Brainstorming artifacts.

[muffinstien]

Currently running a chatroom DnD campaign. In this campaign, my players are soon to begin traveling the world in search of powerful artifacts.

The word artifact is somewhat abstract, as these range from a gem is constantly surrounded by a hurricane-force seastorm to the control rod of a race of flesh golems in a civil war hidden beneath an island. Case and point.. I need more.

The campaign is going to center around collecting roughly 10 artifacts, the results of their encounters playing out heavily in the ending of the story, which will range from a good end to a horrific slaughterfest should they end up in the wrong hands.

The 'wrong hands' will more than likely be those of my players, as they are mostly an evil party by nature.

So I would like some suggestions, just random ideas as to what you consider to be an artifact. I've made an effort to avoid pre-written worlds (Faerun, Eberron) and items (Rod of Wonder and the like), to make things less generic in my campaigns, which helps to spice things up... but I simply need ideas. Any suggestions?

If needed i can provide more details on the campaign.

[Utgardloki]

1. Chariot of Conquest. Inspired by the Tarot Card. Two creatures with 7 or more hit dice each must be hitched to the chariot for it to be activated. Provides everything the inspiring conquerer could want, including an anti-magic shell, a beverage cooler, and the ability to summon elementals.

2. Monk's Jacket. This probably resembles the sort of "gi" that monks use. It grants all sort of useful abilities such as unarmed attack, slippery mind and perfect body, extraordinary feats of athleticism and even flight, and perhaps a few simple low-level spells such as Flare and Daze Monster. Can summon monks weapons with the appropriate enchantments to get past common damage resistances.

3. Hat of Conjuration. To the uninitiated, this simply is a device that can summon monsters. But the person who knows how to unlock its abilities can use it to cast spells, animate objects, send people or creatures to another dimension, enhance his own attributes, and all kinds of other things that magic hats can do.

[muffinstien]

I like these. The chariot and monk's jacket expecially. For lack of having an actual monk in the party, I think that would serve as a very interesting change of pace (and would probably convince one or two of them to multiclass). The chariot is simply an amazing idea.

A few more details: The campaign has been dubbed Islandwalker as its title. The mainstay of it will involve ship travel (for while the gem of storms will be handy as a defensive measure) for lengths of time, followed by what I plan to be very intense dungeons and very complicated diplomatic situations. They currently have two factions; one being that of a Half-Orc sorceror planning on reviving 'someone', and the other of three allied kingdoms, each of which would have different intentions regarding the artifacts. They also have the choice of keeping them (and forsaking both the tri-kingdom and the sorceror).

The chariot will certainly be considered. The jacket is an amazing concept, if I don't use it literally, and the hat is definitely an idea. Thanks!