Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Monch9 08-05-03, 05:10 AM	Wanna know why Drizzt's scimitar plows through the evil denizen's. (Demodand's, Balor, Marilith, Bebilith). Icingdeath +2 (solanian truesteel) bane intelligent frost brand scimitar: Caster Level: 15th, Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, summon monster I, ice storm, aura against flame; Market Price: 68440 gp; Cost to Create: 33562.5gp + 2685 XP. This +2 frost scimitar (+1d6 points of bonus cold damage with each hit) does not shed any light except when the air temperature is below 0°F. Its wielder is protected from fire, since the sword absorbs the first 10 points of fire damage each round that the wielder would otherwise suffer. It also has a 50% chance of extinguishing any fire into which its blade is thrust. This power extends to a 10-foot radius and includes lasting effects and spells but excludes instantaneous effects and spells. Evil Outsider Bane: Against its designated foe, its effective enhancement bonus is +2 better than its normal enhancement bonus. It deals an extra 2d6 points of damage against the foe. Solanian Truesteel property : +1 bonus to hit when confirming a Critical Threat only. Treat as cold iron for purpose of bypassing DR. (from the Arms and Equipment guide. It's described as iron with a silvery shine and you just add 1000 to the cost. Also, it's also been said to be only mined on the fourth layer of the Seven Mounting Heavens of Celestia.) Chaotic Good Intelligent sword Communication mode : Empathy with 60ft vision and hearing Mental Ability Scores :Int : 13, Wis : 13, Cha : 10 Item has 20 ranks in sense motive against it’s designated foe. It is also considered Good Aligned to bypass DR against designated foe.
Maskanodel 08-05-03, 11:10 AM	I like it. I was never satisified with the official "Icingdeath", but I like this. Good job Monch9.
Saasiel 08-05-03, 09:59 PM	Originally posted by Monch9 Wanna know why Drizzt's scimitar plows through the evil denizen's. (Demodand's, Balor, Marilith, Bebilith). Icingdeath +2 (solanian truesteel) bane intelligent frost brand scimitar: Caster Level: 15th, Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, summon monster I, ice storm, aura against flame; Market Price: 68440 gp; Cost to Create: 33562.5gp + 2685 XP. This +2 frost scimitar (+1d6 points of bonus cold damage with each hit) does not shed any light except when the air temperature is below 0°F. Its wielder is protected from fire, since the sword absorbs the first 10 points of fire damage each round that the wielder would otherwise suffer. It also has a 50% chance of extinguishing any fire into which its blade is thrust. This power extends to a 10-foot radius and includes lasting effects and spells but excludes instantaneous effects and spells. Evil Outsider Bane: Against its designated foe, its effective enhancement bonus is +2 better than its normal enhancement bonus. It deals an extra 2d6 points of damage against the foe. Solanian Truesteel property : +1 bonus to hit when confirming a Critical Threat only. Treat as cold iron for purpose of bypassing DR. (from the Arms and Equipment guide. It's described as iron with a silvery shine and you just add 1000 to the cost. Also, it's also been said to be only mined on the fourth layer of the Seven Mounting Heavens of Celestia.) Chaotic Good Intelligent sword Communication mode : Empathy with 60ft vision and hearing Mental Ability Scores :Int : 13, Wis : 13, Cha : 10 Item has 20 ranks in sense motive against it’s designated foe. It is also considered Good Aligned to bypass DR against designated foe. Pretty cool concept, however you need to refer explicitly to the novels. Icingdeath was never considered an evil outsider sword, rather it should be fire bane. It only ever came alive when there were creatures of fire to slay. It had no moral and/or ethical biases. And, bring it up to +3, where it should be.
