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So for those who've read about it Terry Pratchett forged his own sword in the traditional ways when he was knighted, so given how a setting like Nightbane affects things forged in traditional, ritual fashions particularly if they're seen as iconic to people what powers might this unique blade possess as a result of the coming of Dark Day?

Generally nothing. Simply being traditional dosn't make it magical. For something to spontaniously become magical dispite those making it having no real idea about magic, while established, is very rare and has far more to do with random chance than with how iconic the maker veiwed the process.

Unless your mage, your odds of creating a magic blade is less than your odds of winning the lottery six times in a row while being struck by lightning.

And in those cases where it does happen, it tends to be tied more to the circumstances around the blade and the creators life than the weapon itself.

Nekira Sudacne wrote:Generally nothing. Simply being traditional dosn't make it magical. For something to spontaniously become magical dispite those making it having no real idea about magic, while established, is very rare and has far more to do with random chance than with how iconic the maker veiwed the process.

Unless your mage, your odds of creating a magic blade is less than your odds of winning the lottery six times in a row while being struck by lightning.

And in those cases where it does happen, it tends to be tied more to the circumstances around the blade and the creators life than the weapon itself.

I think you're kind of missing the point of the question to hear some nice ideas rather than just to go shooting it down with 'well that wouldn't happen'. There's no fun in 'gee nothing'.

Agrees with NS that most likely that nothing would happen.

However, Imagining that the sword was, let us say 'enhanced', I would attach a story that it had been a part of a druidic ceremony (maybe along with 6 other swords of similar make) that were impaled into the earth at a LLN. And they were there during the 1st waves of flood of PPE into the world of the Dark Day. Infusing the 7 swords with arcane powers.
This might be a good basis for a Rifter article if the story behind them is woven well. Maybe working them into an adventure. If there was ever a books about the happenings in England, these might fit in very well.

side note: In the above the "Dark Day' could easily be replaced with the "coming of the rifts".

Nightmask wrote:

Nekira Sudacne wrote:Generally nothing. Simply being traditional dosn't make it magical. For something to spontaniously become magical dispite those making it having no real idea about magic, while established, is very rare and has far more to do with random chance than with how iconic the maker veiwed the process.

Unless your mage, your odds of creating a magic blade is less than your odds of winning the lottery six times in a row while being struck by lightning.

And in those cases where it does happen, it tends to be tied more to the circumstances around the blade and the creators life than the weapon itself.

I think you're kind of missing the point of the question to hear some nice ideas rather than just to go shooting it down with 'well that wouldn't happen'. There's no fun in 'gee nothing'.

I guess it's just different opinions of fun. To me, just making X's ceblrity's Y magical isn't fun because it cheepens magic, to me.

Obviously, you don't need my permission to do whatever you'd like in your game.

http://www.news.com.au/technology/terry-pratchett-creates-a-sword-with-meteorites/story-e6frfro0-1225926584339

in fairness, Pratchett did forge his sword with Meteoric iron because he felt that was the closest thing to a 'magic sword' as he could pull off.

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=413455

At the end of last year I made my own sword. I dug out the iron ore from a field about 10 miles away - I was helped by interested friends. We lugged 80 kilos of iron ore, used clay from the garden and straw to make a kiln, and lit the kiln with wildfire by making it with a bow."

Colin Smythe, his long-term friend and agent, donated some pieces of meteoric iron - "thunderbolt iron has a special place in magic and we put that in the smelt, and I remember when we sawed the iron apart it looked like silver. Everything about it I touched, handled and so forth ... And everything was as it should have been, it seemed to me.".'

so there is an opportunity for the non-earthly metal to give the weapon a non-conventional effect.

on the other hand, there are other perspectives

glitterboy2098 wrote:http://www.news.com.au/technology/terry-pratchett-creates-a-sword-with-meteorites/story-e6frfro0-1225926584339

in fairness, Pratchett did forge his sword with Meteoric iron because he felt that was the closest thing to a 'magic sword' as he could pull off.

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=413455

At the end of last year I made my own sword. I dug out the iron ore from a field about 10 miles away - I was helped by interested friends. We lugged 80 kilos of iron ore, used clay from the garden and straw to make a kiln, and lit the kiln with wildfire by making it with a bow."

