The Gallery of Magical Blades

Version 5

(1998)

Editor:Christopher A. Brooks

Assistant Editor: Gary M. McDermott

Original Editor:Gian Luca Sacco

Prologue

Version 5. Finally. After two years in the making, the Gallery of Magically Blades resurfaces to the ‘net with a brand new version. It’s been a long two years, and I’m proud to sayt he Gallery of Magical Blades has a new Assistant Editor, Gary McDermott () who has been absolutly instrumental in getting this version done.

While lots has kept me busy, and away from the Gallery, perhaps the biggest event (or, at least, the biggest event any role player reading this might care to know about), would be the creation of the NetRPG website (

New blades for version 5 are denoted by a star () before their names in the table of contents and their listings. Also included at the end of the book are tables for randomly creating sword descriptions, including a complete gem generator based on the 1st-Edition AD&D rules. The only changes that we have made to any of the blades submitted are for correction of spelling, punctuation, grammar, format, and for clarification of game statistics and rules. Please read this prologue in its entirety before continuing as it contains information that is not only useful, but that we deem vital.

Copyright and Distribution

All of the magical weapons within this document are deemed to be copyrighted by the respective authors. These blades may be used only for personal use (ie: within your role-playing group), and you may freely distribute copies of their work only in it's entirety, as long as no fee is charged (unless the fee is for other materials, such as; diskettes, CD's, paper, ink, connect times, etc., and that this fee does not exceed a reasonable amount). The author's name/e-mail address should be given below the title of the magical weapon, if it is known. This file may be also distributed, but must be done so in it's entirety, and may not be uploaded to resources such as MPGN Network's ADND directory (ftp.mpgn.com) that contain restrictions on future uploads. You may not claim these weapons as having been created by yourself.

I would request that you simply inform me before mass distribution (such as posting to a web site, or burning onto a CD). My e-mail address is .

Last on the lists of copyright details is that this document has been searched for weapons that may have been published under other commercial volumes (such as TSR Inc.'s Dungeon Master Guide). If we have missed in removing these weapons will you please tell me so that they can be removed in future editions of this document. The following is a list of words which are registered trademarks of TSR Inc., or other companies not associate with the Gallery;

AD&D, Advanced D&D, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Adventure Vision, Al-Qadim, Battlesystem, D&D, Dark Sun, DM, Dragon, Dragon Strike, Dragonlance, Dungeon Master, Dungeon, Dungeons & Dragons, Endless Quest, Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Monstrous Compendium, Polyhedron, Ravenloft, RPGA, Spelljammer, TSR, TSR Hobbies, World of Greyhawk

They are used in this work without permission, but this should not be regarded as an attempt to challenge their rights. We would appreciate it if someone could e-mail us a note informing us of any other trademark violations in this book (if there are any).

Contributors

Lots of people have helped to make this edition of the Gallery of Magical Blades better than the earlier ones. Specifically I would like to thank Gary McDermott for his mounds of help – Gary you have truly been invaluable. Without Gary’s help this edition of the Gallery would still be sitting unfinished. We would also like to thank the following people (listed alphabetically by name, or e-mail address if the name is unknown) for their contributions to both this, and previous version of the Gallery:

Aaron Miaullis

Aaron Sher

Adam

Albert W.

Andrew Rochester

Andy

Angelo F.

Arthur

Barbara

Benjamin E. Sones (The Bard)

Berg

Bernard Wook

Big Daddy

Bill Schwartz (Urklore the Iron - Leader of Anime Adventurers)

Bob

Brian A.

Brian

Brother

Bryan L.

Caryl

Cassius Di

Chris

Cody

Christopher A. Brooks (Lord Phantos - Editor)

Cristopher Eskoblacknight+@cmu.edu

Curtis

Dalamar the

Dan

Daniel Vitti (Tyverian Starstone)

Dave

David J.

David

Del Wrightjunix!

Dennis F.

Derek

Donald F.

