Artifacts of the Ages: Legendary Weapons
A fantasy d20 System sourcebook edited by Marc Schmalz and JD Wiker.
Legendary weapons are artifacts that grow in power with characters. Whether it is a family heirloom, the sacred icon of a religious order, or the masterpiece of a long-dead artisan, a GM can now introduce an item of great power without unbalancing the campaign. Legendary weapons mete our their powers as characters advance in one of four prestige classes: the scion classes. The wielder unlocks new abilities of the weapon by advancing in the weapon's associated prestige class.
This sourcebook works with the legendary weapon rules found in Swords of Our Fathers (PDF) or Staves of Ascendance (PDF) from The Game Mechanics, Artifacts of the Ages: Swords and Staves (print) from The Game Mechanics and Green Ronin Publishing, or Unearthed Arcana from Wizards of the Coast. It contains a new selection of legendary weapons contributed by industry luminaries and friends of the Mechanics, plus some new optional rules for weapon scions. Each weapon comes with a rich history, ten levels of developing powers, and plot hooks to help GMs introduce legendary weapons into fantasy campaigns.
Weapon Authors
In addition to three of the Mechanics (Rich Redman, Marc Schmalz, and JD Wiker), the following have all contributed weapons to AotA:LW.
Gary Astleford is a freelance writer and game designer who resides in southern California with his wife and their three cats. He has written two web enhancements for The Game Mechanics, contributed material to Thieves' Quarter, and has been published in Polyhedron magazine. Most recently, Gary has worked on Fantasy Flight Games' up-coming Fireborn role-playing game, which is to see release at GenCon Indianapolis in August of 2004.
Eric Cagle is a freelance game designer who also works for Wizards of the Coast. Some of his credits includes the d20 Menace Manual, Urban Arcana Campaign Setting, Fiend Folio, and Modern Magic, Volume One and Volume Two.
Jennifer Clarke Wilkes is a long-time editor in the game industry and has worked on trading card games, board games, and roleplaying games. More recently, she has begun writing for RPGs and has written for Dungeons & Dragons products as well as for other publishers, including Sword & Sorcery Studios, Green Ronin Publishing, and The Game Mechanics.
Andy Collins works on the RPG development team at Wizards of the Coast, where he contributes to a wide range of Dungeons & Dragons products. He was the lead developer on the Player's Handbook version 3.5, and his design credits include Draconomicon and Unearthed Arcana. Learn more about Andy at his website: www.andycollins.net.
Brian Cortijo is a long-time roleplayer just beginning his writing career. He has provided editorial assistance on books like Anger of Angels from Malhavoc Press, and more of his work can be found in the upcoming charity project Hungry Little Monsters.
Darrin Drader has been a professional game designer for the past 5 years. His recent credits include co-authoring the Book of Exalted Deeds and Forgotten Realms: Serpent Kingdoms.
Sean K Reynolds was born in a coastal town in southern California. A professional game designer since 1998, he's best known for his work on the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, and the 3rd edition Monster Manual. He spends his free time reading, painting miniatures, and writing 2-3 sentence biographies.
Mat Smith is an advertising/marketing copywriter at Wizards of the Coast who's been who's been playing RPGs for a disturbing number of years, now spends most days thinking about clever ways to get more people to do the same, and has finally weaseled his way into working on a couple. His other game design credits include Modern Magic, Volume One and Volume Two, and the print compilation from Green Ronin Publishing.
Owen K.C. Stephens is a freelance RPG writer and developer. He's worked on numerous projects for the EverQuest and Star Wars roleplaying game lines, several d20 System books for Green Ronin Publishing, and is a regular columnist for Pyramid Online Magazine. He produced the popular Stand-Ins! line of printable figures available at RPGNow.com. You can reach him at .
Rodney Thompson is a freelance writer whose credits include the Star Wars Hero's Guide and d20 Future for Wizards of the Coast. Additionally, he was on the writing team for the the Origins Award-nominated Stargate SG-1 Roleplaying Game and continues to work on sourcebooks for that line. His work appears regularly in the pages of Dungeon Magazine.
Links and Downloads
Related Products
Cover Image
- Front, illo by Clarence Harrison (104KB JPG)
Free Samples from the Artifacts of the Ages Series
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The Mind Scion, additional rules for psionic scions and their legendary weapons (622KB Zipped PDF)
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Mother's Venom, a legendary weapon from AotA:S&S (514KB Zipped PDF)
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Gamaliel, Keeper of the White Blade, a legendary weapon from AotA:LW (514KB Zipped PDF)
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Nyctophobos, a legendary weapon from SoOF and AotA:S&S (349KB Zipped PDF)
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Samadhi, the Staff of Transfiguration, a legendary weapon from AotA:S&S (523KB Zipped PDF)
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Ruanaidh, a free battle scion (452KB Zipped PDF)
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Zehir, the Poison Ring, a legendary ring from AotA:R (375KB Zipped PDF)
- A page of art development sketches from AotA:Rings
- A page of art development sketches from AotA:LW
Creation Rules
Online Discussion
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Discussion Boards (through ezBoard) and IRC Chatroom
Reviews for the Artifacts of the Ages Series
Reviews for Swords of Our Fathers
Reviews for Artifacts of the Ages: Swords & Staves
Reviews for Artifacts of the Ages: Rings
The Specs
A 43-page PDF for players and GMs, available from RPGNow.com for only US$5.00.
A PDF for players and GMs.
Edited by Marc Schmalz. Layout and design by Marc Schmalz. Interrior art by Jacob Elijah Walker. Cover art by Clarence Harrison. Written by all the great authors listed above.
Requires the use of the Dungeons & Dragons®, Third Edition Core Books, published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. This product utilizes updated material from the v.3.5 revision. Also requires one of the following: Swords of Our Fathers (PDF) or Staves of Ascendance (PDF) from The Game Mechanics, Artifacts of the Ages: Swords and Staves (print) from The Game Mechanics and Green Ronin Publishing, or Unearthed Arcana from Wizards of the Coast.
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