''Weapons of Legacy'' is a supplemental rulebook for the
3.5 edition of the ''
Dungeons & Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TS ...
'' role-playing game published by
Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games. It is currently a subsidia ...
.
Contents
It introduces weapons that have histories and abilities matching their history, as well as rules governing such weapons in a campaign.
Legacy Weapons
Legacy weapons are unique weapons that have been forged or used by legendary beings and are themselves unique in regards to gameplay in that their magical abilities start out locked. Unlocking them requires some sort of sacrifice on the part of the wielder, in varying amounts, referred to as ''least legacy'', ''lesser legacy'', and ''greater legacy'', in order from weakest to strongest.
The sacrifices required vary with each weapon, but they include some sort of permanent reduction in a player's abilities, i.e. loss of maximum
hit point
Health is an attribute in a video game or tabletop game that determines the maximum amount of damage or loss of stamina that a character or object can take before dying or losing consciousness. In role-playing games, this typically takes the f ...
s, permanent penalties to certain skills or abilities, etc. These penalties end when the wielder forswears the weapon.
If a wielder of a legacy weapon defeats the wielder of a different legacy weapon or artifact with it in combat, the winning legacy weapon inherits an ability from the defeated foe's legacy weapon/artifact.
Table of Contents
# The Legacy: What are Legacy weapons, how do they affect your campaign, and why are they so unique?
# Heroes of Legacy: This includes feats necessary to include legacy items into a campaign, as well as new spells and lore about legacy weapons.
# Items of Legacy: This is a collection of sample legacy items, including their histories.
# Founding Legacies: This provides information on how to create a legacy weapon in the campaign world.
# Optional Rules: This discusses anything that was not covered in the previous four chapters and is not necessary to bring legacy weapons into a campaign. This chapter also includes NPCs with legacy weapons.
Publication history
''Weapons of Legacy'' was written by
Bruce R. Cordell,
Kolja Raven Liquette Kolja or Colja is a short form of the given name Nikolai. It may refer to:
* ''Kolya'' (Czech: ''Kolja''), a 1996 Czech drama film
* Kolja Afriyie (born 1982), German former professional football player
* Kolja Blacher (born 1963), German violin ...
, and
Travis Stout, and was published in July 2005. Cover art was by
Henry Higginbotham
Henry Higginbotham is a working artist who specializes in non-primitive art, steampunk, sculpture and more.
Education
Higginbotham has a master's degree in fine arts from the University of Iowa.
Works
Henry G. Higginbotham has produced interior a ...
, with interior art by
Steven Belledin,
Dennis Crabapple,
Jeff Easley
Jeff Easley (born 1954) is an oil painter who creates fantasy artwork for role-playing games, comics, and magazines, as well as non-fantasy commercial art.
Early life
Easley was born in Nicholasville, Kentucky in 1954. He spent time drawing as ...
,
Wayne England
Wayne England (d. 9 February 2016) was an English artist whose work regularly appeared in role-playing games, wargaming rulebooks and magazines and was used on cards for collectible card games such as ''Magic: The Gathering''.
He died on 9 Feb ...
,
Fred Hooper,
Doug Kovacs,
David Martin,
Jim Nelson,
William O'Connor,
Michael Phillippi
Michael Phillippi (born ) is an American artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games.
Education
Michael Phillippi started his illustration career in 1997 after graduating from the Savannah College of Art & Design.
Career
His ''Dungeon ...
,
Wayne Reynolds
Wayne Reynolds is a British artist whose work has appeared in comics and role-playing games.
Early life and education
Wayne Reynolds was born in Leeds, UK. He attended art college in Dewsbury and Middlesbrough.
Games
Wayne Reynolds has continu ...
,
Dan Scott
''One Tree Hill'' is an American television series created by Mark Schwahn for The WB in 2003. After its third season, The WB and UPN merged to form The CW, which then became the broadcaster for the show in the United States. Schwahn served a ...
, and
Franz Vohwinkel
Franz Vohwinkel (born 1964 in Munich, West Germany) is a German artist and illustrator whose work has appeared in role-playing games.
Works
Vohwinkel drew the cover art for the book ''Dataware'' (1998) for TSR's ''Alternity'' game, and illustra ...
.
Bruce Cordell explains how the book is all about "the stuff" - items that player characters can obtain: "Sure--this book is completely about the stuff. However, in developing an item of legacy's progression, an intimate knowledge of player character ability had to be kept in mind at all times. Because ''D&D'' characters are so concerned with their stuff, I'd say this book is as much about characters as any other player book, if not more so."
References
Dungeons & Dragons sourcebooks
Role-playing game supplements introduced in 2005
{{D&D-stub