Monch9 08-05-03, 10:18 PM	Pretty cool concept, however you need to refer explicitly to the novels. Icingdeath was never considered an evil outsider sword, rather it should be fire bane. It only ever came alive when there were creatures of fire to slay. It had no moral and/or ethical biases. I tried to keep it close to the novels without making it too powerful. If I made it +3, it would be a little too expensive for my taste. With the new 3.5 release and the new DR's, keeping it a pure +3 frost brand just couldn't cut it. Against Errtu, Drizzt just won't make a dent unless it was both Good and Cold Iron. The Evil Outsider Bane part was placed because it seems to have a better kill ratio against these types (my opinion). None of the creatures (in tarterus and demons) had fire as a subtype, most of them even had resistances to cold (balor, marilith, bebilith). There was also an instance in Passage to Dawn where Icingdeath urged Drizzt to go after the marilith when Drizzt hesitated due to the Marilith's shapechange to Zak (that's why I added the sense motive). All this was flavored to the Bane (noticed I linked the skill and the good aligned only to the designated foe). Hopefully, someday, I (or someone else) can give a good writeup of the history of this blade. So many nice elements to it : Celestial truesteel, bane, frost brand, hilt of adamantine shaped like the maw of a hunting cat (even thought of a serendipidy style history that Guenwhyvar's maw was the model of hilt) :) Monch
Israfel666 08-06-03, 08:01 PM	Really great job Monch! AFAICT it fits perfectly the novels. You might even consider sending it to Salvatore and asking him to write a small tale about the blade... after all, he did write a short essay about the forging of Guenhwyvar in Cormanthor.
The Eye of the Cyclop 08-06-03, 10:26 PM	Maybe it could also cast banishment on creature using a fire spell-like ability.
Kilthius 08-07-03, 05:25 PM	Originally posted by The Eye of the Cyclop Maybe it could also cast banishment on creature using a fire spell-like ability. Yeah. It is an Intelligent item seemingly with the purpose to destroy "creatures of fire." Maybe it's special power would be to cast banishment on a critical hit. It seems like Icingdeath needs a good solid hit (critical hit?) for it to banish outsiders.
Israfel666 08-07-03, 06:32 PM	It seems to me you are making a mistake. Icingdeath, in The Crystal Shard, didn't cast banishment on Errtu: it simply stroke the deadly hit. Errtu's century-long banishment to the Abyss was simply a consequence of the rule that a summoned (and only if summoned) outsider, when killed on a non-native plane, would reform on his home plane and be unable to leave it for 100 years. That rule changed with time, of course. Planescape's Faces of Evil (praise the glorious tome) told that slain summoned fiends reform on their homeplanes into their basics shapes... ie lemure/nupperibo for baatezu, dretch for tanar'ri, etc., and have to go all the way up the hierarchy again (though they can order some servant to collect them and bring them to a Lord for instant restoration...but the servant can disobey, of course). Now, 3e simply has slain outsiders "reform" on their home planes and be stuck there for 24 hours (:rolleyes: Drizzt would long be dead if he had fought Errtu under 3e :D)
Rinonalyrna Fathomlin 08-07-03, 07:03 PM	Originally posted by Israfel666 It seems to me you are making a mistake. Icingdeath, in The Crystal Shard, didn't cast banishment on Errtu: it simply stroke the deadly hit. Errtu's century-long banishment to the Abyss was simply a consequence of the rule that a summoned (and only if summoned) outsider, when killed on a non-native plane, would reform on his home plane and be unable to leave it for 100 years. This is correct. I have read all the Drizzt novels, and I don't recall Icingdeath having the power to banish anything. In fact, I don't recall it being an intelligent weapon either--it is simply a cold-enchanted sword (frostbrand?) with supreme effectiveness against fire creatures. And as an above poster said, it has no moral/ethical bases, so there is no point in making it chaotic good-aligned.
Israfel666 08-07-03, 07:21 PM	Originally posted by Rinonalyrna Fathomlin In fact, I don't recall it being an intelligent weapon either The weapon has been defined as "intelligent" because, more than once, it sent anger-hunger feelings to Drizzt when a fire creature was near. Under 3e rules, that is enough to define it an "intelligent" weapon, which has the form of communication "empathy" instead of speech/telepathy. Of course, one could wonder what INT rating Icingdeath should receive... I'd assign 2 ie animal intelligence (despite the DMG guidelines), since such primal messages are not enough for sentience ie INT 3.
