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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silveras" data-source="post: 2303805" data-attributes="member: 6271">I have been thinking about that, because Oriental Adventures (and the Leveled Weapons article in the Dragon around the same time) presented an XP-price based system for similar effects. I think I understand why that really doesn't work, at least not without more house-ruling to fix the house-ruling. In 3.0, characters gained XP from an encounter based on the average party level. In 3.5, each character gains XP based on his/her level, instead. So, in 3.0, if a character paid XP to do something (like a Samurai increasing the powers of his Ancestral Daisho), it was a permanent cost. In 3.5, as soon as the character falls behind the rest of the party, s/he begins earning more XP from the encounters, and catches up. Now, Unearthed Arcana uses a system to remove Level Adjustments based on paying XP, which would seem to be a counter-argument. However, that generally is used to "buy off" LA factors after the abilities are no longer a significant boost in the character's power relative to the other PCs. In the case of these Weapons of Legacy, based on the sample, it seems the weapons "keep on giving", and the powers granted get better as the character climbs in levels. A character does not have to unlock any; the weapons are still pretty potent without the legacy effects (again, based on the sample). Simply paying a one-time XP cost would soon be "corrected" by some more play. That, I believe, is why the simple mechanism of XP costs was not used. It does not work for powers that keep increasing as you level up. Looking to Unearthed Arcana for another comparison, I would say these Weapons of Legacy are more like the Bloodline abilities, and the costs (attack penalty, save penalty, skill points lost) are similar to the effects of the Bloodline Levels ("skipped" levels, +0 BAB, +0/+0/+0 saves, +0 skill points), taken 1, 2, or 3 times depending on the strength of the bloodline.</blockquote>

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