Masamune - the Sword of Creation (Extraordinary Artifact)

[Kisanji Arael]

Huh. And I thought I was just making an obscure joke about Neo-Platonism. Where else does that pop up?

...

Before you ask, I'm not thinking about making a counterpart 'evil' sword called Muramasa. The idea had occured to me, but I'm not really into dualism.

The great chain of being (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chain_of_being) was one of the primary nifluences for John Milton's description of the cosmos in his Paradise Lost. Milton describes the world thus (II, ll. 1051-1053):

And fast by hanging in a golden Chain,
This pendant world, in begness as a Star
Of smallest Magnitude close by the moon.

The two have become very closely linked since then.

And no, I didn't assume you were going to make a Muramasa. Every final fantasy in the world has had both, and it's about time that someone stopped. Of course, Chrono Trigger did it right.

Oh, question. Shouldn't there be an artefact that can separate letters from a weapon either for replacement or as a crippling form of attack?

 

[Brasswatchman]

The great chain of being (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chain_of_being) was one of the primary nifluences for John Milton's description of the cosmos in his Paradise Lost.

Ahh. Okay. Guess it will have to turn golden at some point, won't it?

Oh, question. Shouldn't there be an artefact that can separate letters from a weapon either for replacement or as a crippling form of attack?

Not sure if I want to do that right now. It isn't much of a spoiler to say that a significant portion of the campaign will involve the Players hunting the Letters down. If certain individuals that possess said Letters, and have managed to tap into them with some sort of magic, are unwilling to give them up - well, I don't want to make it too easy for the players.

 

[Kisanji Arael]

Oh, I was not of the opinion that the players should have it. I think that, for players so heavily empowered by magical items and these "letters", the worst thing that could happen is to have that power taken away by the Dread Lord Generic right before the big battle.

Just a of couple of ideas I had along the way:

It's at least possible that one of these letters of creation has been put somewhere very difficult to obtain... in the bottom of a volcano, for example.

One of them might have been thrown into space, which begs two questions:
1. How good is your Wizard or psion at randomly scrying and telekinesis? and
2. Since the Letters can't be destroyed, and you're already telekinetically sending it back to earth... where exactly do you want the impact crater to go?

I might also comment that someone with a slightly twisted mind might determine a way to bind a letter of creation into his or her own body. You know, if they were incredibly warped by havng absorbed forbidden magic... or if they got wasted one weekend and got dared to do it. That person might have died a long time ago, or they might have just done it a few weeks ago. If the former, it isn't usually good when the local constabulary finds the players digging up the graves of local heroes. If the latter... then, well, the power might have gone to their heads.... or driven them utterly insane.

Of course, regardless of the case, that skill is a knowledge that should be immediately lost, due to the nature of power abusing players.

Man, I am in a wierd mood tonight. Some of those are interesting ideas, but damn if they aren't odd.

 

[Brasswatchman]

I was meaning to tell you, thanks for the ideas. I just introduced the sword in question to the players in the last session. One of them practically fainted when they found out about what the sword might be. (Right now, it's just a standard +1 short sword; it won't start manifesting its other powers until they find the letter hey). So, things are in motion; thanks for your help. Appreciate it.

 

[Brasswatchman]

Oh, I was not of the opinion that the players should have it. I think that, for players so heavily empowered by magical items and these "letters", the worst thing that could happen is to have that power taken away by the Dread Lord Generic right before the big battle.

Since said Dread Lord Generic happens to be one of the original creator gods, I'm not so worried about it.

 

[DonTadow]

Awesome stuff. Your campaign is mirroring mine. The Pcs have to recover the six crystal artifact weapons and the first weapon is the artifact of fire known as the Masamune (that one character already has). I've been used the Weapons of Legacy book to create all of the weapons.
Masamune
Titan's Hammer
Artemis Bow
Ramah's Staff
Leviathan's Trident
The Muirwind

Each weapon contains the spirit of the warrior whom was chosen to protect it and guide them to their final resting place.

 

[Brasswatchman]

Awesome stuff. Your campaign is mirroring mine. The Pcs have to recover the six crystal artifact weapons and the first weapon is the artifact of fire known as the Masamune (that one character already has). I've been used the Weapons of Legacy book to create all of the weapons.
Masamune
Titan's Hammer
Artemis Bow
Ramah's Staff
Leviathan's Trident
The Muirwind

Each weapon contains the spirit of the warrior whom was chosen to protect it and guide them to their final resting place.

Awesome. I thought about using Weapons of Legacy as well; then I realized that while I liked the weapon-leveling system, I didn't want this particular artifact to have any kind of cost on the players.

... and I had trouble figuring out the rules. Damn my honesty.

 

[Kisanji Arael]

.... then I realized that while I liked the weapon-leveling system, I didn't want this particular artifact to have any kind of cost on the players.

Amen. This is why I will never, ever, ever take the WoL classes without my personal addendum.

WoL Classes:

Experience for weapons of legacy level are gained while using that weapon or item, at 1/3 base rate, though the player may choose to exchange regular Exp to the WoL class at a 1:1 rate. WoL class levels are measured separately from regular classes. A character gains no bonus to HP, skills, or to that class's "weak" Saving Throws. He gains no benefits other than the special abilities of that Weapon of Legacy and half the progression of the "strong" saving throw.

 

[DonTadow]

Awesome. I thought about using Weapons of Legacy as well; then I realized that while I liked the weapon-leveling system, I didn't want this particular artifact to have any kind of cost on the players.

... and I had trouble figuring out the rules. Damn my honesty.

I wrote wotc and complained about that. The rules are actually pretty simple, but i had to read hte book 4 times and I had to go to a link on enworld and have someone else explain it to me. Others also complained about the layout.

It's just not put together right. They begin to talk about the less, lesser and greater abilities before they explain what they are. The hardest part is coming up with the quests to unlock the different levels of hte weapon.