Unbroken Coast Downtimes 3

 WINTER IS COMING: Anyone who has taken Unbroken Coast downtime will have to face winter when it arrives. Make sure you have some plan for food and shelter, or else when winter comes you will have to make saves vs disease, starvation, death by frost, etc. One way to avoid this fate is sailing away to another world where it isn’t winter, like the elves do. However, doing so estranges you from time. You will be unable to take downtime actions in the Unbroken Coast.

(If you have a stronghold to stay in, you should be fine for winter, otherwise try to find some friend who can offer hospitality. If neither is available, you can buy common food and lodging for winter for 120 coin and poor-quality for 36 coin.) (I’ll @ you all when it’s time to resolve this, just warning you now so you know in advance)

Events

Harvest: The year is winding down; the harvest festival has arrived. Everyone is either working in the fields reaping their crops, bringing the food into storage, or celebrating the harvest. Towns hold feasts where people gather and give thanks to the local gods and make sacrifices. Gods associated with farming, like Mithras or Lady Spring, occasionally attend these festivals. If anyone wants to spend the harvest festival in a specific town, talk to anyone specific during the festival, or have a cleric make an offering to a particular god, @ me in discord to resolve the details. 

Weather: The Homeward Wind blows through the coast, helping ships return from long voyages and helping land journeys by blowing away bad weather. Monsters are also less active, as they get ready for winter. Travel through the wilderness is much easier. Beware, eventually the Homeward Wind will fade and be replaced by the icy North Wind, which is nigh-impossible to travel through. So this period of safe travel is best used to return home before the harvest festival ends and winter sets in, not start new expeditions. 

The Grain-Ship: Beacon City sent out a riverboat filled with grain to the town of Newmill, which they heard was facing famine. Newmill rejoices; they will make it through the winter without starvation. This may be a bad move for Beacon City, however, because…

Dragons: Around a half-dozen red dragons attacked harvest festivals in the villages surrounding Beacon City, burning food as it was stored and transported. A hero who now calls himself Johnny Dragonslayer killed a dragon with a single arrow, revealing that these dragons are weaker than usual. Beacon City sent groups of archers to guard nearby harvest festivals after the first day of attacks, and the dragons stopped attacking. The dragons flew north when retreating. Beacon City is trying to buy grain at high prices, to make up for the damage to their stores, though barely any trade caravans are operating this late in the year. Anyone who can get a trade caravan to Beacon City before winter sets in and travel becomes nigh-impossible will be able to sell their grain for 3x normal price. 

Omens: The god Giantslayer showed up to a harvest festival in Meadhaven. While drunk on several barrels of mead, he revealed that he’s in the Unbroken Coast area because someone pissed off the fire giants and he thinks they’ll try something next year. While these are just rumors, most of the town witnessed feats of strength like lifting a hill and moving it to give better shade, which seemingly prove that it really was Giantslayer. 

Downtimes

Drava seeks an animal trainer for his sun-cheetah, following a rumor he learned from an orc patrol. The animal trainer who lives in the hills is an orc woman named Sevenhides who rides a giant bear. She warns that animals of the cat kingdom are always aloof and will not follow orders the way a hound would, only blood-magic or the passing of generations can change that. However, she can train the sun-cheetah in some basics, for 500 coin. 

If you pay: Sun-cheetah now treats Drava as safe, and friendly but stray-cat-friendly. Additionally, choose one of these to have the sun-cheetah trained to do.

• Follow: Stay close, acting as a light source. After 1d6 hours it gets bored of following and wanders off. 

• Hunt: Try to hunt something, if successful then return and lead you to it. 

• Don’t hunt: Refrain from hunting without permission, even if the pack animals or livestock seem really tasty.

• Ambush: Join a fight, only one where the enemy is unaware. Roll morale to not flee if faced with combat longer than an initial first strike. 

With more downtimes spent in the hills and more coin given to the animal tamer, you can train more of these behaviors, or request your own.

