Do intelligent magic items have souls?

[Yqatuba]

If so, where does the soul go if the item is destroyed? Is it just judged in the Boneyard like a normal soul?

[James Jacobs]

Souls are for sure a primary source of how items become intelligent. When a soul's used during item creation (be it deliberate or accidental) and the item is destroyed, the soul moves on normal and is judged. Pharasma's faithful do keep an eye out for souls who are trapped in this way, in the same way the do souls trapped by other sorts of magical effects, but that's lower on the watchlist than undead by a significant amount (mostly because undead are so much more ubiquitous). Souls who volunteer to be part of an intelligent item often have implied "terms of service" so that once they complete their goal as an item, they move on and the item "dies"; these types of soul-infused intelligent items aren't nearly as gross to the Pharasmins.

But that's not the only way an intelligent item can become intelligent. Magic can create intelligence, in which case whether the item has a soul or not would vary in the same way one might wonder if a robot has a soul or not. An item that gains its intelligence as the result of a creator investing some of their own intellect into the item probably wouldn't have a soul.

And then it's also possible for a soul to come fresh out of the works and land in an item, either accidentally or whatever. In this case, the soul would move on to be judged in the Boneyard as normal once the item loses its magic or is destroyed. These items would not be pursued by Pharasmins, really, since they'd be in the same sort of category as "souls who land in very long lived creatures."

[Yqatuba]

James Jacobs wrote:

Souls are for sure a primary source of how items become intelligent. When a soul's used during item creation (be it deliberate or accidental) and the item is destroyed, the soul moves on normal and is judged. Pharasma's faithful do keep an eye out for souls who are trapped in this way, in the same way the do souls trapped by other sorts of magical effects, but that's lower on the watchlist than undead by a significant amount (mostly because undead are so much more ubiquitous). Souls who volunteer to be part of an intelligent item often have implied "terms of service" so that once they complete their goal as an item, they move on and the item "dies"; these types of soul-infused intelligent items aren't nearly as gross to the Pharasmins.

But that's not the only way an intelligent item can become intelligent. Magic can create intelligence, in which case whether the item has a soul or not would vary in the same way one might wonder if a robot has a soul or not. An item that gains its intelligence as the result of a creator investing some of their own intellect into the item probably wouldn't have a soul.

And then it's also possible for a soul to come fresh out of the works and land in an item, either accidentally or whatever. In this case, the soul would move on to be judged in the Boneyard as normal once the item loses its magic or is destroyed. These items would not be pursued by Pharasmins, really, since they'd be in the same sort of category as "souls who land in very long lived creatures."

I was also wondering about robots and other constructs which become sentient (such as an awakened golem). I was thinking maybe the awaken spell makes them "grow" a soul somehow.

[James Jacobs]

Yqatuba wrote:

I was also wondering about robots and other constructs which become sentient (such as an awakened golem). I was thinking maybe the awaken spell makes them "grow" a soul somehow.

Same thing, really. Case by case basis. In fact, this plot is explored in print in the Iron Gods Adventure Path.