Living Blades
From AngilleWiki
According to the journals of Bladisch the lich, at least six Living Blades are known to exist. The first one the party found is the Blade of Zherice, named "Deathbringer" by Bladisch. The sword was mostly destroyed in the climactic battle between the Bearers of the Pendants and Bladisch, having been driven through the ancient sorcerer himself. There is still a latent evilness to the chunk of slag, and the party must still find a way to truly destroy it.
The creation of a Living Blade involves Tylonian Crystal, an already magical bladed weapon, and a week-long ceremony dedicating an act performed by the creators to a spirit. The spirit then bonds with the crystal, giving the blade the power to change shape and abilities, as well as its name and personality.
There are three stages of Living Blade mastery: bonding, Shikai, and Bankai. To anyone who hasn't bonded with a specific Living Blade, it is merely a +1 Magic weapon. The bonding happens during the dedication ceremony. Shikai, literally translated from Verrik, is "First Form". The blade transforms into a different weapon (though sometimes merely a modified version of its base form) and gives its bearer a new attack. For instance, Deathbringer's Shikai was a whip capable of draining a foe's life force.
The Bankai is a much more powerful tranformation. The spirit's true form enters the wielder's plane of existence, ready to do battle alongside its master. The effects possible with this transformation are effectively limitless.
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Wielder of the Living Blade Prestige Class
While almost anyone can bond with a Living Blade, not just anyone can become a true master of their blade's spirit. Those who do follow this arduous journey are well rewarded with a spiritual rapport unparalleled among weaponmasters.
- Hit Die: d8
Requirements
To qualify to become a Wielder of the Living Blade, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
- Knowledge (Ceremony): 3 Ranks
- Feats: Weapon Focus in your Living Blade's weapon
- Base Attack Bonus: +5
- Special: You must be bonded to a Living Blade, most likely during its creation ritual, and you must know its spirit's name.
Class Skills
The Wielder of the Living Blade's class skills (and the key ability for each) are: Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (any) (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Search (Int), Speak Language (none), and Swim (Str).
- Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Intelligence Bonus.
Class Features
- Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Wielders of the Living Blade gain no proficiency in the use of weapons or armor.
- Base Attack Bonus: High
- All Saves: Medium
- Shikai (Su): At first level, you gain the benefits of the Shikai Feat for free.
- Combat Rites: +1 level of existing class per level of Wielder of the Living Blade.
- Call Blade (Su): At second level, you can, as a standard action, will your Living Blade to leap to your hands, as long as you can see it. At third level, this becomes a free action.
- Bankai (Su): At third level, you gain the benefits of the Bankai Feat for free.
Feats
Shikai [Ceremonial]
After three days of ceremony communing with your Living Blade, you can release its Shikai.
- Prerequisites: Bond with a Living Blade, know its spirit's name, Wisdom 13, truename
- Benefit: Once per day per five levels, a character with this feat can, as a full-round action, verbally invoke the spirit of their Living Blade by intoning the spirit's name followed by a single command. The Blade transforms into a different weapon (which the wielder is automatically proficient with, even if they wouldn't be normally), loses any magical abilities it normally has (like Keen for instance), and gains a completely new ability, determined by the player and GM when the feat is taken. This effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to the character's level.
- Special: A character can gain this feat multiple times. It generates a new special ability/form each time.
Bankai [Ceremonial]
Following two weeks of intense training with your Living Blade, its spirit form can manifest in the physical realm, becoming a powerful ally.
- Prerequisites: Shikai, Charisma 13, truename
- Benefit: Once per day, a character with this feat can, as a full-round action, manifest the true spirit of their Living Blade. The character must have already activated their Shikai, and need only intone "Bankai" to achieve this effect. The blade disappears completely, to be replaced by a new, more powerful force, determined by the player and GM when the feat is taken. This effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to the character's level, and supercedes the duration of the Shikai.