Donald S.

Excalibur

Fizban the

Flame

Frank Giles

Frank

Gary Allemangary%

Gary McDermott (Asst. Editor)

George

Gian Luca Sacco (Original Editor)

Graeme

Greg

Harold

Hasofek597c%

James

Jared

Jason

Jedi

Jeff

Jennifer

Jesse

Jim Vassilakos

Joe

John D.

John

John Pflum

Jon

Jose Carlos de Souza

Ken

Kenneth R.

Kevin L.

Kitten Of

Kkatman (Furry Rep)

Lee

Marc

Mario Di Giacomo (The Harlequin)

Marlin Nightwalkerexcalbr!

Martin

Matt

Matthew Ford

Micheal J. Korvakfsmtw1%

Micheal

Nana Yaw

Nathan

Neelakantan

Nikadeemous the

Nosferatu

Patrick

Paul David

Philippe

Richard J. Rogers (Tricky D.)

Rob

Robert A. Howard (Myste)

Robert Johan

Ron

Rory Toma

Schaffer

Scott D.

Scott

Scuminus

Simon

Sir

Steve

Thomas

Tim

Timothy M.

Victor Danilchenkox30kb%

Vito

Wade Guthrie

Wes

William O.

zKharra

adp89@msu

ben@ocvaxc

crit@acusd

fhgaa99@blekul11

kl81@maristb

kmhk@maristb

muallema@ecuvm1

oprdcs@gsuvm1

Disclaimers

Even the editors are not perfect. We may have missed formatting, spelling, or grammatical mistakes, so please e-mail us if you find any. This will help to ensure that all future editions of this document will be even better.

Submissions

As every magazine/book/digest needs an author(s), this one does as well. Submissions are always welcome, and have very little change of not being publicized (this would only happen if not enough information was given, or they are inappropriate for this work). The more submissions made, the better The Gallery Of Magical Blades will be.

There are now two easy ways to submit your bladed weapon to the Gallery of Magical Blades. You can go to the Gallery’s web site at and fill out an online submission form. This is the preferred method, as it’s presented to the editors easily for easy formatting and inclusion. If you feel the form doesn’t suite your purposes, just e-mail your work (with the subject of it being “Gallery of Magical Blades”) to – I’ll take care of it from there.

I may write you back to clarify some things, but unless noted otherwise, the blade will be entered into the next edition of The Gallery Of Magical Blades. If, at any time, you wish to have your weapon removed from The Gallery Of Magical Blades, just tell me, and it will not appear in the next version.

Terminology

As The Gallery Of Magical Blades was originally developed for use with the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game systems, it may be hard to change to fit other role-playing games. We have re-formatted all the blades submitted to our own format so that all submissions, whether in 1st Edition AD&D, 2nd Edition AD&D, or some other format, are presented in a consistent and easily usable manner.

All of the weapons are arranged by category. There is a category for each type of blade (if present), and two special categories - one for the Twelve Swords, and one for the Hellblades. These were put in their own categories to simplify using some of their special abilities, as they refer to multiple swords with similarities.

Many of the listings here talk about ego and alignment for intelligent weapons. You should consult TSR Inc.'s Dungeon Master Guide for more information on how to use these in your campaign.

Almost every weapon is listed in a “standard” format to give the reader quick, easy-to-read statistics on the sword without having to read the entire description (although reading the entire description is recommended!). The format is laid-out in the following order:

