Magic Sword: The Watcher's Thorn

 

It recently occurred to me that I’ve been posting these magic swords without really explaining what some of the parts of the entry mean or what my process actually looks like when I’m generating them.

Omen:
For me, the omen is a tell. It’s what gives away that the sword is magical, and often hints at its origin. I have a table that I roll on for this, though I’ll admit I’ve re-rolled plenty of times when I got something that didn’t click.

Attunement:
Something D&D did in 5th edition was make magic items require attunement, and I think that’s a great idea. It’s an excuse for a quest, or at least a meaningful task D&D didn’t use it that way but i do. I’ve got a table for this too, and I usually tie some extra power to a weapon if it’s attunement quest is completed, depending on how hard it is. Sometimes i just lock away some of the sword’s properties behind this quest. 

Extra Properties:
This is where stuff like Demon-Forged or the weapon’s material comes in. For that, I roll on the Knights in the North Equipment Qualities and Materials tables and see what combination sparks something interesting.

My process is pretty simple. I roll my way through the sword magic section of the DCC book, then tack on the omen, the attunement quest, and the qualities and materials. I’m not doing anything special or groundbreaking, just layering some extra charts on top of the DCC sword tables.

I try to follow the idea presented in the rulebook: a magic item should have a story. It’s not a “+1 sword”, it’s The Watcher’s Thorn, or The Glade Slayer, or The Tax Collector. It has history, and there should be at least two names attached to it: the one who made it, and the one who wielded it.

That’s really it. I roll a bunch of dice, write down what they tell me, and by the end, the story more or less writes itself.

Via: Heromachine 3

The Watcher’s Thorn

+1 Lawful demon-forged adamantin long sword

5 int, communicates via urges

Purpose: protect the weak and defend against chaos incursions

Demon-forged: Detects as chaotic at first attempt

Bane: Demons, berserker fury

Power: Detect water within 30’, if left in water, that water is considered holy.

Adamantin: Sword ignores damage resistances +1d damage, unusually heavy, 14 str to wield

Omen: When left to rest for more than 1 turn, vines and flowers grow over it.

Attunement: Save the life of a stranger and accept nothing in return

Forged in the Abyss by spiteful demons, this sword did not begin its life as a lawful weapon. Clever demons, tired and frustrated by the stronger but less clever who overshadowed them, decided that if they could not escape, no one would. They completed their creation and cast it into the mortal world, where it was found by a holy order guarding a rift to the Abyss.

The order could sense the Chaos within the weapon. Unable to destroy it, they chose instead to sanctify it, seeking to turn the blade into a symbol of good, just as the demons had intended. They entrusted it to a pious warrior of their order, sending him forth to uphold law and virtue until the sword itself became legendary.

This warrior, Germain, began the blade’s “purification” by saving a pilgrim from bandits, asking for nothing in return. He spent years fighting to bring order to the region. During these travels, each spring, he met a dryad, a woman of the woods, and fell in love. For many years he returned to her grove, guarding the surrounding lands and sharing fleeting moments with her. But she was fae, a creature of constant change, and the season came when her time to fade and regrow arrived. On their final spring together, she kissed the sword, leaving a fragment of her magic within it, a reminder of love and life enduring even as time passes.

Eventually, Germain returned to his order only to find it destroyed by a rival. He sought neither vengeance nor justice. He buried the fallen, then dipped the sword into the pool of holy water that ringed the rift, sanctifying the ruins and taking up the final vigil alone. When he passed, the Watcher’s Thorn remained: a blade born of Chaos, tempered by virtue, and forever bound to the defense of the mortal world.