Topic: Evil diabolical sword

[Druss_the_Legend]

I have a pc who has a cursed sword. It is evil alignment and has a diabolical purpose.
The sword is corrupting him and turning him into a vampire.
He needs to make a SD check to give the sword to someone else or leave it somewhere.

I was wondering about a suitable back story for the sword.
This pc had an encounter with a liche when he was younger. That could be related to the curse?
The sword was found on the body of an assassin.

The curse gives the pc aversion to sunlight, long sharp nails, night-vision and enhanced perception at night. He also has an aversion to silver and over time will develop Blood Hunger. When eh succumbs to this he will become a full vampire NPC.

Perhaps the sword holds the soul of a vampire? was owned by a vampire? will turn on its owner when he faces a vampire?

Thoughts on a suitable backstory for this cursed weapon?

[Dragonking11]

It is not exactly the same but maybe it can give you some idea ...

I had once developed a backstory with one of my Paladin player regarding his father's sword. His father was once a noble Paladin himself but had became corrupted by it. The sword was extremely powerful but was also cursed.

Each time my player used it, he had to make a SD check and failure meant that part of his soul became corrupted as well, degrading his SD stat slowly. Each failure gave him also an always accumulating penalty to the roll so each failure made this more and more difficult.

His father succumbed to the sword actually and one of the main goal of the player was to find a way to cleanse his father's name, and the sword.

It was really fun to GM as the sword saved his ass a couple times in some nasty situations. He always had to think it over ... is it worth it to use the sword now ?

Hope this helps !

[Mordrig]

David Gemmel (IMO Probably The best fantasy writer) had a magic axe in the Druss books.  At least it started as a Magic Axe, it was demon infused and protected it's user and improved his combat abilities, but also corrupted them making them into inhuman killing machines that were eventually hunted down and killed because of the terror and evilness of their rule.  Druss's Axe was named Snaga the Sender:  the blades of no return.  Snaga tried to kill anyone who tried to get the wielder to dispose of it or destroy it. 
Druss's grandfather was Bardan and he had a reputation for evil deeds, and every wielder of the axe was considered insane and evil.

[Jengada]

My first thought was along the lines of the sword holding the soul of a vampire, as you suggest. Perhaps long ago, the sword belonged to someone who was hunting down and killing the vampire's weaker minions. When he figured this out, the vampire made himself into a trap. Normally, the sword wouldn't hurt him at all. But he somehow made himself into a magic trap, so when he was struck by the sword he appeared to die, but went into it. He eventually corrupted the original wielder - who might be the assassin, or maybe the assassin later came after the now-corrupted vampire killer.
(The whole thing pivots on how much you're willing to make up the "somehow.")

[Hurin]

Ever read any of Michael Moorcock's Elric books? Lots of ideas about demonic swords in those.

[Spectre771]

A wealthy landowner/baron/ruler (Person) commissioned the fabrication of a splendid sword made of extremely rare, extremely dangerous-to-acquire materials.  The mage and the forge master spent nearly a year crafting this beautiful weapon.  Upon receiving the sword, the Person slaughtered the Forge master to avoid paying and attempted to slaughter the mage.  Near mortally wounded and left for dead, the mage turned to the dark arts to build a curse to place on the sword.  A Curse of Immortal Greed.  Upon using the sword, the Person started to lose part of his soul to the sword.  Each use led to more debilitating effects.  The sword wanted his soul, then his life.  Once the Person was wholly consumed by the sword... but not fully dead, just as the mage was left for... the Person's soul now seeks to spread his torment and pain on any who would wield the sword by slowly draining the soul and life from the holder.  If the Person can't wield the sword, then none shall wield it.

[Druss_the_Legend]

A wealthy landowner/baron/ruler (Person) commissioned the fabrication of a splendid sword made of extremely rare, extremely dangerous-to-acquire materials.  The mage and the forge master spent nearly a year crafting this beautiful weapon.  Upon receiving the sword, the Person slaughtered the Forge master to avoid paying and attempted to slaughter the mage.  Near mortally wounded and left for dead, the mage turned to the dark arts to build a curse to place on the sword.  A Curse of Immortal Greed.  Upon using the sword, the Person started to lose part of his soul to the sword.  Each use led to more debilitating effects.  The sword wanted his soul, then his life.  Once the Person was wholly consumed by the sword... but not fully dead, just as the mage was left for... the Person's soul now seeks to spread his torment and pain on any who would wield the sword by slowly draining the soul and life from the holder.  If the Person can't wield the sword, then none shall wield it.

wow. very cool! this back story actually might also tie into the pcs contact with the liche when he was younger as well. I like that it is less obvious background than 'vampire soul trapped inside the sword' and gives a little nod to one of my fav movies of all time The Princess Bride.

[Druss_the_Legend]

David Gemmel (IMO Probably The best fantasy writer) had a magic axe in the Druss books.  At least it started as a Magic Axe, it was demon infused and protected it's user and improved his combat abilities, but also corrupted them making them into inhuman killing machines that were eventually hunted down and killed because of the terror and evilness of their rule.  Druss's Axe was named Snaga the Sender:  the blades of no return.  Snaga tried to kill anyone who tried to get the wielder to dispose of it or destroy it. 
Druss's grandfather was Bardan and he had a reputation for evil deeds, and every wielder of the axe was considered insane and evil.

