Razorclaw, from ED3 Shards 1: Runvir's tomb

Discussion on game mastering Earthdawn. May contain spoilers; caution is recommended!
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The Dread Polack
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Razorclaw, from ED3 Shards 1: Runvir's tomb

Post by The Dread Polack » Wed Jun 26, 2019 4:25 am

So, I'm running my group through some 3E adventures. Luckily this is easy and requires little to no conversion. However, the thread sword "Razorclaw" is damage step 10 at rank 1. This is actually +4 to damage, which is above what they seem to recommend in the GMG. Do you think I should lower this to a +1 damage step?

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RazanMG
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Re: Razorclaw, from ED3 Shards 1: Runvir's tomb

Post by RazanMG » Wed Jun 26, 2019 6:41 am

If you want to rescale it to 4E, it should be +1 dmg at Rank 1.

Belenus
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Re: Razorclaw, from ED3 Shards 1: Runvir's tomb

Post by Belenus » Thu Jun 27, 2019 9:26 am

Just have it already enhanced by the Weaponsmith Skill to +4 ;)
Except it is an old weapon lying somewhere around, then the Forge Weapon effect would have already expired.

Panda
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Re: Razorclaw, from ED3 Shards 1: Runvir's tomb

Post by Panda » Thu Jun 27, 2019 11:53 am

Greetings,

The difference you are seeing is how 3E handled Rank 1 weapon damage effects on thread items with regard to enhancement through Forge Weapon. In 3E, one of the Rank 1 effects for weapons was to apply the maximum Forge Weapon bonus, which is equal to the Size. This was the only way Forge Weapon and thread items could play nice together and was a requirement for creating a thread weapon.

A 4E version may look something like this:

Razorclaw
Maximum Threads: 2
Mystic Defense: 11
Tier: Journeyman

The sword resizes to an appropriate one-handed sword for the owner. With no threads attached, it is a troll sword. [Ed. note: recall it was a broadsword when encountered on Dorthial's person. This may be a typo and can raise some curious questions regarding threads and the undead, or you can have this be a rank one effect. As well, the number of ranks is expanded to six to match the tier since this isn't a Legendary item.]

Thread Rank One
Key Knowledge: The owner must learn the sword's Name.
Effect: The sword is Damage Step +1 (based on the sword's form; e.g., a troll sword is Damage Step 7).

Thread Rank Two
Effect: The owner gains +1 to Physical Defense.

Thread Rank Three
Key Knowledge: The owner must learn the Name of the Weaponsmith who crafted the sword and their person rune is stamped on the pommel. [Ed. Note: This shuffles the Key Knowledge around a bit and this may not be true regarding the pommel (it's been a long time since I looked at this adventure). This should be adapted to whatever works best.]
Effect: The sword is Damage Step +2.

Thread Rank Four
Effect: The owner gains +2 to Physical Defense.

Thread Rank Five
Key Knowledge: The owner must learn the Name of the person who last owned the sword.
Effect: The sword is Damage Step +3. [Ed. Note: Alternatively, this could be a place to put an interesting effect appropriate to the rank and first owner, and push this effect to Rank Six.]

Thread Rank Six
Effect: The owner gains +3 to Physical Defense. [Ed. Note: This could easily be replaced with something else to give more variety with the weapon.]

Hopefully this is useful. Please let me know if there are any further questions, or anything else I can do.

Thank you and best regards,

Morgan

Avanti
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Re: Razorclaw, from ED3 Shards 1: Runvir's tomb

Post by Avanti » Mon Jul 01, 2019 12:40 pm

For some reason I loved the Runvirs tomb adventure, and the way I played it out was much more epic. And because of that I re-made Razorclaw into a fully legendary item with up to Thread rank 8. It also became a Crystal Troll Sword that Dortial found and used to defend Herself in the Tomb.
use it if you like it:

Razorclaw
Maximum Threads: 2 Spell Defense: 11
Legend Point Cost: Journeyman
This sword can be found inside Runvir’s tomb. A beautifully
crafted crystal troll sword with an exceptionally keen edge, the cross-guards
on Razorclaw’s hilt are shaped like an eagle’s talons. Runes
are etched down the blade in fine writing, and another strange looking
rune is stamped into the pommel.
With no threads attached to it, Razorclaw has the same characteristics
as a normal troll sword (see Player’s Guide p.251).

Thread Rank One
Key Knowledge: The wielder must learn the Name of the sword.
Effect: The weapon is now Damage Step 7.

Thread Rank Two
Effect: The wielder adds +1 to his Physical Defense.

Thread Rank Three
Key Knowledge: The wielder must learn the Name of the person
who last owned the sword (Razorclaw was wielded by Dorthial,
questor to Mynbruje).
Effect: The weapon is now Damage Step 8.

Thread Rank Four
Effect: The wielder now adds +2 to his Physical Defense.