Kilthius 08-07-03, 07:25 PM	Several times in the novels, Salvator describes the scimitar detecting nearby demons and imparting that sense, or it's sense of "hunger" or "eagerness" to Drizzt. It even states somewhere that it was forged for the purpose of slaying "fire-using creatures." Plus, the scimitar doesn't just hurt demons it saps or absorbs their "life force." But this has only happened on a "good hit" like when he sunk the blade into Errtu's knee or when he impaled the Marilith.
Rinonalyrna Fathomlin 08-07-03, 08:09 PM	Originally posted by Kilthius Plus, the scimitar doesn't just hurt demons it saps or absorbs their "life force." But this has only happened on a "good hit" like when he sunk the blade into Errtu's knee or when he impaled the Marilith. I don't think a weapon has to be intelligent to do that, though. Entreri's dagger also steals life force, but I don't recall it being intelligent. Under 3E rules maybe--I know a lot about 3E but I'll admit I haven't read the Arms and Equipment guide or brushed up on rules regarding intelligent weapons. The weapon has been defined as "intelligent" because, more than once, it sent anger-hunger feelings to Drizzt when a fire creature was near. Under 3e rules, that is enough to define it an "intelligent" weapon, which has the form of communication "empathy" instead of speech/telepathy. Alright. I suppose that makes sense, and I agree that INT and WIS scores of 13 are most likely unwarranted.
Monch9 08-07-03, 09:17 PM	From the 3.5 SRD (sorry for the formatting) Table: Item Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, and Capabilities d% Mental Ability Scores Communication Capabilities Senses Base Price Modifier 35–59 Two at 13,one at 10 Empathy1 Two lesser powers 60 ft. vision and hearing +2,000 gp 1 The possessor feels urges and sometimes emotions from the item that encourage or discourage certain courses of action. The INT and WIS scores are of an Intelligent weapon with 2 lesser powers. (I made sense motive x2). Monch
Shylo Slick 08-10-03, 12:03 AM	during drizzt's first battle with errtu, the weapon itself launched an attack at errtu and gutted him, drizzt's just happened to be holding it at the time. that alone could signify that the weapon took control of drizzt when he was badly hurt and nearly out of it. sounds definetly like what the 2e intelligent weapons do when their owner is weakened.... 2e version of drizzt's sword iceingdeath... Weapon: scimitar Frostbrand: with all the normal/standard frostbrand powers. Intelligent Weapon: with empathy, detect lower planar creatures 30 ft., special purpose of slaying lower planar fire dwelling creatures, with an iceingdeath effect, which was to deliver an icy coating to the wound from a hit, which would effectively deliver extra lingering/repeating damage to a successful attack.
Rinonalyrna Fathomlin 08-10-03, 01:13 AM	Originally posted by Shylo Slick during drizzt's first battle with errtu, the weapon itself launched an attack at errtu and gutted him, drizzt's just happened to be holding it at the time. that alone could signify that the weapon took control of drizzt when he was badly hurt and nearly out of it. I don't recall that. Perhaps you could quote that here? It's been a long time since I read The Crystal Shard.
Andras 08-10-03, 07:14 AM	Thats nohing...Samurai Jack has an epic (soul-bond)+5,vorpal,keen,holy,lawful,ghost-touch Katana....Recently blessed by his ancestors, now it inflicts pure divine-energy damage...
