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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mortepierre" data-source="post: 2195083" data-attributes="member: 9765">House rules/monsters/NPC/special items from Chapter 1:Something that always struck me as counterproductive in D&D is the manner in which magic weapons are handled. Let’s face it, many of the different spellcasters have access to ‘weapon-enhancing’ spells but rarely if ever use them in-game because magic weapons are (usually) a frequent ‘reward’ for adventurers (be they part of the equipment of fallen enemies or found in a treasure hoard). Not to mention your friendly neighborhood-wizard who will craft you the weapon of your dreams as long as your purse is fat enough.Not so in my campaign. The Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat works as usual in regard to magic armors but quite differently for ‘magic arms’.At the most basic level, the feat allows you to create Spellblades without too much fuss.Essentially, these are masterwork weapons that function (and are enchanted) just like wands. They can have up to 50 charges, are limited to spells up to the 4th level, etc... Once the last charge has been expended, however, they don’t crumble into dust. They simply remain non-magical masterwork weapons. You can’t ‘recharge’ them, but you can enchant them again (either with the same spell, or a different one) if desired. Only spells directly affecting the weapon’s ‘capabilities’ can be used. If you limit yourself to the PHB, those are: Align Weapon, Bless Weapon, Greater Magic Weapon, Holy Sword, Keen Edge (type P or S weapons only), Magic Weapon, and Shillelagh (cudgel or quarterstaff only).Obviously, despite being called ‘spellblades’, they are not restricted to bladed weapons. Note that ammunitions for ranged weapons cannot be enchanted in this manner. You could create a spellblade bow, for instance, but not spellblade arrows. Anyone can use them as a spellblade is a Command Word-activated magic item (with the word frequently being engraved on the weapon).Spellblade price (gp) = (375 x spell level x caster level) + material component cost (for each charge). Creation cost equals 1/25th total price in xp, and 1/2 total price in gp. It doesn’t include the masterwork weapon’s price because, usually, people buy the desired weapon first and then seek out someone to turn it into a spellblade.One step above, we find the ‘true’ magic weapons (as per the DMG definition). Those are rare because, for some unknown reason, it is very complicated to bind enchantments permanently to any kind of weapon on this world. A little known fact is that this holds true only on the Prime Material and any of its coexistent planes. Creating magic weapons on ‘other’ planes still works exactly as outlined in the PHB/DMG (which explains why celestial- or fiend-forged magic weapons are greatly prized by mortals).The process and cost to enchant them are exactly as detailed in the PHB/DMG but each separate enchantment also requires the spellcaster to research the corresponding ‘magical formula’. For example, a +1 anarchic keen rapier would require the craftsman to investigate three formulas (‘+1 weapon’ / ‘anarchic weapon’ / ‘keen weapon’). That involves lengthy research and costs a lot of money. Hence, those who possess such formulas guard them jealously.Once you have a formula, though, you can apply it at will to any kind of weapon suitable for such enchantment (as long as you meet the standard prerequisites, of course). Note that, since all magic weapons must receive a base enhancement bonus before receiving other special abilities, someone who had researched successfully the formula for, say, ‘anarchic weapon’ would be unable to use it before he had also researched one of the ‘+X weapon’ formulas. Please remember that there are actually five different basic ‘enhancement formulas’ (+1 / +2 / +3 / +4 / +5), and each of them must be researched independently!Above and beyond ‘true’ magic weapons, there is another category: ‘legendary’ weapons. These come straight out of History. Only the most powerful and renowned (read: epic) spellcasters can hope to create one, usually for a very special occasion (and, often, with the help of extraplanar entities). The extraordinary advantage of legendary weapons is that their powers can ‘grow’ in time. Their wielders must ‘attune’ (read: take the corresponding Weapon-Scion PrC) themselves to them and - if they prove worthy - the weapons reveal more of their powers as the link deepens (read: as the character gains levels in the PrC). Those were directly inspired by Swords of our Fathers (JD Wiker).The end result is a world where spellblades are moderately frequent, true magic weapons are rare (all having a name and a rich history), and legendary weapons are the stuff of.. well, legends <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" />When I had this idea and implemented it in my campaign from day 1, I had no idea of how deeply it would modify my setting. I had simply desired a world where spellcasters got to ‘shine’ because they had the proper spells, and where having a permanently enchanted weapon would be seen as something extraordinary and not just trivial once players reached a certain level. In that regard, I certainly got my wish!Suddenly, things took a life of their own. Wizards began to shun the crafting of magic weapons (and thus armors too), preferring to spend their time and money on ‘easier’ items. Conversely, holy warriors and sorcerers began to take a keen interest in that ‘art’. The former because they often found themselves fighting creatures protected by various forms of damage resistance, and the latter because it gave them something to bargain with people who - usually - were only concerned by burning them at the stake.Churches of the various gods hoarded magic formulas like precious treasures, each cult specializing in certain enchantments tied to the portfolio of their deity (i.e. Merciful for the church of Morwyn, etc..). Clerics with access to the magic weapon spell were now in high demand by teams of adventurers (thus increasing the prestige of their corresponding cults).Bards, clerics and wizards began receiving nocturnal visits from cloaked individuals who wanted information about a weapon they had.. ah.. ‘acquired’. Bards especially began to specialize not in the lore of heroes but in the history of the various ‘true’ and ‘legendary’ weapons known to exist.Weaponsmiths capable of crafting weapons made of ‘special’ materials (and with regular access to the raw materials involved) saw their fame increase tenfold.Before I knew what had happened, broad changes had occurred in the way the various races dealt with the crafting of new weapons.. and the recovery of pre-Cataclysm ones!The main (and more satisfying) consequence was that a high-level character now treasured a ‘simple’ +1 weapon as much as if it was +5.. and would have to protect it from thieves a lot more than in ‘normal’ settings.All in all, I am quite happy with the result and don’t regret doing it <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />******The strange earth elemental they fought was actually a (Medium) Grave Elemental from Denizens of Dread (Sword & Sorcery).The Undrathar was an Umber Hulk, albeit one which couldn’t use its gaze attack (at first) due to a wound it had received prior to its encounter with the heroes.The Boggers came straight from the Monsternomicon (Privateer Press).Lisette’s minions (skeletal Hungry Deads*): CR 3; Medium undead; HD 2d12+3; hp 16; Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 15, touch 10, flat-footed 15; Base Atk +1; Grp +3; Atk Bite +3 melee (1d6+2); Full Atk Bite +3 melee (1d6+2); SA salient powers; SQ DR 5/bludgeoning, immunity to cold, turn resistance (+2), undead traits; AL NE; SV Fort +0, Ref +0, Will +3; Str 14, Dex 10, Con -, Int 1, Wis 10, Cha 1.Salient powers:- Deathless Warrior (Su): when reduced to 0 hit pts, regardless of damage taken, immediately regenerates to full hit pts. If reduced to -10 (or below) in 1 round, requires 10 rounds to reassemble.- Paralysis (Su): creatures hit by the hungry dead must succeed at a Fort. Save (DC 11) or be paralyzed for 1d6+2 minutes. Creatures with the Elven Blood SQ are immune.Salient weaknesses:- Allergens: NeMoren family crest (reaction: enragement)- Vulnerability (fire): damage inflicted by fire (whether magical or not) cannot be regenerated by the Deathless Warrior powerFeats: Toughness.* designed using the VR’s Guide to the Walking Dead (Sword & Sorcery)******Lisette, Female Human (Traladaran) Hag° (Age 1) Sorcerer 3: CR 4; Medium monstrous humanoid (augmented humanoid); HD 3d8; hp 24; Init +2; Spd 30 ft.; AC 17, touch 12, flat-footed 15; Base Atk +1; Grp +4; Atk Claw +4 melee (1d4+3); Full Atk 2 Claws +4 melee (1d4+3); SA spells; SQ darkvision 60 ft.; AL LE; SV Fort +1, Ref +5, Will +8; Str 17, Dex 15, Con 10, Int 13, Wis 16, Cha 16; Age 63.Skills: Bluff +9, Concentration +6, Hide +8, Knowledge (arcana) +6, Listen +11, Reign Undead°° +9, Spellcraft +4, Spot +11.Feats: Alertness (Hag racial bonus), Augment Summoning, Bloodline of Power (Fiendish / Hag racial bonus), Combat Casting (Hag racial bonus), Combat Reflexes, Eschew Materials (class bonus), Spell Focus (Conjuration).Spell-like Ability (caster level: 8th): at will-disguise self.Sorcerer Spells Known (6/6; save DC 13 + spell level): 0–daze, detect magic, disrupt undead, read magic, touch of fatigue; 1st–charm person, protection from good, ray of enfeeblement, summon monster I.Possessions: hag eye (disguised as a citrine and worn on a copper ring / MM p.144).Languages: Infernal, Traladaran.