What's In a Name - Weapons of Legend

[Apupunchau]

Some of our favorite characters through out literature and gaming have had weapons with a name. These weapons of legend have sometimes made for interesting characters in and of themselves. How did they get their names? Who wielded them in the past? Today we look at what’s in a name and what makes a weapon special enough for a name in games where magic is so prevalent its almost on every street corner.

Have you had named weapons in your game? Where did their monikers come from? How did your players find them? What powers have you given them that have made the worthy of a name in the first place? How do you handle named weapons in magic heavy worlds?

[Scythia]

I'm a little disappointed that you didn't mention Exalted, where nearly every weapon has a name like Five Deaths Lightning Edge, or Weeping Widow's Lament.

[Apupunchau]

Scythia wrote:

I'm a little disappointed that you didn't mention Exalted, where nearly every weapon has a name like Five Deaths Lightning Edge, or Weeping Widow's Lament.

I've never played Exalted.

[Klorox]

A character of mine, in a L5R campaign, was granted a Tsi blade whom he dubbed Steppe Wind after the whistling noise she makes when wielded.

[Digitalelf]

Since the early 80's (starting back when I was using 1st edition AD&D), I've been using weapons with names and histories. Nothing truly exceptional however, except for the handful of times I've introduced powerful weapons from Dragon Magazine or published modules, like the famous blades from module "S2: White Plume Mountain" for example.

The typical weapons I've made myself are hardly ever more powerful than +3, and hardly ever, ever, intelligent; I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've introduced an intelligent weapon to my campaign (specifically for the players to wield), let alone designed one myself.

An intelligent, evil sword that was the main villain from a Dungeon Magazine adventure I ran for 2nd edition AD&D back in the early 90's was perhaps the last most powerful weapon I've introduced/used in a game.

[Neurophage]

Scythia wrote:

I'm a little disappointed that you didn't mention Exalted, where nearly every weapon has a name like Five Deaths Lightning Edge, or Weeping Widow's Lament.

Exalted deals with this in an unusual and noteworthy way. An exalt is very much expected to spend some of their starting character resources on owning some kind of artifact weapon and/or armor, but there's never really any expectation that you'll ever get more of them. Every daiklave is one in a million; a named masterwork forged by an exalted smith and the product of years or perhaps even centuries of painstaking labor. Each has its own name and (as of 3E) its own suite of special powers for a wielder to unlock. So, two swordsmen may each have an orichalcum daiklave, but one might've been alloyed with metal found deep beneath the Elemental Pole of Air and leave trails of frost in its wake while the other might be insane from spending years bathed in the blood of the demon it was lodged in and have the power to tear apart spirits. Fully making use of either sword's unique properties would be like mastering an entire different fighting style. So, even if a character were to lose a diaklave and have to find another one (a huge undertaking in itself), that new sword would have its own quirks and eccentricities to get used to.

[Scythia]

Apupunchau wrote:

Scythia wrote:

I'm a little disappointed that you didn't mention Exalted, where nearly every weapon has a name like Five Deaths Lightning Edge, or Weeping Widow's Lament.

I've never played Exalted.

It can be pretty fun, especially if you enjoy over the top scenes with a cinematic feel.

[Master Han Del of the Web]

Named my Adamantine Falcata 'Can Opener' after using it quite effectively on a Grave Knight.