Warheart Weapons: Children of the Nine Swords [Items]

[The Demented One]

Warheart Items
by The Demented One and Krimm Blackleaf


A legendary warrior’s vault holds a treasure trove of warheart weapons.

The weapons and armor forged by legendary craftsmen are just as renowned as their creators, imbued with the very spirit of their creators. When a master duelist or swordsman forges his blades he forges his own essence into it, imbuing it with raw martial power. A sword crafted by an epic hero could clash with even a magic blade and come out triumphant. Such fabled weaponry and armor, known as warheart items, are potent boons to those who bear them, rescuing them in moments of peril.

Creating Warheart Items
Only martial adepts are capable of crafting warheart items. Unlike with crafting magic items, the smith does not enchant a previously existing item–instead, he creates the warheart item anew, forging it from raw iron. Creating a warheart item does not require Craft checks–when a warrior forges a blade of such power, a spirit of inspiration comes over him, a genius that will not let him fail.

Creating the item requires the use of material components worth half the item’s market price, rare ores and materials with legendary provenances worthy to be used in such a blade. In addition, at the beginning of the creation process, the craftsman must expend XP equal to 1/25 of the item’s market cost. Creating a warheart item requires one day per 1,000 gp in the item’s base price, with a minimum of at least one day. The craftsman must work for 8 hours each day. He cannot rush the process by working longer each day. But the days need not be consecutive, and the craftsman can use the rest of his time as he sees fit. A character can work on only one item at a time. If a character starts work on a new item, all materials used and XP spent on the under-construction item are wasted. In order to craft a warheart item, a character must know the martial maneuver he is imbuing it with.

Finally, in order to craft a warheart item, a character must possess the Legendary Battlesmith feat, below:

Legendary Battlesmith [Fighter, Item Creation]
You are capable of tempering steel with martial power.
Prerequisite: Craft (Armorsmithing or Weaponsmithing) 8 ranks, must be capable of initiating at least one martial maneuver
Prerequisite: You can create warheart weapons, armor, and shields. You are capable of imbuing them with any martial maneuver you know. You can also repair a broken warheart item if you know the maneuver it is imbued with. Doing so costs half the XP, half the raw materials, and half the time it would take to craft that item in the first place.

Using Warheart Items
Warheart items are imbued by their creators with martial maneuvers. Each type of item can be imbued with only one kind of maneuver–weapons are imbued with strikes, armor with boosts, and shields with counters (no warheart item can be imbued with a stance). In addition, each warheart item has an enhancement bonus, based on the level of the maneuver it is imbued with:

{table=head]

Level

|

Bonus

1st–2nd

|

+1

3rd–4th

|

+2

5th–6th

|

+3

7th–8th

|

+4

9th

|

+5

[/table]

A character may initiate any maneuver imbued in a warheart item he is wielding as if he knew it normally. Once a maneuver from a warheart item has been used, it cannot be used again for the duration of the encounter–they cannot be recovered like maneuvers used by normal martial adepts. The initiator level of a maneuver used from a warheart item is equal to the minimum initiator level required to learn a maneuver. If a maneuver used from a warheart item allows a saving throw, the DC is equal to 10 + the maneuver’s level + the user’s highest mental ability score or 10 + the maneuver’s level + the item’s enhancement bonus, whichever is higher.

Warheart Items and Magic
Warheart items are not magic items. Indeed, the two are mutually incompatible–a warheart item cannot be enchanted to become a magic item, and a character cannot create a magic item that is also a warheart item. They are partially affected by abilities that would suppress the powers of a magic item, such as the dispel magic or antimagic zone spells. Such abilities negate the item’s enhancement bonus, but not its wielder’s ability to use the maneuver it is imbued with–unless that maneuver is a supernatural ability itself. Spells such as detect magic or arcane sight do not detect a warheart item as anything other than mundane, but an identify or analyze dweomer spell will reveal its properties. Warheart items are treated as magic items when they are dealt damage and when determining whether or not they need to make a saving throw.

Warheart Items and Price
The price of a warheart item depends on the level of the maneuver it is imbued with, and on whether it is a weapon or a piece of armor, as shown below:

{table=head]Maneuver|Cost (Weapon)|Cost (Armor/Shield)

1st|

2,500

|

1,500

2nd

|

3,000

|

2,000

3rd

|

11,000

|

5,500

4th

|

15,000

|

11,000

5th

|

28,000

|

19,000

6th

|

33,000

|

39,000

7th

|

57,000

|

41,000

8th

|

64,000

|

48,000

9th

|

95,000

|

60,000

[/table]

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

Simple, elegant, and beautiful. I think I'm in love.