° template from the RL Player’s Handbook (Sword & Sorcery)°° skill from the VR’s Guide to the Walking Dead (Sword & Sorcery)After the encounter with the Undrathar, everyone had enough xp for lvl 2. That didn’t change anything for Eirak, Kalveig, or Pelrind but, to Musadoc and Siubhan, it made a world of difference. And, after dealing with Lisette, they all qualified (though only just) for lvl 3 (again, for Eirak and Kalveig, it didn’t make any difference).EDIT: PC stats updated in the first post of this threadBehind the scene explanations: (spoiler warning!)[sblock]So, what was really going on here?Well, Lisette was the youngest member of a hag coven dedicated to Antaia, the Witch Queen (actually, a minion of Belial - Lord of the Fourth Circle of Hell). Those hags had always been living in the nearby foothills of the Wyrmsteeth Mountains. For centuries, they had tried to gain control over the area but had been defeated at every turn by members of House NeMoren (who, as worshippers of Rontra, couldn’t stand their frequent summoning of fiends).By the mid-4th century, a once-large and powerful coven had been reduced to a handful of bitter witches. They needed to do something drastic to reverse the situation.Hags are part of the many creatures ‘sponsored’ by Hell to infiltrate and corrupt the four (main) races created by the gods. Usually, they use spells to exchange their own babies for those of healthy females of the races they prey upon. The hag child is raised by normal parents until such time as her powers start to manifest. As such, they look like normal members of the natives during their first few decades. By the time they turn 40, their appearance begins to change to match their wicked spirit. However, they also start gaining innate powers that allow them to disguise themselves, thus maintaining the deception. Lisette was such a child. As for the ‘normal’ children being exchanged, their fate is too gruesome to contemplate here...Lisette was contacted at a younger age than usual by the coven because they needed a young and beautiful woman for their plan. She was to meet Paytro NeMoren ‘by luck’, charm him and convince him to marry her. Once they were wed, the coven would ‘dispose’ of the Baron and they would rule his lands through Lisette and her (exclusively female) descendants.Initially, all went well. Even without the elixirs and minor talismans prepared by the coven, Lisette would have succeeded. Paytro NeMoren just loved to flirt and, truth be told, Lisette was a gorgeous woman. Alas, the hags had failed to anticipate two things. The first was that while Paytro loved women, he had never fallen in love with one. The second was that Lisette, not having spent much time with her ‘true’ family yet, was still human enough to experience true love for the young nobleman.Suddenly, everything went wrong. Paytro met Amelia and fell head over heels in love with her. Cynics will say that being the sister of the guildmaster of the Loggers’ Union had something to do with it but maybe it was just Fate working in mysterious ways. Anyway, the result was that he spent less and less time with Lisette till he finally forbade her to show up at the manor at all. One week later, he was marrying Amelia.If the hags were furious, the word can’t begin to describe how Lisette felt. Yet, deep down inside, she still loved Paytro and wanted to marry him. Indeed, she convinced herself that it had all been Amelia’s fault. She had ‘stolen’ her Paytro and now she would pay for it!Boggers - minions of the coven - attacked Amelia’s carriage, murdered her escort and brought the baroness back to the hags. Lisette dragged her to the unholy temple where they honored the Witch Queen. There, against her ‘sisters’ advice, she forced the coven to go through one of their vilest rituals. The magic successfully transformed Amelia into gaseous form permanently. However, it also claimed the life of the eldest hag as ‘fuel’*. The other two remaining hags were less than happy about it but, needing Lisette to access the coven’s special powers, decided not to deal with her before their control over the barony was secure and a new hag had been ‘recruited’. Amelia’s ‘body’ was imprisoned in a crystal flask and hidden in the lair of the temple’s minotaur guardian.