Hello everyone!
Just looking for a bit of advice. so I've read the 3.5 Edition Weapons of Legacy supplement, and toying with the idea of including them in one of my 5th Edition games. Does anyone have any advice on how to adapt them?
I'm mainly looking at the best way to handle abilities unlocking over time, and whether there are any pitfalls I should look out for when building the unlock path - how do I balance things? etc...
I suppose really what I'm looking for is a frame-work for 5th Edition weapons that evolve, more than a 5E adaptation of Weapons of Legacy itself. There's a lot of stuff in there I'm ignoring for the moment, but any advice you guys can give would be great 
Thanks!
Rather than have a set plan for the weapon's growth, I would just have it evolve in place of other treasure the characters would find, and tie the effects in withe the deeds. If the paladin strikes the necromancer, bringing him down to 0 HP, perhaps his blade shines brilliantly as he cuts his foe down. Rather than finding a +1 weapon in the necromancer's lair, his sword continues to glow faintly, and is a +1 sword thereafter. Until he fights the red dragon, of course, and plunges his blade into the beast's chest. As the dragon's blazing blood pours over the sword, its previous glow changes, becoming a reddish-orange, shimmering and flickering with small flames. Rad, now it's a +1 Flame Tongue. You can just scratch a magic item off the dragon's treasure hoard (or keep it in there, if you're that nice).
Not every weapon should evolve this way. Some players like to find new items and weapons, others like for theirs to evolve with them.
DigitalEccentric wrote:
@GrandFallon I see what you're saying. I like to plan things out a bit better though, although that would work if my character was creating a Legacy weapon in real time I guess.
What I'm more after is a framework for existing weapons that evolve, so that even if I do let the PC's organically create their own, there's a template to follow. I'm a bit uncomfortable abilities being tacked on willy nilly.
@Tempest Not having played 3.5 edition, I'll take your word for it. I know 5e is a lot simplified than previous editions. I suppose I should clarify by saying that I don't want a straight-up adaptation (your points are very valid on this score), but i just want help laying out a 5E framework/template for weapons that get stronger over time.
Say I tie it to the PC's level, what levels do I unlock abilities? How many abilities is too many? Where do I draw the line to stop it getting OP? and so on...
I can use existing Artefact or legendary weapons in the DMG as a rought framework for the 'end result', but I wanted something a litte more personal and immersive than that for the PC's, something beyond simply 'Attunement'.
Thanks for your input guys
DigitalEccentric wrote:
For ease of work, let's think about a Legacy Sword for a bit.
A simple (and boring) way to do this would be to say that the item's rules-mechanical bonus is +(Tier-1). When the PCs reach L5 it becomes a +1 sword, &c.
If the PCs research and perform a Quest related to the item's history, they can unlock some magical power. Use the spells and existing items for inspiration; when first found it may provide light like a torch but after the first Quest (approx L6 difficulty) it also does +1d6 Fire damage on a hit. A second Quest (at about L11) unlocks a Ray of Flame effect usable as an Attack action. The final (Tier 4) Quest gives you a Wand of Fireball-like ability in the sword.
Non-combat items are harder to describe in the abstract because there is so much variation.
A Legacy item Necklace? of Protection from Fire could give Resist(Fire) -> Immune(Fire) -> Reflect Fire attacks back at enemies.
Thanks everyone This has helped a lot. I'm useless at starting grom scratch because I'm new to D&D in general and have no frame of reference, but these ideas have now got the juices flowing and I should be able to work something out that I can get everyone interested in.
You guys are awesome!
First be carefull, bonuses from weapon a a lot more powerfull in 5e then they were in 3e.
in 3e +1 to attack roll was meaningless when comapre to the AC 30 that a regular monster level 15 could have
in 5e the highest AC from a CR 30 (both the Tarrasque and Tiamat) is 25. so +1 is a lot more important.
in 3e +1 compare to the +20 you could easily get on your attack bonus is insignificant
in 5e the same +1 on your +11 attack bonus you get is a lot more impactfull
So do not make the weapon grow as fast as they would have back in 3e.
Personnaly I like to make the weapon evolve base on what the player do with it.
For example in my group I got a rogue and a monk. They both use dagger, when they reach an appropriate level I would give them abilities depend on there use of the weapon..
The rogue always start the fight by throwing the dagger then run in pick up the dagger and stab the target with it
The monk use the dagger to fight in melee with the ennemy
Well I might give the rogue the ability to summon the dagger at level 3 (similar to the fighter Eldritch knight bond weapon) back to his hand as a free action and at level 6 to teleport to the dagger location as a bonus action (similar to the monk shadow teleport)
While I would allow the monk to channel his Ki energy throught the dagger (at level 3). The dagger would increase his Ki DC by 1 (at level 6) and the dagger keep in reserve 1/5 of the ki energy he spend (at level 9). So for every 5 Ki point he channel throught the dagger he can use 1 extra ki point then a level 15 the dagger would keep 1/3 of the ki energy (so gain 1 extra ki for every 3 ki point used)
Or allow the weapon to evolve based on the BBEG the weapon dealt the final blow. So the monk deal the final blow on a Ancient Acid dragon, well the dagger could gain a permanent acid enchantement on it, dealin an extra 1d6 acid damage.
Or allow the weapon to evolve after the character acheved someething impressive like the rogue killed 20 kobold in 12 rounds (considering that rogue have only 1 attack per round, he had to use a lot of reaction to achieve such a exploit) the dagger would evolve so when the rogue throw the dagger once per day the dagger will multiple and will deal it's damage (including sneak damage) to all creature in a 20ft cone in front of the rogue
i like the old +1/+2 vs ? style weapons, so i suggest pick a basic item and build it as an inteligent weapon. have level triggers for powers and only if qualifing event happens. i would grant minor specific powers related to a story theme.
you could have triggering events that awaken the intelligence and power of item as you level [by tier].
for instance in lost mine of phandelver there was a magic longsword in the Tresendar family dungeon named Talon that belonged to the family line. it could have further powers beyond +1; if they are members of the tresendar line, if they they have noble as a background, or if they finish a quest of revenge for the family. perhaps the sword has a hatred for orcs and grants the weilder the benefit of advantage on initiative against orcs, or advantage on intimidation checks against orcs [think of Hobbit when the goblin king sees their weapons], or advantage on charisma checks with locals [only a hero of noble character may weild Talon].
i like the idea that the weapon has fallen into a coma of sorts and still functions as a normal item but awakens when the right conditions arise. for instance kill 10 lycanthropes and awaken the blade +1/+3 vs lycanthropes. you should have very specific targets for second plus [lycanthropes instead of shapeshifters, or even specifically werewolves]. And don't go overboard
I've put a couple of evolving magic items into my campaign. What I do is begin with the weapon at its most powerful, give it whatever custom quirks etc. it needs, then come up with a narrative reason that it doesn't perform at that level and what would be required to "wake it up." Then I take away a little bit of it's oomph, and compare what's left to the player characters' levels. If it is still too good for them, I repeat the process.
If the character that has the item is a spellcaster, you might use a spell to unlock the next tier of oomph on the item. If you want that to happen at level 9, pick a level 5 spell from the character's list (or whatever level spell they would have access to at that level, if not a pure caster) to unlock the item. You can do the same thing with some class abilities, like using a paladin's Lay on Hands ability equal to their daily max at level 16 to unlock the final tier of mojo that will evolve the item the paladin foundback at level 4 (as a +1 longsword with an angelic origin) into the Holy Avenger he's been looking forward to.