The Seven-Virtues Sword [Artifact Idea]

[Captain Hesperus]

So, I was cooking last night and while I was cutting vegetables, using my handy-dandy santoku knife, I wondered what 'santoku' meant. Wiki-fu revealed it meant 'three-virtues', referring to the fact it could be used to slice, dice and cut (though, I don't understand the difference...). This got me to thinking, what if someone made a weapon which rewarded the wielder for extolling the seven saintly virtues? Below is my first attempt at the weapon. Note it is designed for 2e, pre-2.5 lethality fix.

The Seven-Virtues Sword (Artifact *****)


In the latter part of the First Age, many of the Celestial Exalted had succumbed to hubris and debased activities, thanks to the poisonous effects of the Neverborn's Great Curse. With each successive generation, the Solars, Lunars and Sidereals became more corrupt and apt to acting out their deranged and destructive passions. One young Solar, recently Exalted, was repulsed by the depravity of his elders and peers and, fearing that their evil attributes would corrupt him, he sought out exemplars of virtuousness among the mortal populations of Creation. These people, he persuaded to give their lives to the creation of a powerful artifact weapon, and, after almost two years of dedicated preparation, he sacrificed the seven virtuous mortals. He quenched the super-heated metal in the combined blood and completed his weapon. It was only once he had completed, did he discover that the weapon would not cleave to him. In its reflection, he saw that all the sins he'd reviled in his fellows, he had visited upon his mortal sacrifices in his preparations to sacrifice them. With a nod and a sigh, he reversed the blade and drove it through his own chest.


Since then, the blade has moved throughout Creation, following its own, unknowable destiny. It has been wielded by warriors, mages and savants all, mortal and Exalted. Strangely, it does not care whether it is wielded for good or evil ends, only that the seven virtues are extolled in its wielder. Each person who possessed it used it for momentous ends, only for it to move on afterwards, whether the wielder wanted or not. Sometimes it was stolen from a treasure cache, snatched from a fallen warrior on a battlefield, or lost in storms at sea or beneath avalanches. But inevitably, it finds its way back into the hands of another wielder, one who meets its strongly defined sense of virtuousness.


The Seven-Virtues Sword is an Orchalcum Reaper Daiklave, with all the statistics of a weapon of that Magical Material, its blade tinged red with the blood of the innocents lost in its construction. However, it has a number of additional bonuses based upon the sacrifices that went into its construction. Each bonus is a gift from the blade to the wielder for each virtue they adhere to. Should the wielder no longer adhere to a specific virtue, then the bonus is lost until such time that they make proper amends to the spirit of the blade. this process is described below.

• The Gift of Humility: In accepting that they are no better and no worse than any other person, the wielder gains the Gift of Humility. This gift reduces the weapon's attunement cost to 0 motes, but the weapon still counts as attuned to the wielder due to the harmonization process. By this gift, even mortals may attune to the sword, even without an Essence pool.
  

• The Gift of Abstinence: By denying themselves all the pleasurable things that distract them from their duty, the wielder gains the Gift of Abstinence. This gift increases the weapon's Speed by +1.
  

• The Gift of Patience: By understanding that rash thought leads to rash action, the wielder gains the Gift of Patience. This gift increases the weapon's Accuracy by +2.
  

• The Gift of Kindness: In knowing that when death is at hand, the swift death is the kindest, the wielder gains the Gift of Kindness. This gift increases the weapon's Damage by +2.
  

• The Gift of Generosity: By putting themselves out for the benefit of others without thought of recompense, the wielder gains the Gift of Generosity. This gift increases the weapon's Defense by +2.
  

• The Gift of Chastity: By refraining from sexual thoughts and impulses, the wielder gains the Gift of Chastity. This gift increases the weapon's Rate by +2.
  

• The Gift of Diligence: In acceptance of their duty to protect and uplift others, the wielder gains the Gift of Diligence. This gift grants the wielder a combo-like effect involving the Charms Surprise Anticipation Technique, Call The Blade and Flawless Mirror Discipline. The wielder counts as having all the prerequisites and minimum Ability and Essence traits, for all aspects of these Charms. All Essence costs of the combo are met by the blade and the Gift of Diligence.
  

Losing and Regaining Gifts


The Seven-Virtue Sword is unyielding to the unworthy. It measures all who bear it through the mirror of its own flawless virtue and reviles those who fall short. Should the attuned wielder breach one of the virtues, then the associated Gift is instantly revoked. Should all the virtues be breached, the weapon will immediately sever all ties to the attuned wielder and will resist all attempts by that person to re-attune, as if it were attuned to another person. However, should the wielder seek to atone for the lapse of specific virtues before all the gifts are lost, then the sword may accept the penance and re-invoke the Gift. To regain gifts in this manner, the wielder must become so like the virtue, that they are almost the embodiment of it for a number of days equal to their highest Virtue. For instance, a breach of Generosity might require the wielder to permanently gift others items of value they possess, buy fine food and drink for the poor, donate anonymously to charities or acts of that nature. The ST adjudicates what actions meet the required virtue, counting them towards the penance.


A breach of the virtue of Chastity only be re-invoked after three weeks of chaste living.

So, too little? Too much?