Thread Rank Five
Key Knowledge: Runvir was a fan of hunting for small game and had a favoured companion hunting eagle - an Imperial Eagle. The wielder must learn the name of The eagle. (The rune in the Pommel is the Eagle's name. In ancient Troll dialect it means "Emperor")
Effect: The wielder gains access to Eagle Eye ability.
Eagle Eye: summons the Emperor ally spirit to act as a remote spy. This ability functions like the Orbiting Spy talent with rank equal to the spirits SR.

Thread Rank six
Effect: The weapon is now Damage Step 9

Thread Rank Seven
Knowledge: The Eagle died defending its master from an unseen threat. The wielder must learn the story of what happened (Assasins came in the night, the Eagle attacked them on its own allowing Runvir to awaken and defend himself. The Eagle was struck with a poisonous blade with enough poison to kill a troll. It lasted long enough for Runvirs magician to bind its spirit to the blade that slew the assassins).
Effect: The wielder can now see through the spirits eyes, using its sense of sight - even into the Astral space - use the spirits' Statistics for any tests. The effect lasts one round causes one strain.

Thread rank Eight
Deed: The wielder must locate an eagle's nest and spend a night nearby on meditation, reflecting on his past deeds - identifying all the unjust things he did or those done to him, all the lies he ever told or was told. The wielder must then make a blood oath to be just and pursue truth whenever possible. At the end of this meditation an eagle will swoop down an rake the wielders outstretched hand, sealing the oath. This deed is worth legend points.
Effect: The wielder can now summon Emperor once a day making a Thread waving test against Emperor's Mystic defense. This test always scores at least one success. Otherwise treat it as a regular Summoning test.


Emperor (Ally spirit SR:4)
Emperor is an ally spirit, bound to the Razorclaw sword. The spirit itself is an incarnation of a deceased Imperial Eagle,
King Runvir's companion animal. The eagle retains much of its animal instincts but also has a semblance of self-consciousness
formed by the bond with Runvir. The influence of Mynbruje's oracle imprinted a high notion of truth and justice in the spirit
and while it will not rebel against its master it will present its disapproval for any action that it deems unjust or not supporting truth. When manifesting, it takes the form of a large Imperial Eagle made from grey and brown smoke, whirling inside its body. Its eyes are glowing yellow, with an uncanny resemblance to real eagle-eyes. When summoned to aid in a just cause it will use all of its powers freely.

DEX: 6 Initiative: 9 Unconsciousness: NA
STR: 6 Physical Defense: 12 Death: 30
TOU: 5 Mystic Defense: 12 Wound: 10
PER: 4 Social Defense: 11 Knockdown: 8
WIL: 4 Physical Armor: 5 Recovery Tests: 2
CHA: 6 Mystic Armor: 6
Move: 18
Actions: 1; Unarmed 5 (9)
Powers:
Enhanced Senses(Sight, Astral sight): (PER + SR)
Confusion: (WIL+SR)
Curse: (WIL+SR)
Enhance Summoner: (CHA+SR)
Insubstantial -
Manifest -
Wilderness survival: (PER+SR)
Battle Shout: (CHA+SR)

Confusion
Step: WIL+SR Action: Standard
Ally spirits only. The spirit temporarily confuses a target by passing some of
its own energy through him. The spirit makes a Confusion test against the Mystic
Defense of a target within SR x 10 yards. For each success, the target suffers a –1
penalty to his Perception and Willpower tests, including talents and abilities based on
those Attributes. The effect lasts for a number of minutes equal to the spirit’s Strength
Rating.

Curse
Step: WIL+SR Action: Standard
Ally spirits only. The spirit curses a target. It makes a Curse test against the Mystic
Defense of a target within SR x 10 yards. If successful, the target suffers a -2 penalty to
one Attribute Step for one hour per success. The penalty affects all tests based on that
Attribute. The spirit or its summoner chooses the affected Attribute. A target can only
be affected by one use of this power at a time.

Enhance Summoner
Step: CHA+SR Action: Standard
The spirit is able to provide a significant increase to its summoner’s magical
ability, but only for a short time. The spirit merges with the summoner, and makes an
Enhance Summoner test against the summoner’s Mystic Defense. Each success allows
the summoner to add the spirit’s Strength Rating to one talent test. When using this
bonus, the summoner takes strain equal to the spirit’s Strength Rating to reflect the
difficulty inherent in channeling the spirit’s energy. If multiple uses are available,
each bonus may be applied to a different test, but only one test per round. The effect
lasts until the summoning ends, or all uses of this power have been exhausted. While
the power is in effect, the summoner takes on some superficial characteristics of the
spirit, which are exaggerated when applying the bonus to a talent. For example, hair
drifting as in a breeze, giving off streams of smoke, or movements becoming more
fluid and graceful.

Insubstantial
Step: NA Action: NA
Air, ally, fire, and water spirits only. Attacking a manifested spirit with this power
using physical weapons (such as a sword or a bow) is very difficult. Attacks with such
items require an additional success, unless the attack has an area of effect.

Manifest
Step: N/A Action: Standard
The spirit can manifest in the physical realm. It takes a Standard Action for the
spirit to enter the physical realm, or to return to astral space. Remember that to affect
the physical realm, the spirit must be manifest.

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