Korlinium Scabbard and book 16

[Drake_NZ]

Hi all!

With Legacy of Vashna (bk 16) now in the wings, I wanted to raise a possible issue that might be worth considering or updating.

We are all aware of the Shamath Riddle debate, but there is another equally oppressive part of the book, where lone wolf passes through an inspection and must “roll or die”. Now the issue here is that the Sommerwerd imposes a significant penalty on the roll, meaning that a veteran player has between a 30% and 40% chance of an instant death! That makes it worse than taking on Kimah or the Chaos Lord in terms of survivability.

The debate among some readers is whether the Korlinium Scabbard should offer protection here, because clearly the blade should be hidden from any detection magic. Previously this argument did not go far because the scabbard was missing from the list of items that could be carried through to book 16, but this has been corrected in Mongoose reprints (at least for books 14 and 15).

So if the Korlinium Scabbard will now be eligible for use in Book 16, shouldn’t this negate the penalty of having the Sommerswerd in that section? It would be nice to see the scabbard actually provide some kind of tangible bonus, other than masking the blade in book 17.

 

[Oiseau]

They didn't fix the unfair insta-deaths in the previous books : the bridge, the chasm, the multiple unavoidable "falling mast" events in books 2, 4, 5, 13, 14 15… so I don't expect the SommerScanner™ to be fixed either.

 

[Drake_NZ]

Yes but this one is nearly worse than all the other GM instant deaths combined up to now AND there is an excuse for the korlinium scabbard to work.

You can't blame me - I need as much chance as possible to get my characters to the impossible deathtrap that is book 17

 

[SnowShadow]

I always felt that the Crystal Star Pendant ("Protection on the Road Ahead/Talisman of Good Fortune") should allow the wearer one re-roll per adventure, after all it is relatively useless apart from that.

 

[August1]

Were I to make a judgement call (and this is me speaking as a player and a fellow gamer, not as a Lone Wolf writer), I would absolutely agree that the scabbard should negate the penalty for possessing the Sommerswerd in that passage. It's a useful item and it _should_ have this benefit.

I also agree that the Crystal Star should allow a single rechoosing of a Random Number once an adventure. That's a nice benefit that does not really overshadow players that might not have the item.

-August

 

[Drake_NZ]

Damn that crystal star pendant is a good idea. I wonder if there is any way to introduce that change, maybe put it in the softcover books to make everyone buy that version

Failing that maybe in books 16+ at some point the pendant could become "enhanced' and gain that ability (same with the jeweled mace).

Oh well, dreams are free as they say!

 

[Hellebore]

In my house rules I allowed anyone that owned such a good luck charm to gain +1 on any 'luck' tests where there is a 50/50 chance of success, thereby giving them a 60/40 chance of success. A re-roll once per adventure wouldn't be bad either.

The korlinium scabbard thing certainly makes sense though.

Hellebore

 

[SnowShadow]

Crystal Star Pendant in my house rules can also now hold a single spell BUT it is triggered - the wearer has no control over when it is cast- it merely happens the first time the conditions are met/does not cost anything. E.g. 'Sense Evil' Bk 1 when near a hidden threat/Helghast, Vigour +3CS in your next battle, etc. So if a character had a Mend spell stored it would be triggered when they were waist deep in fresh water and below maximum EP (or carrying a broken item). Then a Wizard must recast a spell/pay cost into the Pendant (treat wizard's level as caster level if necessary).
Meant to say, in my opinion the re-roll only applies to non-combat random numbers otherwise it might be too powerful but this covers all the instant death references - Bk 2 Falling Mast, Bk 5 Skyrider net, Bk 13 Bridge jump, Bk 14 Kaag Escape, etc. IF you feel that is still too powerful think of it as "Will save wearer's life once before becoming inert, reactivating when given to someone else".

Note 143 and 150 state "If you possess Kai-alchemy, Kai-screen or Assimilance, add 2 to the number you have picked"... you could interprete that as +2 for EACH, although I think it is intended that you get the bonus once for having any one of the three disciplines - it is a little help. I think reading it as "if you possess the Sommeswerd deduct 3, unless you also possess a Korlinium Scabbard" is entirely reasonable.

 

[SnowShadow]

Failing that maybe in books 16+ at some point the pendant could become "enhanced' and gain that ability (same with the jeweled mace).

Enhanced Jewelled Mace? Are you talking about it's use in the Tomb of the Mahjan Bk 5 or something else?
My house rules - a Jewelled Weapon gives it's bonus against any magical summoned foes; Crypt Spawn (Bk5, 12), Mind Reaper (Gnaag, Bk 12).

 

[SnowShadow]

I also agree that the Crystal Star should allow a single rechoosing of a Random Number once an adventure. That's a nice benefit that does not really overshadow players that might not have the item.

-August

...And of course the new number must be followed, even if it is a worse result making it an agonizing choice as to whether a player uses it or not in normal play - they'll tend to save it only for occasions where death is otherwise unavoidable, or waste it on initial Gold Crowns for safer adventures! N.B. I wouldn't say you could re-roll Initial CS or EP with this.

 

[Drake_NZ]

Re: the jewelled mace - it is strange it can be carried to the GM series but seems to have no use.

My thought was that in book 17 since you can't use the sommerswerd they could put a rune of power or something on the mace and give it a bonus to CS or something. That would make up for the horrendous lose of 8 CS in that adventure (something that non-veterans dont have to worry about)

 

[SnowShadow]

Well if you take the view you can use the +5CS bonus from the Jewelled Mace vs "Creatures Created from Magical Objects", as in Haakon's Blue Diamond in Bk 5, I don't see why this bonus couldn't be used in Bk17 against all the Undead. Ixiataaga is released/re-'born' by the Deathstaff so all the Undead he creates can come from the same process.

As it stands there is no reason/penalty for using the Sommerswerd apart from one incident if memory serves near the end, unlike Bk12. That's the problem as a reader you know it is 'safe' because the option of using it giving the same reference number no matter where you are doesn't crop up; which may set alarm bells ringing in your head if you pay attention to details like that.

 

[Drake_NZ]

It could be stretching it to suggest that all of Ixiataagia's minions were also created by a magical object, but I like the idea of having an adventure where you can realistically go around smashing enemies with something other than the Swerd.

The point about not using the Sommerswerd is something I would like clarified also. My understanding was that you cannot use the blade at all in the city - UNTIL the text suggests you can use the blade. Then you whip it out and defend yourself with no issues. So my assumption was always that if the text doesn't present you with an option then the Sommerswerd is unusable.

I would really really like this clarified in book 17 because obviously the +8 CS bonus makes a HUGE difference to the book.