Artifacts/Epsilon
So far, just the one.
Ender's Shadow\\ Artifact: ••••• Daiklaive\\ Speed +X, Accuracy +X, Damage +XA, Defense +X\\
This sword is not a weapon that has ever been forged, nor has anyone ever heard
tales of its making. In truth, this weapon will never be forged until the very
moment the world dies, and its forging will be the signal of the final triumph
of Oblivion and the last release of the dread Malfeans. It exist in our world
only as a haunting foreshadow, a ripple backward in time from the moment of the
destruction of All That Is. It is said that this blade first appeared in the
hands of the Solar Exalt who slew the first Primordial and he was forevermore
cursed by its tainted magic, driven into an insane rage that forced his fellows
to slay him. Almost immediately his hungry ghost rose and drew the weapon to
wield against them, and his Circle lost three others before the Zenith put it to
rest at last. But he too feel to the Blade, drawing on its power in a moment of
weakness and in the end destroyed by his fellows. The Ender's Shadow
then passed from hand to hand, reaping sorrow in its wake throughout most of the
first age. With the Usurpation the final holder of the blade was vanquished and
the weapon placed in a elaborate tomb, filled with bound demons and sorcerous
constructs to prevent the escape of the hungry ghost, or any fool from seeking
to master the Sword of the Dream of Nothingness.
Ender's Shadow appears as a slim daiklaive, made of dark mist and distorted shadows. Its form seems to fade in and out, shifting from moment to moment as the course of probability reforges its eventual shape. But it never disappears entirely, for only eliminating all possibility of the Final Death will ever truly destroy this blade. There are no setting for hearthstone and what ornamentation exist can fade and change from moment to moment. Those who gaze too deeply into the immaterial substance of the weapon feel and intense sensation of Something Else staring back through the echoes of time back at them ad usually find themselves facing a horrible and tragic fate soon thereafter. Anyone actually slain with the blade is utterly destroyed, their mind, body and soul instantly consumed by Oblivion. It is said even the divine spark of Exaltation is snuffed by the edge of this terrible weapon, though this was never tested.
The Sword of the Dream of Nothingness is highly sought after by the various Deathlord's and all of them know its name and true nature. Though none speak it aloud, most suspect that it's edge, and its edge alone, could finally and completely destroy them. It is known that their Malfean overlords covet Ender's Shadow, and the Deathlord who holds its power will be elevated above his fellows by their praises. All other beings in creation aware of its existence seek only its destruction, for the sword can bring naught but tragedy to the wielder and the universe at large.
Ender's Shadow is made of none of the magical material, or maybe all of them. None know its true nature. Thus no Exalt gains a Magical Material bonus when attuning to it. It costs a flat 10 motes to attune Ender's Shadow. Doing so requires the character to roll their Essence score. On a success the Exalt gets the full benefits of the weapon, on a failure the motes are wasted and on a botch the user attracts the attention of whatever it is that forged the blade and gains a dark and tragic future. Treat this last option, mechanically, as a powerful Astrology effects targeted against the character with a number of successes beyond the minimum needed to effect the character equal to the number of ones rolled. This effects even beings outside fate.
In addition to dealing Aggravated damage with each hit, the Ender's Shadow has the following magical properties. Character's wielding the weapon to kill find that it enjoys and support these actions. Whenever the character successfully kills a living being (including mortals, Exalted, Fair Folk, Spirits and Demons but specifically not the Dead or unintelligent animals) the power of the blade grows. The wielder may add 1 point to the weapons Speed, Accuracy, Damage or Defense for ever being they have killed for the rest of the scene. Once assigned these points can not be changed, but technically there is no upper cap on this power. Once the weapon leaves the wielders hand for any reason, these traits reset to zero. They also do so if the weapon is not used with murderous intent for at least one full minute.
The base stats for this weapon are Spd +0, Acc +0, Dam +0A and Def +0. Spirits slain with this weapon are forever destroyed, ghosts sent to Oblivion, souls prevented from reincarnating and so on. generally the weapon is Artifact 5. If it is also capable of destroying the Deathlords (or similar beings) and Exalted Essences the Storyteller may wish to treat it as an Artifact N/A.
When first unsheathed any unExalted mortal or normal animal that see or senses it must make a Valor roll, those that fail flee screaming in terror and those that succeed suffer a -3 dicepool penalty to all rolls until the weapon is no longer in their sight as they are filled with dread of their own death.
Finally, the power of this weapon can be used to smite others with dark destiny or sever the bonds of Destiny upon someone. The user may spend Essence motes to destroy any Astrology effect placed upon them or another being they touch with the blade. The cost is one mote for each success on the effect roll of the astrology (which the user intuitively understands). When used to call down dark destinies the user need merely make the victim aware of the blade (preferably by getting them to stare into it for even a moment) and spend twenty motes of Essence. The victim may make an Essence roll to resist. If they fail (or worse yet, botch) then they will meet some horrible and tragic end within one week (minus one day for ever one rolled on a botch) of staring into the blade. This death can not be prevented by the victim, but it is not set in stone and can be avoided through appropriately heroic efforts on the parts of others or the intervention of certain higher order beings. (Note: Those who purposefully stare into the Ender's Shadow for more than a minute must make an Essence roll to avoid a similar fate.)
However the Ender's Shadow does not grant its power without a great price. Those who claim ownership of the blade suffer horrible and tragic ends, often taking their closest friends down with them. How this manifests depends entirely on the person wielding the blade.