That said, I'm wondering if some versatility might not be allowed...maybe something similiar to magical enhancements (flaming, frost, etc.). Things like a blade being sharp enough to overcome points of damage reduction, or double it's critical range, or be vorpal--enhancements to improve the weapon that might not need to be magical, just so these weapons are as valuable as magical ones (or, in the right hands, even more valuable).

Regardless, absolutely WONDERFUL work.

[The Demented One]

Simple, elegant, and beautiful. I think I'm in love.

That said, I'm wondering if some versatility might not be allowed...maybe something similiar to magical enhancements (flaming, frost, etc.). Things like a blade being sharp enough to overcome points of damage reduction, or double it's critical range, or be vorpal--enhancements to improve the weapon that might not need to be magical, just so these weapons are as valuable as magical ones (or, in the right hands, even more valuable)

I think a system of relatively mundane special qualities, limited by the discipline and level of an item's maneuver, with flat cost increases, would be interesting. Might get around to writing that up.

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

If you decide to go ahead and do that (and if you don't then I might), there would also need to be a limit on the number you can apply to a single weapon (possibly give them levels like maneuvers, and each weapon may only have 1 enhancement of its level or lower, or may have total enhancements up to it's level, or something along those lines).

Some possibilities, off the top of my head. They're good, but not overpowering (especially considering what many other classes can do).

Ease of Speed
Discipline: Diamond Mind
Effect: Once per round, you may make an additional melee attack at your highest base attack bonus as a swift action. If this attack hits, it deals damage equal to (the weapon's minimum damage + the weapon's enhancement bonus + your Dexterity modifier). Apply all effects of weapon enhancements to this damage, but do not apply effects or add damage from other sources.

Perfect Balance
Discipline: Diamond Mind
Effect: You may use your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier on all attack and damage rolls with this weapon.

Staggering Weight
Discipline: Stone Dragon
Effect: If you score roll a natural 20 on an attack roll with a Staggering Weight weapon, your opponent is stunned for 1 round.

Gleaming Edge
Discipline: Desert Wind
Effect: If you roll a natural 20 on an attack roll with a Gleaming Edge weapon, your opponent is blinded for 1d4 rounds.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

If you decide to go ahead and do that (and if you don't then I might), there would also need to be a limit on the number you can apply to a single weapon (possibly give them levels like maneuvers, and each weapon may only have 1 enhancement of its level or lower, or may have total enhancements up to it's level, or something along those lines).

One idea would be that you can add as many as you want, but you have to activate them instead of having them be constant-use. Basically, you'd have a bunch of boost-like (for weapons) or counter-like (armor/shields) maneuvers you know while you're holding the weapons; once they're activated, they remain until the end of the encounter. I'd probably also make it so that either one (maneuver level 1-3), two (4-6) or three (7-9) abilities are always-on, so you always get some benefit.

For instance, using your examples, you might have a Perfect Balance, Ease of Speed weapon. If it stores a 2nd level maneuver, it's always a Perfect Balance weapon, but you have to spend a swift action to activate Ease of Speed (or vice versa), but if it holds a 4th level maneuver they're both on all the time. It might be a bit more complicated than you're looking for, but I like the idea of a mighty (and expensive) warheart weapon with a dozen or so abilities that set the wielder apart from the average adept; I think adding an action cost would sufficiently counter the increased utility.

[afroakuma]

I'm thinking it's about time to start a new directory thread. If I whip one together, would you consent to your ToB material being added?

[The Demented One]

I'm thinking it's about time to start a new directory thread. If I whip one together, would you consent to your ToB material being added?

Oh yes, it'd be great. If you check the post that's linked in my signature, you'll find links to just about every piece of homebrew I've ever made.

[Hunter Noventa]

This is quite possibly one of the most awesome things I've ever seen.

[afroakuma]

Oh yes, it'd be great. If you check the post that's linked in my signature, you'll find links to just about every piece of homebrew I've ever made.

I'm going to begin assembly tomorrow. And I tired that link once. I'm still recovering from the awesomeness-induced blindness.