Mercurial Greatsword

[Rashak Mani]

Scythes also only critical on 20... Merc Swords on 19-20... so much for any similarity there.

I think its a useful weapon to have in the list insofar as it gives away munchkin players. When a new player asks for this weapon you know immediately he is not a serious gamer and you can proceed to excluding him from your gaming group ! Treat as a Detect Munchking Item.

Since this silly weapon has shown up... not even some die hard min maxers have had the courage to ask a DM to use it.

 

[dagger]

Its not so bad with the errata

 

[Yeoman]

Scythes also only critical on 20... Merc Swords on 19-20... so much for any similarity there.

Post Errata it only crits on a 20.

 

[redhawk]

Ok, this is a rant. I am here to bitch about one of the cheesiest weapons ever developed for D&D. First off, I'd like to know where the idea for this weapon even spawned. Can anyone tell me? I've read my fair share of fantasy novels, and I do not recall a particular hero or villain using a mercurial weapon.

Apparently, you've never read Gene Wolfe. Severius, the torturer, carried <i>Terminus Est</I>, a mercurial greatsword.

Redhawk

EDIT: Spelling.

 

[EricNoah]

Re: Re: Mercurial Greatsword

Apparently, you've never read Gene Wolfe. Severius, the torturer, carried <i>Terminus Est</I>, a mercurial greatsword.

Redhawk

And apparently YOU've never read perhaps the greatest work of literature known to man -- a little something called "The Rest of This Thread"!



(Sorry, man, couldn't help it. You're like the 4th person to point this out. I was the second!)

 

[LGodamus]

Re: Re: Re: Mercurial Greatsword

And apparently YOU've never read perhaps the greatest work of literature known to man -- a little something called "The Rest of This Thread"!



(Sorry, man, couldn't help it. You're like the 4th person to point this out. I was the second!)

Kettle this is pot, Pot this is kettle..be nice to each other....



lol, sorry eric....I had to.

 

[Apok]

I believe the mercurial greatsword is the D&D equivalent of Terminus Est ("This is the line of division")

Coolest. Sword Name. Evah.

 

[Staffan]

I have no idea if the physics on this are correct (or need to be), but I think that's how the description in S&F goes.

It doesn't work, at least not in the real world. You might try a somewhat safer experiment to see how it (doesn't) work: take a big bottle (2 liters or so). Fill it about one third to one half with water, and put on the stopper. Try swinging it around and see if you get any additional accelleration from the water sloshing around in it.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Well, I guess "silly" is subjective, especially in a game about elves and dragons and wizards, so I'll not try to explain why I don't think they're all that silly

Anyway, in the books from which the sword sprang, these swords were absolutely not very common at all. They were, in fact, very rare, and only seemed to be available to members of the torturer's guild. They also seemed to have been made in the distant past, presumably using forgotten techniques, which made them work exactly as described in the books - the mercury drained into the handle when the sword was raised, and flowed out when the sword was swung down, giving the blow greater impact - without shattering, or without the mercury easily escaping. I'm sure this could be done now, of course, but given that the story is set millions of years hence, one might assume that metallurgical techniques would be vastly improved, or at least different, from what we have today. Or maybe they used magic, or technology sufficiently advanced to be indistinguishable from magic (to borrow from Clarke).

Anyway, in my own campaign, they are not easy to come by. They certainly aren't available for sale. They would only be found by PCs after a grueling series of adventures, in the hands of enemies that will use them against the PCs.

Oh, and I'll address another point, but it involves a


SPOILER BELOW


Severian's sword, Terminus Est, does, indeed, shatter during use at one point in the story, destroying it irreparably.

 

[totoro]

Scythes also only critical on 20... Merc Swords on 19-20... so much for any similarity there.

I think its a useful weapon to have in the list insofar as it gives away munchkin players. When a new player asks for this weapon you know immediately he is not a serious gamer and you can proceed to excluding him from your gaming group ! Treat as a Detect Munchking Item.

Since this silly weapon has shown up... not even some die hard min maxers have had the courage to ask a DM to use it.

Christ! 2d6, crit x4 and you have to spend a feat (and the weapon weighs more and is more rare). Or 2d6, crit 19-20/x2 and you don't have to spend a feat. Duh.

The two most over-used words on these message boards are munchkin and munchkin. Is a person now a munchkin if they choose and unusual weapon? Will everyone be happy if we all go back to using longswords (2e)?

The unfixed version may have been over-powered (average 2 more damage and x4 crit instead of 19-20/x2), but now it is not. In fact, I doubt that many people would select it as their weapon of choice unless they really wanted something unusual. A power gamer would take the greatsword and select the improved crit (17-20/x2 is as good as x4 crit) feat instead of wasting an exotic weapon proficiency on a weapon that you will never find.