Minor Trait (weapon enhancement)
posted Saturday, December 17th 2005 by Jonathan Drain
As spellcasters push ever more of their own personal energy into the creation of powerful magic items, a few occasionally pick up minor traits of their creators. When in the posession of such a weapon, the owner often behaves slightly differently. This side-effect is almost unnoticeable to the weapon’s current owner, and many a dumb-witted fighter has wielded such a weapon for years before realising its effect. The following is a list of known traits for a weapon, though others undoubtably exist.
- Alignment - Owner behaves slightly more like the alignment of the weapon’s creator. This can be a boon (a character with a chaotic trait weapon finding themelf more creative) or a downside (a normally honest person with an evil trait weapon who feels an urge to cheat or steal).
- Appearance - The weapon’s owner gradually begins to look slightly like the creator. He may grow or shrink slightly, his hair colour may gradually change, and/or his facial features may alter a little. The owner gains a +1 to disguise checks, increasing to +2 after several weeks.
- Personality - The owner begins to share the creator’s outlook on life. While this isn’t powerful enough to turn a paladin into a power-hungry tyrant, he may find himself gaining a little of the creator’s bravery, curiosity, bad temper, patience, ingenuity or some similar attribute. This may bestow a circumstance bonus or penalty between -2 and +2 on certain circumstances, at the DM’s discretion.
- Race - The owner gains a minor ability of the creator’s race, and may also gain a barely noticeable physical change (but not significant enough to warrant a Disguise bonus). Examples include:
- Aasimar - +2 competence bonus to Sense Motive checks.
- Dwarf - +2 competence bonus to Craft (Weaponsmithing) checks, beard begins to grow faster (even if the character was unable to grow a beard, such as an elf or a human female).
- Elf - +2 to saves vs sleep spells, ears become slightly elongated and pointed.
- Gnome - +2 competence bonus to Craft (Alchemy) checks, nose grows slightly larger.
- Half-Elf - +2 competence bonus to Search checks, slightly pointed ears or greenish eyes.
- Half-Orc - +2 competence bonus to Intimidate checks, jaw extends slightly and becomes squarer.
- Halfling - +2 competence bonus to Jump checks, height shrinks by an inch or two.
- Lich - +2 competence bonus on Knowledge (arcana) checks, gaunt build with deep-set eyes.
- Tiefling - +2 competence bonus on Bluff checks, reddish eyes.
A weapon rarely has more than one minor trait, and it is usually the most dominant trait of the weapon’s creator. Traits are not usually included in the full name of a weapon - somehow, Kurgendar’s +5 keen chaotic dragon bane greatsword sounds less heroic with minor gnome trait added to it. The DM may also apply creator’s traits to other magic items.
Faint transmutation; CL 5th; Craft Magic/Psionic Arms and Armor; Price: +400gp.
