Saturday, June 6, 2009

B/X Blackrazor


Here are my statistics for Blackrazor in B/X (the Moldvay/Cook Basic and Expert sets); it should be compatible with both BECMI and Labyrinth Lord.  Those who own S2: White Plume Mountain will see that my write-up does not deviate significantly from the weapon as presented by Lawrence Schick.


Blackrazor, Chaotic sword +3
Intelligence 17, Ego 16+ (see below), Will 38+
Capable of both Speech and Telepathy

Detects living creatures (souls) within 60' radius
Haste (wielder only, 10 rounds), 1/day
Wielder immune to Charm and Fear when blade is drawn

Blackrazor's special purpose is to suck souls. On any killing blow (a hit that reduces an opponent to 0 hit points or less) Blackrazor temporarily adds a number of levels to its wielder equal to the hit dice of the opponent, and a number of hit points equal to victim's full normal hit points. These extra hit points and levels last a number of turns equal to the the number of hit dice or levels received.  Subsequent damage suffered by Blackrazor's wielder is first subtracted from these temporary hit points. A character's level may not be increased beyond his or her normal maximum level (36 for human characters, less for demi-humans).  Once the maximum level is reached, killing opponents with Blackrazor confers no additional benefit.

Temporary level increase affects the character's fighting ability only: to hit rolls, saving throws, turning ability, damage dice from spells, etc. It does not affect a character's ability to learn or memorize new spells, use thief skills, or the ability to attract followers and build a stronghold.

The souls of entities killed by Blackrazor are sucked out and devoured by the sword, lost to the Void; they cannot be raised or resurrected.

For every three days Blackrazor remains "unfed" its Ego (and by correlation, its Will score) increases by one point, until it can compel its bearer to kill a sentient humanoid being. Upon "feeding" its Ego returns to 16.

Blackrazor is a negative-energy being (much like a wraith or spectre) that exists by absorbing positive energy from those it kills. If it ever strikes another negative-energy entity (for example, any undead creature that drains life levels) the blade will work in reverse, transferring one level from its wielder (along with the corresponding hit points) to the creature attacked!  It will do this on each successful hit roll. A wielder drained of all levels in this way will have his or her own soul sucked out and devoured by Blackrazor!  Levels lost may only be restored (prior to death) through the taking of twice the number of positive levels from living creatures (of the same race as the wielder) as were lost, through the power of a wish (one restored level per wish), or through the normal acquisition of experience points. Blackrazor will not inform its owner of this drawback, and it should only become apparent the first time he strikes a negative-energy being, like a wight or vampire. Remember, Blackrazor exists solely to feel power and souls coursing through its length, and the sword is not picky about where it receives its nourishment!

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