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Need weapons backed with an interesting myth? Swords with intriguing lore attached to them and not just an enhancement bonus and a daily power attached? At-Will has what are searching for then in the Lore series. Lore is devoted to fleshing out your 4th ed campaign bit by bit.
First on the agenda is a collection of blades.
You have two options. The first is to assign the lore of the sword to a particular magic weapon as pure flavor. The other is to make an artifact or custom item out of the weapon and make the mechanics fit the flavor. Either is valid and are mostly dependent on the needs of your campaign which one you use. If there is a particular blade people like, the At-Will team will make specific stats for it as well!
Mystical Blades
Sword of the Poltergeist: This elegant blue-black sword attracts poltergeist activity to anyone who owns it. The young and the sexually frustrated or repressed have had particularly bad experiences with it.
Fae’s Displeasure: This curved wooden sword is intricately carved with vines and flowers. When used in natural settings where faeries lurk, the vines sometimes come to life and entrap the enemy, pulling it closer to the blade. Unfortunately, the oak wood used to make this sword has become rather fragile with time.
Green Jade Saber: Even though it was found by grave robbers, this stout, pleasant-looking sword confers luck and good cheer to anyone who bears it.
Serrated Blade of Gon-ge-duk: This barbarian sword tends to rend the flesh of its victims more than is truly necessary. The carved hilt features explicit scenes of Gon-ge-duk’s capture of the eastern plainlands. Bearers of this sword take on some of Gon-ge-duk’s legendary charisma.
Blade of Ether: Appearing to be nothing but a dusty old sword-hilt, the Blade of Ether can travel unnoticed in any junkman’s sack. Its blade is made entirely of magical force which disappears when not needed. Unfortunately, this sword can only be used in the service of good.
Long Blade of the Balazara Martyr: This long spindly sword is the traditional weapon used by priests of the feline goddess Balzara to slit the throats of human sacrifices. The practiced user of this weapon gains sharper, catlike reflexes.
The Cruel Ophelia: This jagged, irregularly-shaped sword has a striking hematite hilt with a dazzling effect on anyone who looks at it too long. It is rumored that even the smallest cut from the Ophelia can cause a person to drown in his own blood. This sword is legendary among northern tribespeople and for many years, scholars did not believe it actually existed.
Blade of Long Life: Hilted with dark pearls, this pale sword is both powerful and elegant and offers the bearer increased endurance and an occasional second, third, or fourth wind. Imitations of this blade were commonly worn on the hips of fashionable maidens a century ago.
Stem of the Green Lotus: Handy for healers and the mystically-inclined, this beautiful bronze ceremonial sword confers a feeling of peace and well-being to those around it. The long jade hilt features scenes from the life of the Awakened Seahorse, a healing sea god still worshipped by many peaceful seafaring people.
Excellent collection of flavor. Does it bug you that 4e has given magic items that mass-produced feeling? Anybody with the right ritual and enough gold seems to be able to construct any magic item of their choosing. Kinda kills the point searching for “the legendary weapon” if you could make it yourself.
Great post! This is fact becoming one of my favorite RPG blogs.
@ethan: As opposed to 3.x, when… anyone with the right feat and enough gold could produce any item of their choice?
Magic’s as special as you make it.
Thanks Asmor — glad you’re enjoying the blog! I’ve assembled a crack team with ethan, gentian (who also happens to be my wife
), milambus, and rudolf!
Yeah, I feel that magic is a bit what you make it in 4e. In my campaigns, we have garden-variety things and then we have really special items. I don’t think it would be too hard to tweak it to a more “magic is special” tilt though.
This is great! I don’t have any ways to purchase in my campaign, and I don’t even think my players have considered that they might be able to make any. I convert most of the gold parcels into additional magic items for them. I like to make each item a bit more special then simply “X Sword +1″ or “Amulet of Health.”
This series is sure to be useful to my game and will likely see prompt use! Any chance we’ll see similar ideas with armor, pendants and other miscellaneous items?
Hi everyone. Thanks for the kind words. There is definitely more on the way. In fact, that’s what I’m supposed to be working on right now. ^^