need help with designing a poleaxe

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kevsurp
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need help with designing a poleaxe

Postby kevsurp » Fri Feb 03, 2012 7:18 am

ok i in my last 2 games session the group found a poleaxe and had a couple of weaponsmiths use item history on it and found
out the following
max threads 1
thread ranks 15
key knowlogde 7
deeds 2

now i am having hard time laying it out mind locked on it and i thought my fellow gms could help

kevin

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Re: need help with designing a poleaxe

Postby arma » Fri Feb 03, 2012 7:38 am

Do you have any ideas as to its origin, history, looks, or where it comes from?
Or what you'd like to have the players do to get into the upper thread ranks?
Or do you want the item to fit one of the characters?
Best kaer anywhere.

kevsurp
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Re: need help with designing a poleaxe

Postby kevsurp » Fri Feb 03, 2012 11:00 am

Basically it's was a obesidanman warrior weapon
I am think one of the deed will deal with his life rock
But stump on everything else

thezombiekat
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Re: need help with designing a poleaxe

Postby thezombiekat » Fri Feb 03, 2012 11:05 am

15 ranks and 7 knowledge’s, that’s a lot I believe so we are talking an item of exceptional power and historical significance,.

If you can tell us what your story demands of it perhaps we can furnish suggestions. But I strongly recommend, such a singular item should feature further in your conical, so do not pick a mere set of powers for it, set it to a story you could tell.

I like to ensure that treasure suites the party, otherwise it is just something they can sell or trade away, and if they are trading away such tressures why can’t they trade for others as good.

As a start answer some these questions.
What race made it (the styling’s are different even when they can be easily used by another race, see denizens of Barsaive)
Where did the party recover it, and under what circumstances
Who from your party is likely to wield it (race, discipline, desire to cross discipline, personal beliefs/goals)
What is your overarching campaign plot? (A horror plot?, war against Thera?, intrigue against Iopos)

Give me enough to fit the item to your needs and I should be able to come up with something useful to you.

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Re: need help with designing a poleaxe

Postby arma » Fri Feb 03, 2012 12:55 pm

What it looks like could also be interesting. For example, if it was made of stone, or partly made of stone, you could have connection to that and obsidimen/liferocks.
An obsidimen pole-axe might also be Size 7.
Is there any further backstory to the obsidiman that needs to be built in, or is that just from the physical make up of the weapon?
Who in your party has called dibs on it, or who do you suspect is going to wield it?
Do you want a lot of special fancy stuff, or more of a plain item?
Best kaer anywhere.

kevsurp
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Re: need help with designing a poleaxe

Postby kevsurp » Fri Feb 03, 2012 1:10 pm

They got from their last adventure
Which was clear out a temple that a horror
Cult / assassin cult took over including
A horror. It looks like the troll warrior
Is claiming it.

As far as which race Maded it I didn't even
Think of it

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Mataxes
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Re: need help with designing a poleaxe

Postby Mataxes » Fri Feb 03, 2012 1:57 pm

15 ranks is a lot, like... ridiculously so. The closest item to that in terms of thread ranks is Nioku's Bow (which has 10). Most of the so-called "Legendary Treasures" in the game have six or seven ranks.

An item of this power level is tremendous, and should be the focus of a campaign (or at least a major campaign arc -- like the Blades of Cara Fahd), not something you drop on a group without some idea of what purpose it will serve.

Fortunately, one of the nice things about the way thread items (especially legendary ones) is that it is pretty easy to scale back this sort of thing -- especially if you haven't given the characters any info beyond that initial knowledge. Cut down the number of thread ranks, knowledges, and deeds by about half -- you still have the makings of a significant and powerful item (compared to other items in the rulebooks).
Josh Harrison --
Troubadour and Magic Theorist
Line Developer: Earthdawn

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Re: need help with designing a poleaxe

Postby arma » Fri Feb 03, 2012 2:56 pm

I don't quite subscribe to that point of view, but however you take it: timing is a factor, and the number of ranks puts a limit on it.
Weaving 15 ranks takes you into Master Level, which means dealing with this item will be a constant in your campaign, and it will be on and off.
Because of that, it should be something noteworthy, something that's worth to come back to.
At the same time, you got to find a way how to stretch things out, without just making the player wait.

I'd probably build in some "natural" stops in the progression.
A simple example: "To weave Rank 10, the adept must know the Battlefield Awareness Warrior ability."
That way, the player knows that he doesn't have to pursue this for some time, and you know that you can stave the story of this item off for a bit.
There's probably more elegant ways to do it. Anyway, you can tie something like this into the Deeds and Knowledges, and have appropriate Effects.
Best kaer anywhere.

thezombiekat
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Re: need help with designing a poleaxe

Postby thezombiekat » Fri Feb 03, 2012 8:37 pm

Isn’t the max thread rank you can have equal to your thread weaving skill. That should be enough to stop somebody from getting more ranks than is reasonable for there circle without saying that only diseplins with battlefield awareness could ever use it.

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Re: need help with designing a poleaxe

Postby arma » Fri Feb 03, 2012 8:45 pm

It's a strong incentive, but some players might be tempted to just increase their Thread Weaving above their Circle to "drive the item story arc forwards". And that may be because they want the item effects above a higher Discipline Circle, or because they may feel compelled to do it because the GM just keeps feeding them the item infos.
You can just talk it through out-game, of course...
Best kaer anywhere.


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