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Post by Red Baron on Dec 22, 2013 14:22:40 GMT -6
In addition to the existance of magic swords on the treasure tables, there are extensive rules for swords starting on page 27 of Monsters & Treasure. * Swords have alignment. * Swords have Intelligence and Ego. * Swords potentially have primary powers and extraordinary abilities. * Swords can try to take over their owners. Actually, these rules fill up 4 pages out of 40, which is a whopping 10% of the booklet! (Around 20% of the "Treasures" half of the book!) That's pretty significant. Does anyone use these rules? What I love about intelligent swords is how magical they feel. Its fairy-taleish almost, how fantastical they are. How do talking swords talk? Do they have a mouth? Does the metal vibrate producing certain pitches? Do the words appear in giant colorful letters in the air? |
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Post by Porphyre on Dec 22, 2013 16:14:08 GMT -6
I imagine this like Turin's death scene in the Silmarillion:
"And from the blade rang a cold voice in answer: 'Yes, I will drink thy blood gladly, that so I may forget the blood of Beleg my master, and the blood of Brandir slain unjustly. I will slay thee swiftly."
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Post by oakesspalding on Dec 22, 2013 18:36:04 GMT -6
...these rules (on magical swords) fill up 4 pages out of 40, which is a whopping 10% of the booklet! (Around 20% of the "Treasures" half of the book!) That's pretty significant. What I love about intelligent swords is how magical they feel. Its fairy-taleish almost, how fantastical they are. Yes. 1 out of 5 magic items are swords with, so to speak, an attitude. The fun begins when you pick one up and there's a 2 out 3 chance it gives you a potentially fatal electric shock. If you order a hireling to retrieve it, he'll get a shock (though a smaller one), will perhaps turn evil (or neutral or good) and then may himself start giving you attitude about his employment status. On the bright side, there's a 10% chance you'll always know where your next meal is coming from and what precisely is on the menu.  On a serious note, I love the original sword rules. That they are almost "fairy-taleish" is exactly right. I submit that the fairytale tone of the original game (and it's quick demise, starting at least with AD&D) is not commented upon enough. Of course you either like that sort of thing or you don't. I like it. |
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jeff
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 108 
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Post by jeff on Dec 22, 2013 18:58:22 GMT -6
Anyone know why this is specific to swords in D&D and not other weapons?
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Post by Anathemata on Dec 22, 2013 22:08:06 GMT -6
A little off-topic, but following the idea of 'swords as noble weapons' concept, they could speak like upper-crusty types. Then other magical weapons could follow in class, with halberds talking like gruff soldiers and daggers like sneaky thieves. |
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Post by waysoftheearth on Jan 1, 2014 23:13:17 GMT -6
1 out of 5 magic items are swords with, so to speak, an attitude. The fun begins when you pick one up and there's a 2 out 3 chance it gives you a potentially fatal electric shock. (This may have been altered with GH and/or subsequently, but...) According to M&T 1 in 5 magic-items are swords. Of these magic swords, 99% are distributed thus: 65% lawful, 25% neutral, 10% chaotic. The other 1% are energy draining swords distributed thus: 65% chaotic, 25% neutral, 10% lawful. So, all told, 64.45% of magic swords are lawful, 25% neutral, and 10.55% chaotic. Furthermore, some referees use alignment for the "mythic" magic swords only (those with primary/mental powers). The other magic swords are "ordinary" magic weapons with no primary/mental powers and no alignment. A 2d6 roll of 7+ is required for primary/mental powers and so 58.33% of swords would be of the "mythic" kind (possessing primary/mental powers), and 41.67% of magic swords are "ordinary" magic weapons with no primary/mental powers. In this case 41.67% of magic swords are unaligned, 37.59% are lawful, 14.58% are neutral, and 6.16% are chaotic. Either way, it makes a good case for fighters to choose the lawful alignment  |
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Post by oakesspalding on Jan 2, 2014 4:55:46 GMT -6
As I read it, Greyhawk keeps the % breakdowns of the magic item categories the same (or at least is silent on the matter), while obviously greatly expanding the selections within categories, most obviously for Miscellaneous Magic. AD&D quadruples the chances of finding Miscellaneous items (and halves the chances for swords), which to me seems as if it stems from not wanting to let all those nifty items, so to speak, go to waste. Of these magic swords, 99% are distributed thus: 65% lawful, 25% neutral, 10% chaotic. The other 1% are energy draining swords distributed thus: 65% chaotic, 25% neutral, 10% lawful. So, all told, 64.45% of magic swords are lawful, 25% neutral, and 10.55% chaotic... ...Either way, it makes a good case for fighters to choose the lawful alignment That's an excellent observation. Pair it with the fact that the alignment bias seems to run the other way for currently living men, or at least high-level men--there's a 50% chance that they'll be hostile and a 50% chance they'll be neutral (granted these aren't alignments per se, maybe everyone in this hardscrabble world is rightly paranoid)--as well as the assumption that magic swords were manufactured at some point in the (distant?) past, and you get a world where things appear to have gone somewhat downhill, as it were. |
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