Excalibur

[Jack Simth]

Hmm....

Leadership special.....
If the wielder of Excalibur has the Leadership feat, Excalibur allows him to have an extra cohort per point of charisma bonus, but at a progressive -1 maximum level - so a level 10 character with Leadership and a Charisma score of 16 could have four cohorts - one at no more than 8th level, one at no more than 7th, one at no more than 6th, and one at no more than 5th. Cohorts must still be attracted as normal, and if the wielder doesn't draw and wield Excalibur at least once per day for at least one hour, the extra cohorts lose faith and wander off at a rate of one per day. If another wields Excalibur, all extra cohorts immediately wander off, and must be re-attracted if Excalibur is recovered.

 

[Cabral]

That brings me to another question. What kind of class would you consider the Lady of the Lake?

Rogue. With a really high bluff skill. Excalibur was really a tin blade ... all the other stuff was actually Arthur's class features ...

I don't really know anything about the myth but if you want her to a character running around, you could make her an artificer/sorcerer or some such

 

[kigmatzomat]

IIRC, one variant of the tale had the sheath bearing magical properties; something along the lines of keeping the weilder from bleeding. In game terms, this would be either DR5/- or fast heal 2 depending on your interpretation of things.

 

[Doom3524]

Wow, I go away for a weekend and this picks back up. Thanks everyone for the input. I like the Water Wierd idea for the Lady of the Lake. As far as the sword, I was talking with some friends, and with a lot of your ideas I think I have come up with a pretty crazy legacy item!! I have added a little bit of the Marvel Comics Black Knight excalibur to it as well (shocking). At 20th level it will look something like this....

+5 Holy/Lawful/Keen/Smiting/Unbreakable/Shocking Burst Bastard Sword.
The Sheath will grand DR 5/- Fast Healing 3

Now, although this is pretty sick, it is a Legacy Weapon, and compared to some of them this is sub par. The Adventure Seeds will be a mixture of the different tales wich will be...

#1 Pull the Sword from the Stone

#2 Take the Sword to the Lady of the Lake and get it repaired (obviously it will be broken before that, and she will make it unbreakable)

#3 I have toyed with the thought of making it intelligent, and the third adventure being the wielder must be willing to give up the sword back to Arthur and then it chooses to not go to him and stay with the current wielder.

What do people think on those thoughts?

 

[Cabral]

First, an artifact should span adventures.
Step 1. adventurers go on a few adventures trying to find The Stone.
Step 2. They find The Stone, but can't pull it out but someone tells them about someone who claims to know the secret.
Step 3. They seek out the above, perform a series of tasks in order to prove their worthiness and gain the advice
Step 4. They pull the sword from the stone and it is:

a) a fake blade on the hilt of exalibur; treat as MW sword.​

a) the real deal but it is weakened and shatters when it first strikes something. treat as a minor magical item​

Step 5. Either way, they need to take Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake to fix it.
Step 6. They don't know where the Lady of the Lake is, so spend a few adventures following leads.
Step 7. They take it to her and she agrees to reforge. It will be done shortly, but the blade will be so sharp that no scabbard will hold it. She sends them on a Quest to seek the True Scabbard of Excalibur which should be a quest with a encounter levels equal to the party level +2 or more. (Whatever is just low enough that the party is stretched thin but noone dies... at least no one important )
Step 8. Return to the Lady of the Lake with the scabbard and retrieve the sword.
Step 9. Partay!

If the sword is intelligent (which I reccomend; special purpose: to Rule Justly), it can be what cues the adventurers to the Lady of the Lake for Step 5.

If you want to have the sword be claimed but keep it in the adventurer's hands,
I would:
Step 10. Rumors start about the return of the Once and Future King.
Step 11. News of sightings of the Once and Future King start circulating and they seem to indicate that He is moving towards the adventurer's location.

Step 11a. If they seek Him out, they should meet up with him at the end of one adventure​

Step 11a. If they avoid Him, He should find them after a few adventures​

Step 12. Arthur attempts to claim Excalibur, but Excalibur rejects Arthur, planting itself firmly in the ground. Arthur attempts to force Excalibur to accept him but Excalibur instead dispels the magic disguising him, revealing him to be Modred.
Step 13. Fight Modred! (he should be designed to be a very tough fight if he has excalibur's shield and the party does not have Excalibur. Whomever Excalibur accepts as his rightful wielder can withdraw Excalibur as a full-round action ... which Modred will seek to prevent.)

Hmmm... I may have to steal this

Anyway, you should drag out the interaction if you want the campaign to be about Excalibur and the Arthurian Legends. You should quicken the interaction if you want a few adventures about Excalibur and the Arthurian Legends.

 

[Doom3524]

Wow, thats a pretty good storyline. I will probably use some of that and tweak it for my group a little bit. Thanks!!!

 

[Cabral]

Okay, I created a new thread for designing Artifacts. I'll be adding other artifacts as I can/think of them. I think The Grail might be next.