We will not be doing per-game xp. I'm going to just tell people when they level up. This is in part due to the fixed time frame we're operating in. Don't complain about it.

Some magical items are created with a fixed form and function, remaining relatively static for the entirety of their existence. Artificers find these items to be easier to craft as the components are easier to come by; merchants find them easier to barter as educated consumers are more likely to purchase something they find to be more familiar.

In contrast, more ambitious and/or artistically-minded artificers can create magical items which are significantly more adaptable than “run of the mill” trinkets. Some craftsmen might do so to provide additional levels of customizable utility and some craftsmen create these flexible items with the hopes of their masterpiece ascending into literal legend.

The magical methods used to allow this mystical malleability are tied directly into the living spirit of the wielder at a level even deeper than “mere” attunement. They draw power and function directly from the power of their owner's very soul. These items are, in fact, “soulbound.”

Rather than having a fixed set of abilities, the abilities of a soulbound item are not defined until a living soul takes ownership of it and awakens those abilities. These abilities persist in the soulbound item until the item is bound to another character or the current owner dies. Undead, constructs, plants, and other soulless or nonliving creatures cannot bind to a soulbound item.

This awakening occurs during a short rest where the character spends time with the soulbound item, functionally equivalent to attuning an item. Soulbinding an item does not take an attunement slot, despite the similiarities between the mystical connection processes. There is no limit to the number of items that a given character can have soulbound, but there are other restrictions to consider (mentioned later).

A soulbound item has a physical form just like any other magical item. They come in many classic varieties: weapons, clothing, jewelry, foci, and so on. Any permanent (non-expendable), non-artifact, non-sentient magic item can potentially be a soulbound item. A pair of soulbound boots are, physically, going to always be footwear.

Soulbound items always resize, reshape, and even re-style themselves to best match their current owner's body and personality. A set of soulbound boots worn by a half-demon centaur could appear as four jagged horseshoes of black iron, but when claimed and worn by a lighthearted pixie they could be a pair of tiny whimsical slippers made of glittered feathers.

Regardless of the cosmetic manifestation of a given soulbound item, they always remain as the same category of item. An arcane focus might be a wand in the hands of one wizard and a crystal orb in the hands of another, but it will always functionally remain an arcane focus.

Items which can serve two functions (such as an arcane focus staff, or a holy symbol shield) must retain all the same features in any new form they may take: the holy symbol on the shield may change and the specific type of shield may alter, but it will remain as a holy symbol shield no matter who owns it. This does mean that an arcane focus staff could be upgraded as a magical weapon would too, since it inherently serves as both types of object (a focus and a weapon).

Soulbound items, whether bound to a soul at the time or not, register to the Detect Magic spell as magical with the aura type of indeterminate-strength “Transmutation.” When Identify (or similiar) is cast upon the item, it will either reveal the current properties of the item if still soulbound or it will inform the caster that the item is an unattached soulbound item.

The true wonder of a soulbound item is not in its amazing cosmetic versatility, but in its capacity to express its magical powers in a way best-suited to its owner. Some owners can consciously influence the expression of the item's powers while some are surprised at what their subconscious has dreamed up.

Once an item is soulbound to a character, that character's linked soul impresses new abilities into the item, shaping the raw magic within. Each significant deed accomplished by the character elevates both their own soul normally as well the soulbound item(s) on their person at the time. If the item is not soulbound to the person carrying it, it does not benefit from any deeds of exaltation.

Mechanically speaking, a character with a soulbound item earns “Investment Points” in one of two ways:

• Earning a character level. For each new level earned, 1 Investment Point is gained.
• Accomplishing an extraordinatory deed (as a roleplaying and/or quest reward, per DM discretion). For each deed, a DM-determined number of Investment Points are gained.

»» Author's Note: Chris, the wiki writeups can be considered an extraordinary (roleplaying) deed too if you want to tie those in.

During a short rest (similiar to the process of attuning or soulbinding), a character can spend a number of Investment Points up to his or her total character level and imbue them into one particular soulbound item. This cannot be the same short rest in which the item is initially soulbound to the character.

Spending Investment Points allows the character to upgrade the item according to the following list, granting the item all of the abilities and features of an item of the same type. Remember that the item cannot change its physical type: a sword must remain a sword, a ring must remain a ring, and so on.

