The fundamental fail of Weapons of Legacy was this:
The Problem: Because of the way wealth by level works, PCs tend not to stick with the same weapon; they swap out any time they get a chance at a better one.
The Solution: Create weapons that are cheap enough to give to low-level characters, level up along with their wielders, yet are balanced at their original price (plus a few relatively small ritual costs) due to feat costs and stat penalties.
The Problem With The Solution: If the weapon is balanced at its original price, that means it
has to be weaker than a higher-priced weapon available later on. If you're a 3E weapon-user, your weapon is your absolute top priority; you can expect to invest (IME) about 50% of your WBL in it. Using a Weapon of Legacy means you are denied the chance to make such an investment, which is a major penalty in itself.
Weapons of Legacy
could have worked, if the designers had bit the bullet and applied a suitable gold-piece cost; make it so the price you pay for a ritual to improve your Weapon of Legacy is comparable to the price you'd pay to upgrade a regular weapon of similar level. Make sure the upgrades are sensible ones that a real weapon-user might find attractive. Then adjust the price downward somewhat, or throw in a few extras, to account for the loss of flexibility.
Something like this:
Sword of Frosty Death (8,000 gp)
When found, the
sword of frosty death is a
+1 frost greatsword. The wielder can gain the ability to use it as a more powerful weapon by making offerings of silver and white gems to the mighty snow demons. The rituals to improve it are as follows:
- First Rite: Sacrifice 24,000 gp worth of silver and gems. While you wield it, the sword is now a +3 frost greatsword; you gain cold resistance 10; and you can ignore terrain penalties due to snow and ice.
- Second Rite: Sacrifice 40,000 gp worth of silver and gems. While you wield it, the sword is now a +5 frost greatsword; your cold resistance increases to 20; and you can cast wall of ice once per day as a sorceror of your level.
- Third Rite: Sacrifice 56,000 gp worth of silver and gems. While you wield it, the sword is now a +5 keen icy burst greatsword; your cold resistance increases to 30; and you can cast freezing sphere once per day as a sorceror of your level.
- Fourth Rite: Sacrifice 72,000 gp worth of silver and gems. While you wield it, the sword is now a +5 keen icy burst greatsword of wounding; you are immune to cold; you can cast polar ray once per day as a sorceror of your level; and once per year you can cast summon deranged mutant killer monster snow goon (see Spells of Legacy).
(snip)
