Hi all - I have writers block tonight, so I figured I'd crowdsource some of my game preparation :).
I have a party of 7th level characters, on the way to the front of an orcish invasion. Currently the characters have a short stopover in Ardis, Ustalav, before they make their way to where the armies are encamped. One of the characters is a magus with the bladebound archetype, who is essentially playing a bloodthirsty viking who wants to end up slaying dragons, drinking, wenching, going berserk, and all that good stuff. His intelligent sword pretty much echoes that sentiment, and has been passed to him by his dragon-slaying ancestors. It's a fun character, but there isn't much chance for his sword to actually be intelligent, since it just agrees with everything he wants to do.
Enter an NPC, Sir Edwin, a cautious, knightly, magus who follows the tenants of politeness, decorum, and patient strategy in order to win his conflicts - he is also someone following the bladebound archetype, and his sword similarly echoes his virtues. Sir Edwin is going to guide them to the front, and during that time, I need some event which will swap the personalities of the two swords, preferably in such a fashion that there is a chance of undoing it at some point in the future, so that I can backtrack if the player doesn't have any fun with his new sword personality.
Any ideas?
Their journey brings them in contact with a shrine of Desna. Somehow in a dream-reality the blades are fused and upon returning to the really real world they are swapped.
They meet a brute on the highway; a real killer (CR 14 giant). Of course there's no way its backing down and it guards the only way through. If there's a battle (and with viking boy I don't see why not) the PC gets his ancestral blade sundered. The next round the NPC is hit for 89 points of damage, dropping him to past death in one hit. With his dying breath he bequeaths his blade to the viking, praying that its wisdom can guide the magus.
A wicked fey meets them on the road and promises great wealth and power to any who brave the challenges of a nearby wood and there bathe their weapons in a sacred pool. The pool is a portal to the first world; since their blades contain spirits and the first world is a chaotic place, the spirits lose their way, leaving their inky black stains in the water. Neither magus really knows WHICH cloud of darkness in the pool is theirs, so they get the wrong spirit back when they try something.
An ancient idol and some guy that looks like Judge Reinhold?
They come upon a campsite with a bunch of wagons while traveling down the road. The sounds of music, dancing as well as other festivities and the smell of good meat emanating from the camp. Your viking PC and his friend has just come upon some type of varisian caravan that seems to be celebrating something.
From the description of the PC he probably won't mind a night of beer, friendly brawling and exotic women. He can probably bully sir Edwin into it if the man isn't enticed as well by what the festivities have to offer.
As the night goes on things get out of hand either because of your viking PC and his companion or someone else but the blame gets placed on them and when the morning comes they leave with a gypsy curse looming over their heads. The next time the swords are to talk they have switched bodies, a curse meant for the two men that ended up on their arms instead.
Should they turn back to demand it lifted the caravan is already gone or the crone who placed the curse doesn't know how to undo it so they would have to find someone else better versed in curses to undo it.
Some prior vanquished foe (preferably CN) petitions his god/godess to screw with the party. The divine one grants the request. Now the players have to appease the supernatural being without damaging their own morals to get the swords back to OEM standards.
Thanks guys, that's really useful. I'm pretty sure I know how I'm going to handle it now.