Magic Weapons

Why swing a sword when you can get one that swings itself… and hurls fireballs!

Magic weapons can abound in your fantasy world or they can be rare and precious artifacts of great legend. A magic weapon could simply be a tool for a protagonist, or the existence of a particular artifact weapon could drive your whole story. A magic weapon could be a light of salvation or a cursed object that drives a character to madness. It could be used to save a kingdom or could spell doom for an empire.

There is no end to the narrative possibilities with a magic weapon. Enjoy this page of great ideas to weave a magic weapon into your story…

Magic Weapons that sound pretty cool…

  • singing sword, sword of might, dragon-scale blade, sword of darkness, gladius of gods, spellblade, orcslapper, goblin reaver, giant render, winter’s cutlass,
  • hammer of thunder, dancing flail, axe of regeneration, scimitar of smite, hammer of wrath, dagger of stealth,
  • bow of accuracy, crossbow of speed, arrow of truth, frost arrow, fire bolt,
  • dagger of the holy pact, doom dagger, dark dagger,
  • staff of striking, rod of predation,
  • mad mace, luckbringer, stoic defender, goon’s plunder,
  • words that make good magic weapon descriptors: predator, poison, parrying, piercing, vengeance, force, gambler, thief, assassin, slaughter, devour, destroyer, dread, dynamic, weaver, doom, pact, lightning, storm, speed, truth, honour, duty, flesh, friend, waker, blood, touch (holy touch, death touch, king’s touch, devil’s touch, last touch, touch or eternity), soulless, stealer, eater, withering, acidic, master, radiant, slowing, staggering, bane, iron, chaos, crazed, mad, luck, boon, bane, impaler, sender, lender, blender, defender, might, star, moon, grave, stoic, lost, forever,
  • colors can make a weapon sound cool: crimson, red, blood, vermilion, green, iron, blue, cerulean, shade, light, rainbow, alabaster, cerise, indigo, cerulean, mosaic, taupe, tawny, frost, emerald, verdigris, ebony, scarlet, hazel, ivory, mottle, soot, oxide, ox blood, tan, pitch, jet, opal, topaz, peacock, straw, umber, dappled, pearl, sienna, puce, rose, coal, claret, chrome, sable, alabaster, ruddy, wine, wheat, saffron, steel gray, orchid, chrome, silver, sage, buff, maize, mahogany, magenta, gold, gilded, patina,
  • add temperatures or weather for magic weapon names: cool, cold, frost, fire, flame, searing, coldiron, sizzle, burnt, burning, burner, broil, warm, storm, tornado, winter, summer, chinook, rain, hail, cloud, hoary, mist, fog,
  • use animals as part of your magic weapon names: cougar, lynx, lion, elephant, rat, snake, viper, spider, black widow, stag, wolf, eagle, hawk, rabbit, mare, stud, shark, tiger, timer wolf, mantis, minnow (for a tiny weapon),
  • great warrior or wizard names to be used for famous magic weapons: Evander, Darius, Kravul, Tiberius, Altarius, Venitia, Crucian, Tex, Zorvon, Chang, Xyblus, Bob, Calleus, Tituba, Eamon,

Powers to Add to Weapons

  • super grip – you can never drop it (usually)
  • true strike – it is more likely to hit a target
  • weapon speaks, sings, narrates, repeats like a parrot, teases, taunts, snores, screams, shrieks, chants,
  • weapon dances, moves,
  • spits venom, acid, electricity, darkness, rage, blinding goo,
  • turns victims to stone, liquid, sand, ice,
  • super damage – it does extra damage like cleaves off a limb,
  • strange damage – it causes rot, freezing, acid, burning, [dropshadowbox align=”right” effect=”lifted-both” width=”50%” height=”” background_color=”#fac36d” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#f35109″ ]Thorgul lifted his mace with the last of his strength and called to his god. Within seconds his deity responded, raining shards of celestial ice down on the battlefield. Now Thorgul would pay.[/dropshadowbox]
  • shoots something – fireball, lightning, fire stream , laser, magic arrows, darts, sleet, iron spikes, boulders,
  • emits energy or force to bless, curse, protect, defend, shield,
  • wielder can teleport, levitate, see into the future, read minds,
  • wielder can summon allied magic creatures, dragon, swarms, a familiar,
  • weapon has illusory effects – wielder appears in triplicate, wielder blends into surroundings like a chameleon,
  • wielder can go invisible, ethereal, into parallel univers, other dimension,

Conditions for Magic Weapons

  • only works on a particular type of foe
  • only works on or in a particular day, moon, season, planet, dimension, country, town, room,
  • requires “recharging” through intense prayer, meditation, penance, self-flagellation, sacrifice, study, cleaning,
  • demands a sacrifice to power up,
  • sucks life from the weilder; causes rapid aging;
  • strange side effect occurs randomly upon use
  • user needs to pay a toll to use the magic (to a temple, king, maker, well, etc.)
  • weapon demands a philosophical, moral, or ethical explanation following any use (intelligent weapons can be very annoying and they tend to love debate)
  • when used, a portal to another dimension opens, possibly allowing evil (or other force) into the world
  • weapon summons a magical beast creature that must be “fed”
  • weapon may explode in a ball of fire if overused
  • weapon emits a searing bolt of lightning,
  • weapon disappears, turns to water, evolves into a swarm of mice, flies away, returns to the netherworld,
  • user and weapon are teleported to another place,
  • weapon must be cleaned and polished before next use of magic,
  • user is affected with great fear, panic, strength, weakness, boldness, madness,
  • user slowly becomes insane with each use; user becomes delusional, paranoid, nervous, twitchy,
  • user slowly disolves into an undead being as the weapon is used over time,
  • user shrinks, grows,
  • user grows horns, a tail, facial hair, a third arm, a pot belly, giant feet, longer nose (from a weapon known as the Liar’s Mace),
  • user gradually fades from existence (the need for an antidote could lead to another narrative),
  • once it lodges in an enemy, it doesn’t let go unless a code word is spoken or a token is paid,

Magic Weapons in Roleplay

Lots of magic weapons in roleplaying games come simply in the form of +1, +2, +3 and so on. I don’t know how many run-of-the-mill +1 longswords my characters found just lying around dungeons ovet the years.

This “commonplace magic” is provided by gamemasters because of the “to hit” game mechanic and the ever-present, avaricious need for characters to ramp up their combat stats.  This is fine, and even necessary, for standard roleplaying game success. If a character rolls lower ability scores, he’s basically dead in the game unless the referee grants him some magic weapons and armour. So I get why this happens.

But… it is a lot more fun to texture the plusses with conditions, minor or major side effects, particulars, specifics, costs, secondary benefits, penalties, or required rituals or restitution, and so on. There are many, many ways to add the roleplay to the need for statistical superiority. I would suggest never having a “statistically magical” item ever again showing up in your campaign. With cre8opedia, this is a possibility simply realized. Watch the fun of your gaming sessions increase by leaps and bounds with a few clever tweaks thrown into your humdrum magic weapons.

Enjoy the menus… and let us know if there is anything you need to ramp up the creative roleplay fun in your gaming session. We’ll brainstorm it for you!

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