Why is an intelligent sword better than an unintelligent one? Stormbringer is of course the ur-example, with countless imitations — Blackrazor and Nightblood come to mind — but many modern depictions of Excalibur are likewise sapient, and Kullervo’s sword (from the Kalevala) appears to speak as well, and all such blades are mighty weapons indeed. (Wikipedia describes Anglachel as intelligent but I’m not sure I really buy that, certainly not in the same way.) But in D&D, their being intelligent is usually just painful — it might come with added bonuses, but intelligence itself is not an asset, it’s a flaw that might possess you. Why add intelligence, as opposed to the mighty blade without a mind behind it?
The answer of course, is that being possessed is the point of an intelligent sword.
In the stories, possession by such swords is often the source of much tragedy, but I think there’s a subtler side to it: to be possessed by the blade is to embody its power, to manifest its skill. An intelligent weapon comes alive in the hands of its wielder, guiding them to perfect blows with the ancient skill of the force that inhabits it. The struggle is not to resist possession, but to master it, and direct it as one wills. Possession is not a flaw in the sword’s power, but the mechanism by which it manifests. Rereading the finding of Stormbringer in Elric of Melnibone makes this exceedingly clear. To that end, I have composed an alternative design for intelligent weapons below, that I think holds truer to this style. It gives such weapons a level and HD, and lets them advance as characters in their own right.
Attuning an Intelligent Weapon: When a character first picks up an intelligent weapon, roll the weapon’s Hit Dice. If this total exceeds the character’s present hp, they must save vs Spells or become utterly enthralled by the sword (this effect can only be broken by a remove curse spell cast by a character of greater HD than the weapon). If this total is less than or equal to the character’s hp, or the character passes the saving throw, they become immune to this ability.
To wield an intelligent weapon unwillingly is perilous, for on a roll of natural 1 the weapon rerolls the attack against a target of its choice (including the wielder), and the weapon will generally refuse the use of all other powers. Instead, such a weapon must be mastered, and made a henchman of the wielder, requiring a hiring roll. Each weapon is attuned to a specific attribute — swords do not necessarily respect charisma, and may instead only allow themselves to be born by the strong, or the wise — that is used in place of Charisma for hiring and loyalty purposes. Monetary bribes generally do not apply, but instead the promising of deeds in the weapon’s service can add a bonus to the hiring roll (with a deed requiring about a month of time adding a bonus as a bribe for a month’s pay). If the sword is of greater HD than the wielder, a penalty to the hiring roll applies equal to the difference.
Once attuned as a henchmen, the weapon will generally use its powers at the wielder’s direction, so long as they are not in opposition to its own goals. Actions taken directly against the weapon’s goals count as a Calamity, prompting an immediate Loyalty roll. Counting as a henchman and other dangers have proved a sufficient disincentive to attempting to carry multiple intelligent items on a character.
Wielding an Intelligent Weapon: An intelligent weapon has HD, and a bonus equal to the damage bonus of a Fighter of its HD (+1 at 1st, with an additional +1 at 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th). Like standard magic weapon bonuses, this applies to hit and damage rolls. Additionally, while wielding the weapon, the character’s attack throw and damage bonus may be calculated as a character of the sword’s HD instead of their own level. Such a weapon comes alive in its wielder’s hands, granting skill beyond their years as it moves through them.
A sword has one power at 1 HD, and gains a power at its 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th HD (the same levels where its bonus improves, with one sword power being roughly equivalent to a class power as a baseline).
Swords of 1-4 HD communicate empathically. Swords of 5+ HD can additionally speak aloud. Swords of 9+ HD can additionally communicate by telepathy out to 60’ with anyone who has ever touched them. Swords of 11+ HD can additionally send a shared dream once per day. They typically know one language per 2 HD.
In response to taking damage, the wielder can yield control to the sword, and roll any number of the sword’s HD to gain that amount of temporary hit points. Hit points are a measure of fighting skill, stamina, and luck; by allowing the sword to possess them, the sword’s own hit points buffer the character’s own. These temporary hit points persist for one turn per HD of the sword. However, at any one point while those temporary hit points persist, the sword can take full control of its wielder for a number of rounds (minutes) equal to the number of HD spent. If the wielder spends more of the sword’s HD in a day than they have HD themselves, the sword can lay a quest on them, against which they receive no save.
A number of HD spent in this way are recovered equal to the weapon’s bonus each day at a certain time (dawn being typical).
Advancement: Such a weapon gains XP just as other henchmen do — I’ve enjoyed having them take all the XP from monsters they directly kill, but no treasure XP, but treating it however you treat animal henchmen should work fine. Swords require 1000 XP to level 2 and double each level thereafter. What else could a sword be doing when it consumes someone’s soul except stealing their XP?
Example: Quiescence, HD 4*, AL N, Bonus +2; Move Silently 14+ or +2, silences enemies on crits, WIS-attuned, communicates empathically, understands Common and Elven
Anyone wielding Quiescence treats it as a Sword +2, and can attack as a 4th level character of their class if desired. They may also use its Move Silently throw (or gain +2 to their own throw [+2 because that’s standard for a proficiency, it’s mere coincidence that the sword’s bonus is also +2] ). On a natural 20, Quiescence instantly casts silence on the target. Because it is Wisdom attuned, it requires a WIS-based hiring roll to master and attune the sword.
The blade is of silver, nearly 3’ long and slightly curved, with a small guard and a hilt of polished mahogany. It is entirely unmarked. Created by the sorcerer Toravius to be used assassinating his sorcerous rivals, Quiescence delights in their deaths; though they are now all long dead, were any descendants found the sword would greatly desire to seek them out, and in the meanwhile it will resolutely pursue the foes of a worthy wielder. Thus, it favors those of strong will, to slip enchantments and pass unharmed through enemy sorceries. It has no particular antipathy for sorcerers in general, though it will object to keeping sorcerous enemies alive as captives when they could be dispatched.