• 1 Point: Uncommon magic item (example: +1 shield), or the ability to magically glow as a torch upon command (free action)
• 5 Points: Rare magic item (example: Staff of Healing), or the capacity to be used as a specific class' spell focus
• 11 Points: Very Rare magic item (example: Ring of Shooting Stars), or the abilities of one Feat (PHB p165)
• 17 Points: Legendary magic item (example: Rod of Lordly Might), or the abilities of one Epic Boon (DMG p232)

There is no limit to the total number of Investment Points that can be imbued into a given item, but no one ritual of investment can exceed the character's total level. For instance, a level 5 character can spend 5 Investment Points to imbue his soulbound full plate with the “rare” properties of Armor of Acid Resistance and then spend another 5 Investment Points to make it +1 armor. This results in a total expense of 10 Investment Points and two hours of ritual to create +1 Armor of Acid Resistance.

Repeated investments do not stack. A character cannot pay 1 Investment Point to create a +1 shield, and then another 1 Investment Point for another +1 in the hopes of making it a +2 shield. A +2 shield is a Rare item, so would require 5 Investment Points total be spent.

However, that same character could spend 1 Investment Point to make that shield +1, and then later (when at least total character level 5) spend another 4 Investment Points to upgrade it to a +2 shield, since a total of 5 Investment Points will have been spent. Once the character is level 11 or higher, another 6 Investment Points can be spent to upgrade the shield to +3.

In some cases an item has a high rarity but the DM may allow its abilities to be unlocked in tiers, allowing the character to slowly gain the benefits of the item without having to hoard Investment Points for one large payoff.

For example, the Scimitar of Speed is a Very Rare item. It grants +2 to attack and damage and when you attack with it you can make an additional attack that round as a bonus action. This can be deconstructed into three tiers: Tier 1 it is a +1 scimitar (Uncommon), Tier 2 it is a +2 scimitar (Rare), and Tier 3 it is a full Scimitar of Speed (Very Rare). In this way the character can spend 1 Investment Point, then later another 4, then later another 6 to unlock the full abilities of the weapon.

Overlapping abilities do not stack and are paid for separately. If the character wanted that Scimitar of Speed to end up as a +3 weapon instead of its usual +2, then it would not be a matter of simply spending the Investment Points to raise it another tier. Instead, the character would have to also spend the points equivalent to a +3 weapon (Very Rare, so 11 Investment Points total) on top of the points spent for the Scimitar of Speed. Therefore, a +3 Scimitar of Speed would cost 22 Investment Points. As each investment separately costs 11 Investment Points, this could be purchased by a character with an overall character level of 11 or higher and would take two hours to imbue.

Some items will require additional creativity and effort on the DM's part to adequately create upgrade tiers. Some items may be declared by the DM to not be compatible with a tiering system at all. If your wizard wants a Legendary-grade Tome of the Stilled Tongue, he might have to just save up and wait until he's level 17 with a soulbound book available to use.

When a character dies, all earned Investment Points are removed from any items currently soulbound to the character. The items keep their current physical form but lose all of their defined magical abilities, reverting to an unclaimed soulbound magic item. If a character is resurrected from a noble (or otherwise deity-approved) death, then at the DM's discretion the Investment Points are returned to the character in an unallocated pool which can be invested in the same or other soulbound items as the character sees fit. This could even mean completely different abilities could be invested into soulbound items than before.

If a soulbound item is destroyed for any reason, the Investment Points imbued into it are also lost forever. It is for this reason that artificers do not often (if ever) make expendable items soulbound.

Likewise if a living character loses possession of a soulbound item long enough to where another character performs the binding ritual upon the item, then those Investment Points from the original owner are permanently lost.

If a soulbound item remains in the possession of a character once they reach a total character level of 20, and it has a total number of imbued Investment Points equal to or exceeding 20, then the item henceforth is tied to the legend of that character's destiny. It graduates from soulbound to “artifact” status, permanently fixed in its present form and function for all time. Even if the owner dies or otherwise abandons the item, the epic artifact remains as is.

Scholars also tend to refer to the item using the owner's name, as well: it's very possible for someone to eventually unearth the ancient lost wonder that is the “+3 Vorpal Flaming Holy Avenger Sunblade of Bob.”