Monday, May 5, 2008

The Seven Swords of Power

Following up on Friday's post below, here's an example of what I'm talking about. Each of these weapons is a powerful magic item, but they probably aren't game-breakers, and acquiring just one of these swords would be a quest in itself. Also, if the players are going to get the full effect of the weapon's power, they'll have to be facing the sorts of foes the weapon is designed to combat, and while the bearers of the swords have special abilities and protections, the rest of the party may not be so lucky.

The Seven Swords of Power were forged and issued to the Seven Champions, a band of masterful knights who wielded them to great effect during the last major campaign against the Forces of Evil. Six of the Seven Champions were killed during the fighting, and their swords were lost by the end of the war. In the six centuries since, the Swords have appeared sporadically throughout history, but they never remain in the public eye for long before disappearing again for a generation or two.

Each of the Swords is a silver-hilted longsword with a rune-etched blade and a bejeweled pommel. Each blade looks similar to the other, although a keen eye will see that the runes on each blade are different. However, each of the Swords has a different gem in the pommel, and each has it's own special kind of foe it was created to combat.

[Note: Each of the Swords functions as a Long Sword +2 except against it's favored target type, when the enchantment increases to +4. The gem of each Sword will emit a pulsating glow when within 100' of a target creature - the glow will pulse faster the closer the target gets, and the glow will become brighter the more foes there are.]

Wizard-Bane (purple gem) was created to slay evil magic-users and creatures who cast magic-user type spells (this last bit is up to the GM's discretion as to whether a creature falls into this category or not). The bearer of the Sword gains a +3 bonus to all saves vs. spells (or spell like effects if allowed). The Sword can Detect Magic and Dispel Magic three times a day at the bearer's level of experience.

Wraith-Bane (white gem) was created to slay undead. The bearer of the Sword is immune to all special undead attacks (level drain, aging, paralysis, strength drain, etc.) but not the basic damage from the attack. The bearer of the Sword can also turn undead like a Cleric of two experience levels lower.

Troll-Bane (green gem) was created to slay trolls and ogres. The bearer of this Sword can cast Charm Monster and Hold Monster each twice per day at the bearer's level of experience. In addition, the wounds delivered by the Sword cannot be regenerated by trolls of any kind.

Dragon-Bane (red gem) was created to slay dragons. The bearer of this Sword is immune to the fear effect of a dragon and gains a +3 bonus to saves vs. dragon's breath. In addition, if the save fails, the bearer only takes half damage from the dragon breath, and if the save is made, no damage is suffered.

Goblin-Bane (blue gem) was created to slay goblins and orcs. The bearer of this Sword gains 1d4 additional attacks a round when fighting against goblins and orcs. In addition, the Sword grants the bearer the ability to cast Confusion and Fear each once a day at the bearer's level of experience.

Beast-Bane (orange gem) was created to slay unnatural beasts and monsters (giant or aberrant versions of normal creatures, or pure "monsters" like an Umber Hulk, Purple Worm, Hydra - this is up to the DM's discretion). Against such creatures the bearer of the Sword gains a +2 bonus to saves and armor class, and the Sword always doubles the result of the damage die (so before magical bonus or other modifiers are added in).

Horror-Bane (yellow gem) was created to slay extra-planar creatures (mostly demons, devils, and elementals - other creatures at the DM's discretion). The bearer of the Sword has a +3 save against any special attacks from these creatures that allow saving throws. In addition, any time the Sword delivers its maximum damage to the target creature, the creature must make a save vs. Death Magic or be immediately banished back to it's home plane. This sword is the only one that has remained in the hands of a Champion since the end of the war, passed down from generation to generation. It is currently in the possession of a Paladin of the High God who serves within the Temple located in the Capital City.


5 comments:

trollsmyth said...

Very cool! Thanks for sharing. :D

- Brian

Brian Murphy said...

Nice. I love this stuff--magic that actually feels unique, swords that no player in their right mind would ever discard. One of my biggest gripes about D&D is the plethora of cheap, discardable +1 weapons that you described in another post, weapons and items that players readily dump when a +2 item comes along.

Creative DMs can rectify this by making magic "magic," as you've described here.

Anonymous said...

This would make a great mini-article for Fight On! If you're interested, please send a version of it to iggyumlaut@gmail.com, along with how you want to be credited as author.

Trollsmyth, I see you're on the comments thread, your article about ablative shields would make a nice submission too.

Anyway, submitting or no, keep up the great work, guys.

Best,

Ignatius Umlaut

Jeff Rients said...

I agree that this article would also be cool for Fight On!

Jack Badelaire said...

Who am I to argue? I might touch it up a tad first, though. I've been in e-mail contact with Ignatius already.

Thanks for the props guys!