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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silveras" data-source="post: 2566100" data-attributes="member: 6271">I left out that the items in Weapons of Legacy, like the Scion classes, have "requirements" their wielders must meet. The big difference is flexibility, I think. The penalties paid for the use of the Weapons of Legacy items are the same as taking levels in a PrC that does not fully suit your archetype. There are many penalties defined: Attack, Saves, Skill, Caster Level, Spell slot, and Hit Points. No item makes use of all of them, though. Most use 2 or 3, and the penalties are spread out over the levels the powers are gained. If you CANNOT pay the penalty "costs", you do not get the powers until you can. However, these "penalties" are not much different than taking levels in a specialty PrC that does not offer the same basic advancement as your core class. An item that assesses Attackm, Save, and Hit Point penalties is like a Fighter taking levels in a PrC that only gives d8 hp, a Poor instead of a Good save, and a reduced Attack progression. What is different is that, in the PrC method, you pay "invisible" costs as you go along. You just don't get the skill points, hit points, or whatever (and, for the record, I am aware that the Scion classes in the Swords of our Fathers release actually give full Attack, hp, and Skill values to the appropriate archetypes); with the WoL model, you can gain the powers retroactively, and pay the costs retroactively, whenever the opportunity arises (i.e., if you don't find a Legacy weapon until you are 18th level, you are not restricted to the lowest levels of ability of the items). This makes the Weapon of Legacy model easier to add to an existing campaign. Also, with the Weapons of Legacy model, you can Renounce the Legacy. By reversing the ritual you can "unbond" from the weapon. You lose access to its powers, but you also "get back" all the costs from the "penalties". To return this to the original thread's point, I think this illustrates some creative thinking on the part of the Developers/Designers at Wizards. Basically, they found a way to make a similar mechanic more flexible for inclusion "right now" in existing games. Dropping the Scion system into a campaign would likely mean "New campaign" or "new characters", or at least "character re-writes" to make use of it. Weapons of Legacy, for all that the penalties seem daunting, is easier to make "drop into" an existing campaign.</blockquote>

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