The Origins and Role of Magic Weapons

Magic weapons, like all cool magic, should be rare and special. The average person won't even have a sword or other cool weapon (remember, only 1% of humans are adventurers). But what about people that would have weapons as part of their jobs, such as soldiers and policemen?

These fellows are technically fighters by class, but I would not consider them part of the 1%-ers. I consider them to be experts in human-to-human combat, equipped with standard-issue, minimal, for-urban-use, gear. Over the years, they could rise in level, like the MM1e describes larger bands "led by the 3rd level fighter". But, to me, that is just their job.

It's like getting your airplane mechanic's license. Guys can be jet repairman in the Air Force, but that does not help them get their A&P license. Those military guys are considered specialists, while to get your A&P license, you have to be a generalist.

I think of the Fighter class like that. You are not just a guy with skill with a sword, you are not just a "town watch" guy, you are not just a guy with a spear marching in an army. You are an ADVENTURER! You have training in multiple weapons, you have to learn general survival skills, you have to fight terrifying MONSTERS, not just other people, etc.

Only an adventurer would ever have a magic weapon. A town policeman, or palace guard or whatever, would never have one, even if he was the proverbial "7th-level captain of the guard". A great asset in a brawl or scrum he would be, no doubt, but not made of the same mettle as an adventurer. He would never have any occasion to need, or be awarded, a magical weapon. He is purely mundane, non-heroic.

Weapons from Wizards

An adventurer would come into a basic magic weapon most likely as payment from a high level magic user. As I discussed in my post about the magical economy, wizards are always in need of magical ingredients. Magic items take a long time to prepare, so they can't spend all their time outside, nor would they want to face the danger. Since they can command so much money for their finished magical products, they can pay good money for the necessary ingredients, and hire the adventurers to do the dirty work.

Rather than cash, the needy wizard might offer a magic item in payment. Or conversely, the magic user might simply give the magic item to the PC if the PC would absolutely require it to get the job done.

Weapons from Holy Orders

A magic weapon could also come as a reward for assistance to a clerical organization. Clerics would naturally produce these magical weapons as part of their never-ending war against demons, devils, and undead, most of whom cannot be harmed by non-magical weapons. Low level clerics could be given one as part of their initiation ceremony into 2nd or 3rd level or something.

Fighters or other classes might be awarded a magic item by the clerics if they take some oath or pledge to help fight evil, or something, or help the clerics on some particular quest against spiritual darkness.

+1 type weapons would be considered standard and available to low level adventurers. But what about the higher pluses? The DMG gives us a hint how this would work, in its description of +3, +4, and +5 armor, which it says is constructed out of different, rarer, even "otherworldly" material (meteoric iron, adamantium, etc).

More Powerful Magic Weapons

I am thinking that multiple pluses on any magical item have to be earned with some special task or quest.

For example, let's say you somehow come into possession of the magical formula for charging your weapon with "supernatural power". Maybe you find it in a book, maybe an old wizard gives it to you, whatever. The task: to wrap your weapon 7 times around, in the fresh hide of a juvenile dragon, then leave it upon a consecrated alter upon the tallest mountain, under the light of the full moon. Whammo, your +1 sword is now +2!

I am thinking a +3 weapon, a la the DMG suggestion, would require special construction from the start, made out of some special material (like can only be purchased in person from the ancient dwarven smiths deep under the mountains). Then it would have to be enchanted like normal to +1, THEN "charged up" according to some special magical formula, perhaps twice.

Gifts from the Gods

I would postulate that +4 and +5 weapons are solely the domain of the lesser and greater gods, respectively. Only they would be able to forge them from such otherworldly materials, then imbue them with such celestial power, to give them their permanently devastating powers. Of course, the gods would only grant such weapons as part of some greater plan, in return for the completion of some quest or heroic deed.

Monster-specific Weapons

Special-purpose weapons, the ones with special bonuses against particular monsters (like dragons, giants, lycanthropes, etc) could be created from a fairly standard formula: press the weapon for six days in the oozing skins of the monsters, then boil the weapon for 6 days in the blood of the monsters, then, spread the powered dust of the monsters' bones over the weapon, continually for six days.... That would give them the proper taste for the flesh, blood, and bones of that particular monster, I reckon.

Weapons with Personalities

Weapons with personalities of their own? To my mind, those involve SACRIFICE. Using some profound, and possibly gruesome, ritual, the soul of a living being is transferred into the magical weapon. The person was so fanatical about their mission in life, they willingly entered into a weapon, in order to be able to continue to advance that mission, forever! Naturally, they will attempt to domineer anyone holding them into a complete devotion to that task as well...

Or perhaps a greater god created a soul from scratch and put it directly in the weapon. As an infant, the weapon is of course out to prove itself and see the world while fulfilling its divine commission with great zeal, causing who knows what complications to the player character who attempts to weild it to his own purpose!

