PDA

View Full Version : [PF] First Attempt at an Artifact Weapon in a long time.



Certified
2013-09-14, 08:30 PM
The Prismatic Blade

This hand and a half sword is marked by seven arcane stones. Three along the hilt and four embedded in the fullers groove of the blade. The stones float freely suspended by magic carved into runes around each gem. The gem in the center of the hilt is Pearly White, the stones to the sides are a light tan, and blue. Ascending the blade the stones are oink, purple, red, and blue.

In moonlight each stone radiates a faint glow, and whenever swung each stone creates a faint trail. If the wielder so wills it the blade can exude a faint prismatic glow roughly as bright as a torch.

+2 Bastard Sword - After spending 24 hours with the Prismatic Blade the wielder gains a +2 Enchantment Bonus to their lowest Attribute and may spend a Move Action to grant the Prismatic Blade one of the following properties: Corrosive, Flaming, Frost, or Shock. Only one of these properties may be active at any one time. Switching elemental properties requires a Move Action.

- - -

The History of Unity

Knowledge: Nobility DC 15

The Unity, was a gift to the First King, the blade was forged from stones brought from each of the great City States and steel wrought from the continent's core. It was given to his General a man who fought along side the King through years of war with the savage tribes, and later in the Brothers War.

It was in this war that the General gave his life defending the Kings Road and in the confusion the blade was lost.

Reawakening the Blade
To reawaken Unity the wielder must complete two actions in the following order.

Cleansing: The Blade must be Blessed by a follower of the High Church.

Victory: Defeat an Undead threat of at least APL +3. This does not have to be a single creature and the Character does not need to fight alone.

Unity Awakened: +2 Benevolent Bastard Sword - The wielder gains a +2 Enchantment Bonus to any one Attribute and may spend a Move Action to grant the Prismatic Blade one of the following properties: Corrosive, Flaming, Frost, or Shock. Only one of these properties may be active at any one time. Switching elemental properties requires a Move Action.

The History of Unity, part 2

Knowledge: Nobility DC 30

In the Brother's War, the First King was betrayed by the very people he set out to save. It was only by the sacrifice of his General that the King and the remainder of his armies were not routed.

Those that fled became the Abandoned, they, and their descendants eternally cursed never to find a new home. They became nomads wandering the Southern lands.

Bonding Unity
Once Unity has been reawakened the wielder may create a bond with the Blade by completing the following.

Respite: The wielder must locate the current leader of the Abandoned Tribe and offer to bring them to their former home. The wielder must make all efforts to convince the leader without force to face the sins of their ancestor. They may not be taken against their will.

The wielder and leader of the Abandoned must wait Inside the Abandoned City until the first New Moon when retribution comes, the wielder must defend the Abandoned Leader. The wielder does not need to face this challenge alone.

Daemon, Purrodaemon CR 18

Unity Bonded: +4 Benevolent Courageous Defiant Bastard Sword - The wielder gains a +2 Enchantment Bonus to any one Attribute and may spend a Move Action to grant the Prismatic Blade one of the following properties: Corrosive Burst, Flaming Burst, Icy Bust, or Shocking Burst. Only one of these properties may be active at any one time. Switching elemental properties requires a Move Action.

The Mentalist
2013-09-14, 08:38 PM
The Prismatic Blade actually sounds like it would work well as a Weapon Property.

Prismatic +2 Enchantment
This weapon has one of the following four effects on it; Corrosive, Flaming, Frost, or Shock. This effect may be changed to any of the others as a Move action by the wielder of the blade.

As the Prismatic Blade stands though, you can spend four move actions to grant it all four effects and they never go away. Maybe mention that it replaces the previous one, unless that wasn't what you were going for.

Certified
2013-09-14, 08:42 PM
Yeah, it's a pick one kind of a deal. Not 4 move actions later you drop all the elements.

Certified
2013-09-14, 08:46 PM
Oh, as for the Prismatic Property, I could see that, but I would make it a +3 for the versatility.

Xefas
2013-09-14, 10:00 PM
Oh, as for the Prismatic Property, I could see that, but I would make it a +3 for the versatility.

For comparison, there is an official weapon enhancement, Elemental Aura, from the book, Magic of Faerun, that is a +3 ability, allowing the wielder to spend a free action once per round to swap between 1d6 damage of fire, cold, electricity, acid, and sonic.

Kicking it back to a move action is very inconvenient, and disallowing Sonic removes its effectiveness against a lot of Outsiders, so I think a +2 is probably reasonable.

Certified
2013-09-15, 06:48 AM
It looks like Sonic damage was mostly removed from Pathfinder, or at least Sonic, and Sonic Burst have been replaced with Thundering which operates on a mechanic more like the elemental Bursts, except that it only does damage on a critical.

That said, I could include Thundering as an option. It just wouldn't scale up with the Unity Bonded powers.

Certified
2013-09-17, 10:39 AM
If we consider the elemental damage bonus a +2, does this feel right for a low end artifact, or is it under/overpowered? Currently, I'm planning on hanging several stories off the Unity Blade, in that people want to claim it as a symbol for them as a right to rulership.