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[StagnantSoul]

I know the best artifacts will be the mood ones, the ones with the massive wealth boosts and weird things like platinum beds and such, but when I look at my masterwork candy crown studded with platinum and rose gold, with images of dwarves striking down dragons in black diamond, all masterwork, I wonder why this thing isn't an artifact, and so, why don't we have a system to present an item as our fort's newest artifact, despite not being from a mood? Maybe even have the crafter of the artifact become somewhat famed due to it, everyone oohing and awing over his amazing dragon bone flood gates or what have you.

[Shonai_Dweller]

You'll be able to do this in adventurer.

Not sure I agree with the idea though. For a start, it wouldn't make sense to allow player fortress governments to declare their not-so-legendary junk as artifacts when no other site does so.

Artifacts are a realm where the individual dorf has the final say, not the player (except the player who works around the system with forbidden stuff and burrows and such - but they don't really ned rp immersion).

I like that artifacts are very personal in nature. Named weapons wielded by legendary warriors, coveted by their families, Works by artists said to be possessed by the gods, coveted by their entities and Pieces of legendary dead priests coveted by religious fanatics.

[FantasticDorf]

Artifacts are special in their qualities, being crude it would be insulting to give anything below masterwork of exceedingly high value a second look as a artifact.

Artifacts also nigh indestructable, untradable, coveted & generally more trouble than they are worth.

[GoblinCookie]

What is an artifact anyway? 

[StagnantSoul]

My head canon has it is the Dwarf gets possessed by their ancestors or a minor deity and forced to make a cool sock.

[GoblinCookie]

My head canon has it is the Dwarf gets possessed by their ancestors or a minor deity and forced to make a cool sock.

 

[NW_Kohaku]

What is an artifact anyway?

My head canon has it is the Dwarf gets possessed by their ancestors or a minor deity and forced to make a cool sock.

That is basically an exact description of the "possessed"-type mood, but there are others. 

The others don't have explicit canon yet, but can be presumed to be a dwarf magically channeling some other power, such as a deity, and behaving in a trance state to fulfill the whims of that deity or power.  Macabre or fell moods are obviously from more evil deities of death or pestilence or the like. 

I'm pretty sure Toady has mentioned it somewhere in the devblog years ago when the moods were updated to what they are now, but if you want, you could possibly ask in the FotF thread for a more official response.

It's because of this divine inspiration that artifacts are meant to have unique magical powers sometime down the line, as well as just having their current odd effects and ludicrous value. 

That said, it's not like it's unreasonable for an item to become an artifact and gain powers over time, but it shouldn't just be a goblet you, as the player, really like and put a lot of decorations on.  It would need to be something more like how weapons gain names and legends, currently, and just make it so that, if an item gains enough of a legend around it for being symbolic of major events, it gains magical powers.  (I.E. the hammer of a hammerer that executed half his fortress, or the throne or crown or scepter of a legendary king.)