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greyhoundpoe
2007-04-23, 08:50 PM
"I'll tell you what, my friend. We will trade, you and I. Play me a song and I will tell you a story...

"There once was a terribly noble farmer who discovered in an old barrow the magical sword of a dead adventurer. Scared for his family and his town, he took it up and over the next several decades slew thousands of monsters of all kinds, from terrible creatures of the deepest caverns to mighty winged beasts that roamed the skies. He was a great hero, loved by the people he protected and stories of him were told to all corners of the kingdom.

"Every time this hero returned home, however, and set his sword against the wall by the door, he soon heard the road calling to him again. His wife grew older, and sadder, and lonelier; his children grew up without a father, and moved out to start their own families. His farm grew thick with weeds and while he slaughtered ogres and trolls and kobolds, celebrated as a hero, everything he cared about as a father, a husband, a man of peace, withered away.

"One day, on the field of battle against a great old toothy horror, he struck the killing blow with such force that the blade shattered and its enchantment broke. He sat there by the dead beast for an hour crying, before returning to his home to find his children gone and his wife dead in her sleep. For you see, the enchantment on the sword was not one that affected the sword, but the bearer. Whomever took up that sword was cursed, forever, to walk the path of a hero--regardless of the cost.

"So my question to you is this. Was the man a true hero? The courage, the valor, the will to sacrifice, all came from the sword. The man would have killed no monsters and fought no battles had he never taken up the sword. The man would not have given up his love, his family, his future had he not taken up the sword. Was the man a true hero, nonetheless?"


The Sword of the Sinking Star
This simple and elegant +1 longsword may be used proficiently by any creature physically capable of wielding it.

When this sword is held by the hilt and drawn by a non-evil creature, it bonds immediately with its wielder. This bond can only be broken by a Remove Curse spell cast on either the sword or the owner, or by the death of the owner. The sword can only be bonded to one owner at a time.

The bond has the following effects:
* Grants Heroism, Greater (CL15) as a constant effect as long as its owner is on the same plane.
* The wielder is immune to fatigue and exhaustion while the sword is drawn.
* The sword's owner ages only 75% as quickly as normal.
* The wielder must make every reasonable effort to keep the longsword with him at all times.
* The wielder always chooses to fight with the longsword over any other weapon unless (a) not reasonably capable of drawing the longsword, (b) fighting opponents immune to damage from the longsword, or (c) fighting opponents unreachable in melee combat.
* As long as there are battles to be fought for the greater good, the wielder must fight them regardless of personal sacrifice; so strong is the awareness of evil in the multiverse that the wielder can feel no sense of true happiness, satisfaction or accomplishment as long as evil exists.
* The wielder cannot willingly destroy the sword, remove the sword's curse, or through inaction cause either to occur except in the pursuit of immediate and extraordinary good.

The longsword's curses and enchantments stem from the same effect. If ever the curse on the sword is removed, it functions solely as a +1 longsword. If ever the curse on the wielder is removed, or there no longer exists any cause for the wielder to fight for, the bond breaks and the sword acts only as a +1 longsword until taken up by a new hero.

This sword radiates a powerful aura of law, but causes no additional penalties if wielded by a chaotic creature. This sword does not radiate an aura of good.

jjpickar
2007-04-23, 09:21 PM
Whoa...cool but...man that sucks to be him.:smallfrown:

Ruik
2007-04-24, 02:13 AM
Yeah i'll second that... I feel sorry for the poor guy. Its a really, really interesting idea for a magic weapon though *nods*

Just out of my own personal curiosity, have you priced this item?

knightsaline
2007-04-24, 11:23 PM
My guess is that it is a minor artifact. if it were a +5 weapon, then it might be worth the curse

greyhoundpoe
2007-04-26, 07:19 PM
Minor artifact is fair.

In the campaign I used this in as DM, it never actually existed except in legend; ergo, we didn't get around to pricing it.

Ruik
2007-04-26, 07:32 PM
Ahh, ok well thats fair enough - I was thinking more along the lines of what it would be like if it were actually introduced (though I did catch the bit where it broke in the story).