I like the fact that the blade allows a person to rise to the post of epic villain - 'no mundane way of death' is nice - it prevents the scenes where upon meeting a villain for the first time, a PC fires an arrow and drops him dead, by rolling an uber-critical, or whatever.
Of course, the sense of destiny is somewhat justified when the old king finds new resolve through pulling a blade out of a stone altar :D certainly, the gods are favouring that One, true?
Firstly, I'm not sure why this is posted as a plot. It reads more like am item description to me so I'll rate it on that basis.
A reasonably good backstory that nicely explains how the sword came to be in the king's possession, however I would like to know a little more about the Old World magic involved in its creation.
The Sword
The sword itself requires some comment. Moderate combat bonuses are fine (pretty standard really) but what really makes it special is the subtle mind-effecting powers (very nice, almost demonic possession here).
The fact that it protects the owner from all mundane harm is perhaps a little over powered. Personally I would replace this with some form of defensive bonus and/or spell (the exact nature being largely dependant on how your favourite magic system works).
Another Plot Hook
Refer to "the Real Story"
In order to save their king, and therefore their traditional freedoms (and possibly also their lives) the PCs must learn how and why the sword was created, and by who (or what). Then they must use this knowledge to find a way of destroying the cursed blade, or at the very least neutralising its effects.
Rating
As a plot there's not really enough to comment on here and therefore not enough to rate.
As an item I like it a lot - 4/5 Go to Comment
I like this for a campaign goal, but if you only use this sort of thing for a single adventure, it doesn't play well, because you can't get a real crescendo effect going on. Without the buildup, it's harder to create the necessary atmosphere.
Personally, I've been trying to come up with a decently long campaign goal that will work for all power levels of characters(ie something that can be started on at low levels, and still be good at higher levels). This gives me some ideas in that regard. Go to Comment
I like this one. It has both story applications and tactical ones. While the "first one" is a thing of story and myth, these are now "standard items", enchantments that any mage who has studied might know. Go to Comment
A nice idea - the sort of background detail that makes a game world "real"
Good backstory - nicely explains why the first dark lantern was created - also provides an interesting myth - could easily become the basis for an investigation
Also the item has some use - would give some interesting tactical options to an intelligent user
Scas is adding more Evil Fantasy Cyberware. The Evil guys can be bigger, stronger, tougher now because they have access to the Evil Stitcher. Go to Comment
Plots (Duty) (Mini-Campaign)
Of course, the sense of destiny is somewhat justified when the old king finds new resolve through pulling a blade out of a stone altar :D certainly, the gods are favouring that One, true?
Good one. Go to Comment