How do folks feel about this advance as a modification to Signature Weapon (call it a 6-10 advance?):
Masterful Weapon
Requires: Improved Weapon
Select an additional enhancement for your Signature Weapon. When you spend uninterrupted time communing with your weapon, you may trade out its enhancements for different ones on a one-for-one basis. Your weapon’s base form, range and look remain unchanged.
The aim being to show that the weapon has become like an extension to the Fighter’s body, and they have learned to retrain it, building off of the growth that it showed with the prerequisite move.
Out of fiction, I think it adds a little more meat to the base move, and gives the class some flexibility that is otherwise lacking.
Mechanics aside, I’m not a fan of the fictional explaination. This would make sense for a class that was magically or mystically connected with their weapon, but not a “standard” fighter. If you changed the trigger to something like “When you spend time in a smithy, reforging your signature wepon…” then it makes sense.
I know I’m coming off as being negative with these comments, which is really not my intention. But again, as flexible and as fiction-dependant as DW is, I don’t see the “lack of flexibility” in the Fighter.
I see your argument, but I don’t agree with it. If there’s any class that is mystically or magically connected to their weapon it’s the Fighter. That’s, like, half their schtick:
Signature Weapon: “Your weapon is your best friend. It is your life. You master it as you master your life.”
Heirloom Weapon: “When you consult the spirits that reside within your signature weapon…”
But you could just as easily explain the move as learning a variety of fighting styles over the course of your Fighter career, and getting yourself in a different style’s frame of mind through katas, forms, drills or what have ya. The mystical version would be my take on it, but as you said: DW is flexible.
As for the negativity thing: dude’s got a right to his opinions. No worries.
While I agree that there is a metaphysical connection between the fighter and his weapon, I’m not convinced this move is necessary. I think the Blacksmith move is good enough; being able to graft powers from other magical weapons onto your signature weapon is pretty sweet.
I’ll buy the “fighter has a metaphysical connection with their chosen item” fiction, though I would like to see the trigger be a bit more open. As written, it is only a magical/mystical connection, and does not fit the fiction if someone wants a mundane connection of simply rebuilding their weapon.
Bu I agree with Peter Johansen. I don’t really see a need for this move. You say it’s to “give the class some flexibility” but what exactly do you feel the class is lacking? Especially if they won’t be able to get this advance until 6th level.
Select an additional enhancement for your weapon, it does not have to come from the signature weapon list.
“Communing with your weapon” was the most open way I could think to word it; you could interpret that in a mundane way if you like, as I outlined above. Giving it an explicitly mundane trigger would have the exact same problem for those who wanted it to be a more mystical thing.
As for flexibility: basically every other class unlocks new narrative tricks as they advance, while the Fighter’s advances are pretty much exclusively about dealing more damage and receiving less damage, and the few advances that branch out from that zone don’t really pop for me (Through Death’s Eyes being basically the only exception, as it is totally rad). It builds vertically on the stuff the class starts with, mostly by making your numbers bigger, rather than expanding the toolkit of the class and giving you more things to do.
(Multiclass moves don’t count. If you have to take moves from another class to make the playbook more interesting, the playbook isn’t very interesting)
There just feels like there should be more to the “Master of the Battlefield” concept than that. This move isn’t by any means a solution to that, but I think being able to modify your legendary weapon on the fly to face any number of challenges (whether that’s through mystical or mundane methods) is a step in the right direction.
And, ah, just to make it clear: I don’t really dislike the Fighter class. Second character I ever played was a Fighter, and it was loads of fun. I have another character concept in mind which I would love to break out when the opportunity arises. But I do feel like the class suffers in a substantive way from overspecialization, in a way that other classes don’t seem to.
I’m not sure how I feel about the move but
“communing with your sword” is an awesome fictional trigger!
Conan the Barbarian (Recovery): Atlantean Sword Kata
I can see the use for this power, assuming that the Fighter has had time to do research (and to use the move), it shows a tactical skill whereby the Fighter can better prepare himself for the coming battles. It works as a way to show a more intellectual fighter.
As to the flavor/flexibility of the fighter I have to agree. I know its supposed to be basic, but for me its too basic. Fighters should be more than their weapon and how many dice of damage they do. JMHO.
I like the idea of weapons advancing, but can’t really see a weapon gaining or losing the messy tag without reforging (for example)… and reforging would make it a different weapon, not your signature. Instead, how about providing a list of new enhancements to choose from?
I wasn’t suggesting that the trigger be reworded so that it only covered mundane areas. I’m just saying that “uninterrupted time communing with your weapon” sounds purely mystical/magical/spiritual to me. Broaden it out so that the effect could be a spiritual connection with the weapon, physical modification at a forge, or switching to a certain fighting style.
In fact, I could see this move being triggered when the Fighter spends some time practicing their chosen technique. It’s not so much that the weapon changes shape or form. It’s more that the Fighter knows how to use their chosen weapon to obtain specific effects.
Like I already said, “commune with your weapon” seems very open to me; there is broader language to be had, like “work with your weapon,” but I personally find that language to be kinda boring, and am willing to make the alleged “flexibility of flavor” tradeoff in favor of being more evocative. Besides, I can very easily see “commune” applying to practicing techniques as you describe–in fact, I cited that exact thing as an example of a mundane interpretation (see above). I could say more on this, but I feel like we’re just talking in circles at each other at this point and it’s not really leading anywhere. Nothing personal. If you don’t like the flavor text because it doesn’t fit your vision of the class, I suggest ignoring it; that’s what I do.
Springing off of people’s input so far (and cribbing a bit off of the Eberron Artificer), though, how about something like:
Once and Future
Requires: Blacksmith
When you take time to reforge your Signature Weapon in a place of power, you may add a unique attribute to your weapon; this may be anything, from a new tag, to an associated move, to an oath that fate will see fulfilled. Work with the GM to determine the cost, but the effect is always possible–and will never be seen in any other weapon. In addition to whatever ability your weapon gains, it also gains the indestructible tag.
Masterful Weapon
Requires: Improved Weapon
When you spend uninterrupted time communing with your Signature Weapon in preparation for a looming threat, you may re-assign your weapon’s enhancements. The weapon’s base description, look and range, as well as the effects of Once and Future if you possess that move, remain the same.
Lord Khaalis, I agree that the Fighter needs more than just a high damage dice and the Signature Weapon–but I also think that the latter is the most iconic and genuinely cool thing about the class, hence my current focus on it.
I plan on stealing the idea behind this move, so thanks for that. 🙂
I’m going to reskin it into a ritual that requires special materials but does practically the same thing (except I added that you can change the range tag) with the explanation that it is a kind of specialized magic.