Gemmel is als my fav author. i own about 12 of his books. the first i read was Legend. i found it in a random book sale and at the time i didnt actually know of David Gemmel. fast fwd 20yrs and iv read everythig of his i can find. Did u notice my online username perhaps? i am a huge fan of gemmel and esp Druss.

[Spectre771]

A wealthy landowner/baron/ruler (Person) commissioned the fabrication of a splendid sword made of extremely rare, extremely dangerous-to-acquire materials.  The mage and the forge master spent nearly a year crafting this beautiful weapon.  Upon receiving the sword, the Person slaughtered the Forge master to avoid paying and attempted to slaughter the mage.  Near mortally wounded and left for dead, the mage turned to the dark arts to build a curse to place on the sword.  A Curse of Immortal Greed.  Upon using the sword, the Person started to lose part of his soul to the sword.  Each use led to more debilitating effects.  The sword wanted his soul, then his life.  Once the Person was wholly consumed by the sword... but not fully dead, just as the mage was left for... the Person's soul now seeks to spread his torment and pain on any who would wield the sword by slowly draining the soul and life from the holder.  If the Person can't wield the sword, then none shall wield it.

wow. very cool! this back story actually might also tie into the pcs contact with the liche when he was younger as well. I like that it is less obvious background than 'vampire soul trapped inside the sword' and gives a little nod to one of my fav movies of all time The Princess Bride.

Thank you sir.  Just popped into my head at lunch. 

Now I think I'm going to work the backstory into the actual start of the weekend campaign I'm trying out.  I may have the group trying to acquire those elements for the sword for the mage and forge master.   LOL.  Things have a way of working themselves out.

[Druss_the_Legend]

A wealthy landowner/baron/ruler (Person) commissioned the fabrication of a splendid sword made of extremely rare, extremely dangerous-to-acquire materials.  The mage and the forge master spent nearly a year crafting this beautiful weapon.  Upon receiving the sword, the Person slaughtered the Forge master to avoid paying and attempted to slaughter the mage.  Near mortally wounded and left for dead, the mage turned to the dark arts to build a curse to place on the sword.  A Curse of Immortal Greed.  Upon using the sword, the Person started to lose part of his soul to the sword.  Each use led to more debilitating effects.  The sword wanted his soul, then his life.  Once the Person was wholly consumed by the sword... but not fully dead, just as the mage was left for... the Person's soul now seeks to spread his torment and pain on any who would wield the sword by slowly draining the soul and life from the holder.  If the Person can't wield the sword, then none shall wield it.

wow. very cool! this back story actually might also tie into the pcs contact with the liche when he was younger as well. I like that it is less obvious background than 'vampire soul trapped inside the sword' and gives a little nod to one of my fav movies of all time The Princess Bride.

Thank you sir.  Just popped into my head at lunch. 

Now I think I'm going to work the backstory into the actual start of the weekend campaign I'm trying out.  I may have the group trying to acquire those elements for the sword for the mage and forge master.   LOL.  Things have a way of working themselves out.

nice work Spectre. Some rare components to make such a sword could include:
a Vampire tooth
Vampire blood
Werewolf fur
Tears of a virgin female

[Druss_the_Legend]

ok so im going to have the sword communicate with the wielder. this was the backstory can be gradually revealed in visions or dreams.

[Spectre771]

nice work Spectre. Some rare components to make such a sword could include:
a Vampire tooth
Vampire blood
Werewolf fur
Tears of a virgin female

We play in an Elementalism world only.  So there are plenty of rare elements they could try to acquire.  Then the components needed to prep an elemental forge.  There are a couple of paths I can take now.  I started laying out the groundwork for the quests and how it's going to fit into the larger scheme of things.  I'm thinking the quests to gain the elements area going to lead to the uncovering of the greater plot I was doing.  For this weekend session... the hunt for the elements will be this weekend's full campaign.  The next weekender we do will be another campaign that is revealed as they are still trying to track down those elements.

[Druss_the_Legend]

nice work Spectre. Some rare components to make such a sword could include:
a Vampire tooth
Vampire blood
Werewolf fur
Tears of a virgin female

We play in an Elementalism world only.  So there are plenty of rare elements they could try to acquire.  Then the components needed to prep an elemental forge.  There are a couple of paths I can take now.  I started laying out the groundwork for the quests and how it's going to fit into the larger scheme of things.  I'm thinking the quests to gain the elements area going to lead to the uncovering of the greater plot I was doing.  For this weekend session... the hunt for the elements will be this weekend's full campaign.  The next weekender we do will be another campaign that is revealed as they are still trying to track down those elements.

I really like the layering you are building into your story/main story arc. I try to do this in my campaign also. Story linking like this can also be achieved through player background and even thru NPC contacts the pcs have in common.

In the case of the Sword of Immortal Greed I have the following hooks to play around with:
* the pc who is cursed by it encountered a powerful Liche when he was younger. The Liche killed everyone in him village, but for some unknown reason left him alive. This liche touched him and he bears a scar.
* there is an evil cult who seek to ressurrect a cabal of evil vampire lords and their liche lord leader (The liche who killed the pcs family and village was a disciple of the Liche Lord (Think Kylo Ren and Darth Vader)
* the pc who is cursed also suffers from a split personality disorder (one of his alternate personalities is an evil Mage)