Weapons of Legacy: Powerful Dungeons & Dragons Items
Written: Jan 01 '09 (Updated Jan 02 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great new Items, great new concept.
Cons: Legacy items may not see much use, as the cost is high.
The Bottom Line: Recommended for DM's looking to make memorable villain encounters and for players wanting a special weapon tied to their powers.
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| brentp256's Full Review: Bruce Cordell, Travis Scout, Kolja Raven Liquette ... |
Weapons of Legacy is a supplement for the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons -- a game based on rules, dice, and the imagination. Released by Wizards of the Coast in July of 2005, this supplement is designed to introduce new items for characters that are powerful and imaginative.
Players will get the most benefits from this book, but it is probably the Dungeon Master
(DM: the person who runs the game) who will be purchasing this book and introducing its concepts into play.
The primary concept of this supplement is the "weapon of legacy" (although it can refer to non-weapons, too). A weapon of legacy is a type of item that grows in power with your character, which does two wonderful things for your campaign. The first is that a character can bond with their weapon, much as many heroes do in movies and novels, which makes for a more interesting character and experience. For example, as a player, instead of having a 2 long sword, I'd rather have Terminious, the rapier of a thousand cuts...once held by Tersandrius, killer of the orc lords, a rapier that grants more powers to those whom it deems worthy.
The second benefit is that players won't be selling their weapons every several levels in order to buy new weapons; they will just keep making their current one more powerful. I love the flavor this book adds, although be warned that it adds some power creep into the game. Characters with weapons of legacy may be a little more powerful than those that don't, so make sure that everyone gets one, or that those who don't get other items to help their characters.
Chapter 1: The Legacy p5-12
Chapter 1 describes what a weapon of legacy is, then goes on to provide a little detail as to how to use them in your campaign. It also provides some information on what effect it has on a villains CR (challenge rating: the relative power of an enemy), rituals (used to unlock powers), personal cost (each item requires a willing sacrifice which affects a character's stats. This is used to help balance the powerful item), damaging and re-forging legacy items, and what happens when two legacy items are used against each other.
This is a good chapter for the basics, and makes me very interested in using legacy items in my campaigns. Be warned, though, many players don't see the cost as worth it, and get rid of the legacy items (happened twice in my campaign). I recommend working with players ahead of time to see if anyone is interested before spending the time introducing them. I have used them quite effectively, though, in villains.
Chapter 2: Heroes of Legacy p13-22
This chapter covers new feats, spells, powers, and even a prestige class for those who wield legacy items. Legacy feats allow a character to unlock legacy powers. The trade of a feat for a power is designed to help balance the legacy items, but still, often, the legacy power is much better than a feat that was traded. Many players, though, who have a future planned out for there character will not want to trade feats for legacy items, so again, this could be a challenge in your group. There a also several other legacy feats that allow a legacy item wielder to have other bonuses.
The same issue holds true with spells, as the spell work nicely with legacy items (extra uses, defenses against legacy items, and more), but the trade off isn't always worth it. For example, taking spells to counter legacy items is only worth it if the DM is planning on using them for numerous villains in the game.
Prestige Class
Legacy Champion: a character based on a legacy item that derives more power from it then other characters.
Chapter 3: Items of Legacy p33-178
49 legacy items are included in t his chapter. For each item, there is a name and description, non-legacy game stats (in case the players don't unlock it), the history of the item along with targets skill checks required, legacy rituals associated with it to unlock it, requirements to wield it, and all the necessary game stats for using the item.
This chapter is the meat and potatoes of the book. The items are generally nice examples of legacy items, and are very handy for DM's to use for NPC's (non-player characters). One thing I love about using these for the enemies, is that it solves a problem whereby the main villains have super-weapons, but when they are inevitably defeated by the players' characters (PC's), the PC's get the powerful weapons. Using legacy items, the villains still get great powers and the PC's can't get the same powers, as you can make the legacy really difficult or evil to do.
Just reading through these items gave me many adventures worth of ideas just based on the items themselves.
Chapter 4: Founding Legacies p179-204
This chapter deals with founding, or creating, a new item of legacy. This is a great chapter for those players who enjoy the role-playing aspect more and wish to imbue the campaign world and their character with more substance. The player and the DM work together to design the founding event (a heroic, major event) and the powers and such the item will have (based on guidelines in the book). The chapter provides nice menus and criteria for creating a relatively balanced weapon of legacy to introduce into the game.
Chapter 5: Optional Rules p205-221
These rules include dual legacy items, mutable legacy items, monsters of legacy, epic level legacy items, and converting standard items into legacy items.
Cover
Henry Higgenbotham has taken the standard look of 3rd edition (old tome, decorated with jewels and symbols) and has made a cover that really stands out. With the center dragon-shield covering an array of cool looking weapons, I immediately know what the book is about.
Artwork and Design
The artwork is fairly straightforward and simple, which is nice. Each weapon of legacy has a color drawing that is usually quite fitting. Several other images depicting items in use, and other scenes are scattered throughout the book.
Final Thoughts
Weapons of Legacy is highly recommended for DM's and players who want to add a certain level of epic-destiny to their games. The average player won't have much use for this book, but any DM can use it to create memorable encounters with villains wielding these fantastic weapons.
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Title: Weapons of Legacy
Setting: generic
Design: Bruce R. Cordell, Kolja Raven Liquette, Travis Stout
Additional Design: Jennifer Clarke Wilkes
Cover Artist: Henry Higginbotham
Interior Artists: Steven Belledin, Dennis Crabapple, Jeff Easley, Wayne England, Fred Hooper, Doug Kovacs, David Martin, Jim Nelson, William O'connor,
Michael Phillippi, Wayne Reynolds, Dan Scott, Franz Vohwinkel
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
Original Publication Date: July 2005
Type: Hardcover
Item Code: 178620000
ISBN: 0-7869-3688-6
Cost: $34.95
Pages: 221
Required to Play:
Dungeon Master's Guide
Player's Handbook
Monster Manual
Recommended:
Epic Level Handbook
Expanded Psionics Handbook
Complete Adventurer
Complete Warrior
Races of the Wild
Recommended:
Yes
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brentp256
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Member: B. Austin Price
Location: Glen Ellyn, Illinois
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