[SR]Spiritblades

[Kai]

Mainly for Atragon and his insane game, but thought I'd post for all and sundry.

Spiritblades
In ancient times, smiths forged weapons of great skill for prominent warriors, blades that carried their own names and some say were made for each person and no other. While the stories were scoffed at by many, the masters of the katana held them in high regard. With the return of magic to the world, these forgers of blades looked to magic to imbue their weapons with power. Enchanting these blades into weapon focuses while demonstated to work seemed only the first steps.

Researched in solitude and quests to the astral plane, Shinichiro Jinnai suceeded in creating the first spiritblade, a katana forged by hand and bound with the essence of a elemental of fire. The blade was named Inferno, and bound to Himura Daisuke. There was no mistaking that the sword Inferno shared its weilders aura astrally, and physically the blade never cooled and had the power to ignite anything it touched should Daisuke will it. It was hailed as a momenteous achievement, and the secret of this technique was closely guarded.

As with all secrets, this one was worth a lot to many people, and it was only a matter of time before a team of shadowrunners successfully kidnapped Jinnai and subseqeunt efforts to obtain the knowledge spread it through the corporations. Not many blades were forged however, as there was a high cost for this power that was revealed when Inferno broke into enough pieces to have the bond fail. Daisuke, once a physical adept of great promise, had his ability nearly burned out with the breaking.

Further research showed that the bonding of a spiritblade not only broke down an elemental, but destroyed some of both it and the bonded person's essence. While the blade was intact, the bond could not be broken and the loss of essense could not be detected well. Once the bond was broken however, the remainder of the elemental's essense returned to the astral plane but being so intwined with the bonded person's own essense, it ripped free some of it as well.

Considering the resources, time, and calibre of the person to bond such a blade to, most of the plans were scrapped, being used only in rare circumstances.

Da Rules
Karma to bind the focus = 14 x Force
There is only ever a first bonding. (14 = 8 from WF and 6 from spirit focus)

Force of spirit needed = force of WF + 1
Karma to bind the spirit to the blade, 10 x spirit force, per ability.

Resource cost for raw materials = 100,000 x Force of spirit

Spiritblades can be bound with any ability an elemental normally posesses that can be used by contact, no ranged only abilities. Generic improvements such as +1 power or +1 damage level can also be gained as an ability in this way. The blade itself reflects the elemental bound to it in some way, hot to the touch, almost transparant, looks wooden, etc

The character bound to a weapon must have some magical ability and often displays slight characteristics associated with the element used in the spiritblade. If a spiritblade is broken, roll 1d6. On a result of 1 or 2, the bond is broken and the character loses half the force of the spirit blade in essence, round down. If this takes the character below 0, the character is assumed to have .1 essence, essentially only enough to live. If the blade itself is broken but not the bond, the character is under a irresistable compulsion to repair the blade. The original maker of the spiritblade is the only one who can attempt to repair it. If the blade is broken again before it can be repaired, the bond is automatically broken.

Example

Inferno - Level 5 Spiritblade of Fire

Force of spirit required = 6
Karma to bind spirit for +1 power = 60
Karma to bind spirit for ignite on contact = 60
Karma to bind to Daisuke = 70
Total Karma cost = 190
Total nuyen cost = 600,000

[Ancient History]

You realize that you could have received the same effect by tracking down the True Name of a free spirit and then enchanting your weapon-focus katana as a Unique Focus receptacle for its spirit, then binding said spirit into said focus?

Otherwise, I think ye'd need to pay karma per annum to renew the bond twixt blade and spirit.

[Cash]

Mainly for Atragon and his insane game, but thought I'd post for all and sundry.

Spititblades

Swords that chew tobaccy?

[Kai]

Yeah, yeah, spelling fixed.

And, actually no, AH, not really, as that would involve the actual spirit in total invested into the blade, with the possibility of it being set free/getting loose, which wasn't the idea. And well Free Spirits would take a heck of a lot more skill to bind to stuff anyways.

As for per year, I think that's a little to harsh and I also really dislike anything that's time dependant to function, as it can be easily abused by players and GMs alike as to how fast time moves.

[Ancient History]

s' just a thought man. Another angle, if'n ye will, more in keeping with published material. Ye and yers are free tae ignore my take on things.

I only mentioned the yearly tithe because you can bind an elemental to guard a site by feeding it karma annually. Not too far fetched to go from site to object, considering it was already done with the ELemental Scrolls of Ak'lea'ar.

[Kai]

Yeah, that's what it was based on, math wise, you can bind a spirit for a year by paying its force in karma. While x100 for permanent was a bit much, and x10 for permanent too little, x10 per ability for permanent seemed a good compromise. Which actually, seems I forgot to notate that bit:

A spiritblade can have a number of abilities up to its force.

[MooCow]

Thanks Kai. This is a neat idea. I believe I shall be making use of this in my campaigns.

[Anguirel]

Are all Karma costs paid by the bonder, or are some paid by the forger (if different)?

[Kai]

If its forged by and NPC, paid by the bonder. If the forger is a PC, they can contribute up to half of the cost if they really felt like it I suppose.