The Eye of the Cyclop 08-10-03, 09:20 PM	i still think however that the weapon cast a banishment of some sort against fire outsiders. If I remember well, in the novel Siege of Darkness, Drizzt fought a glabrezu, and it says that the glabrezu was fighting to not get banished
Monch9 08-10-03, 10:00 PM	Eye, Let's try the math for this (and please correct me if I'm wrong on the rules for this). assume, Scimitar (1d6) : 6 pts damage +2 enchantment 2 +2 bane 2 +12 (bane additional damage) 12 Weapon damage alone is 22 (say max) x2 for critical 44 Ignore frost (since the glabrezu has 10 resistance to cold, but if it's doubled, the frost is +12 ignore 10 for 2 -> not sure if this works). Str (13 for Drizzt) : +1 Weapon Specialization +2 Favored Enemy +4 I'm not sure if Drizzt's +7 pts of damage is included in the x2 but even if it's not, the total is 51, (53 if frost included) or (61 if everything is included). From the SRD : Massive Damage: If you ever sustain a single attack deals 50 points of damage or more and it doesn’t kill you outright, you must make a DC 15 Fortitude save. If this saving throw fails, you die regardless of your current hit points. If you take 50 points of damage or more from multiple attacks, no one of which dealt 50 or more points of damage itself, the massive damage rule does not apply. Maybe Drizzt was lucky on all his rolls with that one attack and hit a +50 damage on the glabrezu. The glabrezu failed his saving throw and got sent back to his plane. Monch
Rinonalyrna Fathomlin 08-10-03, 11:21 PM	With all due respect, there really is no point in "doing the math", so to speak, because dice rolling and mechanical combat abilities really don't mean much in the novels. Drizzt has always been described as an extraoridinarily superb fighter in the novels. If the author wants Drizzt to luck out against a demon and literally beat it back to the Abyss (with his fighting skills) that is exactly what will happen--although it is important to remember that 16th level characters are technically very powerful. It's not like RAS first rolled dice and recorded the "battle", then wrote it all down in his novel. RAS's concern is writing a good story and an exciting battle, even if it may seem a little implausible when game rules are applied to it. That, and you seem to be applying 3E rules to this, even though The Crystal Shard was written way back in 1987 (or 1988), long before 3E rules even existed.
Shylo Slick 08-10-03, 11:22 PM	don't ignore the fact that drizzt and artemis both did double damage whenever they hit by 5 or more on their attack roll, and had a base 10% with a +/- 3% per level difference of instantly killing an opponent. Drizzt and Artemis never did need to do uber damage to kill an opponent, they just needed a good hit, their skill/precision at striking critical area's was what made them the realms deadliest fighters in the 2e days.
Rinonalyrna Fathomlin 08-10-03, 11:29 PM	Originally posted by Shylo Slick Drizzt and Artemis never did need to do uber damage to kill an opponent, they just needed a good hit, their skill/precision at striking critical area's was what made them the realms deadliest fighters in the 2e days. It's important to remember, though, that part of the reason they are so deadly is because of how they are written. There have been about 13 books involving Drizzt (not counting Spine of the World and Servant of the Shard), and a good percentage of the 15 "Drizzt" books have involved Artemis Entreri. To borrow a phrase from Faraer, heroes from the novels tend not to be terribly vunerable, and in the case of these particular characters (who have lasted through so many books), the fighting power and skill they possess becomes all the more glaringly obvious. I should also mention that I am fairly sure RAS didn't give Drizzt and Co. their official stats (with stuff like Drizzt's 2E "backstab", which I don't remember him actually using in a novel). I would not assume that RAS cares about the actual stats of these characters when he writes his novels. As I said, he is more concerned with story than mechanics, and his characters will do whatever he wants them to.
Monch9 08-10-03, 11:38 PM	Agreed Rinonalyrna, It's just me trying to give explanation in game terms. It's just a hobby, what they do is just give a nice feel to the new 3.5 version. Since we are using Dnd-FR and read FR books, it just nice to see them connected and theorized in game terms to my favorite characters. :) Monch
Rinonalyrna Fathomlin 08-10-03, 11:48 PM	Originally posted by Monch9 Agreed Rinonalyrna, It's just me trying to give explanation in game terms. It's just a hobby, what they do is just give a nice feel to the new 3.5 version. Since we are using Dnd-FR and read FR books, it just nice to see them connected and theorized in game terms to my favorite characters. :) Monch I understand. :) I'm not trying to be "annoying" and I don't want to seem like I'm trying to argue with you (I'm not). I just feel it is important to remember that RAS tends not to care about mechanics when he writes his stories...after all, watching good guys battle seemingly impossible foes is very common in these novels. ;) I would agree that the fight with Errtu isn't necessarily very "realistic" in game terms, and if you try to apply the rules to it, you may end up unsatisfied. Drizzt won the battle not solely because of the sword, but also because of his superior combat skills (and I am talking about the skills he simply has in the books, not necessarily quantified stat-skills). Where did the power of the sword end and Drizzt 's skills begin? I cannot answer that, myself.