Aralake/AgentXII go shopping in Beacon City and look for interesting weapons and armor. A grizzled old war bear is willing to part with his absurdly specialized polearm, but will only give it to someone brave and strong enough to wrestle it away from him. (@ me for details if you want to try) reward is: the counter-lancer-fauchard-ranseur: As polearm, unhorse mounted opponents on a hit) 

Additionally, the two are celebrated in the city for their role in defeating a pirate ship. Lots of free drinks at taverns, mostly.  

ShopGirl sets up a stall in front of the Snail House, a property in the goblin city of New Gobmuck, and tries to sell Giant Coffee Beans and a basket of the orange fruit. A wealthy goblin named Hathasahat and his many minions buy these… but it turns out he paid in speculative goblin currency instead of proper coin. Lost 2 giant coffee beans and a basket of orange fruit, gained 1,500 frogcoin. (false-silver coins with frog images on them, only as valuable as you can bamboozle people into thinking they are worth) 

A goblin will deliver a note addressed to Shopgirl and written in elvish, it requires translation. 

Eddratius seeks a non-goblin apprentice in New Gobmuck. He meets and can recruit Lloyde vim’Torpore, a L2 magic user from a prestigious family whose only notable trait is being from a prestigious family. (Spells: magic missile, light, shield, levitate) Eddratius also gains a rival, the goblin wizard Chimerlin, who is offended by his refusal to take goblins as apprentices. Any further adventures or downtime in the city will be interfered with. 

Knighto seeks a wizard to cast plant growth. There is only one wizard in the land known to have that spell: Narene the master of timber. His tower is on a forested volcanic island full of dragon-spawned monsters, and is guarded by animate trees, so visiting to ask for help will be a challenge. Other known wizards who don't know the spell but are powerful enough to cast it if given a scroll: Zaphoraz, court wizard of Prince Vantage. Gristleglue, the necromancer responsible for a ghoul disaster, currently being held prisoner in Beacon City awaiting trial. 

Domain Matters

These are addressed to the master of each domain, but everyone else can act on the information here, as rumors from these places spread. 

Coppercave:

The mining “town” of coppercave is doing well-ish. Here is the report sent to their leader, Badger. 

• It’s still just a bunch of tents and a few wooden buildings built near a cave, not a proper town. No copper has been mined. However, they expect to be able to start mining next year once winter passes.

• The truce with the hillfolk is holding, they now visit the settlement to trade. 

• A team of clerics and fighters sent by the cult of the psychopomp, lead by a man in silvery magic plate armor, cleared all remaining ghouls in the cave. They present 12 ghoul heads to the miners and send Badger a bill for 300 coin.

• Johann Dredge, the mining engineer in charge of the town, seems annoyed that the mine has been delayed by the ghouls and won’t be able to start mining this year.  

Kingdom of the Valley

Here are the events Knighto faces when returning to his castle.

• Taxes: The town of Silver Lake Abbey sends 1000 coin in tax, as well as enough food to count as ‘common food’ for all living in the castle. 

• Newmill is not paying taxes, still damaged by the war, but expects to be able to next year if the harvest is good and no further disasters happen. Thanks to a gift of grain from Beacon City, they no longer face famine. Hugo Miller, their mayor, asks that the kingdom repay this gift somehow.  

• Colette Rivers, a lawful priestess of the three rivers and the lake, says she has a message for Knighto: “The rivers and the lady of the lake are protecting your kingdom from the locust swarms on the other side of the valley because they are still somewhat attached to the people, but expect to receive worship and sacrifices in return for their help like they used to.They ask whether you plan to restore the priesthood at their temple or build a new one for them.” She asks for a reply, so she can deliver a message to the lake and rivers. 

• Dergo has handled various minor matters of rulership, in his role of regent. The servants of the castle say that the people are still uncertain about him; he’s wise but kind of creepy. 

Unbroken Coast downtimes 2

 (Context for anyone reading who isn’t in the game, this is an update for the people playing in my Basic Fantasy RPG game, the Unbroken Coast.)

Events: 

The leaves are starting to orange. There will only be more downtime, then the seasons will turn. 

