Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 jstills116 Dec 28, 2010 22:27:00	Hi Everyone, I'd really appreciate feedback on a "custom" weapon for one of the PCs in my campaign.  First I'll give you some background on the campaign, and then the concept for the weapon. Background - 2 players with a total of 3 PCs in the party (I'm running one).  The PC in question is a revenant/shadar-kai assassin.  Weapon of choice is a spiked chain. The overarching theme in the campaign has the PCs fighting undead everywhere they turn.  The 2 main PCs are adherents of the Raven Queen (both are Shadar-kai).  The assassin ran contrary to the Raven Queen in his former life, but repented his ways and became devoted to her before his death.  She has returned him to life for a purpose he's not aware of yet.  It could have something to do with Orcus though. Weapon Concept:   Talon’s Wrath: Special Weapon  Activation of power’s dependent on Raven Queen’s blessing.  If she doesn’t believe user is worthy enough, those power(s) marked with an asterisk are delayed in activation or are never unlocked.  Base: Spiked Chain  Power 1: Frost Chain +1 – Item Level 3 (gains + and a d4 cold damage on crit at Levels 8, 13, 18, 23, 28) Properties as Frost Weapon (at will and daily) Power 2: Burn Chain – Item Level 8 (gains d4 radiant damage on crit at Levels 13, 18, 23, 28) Properties as Sunblade (at will and daily)  NOTE: Weapon bonus advances at pace of the Frost Chain.  Starting at Item Level 8, critical hit does both cold and radiant damage.  This cannot be “turned off” like the at will properties.  Only one type of “special” at will damage (i.e. cold or radiant) is possible at a time.  The weapon cannot deal both at once.  *Power 3: Talon’s Scabbard – Item Level 13 User is able to call Talon’s Wrath from his soul.  This is a minor action.  The user can “store” Talon’s Wrath using another minor action.  While the user cannot throw or drop the weapon, it can be removed from his hands by another person.  This results in the owner feeling a tug/pull/tearing on his soul which causes 1d10 psychic damage for every 6 levels of the user (1 at 1-6, 2 at 7-12, 3 at 13-18, etc) if the user did not willingly hand it over.  The owner must physically touch Talon’s Wrath to store it again.  Should the owner ever betray the Raven Queen, she will tear Talon’s Wrath from the owner’s soul causing instant death (no save) and condemnation of the betrayer’s soul.  Power 4: Talon’s Spite - Daily Power – Item Level 18  Range: 10 The owner can shoot a frost burn bolt at one target that causes cold and radiant damage equal to the owner’s healing surge value.  Use of this power costs the user one healing surge.  *Power 5: Talon’s Bond – Item Level 28 – Should Talon’s Wrath ever be out of reach of the owner, it can be summoned back to the owner’s hand if within 10 squares of the owner regardless of how it’s restrained. (Think swordmage's bond with this one) In addition, the player would like to get an item that let's him reach out 4-5 squares and pull someone in to him (think Scorpion's Chain from Mortal Kombat). I know this is a long entry.  I'm sorry about that.  I just need to know if something like this has the ability to unbalance the game.  I'm thinking of something similar for the 2 other PCs but with class/character specific features.  I don't know if we'll have anymore players join the campaign or not. I know I can always buff the monsters up if need be.  So far, I haven't really been adjusting the size of the encounters for the reduced size of the party.  They are currently 1st level. Thanks, John
#2 rampant Dec 28, 2010 23:49:25	I can't help but think this seems a tad over complicated, and possibly over powered, but that may largely be due to not being at all sure about what some of this stuff does. Talon's spite for instance could be tricky, especially since I don't know what kind of attack roll or action cost is involved. Also while it is heavily implied I couldn't find any lines that explicitly state that the enhancement bonus and such improve. I would suggest taking the artifact rules and applying them here. Use a concordance table and rig it to represent serving the RQ's interests. It sounds like the basic weapon should be a frost chain, can be switched to deal cold damage, does bonus cold damage on a crit, and has an ice based encounter power right?
#3 jstills116 Dec 29, 2010 15:20:28	Thanks for the feedback Rampant. You're right, it is built off of a Frost Chain, only it's a daily power and not an encounter power.  I'm still fleshing out the details of the final weapon.  See if this helps for Talon's Spite. Talon's Spite - Daily Power - Standard Action - Dexterity vs Reflex - Hit does damage equal to Healing Surge value.  Miss does half that damage.  It costs one healing surge to use this power.  You are correct, the intent is to have the enhancement bonus and critical damage improve over time.  I'm envisioning that this will happen according to the item level progression for a Frost Weapon.  The addition of radiant damage may happen anywhere between Item Level 8 and Item Level 13. I hadn't considered using the artifact rules.  I'll look into that for the Raven Queen specific powers.  In terms of character concept for this guy, think of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell.  The revenant could be thought of as Sam Fisher, with a splash of Darkwing Duck, Porthos, and The Shadow thrown in. For the other 2 PCs, I'm not sure what to do.   One is a Shadar-kai cleric of the Raven Queen, and the other is a human (damphyr) swordmage.  The swordmage doesn't know he's a damphyr yet.  That will come out as he progresses. I'm considering blending properties of a couple of weapons into a single weapon for the swordmage.  The cleric favors a morning star.  So far, the only request made by that player is to have it "glow" in the presence of undead similar to Sting in the Lord of the Rings series. (Needless to say, that provides me with a lot of fun options as the DM).  Ultimately, the PCs will go up against Orcus with a lot of uber-baddies along the way.  I can easily see Talon's Wrath becoming a legendary weapon at the end of all of this.  Especially since it ultimately belongs to the Raven Queen.  The same could happen with other items the PCs use.  For instance, since the swordmage is a defender, his special weapon could cause undead to focus on the wielder even when not marked.  Sword is happy when it's killing undead. Yeah, I'm liking the artifact rules idea. Thanks again.