"holy" weapons in a system without alignment?

[blackshirt5]

OK, I'm switching my campaign to a blend of D20, D&D 3.5, and AU; it'll have no alignment, and no alignment based spells(such as Detect Evil, Detect Good, etc.) but I still want to include Holy Weapons. How would you handle this? I was planning on making it that way it just dealt positive or negative energy damage, depending on the outlook and religion of the wielder; should I make it that way it deals this religion only against opponents not of the same religion(or, by DMs decision, against those not faithful to the wielder's religion, so that it can deal the damage against heretics of the same religion). Do y'all think this is a good idea?

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

I'd be careful about expanding the potential victim pool. A weapon that does an additional +1d6 against evil creatures is pretty powerful; one that does +1d6 against everyone that doesn't believe as I do is much more so. At the very least I'd make it more difficult and expensive to obtain.

On the other hand, if it's just 'Holy' for the purpose of overcoming DR, it's not as big a deal. Most of the things that are susceptible to such weapons are 'evil' whether you are using traditional alignment rules or not.

 

[blackshirt5]

I might just make it that the sword deals positive or negative energy damage, depending on the wielder or the creator of the sword. It's really not unbalancing at +1d6; in the core rulebook, alignment weapons deal +2d6.

 

[Burne]

Sounds like you want to use Bane and call it something else. As long as everyone involved understand that a Holy weapon of Bob is especcially good at smiting the followers of Steve, then it doesn't much matter if its a Bob Holy or a Steve Bane weapon.

 

[blackshirt5]

No, I'm still including Bane weapons; these are more positive or negative energy weapons than Bane weapons. I'm just wondering if you think that it's a good idea.

 

[Privateer]

Just remember to explain that, if they do positive energy "damage," that it doesn't heal anyone, as positive energy would do normally.

What about some sort of extra damaging or misc. cool effect against outsiders?

 

[LostWorldsMike]

How you define Holy Weapons in your game depends, in large part, on how you define what's holy and unholy in the campaign.

I'd think it would do the extra damage against individuals who were considered infidels or heretics under the precepts of the "holy" religion in question.

Which brings up some interesting moral ambiguities... Since there is no rigidly defined, easily detectable "good" or "evil" in the world, the PCs could go on a quest for a Holy Relic (TM and patent pending), only to find out it's actually consecrated to one of the vilest deities on the planet. Sure, it's holy...just not nice-holy.

I think it's a cool idea.

 

[Umbran]

Well, ask yourself this - if there's no alignment in the game, no Evil, no Good, then how does someting qualify as being Holy? What can Holiness be if there is no Good?

If you can answer that question, you're probably on the road to figuring out what to do with the weapons. If you can't, then you really shouldn't have the weapons in the game.

 

[Havilor]

I sort of like the idea that the holy weapon is blessed to do +1d6 damage period. It's not quite on the same level as elemental damages, and it's also quite indiscriminate, which means that anyone wielding the holy weapon is a threat. Depending on how active the blessing diety is, though, perhaps the enchantment can fail if used in a way that would otherwise desecrate the weapon in that religion's eyes. This kind of setup, for example, can give both a holy knight and a cruel inquisitor the same benefits regardless of their motive or the beliefs of the person attacked.

 

[Breakdaddy]

Which brings up some interesting moral ambiguities... Since there is no rigidly defined, easily detectable "good" or "evil" in the world, the PCs could go on a quest for a Holy Relic (TM and patent pending), only to find out it's actually consecrated to one of the vilest deities on the planet. Sure, it's holy...just not nice-holy.

Would that then make it a "Holy Sh*t!" weapon?