The war with the dark lord has ended, the kingdom in the valley is starting to recover. A plague of locusts has afflicted the West side of the valley, but the locusts have not yet crossed the lake or river to the East side. If they do, with the autumn harvest so soon, it will be a disaster for the valley and many will starve. 

The sky is full of more stars than usual. Astrologers say that the celestial gods have all assembled around the Unbroken Coast, expecting some kind of threat. A bright red light can sometimes be seen on the horizon, something coming in from the East, over the ocean. 

A pillar of flame devastated a small island, visible from miles around. Rumors say that this was caused by an evil wizard.

Some kind of war in the hills seems to have been averted, to the disappointment of countless mercenaries. 

People are feeling superstitious and panicky, with all the terrible omens recently. Magic-users and anyone else who superstitious peasants might react badly to should probably be low-key while traveling. Beacon City has sent clerics to most towns, to reassure people and defend against evil and stop people from starting mobs or witch-hunts.

Downtimes

Hatkin travels  around Knighto’s lands, with a group of hired bards, to spread his legend: The tale of how he rode on the giant ant Antkin to chase down an army of orcs. This seems to be the perfect time to spread this story, right after the war and during a time of tension between the townsfolk and the patrolling orcs. Hatkin, who is now sometimes called “the Antrider Knight”, has become a local folk hero. The orcs patrolling the land heckle the performances and say that when the next dark lord eventually takes over, they’ll get revenge. Good reputation with the people of the valley, bad reputation with the orcs.

The people of the valley are also now willing to accept giant ants as neighbors, though you should probably wait until spring to bring them in, so they don’t have to face the winter with little time to prepare. 

(Write this legend down on your character sheet. Most everyone in Knighto’s valley has heard it, by the end of next year it will soon spread to other settlements, and other worlds at GM discretion)

Lurk seeks out temples of the bird-headed sun god, and learns that he is called the Horizon Bird. He is one of several closely-related Lawful solar gods, collectively known as the sons of the sun. Horizonbird isn’t widely worshiped on the Unbroken Coast, his cult is in faraway pyramid kingdom, but he has a statue in one of Beacon City’s temples and a small shrine in the home of a prominent falconer. A cleric at the temple can initiate Lurk into drawing spells from the sun, though this would impart a Lawful alignment. (Your choice on whether to do that.) 

They also teach a bit about Horizonbird. He is a god of both protection and vengeance, who spends most of his time flying around the world tracking down demons. His eyes possess great power. People sacrifice to him by giving food or treasure to hunting birds, to carry up to his palace in the stars; people pray to him for protection against curses. (Ask for more details in disc if you wish.)

Badger talks to the cults of Beacon City, looking for a cleric who can help clear the ghouls in his copper mine. Most cults say they don't have the resources, but he gets the following responses: 

Cult of the Sea: One cleric is willing to be recruited as a retainer: Eric Rivers, a level 7 Neutral cleric who wears plate armor and a shield, and has magic messenger boots (run as fast as a riding horse for 12 hours, then have to rest for a day). He says he used to be even more powerful, but he lost a few levels fighting a nest of vampires. He is afflicted with wanderlust and must check morale every season or wander off. 

Cult of the Psychopomp: They will send an anti-undead strike team to clear the ghouls, at the cost of 25 coin per ghoul. They also ask that you agree to shut the mine down if they ever warn that it’s digging too deep, to prevent balrog “type VI demon” incursions.  

Knighto takes a tour of his lands. The destruction outside the towns is extensive. All hexes that don’t have a town are basically depopulated, and will soon be reclaimed by the wilderness. The main resources of the kingdom are farmlands, all hexes next to the lake or the rivers are good for crops and herds. Woods are scattered across the land, enough for people to build houses and burn firewood in winter, but not thick enough for hunting or the kind of lumber needed for large-scale projects. Hexes 4.8 and 4.10 have a couple abandoned mines, a chalk quarry and coal mine respectively. The quarry is full of giant mosquitos. The rivers and lakes also have plentiful fish, and occasionally the mermen come to trade pearls.