Solar and Lunar Exalts who commit to Ender's Shadow gain one point of Limit, automatically, each time they wield it in battle (once per scene) and once each week that the weapon remains in their possession.
Sidereal Exalt's who claim ownership of Ender's Shadow find themselves attracting the wrath of the Pattern Spiders as they object to the very concept of the weapon and punish severely those who hold it. Sidereals gain one dot (not die) of Paradox every day they own it.
Terrestrial Exalts are least effected by the doom of this weapon. As long as they own it, however, they must fear their weak wills. The Dragon-blood always enters Limit Break whenever their Willpower drops to zero, regardless of how much peripheral Essence he has spent recently.
Abyssal Exalts would seem to glory in the presence of this weapon, and they do... but holding it attracts the special attention of the Malfeans and no Exalt can withstand such direct scrutiny for long. Whenever the Abyssal wield the weapon in battle, and once per week, they gain a point of Resonance.
Spirits, demons, fair folk, god-blooded and other beings capable of wielding the weapon suffer as well. The weapon fills there minds with terrible dreams and visions, tainting everything they see to make it appear as a prophecy of their doom. Eventually this drives them insane, filling their heads with paranoid delusions that the world is out to get them and that it must be destroyed before it gets a chance to do so. Whenever the character's Willpower drops to zero these delusions take total control and the character will lash out uncontrollable at any perceived omens of ill fortune (whether hidden in a flower bed, a formation of clouds, or the words and actions of his most trusted friends).
Comments
I like this a great deal - may have to use something similar for my Abyssal game... Will definitely change the name though, it's a great book but not one I'd name a weapon after... :-)
I'm of the mind that this may actually be more along the lines of Artifact N/A; if you're surrounded by many extras (as often occurs in Exalted), its stats can explode exponentially. Granted, it'll take a while, and a lot of extras, to raise the stats to non-crappy levels, but extras fall with absurd ease, and meanwhile you are pinging for agg.\\ I also feel that it should definitely be called the Black Blade of Disaster. ~_^\\ _Ikselam
hehehehe I remember when that was a Spell name. - Malikai
If I'm not very much mistaken, it still is. But it sure sounds Exalted, doesn't it?\\ _Ikselam I gather my material components and cast Mordenkainen's American Lifestyle!
Gyuh! This thing gave me chills to read! -Dim
I aim to please. ^_^ Remember that the power of the weapon is balanced by the fact that owning it is, inevitably, a bad thing for the person. So getting exponential power increases has to be balanced against that possibility. Plus, the effect resets the moment it leaves the users hand. Sounds like time for a disarm! - Epsilon
I dunno, the dark fate thing seems too vague and "meta" to make a credible drawback, and the Limit stuff can be easily nerfed; Terrestrials can avoid it entirely by just not ever spending that last Willpower dot, Lunars and Solars could easily see it as just another way to regain Willpower (esp. if they took flaws which synergize well with killing lots of stuff, like Berserk Anger or the ever-popular Heart of Flint), and Abyssals can just use it to power constant k3wl Resonance-manipulation. I used to think that Limit made a pretty good stick, but in recent days I've become unsure.\\ _Ikselam
Figured I'd give you a real comment. It's definately Artifact 5, in any event! If not, indeed, stronger. Very nice background, appropriately dark and crushing and such. I'd perhaps add a little more legend to it, explaining more about where the blade supposedly comes from, but I'm big on stuff like that. I'm also not sure if I see the Malfaens /liking/ the blade -- it is a powerful symbol of their deaths, that might even be able to strike them down once and for all;P I can see this as being a kind of 'scourge of all things' deal...
Like Roger, I have some worries about the limit thing. I've never been a big fan of things that mess around with limit, and especially not to this extent! You might want to consider giving the blade it's own, similar, mechanic that overlaps with limit. That would allow it to effect everyone equally (as opposed to Terrestrials being almost immune, and Solars being hideously over-punished). Also, if your going for an 'enhance the great curse' kind of deal, the blade should make Sidereals HIDEOUSLY overconfident and vain -- unable to listen to the advice of even other sidereals;P Since that's their curse, not the paradox bit.\\ --CrownedSun
I like the basic idea - a sword not yet forged, like the Broken-Winged Crane, generally nasty and evil but of really tempting power - but I'm a bit leery about a few thing. I agree that the dark fate thing is too "meta," unless, of course, you were to give it a stronger system. I kind of think it should probably also have an escape clause. I don't mind the Limit adding, since it takes a pretty twinky player to try to turn the Great Curse into an advantage. I don't think it should give Abyssals Resonance, though. Resonance is explicitly what happens when you defy the will of the Malfeans or turn your back on your tainted destiny, not just when the Malfeans pay attention to you. Getting the Malfeans to pay attention to you can actually remove Resonance, remember! I'd go so far as to say that Abyssals suffer no penalties for the blade. I agree with CrownedSun that the Sidereal Curse isn't really paradox... but making them even more arrogant might not do it. How about wielding the thing without taking it to Yu-Shan for examination and destruction is a severe offense?
Also, I'd say that you should make the thing Artifact NA, and also give it proper daiklaive stats that get better. It might also have style to say that the sword doesn't always exist in the same place. It sort of wanders around Creation, appearing wherever it can cause the most death, in the hands of whoever is brave (and stupid) enough to weild it. After the carnage is done (and its wielder, preferrably, destroyed by his own brutality) the sword moves on. Eh. Could be cool.\\ -Seraph
I like the conversion from the book. a person into a weapon. very interesting read i must say. -grypph
