I need a sword (my players OUT)

[BRC]

For my campaign, there is a certain Sword that is going to be very significant (It has a Mcguffin in it's hilt). It's the family sword of the Nibbits (Yes, the name is amusing, the first one introduced was meant to be kind of a buffoon, but the PC's liked him so I'm working his family into the story).
His Family has a long history of military service, with lots of emphasis on the bits that sound good in stories. They're not suicidal glory hounds or anything, but they certainly spend plenty of money on Armor polish.

Next adventure is a Flashback, with one of the PC's controlling a member of this family (Sir Joshua Arthur Nibbit), a 6th level Knight. Later on the PC's will need to get the sword from Commadore Olivia Jane Nibbit, who I haven't stated out yet (since she won't show up for a couple adventures), but will probably a rogue/scarlet corsair.

I'd like the sword to reflect the Family's tradition of military service, or their position as officers. I'm not afraid to ignore the rules to achieve an effect I want, so I don't need everything to come out exactly according to formulas, and I'm undecided if the PC's will actually get to use the Sword outside of the flashback adventure, but it would be nice to have a ballpark estimate for it's value to calculate how much other equipment the wielder's start with.

So yeah, any ideas?

Edit: The sword may or may not be Intelligent. That's still up in the air.

[JoshuaZ]

The sword itself doesn't need to be that powerful. But one thing I'd recommend considering is making the sword become more powerful with more powerful wielders. One obvious method would be to allow the sword to let people have access to specific martial maneuvers but only if you had a high enough initiator level to use them.

You could also make the sword get more powerful as the generations progress (either through deliberate magical improvement or just picking up residual power or something like that). This could fit in well with the skipping every few generations thing, since OOC players can see it getting more powerful.

[Temotei]

We'll probably need more information. What level are the PC's? What power level are you going for? What kind of personality does the family have as a whole, other than their military service, lending to an axiomatic personality?

[Godskook]

Is this meant for the PCs to eventually wield, or as just a McGuffin that they interact with?

If the former, give it abilities that fit what it was used for.

If the latter, make it a legacy weapon, and ignore the penalties for it. Hell, you could do this for the former, if you like giving your fighter nice things every once in a while.

[BRC]

We'll probably need more information. What level are the PC's? What power level are you going for? What kind of personality does the family have as a whole, other than their military service, lending to an axiomatic personality?

PC's just became level 6, and Sir Nibbit (The one they get to control in the flashback) is 6th level, but I don't know when their characters are going to go up against the Sword (It depends on the order in which they go after several macguffins).
It's hard to generalize the family's personality. If I was going to, it would probably be "Proud". They grow up hearing (rather sanitized and exaggerated) stories about all the amazing things their ancestors did. They think this makes them destined to carry on the family tradition, they can lead this rag-tag group of demoralized troops to hold the line against that charging wave of enemies because they are Nibbits, and that's what Nibbits DO!
On the other hand, they also feel pressured to measure up to their ancestors. They know that they are proud and arrogant, but they also feel that they should earn the right to be that way with blood, sweat, and tears.
In terms of power level, I'm going more for Interesting than Powerful. I want it to be effective yes, but more than that I want something about it to be memorable. Preferably the PC's get used to it during the Flashback adventure, and then, when they fight against it, they use what they know of it to build their strategy (Oh, it gets more powerful the more people threaten the wielder, so we better be sure to make sure only one of us threatens at a time).
Also, two notes
Note 1: The sword is traditionally held by whichever member of the family has the highest millitary rank at the time.
Note 2: The Sword itself is not the Mcguffin, when Sir Nibbit got the Mcguffin in question, he hid it in the hilt of his sword.

Edit: I don't know if I'm going to let the PC's wield it yet.

[Soranar]

PC's just became level 6, and Sir Nibbit (The one they get to control in the flashback) is 6th level, but I don't know when their characters are going to go up against the Sword (It depends on the order in which they go after several macguffins).
It's hard to generalize the family's personality. If I was going to, it would probably be "Proud". They grow up hearing (rather sanitized and exaggerated) stories about all the amazing things their ancestors did. They think this makes them destined to carry on the family tradition, they can lead this rag-tag group of demoralized troops to hold the line against that charging wave of enemies because they are Nibbits, and that's what Nibbits DO!
On the other hand, they also feel pressured to measure up to their ancestors. They know that they are proud and arrogant, but they also feel that they should earn the right to be that way with blood, sweat, and tears.
In terms of power level, I'm going more for Interesting than Powerful. I want it to be effective yes, but more than that I want something about it to be memorable. Preferably the PC's get used to it during the Flashback adventure, and then, when they fight against it, they use what they know of it to build their strategy (Oh, it gets more powerful the more people threaten the wielder, so we better be sure to make sure only one of us threatens at a time).
Also, two notes
Note 1: The sword is traditionally held by whichever member of the family has the highest millitary rank at the time.
Note 2: The Sword itself is not the Mcguffin, when Sir Nibbit got the Mcguffin in question, he hid it in the hilt of his sword.

Edit: I don't know if I'm going to let the PC's wield it yet.

Make it a Paladin in a sword , for the whole proud thing.

