Intelligent Weapons

[Melkor]

Hi folks,

Trying to acclimate to the new edition, and am still sifting through the books. In trying to recreate a magic item from my 3.5 campaign, I didn't see anything regarding intelligent weapons in the 4E PHB or DMG....granted, I still haven't fully read through either book.

Am I missing something, or are rules for intelligent weapons yet to be published?

Thanks!

 

[Boarstorm]

They are expected to be in the Adventurer's Vault.

 

[Cadfan]

I thought "intelligent weapons" meant "artifacts" in 4e, but that's just the impression I got from the Concordance system for artifacts in the DMG. It roughly mimics the 3e system for getting along with intelligent weapons.

 

[Yaezakura]

They are expected to be in the Adventurer's Vault.

This. The Adventurer's Vault will contain a multitude of new magic items and rules for creating them, including non-artifact Intelligent Items (at least that's the impression I got from something one of the devs said).

For now, just wing it and try your best to keep the game effects of the weapon balanced.

 

[Melkor]

Cool. Thanks for the info folks!

 

[Atlatl Jones]

The Dragon article about Warforged gave us this tidbit in its description of docents:

"Docents can have an alignment, personality quirks, extra powers, and any other traits ascribed to intelligent items or customized items in Adventurer’s Vault."

 

[Mouseferatu]

Huh. I actually liked the notion that all intelligent weapons were artifacts--I mean, you don't get anything more unique than a specific personality in a sword --but it'll be interesting to see what they do with it.

 

[WhatGravitas]

Huh. I actually liked the notion that all intelligent weapons were artifacts--I mean, you don't get anything more unique than a specific personality in a sword --but it'll be interesting to see what they do with it.

In general, that's true, but artifacts have two drawbacks: They're for a certain level range (power-wise) and are supposed to move on.

As both of these aspects are tied into the concordance mechanic, it would be a bit of a hack to remove it. Embracing 4E's modularity, I'd say doing them from the ground up isn't bad - that could also fill the niche of weapons growing with their owners (because they have the potential to grow, due to having a "soul").

Cheers, LT.