Do you use Intelligent Magical Items in your campaigns?

[GuardianLurker]

Not anymore...

I've used an intelligent item - once.

This was back in the days of 2e...the PCs had found a semi-empathic sword, that was reasonably powerful. It became one of their treasured items. Then this BIG rock fell on the fighter and the sword failed it's save vs crushing blow.

The party sets off to repair the sword, finding out along the way that it isn't quite complete. Eventually, they get all the info and supplies they need and track down the one smith who can fix it.

He didn't just fix it, he improved it.

Things were fine until the party tried to interefere with the sword's special purpose. With its overwhelming ego score, it dominated the wielder and sent them after the big monster.

This did not go over well, and afterwards the party made me promise two things : 1) No more intelligent items. 2) No artifacts *ever*.

 

[Telor]

Vigilance, the bastard sword of morality

In my campaign,
I took the leveling-up weapon section in a Dragon magazine and added intelligence to it. We play an FR campaign and the cleric in the group is very close to Helm. He is his only divine champion at the moment and his sword is actually a piece of Helm's shattered sword. Vigilance has a fairly high ego so it can and will enforce itself upon our cleric if he gets out of hand. But he's been doing a good job staying in character so he hasn't heard much out of him.
Vigilance doesn't talk very much, usually he only advises against actions that Helm would despise and he only speaks to the cleric.

I enjoy this aspect of this character. He never has to spend money to upgrade his weapon instead he must invest his own life force (xp). The player really enjoys having a special weapon and I enjoy the fact that I engineered the weapon to suit the dogma of Helm rather than being a combination of munchy stuff (almost everyone's weapon is Keen or Impact in my group) and role play stuff.

I recommend using intelligence items though I think 15% is too high. A) As a DM you don't want the work of having so many NPCs constantly around your party. B) Eventually everyone would have a talking weapon so that would at least double the vocal output of the group. C) I would think that intelligence items are special, common <> special.

-Telor

 

[kiznit]

How can you tell it's intelligent if it's deaf, blind and dumb?

As a DM, I've ony just barely had a game with an actual talking intelligent weapon, I've never really explored it, but always wanted to.

However I once had a player with a slightly schizophrenic fighter who regularly talked (and listened) to his sword, which apparently had a homocidal streak and was named "Dr. Theopolis." Made for delightfully hilarious gaming. Of course, he also had a bondage gnome lackey with a choke ball to carry all his stuff, which goes to show what level of roleplaying game we were playing...

This was a throw-away your funny idea characters at Rappan Athuck game, so none of the PCs lived very long.

I would imagine that one of the more interesting things to explore with intelligent weapons would be figuring out at what level their awareness was at. A sword that was telepathic and could tell what alignment creatures are is one thing compared to a clueless sword that just "likes the taste of orcs."

Or perhaps a weapon that as far as it can tell, everything tastes like chicken.

Forged and wielded by a heroic chicken slayer maybe?

okay. sorry. I'm done.

 

[Crothian]

I had an intellegent sword that was a paladin. It was also the father of another character even though that character nor the sword realized they were related. The sword had paladin levels, weas LG, and could cast spells through the welder. Very complicated backstory though.

 

[Kinomen Dragoon]

Form the Elven archer in las campaign I belive magical items should be used in every campaign. Especally the ones with int. scores. In the Epic lvl hand book a int. wepon can use chain lighting cast by a 26lvl caster 5/day. So what do you guys say?

 

[s/LaSH]

Re: How can you tell it's intelligent if it's deaf, blind and dumb?

Or perhaps a weapon that as far as it can tell, everything tastes like chicken.

Forged and wielded by a heroic chicken slayer maybe?

okay. sorry. I'm done.

Don't be sorry... chickens may be amusing, but they can also be DEADLY! I just watched an episode of Digimon where this chicken Deva digimon plunged Tokyo into blackouts and grew to an enormous size. It was subsequently described by a talking owl as "The Deva! The chicken of vengeance!" (in a stereotypical evangelist preacher voice - "Thuh DAY-vuh!"), while the heroes struggled to stop it before it went on a rampage and destroyed Tokyo.

I'm not kidding.

OK, I love Digimon, but that episode's not the epitome of digital greatness. Give me another episode where a main character commits genocide and then gets angsty about it any day.

And digimon should count as intelligent weapons. They are controlled (more or less) by a 'tamer' who gives them special powers, have plenty of special attacks, and a good number of them have more metal than flesh in their bodies. That counts, right?

All right, now I'm sorry. I just had to justify this post.

 

[Stormwing]

In the Epic lvl hand book a int. wepon can use chain lighting cast by a 26lvl caster 5/day. So what do you guys say?

at least you can leave your machine-gun at home, when one party-member has such a weapon.
Now ,seriously. 26th level 5/day ? Means you can almost grill 5 pit-fiends any given day. Whats the point ?