A Dungeon Game’s Magic Weapons Pt. 3

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As we’ve established, I’m trying to write magic items for a dungeon game that all do something unique while also providing generators for GMs to make their own stuff for the game. What I’m realising as I work on this is that I can’t really have both – generators are functionally incapable of creating wholly unique results. It feels unsatisfying, but I’m starting to suspect that my best option is to write small minor abilities (this weapon knows a random Phrase, this weapon sheds light, etc.), and for major abilities to direct GMs to invent something. This then goes together with a bunch of example/sample magic weapons that I write, to show GMs what sort of things these items should do.

As I think about this, I’m wondering if the book that I release these in (or blog post, or web page, or whatever I choose to do) should focus more on the philosophy behind how magic weapons are treated in ADG rather than on simply providing the weapon stats and the generators. And with that in mind, I’ve been thinking about what magic weapons actually are in a dungeon game.

Something I’ve had in mind for a long time is that magic weapons (as opposed to magic items in general) aren’t something that’s easily crafted. Instead, they’re forged through acts of unimaginable violence. The intelligence inside a magic weapon isn’t an embodiment of the weapon itself and isn’t something that was created out of the ether – it’s a remnant of the person who was slain by this weapon when it was simply a mundane item, and the magical abilities the weapon possesses are reflections of the power that person held in life. The result of this is that magic weapons are the rarest form of magic item, and they often have antagonistic relationships with the people who wield them – especially if they’re newly-forged.

This adds a couple of layers to my generator. We need to know who the intelligence was in the past, who killed them, and how long ago that occurred. We probably also need to know why they were killed. We’ll also need to decide what type of weapon they are (right now ADG only has Small, Medium, and Large weapons but maybe for the magic weapons we can get more specific within those categories). It might also be fun to decide how complete or fragmented their memories of their past life are, and what they want to accomplish – do they seek revenge, or redemption, or peace, etc. Perhaps we should also decide whether their killer is still alive, and whether the weapon is aware of this or not. I’m also thinking about my game Go Alone, which asks you to roleplay a sentient weapon and reflect on what it means to be used as a tool for violence, and I’m wondering how much of that I can bring into this. I like the idea of determining how many previous bearers the weapon has had, and how hey feel about being used for violence. Finally, we should also decide whether the weapon is able to grow or diminish in power over time.

With that in mind, I’ve taken a run at some more tables for this generator. Here’s the one we ended up with last time, for reference:

Cunning (3d6)	Capabilities	Communication
3-5	1 minor ability	Semi-empathy
6-8	1 minor ability	Empathy
9-10	1 major ability	Empathy
11-13	1 major ability	Wielder Telepathy
14-15	1 major abilities and 1 minor ability	Wielder Telepathy
16	2 major abilities	Speech
17	3 major abilities + read languages and maps	Speech
18	3 major abilities + read languages and magical writings	Speech & Telepathy

And here are the new ones:

d20	Weapon Type
1-3	Small Melee
4-12	Medium Melee
13-15	Large Melee
16-17	Small Ranged
18-19	Medium Ranged
20	Large Ranged

d20	Killer
1	Their own child
2	Their spouse/lover
3	Their trusted friend
4	Their business partner
5	A sibling or relative
6	Their apprentice/student
7	A professional rival
8	A jealous competitor
9	A hired assassin
10	A monster/beast (wild)
11	A soldier
12	An authority figure
13	A religious zealot
14	Someone they had wronged
15	A complete stranger
16	Their own servant/employee
17	A monster or beast (controlled by someone)
18	Their political enemy
19	Someone defending another
20	Roll twice – killed by conspiracy

d20	Time Since Death
1-2	1-10 years ago
3-5	11-50 years ago
6-8	51-100 years ago
9-11	101-200 years ago
12-14	201-500 years ago
15-16	501-1000 years ago
17-18	1001-2000 years ago
19	Over 2000 years ago
20	They no longer remember

d20	Why They Were Killed
1	Greed
2	Revenge
3	Jealousy
4	Fear
5	Political assassination
6	Religious persecution
7	To silence them
8	Crime of passion
9	Inheritance dispute
10	Professional rivalry gone too far
11	Wrong place, wrong time
12	Mistaken identity
13	To usurp their position or title
14	Honour killing
15	They were martyred
16	Duel
17	Ritual sacrifice
18	Discovered their killer’s secret
19	Romantic rivalry/love triangle
20	Betrayal

d6	Condition of Memory	Description
1	Shattered	Only fragments remain. Major gaps and confusion.
2	Fragmented	Key memories missing. Some details unclear.
3	Hazy	Most memories present, but indistinct or dreamlike.
4	Selective	Some memories crystal clear, others completely gone.
5	Mostly Intact	Nearly complete with only minor gaps.
6	Perfect Recall	Remembers everything.

