Custom Legacy Weapon

[Chilxius]

I've grown rather fond of the Weapons of Legacy and want to include on in my campaign. (I know the WoL are looked down upon because of their heavy penalties, but they're great for role-playing and flavor.) I think I've made a pretty good one, but the problem is I have three different characters who could potentially use it, and I want all of them to have the opportunity.

The Legacy Weapon is a dagger. My players are a Battle Sorcerer (UA56), a Bard/Fortune's Friend (CS38), and a Fighter (Crescent Moon style CW113). All can and would use a dagger if it was good enough. My problem is making sure the granted legacy powers would be helpful to any class, and that the penalties would be fair for any class.

Below is my legacy weapon. It has powers based on the four major kingdoms in my campaign.
Kingmaker
Nonlegacy: +1 Crystal Dagger
Level / Ability Granted
5 / Breeze of Íshiem
6 / Kindness of Jang Wa
7 / +2 Dagger
8 / Gates of Grandbomen
9 / Soldier of Marais, Goodness of Jang Wa
10 / Winds of Íshiem
11 / +2 Defending Dagger
12 / Benevolence of Jang Wa
13 / Gale of Íshiem
14 / -
15 / +3 Keen Defending Dagger
16 / Defender of Marais
17 / Bastion of Grandbomen, Tempest of Íshiem
18 / Light of Jang Wa
19 / +5 Keen Defending Dagger
20 / Splendor of the King

Omen: When pointed toward one bearing the Mark of the Tower, it glows.

Wielder Requirements:
A native of Jang Wa, Marais, Grandbomen, or Íshiem
Any nonevil alignment
Must be presented the dagger by one who bears the Mark of the Tower.

Legacy Item Abilities:
Breeze of Íshiem (Sp): As Ray of Frost, at will. Caster Level 5th.

Kindness of Jang Wa (Sp): As Cure Light Wounds, 3/day. Caster Level 5th.

Gates of Grandbomen (Sp): Once per day, by touching the dagger to stone or wood, you may convert up to 10 cu. ft. of it into a gate or portal.

Soldier of Marais (Su): While holding the dagger, you can use a swift action to summon a 4 HD Giant Ant Soldier, which attacks your foes and serves you to the best of its ability. You can direct it to not attack, to attack particular enemies, or to perform other actions. It remains with you until dismissed (a standard action) or killed. If slain, it can be summoned again after 24 hours, fully healed.

Goodness of Jang Wa (Sp): As Cure Moderate Wounds, 3/day. Caster Level 7th. Replaces Kindness of Jang Wa.

Winds of Íshiem (Sp): As Scorching Ray, but deals cold damage and only fires one ray. Caster Level 7th. Replaces Breeze of Íshiem.

Benevolence of Jang Wa (Sp): As Cure Serious Wounds, 3/day. Caster Level 10th. Replaces Goodness of Jang Wa.

Gale of Íshiem (Sp): As Winds of Íshiem, but Caster Level 10th. Replaces Winds of Íshiem.

Defender of Marais (Su): As Soldier of Marais, but instead may summon an 8 HD Giant Wasp.

Bastion of Grandbomen (Sp): As Fabricate, but limited to crating walls, portals, doors, portcullises, windows, towers, or other defensive edifications. May only use wood and stone, but may convert up to 10 cu. ft. of stone into wood. May take 10 on craft (masonry) and craft (carpentry) checks as part of casting. Usable once per day. Caster Level 12th.

Tempest of Íshiem (Sp): As Gale of Íshiem, but Caster Level 15th. Replaces Gale of Íshiem.

Light of Jang Wa (Sp): As Mass Cure Critical Wounds or Heal, 3/day. Caster Level 17th. Replaces Benevolence of Jang Wa.

Splendor of the King (Su): May Maximize any ability granted by the Kingmaker 3/day.

