Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Sword +0


Would you like the sword+1 or the sword+1
One of the sacred cows of the D&D game is the simple plus system. Over the years the +1 sword has been beaten and trampled upon. All of us have been in at least one campaign were some fighter had a golf bag full of them. There have been countless blog posts and advice articles about how to flavor them up. But what if that dusty old sword you found in a troll’s lair had no pluses at all?

Hmmm…according to the mage in your party it has a strong transmutation enchantment. The blade is anvil forged and crafted from fine (maybe rare) alloys. The handle is wire wrapped and the cross guard and pommel have strange runes on them. Surely this obviously magic sword must be AT LEAST +1???

WRONG. That sword you have unearthed is actually a sword+0! This very rare weapon enchants itself when it deals a successful hit against anything magical. This could be a creature, obstacle or a static spell. The sword gains a cumulative +1 for every five levels of the target. This requires DM adjudication based on the rules and game system being used. The sword +0 always counts as a magic weapon for determining a hit and damage even before it steals any pluses. Any pluses stolen are temporary and last only 24 hours. 

Go ahead…brag about your sword +0 because it sure is better than that sword+1 you just found.