The three towns in his domain are in various states: Silver Lake Abbey is undamaged by the war, and expects a plentiful harvest soon. However, the people are disgruntled; several prominent townsfolk petition Knighto to kick the snake cult out of the abbey, and restore the worship of the river. The town of Newmill is still damaged by the siege, and still has food shortages. With their fields pillaged and many men dead, they expect a scant harvest. They aren’t sure if they’ll have enough food for everyone come winter, and that’s with taxes suspended. Knighto and Mayor Hugo are both currently loved by the town, despite the current state, for liberating the place from orcs and for not charging tax until the town recovers. There is tension between the human townsfolk and orc patrols; there have been a few brawls in the tavern but no one has died. The “town” of Cheer is still barricaded and full of ghouls. Everyone is worried about the locusts, and rumors of evil omens from the coast.

John and the imp sent to spy on him find someone willing to pay a ransom for the worm-wracked wizards he holds captive. Eventually he gets in contact with a pirate ship, encrusted with wailing barnacles; the captain is a man with rubbery skin and sharp teeth. The pirates pay 750 coin for the three, who agree to work as ship wizards.

Unbroken Coast Downtime 1

First downtime, happening at the end of the year : )

(Context for anyone reading who isn’t in the game, this is an update for the people playing in my Basic Fantasy RPG game, the Unbroken Coast.)

Downtimes

Untitled Void Monk tries to find a disciple. The only taker is a one-armed former mine worker called Tom Hazy, who is joining out of lack of better options and for protection from his creditors. (Tom Hazy. Fighter 2. S 11 D 10 C 15 I 8 W 11 C 10. 9hp. Chain, sword. One arm. Addicted to opium. Owes 700 coin to the Silverton mob.)

Badger seeks an audience with Helena, the living saint and ruler of Beacon City. He eventually gets a meeting and asks for help with the war in his world. Helena says her advisors don’t want her getting the city embroiled in a war, with the seas still threatened by pirates and the land threatened by goblins and an enemy to the south. She will provide what aid she can and promises to send letters to other Lawful organizations that can contribute to the war. Helena says the Order of the Repentant Snake will almost certainly send a chapter to provide healing, and he might get some knights looking for a cause to fight for. (Details in discord messages) She can also give advice if told more about the situation. (Can elaborate in messages or in tavern)

Luna tower trains with the twin swords Light-in-Dark and Dark-in-Light. She finds that the swords whistle with delight when wielded together. Both swords have the property +1, +3 when fighting side by side with someone wielding [Light-in-Dark/Dark-in-Light]”. There may be a command word to Dark-in-Light, but a wizard or sage is required to discover it. A traveler warns Luna to be on the lookout for a red-haired thief, but does not elaborate. 

Lump and Valentina guard the entrance to the cave of copper and ghouls. They ensure no animals enter the cave, lest the ghouls feast on their flesh. A family of talking squirrels are especially grateful to be saved from a ghoulish fate, and they can be recruited as retainers. Talking Squirrel (as squirrel except talking and intelligent, only speaks Elvish)

Events

A wandering bard riding from town to town sings a song about how two invincible knights defeated a band of orcs and saved the town of Newmill. He also brings news that the town of For is under siege, and if it falls then a terrible weapon will be unleashed on the land. 

Coppercave, an outpost in the hills which will be a mine as soon as the caves are cleared of ghouls, had had a change in leadership. Johann Dredge, the mining engineer, has taken over. He promises that all miners and adventurers will still be paid. Tino, the previous leader, is gone. A miner says he saw Tino heading north towards Slagton, with purses full of all the coin which was to be invested in the mine.

Fliers have been seen on message boards and fence posts, reading ‘come to New Gobmuck work for pay kill the birds’. 

Admiral Otto Waters of Beacon City sends out word of a quest. He will pay 5,000 coin to anyone who can find the location of the pirate base, or capture a pirate captain who can be interrogated for the information. 

Refugees from the lake valley have arrived in Beacon City and the nearby towns. They bring news of an orcish invasion, lead by a warlord called Son of the Dragon. In Beacon City, the Committee to Aid those Dispossessed by the War is working on finding or building homes for these refugees, and requests more donations for this. 

