ENWorlders: Reward my players with Magic Items

[Piratecat]

Holy crap, PC. The amount of effort you must have expended just to come up with that treasure list wounds my brain.

Ah, but I got to recycle them for this thread, so it was definitely worth it. At the time my group had just taken on a vampiric dracolich with a breath weapon that drained blood (con damage)... I wanted it to be memorable.

It wasn't as tough as it seems, though. I just dragged together a lot of disparate ideas I'd had floating around my head for a long time, and gussied them up with some fun flavor text.

got a question about this, pkitty. If a villan had this and was hitting the PCs, how would you demonstrate that in game? Do you just indicate that successful hits are just whiffs, and then have all the damage slam at once when fingers are snapped? I can see my players not being too happy with that. obviously, telling them whats supposed to be happening ruins the point. How do you handle this?

Talinthas, I'd say "The orc slams his sword into your shoulder once again. He definitely hits you, but you don't get cut. Heck, you don't even get bruised, and you barely feel any impact at all. Who knows, maybe he's healing you with the thing?" Then I'd describe the smile on the orc's face three rounds later when he snaps his fingers as a free action.

 

[Ssyleia]

I don't have suggestions concerning the party, however I can give a piece of general advice:

Favor the druid!

Always reward those players who take atypical classes, it makes gaming more interesting.

 

[Ziggy]

Talinthas, I'd say "The orc slams his sword into your shoulder once again. He definitely hits you, but you don't get cut. Heck, you don't even get bruised, and you barely feel any impact at all. Who knows, maybe he's healing you with the thing?" Then I'd describe the smile on the orc's face three rounds later when he snaps his fingers as a free action.

I used one of these IMC. I ruled that the sword passses through matter, almost like a ghostly sword. The party found it as part of a treasure horde, and after using it without any noticable effect against some spiders, the paladin happily "cut through" his own arm to shown the rest of the party how it worked. He was less amused after the mage identified the sword, and for a long time they could not use it because his arm would fall off. Much later the magic was finally removed as the result of a targeted Greater Dispel from an enemy mage.

.Ziggy

 

[Rel]

I used one of these IMC. I ruled that the sword passses through matter, almost like a ghostly sword. The party found it as part of a treasure horde, and after using it without any noticable effect against some spiders, the paladin happily "cut through" his own arm to shown the rest of the party how it worked. He was less amused after the mage identified the sword, and for a long time they could not use it because his arm would fall off. Much later the magic was finally removed as the result of a targeted Greater Dispel from an enemy mage.

.Ziggy

The one (small) advantage I could see to this interpretation is that the assassin could approach his target while helpless (say asleep for example) and "strike" him repeatedly without his target ever even knowing it. Then, at a later time of his choosing, he does the "snap the fingers" bit and the target dies. I suppose that if used creatively, this could make it seem that the victim was killed by somebody else.

I'll also query Piratecat further about how he interpreted the durability of the damage: Could it be dispelled in the way that Ziggy proposed? If so, it makes the weapon a bit less fearsome against those who understand how it works. If not, what a perfect blackmail device:

"You'll note that my friend here struck you repeatedly with that sword during the battle. We're going to let you go, but if you EVER cross our path again..."

Guaranteed instantaneous death!

 

[Piratecat]

I think I like Ziggy's method of handling it better than my own, for the reasons you mention. If nothing at all is felt it certainly does make midnight assassinations easier, and that fits in with the purpose of the sword. It should still be a normal attack (not a touch attack) to hit, though, and if used in active combat it should be clear to the victim that something odd might be happening.

I never gave much thought to the durability of damage. I'd probably treat it as "negative temporary hitpoints" - healed last by any magical or normal healing.

Example: 4th lvl Lidda has 20 hit points, and has been hit by a normal word for 8 points and by the sword of softness for 32. Her opponent flees, planning to snap his fingers later that night. Jozan thinks she's just slightly injured, so he uses a cure light wounds that heals 12 points. This heals all 8 points of Lidda's normal damage, and 4 points of the "soft" damage. Later that night, when the bad guy snaps his fingers, she drops to -8... and very well might bleed to death before she stabilized. If he snapped his fingers the next morning after Lidda had healed her lvl in hit points that night, she'd drop to -4 instead.