HISTORY:
Lady Elise, the King-Maker, is spoken of in legend all across the continent. She brought together the greatest warriors and wisest governors in all the land to shatter an already broken kingdom into four new kingdoms, each ruled by a former compatriot of hers. In the frozen north she founded the kingdom of Íshiem, in the western plains the theocracy of Jang Wa, in the southern swamps the republic of Marais, and in the wooded eastern hills the kingdom of Grandbomen. The former capitol city, which once stood at the center of these new nations, is now a ruin.
Gathering the Fated (DC: 5 (Common Knowledge) ) 1,700

Elise set up trade between the nations. Without the endless lumber from Grandbomen, Marais could not have built in the swamp where Master City now stands. Without the warmth of the sun brought by Jang Wa’s clerics, no real progress could have been made in Íshiem. Elise always believed in combining different elements to create a better, stronger whole.
Strength in Unity (DC: 25) 12,000

Not long after the many kingdoms were fully established, Elise disappeared. Each nation assumed she was aiding another, but when attempts to scry her continually failed, four of her former companions set out to find her: Rando of Jang Wa, Zile of Íshiem, Anastaria of Grandbomen, and Cord of Marais. But these heroes disappeared as well. Years of searching yielded nothing until a tower was found amid the ruins of the old kingdom. The tower had no means of entry and was impervious to all magic, even the strongest divinations. A single note, written in Elise’s flowing handwriting, was stuck to the building by her own crystal dagger. It read: “Disaster comes in a millennium. We shall be there to meet it. Bring those that are chosen when the mark appears.”
Aside from the dagger, no other tool or weapon has been able to so much as scratch the tower.
The Tower (DC: 31) 40,000

LEGACY RITUALS:
Gathering the Fated: You must protect one bearing the Mark of the Tower during at least two encounters equal to or exceeding your CR.

Strength in Unity: You must overcome a challenge with a CR exceeding yours by use of at least one arcane spell of lvl 2 or greater, one divine spell of lvl 2 or greater, and one mundane method.

The Tower: Bring the Kingmaker inside the Millennial tower.

Currently I'm thinking about using the penalty table that, by lvl 20, applies a -2 to attacks, -3 to skill checks, -8 HP, and -16 skill points. My bard could handle that, but the other two would be stripped of skill points almost entirely. Any penalty table that required spell slots would leave out the fighter. Also, penalizing attack rolls pretty much removes the advantage of being a Battle Sorcerer.

Any suggestions? Or anyone have good experiences with Weapons of Legacy?

[Sagetim]

Okay, so at first glance I have to say this immediately: For the level 8 ability specify that you mean architecture structures, not the spell gate, or the magic item of a portal. I know that the higher level ability specifies more on the side of architecture, but with the way the level 8 one is written...it could be misinterpreted quite a bit.

The item seems quite flavorful and good for a campaign setting. That said, I don't think I would use it on a fighter. The skill point issue aside, even if I was two weapon fighting as a fighter, I'd be using like, Long sword-Short sword or some such, rather than Long sword-Dagger or Battleaxe-Dagger or what have you. Now, if you think that the party fighter is I looked up crescent moon style. I would suggest writing up three variations on the dagger, and have it's costs tailored to each of those three classes. That is to say, they can all provide the same benefits, just have 3 different set ups for the costs and use the one for whichever character takes up the weapon of legacy.

That way, instead of worrying what -16 skill points would do to the fighter, you could have them drop a feat, or what have you. And as far as I can tell, having a -2 to hit isn't going to make a battle sorcerer pointless, it's just going to incentivise methods to get a larger bonus to attacks. I mean, it's not eating BAB, right?

[MesiDoomstalker]

My advice? Ignore the penalties. Penalties for cool equipment is stupid. If you don't want your players to have cool equipment, don't give it them instead stacking penalties on the equipment that may or may not be actual penalties to a given PC.

[Sagetim]

My advice? Ignore the penalties. Penalties for cool equipment is stupid. If you don't want your players to have cool equipment, don't give it them instead stacking penalties on the equipment that may or may not be actual penalties to a given PC.

There's also the factor that the weapon's abilites don't have to be balanced by taking capabilities away from the characters themselves, the item will be balanced by the time and effort the player(s) put into unlocking it's abilities by using it, interacting with it, and progressing through the campaign. As an example from a campaign I played in: My character sacrificed his crafting ability to get a set of items to help the party fight the final boss of the game with. However, what that translated to on his character sheet was that he could no longer invest in the craft or profession skill, and had to redistribute any points he had in any craft and profession skills he had, and role play out the consequences of that decision. Given that he was a soulknife and I had points invest in craft (weaposmithing) and Profession (Chef), this actually freed up a lot of skill points for use in more combat related skills. However, on a roleplaying level it made my character more mature when he would have been a little more goofy, and more sullen when reminded of his choice.

So while Weapons of Legacy presents this stuff as requiring the players to dump this, that, or the other thing into their weapon to make it better, it's not the only way you could run it. And if you feel comfortable letting the players have a plot relevant artifact, then let them have it and decide among themselves how they're going to use it.