Books of Swords

[shadowbloodmoon]

Where else was Townsaver used though? That would give us a clue to its limitations. Wasn't it one of the first destroyed by Shieldbreaker? Curse my piles of stuff. I had a notebook at one time detailing which character had which weapon at which time, but I'll be darned if I can find the thing....

 

[domino]

Yeah. Townsaver, Farslayer and Doomgiver were destroyed by Shieldbreaker.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Now that I think about it, could the structural aspect of Townsaver be that they must NOT have fortifications? That would work, and make them a lot more helpless, and needing of saving than to have walls and bulwarks to protect them already.

Interestingly, the 3E conversion linked from SKR's site (not very well done, I'm afraid) also stated that Townsaver was effective "within a settled community", so I'm not the only one remembering something like that!

The other places I can remember Townsaver being used were against the Grey Horde, and when Vulcan had Shieldbreaker - that was when it was destroyed. In both of those cases, it was defending a walled keep or city.

And Townsaver has the most style of any of the Swords. Shieldbreaker might be more powerful, but Townsaver's sexy

-Hyp.

 

[domino]

Well, before I go to bed, I leave you with this website, that may help. Or not.

http://www.answers.com/topic/twelve-swords-of-power

 

[dcollins]

This site was linked off Sean K. Reynold's article, and has more extensive 3rd Edition stats for the 12 swords (and more powerful): http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Fortress/5497/twelveswords.html

 

[Hypersmurf]

This site was linked off Sean K. Reynold's article, and has more extensive 3rd Edition stats for the 12 swords (and more powerful): http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Fortress/5497/twelveswords.html

I think they could be done a lot better, to be honest... there's a lot of vagueness about those write-ups.

-Hyp.

 

[the Lorax]

[With some editing]

Well, the world is actually my own.

As far as the Swords go, instead of gods, they were forged by dragons. Originally they were meant for 12 champions chosen by the dragons to play in a huge game of chess.

I had intended to use all 12. The dragon-god Bahamut would 'request' that all 12 be returned to the statue in his image in the Dragon Moratorium.

As far as power levels go, I was thinking minor or major artifact.

Well, OK.
Existing campaign.
No gods - dragons instead, still a 'game'.
Useing all 12.
Major Artifacts.

I think you are aiming a bit high with the whole 'Major Artifact' bit, but we'll can work backwords.

If you are using all 12 swords, it could be important to know something about the draconic patrons represented by each sword.

I really think you need to pick a base power effect for the swords in general
(such as +4 Keen Bastard Sword) and build the power of the swords using the rules of 3.5, and giveing them all a similar value. I think its more important to preserve the flavor of the weapons rather than the power level given to the items in the books. Much of the events of Saberhagens books - while an enjoyable read - would make a terrible game. The players would feel like they had no choice and were being abused just for the DMs amusement.

 

[the Lorax]

My biggest balancing effect would be playing up the weapons weaknesses. Mindsword makes you one paranoid SOB. Farslayer tells the name of the person who last used it to the next person that picks it up. We all know Shieldbreaker's problem. The only one that I can think of without a weakness is Woundhealer, unless you count the fact that you can't hurt anybody with it....

Giving the Swords a role-playing penalty to balance out a mechanical advantage is a bad idea.
They really need to be built using the RAW with an equal value for their core abilities, and if there is some minor flavor based abilities that you want to add to each you can, but the Swords are REALLY strong as written in the stories - game breakingly powerful.

 

[the Lorax]

You know, that's a good question. I'm trying to remember if they ever actually used the weapon to kill anybody with it. Twelve books is a lot to remember through, even though I've read them all three times. (Yes, folks, it's that good.)

IIRC Stonecutters chief weakness was its interaction with other swords - that is if someone held Stonecutter and another Sword, then they turned to stone.

 

[BWP]

IIRC Stonecutters chief weakness was its interaction with other swords - that is if someone held Stonecutter and another Sword, then they turned to stone.

Well, I don't remember that at all, although admittedly it's been many years since I read the original trilogy and the first few of the "Lost Swords" books.

I always thought Wayfinder was the most interesting of the swords, especially in the way that it would find a "path" to get what the wielder asked for. As mentioned in that 3.0 write-up, it won't necessarily take a safepath, nor a direct one, but it will lead to where you asked it to take you. Asking it to take you to a "pile of gold" would take you to one, but if you asked it to lead you to "great wealth", well, it would take you on an adventure, at the end of which (if you were still alive), you would indeed possess great wealth.