Five Magic Swords: Each made of a different material and imbued with magical power for those who wield them.
Bone Sword: Made all out of bone. It's a sword +2 that casts animate dead 1/week.
Of all those Phenster mentions in “Magic Items in the Great Halls,” this one, at first glance, appeared to me the most usual. An item carved from bone that animates dead seems obvious and done.
The initial reaction, though, ignores that the item is a sword. That is, used only by fighters and thieves. The Bone Sword gives the martial classes access to a high-level spell. And not just any spell: with animate dead, the wielder can create allies from fallen enemies. Therein I find a certain elegance.
With what other materials might we make swords that grant the use of powerful spells?
For the purposes of this exercise, I restrict myself to natural materials—not fantastic—that are, in lore or reputed properties, somehow related to the granted power. I preclude all metals.
Bone Sword: Animate Dead
Obsidian Sword: Polymorph Others
Ashwood Sword: Contact Higher Plane
Ceramic Sword: Conjure Elemental
Amethyst Sword: Hallucinatory Terrain
In Phenster’s example, the Bone Sword grants a +2 magic bonus in combat, and its spell is usable once per week. The DM may adjust those parameters to suit.
Furthermore, if we imagine that the craefter makes the sword for a patron, he or she might also supply a manual to instruct the martial artist in the sword’s arcane use. After all, this is a high-level spell, normally wielded by one trained in such magics.
Each manual introduces the sword, describing the weapon and stating the nature of its enchantment. While the command word itself would have been given elsewhere, the manual might provide a reminder to the wielder, which serves as a clue to player characters.
The main part of a manual’s text is the use of the power: what are the effects of the spell, the restrictions, and risks. We can assume that study of the manual gives the wielder all the information a spell-caster would have about the spell. For example, the Obsidian Sword wielder would know the target gets a saving throw, the Ashwood wielder would be aware of the risk of insanity, and the Ceramic would know what happens if you lose control of the elemental.
With all these swords, I am committing a game designer’s sin: filling a design space just because it’s there. Hazard’s Great Halls of Pandemonium features demons and witches. That such a thing as the Bone Sword exists in the campaign is justified by the theme. The existence of similar swords would lessen the Bone Sword’s impact and wound the elegance. To prevent the dilution, the DM might choose only one of the five—or create another—that matches the campaign’s theme. Therefore, I class these swords in the [C] Campaign category.
The manuals are bound, locked, and likely protected by a magical trap. Each manual might also contain information pertaining to a secret power of the sword. The manuals, as well as the swords, might have cool names, too. I’ll leave all that to the DM.
If a wizard were to assemble the five manuals into a single volume (which I do not recommend), the title, in the language of the Old Empire, might read: Gladii Quinque Magici: Uterque ex alia materia factus et magicis artibus imbutus pro exercentibus.
