RE: [HoE] A broken relic...

["Darrin M. Conant" <dconant@stny.lrun.com>]

Since your question is kind of vague I'll start with a vague answer. Do
whatever you want.

Since I'm not sure what the real question is, I'll answer the "What would
you do for a player who wants a broken relic?" question.

It sounds like you have a player that is more interested in the story aspect
than the munchkin aspects of the game so I'd be inclined to make the broken
relic have a good story. If I'm wrong in this than I'd be inclined to focus
on whatever the player is really interested in.

There are three options I can think of to go along with this kind of item.

1) The classic Aragorn (Middle Earth) story. Give them a sword of above
average quality, or something special about it, like a hidden compartment in
the handle for valuables but no magical abilities. Then come up with a story
to "fix" it. I'd focus upon the character development rather than the combat
aspects and I wouldn't be inclined to string it out over a long time unless
the relic was going to be massively powerful.

2) Weaker -> Stronger story. Give them a weak relic that can be "fixed" to
make it one that is stronger than normal. This is the kind of story that you
can string out a little longer but keep the players frustration in mind if
you wait too long before letting them get a taste of the full power of the
weapon. The longer they can wait, the stronger I'd make it when "fixed".

3) The Riftwar Armor trap (modified) :) Being an evil GM this is probably
the route I'd take. The player has the relic but it is broken. In their
search to get it "fixed" they come across a story about a great hero and his
equipment.... sure enough it turns out that the player has the heroes sword.
Over the course of the campaign let the player find and acquire the pieces
of the armor... scabbard, shield, chestplate, hauberk, helmet, etc. Each
item has it's own special ability. Once the ensamble is complete (I'd save
the helmet for last) it tries to take over the hero and become the lost
hero. Of course it is up to the GM if it really was a heroes equipment or
merely a trap by the reconers for a powerfull templar :)

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-hoe@gamerz.net [mailto:owner-hoe@gamerz.net]On Behalf Of
> Fuzyn9feet
> Sent: Saturday, October 03, 1998 7:00 AM
> To: hoe@gamerz.net
> Subject: [HoE] A broken relic...
>
> A player of mine got the relic a an arcane background and of course I gave
> him a sword (he's a Templar) but he feels that for a sense of the Wasted
> West it should have the about an inch or so broken off the end. I thought
> that I would put some feelers  out to you guys and see what you
> thought. So
> how do you feel...