Name of the sword, as well as any other aliases it may be known by.
<Author> name and e-mail address, if known.
Description of the weapon if any was provided.
Type: the specific type of sword the new item most closely resembles. If the weapon is a variation of a “standard” AD&D weapon, the original weapon is noted here. Any pluses/minuses noted denote bonuses/penalties to THAC0 (“to hit”) and damage per 2nd Edition rules. If there is a difference between the “to hit” and damage bonuses, this is also noted here. Some weapons have no bonuses/penalties to hit/damage but are still considered magical, as they may have other powers noted.
INT: the weapon’s intelligence score, if any. This may be a specific number, or a broad category (i.e. low, average, high,...) depending on the description received from the author.
Ego: the weapon’s ego score, if any.
Alignment of the blade, if any. Often, aligned weapons will cause damage to creatures of different alignments who attempt to use, or sometimes even touch, these special weapons. Any such damage done in this manner will be listed under Curses. Also, certain aligned weapons may only be usable by certain classes of characters, being of a lesser functionality or non-functional for other alignments and classes.
Communication represents how, if at all, the weapon “speaks” to its wielder (and sometimes others). The form of communication will be one of the following: None; Semi-empathy, where the character receives a slight tingling (or other sensation) signaling the sword’s want or intent; Empathy, where the character receives flashes of emotion from the weapon; Speech, individual languages are listed; and Telepathy, where the blade communicates directly to the wielder’s mind (and sometimes others as well).
Primary powers for the weapons listed include powers that affect the wielder or his/her physical attack ability wielding the sword (i.e. extra damage to certain creatures, detecting abilities, magical light, immunities granted, protections, character ability enhancements (bonuses to STR, DEX, INT, ...), etc...) In general, these abilities do not need to be concentrated on to happen.
Minor powers indicate lower-level spell-like abilities the wielder may “cast” (or the sword may “cast” by itself sometimes!) upon others. These include cure-type spells, invisibilities, charms, and generally any spell-like ability that emulates 3rd-level and below AD&D spells. Also included in this category are any class abilities or NWPs that that the sword may grant the wielder despite his/her normal class limitations.
Major powers encompasses higher-level spell-like abilities (above AD&D 3rd-level), augmented lower-level spells, and any unique, powerful magicks associated with the weapon.
Special purposesindicate whether or not the sword has a special purpose for existing. Promoting good/evil, destroying particular monsters/characters/objects, and gaining power/glory/treasure are all examples of special purposes. Any special purpose powers are also listed here.
Curses gives backgrounds, effects, and ways of negating detrimental effects the sword may have upon its owner or those around it. In general. cursed items may not be give up or discarded by the owner without somehow being released from the curse involved. The cursed item will magically reappear in his/her hand, or the owner will be unable to put the item down or away. In any event, the owner will not willingly give up possession of the item.
Background: this includes specific traits or personality quirks of the weapon, its history, former owners, and/or humorous stories involving the creation or use of the weapon.
Notes: this section includes creator’s or reviewer’s (like the editors) comments about the weapon and often attempts to fill-in missing info about the weapon, or suggests different ways to allow the weapon to be used or modified for any AD&D campaign.
XP Value: the experience point value for finding/owning/using the sword. Most of these values have been calculated by the editors, based on known XPs for TSR, Inc.-created items.
Cost: most of the weapons here do not have noted costs. This is because the uniqueness and powerful natures of most weapons cataloged here make it difficult to put a price on the item.

If a sword has a [1] or a [2] beside it's name, there is a sword with the same name either in this publication, or a TSR publication. They may or may not be of the same strength and/or function.

Many of the swords listed here are variations of “standard” AD&D magic items. In an effort to conserve space, and since most players are familiar with their powers anyway, they are not recounted in each description that references them. Some of the more frequently used references are listed below:

Sword, frost brand: *+3, +6 vs. fire-using/dwelling creatures; functions as Ring of Warmth; 50% chance extinguishes fire, magical or otherwise, when blade is thrust into the fire; sheds light only in temperatures below 0º C.
Sword, flame tongue: +1, +2 vs. regenerating creatures, +3 vs. cold-using, flammable, or avian creatures, +4 vs. undead; sheds light and flames on command;
Sword of speed: +X; sword grants the wielder the first attack of any round, despite any conditions to the contrary; any additional melee attacks with the sword are figured normally; improves the wielder’s number of attacks by one category (i.e. one attack becomes 3/2, 3/2 becomes two, two becomes 5/2).
Sword of sharpness: +X (usually +1), but considered +3 (or better if +X is > 3) as to what it can hit; sheds light on wielder’s command - either a 5’ rad. dim light, 15’ rad. normal light, or 30’ rad. equivalent of a Light spell; severs limbs (limb determined randomly, but not the head) on to hit rolls as follows:

Opponent / Unmodified to hit roll needed to sever
Normal/Armored / 18
Larger than human / 19
Metal or stone / 20

Sword, vorpal: +X (usually +3); same light abilities as Sword of Sharpness; severs heads on to hit rolls as follows:

Opponent / Unmodified to hit roll needed to sever
Normal/Armored / 17
Larger than human / 18
Metal or stone / 19

Sword, holy or holy avenger: +X (+2 normally), +5 in the hands of a paladin (unless +X is > 5); when wielded by a paladin - creates Magic Resistance of 50%, 5’ rad.; negates magic of a level equal to or less than the paladin’s experience level in a 5’ rad.; inflicts +10 damage on chaotic evil opponents.
Sword, defender: +X; wielder may opt to use all or part of the sword’s attack bonus (+X) to reduce his Armor Class. i.e. a +4 defender may be split to reduce the wielder’s AC by 2, thus making the weapon a sword +2.
Sword, dancing: when used in melee, sword’s first round bonus is +1, second round (consecutive) bonus is +2, third round (consecutive) +3, fourth (consecutive) +4, fifth (consecutive) drops to +1 and the cycle starts over again; may be loosed on any round the sword’s bonus is +1 and will attack on its own up to 30’ away at the owner’s level and ability. After dancing (and progressing in its bonus per usual) for 4 rounds, the sword returns to its owner’s hand and must be used in melee for the four round cycle before it may dance again.
Sword of wounding: +X (usually +1); damage done cannot be regenerated or heal magically, short of a Wish; any wound caused by the sword inflicts an additional hp of damage every subsequent round until bandaged.
Sword of quality: +X/+X; these swords are typically non-magical, but are so well made that they give a bonus to hit, to damage, or both; they cannot hit creatures affected only by magical weapons.

Famous Last Words

When you pick a magical weapon for your campaign, either as a treasure or challenge for the player's, please use your common sense. If you feel that you must roll to determine the weapon randomly, do so before the battle begins. I've played in adventure where we (as characters) defeated a bunch of goblins, opened up the treasure chest behind them, and watched the DM roll randomly on the charts. I now had a Vorpal sword.

Also, when picking weapons from this document for your campaign, read them over fully, and consider them. Think of what not only the monsters could do with them, but what the players could do with them as well. Some of the weapons in here are by far unrealistic even for a fantasy game, and should be classed as one of a kind artifacts, perhaps even weapons of the gods themselves.

Oh ya, don't forget to have fun too!

Christopher A. Brooks - Editor

I must concur with our esteemed editor’s words of wisdom above. Always take the time to consider the impact adding a powerful magical weapon to your adventuring party might have on game balance and playability. Giving a party member a magical item just because “That’s what I rolled...” isn’t always the best or fairest idea.

I would also like to suggest that DMs try to break players of the old “I’ll use my +2 sword on that monster” way of thinking. Remember, it’s a role-playing game. There’s no such thing as a “+2 sword” in the characters’ world (hopefully)! Try to encourage players to use weapon names and descriptions rather than mathematics, it adds a certain flair to the game, trust me! Use the weapons here as jumping-off points for your own imagination, you don’t have to be limited by what is written down on (electronic) paper. As is the case with most of the rules we play the game by, if it doesn’t work for your group, change it! That’s how this book came into being - through the imaginations and ideas of others.

Play well and survive every adventure.

Gary M. McDermott - Asst. Editor

Prologue......

Contributors......

Disclaimers......

Submissions......

Terminology......

Famous Last Words......