling a critical failure or being critically hit deserves, and the armor glows with a fell red light. Not too bright, though... Just enough for the party to ask "What the hell's going on?" before the fun starts. At this point, you have awakened the hidden power in the armor, which brings out your own primal fury. The first time this state occurs, you gain its most extreme effects. You gain 10 temporary hit points (before your opponent makes their damage roll), 10 points to Strength, and 10 to Dexterity, ignoring your normal caps for those stats. At this point, pause for a moment and allow the players' jaws to hit the floor. Then continue: you lose 10 points in Intelligence and Charisma, but as normal they cannot be reduced below 1. As you are in touch with the more primal aspects of your being, you lose the ability to comprehend or speak any languages, and you must attack a hostile creature if possible. While the effect lasts, you are incapable of pulling your blows and always strike to kill. This state ends after 1d4 + 1 turns: when it does, you lose any temporary hit points remaining, your stats revert to normal, and your actions and mind are entirely your own; you then lose 1d6 hit points for each turn you spent in primal fury (and/or gain one or more levels of exhaustion, am going to decide after playtesting it).
After Attunement
Once everyone recovers from their shock, and combat has ended, the hidden power of this armor can be told to the wearer. While attuned, your bonus to AC becomes one-third your proficiency bonus, rounded down. You may use a bonus action to enter the state of primal fury, as detailed below.
Primal Fury
Heralding to the dawn of time, this armor allows you to temporarily unleash the power of the beast from which the piece has been fashioned. When you enter this state, the armor glows with a fell red light that illuminates a radius of 5ft, centered on you, with dim light. When you enter this state, roll 1d10: You gain that many temporary hit points, that many points in Strength and Dexterity regardless of your limit to those stats, and lose that many points in Intelligence and Charisma (they cannot go below 1) for the duration. You lose the ability to comprehend or speak any languages for the duration, and you must attack a hostile creature on your turn if it is possible. You may not choose to knock an enemy unconscious for the duration. You may exit primal fury as a bonus action: when you do, your stats revert to normal, you lose any temporary hit points remaining from using primal fury, and you lose 1d6 hit points for each of your turns spent raging. After primal fury has been used, it cannot be used again until after you complete a long rest.
Alright, that's all of it. Let me know what you think in the comments, I'd really like to be able to include this without breaking my campaign!
