Earthdawn 4E: Anatomy of a Thread Item 66 - Enforcer of Standards

This is the sixty-sixth 4E Anatomy of a Thread Item, an ongoing series about Earthdawn Fourth Edition. Introduction and Index.

Everything contained here is the work of a fan and not associated with FASA Games.

A thread item written for an online game I offered to help with thread items. This item was a collaboration with a player who designed the enchanting pattern. Essentially, they wanted a spell sword. That's an interesting item that requires a lot of investment in orthogonal strategies before a big payoff. I did something similar here, encouraging casting spells and melee attacks to take full advantage of the benefits. The design here is almost certainly better, but spell sword was written before I inherited the opponents chapters and special maneuvers became a thing.

Which is to say, the right technology didn't exist yet to do what I wanted at the time. Because I hadn't created the technology yet. Which is true in a lot of ways, though in some cases I knew what I wanted to build in the future and carved out the appropriate space for it to exist in the future.


Enforcer of Standards

Maximum Threads: 1
Mystic Defense: 14

Legend Point Cost: Warden

The finely crafted Scythan axe is infused with True earth and fire, giving the weapon a hefty, solid feel and the blade reflects light with a ruddy glow. A glyph is emblazoned on the blade.

Thread Rank One
Key Knowledge: The owner must learn the axe’s Name.
Effect: The axe contains a Standard Matrix with rank equal to the Thread Rank.

Thread Rank Two
Effect: The wielder gains the Arcane Strike ability. As a Simple action for 1 Strain, the blade of the axe flares with magical flame. If the wielder successfully attacked an opponent with the spell in the axe’s spell matrix in the previous round, they gain +1 to Attack and Damage tests with the axe until the end of the next round.

Thread Rank Three
Key Knowledge: The owner must learn about the glyph.
Effect: The wielder gains +1 to Spellcasting and Effect tests when casting the spell in the axe’s spell matrix.

Thread Rank Four
Effect: The Arcane Strike ability now gives +2 to the Attack and Damage tests.

Thread Rank Five
Key Knowledge: The owner must learn where the True fire was harvested.
Effect: The wielder now gains +2 to Spellcasting and Effect tests when casting the spell in the axe’s spell matrix.

Thread Rank Six
Effect: While the Arcane Strike ability is active, the wielder can spend an additional Karma Point on Attack tests with the axe. This has no other requirements

Thread Rank Seven
Key Knowledge: The owner must learn where the True earth was harvested.
Effect: The Standard Matrix is now an Enhanced Matrix.

Thread Rank Eight
Effect: The wielder gains the following special maneuver:
Arcane Strike (Wielder, Close Combat): The wielder can spend 2 Strain and two additional successes on an Attack test with the axe to cause the glyph on the axe to flare to life. This allows the wielder to cast the spell contained in the axe’s spell matrix as a Free action. The spell is resolved after the attack using this special maneuver is fully resolved. The spell cannot require any threads to be woven and cannot benefit from extra threads beyond what is contained (if any) in the axe’s spell matrix. This special maneuver can only be used once per round and only on the wielder’s turn.