Wise Turtle Publishing

So I was talking to one of my players about our upcoming game, and they brought up the question of how sentient equipment - such as a sentient sword - would be handled.

They had assumed it would just be Gear as normal, but just consider it to be sentient. But to me, Gear seemed like it should always be considered just an "item" or "object" rather than a character in and of itself, so I said that a sentient sword would better be built as a Companion that has the Restricted Freedom Weakness to reflect that it can't move around on its own unless someone carries it.

However, then I realized that if built as a Companion, its Abilities such as Attack and its Weaknesses such as Slow would not stack with the wielder's, they would be for the Companion themselves. So I started trying to think of how a Companion that's meant to be a sentient piece of equipment might be built.

So I was thinking, that one way to represent a character having a sentient weapon would be like this:

Arthur
Agile +1
Attack +1
Charismatic +2
Companion +2
Cute! +1
Evasive +1
Intuitive +2
Lucky +1
Passion (Justice) +1
Vigorous +1
Ageism -2
Code of Conduct (Chivalry) -2
Kind-Hearted -3
Pacifist -1

Attack
Excalibur Sword: Accurate (+5), Armor Piercing (+5), Effective (+5), Reach (+5), Stunning (+10); Assisted (-15), Requirement (Two Hands, -5), Unwieldy (-5), Weapon (-5); Endurance Cost 0.

Companion: Excalibur Sword
Armored +2
Famous +2
Iron-Willed +3
Knowledge (History) +3
Perceptive +2
Resistance (Magical Attacks) +2
Sixth Sense +2
Smart +2
Arrogant -2
Awkward Size -2
Code of Conduct -2 (Chivalry)
Emotionless -1
Overconfident -1
Quirk (Speaks in an Old-Fashioned Accent) -1
Restricted Freedom -3
Servitude -2
Stubborn -2

I figured this way, the Companion himself (the sentient sword) doesn't have any particular combat-related attributes (except for Armored, which reflects it being made of durable metal). Its usage in combat is reflected by the owner character's Attack Ability, in this case having Assisted to show that the attack needs the Companion's help to do it, and the Companion thus loses its turn to help its owner since it is being wielded. I wasn't sure though if the Attack would still be eligible for the Weapon Flaw though. It wouldn't be if the Attack were being made with Gear, but in this case it's not so I wasn't sure.

Anyhow, what do you think about how to represent sentient equipment? Do you think the above way works, or is there a better way to do it?

That seems to make sense to me. Using Companion allows you to really define the personality traits and knowledge of the sentient weapon, so it’s a good fit. I also think the Weapon Flaw is fine, since you’re not getting some of the usual benefits of Companion. (That is, an extra Health and Endurance total, among other things).

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