Weapons of Legend
So I’m going to start with the 800lb elephant in the
room, which is how the proliferation of magic items in D&D, since 3.5, and
Pathfinder have taken a little of the special out of magic weapons. When you can buy a +1 weapon at any corner
store or pay to have a wizard enchant it to become even more powerful, finding
magic items in a trove has now become a matter of trading up. It really takes
certain something special out of finding an item of power.
I have to admit as a gamer who started in 2nd edition,
this is one of the few things that sometimes tweaks my grognard buttons. I
understand that modern D&D is now superheroic high fantasy, but I
occasionally long for the days when the glowing sword was something special.
But the question is, does that mean we can’t have special or hereditary weapons
in either D&D or Pathfinder? To that I answer with a resounding no.
First off, named weapons are as much a roleplay choice as
a mechanical choice. A weapon with a moniker is so because it has a achieved a
certain notoriety. Sure you could trade
up from that Frostreaver – a +1 Battle axe – to that spiffy new +2 battle axe
with no name and no history. Or you could very easily sell the +2 battleaxe and
increase the legend of Frostweaver by enchanting it even further. This requires
a certain buy in from the players, but it’s not impossible.
The other option is weapons that are already more
powerful than you standard enchanted items. Rules for intelligent items have
existed for a while but they add special meaning by being unique in the face of
a world with magic at every turn. Hrym is a great example of an intelligent
weapon in Pathfinder. You can find him in the Pathfinder novel Liar’s Blade and its
follow up Liar’s Island.
In an attempt to take some of the prevalent magic from
the game, Pathfinder has also added rules for scaling items. This allows for
characters to still scale well with the CR system of the game while allowing
actual magic items to be rare. This is when you can start having a scaling
family blade that a player has from level one. Or you can give them a named
magical weapon that is more powerful than the base scaling weapon a player
gets.
I haven’t played many other systems, but a few brief
sessions using Savage Worlds and FATE lead me to believe that they can handle
lower magic worlds better. This in turn would allow magical weapons to seem all
the more special, hopefully in a way that lends them to being named. The IronKingdoms RPG – which I’ve only perused and never played – also seems to cover a
world in which magical weapons would be special.
Now that we’ve gotten past which system can handle the
mid to low ranged magic that allows for magical weapons to be special and
deserving of a name, let’s look at how a weapon gets its name. I would say the
most common way a weapon gets a name is from some deed its wielder achieved
with it. Giantslayer, Dragonsbane, The Demon’s Last Breath are all name that
describe a deed a weapon may have performed.
Some weapons are named for the powers the posses. An axe
with ice powers may be called Frostreaver. A dagger that always finds a vital
spot might be called Kidneypunch. With hundreds of special abilities to choose
from you’ll see a wide variety of weapon names. Even weapons with a same or
similar ability might be named differently. Two different flaming swords might
be called The Salamander’s Kiss, and Firelight.
Some other things to consider may be the look of the
weapon. A dagger called the Angel’s Tear may harm evil outsiders and look like
a teardrop. A weapon may be named for its creator or the wielder that made it
famous in the first place. Or a weapon might be named after the fiercest
creature it ever killed. There are thousands of ways to name a weapon but they
should all have some sort of special meaning.
Whether you play a high or low magic game, medieval
fantasy or modern fantasy, there is always a place for named weapon. How have
you used named weapons in your game? What has been the favorite name of a
special weapon? Where have players found these weapons of legacy?
Just like a named weapon, each article written on the CRB
is special. If you have added to your gaming repertoire with what you have
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Funny thing, I have the exact sword displayed in the first image of the article, the one with the dragon-like head :D
ReplyDeleteStock art for the win. Finding good pics is hard too. Usually google search for usable with modifications. But this one was a good one.
DeleteYou have it too?
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIn my Curse of Strahd game where I played a Paladin, I took a rudimentary Greataxe that I had found in the wild, asked a Smith to fashion my Scimitar onto it instead and turn it into a Scythe. Because my character was inexperienced and arrogant, he took into upon himself to name this new weapon and, because he was ordained by the Order of the Silver Dragon, he named it the "Talon of Argynvost".
ReplyDeleteLater on in the story, he was given a +2 Greatsword by one of his ancestors. Even though it had significance to him (not to mention better damage), I still made him use the Talon. Why? Because it fit his character better. He was trying to make his stamp on the world, and was doing so through the weapon that he named himself. The Talon had no magical properties. It didn't have a +1 or anything. It was a simple, 1d10 slashing scythe weapon (we gave it Glaive rules). But it still fit his personality better than anything.
He still carried the +2 Greatsword until the end of the adventure, where he returned to his Monastery and wall-mounted it.
He STILL uses the Talon of Argynvost.
Nice. I like interesting character development like that.
DeleteWhat sword is in that picture
ReplyDelete