d20	Primary Drive/Goal
1	Revenge
2	Protect others from their fate
3	Complete their unfinished work
4	Reunite with loved ones in death
5	Understand why they were killed
6	Achieve the recognition they never received in life
7	Right a wrong they committed in life
8	Preserve their knowledge/teachings
9	Find peace and move on
10	Prove their innocence of some accusation
11	Become more powerful than ever before
12	Experience life vicariously through wielders
13	Embrace a life of violence
14	Return to their physical form somehow
15	Solve the mystery of their death
16	Fulfil an oath or promise
17	Corrupt others with their bitterness
18	Spread their beliefs/philosophy
19	Be left alone
20	Revenge

d20	Killer’s Fate
1-3	Killer died shortly after – weapon knows
4-6	Killer died years later – weapon knows
7-9	Killer still alive – weapon knows
10-12	Killer died recently – weapon knows
13-15	Killer’s status unknown to weapon
16-17	Weapon falsely believes killer is dead
18-19	Weapon falsely believes killer is alive
20	Weapon obsessively tracks killer’s bloodline

d20	Previous Bearers
1-3	None.
4-6	1 previous bearer.
7-9	2-3 previous bearers.
10-12	4-6 previous bearers.
13-15	7-10 previous bearers.
16-17	11-20 previous bearers.
18-19	21-50 previous bearers.
20	Countless bearers. Weapon can no longer keep track.

d6	Attitude Towards Violence	Description
1	Abhorrent	Hates being used to harm others, resists violently if it can
2	Reluctant	Dislikes violence but understands necessity
3	Resigned	Accepts violence as their lot now
4	Indifferent	Feels nothing about causing harm
5	Eager	Enjoys and encourages violence
6	Bloodthirsty	Craves violence and tries to corrupt wielders

d6	Growth Potential
1	Slowly weakening – abilities fade over time
2-4	Static – power never changes
5	Growth through bonding – stronger with trusted wielders
6	Growth through purpose – stronger when pursuing their goal

d20	Notoriety	Description
1-5	Unknown	No stories or legends – either very new, or completely forgotten
6-8	Whispered Legacy	Only vague rumours
9-11	Local Legend	Known within a single region or city
12-14	Regional Fame	Stories told across neighbouring areas
15-16	Wideley Known	Scholars and warriors know the tales
17-18	Legendary	Epic poems and ballads tell their story
19	Mythical	Considered by many to be just a legend
20	Infamous	Feared and sought after across the world

d6	Relationship With Previous Bearer	Description
1	Beloved	Loved them like family, grieves their loss
2	Respected	Admired their worthiness and capabilities
3	Cooperative	No strong feelings, worked together professionally
4	Frustrated	Often disagreed but tolerated one another
5	Antagonistic or Domineering	Actively fought them, possibly mentally dominated the bearer
6	Detached	Remained emotionally distant and indifferent

d6	Physical Manifestations
1	Weapon becomes noticeably hot, cold, or changes with mood
2	Glows, changes colour, casts shadows, shimmers
3	Becomes heavier when angry, lighter when pleased
4	Hums, whispers, rings, makes other audible noises
5	Emits scents tied to their life (or death)
6	No physical manifestation

d6	Activation Requirements
1	Powers function constantly for any wielder
2	Requires a few hours of carrying/using the weapon or sleeping beside it
3	Only works for those the intelligence deems acceptable
4	Specific phrases or rituals must be performed
5	Activated by strong emotion
6	Requires the wielder to shed their blood on the weapon

I feel like there’s enough here to generate a fairly complex, unique intelligence, and for the GM to know what drives it and how to roleplay it. The only thing I’m missing now is “what do the powers actually look like?”

My instinct is that minor abilities should be drawn from a random table – things like “knows a random Ritual”, “functions as an additional Scar”, etc. Small, rules-based tweaks that are essentially the a dungeon game equivalent of a +1 style bonus. Major abilities should be left up to the GM to create, with a few (maybe 10?) pre-written example weapons to consult for ideas.

So my next step is to go away and write those minor abilities and to create some example weapons. In the mean time, I’d love to hear any thoughts you have about this!