I was putting together a village that worships/is controlled by an intelligent magic warhammer for an upcoming session and the specifics of the hammer itself aren't important but I wanted something just in case so I grabbed stats from an old Dungeon magazine . Said hammer's purpose was to destroy orcs (of course) but in the campaign I'm running there are no orcs . Got me to wondering , most intelligent items have basically "eternal quests" that will never be completed , but if they do what happens next ?
The simplest answer is of course , nothing , they just stop having that as their main goal .
But I could see rationalization that after they fulfil their purpose they stop being sentient and revert to a normal magic item . If you really wanted to be mean it could become completely non-magical .
But the funnest answer is that they get all depressed and wiggy once they no longer have a purpose .
Thoughts ?
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I'd say it would refuse to accept that there were no orcs left. It would therefore constantly try to force its wielder to go find some.
Or it might convince itself that various non-orcs were actually orcs in disguise (assuming it doesn't have any orc-detection power) and insist on killing them.
"That's an orc! Kill it!"
"Hammer, that is not an orc."
"I'm sure of it, wielder!"
"No. That is a kitten."
"It's a wildshaped orc druid! Kill it kill it kill it!"
It's really up to you and if you want it to continue being an important part of your campaign.
Maybe after it completes it's "mission", the soul is released. Or maybe it turns into an outsider that and needs to be escorted to it's proper plane. Maybe it turns into something the wielder most desires or grants a wish to all the party members who helped it complete it's quest.
Or maybe nothing happens and it becomes depressed. Maybe it lies dormant (no more special abilities) until needed again. There are a bunch of things that can happen, depending on the whim of the GM and how iportant the item was in the campaign and to the party.
A bladebound magus, Elric Jones, acquired an intelligent blackblade rapier at 3rd level during the Fires of Creation module of the Iron Gods adventure path. I invented a history for it, which I emailed to the player. Every time the rapier fulfilled its purpose or its owner died trying, it found a new purpose similar to its original goal. Here is that history:
In 4190 AR, 531 years ago. Galt (http://www.pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Galt) was part of the Chelish Empire, but its monarchy was taken over by a rival faction when the king died and young Crown Prince Ulrey was shunted aside out of the succession. A court wizard aligned with Ulrey's faction crafted the black-blade rapier Scion's Blade, or Sci for short, for their cause. Sci helped train Ulrey in fencing, but Ulrey studied to become an aristocrat rather than a magus and used politics and diplomacy to gain his throne. Sci ended up in a museum.
It was lent out to heroes of Galt over the centuries. The magus Evarte Gunnett stole it when the Chelish House of Thrune took over the throne of Galt in 4640 AR, 81 years ago. Gennett travelled hundreds of miles westward to Molthune. Nine years later, he joined a group of Molthunian exiles who re-established the town of Iadenveigh in southern Numeria (http://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Iadenveigh).
In 4659 AR, the robot rampage in Iadenveigh soured the folk on artificial intelligence. Sci was glad to depart with Evarte Gunnett's swashbuckling daughter Gwendolyn. Alas, she died during an adventure. Many years later, Sci was found as loot and sold to the Numerian black market called the Tarnished Halls (http://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Tarnished_Halls).
One year ago magus Thomas Newcomen, cleric Whit, wizard Edis, and fighter Bell had been adventuring in Numeria and found some high-tech loot that they sold at the Tarnish Halls. Thomas purchased Sci with his share. After some minor adventures that did not further improve their fortune, they heard of the trouble in Torch and hurried over.
The four adventurers, known as the Worshipers of Brigh, examined the damaged repair drone that Khonnir Baine had recovered, and chose to enter the caves beneath Black Hill before Khonnir was ready with his expedition again. <further spoilers to Fires of Creation omitted.>
The magus Elric in my campaign claimed Sci off of Thomas Newcomen's body in those caves beneath Black Hill. Sci seeks to defeat usurpers and others who claim unjust authority. Since Numeria is oppressed by the Technic League, Sci is intent on taking down the Technic League. Elric plans to take over the Technic League and reform them from the inside (probably an impossible task), and Sci is fine with that plan.
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"That's an orc! Kill it!"
"Hammer, that is not an orc."
"I'm sure of it, wielder!"
"No. That is a kitten."
"It's a wildshaped orc druid! Kill it kill it kill it!"
"It's a half-orc kitten! Look at that nose! I told you orcs are seriously sick!"
It starts looking for half-orcs too... those count.
Ooo, that could work even if it does have orc-detection powers. First it exterminates those with enough orc blood to be visible, then over time it learns to stretch its detection capabilities to discern smaller and smaller amounts of orc blood. It's fun when it's at the point where the targets don't have any clue they have orc blood at all! But the Hammer knows.
(Just to be clear, this is a non-delusional scenario, after decades and centuries of effort it really is picking up ridiculously trace amounts of orc blood.)
"That's an orc! Kill it!"
"Hammer, that is not an orc."
"I'm sure of it, wielder!"
"No. That is a kitten."
"It's a wildshaped orc druid! Kill it kill it kill it!"
"It's a half-orc kitten! Look at that nose! I told you orcs are seriously sick!"
It starts looking for half-orcs too... those count.
Ooo, that could work even if it does have orc-detection powers. First it exterminates those with enough orc blood to be visible, then over time it learns to stretch its detection capabilities to discern smaller and smaller amounts of orc blood. It's fun when it's at the point where the targets don't have any clue they have orc blood at all! But the Hammer knows.
(Just to be clear, this is a non-delusional scenario, after decades and centuries of effort it really is picking up ridiculously trace amounts of orc blood.)
I’m just imagining what would happen if a drop of orc blood landed in the body of the Tarrasque now.
“That immortal monster is an orc! Kill it!”
Wielder looks at the Tarrasque, and back at the hammer. “You know, it takes one to know one.” Rolls ridiculously high on bluff check “That means YOU are an orc.”
“KILL ME RIGHT NOW WIELDER!”
"It's not that he doesn't have to kill YOU now, it's that he doesn't have to kill ME now."
"Well, I say that he DOES have to kill me now! So kill me now!"