When is a +1 sword not a +1 sword?

Behind the Screen

Strike me down....

First thing's first: Sorry about the missed post on Saturday. I would like to blame it on prepping to move house in just over a weeks time (truth). I'd love to blame it on finally getting my MRI and was in the hospital (didn't happen). But alas it was all down to playing Mass Effect 3 multiplayer with my brother. Ahhhh good times. Damn that Talon Merc is awesome.....

ANYWAYS, Sorry about that. To be fair I wrote a post and forgot to schedule it because I'm a knucklehead. I'd post it in the future but it effectively boiled down to:

ERMAGERD TAU BE COMING! WOOHOO!

and therefor is now out of date so.... <content deleted>.

Once upon a time, I had a small Space-fish-with-hooves army, painted up like the RDF from robotech (because f*** Macross!) that I spent months trying to turn into a pope-bomb melee army for shiggles. Alas it was not viable and I sold it. Mayhaps I'll get a small 500-1000point detachment to use as allies as I'm a sucker for giant robots with giant guns and that Riptide Mech tweeks my brainy meats in  just the rightway. Maybe I'll convinve my buddy who bought the army to let me take pics of it and throw it up on here sometime...

Moving on, The subject of this post is a slightly more personal rant than anything. You see, I've been playing D&D for many ages, in many iterations. I started with AD&D (Black bordered 2nd edition) when I was of the tender age of 12 and have since gone on to play every single version of the game (OD&D, Moldvay's boxed set, AD&D 1st edition, 3.0, 3.5, 4e and have even dipped my toes in D&D Next) so I'd like to think I have some experience with the game.  And included in all of that experience is a few biases that I've developed over time, specifically what edition I like the most (AD&D 2e/Black Border), which one I hate the most (3.5, because I am not a fan of book-keeping and easily abused systems... *cough cough* d20 *cough cough*), and what simple things drive me up the wall. Included amongst the latter-most of those grumps I have is something I find incredibly irksome: The subject of magical items, or rather the mechanics vs. the roleplay aspects.

You see, I firmly believe a magical item is only magical if it has a backstory, something which, for the majority of categories, is covered for every item type barring the two most important: WEAPONS and ARMOUR. 



Everyone knows, or can conjure background concerning Leomunds Tiny hut, or the Aparatus of Kwalish or even something as simple as an Ioun stone. They have built in fancy names that automatically set your mind to creation. When it comes to weapons and armour however, not including the various artifacts (Sword of Kas, Hammer of Dwavenkind, etc.), most so called "magical" weapons and armour are a set of statistics with nothing special to mark it out from it's kin. A +1 sword. A +2 suit of chainmail. Mechanically, a sword can be a +1 sword and that's neat... but IF that sword is only referred to as a +1 sword, then it's no different from a well made weapon with the magical subtype.

woo....

hoo.....

This is a problem....It's not magical to me. When I think of a magic weapon, I think of Excalibur. I think of the Sword of Mars, Mjolnir, The Sword of Truth, Perun's Axe, Vishnus' missile Narayanastra, and Lugh's flaming spear Luin of Celtchar.
When I think of magical armour I think of the Armour of Achilles, the Armour of Beowulf, the Tarnhelm and the Helm of Darkness (Given to Hades by the Cyclopes, Zues's Aegis, the Shielf of El Cid and the Shield of Evalach.
A truly magic item, in my mind, has a few major pieces that make it MAGIC:

1. IT has  name.
2. IT has a background.
3. IT has mechanics. 

You see, the above-mentioned +1 sword only has one of the three major requirements, the mechanics.
Where did it come from? Who created it? Who has used it? Is it brand new? How was it made? How can it be destroyed? Why was it created?
All of these questions bring life to a magical item and thus bring life to your campaign. In the end, what is cooler?

a +1 sword

or

The sword of Levin, magically enchanted to never loose it's cutting edge (+1), in a bygone era by the gnomes of the frostspire mountains as a reward for Levin, a fighter of once great reknown who famously saved the gnomish princess from a marauding band of Orcs's dinner fires.

I'll answer that question for you non-trolls. The sword of Levin is far and away, a much more awesome item and will remain important to the players well past it's usefulness date (aka: when they acquire Ragebringer, the Red Axe of Rangar... a +2 Axe). Odds are, your players will cherish this item and hang it in a place of honour and tell stories of it to their little imaginary roleplay children... or more likely to some tavern wench their character is trying to bag (My players are special...).

So, the next time you run a game, take a few seconds and ask yourself those three questions about the items you are giving your players. You're players will thank you.

Until next time,
When is a +1 sword not a 1 sword?
when it's only described as a +1 sword.
Bean out~