Shylo Slick 08-11-03, 12:20 AM	Drizzt never had a Backstab, although Artemis with his assassin skills most likely did... the double damage they did was basicaly their dance of death attack, i.e., their attacks were considered so precise, that whenever they hit an opponent by 5 or more than was needed to hit their AC, they did double the damage and had a base 10% chance with a +/- 3% per level difference modifier to see if they instantly killed their foe on that hit. this feat alone made them the most deadliest fighters in the 2e days, and combined with their unique weapons and other magical items, and the possible kit,s class abilities, wpn & non-wpn proficiency's, made it possible for them to defeat awesome foes with little effort. If you really wanna see just how deadly they really was by 2e game standards do the math. Drizzt = Nobel Drow abilities + Fighter 18th Level abilities + Ranger 15th Level abilities + "Dance of Death Feat" + his 5 attacks per round + a natural 21? Dexterity, and his other high natural ability scores + Swashbuckler Kit for his first class as a fighter + non-weapon prof's. + wpn prof's. + max hit points... In our 2e world Drizzt and/or Artemis could make a party of 20th level characters back down outta fear, even if equipped with normal items... P.S. in our world Artemis loved to fight magic-less in a anti-magic field, and a lot of good world class fighters died thinking that rushing him and attacking while he was in an anti-magic field was an advantage for them, boy was they and WE, ever wrong, the little b***h seemed to be able to kill a couple of good fighters per round, without our DM helping him along...
ElGrecoETAC 08-11-03, 10:52 AM	Drizzt Do'Urden is the only character that had the "critical" hit rule attributed to him (5 greater than required to-hit, etc., etc.). Artemis Entreri did not have said power. 3 sources quote Drizzt having it: Hall of Heroes, Heroes' Lorebook, and Menzoberranzan. Neither the Hall of Heroes, nor the Villains' Lorebook list any such power under Artemis Entreri. The Crystal Shard does in fact describe Icingdeath conveying emotions, working almost on its own by striking when Drizzt had no power to swing his blade, and by transferring "strength" to Drizzt. I always thought it funny how everyone lamented Twinkle not being the ubersword it was in 2E. Icingdeath never got the proper treatment to begin with, it easily equals (maybe surpasses) Artemis' vaunted dagger in power, and if you add all the possible powers attributed to it, it comes close to artifact status (breaching the +10 limit).
Rinonalyrna Fathomlin 08-11-03, 08:05 PM	Originally posted by Shylo Slick Drizzt never had a Backstab Oh yes he did--back in his 2E description it was listed as one of his special abilities.
Rinonalyrna Fathomlin 08-11-03, 08:07 PM	Originally posted by ElGrecoETAC . The Crystal Shard does in fact describe Icingdeath conveying emotions, working almost on its own by striking when Drizzt had no power to swing his blade, and by transferring "strength" to Drizzt. I'll take your word for it--it's been a long time since I read that book and I'm not about to dig it out. ;)
Amaranthine 11-03-03, 11:39 AM	(with stuff like Drizzt's 2E "backstab", which I don't remember him actually using in a novel).#1 Crystal Shard, outside Biggrin's lair. The cook pop's out to dump the garbage. Drizzt strikes from above the door, taking the giant down in a double swipe of scimitars. #2 Inside Biggrin's lair. Drizzt exits the dining hall with several giants following. He hides in the shadows while Wulfgar draws their attention and gets them to chase him down the hall. The last giant in the line gets hamstrung as he passes Drizzt. Both quite good examples of 1e backstab.
Desies 11-03-03, 07:44 PM	Drizzt got special and sometimes unique abilities for the Menzoberazzan Box Set way back in the days of first or second edition (which, seeing as I am only 16, never played, but have read about).