So my PCs are heading thru the Asmodean Knot, and acquired Anvengen's Edge after making a deal with Szasmir. The party includes a cleric of Shelyn. Obviously, as a glaive is her deity's favored weapon, she is interested in wielding it.
Prior to the party getting the AE, the summoner identified the runecurse (while handling it and being subject to the curse himself), and the cleric willingly took the curse upon herself to relieve him of the burden. I rewarded her by saying that her soul's connection to the Bone Devil thru the rune curse, made her appear as an Evil Asmodean to the Glaive, so it listens to her and she doesn't have a negative level from wielding it (she is Good-aligned).
I expect the party to try to rid her of the runecurse as soon as they leave the knot. Considering that Shelyn herself wields a very powerfully evil weapon taken from Zon-Kuthun, I kind of like the idea of the cleric of Shelyn using this evil glaive and "purifying" it the longer she wields it.
That said, a negative level is a pretty steep price to pay. Particularly for a spellcaster. Would it be too unbalanced to let the cleric prepare a custom spell for Shelyn worshipers, called "Shelyn's Grace" or something, that is personal range and allows one to ignore the negative effects of wielding an evil weapon? What would an acceptable spell level/spell duration be? 2/3/4? Higher?
Bumping this. Anyone have any ideas or input?
You could take a page from 3.5's Book of Exalted Deeds, which included a section on redeeming evil magic items:
Though it is extremely difficult to accomplish, a character who is devoted to good can sometimes redeem an evil magic item, turning its power to holiness. Like creating a magic item from scratch, redeeming an evil magic item requires the appropriate item creation feat, time, spells, [and experience points], but it does not require gold.
The first step towards redeeming an evil item is to temporarily suppress its magical properties with dispel magic. Redemption cannot proceed until the evil magic is suppressed. Thereafter, the process of redemption is very similar to the process of creating a magic item from scratch. The redeemer must spend 8 hours per day in prayer or meditation with the item, must cast any prerequisite spells for the redemption, and must spend 1 day per 1,000 gp of the redeemed item's base price.
The result would then be a "good" version of the evil item. For instance, an unholy weapon would become a holy weapon.
I don't know if you'd want to do it exactly like that; I like the idea of a custom spell. Perhaps casting that spell every day in combination with the 8 hours of meditation, but without the item creation feat and other spells?
I actually have been throwing ideas around on your problem, but I want to make it balanced before tossing a half-baked idea at the wall.
cool, thanks guys. ill keep checking for more input. :)
Sorry I don't have much input either. I've got to think about it.
One question/idea, though, is about UMD: does she have it? Because you could make a lower-level spell that let's her not only fake UMD to have an alignment for a weapon's purposes but to actually pretend to be that alignment for that specific weapon's effects.
This would limit the power of the spell considerably (requiring a specific skill to function at all) and really is only for very specific circumstances (as opposed to something like Honey Tongue or Glibness).
On the other hand, I like the idea of the custom spell, and if you wanted, I wouldn't even make it that big a deal. If you want, have her research a custom spell specifically for this (there's nothing prohibiting clerics from doing so), and use that to justify the lower-over-all power. Heck, if she makes a custom spell that only works with Anvengen's Edge, that would be extremely specific and, while I wouldn't allow something like that on a typical basis, I could definitely see role-playing potential. One final thing to keep in mind is that she may well eventually access Atonement and, considering the blade is not only aligned but sentient, this could very well be the basis for the redemption of said blade (perhaps requiring multiple castings to shift it's alignment over time, perhaps to lawful neutral to lawful good to neutral good, as an example).
Anyway, those are just a few quick ideas.