[Magic] A load of axes

simply Nathan · 05-03-2011, 12:55 PM

I've got some magical axes from a story I was writing, and I was wondering the best way to stat them in GURPS. One of them, the Bad Axe, is supposed to be an Artifact, but the others are just enchanted.

Quote:

Kick Axe and Dumb Axe. These legendary blades were crafted by dwarves, for use by ogres, when those races were still on friendly terms. The Kick Axe is uninhibited by stone or steel. The Dumb Axe tends to pull toward the enemy's windpipe and disables speech even when it strikes elsewhere.

Lame Axe and Half Axe. Dwarven axes, made as a gift to a diminutive human king. The Lame Axe was enchanted to never rust, and pulls toward the enemy's knees; this is the axe that Todd somehow had in his posession for several years while in the other world. The Half Axe is a rare single-edged axe, enchanted to shrink accordingly if held by someone under six feet tall.

Fat Axe in name only, for it is in fact a hammer. It weighs more than its bulk would indicate, and is in the posession of a tubby dwarf. (It uses maul stats but counts as a great axe for the purpose of Weapon Master.)

Bad Axe. The baddest of the bad, the Bad Axe makes snarky comments and inflicts double the usual ammount of pain.

mlangsdorf · 05-03-2011, 01:45 PM

Magic effects aren't required to be written up according to the existing spells and advantages. So you can just write down whatever you want.

Assuming you want them to be mostly canonical:

Kick Axe has Cosmic Armor Piercing (Ignores DR, Limited to stone or steel)

Dumb Axe has a linked or followup Affliction (Mute) which may be resistable or possibly Cosmic.

Lame Axe might give a bonus to hit when targeting the legs.

Half Axe has a feature that it is always sized appropriately for a wielder of SM0 or less.

Bad Axe could either have a linked or followup Affliction (Pain) or a custom ability that doubles the shock penalty for any injury it causes. If it were in my game, I'd say that the extra shock penalty also ignores HPT.

And I'm probably going to appropriate that last special ability for a magic weapon in my game. It's flavorful and interesting, the PCs will hate fighting against it, and it won't unbalance the game when they get it themselves.

simply Nathan · 05-03-2011, 05:30 PM

The thaums involved can be important if the team's axe guy wants to claim them as Signature Gear, and the Lame Axe is his primary starting weapon so unless he does that it'll be coming out of his starting wealth.

Let's see, it looks like Penetrating Weapon for ignoring DR, and a Bane (probably a /2 Bane; Stone and Steel are both pretty common to run into on an adventure). Looks like 12,600 energy.

I'm not finding many spells for afflicting mute/silence; Hush is pretty close, and while its listed enchantmet doesn't have a "wand of touch people to give them this" variant like most others, I guess I can just go with an altered version of that. 200 energy.

Dumb Axe and Lame Axe both have Bane-altered Accuracy spells: Dumb Axe for "against Neck location" and Lame Axe for "against Leg location". I'd go, again, for the energy/2 because these attacks are likely to happen a lot (to their wielders, these weapons feel like they want to strike those locations, even if another spot would be more effective). +2 to hit and a Bane for 600 energy.

The Lame Axe's rustproofing looks like Soilproof, resisting the Ruin spell for 400 energy.

Shrink Object looks like a headache, so I'll just call it a Gnomish Weirdness Enchantment for 2,000 energy.

I'm just gonna put regular Puissance and Shatterproof on the Fat Axe, and add those effects to its description.

Double shock penalty looks right for the Bad Axe. I think I'll let High Pain Threshold reduce the shock to that which a normal weapon would do to someone without HPT, and Very High Pain Threshold reduce it to -1 per 2 damage. Someone immune to pain, naturally, won't be given pain by this axe -- it's an artifact, but isn't cosmic.

SuedodeuS · 05-03-2011, 06:55 PM

You've mentioned in other threads typically having wolf/dog-people in your settings, and if this one isn't an exception, I vote you have an axe just for them. The Punk Axe would typically only by wielded by female canids, whom it would afflict with Berserk.

... sorry, couldn't resist

simply Nathan · 05-03-2011, 07:16 PM

I don't get it.

05-03-2011, 01:45 PM	#2
mlangsdorf Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Austin, TX	Re: [Magic] A load of axes Magic effects aren't required to be written up according to the existing spells and advantages. So you can just write down whatever you want. Assuming you want them to be mostly canonical: Kick Axe has Cosmic Armor Piercing (Ignores DR, Limited to stone or steel) Dumb Axe has a linked or followup Affliction (Mute) which may be resistable or possibly Cosmic. Lame Axe might give a bonus to hit when targeting the legs. Half Axe has a feature that it is always sized appropriately for a wielder of SM0 or less. Bad Axe could either have a linked or followup Affliction (Pain) or a custom ability that doubles the shock penalty for any injury it causes. If it were in my game, I'd say that the extra shock penalty also ignores HPT. And I'm probably going to appropriate that last special ability for a magic weapon in my game. It's flavorful and interesting, the PCs will hate fighting against it, and it won't unbalance the game when they get it themselves.

05-03-2011, 05:30 PM	#3
simply Nathan formerly known as 'Kenneth Latrans' Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Wyoming, Michigan	Re: [Magic] A load of axes The thaums involved can be important if the team's axe guy wants to claim them as Signature Gear, and the Lame Axe is his primary starting weapon so unless he does that it'll be coming out of his starting wealth. Let's see, it looks like Penetrating Weapon for ignoring DR, and a Bane (probably a /2 Bane; Stone and Steel are both pretty common to run into on an adventure). Looks like 12,600 energy. I'm not finding many spells for afflicting mute/silence; Hush is pretty close, and while its listed enchantmet doesn't have a "wand of touch people to give them this" variant like most others, I guess I can just go with an altered version of that. 200 energy. Dumb Axe and Lame Axe both have Bane-altered Accuracy spells: Dumb Axe for "against Neck location" and Lame Axe for "against Leg location". I'd go, again, for the energy/2 because these attacks are likely to happen a lot (to their wielders, these weapons feel like they want to strike those locations, even if another spot would be more effective). +2 to hit and a Bane for 600 energy. The Lame Axe's rustproofing looks like Soilproof, resisting the Ruin spell for 400 energy. Shrink Object looks like a headache, so I'll just call it a Gnomish Weirdness Enchantment for 2,000 energy. I'm just gonna put regular Puissance and Shatterproof on the Fat Axe, and add those effects to its description. Double shock penalty looks right for the Bad Axe. I think I'll let High Pain Threshold reduce the shock to that which a normal weapon would do to someone without HPT, and Very High Pain Threshold reduce it to -1 per 2 damage. Someone immune to pain, naturally, won't be given pain by this axe -- it's an artifact, but isn't cosmic. __________________ Ba-weep granah wheep minibon. Wubba lubba dub dub.

05-03-2011, 06:55 PM	#4
SuedodeuS Join Date: Sep 2008	Re: [Magic] A load of axes You've mentioned in other threads typically having wolf/dog-people in your settings, and if this one isn't an exception, I vote you have an axe just for them. The Punk Axe would typically only by wielded by female canids, whom it would afflict with Berserk. ... sorry, couldn't resist __________________ Quos deus vult perdere, prius dementat. Latin: Those whom a god wishes to destroy, he first drives mad.

05-03-2011, 07:16 PM	#5
simply Nathan formerly known as 'Kenneth Latrans' Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Wyoming, Michigan	Re: [Magic] A load of axes I don't get it. __________________ Ba-weep granah wheep minibon. Wubba lubba dub dub.