An Analysis of the Magical Economy and the Rarity of Magic

Reading the 1e DMG description of how to create magic items, such as potions and scrolls, I am left with the strong impression that magic is Not As Easy As We Assume. I mean, according to Gygax's description, even the creation of the ink for a magical scroll requires some expremely rare and potent ingredients.

I think our minds tend to zoom into that scene of the Mage's Dusty Laboratory, with shelves lined with mason jars stuffed with magical ingredients. Ok, that's cool, I get it, but think back one step... How did all those cool magical ingredients get into those jars? We are talking some crazy stuff, like Blood of Dragon, Liver of Doppleganger, Pituitary Gland of Rakshasa, Testicle of Mountain Giant... Not exactly stuff lying around and about, if you see what I mean.

Someone, somewhere, had to go pull a Major Bad-ass Power Move, and forcibly take that Stinger off the tail of the Wyvern, that Heart had to be cut from behind the ribs of the Troll, those Lungs had to be removed from the chest of the Red Dragon, the Poison had to be mikled by hand from the Snakes of the Medusa Head, etc etc etc, AND get them back to the magic user, in short enough time that he could extract their Essense, and get it into that dusty-looking mason jar on that shelf over back there in the corner.

Obviously, a magic user is going to be willing to pay good money for these rare and difficult to find ingredients. Thus, we open a window into the workings of the Magical Economy.

I think we all tend to default into the Harry Potter school of magic, imagining that it is just something that happens with the wave of a wand and the right magical words. D&D magic is more like chemistry, harnessing the power of magical ingredients. It is hard work, it takes a lot of time, and it is therefore RARE, and EXPENSIVE.

The magical economy provides a never-ending basket of adventure hooks. Rather than just hanging out at taverns hoping to hear of something cool in a nearby woods, we would expect to find a well-established network of Wizard Want Ads.

Attaining supplies is also the exact plot device we need to coerce Magic Users into adventuring parties. Why else would these pencil neck weirdo geeks endanger their precious and vulnerable skins, taking time away from their all-important research and study, to confront deadly monsters? Trust me, these low STR, low CON types would much rather be surrounded by books than slinking into dungeons WITH NO ARMOR. Think about it, every spell they cast burns through more precious and expensive ingredients, and its a total pain in the ass to prepare properly in the first place.

Rich mages will happily pay people to go do the dangerous stuff and bring the precious ingredients to them. But what about a wizard who is down on his luck, running short on the gold? To him, accompanying a war party full of big-muscled meat-heads is just a bargaining chip to help him acquire more of his precious magical components.

Yes, he will agree to accompany your party on its (insane) quest, AND (perhaps) support it with some magical assistance (when absolutely needed), IF he gets time (and assistance) butchering the bodies of the slain magical creatures. THAT is probably the typical attitude of the "adventuring" magic user.

Oddly enough, it is the Mage who is most likely to be into the Hack and Slash campaigning mode. The fighters and thieves are surely most interested in acquiring All The Gold and Jewels with as Little Blood Spilled as Possible. XP for GP rewards their clever manueverings. Mages, on the other hand, NEED BODY PARTS!!!

You can easily see this conversation taking place:

Figher - "Great job, Thief, finding that secret entrance and hidden causeway. That led us right to the treasure!"
Thief - "Yeah, that idiot dragon surely don't need this huge pile of cash, he sure gonna be pissed when he comes back in to find it gonzo! haw haw"
Mage - "No, no, wait, guys, don't you think we should go back and take care of that evil beast, I mean, uh, think of the poor villagers, I really think we should kill it, and hack its body into small, easily-carried pieces...."

In a typical D&D society, how many people are even going to be attempting a career as a magic user? What, 1 in a 1000? In a decent-sized city of 10,000 people, that means there would only be 10 magic users in the whole city. How many of them would be a high enough level to even be able to create magic items??? Maybe 2, or 3? Think about it, only 2 or 3 guys able to create magic items for a WHOLE TOWN.

And on top of that, a potential magic item has to be crafted of only the finest, rarest, and most expensive material possible. If it is not a perfect physical specimen, the magic enchantment will not hold. Can't you just see this conversation happening with an ambitious young fighter:

"You want me to enchant THAT? Look, sonny, let me give you a clue. If you want a magic sword, you need to start with the finest dwarven-forged steel, crafted by their ancient master smithies, deep in the mountain under the earth, smelted from the purest alloys... NOT that half-bronze piece of junk hammered together last week in Billy's backyard furnace... Smack that up against a dragon's hide, it'll snap in like two second, kid..."


Ok, in summary, given 1) the need for only the finest (read: most expensive) raw material, 2) the scarcity of high level magic users doing the painstakingly slow enchanting, and 3) the perpetual shortage of magic ingredients taken from the dead bodies of powerful dangerous monsters....

Magic Will Be Rare. And Expensive.

But will give PC's endless adventuring hooks in their attempts to acquire those materials, and/or come to possess the magic items directly.