sword in a stone [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

Telonius

2019-01-23, 12:28 PM

Suggestions:

The sword was cursed, pinning an Earth Elemental in place. It's very grateful for the party to have freed it.

Moral dilemma: the person who pulled it out is the rightful heir, but the king is married and the queen would not be happy at all to learn of this. It could lead to civil war.

Intelligent item, spirit of an evil sorcerer and/or devil is bound to it, corrupting anyone who finds it.

Fraud! The sword was planted by somebody who wants to overthrow the royal family, and figures this would be a great way for somebody else to do it for him.

Segev

2019-01-23, 12:29 PM

The obvious answer is that it's a magic sword that only works for the one who draws it, and the requirements to draw it are some sort of worthiness test. (Good enough, kind enough, bears the right bloodline, or various other possibilities.)

Another possibility is that it's a trap trigger. Pulling it out releases a catch that springs a mechanical trap, or it's the seal on a chamber filled with poisonous gas, or the like.

It's a magical sealing sword that keeps a great evil imprisoned within or beneath the stone. Don't pull it out lest you free it. "Great evil" could be exaggerated, and anything from a Pit Fiend to a Quasit.

It's a sword with a gem harvested from a Maedar, which can turn stone to flesh. That's how it got jammed in there. It's also intelligent and evil, being a male medusa's soul stuck in a sword.

The stone is a baby xorn sucking on the sword like a pacifier as it sleeps.

Torpin

2019-01-23, 01:03 PM

legomaster00156

2019-01-23, 01:27 PM

They got creative and killed an advanced threat. They get the treasure from the advanced threat.

Torpin

2019-01-23, 01:37 PM

They got creative and killed an advanced threat. They get the treasure from the advanced threat.

oh yeah withouit a doubt, i just havent figured out what the treasure was gonna be.

Telonius

2019-01-23, 01:53 PM

Ah, for treasure? Well, I'd start with asking what the party is made of. There's not much that you can really put on a sword that's in line with that level reward, other than a +1. Maybe equip it with a Weapon Crystal from MiC?

Rijan_Sai

2019-01-23, 02:05 PM

well they got to it about 5-7 levels to early, these chuckle heads heard a rumor about a ancient destroyed castle guarded by a beast with nearly a dozen heads and can spit fire. so a level 3 party managed to kill a 9 headed fire hydra by taking turns kiting it for days never letting it rest so it took enough subdual damage from exhaustion to go unconscious and then coup do grat it.

First, that's awesome!

It's a magical sealing sword that keeps a great evil imprisoned within or beneath the stone. Don't pull it out lest you free it. "Great evil" could be exaggerated, and anything from a Pit Fiend to a Quasit.

Second, that's hilariously evil, and I may have to steal this at some point! In fact, that may be a good way to reintroduce Jot, "The One That Got Away" from the Sunless Citadel!

Malphegor

2019-01-23, 02:21 PM

I’d imagine that most players would be scared what is strong enough to put the sword there in the first place

Torpin

2019-01-23, 02:25 PM

I’d imagine that most players would be scared what is strong enough to put the sword there in the first place

these arent most players... as a level 3 party attacking a pyro hydra for days

Segev

2019-01-23, 02:28 PM

oh yeah withouit a doubt, i just havent figured out what the treasure was gonna be.Make it a Nine Lives Stealer (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicWeapons.htm#nineLivesStealer[/quote) to stay in theme with a hydra, or (if making it an evil weapon that is hard to use for a non-evil party is not cool) make it a Luck Blade (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicWeapons.htm#luckBlade) with between 1 and 3 wishes left, depending on how valuable you want it to be. Perhaps 2: one of the wishes was used to jam it into the stone and keep the Hydra from moving too far from it, or something.

Second, that's hilariously evil, and I may have to steal this at some point! In fact, that may be a good way to reintroduce Jot, "The One That Got Away" from the Sunless Citadel!
Thanks! And have fun. Is Jot canonically "one who got away," or is this something from your own game play-through?

If Torpin likes, he could use this "sealed evil that's a Quasit" (or Imp, or whatever) and have it actually bound to the sword, so whoever owns the sword treats the Imp or Quasit like they are an arcane caster of sufficient level and they have Improved Familiar. It's a useful, unique ability that's moderately powerful but probably not game-breaking to have early.