* by the same principle that applies to Corrupt spells (BoVD)The next day, Lisette showed up with two human minions (the coven maintains ‘spies’ in nearby human villages) at the NeMoren’s manor to deliver an ultimatum to the baron. He had to apply to the king to annul his marriage with Amelia, then wed Lisette, and proclaim her rightful baroness of Westwood. Failure to comply would mean that Amelia would never be released and that his scandalous behavior would be revealed to all (after all, he had continued to see Lisette even though he was engaged to Amelia).Paytro did not react as they expected. Fearing that his family's reputation would be ruined by his personal weakness, the baron drugged the three blackmailers and imprisoned them under his mansion in the family's massive stone vault. Hiring masons who could be paid (or threatened) for their silence, Paytro had the entrance to the vault sealed over, hiding the evidence of his tryst forever.When Lisette woke up and discovered her predicament, she ranted for a while, but then calmed down and explored the place. Her ‘sisters’ could see all through the hag eye she was wearing but were powerless to help or communicate with her. In fact, deprived of Lisette, the two remaining hags couldn’t even cast the coven’s most powerful spells anymore! (MM, p.144). Still, they sent a group of boggers to a cave located near the manor and instructed them to dig till they reached the vault.Lisette and the thugs managed to survive for a time using provisions stored by the NeMorens in the vault. When the food ran out, Lisette killed the thugs and devoured them. Left with no alternative, she used a powerful scroll found among the battle trophies of the NeMorens to contact the Witch Queen. Needless to say, Antaia wasn’t pleased. In her opinion, Lisette had blundered badly and needed to pay for her mistakes. She refused to lift a finger and even mocked Lisette for the human feelings that had led to her doom. If the Witch Queen thought Lisette would give in to despair though, she was sadly mistaken.At about the same time, the Undrathar wandered in the area of the vault and broke through a wall. Then, still digging, it broke into the cavern of the boggers sent by the two hags. Many died to its claws on that day and some were left to rot in the underground stream. The others, knowing the stewpot was waiting for them should they return without Lisette, ventured through the tunnels and reached the vault. They ran into her almost immediately but the witch didn’t react as they had expected. Instead of being happy and agreeing to leave with them, she attacked, killing several which she promptly devoured. The survivors fled back to the caverns but didn’t dare leave for good.By then, Lisette had sunk deep into madness. She was convinced ‘her’ Paytro would come back to deliver her. She planned to make him pay for a while, and then forgive him and allow him to marry her. Had she left with the boggers, she might have missed his return. So, she refused to go. To insure she would have food enough to wait, she used another scroll found in the vault to animate the remains of the two thugs and turned them into voracious hunters that would ‘gather’ meat for her.The boggers soon learnt to fear the two undeads but also discovered they were afraid of fire. Intrigued by the vault, they sent raiding parties inside that - despite losses - managed to bring back enough quality items to make them hunger for more. A messenger went back secretly to their lair to inform their king of what was happening. The latter decided that this was a win-win situation. By ordering his troops to stay there, he placated the hags and insured regular shipments of goods stolen from the vault. Losing a few grunts now and then to skeletal ghouls was, in his opinion, an acceptable trade-off. If too many died, he would simply send reinforcements as needed (the advantage of belonging to a fast-breeding race).Still, to the boggers involved in the operation, being devoured by undeads wasn’t very appealing. So, they took the habit of regularly capturing citizens from Weston to offer them to the ghouls as ‘sacrificial lamb’.Enter the players...[/sblock]******Nemesis is a weapon I designed after being inspired by the excellent Swords of our Fathers (by JD Wiker). It was made for a Battle Scion. I must confess that, as the campaign progressed and other WotC accessories became available, its powers changed quite a few times but, since none of the players had access to them yet, it wasn’t a problematic issue.Since at least one of my players is lurking around, I won’t provide complete info at this time. I’ll reveal more as (if) they uncover its powers.1. Scion Requirements:Alignment: Any non-evilBAB: +5Feat: Devout*, EnduranceSpecial: must be a worshipper of Rontra, or have willingly submitted to Bind Oath° while swearing to always oppose fiends.* feat from the Book of the Righteous (Green Ronin Publishing)° spell from the Book of the Righteous (Green Ronin Publishing)2. Attributes:Hardness / Hit Points: 13 / 35 (Solanian Truesteel°°)Initial Abilities: Anyone who wields Nemesis, whether a Battle Scion or not, benefits from it as a +1 warhammer. Due to the special metal it was forged in, all confirmation rolls for a critical hit are made at a +1 bonus.°° from the Arms and Equipment Guide or the Book of Exalted Deeds (WotC)</blockquote>

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