Something like : wielder becomes immune to fear and grants +4 to saves vs fear to allies around him

add Charisma to attack (or damage, depending how powerful you want it to be)

add Charisma to saves (can be very strong with certain characters so don't go crazy with this)

and put some kind of drawback to it

Wielder must have x type of alignment, if bearer runs from a battle he can no longer wield the sword (works better if the sword talks and chooses it's wielders)

[Temotei]

The sword is traditionally held by the highest-ranking person...that probably means it's stronger in the hands of more powerful characters. Give it a scaling power. Something like...

You grant a +1 morale bonus to attack and saving throws to all evil/good creatures who can see (or otherwise sense, if blindsense or blindsight) you, and a -1 morale penalty to good/evil creatures who can see you. The numbers increase by +1/-1 at each additional interval.

...this. (This is from Baron Corm's Build-A-Char! thread.) Just change it to lawful/chaotic for your proud-types.

Or maybe have only allies get the bonus, and all enemies getting the penalty?

Other ability ideas:
Auras -- Morale bonuses to AC, saves, attack, damage, combat abilities, etc.
1/day -- Heroism, protection from X, bull's strength, bear's endurance, etc.
3/day -- Activate white raven maneuvers (or iron heart if that fits better) of a level available to one of your initiator level
At will -- Virtue, guidance, resistance
Properties -- +1/+2, axiomatic, bane (whatever), defending...

Just some ideas.

[PhoenixRivers]

Concept:

Spoiler

Show

The Crest of Nibbit

This +2 Longsword isn't overly remarkable for a sword of fine craftsmanship. The designs upon it are simple, yet elegant, and the hilt is worn smooth, from generations of hands that have wielded it.

When the blade strikes a humanoid opponent, it affects that opponent with a Command spell (DC 12). If the save is failed, the opponent drops his weapon. This ability functions any number of times per day, but only once per person, per day.

In addition, the wielder gets a +2 Circumstance bonus to all Charisma based skill checks.

How's that?

[Killer Angel]

It's hard to generalize the family's personality. If I was going to, it would probably be "Proud". They grow up hearing (rather sanitized and exaggerated) stories about all the amazing things their ancestors did. They think this makes them destined to carry on the family tradition, they can lead this rag-tag group of demoralized troops to hold the line against that charging wave of enemies because they are Nibbits, and that's what Nibbits DO!

Also, two notes
Note 1: The sword is traditionally held by whichever member of the family has the highest millitary rank at the time.

+1 longsword
Confers the feat "Iron Will" to the wielder
1/Day, as a standard action, the sword can cast "Good Hope", with a caster level equal to the wielder's. The command word is "I AM A NIBBIT, AND WE WILL STAND OUR GROUND!"

Note 1: this last option, may be not available, if the wielder isn't a Nibbit...

[BRC]

Ooh, thanks for the ideas.

So, for a variety of reasons I'm not using ToB classes (I didn't have ToB when we started the campaign, and don't feel familiar enough with it to start using it, and I don't feel it's fair to throw my PC's against ToB Classes yet). However, I'm considering having this Sword simulate some Maneuvers, specifically White Raven maneuvers (Which seems to work best for the effect I'm trying to achieve), Leading the Attack, White Raven Strike, and Battle Leader's Charge are stuff I'm looking at.

Here's an Idea I'm working on now.
Glory's Edge
This intelligent Longsword Has been wielded by the Nibbit family for generations. It started as merely magical, but exposure to such powerful personalities and experiences has given it sentience.
Glory's Edge is a powerful blade, but it's also very proud, and has seen so much battle that it's generally bored by it. It will only wake up and use it's true power if it is convinced the action being taken is sufficiently glorious and/or Heroic (a Charisma Check). It has one of three abilities that can attempt to be activated, depending on the situation.
Lead the Charge: The glorious hero charging into battle, is there a more iconic image. If the Wielder succeeds on a DC 15 Charisma Check while making a charge, the Sword grants it's wielder the use of the Maneuver Battle Leader's Charge. If this attack drops the enemy, Allies within 60 feet who make a charge attack gain a bonus equal to the wielders (Charisma Score-10) on damage rolls. This effect lasts a number of rounds equal to the wielder's charisma score.
Hold the Line: When Barbarians are at the gates, no Nibbit worthy of the name would dream of being anywhere but on the walls. If the wielder of Glory's Edge fights defensively, uses the feat Combat Expertise, or takes a full defense action, they may makes a DC 15 charisma check. If they succeed, the wielder and all allies within 60 feet gain a +4 bonus on AC for a number of rounds equal to the wielder's charisma modifier. In addition, if an opponent fails their attack roll to hit the wielder of Glory's Edge by at least 5 while this effect is active, the wielder may make an attack of opportunity.

If the Wielder is a member of the Nibbit family, they gain a +2 bonus on the charisma checks to wake the sword.
If the Wielder is outnumbered at least 2:1, they gain a +2 bonus on the charisma checks to wake the sword.
If the wielder has failed to wake the sword 3 times that day, they take a -2 penalty on the charisma check.
If the wielder has been forced to retreat from a battle within the last 24 hours (No matter the odds), they take a -2 penalty on the charisma check.