What's an appropriate level for this?

[blackshirt5]

OK, In game, one of the characters(an elven warder) is going to inherit the intelligent sword of his ancestor. It's a NG, +4, shocking burst longsword, that deals a negative level to whomever it hits on a failed Fort save. What's an appropriate level to give this to him?(it's gonna become a mainstay weapon of his, and it's important to the story)

 

[Wicht]

A weapon that powerful, I would say off the top of my head, no sooner than 10th and perhaps later, like 13th-15th, would actually be better.

Would it be possible to have the sword be given to him sooner with a timetable of its powers manifesting in accordance with his leveling up.

 

[blackshirt5]

It's possible Wicht. But from the very start he's gonna know that it's intelligent.

Which powers should it have as it levels up? I mean, what levels should it get it's powers at(I'm thinking of starting it with maybe a +1 and the negative level one, since the negative level one is a big part of the backstory of it).

 

[Terraism]

I'd run it as though the sword won't work to it's full potential until it really sees that the PC is the equivalent of his ancestor (metagame - through leveling.) So it starts at +1, then +1 shock, +2 shock, +2 shocking burst, +3, +3 level drain, then finally +4 with all the powers. I think it'd just be a little anitclimatic for it to start with it's greatest power - the other bonuses are nice, but don't compare at all.

 

[Wicht]

Breaking it down, the weapon has about 9 bonuses worth of powers. You want to give him the most powerful first. Personally I would do that one last but its your game. If you want to have it level, I would do something like the following, assuming the character gets the sword about level 5.

Intelligence and Negative level (+3 equivalent?)..... Level 5
+1.... Level 7
+1.... Level 9
+1.... Level 10
+1.... Level 11
Shocking burst (+2 equivalent).... level 13

Thus by level 13 he has a very nice weapon. The backstory could be that the sword and the user have to get used to each other.

I still though would be very leery of giving a PC a level draining weapon at such a low level. Not to mention, as an elvish weapon it seems strange, considering the negative level drain has negative energy/necromantic/evil overtones.

edited: oops, I was doing a +5 weapon, altered the table a bit

 

[krunchyfrogg]

Would it be possible to have the sword be given to him sooner with a timetable of its powers manifesting in accordance with his leveling up.

I absolutely love this idea for magic items! It just makes more sense for a character to have a weapon with him for his whole adventuring career, and I think it's more fun 'discovering new abilities' as you advance in levels. As a matter of fact, finding ways to activate abilities could be an adventure hook right there!

 

[blackshirt5]

The reason, BTW, why the level draining ability is gonna come first is that it's that power that is important to how the sword became intelligent in the first place. although not fully understood, even by those who possess the sword now, the sword, Stormbrand, and it's counterpart, Balefire, when exposed to the breath weapon of a demon by the elf's ancestor, became intelligent(Stormbrand is somewhat unhappy with the destruction that he causes, since his personality matches up very well with the players ancestor, and indeed, the PC. Balefire, on the other hand, was wielded by the ancestor's brother, who turned traitor and was one of the original demon elves who were driven underground in the Great War[read as: drow], and took on his personality(although another story might concern trying to reform Balefire to at least a Neutral alignment instead of his current NE)).

 

[Terraism]

If the sword's a bit unhappy with the destruction he causes, perhaps you can use that as an excuse to delay the power... he refuses to use it unless he's absolutely certain that the wielder is in the right.

 

[blackshirt5]

It's an ingrained part of the sword, but maybe I'll try that suggestion Terraism.

 

[Piratecat]

If you need the negative energy draining right away, dramatically lower the saving throw and have it go up as the PC levels. A negative level-draining sword with a DC 5 save is fine for lower levels.