Weapons of Legacy

[Shadeydm]

Weapons of Legacy has been out for a good while now. I am curious for those who picked it up and used one or more items in their DnD campaign how did it work out?
Were you happy with it and did it require much tweaking?
Were the players happy with it?
I remember seeing several complaints that the penalties just weren't worth it upon reading through the book. I am curious if long term play confirmed or dispelled this notion?

 

[Crothian]

We were not a fan of it. The weapons had great histories and there was some nice creativity there but I and my players really did not like the mechanics. We tried using them in a campaign and it just did not seem like anyone r5eally enjoyed them. The powers really didn't seem to be worth the penalties. And the penalties didn't seem to make sense giving the histories of the items.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

We're using now for the first time. A couple observations...

First, a lot of the weapons presented in the books aren't all that great. You really have to weed through the crap to find the good ones. Some of the concepts are cool though.

Second, the real value of this book comes from creating your own weapon of legacy. Especially if you involve the player in its creation and most especially if you start planning early on.

We're in a high-level campaign so the PC in question is gaining access to many levels of abilities all at once, as a sort of catch-up due to finding the weapon late in the game. If he had found it early on, it would have worked better.

Third, you don't necessarily have to stat everything out all at once. Just do one tier of abilities at a time and develop the weapon as appropriate. What you thought might have been cool when you were 1st-level might not seem so cool when you're 20th.

It's also important to work the legacy rituals into your campaign. Again, we've been sort of rushed to do so and it would have been cooler if we had more time (i.e., levels) to develop the legacy rituals. Since the PCs are high level, they have access to powerful magic that can pretty much tell them off the bat what the legacy ritual requirements are. At lower levels, it would probably be more interesting to discover them the hard way.

A couple minor criticisms...

First, the creation system isn't terribly easy to grasp until you're worked your way through a new item. Once you do, you'll get it. But when I created my first item there was a lot of, "Oh yeah, now I get it" going on.

Second, the penalties incurred have gotta go if weapons of legacy are to continue into future editions. They're the #1 complaint from players and they're a strong reason NOT to want a weapon of legacy. The game designers should come up with some other way to balance the items (and balance is definitely needed), possibly an XP penalty or even level adjustment if the item is powerful enough. Losing HP and taking save penalties when you pick up Excalibur just doesn't make sense.

All that being said, I would recommend the use of legacy weapons.

 

[Job]

Weapons of Legacy has been out for a good while now. I am curious for those who picked it up and used one or more items in their DnD campaign how did it work out?
Were you happy with it and did it require much tweaking?
Were the players happy with it?
I remember seeing several complaints that the penalties just weren't worth it upon reading through the book. I am curious if long term play confirmed or dispelled this notion?

The book provides a lot of excellent suggestions, examples , templates, and optional rules that are springboards for developing items that grow with your players.

I have introduced 3 legacy items into my campaign and my players and I'm finding it quite enjoyable, but I've chosen to tweak the rules a bit. I've tweaked the rules for a couple of reasons: first, I have tried my best to keep the players from guessing that these are indeed legacy items (a couple of my players own and have read the Weapons of Legacy book). I'm trying out events/methods that serve as a ritual, but don't quite follow the pattern. Second, I'm not particularly a fan of the penalties, so I've pulled back somewhat on those areas of the progression. Since most magic items that DM's introduce in campaigns don't normally carry penalties, I don't particularly feel a need to add every penalty along the way; I'm requiring that the ritual monies be spent (with a good roleplaying reason, such as paying for rare gems or incense), and occasionally I may introduce a penalty if strong power is granted, but normally the players will simply gain the benefits.

- One player, a paladin, inherited a +1 sword (based on Exordius, the holy avenger) from his father and is now traveling to investigate his father's tomb and will find evidence describing the first ritual.
- Another player has a special blunt weapon (based on Merikel) that captured the soul of a demon that the team defeated earlier in the campaign (a "founding" legacy). This player has been considering turning from good towards evil and the Merikel progression, one that allows a character to develop the weapon in either a good or evil direction, is an interesting fit. This player is now seeking the ritual money (THOUSANDS of gold!) and an outsider creature to defeat.
- The third item is a staff of unknown power (based on the rules for the Legacy Staff of Power) that player is currently attempting to research it by hunting down a rare tome of knowledge; this will start him down the first ritual.

Job.

 

[DM_Jeff]

I've used WoL since it came out. I've used two weapons from the book that met with some raised eyebrows (at the penalties) but the players liked the benefits and so kept them items.

I also made up two myself with vauge input from the character they were for, and they were met with much greater enthusiasm, as the powers were more themed and worked toward the style of the character in question.

Creating them is the better route IMO, and learning who to do so is a couple hours' well spent.

-DM Jeff

 

[delericho]

I don't have that book, but I do have the Book of Nine Swords and Expedition to the Demonweb Pits, both of which use Weapons of Legacy. I really like the concept, but agree that it would require careful handling by the DM.

It is likely, IMO, that WotC might have deliberately over-balanced these items, as they seem to do with much of their non-core stuff, to avoid accusations of power-creep. So, I don't think the concept of the penalties is flawed, but the specific penalties may well be rather excessive.

 

[Zendragon]

We're using now for the first time. A couple observations...
... the real value of this book comes from creating your own weapon of legacy. Especially if you involve the player in its creation and most especially if you start planning early on.

QFT

Using the ones in the book, if the players have it too, takes a lot of fun out of it. Having them discover them on their own adds to the enjoyment.

 

[RichGreen]

Hi,

I introduced Desert Wind into my Lands of Intrigue campaign a while ago, but the PCs have been so caught up in the main adventure, they haven't been off to do the side quest needed to unlock the first set of special abilities yet which is a shame.

I like the book and the concept. It's cool how they've added new ones to the two Expedition adventures too.

Cheers


Richard

 

[Angel Tarragon]

We're using now for the first time. A couple observations...
... the real value of this book comes from creating your own weapon of legacy. Especially if you involve the player in its creation and most especially if you start planning early on.

I too, have Weapons of Legacy and while not currently in use, I am using the mechanics to piece together my own items of legcy to suit the flavor of my homebrew. I think I'll run a couple of one-shots before fully injecting it into my homebrew, just to see what the effect will be.

 

[Kristian Serrano]

In regards to creating new legacy items, using the abilities and properties from Magic Item Compendium really adds to that versatility. MIC already prices them and associates them with certain levels, which makes it even easier.

I had started a thread on WotC's Equipment and Combat forum about using the two together, and someone had gone so far as to calculate and formulate the process of associating MIC abilities with Least, Lesser, and Greater legacy levels.