Are intelligent weapons a thing of the past or are they still used in the game? If they exist, are the evil, neutral, or good?
Intelligent Weapons?
- Thread starter Diamond Cross
- Start date
I've always liked the idea of them, but in play they've either been an annoyance or weak comic relief. When you whip out Blackrazor you want to devour some souls, not have an argument with the weapon twice as smart as you.
I'd love to hear anecdotes of intelligent weapons that worked in play.
I'd love to hear anecdotes of intelligent weapons that worked in play.
Oryan77
Adventurer
I use them. We had a Paladin NPC in the group that was known to always talk to himself. Each time I roleplayed him talking to anyone, I always mentioned how he always had 1 hand gripping the handle of his morningstar as it hung from his side. It was a habit of his.
Then when the group failed to stop Orcus from returning to deity status, he lost his Paladin status due to his cowardliness. Being ashamed of himself, he decided to retire, and he gave the cleric PC (the Paladin was his mentor/leader) his morningstar.
As soon as the PC picked up the morningstar, he heard a voice in his head introduce itself as Dahkut the Giant Bane. That's when the PCs learned that the Paladin wasn't crazy & talking to himself. He was talking to his morningstar. But he can only communicate with it if he is holding it.
Even though the players never heard Dahkut before, I still portrayed the Paladin having a conversation "with himself". It usually involved the two discussing their thoughts about a PC or an NPC they just met. Dahkut likes to give his opinion about situations in an attempt to be helpful. That's how I roleplay him.
The only difficult thing about using stuff like this is that I always forget to roleplay them. If I don't have an NPC sheet infront of me, I forget about it. Maybe I need to create an NPC sheet for the intelligent items and animal companions/familiars.
Then when the group failed to stop Orcus from returning to deity status, he lost his Paladin status due to his cowardliness. Being ashamed of himself, he decided to retire, and he gave the cleric PC (the Paladin was his mentor/leader) his morningstar.
As soon as the PC picked up the morningstar, he heard a voice in his head introduce itself as Dahkut the Giant Bane. That's when the PCs learned that the Paladin wasn't crazy & talking to himself. He was talking to his morningstar. But he can only communicate with it if he is holding it.
Even though the players never heard Dahkut before, I still portrayed the Paladin having a conversation "with himself". It usually involved the two discussing their thoughts about a PC or an NPC they just met. Dahkut likes to give his opinion about situations in an attempt to be helpful. That's how I roleplay him.
The only difficult thing about using stuff like this is that I always forget to roleplay them. If I don't have an NPC sheet infront of me, I forget about it. Maybe I need to create an NPC sheet for the intelligent items and animal companions/familiars.
Huw
First Post
I once toyed with the idea of having the PC's be a bunch of intelligent items, such as swords and staves. They would be discovered in a lost horde by some low-level adventurers (NPCs), and would have to "upgrade" their wielders either through experience or through getting a better NPC (who they could still control).
My players liked the idea, but I never really got it off the ground. Couldn't think of a plot, even though the mechanics would've been straightforward (we played 2e at the time, with quite clear ego rules for intelligent items).
My players liked the idea, but I never really got it off the ground. Couldn't think of a plot, even though the mechanics would've been straightforward (we played 2e at the time, with quite clear ego rules for intelligent items).
the Jester
Legend
My favorite has to be the Rod of Ilmixie.
In my 2e campaign, a grey elf LE pc found out that he had some demonic heritage. He ended up with a quasit familiar that kept trying to get him to turn Chaotic, and eventually gained the Rod of Ilmixie, which was an artifact forged by his demon prince ancestor, Baron Ilmixie. A demon is bound within it.
So the quasit would usually be hanging on the pc's neck invisibly, talking to him telepathically and urging him to acts of chaotic evil. And any time he grasped the rod it would urge him to "Kill them all" and "Destroy all good" and stuff.
That poor pc had more voices in his head than any other!
In my 2e campaign, a grey elf LE pc found out that he had some demonic heritage. He ended up with a quasit familiar that kept trying to get him to turn Chaotic, and eventually gained the Rod of Ilmixie, which was an artifact forged by his demon prince ancestor, Baron Ilmixie. A demon is bound within it.
So the quasit would usually be hanging on the pc's neck invisibly, talking to him telepathically and urging him to acts of chaotic evil. And any time he grasped the rod it would urge him to "Kill them all" and "Destroy all good" and stuff.
That poor pc had more voices in his head than any other!
Haltherrion
First Post
They haven't been eliminated from any D&D system I am aware of. I know 4E has some fairly elaborately described ones in supplements such as Open Grave.
I love the concept but use them very rarely (on average on every 2-3 campaigns) because, to me, if they are intelligent, they should be handled as an NPC and that is problemmatic because:
- NPCs take time to do right
- This time is focused on the character with the intelligent item, making it disproportionate. Even in the hands of a good player who can roleplay the item well without referee assistance, it still puts him on-scene more than the other players.
Cerebral Paladin
First Post
I played in a convention one-shot based on this conceit. All of the PCs were intelligent magic items. Sometimes they coerced their wielders, sometimes they worked with friendly wielders pursuing the same goals. Because it was a one-shot, leveling up their wielders wasn't part of the game, but switching from less-well-suited wielders to better suited wielders was important. (I remember the holy sword, which was being wielded by a dominated pirate, forcing its wielder to give it to a paladin, so it could access the additional powers it got when wielded by a paladin.) It was pretty cool. The climactic battle, of course, was against someone wielding an intelligent Rod of Negation (which could actually destroy one of the items).
I stopped thinking of them as "intelligent" some time ago, preferring the term "sentient."
Which gave me the leeway to design completely idiotic weapons that had more to do with that "interrupting cheese" from the commercials. The look on a player's face when he realizes the powerful axe he's been listening to and even deferring to is an utter moron...ahhhhhhh!
Which gave me the leeway to design completely idiotic weapons that had more to do with that "interrupting cheese" from the commercials. The look on a player's face when he realizes the powerful axe he's been listening to and even deferring to is an utter moron...ahhhhhhh!
Stormonu
NeoGrognard
I've put a couple into my games in the past, but never really played them up much. It didn't seem like it would be much fun to have your PC usurped by a weapon.
I like the idea of the weapon being a mentor or a PC playing the actual weapon that is dominating/controlling an individual - that seems like something that could work well in a game. It may be something I do in the short-term future.
I like the idea of the weapon being a mentor or a PC playing the actual weapon that is dominating/controlling an individual - that seems like something that could work well in a game. It may be something I do in the short-term future.
Sir Robilar
First Post
We once had an intelligent weapon in a campaign where I played a Barbarian. It was a handsome mace and everyone liked it. I think no one really used it but everyone enjoyed its remarks. He dreamt about becoming human himself but we weren´t powerful enough to help him.
Then one day it was sundered in battle. We brought it to a high level druid who cast kind of a resurrection spell on it. Leaves rained down onto the broken mace and after some time had passed we could see movement under the trees. And out came... a satyr! He was satisfied with his new form and traveled along with us as our favorite NPC for many adventures. Until he sadly fell victim to a Firestorm spell...
Then one day it was sundered in battle. We brought it to a high level druid who cast kind of a resurrection spell on it. Leaves rained down onto the broken mace and after some time had passed we could see movement under the trees. And out came... a satyr! He was satisfied with his new form and traveled along with us as our favorite NPC for many adventures. Until he sadly fell victim to a Firestorm spell...
