Weapons of Legacy opinions?

[Voadam]

I just got Weapons of Legacy as a gift from my father in law and briefly skimmed it and a few comments on it from Amazon.

Looks like it is magic items/artefacts that can grow over time, require quests to unlock new powers, and impose significant penalties on the wielder that might make them not worth taking. With 50 examples, each with a sample encounter, and rules for making new ones. It also has a neat monsters of legacy template with a couple samples including a warmage character which is not that great for me as I don't have Complete Arcane.

I had put it on my 235 item amazon wish list because I figured it might be useful in my 16th level campaign where two PCs have artefact weapons and one has asked about upgrading his.

Anybody have/use this supplement and care to comment on what is good about it/needs changing? Anybody combined it with the artefact weapon wielder prestige classes from Unearted Arcana/Bastion Press' Arms and Armor 3.5?

 

[interwyrm]

Players are reluctant to use legacy items because they require sacrifices in the character's best abilities. You basically end up diminishing the value of your character to gain some mostly insignificant abilities.

I would use an either or approach. If you find an item of legacy, you only have to pay the ritual costs, not the sacrifice costs. Players don't tend to have such a problem with spending cash. Otherwise, you will end up with cool items that no one will want to use.

 

[lukelightning]

I like it as a guide for "scaling" items, but don't use the drawbacks/penalties part. I like scaling items to replace finding loot.

Basically I'd rather have a PC's sword "power up" than having to give the characters a bunch more money/treasure/items to keep their equipment on the level of their CR.

Surprise! After fighting with that +1 flail for the past few combats you discover that it has a new special ability, granting extra electricity damage. Why? Well that's not just any flail you found, that is the fabled Icefoe, created by the fabled hero Bob to fight frost giants.... perhaps with time more of the powers will be awakened...

 

[Vorput]

I found the book mostly worthless... It was an idea that I certainly didn't need a book to tell me, and a whole set of complicated needless mechanics to explain the aforementioned idea.

I was at a loss to explain to my character why he needs to spend 5,400 gold to go pray at a location that he was able to get to spending no more than 300 gold.

I was at a loss to explain to my already low hit point monk why he needed to surrender hit points and take attack penalties to use a supposedly 'beneficial' item.

I was at a loss to explain to my characters why they suddenly gain a feat in order to correctly harness a weapon.

The items ultiamtly ended up being so much of a headache that one was simply sold because the player didn't want the headaches/penalties that went along with it (and yet thse are supposed to be the equivalent of artifacts).

Moreover, while some of the items are good and fun to read about, by and large it seemed like cliche ideas and writing- something they had to get out, even after it became a pain to create a unique history to each item.

Anyway, The changes I eventually made were re-writing the item's histories to fit my campaign, getting rid of the negatives associated with the item (i.e. save penalties, hit point loss), and changing the quests so they weren't simply based around gold pieces. Instead the character actually had to DO something, something significant that often became an adventure or two in itself. When the monk had to go to the negative energy plane and track down and kill a max hit dice xag-yi and xag-ya, with the party only being able to help kill the smaller ones- THAT was cool. The book's idea was that he needed to spend time contemplating balance in the universe, and visit both the positive and negative energy planes... and somehow spend like 28,000 gold doing that.

Just my two cents.

Vorp

 

[JoeGKushner]

So far I'm using two in play. Divine Spark for a priest of Pelor (yeah, he needs more turning and resistance bonuses), and Mae-Jun (spelled that wrong I'm sure), a blade for a soul knife.

Both have worked out fairly well so far. The stablize power on the soul knife is a pretty powerful bit though.

 

[Laman Stahros]

I have played two characters so far that used one of these weapons (one of them used two at the same time). The penalties aren't that bad in play, unless you use two Weapons of Legacy like I did (Ouch). I am using these rules as is in the campaign I am running and one of the players is going to found a legacy with one of his weapons. Should be fun.

As for the GP costs, I am requiring that he spend that amount of gold for ritual oils, incense and other minor items. That is what the GP cost is for, according to the section on founding a legacy, after all.

 

[Imruphel]

Overall, I think it was a wasted purchase for me as I think the mechanics are atrocious for the reasons mentioned by other posters.

However, I do like the flavour text and I love the idea of the omens and the rituals to unlock greater abilities in the weapons. So, in order to get some value from my purchase, I've decided to use the omens, rituals and the abilities that "unlock" as character levels are gained, but I won't be using the suggested costs.

I also like some of the maps and pictures and have included same as short sidetreks in my newest campaign.

On second thoughts, it really wasn't a wasted purchase for me after all....

 

[Felon]

Some of the ideas for legacy items were nead, but I agree with the previous posters. Most of WoL is trash. Lose hit points, still points, and attack bonus for wielding a sword? Sounds like a cursed weapon to me!

 

[Presto2112]

Coincidentally, I was re-reading WoL last night, as I'm thinking of introducing legacy items in a future campaign, and I must say, after look at it again, the cost to use legacy items seems pretty steep. You have to burn a feat, AND you have to expend gp, AND you pay a personal price. At least one of those has to go, IMO.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Generally, I liked the book. I wish I could get the chance to use it. The overall concept models what you find in literature and legend. Pouring part of one's own "essence" or abilities into an item so as to imbue that item with power and unlock those powers, making both the item and the item's owner more powerful than they both were before? Sounds familiar. Losing or destroying that item can then leave the owner bereft of much of his power? Sounds even more familiar. Sounds like the One Ring and Sauron.