I feel like I've read something similar on here before, accepting one form of fire for protection from another. Still, well written and useful. A stray 'a' snuck into the title of Sveridan's Torch btw. Go to Comment
At first I thought this was something a little more cliche. A oblivionic fire, consuming all it touches and near (but not quite) impossible to put out. But this... this is interesting. A living fire. Whats more, a living DEMONIC fire, hungry for more more more, yearning to burn the world down to the ground.
The potential is interesting. A wizard who underestimates the living fire. A artifact, when destroyed, release the hungry and maddened Anagra that powered it. And lets not forget the simple joy of letting the formula slip into player hands and watch as everything burns to the ground.
I like. Yes, I very much like. Go to Comment
(13:57:46) valadaar: I think the point blank range increment would balance off using no sights.
(13:58:04) valadaar: Though I'd be tempted to give you a -4...
(13:58:15) Gossamer: Is that a feat?
(13:58:30) valadaar: Have to check.. It would seem to make sense.
(13:59:26) valadaar: I think I'd put a -2 on scoped weapons used without the scope.
(13:59:37) valadaar: Since the scope interferes with aiming.
(13:59:55) valadaar: There is a seperate feat for +1 at point blank
(14:00:03) Gossamer: Makes sense, you can't really fire a rifle from the hip anyways...not very good at least.
(14:00:26) Gossamer: But at melee though...
(14:00:37) Gossamer: Poke* Blam.
(14:00:49) valadaar: But the rifle is also easy to grab.
(14:00:56) valadaar: no so much with pistol
(14:01:01) Gossamer: Hmm, yeah. Good Point.
(14:01:16) Gossamer: Unless it was an animal.
(14:01:21) valadaar: Get inside the rifle, and its a wrestling match
(14:02:21) Gossamer: Carnegie is pretty much the opposite of Verity. In so many ways.
(14:03:01) valadaar: gotta go .. Go to Comment
I loved the idea of having to beach himself. The idea of a large shark on the beach is one thing, then the thought of a man ripping through its skin and walking away is almost priceless! Go to Comment
Lack of apostrophe is due to that sometimes breaking something. I suppose I could have reworked it to The Sword of Quedoth, but I have 10 zillion subs already with titles starting with The :P
The answer to your question is likely to fall into the category of game system mechanics. The absolute requirement is that the sword's bearer must intentionally wound themselves - not another, regardless of willingness. Unless taken from them, the sword still only works for the bearer. Others grabbing it, or impaled by it, will not transform.
As for how does it know? - magic. The action of wounding oneself with intent in mind is sufficient to invoke the magic. I think the theme of wounding oneself and spilling blood into the water is a far more atmospheric means to invoke it then buttons. If it makes it clearer, then assume that the act of shedding ones own blood with a mental image of becoming a shark is actually a ritual.
As for it being sentient, thats actually not a bad idea if there are not too many such things about. I would see the blade's personality being quite cold and businesslike and preferring the bearer stay a shark.
Still a solid piece however this one has some typos. For example, in the first section, 3rd paragraph, 'through' has become 'though'. In the last plot, 'they' is typed as "then". Also, in the title, the apostrophe has been eaten up? Go to Comment
I see, I thought the apostrophe might have been eaten rather than being intentional. I remember in migration to version 3, all apostrophes in my subs had been eaten and I had to manually add them back in.
And yeah, with items, it's sometimes just so natural to name them The..... Go to Comment
Love the physical description of the blade, and the baggage that comes with it. Perhaps the blade wasn't forged specifically for Quedoth, but was what he chose as his reward (which may be another source of anger for the merfolk). If it wasn't forged for him originally, I wonder who owned it in the past. I also like the idea of giving this thing sentience and having it act as a sort of "demonic other half" of your brain when you are in shark form.
Overall, a beautifully formatted sub for a well-thought out item. Go to Comment
I don't get it, does everyone who gets cut by the sword turn into a shark? That would be hilarious during underwater battles. I know it says the bearer of the sword, but how does that work? What if an enemy grabs the sword while the original bearer is still holding it, would he also be counted as the bearer?
If it had been like, press the pommel of the sword to polymorph the bearer, okay.
But you use the blade to initiate it. While dramatic, that's the end that's gonna end up hitting others more than yourself, so... Just wanna figure out how it is triggered.
Is the blade sentient? How does it know that you are intentionally cutting yourself, as opposed to nicking yourself by mistake. Go to Comment
A nasty, nasty beast. The best thing this sub did was make me read corpsefall, which is awesome :D
I can imagine that in corpsefall, people would risk raids on one of these critters' dens (perhaps while they are out at a corpsefall) to scavenge the massive spines as building materials. Go to Comment
I always loved the idea of Corpsefall. It always had that, "Ooo, this place is different!" vibe, one it shares with the Hell of Dry Bones.
This particular sub is an excellent extension of the Corpsefall ecosystem. In a world with Boneslugs, another giant predator makes sense, and helps round out the system a bit more. Go to Comment
Lifeforms (Third Kingdom) (Other)