List: The 9 most badass artifacts in Pathfinder

We spend much of our RPGing lives amassing weapons, armor and items to outfit our characters.

Every once in awhile – just every so often – we’ll come across an artifact, an object of amazing and perhaps unimaginable or godlike power.

Pathfinder has dozens of sourcebooks and plenty of artifacts listed. We perused the list of the most powerful and found these nine completely badass items. If you find these, hold onto them as long as your GM allows (or as long as your character survives).

Book of the Damned

Held between covers of bladed steel, stretched human flesh, and compressed ashes, this massive collection of loose folios, leathery scrolls, and gory manuscripts is the authoritative volume on unspeakable topics and evils for which there are no names.

This is the ultimate book of evil, and it conveys some really wicked abilities onto its bearer including crazy at-will spell-like abilities and an intimate knowledge of Hell and the Abyss.

Bottle of the Bound

Swirling runes reminiscent of claws and flames circle this elegant but ancient-looking brass bottle, and a stopper shaped like a ferocious tiger seals it tightly.

This is like a genie’s bottle, but instead of a wish-granting spirit there are 666 evil demons ready to cause havoc waiting inside. It requires three magic words to open and summon the demons, but if you mess it up, all 666 will spill out one per minute. The only way to destroy the thing is to do just that and kill every demon inside. Sounds like fun to me.

Demon Prince Armor

Glowing red energy emanates from sigils engraved on the armor’s key plates and joints, and the runs intermittently surge with fiendish power.

This is plate armor fashioned to make the wearer appear to be a large and dangerous demon. It’s massive and the only armor you’ll ever need. By donning the armor, you get darkvision; resistance to acid, cold and fire; telepathy; and the knowledge of several languages. Oh, and don’t need to breathe or eat. You are a walking badass.

Jar of Dragon Teeth

This large glass jar is a never-ending source of dragon teeth that grant magical powers.

Every time someone picks this jar is filled with more teeth. Eat one (yeah, eat a giant dragon tooth) and become immediately polymorphed into a dragon for one full week. No joke. You become a dragon for awhile and you get all the powers of a dragon.

Orbs of Dragonkind

Color shimmers within the smoky depths of this perfect crystalline sphere. Both the scintillating shade and emanations of an indefinable power suggest the breathing of a drowsing dragon.

The essences of 10 ancient dragons inhabit these orbs, and invoking the orb allows the bearer to dominate dragons of the orbs variety. And just by holding the orb, you get a special power, a breath weapon and massive buffs to your armor and attacks. So once you pick up the Black Dragon Orb, you can take control of black dragons around you, fly around, spit acid and basically become unstoppable.

Perfection’s Key

This platinum key can open nearly any lock or door with a mere touch.

This key unlocks any lock. It’s a simple item, but it’s incredibly powerful.

Saint Cuthbert’s Mace

This simple wooden mace bears the scars and splinters of frequent use, and looks like the weapon of a traveling monk or military chaplain.

A simple-looking weapon, this artifact was the property of an ancient priest who prayed it would find another hero who would use it to defend the good from all that is evil. On a specific day each year, it teleports to a place where a lawful good wielder will find it. It then stays in their possession to wreak havoc until it is needed elsewhere.

Scepter of Ages

Strange metal prongs and rune-marked teeth jut at weird angles from this sword-length key.

This crazy weapon, which has a sceptered head like a map of the solar system, ages people several years whenever you roll a crit. That’s nuts. Even more nuts, it can open a portal through time for one minute. That’s a serious piece of weaponry.

Song of Extinction

Images of ruin wind like worms across the surface of this midnight blue music box.

You can either wind up the box and let it play or (as a bard) learn to play the song. When you do, the ground around you shakes and everyone gets sucked into 100-foot-deep pits. And for everyone that’s killed that way, you cease to age for one year. Wow. That’s a way to keep your bard alive forever.

What is your favorite RPG artifact, weapon or magic item? Tell us about it in the comments.