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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jerichothebard" data-source="post: 2010639" data-attributes="member: 4705">As many others have noted, the mentality of "get a magic weapon, use it, get a better one, discard the first" is far too pervasive.  I have always liked the idea of improving your signature weapon as you go along, instead of discarding it - many of my characters have paid (often great amounts!) to do just that.  And I have eagerly read the many articles or web thoughts on just that topic, but always been disappointed.  Dragon Magazine's take on it - feed the weapon XP, and watch it grow - was particularly disappointing.So it was with great excitement and anticipation that I bought Swords of Our Fathers.I was not disappointed.The central idea - connect advancement in a prestige class with advancement of the blade's power, representing your character's dedication to learning the art and magic of the blade, is extremely elegant.  While it seems similar to Dragon's article, the difference is that instead of choosing to advance either the character *OR* the blade, you now may advance both – a critical difference.The PRCs themselves are a bit generic, but that is kind of the point.  (This is not to say they are underpowered – they are about average for PRCs focusing on their particular styles). The Battleblade Scion, for instance, looks pretty much like the fighter in terms of BAB and Save progression, with slightly fewer bonus feats.  The Same applies to Spellblade Scions and Faithblade Scions – wizard and cleric BAB respectively, with spell progression but no other abilities.  Swiftblade Scions, which are supposed to encompass mostly rogues, monks and bards, have a wider variety of special abilities, but those classes have the most special abilities to begin with.The blades themselves counter this, of course. The PRCs are merely a framework for the interaction between the PC and the weapon's powers.  Many of the blades have not only magical powers as seen in the DMG, but offer other special abilities and access to feats.Most of the blades themselves are pretty cool.  Some of them are a bit strange – the swiftblades (swords geared for rogues and other DEX-based characters) seemed especially odd to me.  Not that they aren't well written, with a nice progression, or interesting – they are both of those things.  But I can't exactly see Brise-Coeur fitting easily into a campaign. I do think that the rules for identifying a legendary blade are a little kludged together – simple skill checks or bardic knowledge checks give the information.  A better use of that space would have been to provide a set of adventure hooks the DM of the campaign could use to provide the information.   One main criticism I have of the product – that there are no guidelines for writing up your own weapons of legend – was negated by a posting on their website.  JD wrote up a whole article on it, along with two extra demo blades – all for free.TGM is a class act, and this is a great product.  5/5 stars!</blockquote>

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