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Weapons and Ownership

It seems that more often than not when a weapon attaches itself to an owner (no one else can use it the way they can), it is because either the weapon reveal itself when needed, there is a spell cast on it, or only a worthy owner can use the weapon. Oh and destiny...

I am looking for a fresh idea around weapon ownership and would love to hear from this well-read community on some original ideas they have come across.
 

CupofJoe

Myth Weaver
It's not a new idea but I do like a weapon of destiny...
In the Belgariad Books by David and Leigh Eddings, there is a great sword that can only be wielded by the true king [even if the wielder doesn't know that he is at the time]. There is an extra wrinkle is that the sword is actually just a mount for the stone of power, which does all the real work.
 
So, I'm guessing this is with either sapient weapons and the others. When the talking sword has no choice in it either, it can be amusing. They tend to have a bit of cutting wit about them. Or in the poorer works, attempts more akin to their blunt brethren. Also a fan of the supposed weapon either being a complete dud or just an ordinary weapon with a keen edge put in capable hands. Another one I come across in my reading is the oft asked question of, 'what's the point of a magic, destined weapon if the one who's supposed to wield it can't use it?'.

Which does get solved with things like memory transfers and training montages and such. Though when they really want to subvert it, lack of experience still get's them killed.
 

Mad Swede

Auror
Well, I ran into a problem with this in an AD&D campaign I took part in some 35 years ago. My character (a ranger) had acquired a shield with certain propertioes, one of which was that it could let my character find treasure, information etc by hearing and seeing things taking place far away. It only worked for my character and then only if my character placed the ears and eyes of any other creatures he'd killed in combat on the shield. What my character hadn't realised was the shield would require more and more body parts to work as my character gained in power and influence. The more astute amongst you will realise that this would, in the long term, mean that eventually my character would become evil as he sacrificed more and more people to the shield...
 

Chasejxyz

Inkling
Well...there's no such thing as a fresh idea, just an idea that you haven't heard yet. Everything's been done before. And ideas are cheap, it's the execution that makes something good or bad, interesting or boring.

Something that can be done that is more than just "oh it's magic" or "oh the sword is intelligent" is the thing in question being built for a specific person. Someone like Geralt of Rivia has strength and speed that no normal person has, but he also has a physical disability that changes how he fights and moves his body. A weapon that is designed to maximize his strengths and minimize his "weaknesses" wouldn't work as well if someone else tried to use it. A longbow for a hobbit wouldn't work as a longbow for an elf. Of course, if your character is Joe Everybody the Farmboy then this won't really work, but this can work well for characters that have grown and changed over the story.
 

ThinkerX

Myth Weaver
Hmmm...

Sir Peter Cortez, one of the POV mainstays of my 'Empire' series, acquires a ritual dagger of Mithras intended to slay demons in the first book, and manages to retain it throughout the series. However, there was a catch:

Initially, the dagger was in two parts: the first a seemingly standard issue golf ball sized Mithraic emblem, attached to a short wooden cylinder. The sort of talisman carried by more than a few warriors, given to Peter by a village priest who in turn obtained it from a traveling priestess of the Fabian order. He didn't think much about it at the time. The second piece was the dagger proper which made it's first appearance as the 'sword' of a puppet knight. Individually, both pieces were utterly prosaic, no discernable magic (and the bad guys were hunting high and low for it). Combined, well, Peter used it to kill a shoggoth, then managed to wound a greater demon - feats not normally possible for mundane weapons.

Later, the Church claimed possession of the dagger (Mithraic ritual object after all, and the Mithraic Order has a lot of pull) but finally decided it was attuned to Sir Cortez and gave it back to him (that was book II). He employed it to occasionally lethal effect against a number of demonic entities, especially in book VI.
 

Miles Lacey

Archmage
There's an ancient weapon that is said to wield great power to the person who wields it. The problem is that it's been so long since anyone has seen it, let alone used it, that a whole lot of contradictory stories have grown up around it. While all the stories contain elements of truth about who is supposed to wield it, why they are meant to wield it and how to use it all of them are unreliable. Worse, there's a whole lot of other would-be Chosen Ones who also think they are destined to wield the ancient weapon they're trying to find based on the version of the story they've heard.

In the Pacific Islands and down here in New Zealand we all grew up learning about Maui. But if you were to ask a Hawaiian who Maui was and what he did you'd get a very different response to what a New Zealander brought up on Maori legends of Maui would've heard. I can't see why something similar can't happen with an ancient weapon.
 

MrNybble

Sage
Did somebody make the weapon or did it make itself? That can determine the restrictions on who uses it. Anything can be a weapon or not as a fork can kill while a sword can plow fields. Having said that, the weapon can have restrictions on how it's used based on physical, mental, or moral needs. Giving ownership to the weapon or the other way around.

Example is I have a certain weapon that is not sentient, but is very picky about who wields it. Based it of the behavior of a cat as it can sit around and do nothing most of the time. Sometimes it will play or go on a murder feast. The user must know what it wants or it resists and neither get anything useful done. So the weapon itself becomes a character of sorts as it does have a choice in what it does. It actually does have the soul of an animal imbued within as part of it's creation story.
 

Spacebar

Scribe
There are also cursed weapons, which traditionally are unable to be cast aside once equipped. Your protagonist could have a peculiar physiology that inverts the effects of magic, with blessings causing harm and curses providing benefits. Perhaps a sword cursed to destroy the world would be able to save the world in this protagonist's hands, for example.
 

Saigonnus

Auror
I recall a short story I worked on; albeit briefly. Each person born in the city was given a unique rune based on a family pattern on the day of their birth. This rune served many purposes, but principally served as identification. Other purposes was to limit the use of weapons. If someone has a job that permits the carrying of weapons, then it is marked with a person's rune so that only they can use it. If a person tries to take their weapon, it burns the would-be thief, even through gloves or gauntlets (though they do take a bit longer). Anything more than a few seconds and a thief will lose the hand. It also allows the owner to locate it wherever it is.
 

Nighty_Knight

Troubadour
I like the idea of a cursed weapon over the overplayed destiny angle. Maybe the weapon was wielded by someone else and wounded the main character, and had a tiny piece break off being imbedded in his flesh, now the curse weapon and the main character are linked physically and it changes how the weapon is used and reacts to the character vs others.

An interesting one I always thought was interesting was the Soul Reaver from the Legacy of Kain series. The whole time you never understand why the blade takes to who it does and why it changed from a bloodsucking sword to a soul devouring sword in the later timeline. Only to find out the soul component of the sword is one of the main protagonist own soul in the sword, and that is why it linked itself with him from the moment it was used to attempt to kill him.
 
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