A D20 System Supplement from
Fast Forward Entertainment
Rating:
(1 out of 5 hearts)
This hardcover book is a collection of 105 magic swords and daggers. Each weapon's past is narrated in a short story, with a bit more than three pages on average per weapon. An illustration of each weapon accompanies the story. It is possible to order a replica of that weapon from the publisher.
This book denotes a fairly poor knowledge of the d20 system on the part of the authors. Most of the stats for the swords contain elements that are erroneous in terms of the third edition. This quote from the preface is the first hint that something is wrong.
"Frankly, I've always felt that too little attention was given to the nobility, the majesty of fantasy role-playing worlds. Nothing suffers more than treasure, usually counted up for its experience point value, then either heaped with the rest or ignored entirely."
Of course, this is a reference to the experience point system of previous editions of the game, but it's not obvious that the author is aware of that.
Here are just a few of the strange elements I picked up in the part describing the powers of the swords. Some seem like simple mistakes, most are evidence of unfamiliarity with the d20 system. In parenthesis is the name of the weapon where the quote was taken. This is a very short list of errors; there are many, many more where these came from.
- "Wielder can sense motive and detect magic" (from Contesting Sword). Everybody can sense motive. Does this sword grant a bonus to the skill?
- "Wielder has free use of the Uncanny Dodge and Evasion feats" (Sword of Death). These are special abilities, not feats.
- "This huge greatsword serves as a shortsword +3" (Faithful Lightning). Hum. They probably mean that the wielder uses it as a weapon the size of a shortsword, not that it does 1d6 damage.
- "Sword bestows a +10 bonus to the owner's Armor Class and all resistances; owner gains +12 levels in all Charisma and Wisdom-based skills" (Souleye). All resistances? +12 levels most likely means +12 ranks.
- "The sword has limited E.S.P." (Sword of the Mayamori Islands). Previous edition rears its ugly head again.
- "Increases zombie's ability stats by 1 point every three days" (Zombie Blade). We have to guess the limit of this power from the stats of a zombie listed below. The stats of that zombie are particularly corrupted. First of all, he is an undead with a Con score. His attack bonus is +10/+5, which is wrong. The authors decided to give their zombie 10HD. Starting from there, that means a BAB of +5, and that does not grant a second attack. He should have a single attack at +10 because of his 20 str score. The damage from his sword should be 1d8+9, but it 1d8+10. It's a +4 sword and he gets a +5 str bonus. The modifiers from his abilities are not calculated in his skills. An entry states: penalty to turning (-5 to turning attempts). That should be Turn Resistance +5.
- "+5 versus Green Races creatures" (Talking Sword of Strength). Green Races creatures?
- Some swords have the power "grants wielder Bull's Strength" or "grants the wielder Cat's Grace". How does that apply? When should the wielder roll that 1d4+1? At what caster level?
Now this is the worst part: none of the weapons have caster levels, prerequisites or market prices. The absence of the last two elements don't impact much on the system, but absence of caster levels seems to indicate that the publishers of this book do not have a clear idea of how magic works in the d20 system. A few of the weapons' stats explain that such and such power is cast at x level, but many don't. So when a weapon grants a globe of invulnerability to its wielder (Sword of Takal), if you want to dispel it, just pull a DC out of your hat.
The stats of the characters found in the book suffer almost as badly. So all in all, this book is pretty bad in terms of the d20 system. On the other hand, some of the stories of the swords are very good and full of potential ideas. Some could be adapted to any game world.
In conclusion, if you need ideas or like reading short stories, this book is for you. If d20 system compliance is important to you, leave it on the shelves.