A Hella Cursed Mega Doom Sword

A MEGA HELLA CURSED DOOM SWORD

(title inspired by this post: http://wizzzargh.blogspot.com/2018/02/hella-cursed-mega-doom-swords.html)

Swordbarrow has been delved and THE FINAL SWORD has been uncovered. This is wildly powerful and destabilizing and requires fiddly GM interpretation, so GMs are advised to disallow it from entry into their games. Seriously, do not let this into games you're attached to it's a Hella Cursed Mega Doom Sword. Players, no complaining if a universe doesn't allow it. 

THE FINAL SWORD

It is as much the platonic ideal of sword as it is a physical object. It appears like a sword that's just a bit too large for the wielder to plausibly use, but also sorta reminiscent of the most iconic sword you can think of, whether that's excalibur or a lightsaber. The exact details depend on the genre conventions of the world it's brought to and the GM running it, but that's the general idea.  

+[whatever the highest + a magic weapon can have in the system/game it's being brought to. The search for weapons with bigger numbers is pointless now] 

NO WEAPON BUT THIS ONE: you cannot use any other magic weapon. If disarmed or destroyed, it returns to the wielder the next dawn.

REGARDLESS OF SCALE: When you attack something with the sword you damage it as if you were something of equal size/scale. For example: giants are hurt as if they were attacked by an equal-size sword wielding giant, armies are hurt as if attacked by an equal-size sword wielding army, gods are hurt as if attacked by an equal god. Note that this confers no defensive powers. 

DIE BY THE SWORD: When a natural 20 is rolled on an attack, or when you choose to activate this ability, you and the target of the attack are both totally destroyed.  Only a Wish spell, miracle from a powerful god, or effect of similar power can reverse this- and anything that brings one back also brings back the other. 

The Volcano-Threatened Archipelago part 2: Tourist's Guide

So I compiled and expanded the details to the volcanic islands that I posted about previously, and made a pdf. It is sort of like a handout to get the essential information about the setting to the players, but it is also an in-world tourist's guide with some inaccuracies and rumors. The info in it represents what the average outsider to the islands would know, so there are some secrets and details not included.

The link to download it:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/fcwan6c8s7p8ek0/Pyroclastic%20Islands%20at%20a%20glance%20%281%29.pdf?dl=0

So far, the big threads that could potentially become the focus of a campaign are

• The volcano, and finding a way to warn people about the eruption and help the islands evacuate. The volcano cultists would probably be the main enemies here, and maybe corrupt and incompetent officials who think the volcano talk is just fearmongering.
• The Elven ruins, and surviving elven civilizations. Maybe a sort of race, both the Dragon King and the Elves want to find artifacts from the old Elven empire. The Elves want to prove that this was the first homeland of the Elves to get support from the worldwide Elven community, and the Dragon side wants to prevent that from happening and annex more islands.
• The hunt for the lost pirate treasure, and the race to find it. Made more important by the bounty on the old pirate king and the fact that whoever finds the treasures becomes the new pirate king. Maybe I could even run it so that the bounty is just on "whoever is pirate king" so any bounty hunters would have to wait for the treasure to be found to know who to bring in.

Now that I have made this, I'm probably gonna put this idea on the shelf for now, unless some sudden bout of inspiration about this strikes again. If I decide to pursue this idea further I might make a more posts detailing the DM side of the islands, with keyed locations and encounter tables and all that. That probably won't be for a while though, unless I end up running a game in this world.

An Inventory of my Games

I should write down all the campaigns that I am running currently, for posterity. Some of them are OSR and some are modern D&D. There are a lot of them, now that I think of it. Someone should probably stop me from starting more, because at the current rate of expansion by the end of the year it will be a l l t h e g a m e s a l l t h e d a y s





5th Edition Wednesdays: This game used to be the Adventurers League game at the friendly local game store, but during the quarantine we moved away from organized play and started running homebrew games. My brother and I switch off GMing, we each run one adventure and then switch off. I mostly run dungeoncrawls, with the premise that Acereak has kidnapped the party with planar magic and is using them to gather treasure from other dungeons to bring into the treasure room of the Tomb of Horrors. The players are playing characters from various D&D worlds and I am running them through various classic dungeons like Forge of Fury.





