Items · Melee Weapons · Cursed
The Sword of All Swords
As soon as he had set his eyes upon The Sword of all Swords he knew it must be the perfect blade for him. And he would stop at nothing to possess it!
Full Item Description
The Sword of All Swords has appeared many times, in many different forms, and been wielded by many different people.
Sometimes it is the silver-laced dagger of a master magician. Another time, it might be the large blood-darkened blade of a dreaded tyrant. Or even a thin, well balanced, rapier made for a young nobleman's duelist. The Sword of All Swords holds no form sacred, even going as far as to emulate symbols of faith and legacy.
History
Long ago, a wizard known as Eyes-of-Green sired a son with a nameless witch. Their son was expected to be a fine spell-slinger. Instead, he was muscular and more physically, than mentally, gifted. Some would call him dumb even, at their own risk. His father forged for him this blade, The All-Sword. It was made to perfect his son, to complete him and provide him with something magical and memorable.
Eyes-of-Green wanted the world to be jealous of his son's skill of arms, like they never were of his spell-casting. Wielding this magical blade soon gained the wizard's son many enemies. They all desired his talent; his blade.
When the son of Eyes-of-Green was murdered, and his weapon stolen, the wizard's fail-safe was triggered. The blade was cursed, it would draw jealousy and envy from those who watched it swing and twirl in combat.
Throughout history this blade has known many names. The All-Sword, Doppelganger's Blade, Endless Shift the Wanderer, Envy Striker, and Huroulaman's Bane are all appropriate names, but The Sword of All Swords cares for none of them. All it desires is to pass hands until it finds itself in the grip of the wizard's dead son, Huroulaman, once more.
Magic Properties
The Sword of All Swords will always appear to be the perfect weapon for whoever lays eyes upon it when it is dormant.
When being wielded it appears as the perfect weapon for whoever holds it, it seems to perform flawlessly in their hands. From this ability comes it's true goal: To inflict jealousy wherever it goes. It strikes you to the core, you want to be as good as the man with the blade. If only you had such a perfect blade.
When you pick it up it will physically transform into your ideal weapon, complete with holy symbols and marks of personal heraldry and notoriety.
The Curse
The Green-Eyes Curse is not overly powerful, but it can gain potency over time. It is doubtful you will attempt murder after seeing the blade in action only once. However, even a wizard who travels with the blade may be tempted to pick it up on occasion and see what he can do with it. If he was to do such a thing, he would be pleasantly surprised.
Optional Suggestions:
The curse may or may not make the wielder paranoid of theft or murder in the night. Also, the skill you seem to possess with the blade may only be perceived and not be an actual bonus. On the other hand, it could actually greatly increase your ability to hit or deal damage (as appropriate).
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I wish I had this sword in real life.
It reminds me greatly of Soul Calibur-type swords that change to fit the wielder, only to betray them. I'd like to see a bit more from this post. Can't quite put my finger on what, but I feel like it lacks that certain je ne se qua. It's a solid start, though.
I think the post is alright, I've tried something similar in the past with similar results. The thing about it that I am iff about is the backstory. The mage father, rather than using corrective magic on his son, who I am seeing as Baby Huey with a sword, gave him a better sword. I would expect the mage to automagically make his son not a moron, even if not making him a mage.
Hey Scras,
I agree this post is lame. The writing is okay, but the idea has been done.
What was your variation?
NCN
I really like this idea; a very novel concept. I think that the backstory needs a bit more; although nice, it does not quite match the creativity shown in the concept. Withholding my vote in case you decide to do more with the backstory.
The idea certainly isn't novel...be it the old man in the twilight zone who wants to have the bed by the window, those that want the One ring, the demon lover, and there was even a Star Trek episode about the sword Kailess that had this same basic plot. So this is not different than all those fables that speak to dangers of ambition, vanity and greed. Here it is just a really cool toy. The sword doesn't produce ambition, or have an evil agenda. The idea is fine, but it is not giving much new to a GM or player.
Okay so let us say that you drop this into your RPG group. I had an item like this once in a long campaign I ran, it was stone that instilled the desire to possess it in all who saw it (Dragoneye, Jack, SleepingBear or Lontholeo if you are reading this you should post your character's as NPCs). At any rate it became little more than a game the players had of grabbing the stone from on another. So this could be a fun subplot and it could also challenge the metagaming tendencies of your players. Because of course the party would want the swordsman to have it, but then the mage, archer or cleric may insist on it.
But once the player ID the magical nature of the curse, can they just ignore it? Because they will try.
Also would it be damaging to one's status as a holy warrior to use it?
eh
I guess this speaks to the supreme lack of wisdom of the father. Why the hell would you make such an item if you knew he was simply not strong enough to keep it?