My advice? Don't make it more complicated than you need to.

 

[Rashak Mani]

As regards the Cleric... whenever I played the Cleric either I hated his slow speed or his lousy combat ability. Determine what you think your Cleric is more frustrated about.

If he is a combat cleric avoid "hit and destroy" weapons... I feel they are boring. Extra damage is good... explode undead ? Boring.

Barbarian/Bard ?! Cool ! Give him an instrument he can play and fight at the same time ? Drums of Mace beating ? (made that up)

 

[Sir Whiskers]

...though, and if used in active combat it should be clear to the victim that something odd might be happening.

I'd suggest something creepy - that uncomfortable feeling when the plane lurches and your stomach feels queasy, or the infamous "you feel as if someone just walked over your grave..."

 

[Ziggy]

I never gave much thought to the durability of damage. I'd probably treat it as "negative temporary hitpoints" - healed last by any magical or normal healing.

Example: 4th lvl Lidda has 20 hit points, and has been hit by a normal word for 8 points and by the sword of softness for 32. Her opponent flees, planning to snap his fingers later that night. Jozan thinks she's just slightly injured, so he uses a cure light wounds that heals 12 points. This heals all 8 points of Lidda's normal damage, and 4 points of the "soft" damage. Later that night, when the bad guy snaps his fingers, she drops to -8... and very well might bleed to death before she stabilized. If he snapped his fingers the next morning after Lidda had healed her lvl in hit points that night, she'd drop to -4 instead.

My advice? Don't make it more complicated than you need to.

I definitely prefer this mechanic. I played it as unhealable damage, because it had not happened yet. PC's interpretation makes it a bit more in line with the basic system, something I really like. It's to late to change it now, but I'll remember it next time I use it (I just love this item).

BTW, one side effect of my "slice through materials" interpretation is that the sword is a really good item for getting through wooden materials. I ruled that stone and metal was to hard to slice through (because armor works normally), but it will cut trough wood with a bit of effort. "Cutting" a opening in a wall or door and then snapping your fingers will make an opening with a minimum of noice and maximum surprise.

The party also used to clear away a large amount of brush around their house. They used the sword to cut through the trunks of all the bushes and small trees, and then with a snap of their fingers the whole wood came crashing down.

.Ziggy

 

[Rel]

(**** transmutation)
A somewhat plain, cheap looking necklace made from gray metal (possibly an iron alloy). It is surprisingly heavy. This is found dropped inside a gilt ceremonial helm.

necklace of iron body; only works on an arcane caster (spell completion item), and the effect is not dismissable until it would normally wear off (15 minutes). All equipment, including the necklace, melds into the iron and becomes unusable while the spell effect is in place.

I've got a last minute question (we play in less than 2 hours) about how you handled this item, PC:

You stipulate that "all equipment melds into the iron and becomes unusable". What about equipment that the user picks up after the spell is in effect? I think it likely that the Barbarian/Bard will get this item (actually, I've weakened it somewhat but I like the basic concept). He's bound to want to use his sword. Can he set it down, activate the necklace and then pick it back up again?

 

[Piratecat]

Keep in mind that the barbarian/bard couldn't use it as written because it's a spell completion item. I actually have it as a use activated item (usable by anyone) in my own game, but I weakened it somewhat in this writeup. The balance for a lower lvl party is that the wizard can use it, but then has a 50% spell failure chance!

Other than that, I'd say sure, the sword can be picked back up. Your best bet is to make the item subtly cursed *if* it seems to you that the group is over-using it. When the barbarian finds that his skin is slowly turning gray and that healing doesn't help, he'll probably save use of the item for real emergencies, and voila' - your problem largely disappears. You can even give him a method for completely removing the curse (like placing the necklace on an iron golem before slaying it) which he won't be able to do for a few levels.

And my, do they run when they see those rust monsters....