Dungeons & Dragons Intro Game: This campaign is me running a group of new players through a short campaign in 5e. The premise is a mashup of the classic Against the Cult of the Reptile God and the 4e adventure Keep on the Shadowfell. The party is investigating a missing merchant, but has gotten involved with a cult to an evil snake goddess, the legacy of an ancient knight order, and a maniacal necromancer named Kalron the Unrepentant. It is a mix of investigation, fighting, and wilderness exploration. So that the newbies can learn about all the parts of modern D&D.





Ruins of Vor Rukoth: This is a game for my high school friends, it is a classic OSR sandbox based around a ruined city. The city used to be part of a great empire but it was destroyed by the tyranny of its leaders. Now it is a gold-filled ruin for adventurers to plunder. In addition to dealing with the undead remnants of the city, the party must interact with a variety of factions including the heirs to the ancient empire and the radical religious ground dedicated to avenging the evils done 100s of years ago by the empire. The main source of this campaign is a book from 4e but I have, as always, added and changed a lot to make a full campaign of it.





Dungeon World Sundays: This is another group of my high school friends and we play the Apocalypse World spinoff Dungeon World. We created the world collaboratively, and the game is mostly about exploring that and dealing with the activities of a sinister cult. The party has explored a forest grown from the corpse of a massive demon and thwarted a cult trying to awaken it, and that was just the first two sessions. One of my players is writing a detailed campaign journal which I might share in a future post if he is OK with it.





Peril on the Purple Planet: This is a game run on Wizzargh’s discord server, it’s an open table game played whenever both DM and players are free. The premise is a sword & planet game in the vein of John Carter of Mars with a bit more modern and post-apocalyptic flavour. The characters are mysteriously teleported to a strange purple planet littered with ruins and mysterious ancient technology. The premise of this game was stolen/borrowed from a Dungeon Crawl Classics module of the same name, but I have significantly expanded it already.





So that is all the games I am currently running. Almost all of them play as frequently as once a week, and there are so many of them. Knowing the adults in my life who barely manage to fit one day of games a week into their schedule, this is a veritable cornucopia of gaming. The only issue is that I am constantly struck with ideas for MORE campaigns and games to run. I try to cope by writing some down but there are just too many of them. If I am running into the issue of wanting to run all the games in finite time now as a teenager, how bad will it be when I am actually an adult and have to spend most of my days on a career and responsibilities and stuff?

Two Magic Swords and their Effect on the Monarchy

Here are two magic swords, inspired by King Arthur, Julius Caesar, a tumblr post I found, and this song by Heather Dale. These are suited for a campaign where 'who sits on the throne' is an important consideration.

The Kingsword

There are a thousand different legends about where this sword came from. Some say it is forged from a falling star that flew through the sky and led the first settlers to the land that would become the kingdom. Others say that it was created by the spirits of the holy lake. One view is that it was bequeathed directly by the gods. The one thing that all agree upon is that this is the sword that the first king used to throw off the conquering empire, and to unify the kingdom.

It was lost after the first king was betrayed and killed, but every so often it resurfaces to be wielded by a true king. A wielder of the Kingsword cuts through the bloody feuds and succession wars and takes the throne, ruling for brief golden ages before they die and the succession wars and politics begin anew.

Kingsword
This is a +1 sword, becoming a +3 sword when held by a fighter of lawful alignment who hails from the Kingdom. If the sword judges the wielder worthy of being the true king, the sword grants it's full litany of powers and begins urging the wielder to take the throne. The sword judges worthiness based on many factors. A king must be honorable in both public and private dealings, strong enough to defend the kingdom, wise enough to rule well, and dedicated to the well-being of the kingdom more than selfish desires.

