zakon said:
Penalties=Stupid
Weapons that gain power with there wielder=awesome
Use this as a guide for using WoL.
Please note that giving someone a +5 vorpal sword for nothing is generally considered bad for game balance. There has to be a cost.
You can model costs of WoL by imposing a 2,000 gp cost for each level gained from levels 5-10, a 8,000 gp cost of each level gained from levels 11-16, and a 40,000 gp cost for each level gained from levels 17-20.
However, spending lots of gold at every level isn't really nice.
Conversely, you can have specific prestige classes for each weapon. (So, a weapon is a prestige class). Hmm. You know, I'd rather have some choice in my classes rather than be forced into a particular set of abilities.
There's a legendary weapon in Unearthed Arcana called the Dragonblade. Unfortunately, if you want to wield it and are a ranger, paladin, knight or other class, you give up way too many of your class abilities when you take the Battle Scion prestige class that you must take to use its abilities.
It's a nice way of approaching it, but ultimately it is too specific for my tastes.
In
Weapons of Legacy, Bloodcrier's Hammer could be used by anyone. -2 attacks, -3 saves and -16 hp by 20th level. It doesn't interfere with any abilities gained by the ranger, paladin, fighter or knight. Bright Evening Star could be used by any arcane spellcaster.
The penalties are significant, but they aren't crippling.
Cheers!