Torpin

2019-01-23, 02:30 PM

It's a magical sealing sword that keeps a great evil imprisoned within or beneath the stone. Don't pull it out lest you free it. "Great evil" could be exaggerated, and anything from a Pit Fiend to a Quasit.
.

i like this. the campaign will end with them confronting one of the demon lords in hordes of the abyss, so this could release it. maybe this unseals it and then a small lock box comes out with the 4 inch piece of the rod of seven parts

Kelb_Panthera

2019-01-23, 03:58 PM

A legacy weapon could be a good solution. Exordius or Merikel can fit the bill as-is. The extraordinary durability of legacy items explains why it's sealed instead of destroyed and you can have it grow into the story instead of being too much now and dead-weight later.

People will tell you the penalties make legacies not worth it but they save the PC a metric crap-ton of cash and difficulty in getting a good tool. Custom is better, or course, but the printed ones really aren't -too- bad with a few exceptions. Don't forget to check the nine swords from ToB if you like this idea.

Thurbane

2019-01-23, 04:15 PM

The sword was cursed, pinning an Earth Elemental in place. It's very grateful for the party to have freed it.

That's a great idea, love it!

Another idea: legacy weapon that only functions for someone of the royal bloodline?

Rijan_Sai

2019-01-23, 04:51 PM

Thanks! And have fun. Is Jot canonically "one who got away," or is this something from your own game play-through?

Yes and no. In the module, if he is not defeated he will escape to cause problems for the party later (at the DM's discretion.) This is what happened in our game!
Having him trapped by some unknown entity, only for the group to be the ones to release him would be... rather poetic! :smallamused:
(And par-for-the-course... they are also responsible (in this campaign) for the events of the Heart of Nightfang Spire, having cut down that evil tree in the grove, and tearing out it's roots!:smallbiggrin:

Quick thought: I have nothing relevant to add to the main conversation...:smallredface:

the_david

2019-01-23, 04:53 PM

Well, you've already established that it's a sword. If it's magical you could just roll for it. By challenge rating it would have a 1 in 60 chance of being a major magic item, 11 in 60 for a medium magic item and a 38 in 60 chance of being a minor magic item.

The trap/demon ideas are cool too.

Florian

2019-01-23, 04:59 PM

It´s just that: A sword in a stone. Totally stupid thing to do, but let your player fuzz about it for some time.

Torpin

2019-01-23, 06:42 PM

It´s just that: A sword in a stone. Totally stupid thing to do, but let your player fuzz about it for some time.a sword in stone is always magic

Kelb_Panthera

2019-01-23, 06:55 PM

a sword in stone is always magic

Unless the stone is magical. Red herring, anyone?

the_david

2019-01-23, 07:54 PM

i like this. the campaign will end with them confronting one of the demon lords in hordes of the abyss, so this could release it. maybe this unseals it and then a small lock box comes out with the 4 inch piece of the rod of seven partsWhat if a blacksmith found one of the pieces of the Rod of Seven Parts and decided it would make a great hilt for a sword? The 12 inch part would fit best.

I just did a quick check on the rod of seven parts, and that isn't that bad as far as ideas go. The Rod of Seven Parts was used to imprison Miska the Wolfspider, prince of demons. It would fit the story.

And they'd have to destroy the sword in order to assemble the rod. Never mind. It was a dumb idea after all.

Torpin

2019-01-23, 08:31 PM

What if a blacksmith found one of the pieces of the Rod of Seven Parts and decided it would make a great hilt for a sword? The 12 inch part would fit best.

I just did a quick check on the rod of seven parts, and that isn't that bad as far as ideas go. The Rod of Seven Parts was used to imprison Miska the Wolfspider, prince of demons. It would fit the story.

And they'd have to destroy the sword in order to assemble the rod. Never mind. It was a dumb idea after all.

i forgot he was the wolf spider, they've fought monsterous spiders 4 times so far

Efrate

2019-01-24, 01:06 PM

Good place to put Unfettered in, the stone dragon legacy weapon.

The idea of a baby xorns pacifier is adorable btw.

tyckspoon

2019-01-24, 01:13 PM

It's a petrifying sword (casts Flesh To Stone on crit or as a command effect) that was stuck into an ooze, slime, or other 'random mound of flesh/gelatin/plant matter' type monster. When they pull it out it de-stones the monster it was left in, now the party gets to fight for their loot. Possibly it's something that would otherwise be able to un-petrify itself, so the sword had to be left there to continually re-apply the effect and keep it locked down.

KillianHawkeye

2019-01-24, 01:45 PM

Don't hydras have fast healing? :smallconfused:

jintoya

2019-01-24, 02:03 PM

It could appear to be a short sword, but gets longer if you say "thunder, thunder, THUNDER!" Or some other cartoon reference, turning it into a longsword

There could be a gray skull on it's hilt, and it summons skeletons that have irritating voices...

