It is... well, exactly what it says on the tin. You can get it here.
Here are some examples you can use whether you get the book or not (roll 1d12):
- Sword of Bloodlust. This magic sword does not communicate,
but moans obscenely whenever it slays a creature. It screams in pleasure
if the victim is humanoid. Its blade is thin, sharp and sinuous.
- Flail of Judgement. This heavy spiked flail deals radiant
damage against evil creatures, but will explode in your hands if turned
against the innocent, leaving the target unharmed.
- Spider Arrows. These arrows have spider engraved in
their tips. When you hit your target, the spiders become alive, burrowing
out and causing additional damage.
- Whip of Disfigurement. This spiked whip leaves nasty scars in
its victims. These scars cannot be healed by regeneration or healing and
last for at least one month, barring some powerful magic.
- Sickle of Reaping. If you slay a living creature with this rusty,
dented sickle, its blood will become food for the earth, making nearby
plants grow faster, stronger… and stranger. They may grow exquisite
flowers that are useful for creating alchemical potions.
- Greatclub of Ice-breaking. This massive
club with icy shards turns things to ice before breaking them. It deals cold
damage (massive damage to inanimate objects such as iron, leather, wood, etc.).
It is extremely cold and cannot be held without protection for more than
one minute without causing damage to you.
- Spear of Imprisonment. A creature slain by this ebony spear has
its soul trapped within, in a grey plane of loneliness. If the spear is
broken, all the souls are freed.
- Sword of Hellfire. This massive ebony sword shines as if it
fire and lava burned within its blade, but it creates no light around it.
It reeks of sulfur and leaves nasty burns (fire damage). A slain enemy
boils from the inside until its eyes pop out.
- Axe of Genocide. This twisted double-bitted axe deals
additional damage against a specific type of creature. You become angry
and murderous when this type of creature is nearby.
10. Sword of Mercilessness. When
this sharp, bright sword is unsheathed, you gain additional courage and vigor
(e.g., one temporary HP per level). If you stop fighting before all enemies are
slain or defeated (but not merely surrendered), the blade will break in a
thousand shards, hurting you in the process.
11. Daggers of exotic dancing. These
two daggers with obscenely-shaped handles seem to fight by themselves when
wielded in a pair. If you miss an attack with the left hand, you can
immediately make a “free” attack with the right hand. If you roll a natural 1,
they cut you (half damage). In any case, it feels good.
- Sword of Plane-cutting. This thin but heavy sword, which glows
in colors that resemble the aurora borealis, can cut open a portal to a
random plane out of thin air (once a day). In addition, a critical hit
deals necrotic damage as parts of the target seem to become nothingness
when cut.
Anyway, I wrote this book while considering the following question.
Most books on my Dark Fantasy line have tables that are terse and a bit vague. For example, my dark fantasy characters could give an NPC like this:
Name: Odo
Background: barbarian
Skill: thievery
Fighting style: bow
Armor: chain
Equipment style: Spiked
Flaw: lust
Motivation: Pride
(family)
Appearance: Flamboyant
Etc.
As you can see, this isn't a finished character. The results require some rationalizing, maybe even changing. A flamboyant barbarian with chain armor and spikes? Not the first thing I'd think of. However, I find that making sense of this stuff is FUN.
On the other hand, if you need an NPC on the fly, you might not have time to roll all these dice. What's worse, you might think I'm leaving half the work for you. The finished work would look like this:
Odo is a barbarian. He looks thin, tall, and has strong muscles. He is stealthy and fights with a bow that matches his height. He wears chain armor and spike pauldrons. While travelling through cilivilezd land to womanize (his favorite hobby), he acquired a flamboyant look, dying his long hairs and beard a bright blue, and wearing multiple precious rings. He fights for the honor of his family, although his family forgot about him years ago, when he left his clan. One day he hopes to come back rich and famous.
As you can see, this entry is a lot more detailed and ready to use. It is also a bit more interesting... It is the kind of thing I adopted in this new book.
The downside is that, while you can make a million different characters with Dark Fantasy Characters, you "only" get 100 magic weapons in the new book, but they are all ready to use.
Well, I tried both things, and I think I'll probably continue doing both.
In any case, I'm curious to know: which method do you prefer? Terse and varied? Detailed and ready to use? Or something in between? Any good examples of either method you can think of?
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