Suggested Powers: thief skills, class proficiencies, Arcane Striking as a Ruinguard, cast haste 1/day, detection or spell-like powers as standard, applying spell effects on a crit (perhaps only against some favored targets), bonus to hit and damage versus certain favored enemies, functions as a Sage, functions as a treasure map
Random Weapon Purpose (roll 1d12): Many of these purposes may be further reinforced by rolling a random creature type that the weapon acts against or on behalf of to add further specificity.
Attack — slay, hunt, conquer, punish
Defend — guard, save, patrol, watch
Lead — rule, inspire, command, influence
Infiltrate — spy on, deceive, betray, undermine
Know — learn about, train, perform for, remember
Develop — understanding, peace, freedom, balance
Uphold — justice, honor, mercy, nobility
Acquire — wealth, glory, land, pleasure, magic
Build — monuments, fortifications, a grand city, an enduring kingdom
Live — free, ascetically, decadently, alone
Roll again and reverse the meaning
Roll again twice and combine
Random Enemy Type (roll 1d20 or 2d10): Generally, weapons with a enemy type chosen below gain +1 versus the general type (“Beastmen”) and +2 vs the narrower subset (“Goblinkin”), if any.
Everyone
Fate — specific subject of a prophecy, doom, or destiny
Dwarves, Gnomes, and Halflings
Constructs
Animals
Alignment — creatures of supernatural law or chaos
Undead — roll 1d6: 1, unintelligent; 2, intelligent; 3, corporeal; 4, incorporeal; 5, spellcasting/SLAs; 6, all undead
Beastmen — roll 1d10: 1, orcs; 2, goblinkin; 3, gnolls and wolves; 4, lizardkind; 5, trolls and regenerating monsters; 6, half-beasts (minotaurs, centaurs, mermen); 7-8, giantkin; 9-10, all beastmen
Religion — worshippers of a certain god or outsider
Nationality — applies for/against a given nationality of people
Nationality — while in a given nation
Circumstance — roll 1d6: 1, in duels; 2, on the battlefield; 3, in a hunt; 4, in carrying out a legal judgement; 5, against a specific profession; 6, when attacking with surprise or treachery; 7, against a close friend or former wielder; 8, against a creature with more HD than its wielder
Men — determine a bloodline, gender, etc.
Dragons — roll 1d8: 1, wyrm; 2, blue; 3, brown; 4, sea; 5, white; 6, green; 7, red; 8, black; 9, metallic; 10, all of a given alignment
Elementally Aligned Creatures — roll 1d4: 1, fire; 2, water; 3, earth; 4, air
Outsiders — roll 1d6: 1, elementals; 2, faeries; 3-4, demons; 5, angels and devils; 6, while outside Creation
Abominations — roll 1d6: 1, oozes; 2, plants; 3-4, demons; 5-6, fantastic crossbreeds (not beastmen)
Spellcasters
Elves and Fae
Roll twice and combine, or roll once and add a related ability
Variations: Some powerful swords might also improve a character’s saves to the level of the sword’s HD; I have avoided this here because the hubris of those who wield such blades is a classic theme, but it need not be so in all cases. Likewise, some weapons might also allow spending HD for a bonus on saves.
Some truly might blades might improve a character’s attack progression or cleaves, so that a mage fights as a thief, a thief as a fighter, or even a fighter as a monster.
Other intelligent weapons may bear a curse, imposing one or more penalties to wielders (and potentially gaining an equal number of additional bonuses to balance this, or not). Likewise, something similar could be built out where the wielder must follow a Code of Behavior to empower their blade.
Notes on Methodology: The above framework makes some key changes to the standard way intelligent weapons have been designed in D&D. First, it shifts the risks of possession into something player initiated, making it something that a player can choose to engage for a chance to survive instead of something lying in wait to screw them over. These sorts of “temptation mechanics” generally work well in my experience, and match their mythological background quite nicely. There is still a risk on picking it up, but possession is much more thematic (and avoidable) than level drain for being the wrong alignment.
Second, it makes intelligent weapons also be legacy items that improve with their wielder. And specifically in that regard, the low XP cost of swords gives them a tendency to match or outpace their wielder’s level, granting exceptional power but also greater danger.
Third, wielding such a weapon effectively makes a low level Fighter into a higher level Fighter. Any peasant boy or evil apprentice who picks up such a blade becomes a serious threat. This is an awesome dynamic, addresses a demographic issue (there are only so many characters out there, once you reach mid-high levels), and creates more interesting situations — if you defeat him, what do you do with the sword? Do you risk possession to use it? Do you seal it away somewhere to keep others from finding it?
Fourth, the last couple of tables included add some pleasant breadth to the sorts of weapons one might encounter beyond the standard “kill X” or occasional “protect Y.” I appreciate the potential to roll up a sword forged to unite the giants, or for the founder of a city and tied to its territory, or to seek the secrets of dragons.
I have playtested this system a moderate amount, though not as thoroughly as a change of this scope really demands; I thought it better to post it now, and if the future demands changes I will see them made. If anyone tries this, let me know, I’m interested in how it plays at other tables.
Hi Arbrethil,
I really enjoyed your article and took the liberty of translating it into Russian, so that more people who don’t speak English can read it.
I hope you don’t mind? If you’d prefer, I’ll take it down right away—just let me know.
https://d6goblins.substack.com/p/52c