guileus
2017-07-18, 12:53 PM
How have you guys used intelligent weapons in your campaigns? What kind of player do you think makes the most out of them?
Some context: I'm running a heavily modified version of Kingmaker on D&D (Iron Heroes actually). It's set on a customized world (not Golarion) with a low/weird fantasy mix. Magical weapons are very rare and they all have a story. So I'm planning to drop the first and for now only magic item, a magical weapon that is going to be inhabited by the twisted soul of a Derean general (Derus being my setting's "Roman Empire", expansionistic, used to rule these lands, brutal and efficient but hey, they killed evil cultists).
The PC's are going to explore a temple dedicated to older pagan gods (in my setting there is only one "civilized" god, and other gods are seen with suspicion when not with hostility, as they are associated with Chaos and evil). If you are familiar with the Kingmaker adventure path, the temple is going to be under the Stag Lord's (basically, a bandit lord) fort. So once the PC's go underground they find this ancient temple where the Stag Lord's dad lives. That explains him being a druid in the module (he found the temple a long tie ago and devoted himself to their gods, eventually becoming crazy and being part locked there by the Stag Lord, part deciding to live there with his "creatures").
The temple is also home to a weapon that the Stag Lord prices, as it is a magical weapon (in my version of the module, magical weapons are VERY rare, and all have a history). This weapon was actually carried by a Derusan general who held those lands with his men and found the temple to the pagan gods. After pillaging it, killing the priests and basically thrasing the whole place because it was devoted to dark gods, he fell victim to a curse by those same gods and his twisted soul inhabits the weapon. So yes, it's an intelligent weapon which I intend to play as an anti-hero: he was brutal and efficient, but at the same time he confronted evil cultists. He now is going to inhabit the weapon of a PC, asking him for weird stuff (sacrificing enemies etc.) but will do so because he is cursed to do so.
I want the intelligent weapon to have powers but also drawbacks. Like the Derusan general's soul now needs to drink other souls, for example, so he might ask for sacrifices, or killing people who have commited crimes that weren't that bad (imagine asking to execute a thief who stole some money but then repented etc.). I want it to push the player to roleplay, to face moral dilemmas and to let some of the world's history come onto them (with the soul belonging to a guy from centuries ago etc.).
So I have four players. One of them is a bit of a power-gamer and I'm a bit leery of giving him the magical weapon. It's not going to be that powerful (+2, plus undisclosed powers that will be revealed), but still, not sure if he will abuse them. He is a warrior and carries a broadsword. Another is a barbarian with a great axe and I don't know if it fits with that sort of character to carry an intelligent weapon, although he is a decent roleplayer. There's an assassin who is also a decent roleplayer, but he usually fights with two daggers or a rapier, and it wouldn't fit an ancient weapon being a modern one like a rapier. Perhaps a dagger? Then there's the guy who I see more into roleplaying (he is that kind of guy who takes the 9 CON score because he thought it "fit" the character, so now he has a penalty on his HP! He fights with a spear.
Now, I don't want to mess it up. I want it to be a cool addition to the game. So I'm wondering, will this be best used on a heavy role player? Or it could actually motivate a less roleplaying player like the barbarian or the warrior to go with it? What do you guys think? What are your experiences with intelligent weapons? Never used one before.
Some context: I'm running a heavily modified version of Kingmaker on D&D (Iron Heroes actually). It's set on a customized world (not Golarion) with a low/weird fantasy mix. Magical weapons are very rare and they all have a story. So I'm planning to drop the first and for now only magic item, a magical weapon that is going to be inhabited by the twisted soul of a Derean general (Derus being my setting's "Roman Empire", expansionistic, used to rule these lands, brutal and efficient but hey, they killed evil cultists).
The PC's are going to explore a temple dedicated to older pagan gods (in my setting there is only one "civilized" god, and other gods are seen with suspicion when not with hostility, as they are associated with Chaos and evil). If you are familiar with the Kingmaker adventure path, the temple is going to be under the Stag Lord's (basically, a bandit lord) fort. So once the PC's go underground they find this ancient temple where the Stag Lord's dad lives. That explains him being a druid in the module (he found the temple a long tie ago and devoted himself to their gods, eventually becoming crazy and being part locked there by the Stag Lord, part deciding to live there with his "creatures").
The temple is also home to a weapon that the Stag Lord prices, as it is a magical weapon (in my version of the module, magical weapons are VERY rare, and all have a history). This weapon was actually carried by a Derusan general who held those lands with his men and found the temple to the pagan gods. After pillaging it, killing the priests and basically thrasing the whole place because it was devoted to dark gods, he fell victim to a curse by those same gods and his twisted soul inhabits the weapon. So yes, it's an intelligent weapon which I intend to play as an anti-hero: he was brutal and efficient, but at the same time he confronted evil cultists. He now is going to inhabit the weapon of a PC, asking him for weird stuff (sacrificing enemies etc.) but will do so because he is cursed to do so.
I want the intelligent weapon to have powers but also drawbacks. Like the Derusan general's soul now needs to drink other souls, for example, so he might ask for sacrifices, or killing people who have commited crimes that weren't that bad (imagine asking to execute a thief who stole some money but then repented etc.). I want it to push the player to roleplay, to face moral dilemmas and to let some of the world's history come onto them (with the soul belonging to a guy from centuries ago etc.).
So I have four players. One of them is a bit of a power-gamer and I'm a bit leery of giving him the magical weapon. It's not going to be that powerful (+2, plus undisclosed powers that will be revealed), but still, not sure if he will abuse them. He is a warrior and carries a broadsword. Another is a barbarian with a great axe and I don't know if it fits with that sort of character to carry an intelligent weapon, although he is a decent roleplayer. There's an assassin who is also a decent roleplayer, but he usually fights with two daggers or a rapier, and it wouldn't fit an ancient weapon being a modern one like a rapier. Perhaps a dagger? Then there's the guy who I see more into roleplaying (he is that kind of guy who takes the 9 CON score because he thought it "fit" the character, so now he has a penalty on his HP! He fights with a spear.
Now, I don't want to mess it up. I want it to be a cool addition to the game. So I'm wondering, will this be best used on a heavy role player? Or it could actually motivate a less roleplaying player like the barbarian or the warrior to go with it? What do you guys think? What are your experiences with intelligent weapons? Never used one before.