Captain Hesperus

 

[uteck]

It is only made of Orichalcum? I think an argument that Starmetal would be a better fit, especially if it was made from dead gods of these virtues that had failed and been punished. A Sidereal spent centuries spying on these gods to get them audited just so he could make this sword. And being Starmetal it would make better sense that it can allow anyone to use it since it bends fate to allow it.


I think just giving the weapon more bonus' is too wimpy, it should grant nifty powers that befits a 5 dot artifact.


Humility would give a bonus to all social actions.


Abstinence would increase MDV and resist shapeing attacks.


Patience, for each turn you only defend you gain 1 autosuccess for one attack as you learn you opponets style, no limit (also includes social attacks).


Kindness, good deeds will be rewarded in kind?


Generosity would ensure that fate always steps in to provide once a day


Chastity, the weilder is not affected by differences in Apperance


Diligence, current power seems good.

 

[Captain Hesperus]

Starmetal does make more sense, especially since the sword moves through Creation in furtherance of its own Fate.


So if we look at each virtue having 'compound effects', the Gift of Kindness could be: +2 Damage and for each kind act performed without thought for recompense, the wielder gains +1 to a pool of bonus successes. This pool can be expended singularly or as a multitude to any action, after the dice are rolled, but before the successes are calculated. The successes can be added to any pool, be they a dice pool, static pool or diceless action, turning failures or botches to successes and turning merely adequate successes into phenomenal achievements worthy of the acts of kindness the wielder performed.


Captain Hesperus

 

[ghoti115]

That sounds like a good effect for Kindness, but you may want to set the max number to the total number of virtures they have "attuned" making the maximum 7 and the minimum 1 because you can't get the success pool without having Kindness "attuned". Maybe set this up so it cannot be used for combat actions and have the Patience version set up with the same rules, but only for combat actions. Or Patience pool can only be used when the sword is unsheathed and the Kindness can only be used when the sword is sheathed.


As an idea for Generosity, maybe have it provide a free channel of any one virtue once per scene (I think that's the normal rule) that does not count against the normal limits. For example, you can use the sword to channel Valor once for free and still use willpower to channel each of the four virtues as normal thoughout the scene.


Humility could reduce the willpower cost to resist being influenced by an outside effect by 1 (to a minimum of 1).


Abstinence could be an easy add 1 to your MDV for each week you refrain from a vice (excluding sex which is covered by Chastity) with a maximum equalt to half the number of "attuned" virtues (rounded up). Basically, you are clearing your mind of any mundane outside influences which allows you to clear your mind of supernatural influences more easily.


For Chastity it would add 1 to your Appearance for each week you refrain from sexual activities (though looking isn't a crime) with a maximum equalt to half the number of "attuned" virtues (rounded up). As you remain chaste, you become more desireable.


I didn't bother with Diligence because I agree that the original power sounds good. Also, maximums can be raised if these don't seem good enough for a level 5 Artifact. Also, the sword should have been forged from a few of the Magical Materials to gain all of these properties. I would say Orichalcum, Starmetal, and Moonsilver at the very least.

 

[uteck]

Way does acting kind allow increased damage? I was thinking that the bonus should reflect the virtue unless you want to make some odd 'cursed' First Age weapon that grants a bonus opposite to the virtue.


If you want to keep the +2 Damage, then what if the damage was bashing only (but treated as Lethal for determining damage) and you could not kill your opponet while using these bonus'. If you want to kill them, then you can't use the Kindness bonus.

 

[Captain Hesperus]

The Kindness Gift is that, when violence is the very last resort, then the swifter the target is slain the more merciful the death. It is kinder to end suffering quickly, than to engage in a long, tortuous execution. If you had the option of the method of our own execution, would you prefer to be beheaded with a razor-sharp, finely-honed blade or a barely-sharpened chunk of pig iron?


Captain Hesperus

 

[uteck]

Frankly I would opt for neither and go with option three and kill you instead. It all depends on how you define the virtues. Abyssals would see it as kinder to kill the victom rather then the person inflicting the harm. Why does the Kindness virtue find it so hard to offer forgivness and compassion and demads death as the only option? That is what it boils down to when the only game mechinaic is increased damage.


Is killing the person being a bit hasty and going agiant Patience, and giving in to your bloodlust against Abstinence? A truly Humble person would not place themself in the position of desiding who lives and dies.

 

[Captain Hesperus]

In the case of 'kill or be killed', the kindness would be to take your attacker's life as quickly and painlessly as possible. It does not go against Patience, as long as the wielder had expended every other avenue to avoid an armed confrontation. But in many cases, especially in Exalted, the only option available is fight or die. Going against Abstinence? I think not. It would only be going against that virtue if the wielder began indulging in a wanton frenzy of murder and slaughter, hacking apart innocent victims left, right and center. And the Humble person does not place themselves in the position where they decide life and death, they merely do what they must to preserve the lives of their allies. They take no pleasure in the taking of life, nor do they exult in their capacity to do so. They perform the task to the best of their abilities and then dwell on it as little as possible. Let's not confuse humility with passivity.


The reason the virtues are focused on combat is because that was the original purpose of the weapon.


Captain Hesperus