It's powers include:
-cure wounds 3/day on citizens of the kingdom
-wielder is protected from charm spells or effects
-two minor benign powers, randomly generated or chosen based on what a king needs this era
-shines as a light spell when drawn
-another major benign power, randomly generated or chosen based on what a king needs this era
-if the wielder of the sword falls to 0 hp or otherwise dies, their body is magically preserved. If the body and sword are brought to either the castle of the first king or the holy lake, they return to life healed of all injury and debilitating effects. Instead of immediately resurrecting them, they can be interred in the tomb or cast into the lake to return in the kingdom's greatest hour of need. Whether the revival is immediate or postponed, the sword is somehow lost when this property is used and will resurface in around a generation when found by a potential true king.



The Kingslayer

This dagger is short and jagged, made of the same mystic metal as the Kingsword. It has origins shrouded in mystery, the one constant is that when the first king died it was this blade that did the deed. It has a reputation as a weapon that brings down tyrants, and some say that that extends to the first king. Because it's metal and decorations are so similar to those of the Kingsword, many believe that both blades came from the same source.

It was lost after killing the first king, but every so often it resurfaces kill an unworthy ruler. It is usually found by someone close to the king to be slain, and tragedy follows in its wake. The Kingslayer and the Kingsword are rarely both found at the same time, but an era in which both blades have wielders is sure to be an interesting one.

Kingslayer
This is a +1 dagger, which is pulled by the forces of destiny towards slaying kings. To use any powers greater than it being a +1 dagger, specific conditions must be met. It must be wielded by someone who cares for both the king and kingdom, and who never intends to take the throne. The wielder must stand under the night sky and say aloud why the king must be killed. If the wielder truly believes these reasons are legitimate and mostly unselfish, then the full powers of the Kingslayer are granted.

It's powers include:
-the Kingslayer acts as a +3 dagger against the current king and those who defend him
-any poisons applied to the blade have -4 to saves against them
-one minor benign power useful for assassinations
-the wielder ages quickly and gains or sinister appearance
-another minor malevolent effect, randomly generated or an exaggeration of the wielders flaws
-every time the king is hit with this dagger, a save vs death must be made to avoid instant death. If this dagger kills the king, it returns to being a +1 dagger until a new wielder activates it.


Here are some bits of legends about where these two magic items came from. You can choose which parts of which legends are true and which parts are mythology.

Kingsword Origins	Kingslayer Origins
The kingdom was founded when a wizard and many followers sailed here from a distant land chasing a falling star.  When they arrived, they forged it into a sword and the wizard placed it into a granite stone until a wielder could be found.  The first king found out how to remove it from the granite and thus became king.	The Kingslayer was forged by the first king's knights, made from pieces of the sword that chipped off during battles. When the king grew obsessed with a quest for the grail of immortality and started neglecting his kingdom, his second in command used the dagger to slay him so his son could take the throne.
When the first king went on a pilgrimage to the holy lake, the spirit of the lake looked into the king's heart and fell in love.  They courted for months, the first king paused his wars to unify the kingdom every spring to visit the lake spirit. As a token of her love, she created a sword made of the heart of the kingdom and gave it to him.	The first king married the daughter of a rival lord to fully unify the kingdom. When the son from that marriage was named heir, the first king's oldest son from a tryst with the lake spirit wanted revenge. He asked her to make him a weapon with which to destroy the first king and the kingdom, so she created Kingslayer from the dark vengeful parts of the kingdom's heart
The gods of the land knew that the conquering empire would supplant them with the imperial pantheon if they didn't fight back,  so they decided to proclaim someone king to fight off the empire. They used the same metal that made up their mighty weapons to forge the Kingsword, and gave it to a pious soldier who they saw had the potential to drive off the conquering empire and forge a new kingdom.	After driving off the empire, the first king was arrogant enough to try to reshape the pantheon to better suit the kingdom. Some gods were elevated and shrines were built in every town, and others were called demons and their worship was outlawed. The rejected gods grew angry at this transgression, so they gave the first king's priest the Kingslayer along with visions of what he had to do.