Scalable magic weapons

[Thurbane]

I think you're thinking of the Kensei Prc from Complete Warrior. They got to increase the magical power of their signature weapon as they leveled. Kenji a character in the Burne's story hour in my sig had some levels in the class and it seemed to work okay.

There's also the Anointed Knight from BoED.

 

[roguerouge]

Do people just use the tables for Kensei or Annointed Knight or do you have your own tables? When do you start the player with the magic weapon?

 

[AnonymousOne]

Do people just use the tables for Kensei or Annointed Knight or do you have your own tables? When do you start the player with the magic weapon?

You also might want to take a look at the scaling weapons in the Bo9S. Our warblade is currently using one and it fits his character really well.

 

[Zaukrie]

I really hope there are scalable weapons in the new game. They become much more part of the character when used well. My experience with WoL is that the cost is often too high for the reward.

 

[Donovan Morningfire]

There's also the Ancestral Relic feat from BoED that allows characters to scale up the specified item (usually weapons, but could be armor or shields) as they level, and allowing the PC to have a large degree of choice in what their bonded item morphs into.

Have to be 3rd level to select it, and are limited as to how powerful the item can be by your level (based upon the equivalent gold cost of the item's powers).

 

[Thurbane]

This excerpt from UA might be of interest:

http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/unearthedItems.html

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

There's also the Ancestral Relic feat from BoED that allows characters to scale up the specified item (usually weapons, but could be armor or shields) as they level, and allowing the PC to have a large degree of choice in what their bonded item morphs into.

Have to be 3rd level to select it, and are limited as to how powerful the item can be by your level (based upon the equivalent gold cost of the item's powers).

I wonder if it would be a particularly bad thing if everyone got that feat for free in a campaign.

 

[roguerouge]

Ancestral relic, with its requirement of the sacrifice of time and resources and its ability to be applied to any item, seems like the way to go. Thanks!

 

[Slapzilla]

Just be careful about making Craft Magic Arms and Armor obsolete... unless you want to, of course. And certainly not every blade has the ability to grow into a +2 Keen, Vorpal, Evil Outsider Bane.

I do think that a weapon that scales deserves a backstory, and the backstory in conjunction with the PC's actions and attitudes steer the scaled bonuses.

In this case, the decision is made by the DM and his/her observations of the character. Certainly the first bonus would be a +1, but unless you have it pre-scripted or tied to the weapon's history, the second should be tagged as a story reward any time the cash/item value equals the bonus. If say the character does the 'Fighting Defensively' thing a lot then adding 'Defender" makes sense. Adding the Defender quality to a +1 weapon would cost 2,000 gp (if I remember correctly) so if at the end of a long dungeon slog a book of ritual is found with a wad of cash, well, the rest of the party gets the cash and the one character gets the defender bonus.

Personally, I'd encourage taking Craft Magic Arms and Armor so the character can decide what the next upgrade will be. Leaving it up to the DM is always exciting.

 

[Evilhalfling]

I wonder if it would be a particularly bad thing if everyone got that feat for free in a campaign.

I have used this and it worked just fine, with the caviate that if the player actually took the Ancestral Relic feat then they could control how the item changed, and it would change more often - in the BoED there are many levels between a 2k weapon and a 8k weapon.
Every few levels I would look at the PC wealth tables, do an equipment audit and add powers to items.

There were some magic items with great stories that came out of that game.
The Headband of Mercy
The Dragonfang (falcion) - made from a tooth.
The Dragon's Friend (dagger) - made from the same dragon, different owner.
The Robe of Swallowing - absent player was frequently swallowed by his own extradimensional pocket space, the first time pulling the whole party in with him. To the end of the game one player lived in fear of the sorcerer's pockets.