Colin Smythe, his long-term friend and agent, donated some pieces of meteoric iron - "thunderbolt iron has a special place in magic and we put that in the smelt, and I remember when we sawed the iron apart it looked like silver. Everything about it I touched, handled and so forth ... And everything was as it should have been, it seemed to me.".'

so there is an opportunity for the non-earthly metal to give the weapon a non-conventional effect.

on the other hand, there are other perspectives

Well given some of the magical artifacts we see were made using the same means as his sword there's really no reason why his sword can't end up a magical artifact like others have. It's really an unfair bias to insist that 'well it had to have been made in the past to be special', in its day those ancient artifacts were just as modern and yet you wouldn't have found anyone going 'well gee this is modern times that weapon isn't ancient enough to rate being special and magical'.

Look at the person forging the blade, make any magic appropriate to him. I've used the weapons of others before. Patton's Colt .45 does double damage, Booth's pistol does more damage when fired from ambush or surprise.

I would have it grant the ability to run AWAY very fast, grant a bonus to IQ (or raise it to 18) and give the skill or a bonus to the skill literacy, language, writing, reaserch, and some lore skills.

I'd say there's absolutely nothing magical about it. Partly because (as someone's already pointed out) there's absolutely nothing intrinsically special or unique about a traditionally forged sword. There's zillions of them. There's also nothing intrinsically special and unique about knighthoods or authors, since there's zillions of both of those things around too.

But mainly because I am not going to include "Terry Pratchett's enchanted sword" as a magical item in any remotely serious game, ever. It's so corny that it completely wrecks the tone.

Rallan wrote:I'd say there's absolutely nothing magical about it. Partly because (as someone's already pointed out) there's absolutely nothing intrinsically special or unique about a traditionally forged sword. There's zillions of them. There's also nothing intrinsically special and unique about knighthoods or authors, since there's zillions of both of those things around too.

But mainly because I am not going to include "Terry Pratchett's enchanted sword" as a magical item in any remotely serious game, ever. It's so corny that it completely wrecks the tone.

I gather some people can't seem to understand that a serious game doesn't include an exclusionary principle that means you can't have things like Pratchett's sword come up magical. A serious game doesn't stop being serious because something normal or fun also occurs. Some monster rips up half your party it's going to remain as serious as all get out even if you find Pratchett's sword in the next room. The party still suffered horribly and sometimes you need a break from the serious to keep going, that's why 'breather episodes' exist, because things aren't serious every second and sometimes they get downright enjoyable for a short while.

there is also many things in stories that have humble or common beginnings and become magical due to random chance, history, or belief. There are plenty of people who believe that Sir Pratchett's stories are magical. Who is to say that in a magical world and a magical time his sword would not come to represent those beliefs and desires and thus become magical.

Bobboky wrote:there is also many things in stories that have humble or common beginnings and become magical due to random chance, history, or belief. There are plenty of people who believe that Sir Pratchett's stories are magical. Who is to say that in a magical world and a magical time his sword would not come to represent those beliefs and desires and thus become magical.

Exactly. We're explicitly told focused faith and belief in the Nightbane setting can create magical effects or even magical artifacts, while it's left open-ended on what all might end up affected something like the Pratchett Sword becoming magical is well in keeping with the setting.

Bobboky wrote:there is also many things in stories that have humble or common beginnings and become magical due to random chance, history, or belief. There are plenty of people who believe that Sir Pratchett's stories are magical. Who is to say that in a magical world and a magical time his sword would not come to represent those beliefs and desires and thus become magical.

There's a difference between beliving his stories are magical as in evocative and magical as in you can use them to cast fireballs. I've yet to meet anyone to think the latter

Nekira Sudacne wrote:

Bobboky wrote:there is also many things in stories that have humble or common beginnings and become magical due to random chance, history, or belief. There are plenty of people who believe that Sir Pratchett's stories are magical. Who is to say that in a magical world and a magical time his sword would not come to represent those beliefs and desires and thus become magical.

There's a difference between beliving his stories are magical as in evocative and magical as in you can use them to cast fireballs. I've yet to meet anyone to think the latter

In Nightbane, Terry Prachette is one of the top spellcasters for the Bringers of Light(which are identical to the Lightbringers except they don't allow any jerks or anti-vampire fanatics/extremists...). More over his books have arcane theory and clues hidden throughout them, making them useful instruction for begining mages. Their Blast the Hollow Critic spells are a fireball variant that does 1d4 except to people who don't think Terry Prachette should have a magical sword. To such skeptics it does 6d6(and ignores any immunity to flame).
His fanclub is, of course, a front for recruiting Bringer of Light mages.

To answer the OP:His sword is a 'Weapon of Light' and grants a 'worthy' user Protection to Darkness(see Artifacts Special Powers in Nightlands).