Topic: switching Holy weapon

[mtpnj]

A specialty priest in my group lost his holy weapon he created using the Holy Weapon list in Channeling companion.  It was not destroyed but is in the posession of someone else.  He decided that he would just cast the permanent spell on another weapon and make that one his new holy weapon.

The list only allows one active weapon per character.  It is a permanent spell so the question is: How can he just make another weapon if the original still exists and the spell is permanent?

[rdanhenry]

How? GM generosity. Otherwise he needs to get to that weapon and dispel the spell or destroy the weapon or have either done by another agency. A reasonable level of GM generosity would figure the enchantment covers both weapon and priest and let a Dispel on the priest break the bond. Of course, that would allow an enemy to do likewise later once the precedent is set.

[markc]

  I would read the info in section 15.3 page 55 of the Chan Comp. It does not directly answer your question but it does have some good info.


  IMHO it depends on what the weapon is? How it was acquired? What is the weapons history? Or is it just a normal weapon blessed by his superior in his order? What is the PC's link to the weapon? Are the weapons forged by his order for his order? How easy is it to get another one? Are there special materials, prayers, times, etc that need to be followed to create the weapon bond?
  Once you answer those questions you are much further along the road to decide if he would try and rescue his weapon or just abandon it and go through the process of creating a new one.

  The Holy Weapon list is very different than other spell lists of this type in that it does not specifically say what will happen if the weapon is destroyed or lost. The other spell lists like it in the Essence Comp and the Ment Comp have penalties if you lose the weapon or it is broken for a time.

The Author of the Chan Comp is on the boards and he might be able to tell you if the spell list was to be like the others of this type. If not then hopefully the info above will help you decide what to do.

Does that help? Or hurt?
MDC

[Dreven1]

If I were GM'ing this type of problem I would do one of these options:

1)   Incorporate the item into a quest / adventure to get it back OR
2)   If I didn’t want to use that circumstance as a plot device I would, allow the Priest to pray about it over several days/weeks or sacrifice money/gold or another item to get the deity to release the power on the other item OR
3)   If it was inhibiting the character too much I would simply allow the character to recast the spell nullifying the other power in the other item just to get on with it…

Something else to think about… if this item was amplified by the character using blessings and power from his deity… don’t you think the deity would really WANT the player to go get it back? 

Hope that helps! 
Drev

[providence13]

A GM could rule it that the second casting of the spell cancels the previous bonding.
Simple, straightforward and no ceremony involved.
Do you want to make this a major side quest or just hurry on to the next part of the adventure? Sometimes I just want to move the plot along.

IMHO, it reads that the caster uses this List to make the weapon Holy.. no pomp and circumstance need be required.
Other games may vary.

[DangerMan]

IIRC the benefits of a holy weapon are not big enought to have him have to reclaim his weapon. IMO such a weapon would not be worth the price.

If you want some middle ground you could say he would have to advance a level or increase his ranks in the spell list before he could enchant another weapon.

[Cory Magel]

First of all, even though I authored the book and put together that spell list, my opinion is unofficial.  That is because it was, intentionally, unspecified.  It's going to depend on how you want to handle it in your game/setting/whatever.  So do what you feel is right for your game/setting.

The most important question, in my opinion, is: Is the actual specific weapon (i.e. that particular sword - or whatever) itself important to the character?

Is the Holy Weapon a simple tool that is, in the grand scheme, unimportant in and of itself?  Meaning is the spell, the caster, and the deity 'allowing' the casting of that spell are what makes the weapon holy? If so, I'd say casting the spell on another weapon automatically cancels out the existing one.  The power is in the faith, not the object.

This is really how I would use it since the character is going to likely find a better weapon at some point which it would want to make his/her holy weapon.  But, if you want your deities to have an unfavorable outlook on losing ones bonded holy weapon without much effort to get it back then you might make the character jump through some hoops.

[mtpnj]

Thanks everyone.  Lots of good ideas.  I did look up the spell list in mentalism companion.  Armsmaster weapon list I think it was.  That spell list seemed comparable and gives a -30 penalty for 1 week if you decided to break your bond.  I liked that as we had not gone into to much detail on how he had originally christened his weapon.  It is also not likely that the person would not willy nilly switch on a whim without downtime planned.

[providence13]

Like markc posted above, MenCo is a different book, List and a different spell.
If you want to play it like the Mentallism version, it's your game. Have fun!

For my game, I'd allow this spell to be cast on the jawbone of a donkey, or whatever else you had lying around.
But that wouldn't require the caster to treat the weapon as anything special. It's only if the caster uses it against an "enemy" of their faith (not the same as an enemy to the caster..) or a creature "of darkness".

The Mentallsim Armsmaster List Weapon Mastery is similar. Weapon Enchantment works on that specific weapon only if that caster wields it but works vs any opponent. The penalty is greater (-30) because the restrictions are less.