Could be a sword that only cuts flesh, never harms armor, but doesn't exactly ignore it either

A sword that has an assanine quest attached to unlock it's strange/fun abilities, this is one of (insert number of players) weapons, now your players will want to get the others and do the silly or ridiculous quests attached to them. (Tailored gear, with a twist)

The weapon is intelligent and racist, requiring you to slay a specific monster to prove yourself worthy of it's power.

Deophaun

2019-01-24, 02:18 PM

It's a magic sword of teleportation. It suffered a mishap.

jintoya

2019-01-24, 06:31 PM

What if it's not a sword at all, just the tip of a tower that will jut out of the ground, complete with crazy wizard who will sell them strange magic items?
I used an NPC like this to justify things like "the box of infinite squirrels" and other oddities, they sell cheap, and make players be creative with their use.

Torpin

2019-01-24, 07:58 PM

Don't hydras have fast healing? :smallconfused:

fast healing doesnt apply to damage taken from exhaustion, thirst... et cetra

KillianHawkeye

2019-01-25, 12:52 AM

fast healing doesnt apply to damage taken from exhaustion, thirst... et cetra

Actually...

Fast healing does not restore hit points lost from starvation, thirst, or suffocation.

I don't see exhaustion in that list. In fact, inability to rest does not cause nonlethal damage at all as far as I can see. It prevents the normal healing that you get from resting for 8 hours, but fast healing still works just fine.

A nine-headed hydra can go almost two days without water before even needing to start making Con checks against nonlethal damage. And even assuming that it failed every single check (which is unlikely given it has a 20 in Constitution), it would take it on average about three days for it to lose consciousness from thirst alone. This, of course, would require that the PCs are relentlessly harrying the hydra on a constant enough basis such that it was unable to even stop to drink for three days straight rather than just enough to prevent it from resting.

Now I don't know about the specifics of this situation, but I would have to assume that the hydra has some sort of lair that it should be able to retreat to when it is faced with attacks from an enemy that it's unable to catch up to. That alone would prevent the PCs from kiting the hydra and force a more traditional encounter or give the hydra a chance to recuperate. If not, well that's just poor writing.

BWR

2019-01-25, 02:45 AM

Nodwick has a suggestion. (http://comic.nodwick.com/?comic=2008-03-05)

Kelb_Panthera

2019-01-25, 03:49 AM

The rules for lack of sleep couldn't be more obscurely placed if it had been intentional; elder evils page 9.

A living creature can go without sleep for a number of days equal to his constitution modifier (minimum one). Thereafter it is fatigued, remaining in this state for a number of days equal to its constitution modifier (again, minimum one); if it would become fatigued in that time ,it is exhausted instead. Each day after that period, the creature takes 1 point of wisdom damage. If the total wisdom damage exceeds its hit dice, the creature is affected as if by an insanity spell.

There are some other details that relate to the effect that's presumed to be causing the lack of sleep but there it is.

Torpin

2019-01-25, 08:54 AM

Actually...

I don't see exhaustion in that list. In fact, inability to rest does not cause nonlethal damage at all as far as I can see. It prevents the normal healing that you get from resting for 8 hours, but fast healing still works just fine.

A nine-headed hydra can go almost two days without water before even needing to start making Con checks against nonlethal damage. And even assuming that it failed every single check (which is unlikely given it has a 20 in Constitution), it would take it on average about three days for it to lose consciousness from thirst alone. This, of course, would require that the PCs are relentlessly harrying the hydra on a constant enough basis such that it was unable to even stop to drink for three days straight rather than just enough to prevent it from resting.

Now I don't know about the specifics of this situation, but I would have to assume that the hydra has some sort of lair that it should be able to retreat to when it is faced with attacks from an enemy that it's unable to catch up to. That alone would prevent the PCs from kiting the hydra and force a more traditional encounter or give the hydra a chance to recuperate. If not, well that's just poor writing.
actually you can interupt the survival checks needed to get food and water pretty easily and only need to make sure that gets ruined once per day... son you best check yourself before you wreck yourself

also i said days, it was on the 4th. plus you might want to read pages 4 final notes and all of pg 14 of the DMG. which basically says in a campaign the dm's word is always final

Deophaun

2019-01-25, 09:49 AM

I don't see exhaustion in that list. In fact, inability to rest does not cause nonlethal damage at all as far as I can see. It prevents the normal healing that you get from resting for 8 hours, but fast healing still works just fine.
Problem with that:

A creature with fast healing has the extraordinary ability to regain hit points at an exceptional rate. Except for what is noted here, fast healing is like natural healing.
Among the exceptions, immunity to exhaustion is not among them. So yes, exhausting a hydra will shut off its fast healing.