D&D 5E Intelligent magic weapons and their side effects

[Prism]

So far each of the three released modules after the starter set have contained at least one very powerful magic weapon with some serious undesirable side effects. I am interested to know if DM’s of these adventures have played up these flaws or generally ignored them.
There are some item spoilers for all three adventures in this post so best not to read further if playing these…

Hoard of the Dragon Queen contains a powerful yet evil intelligent great sword. Probably due to the early release of this adventure we are not given the swords charisma attribute but its easy enough to allocate one. So checking the DMG to see what an intelligent item can do to mess with its wielder it can make all sorts of demands of them to follow its alignment or goals. If the wielder refuses it can withhold some or all of its abilities, or prevent attunement or even cast charm person once per day on the wielder. All this stuff can seriously screw up a party and probably should considering the nature of the sword. I know when our party found this we dropped it immediately.

In Princes of the Apocalypse you can find and wield the four elemental evil weapons. Now these are more subtle influencers as all they do is add a character flaw to the wielder. So either the player has to role play this flaw voluntarily or use the inspiration mechanic to reward the player. Did any players do this in your game or did you let the characters use them unhindered?

In Out of the Abyss the party can find a goodly intelligent sunblade which comes with its own side effects – mainly that it wants to glow constantly and creates some serious issues for sneaking around the underdark. It has a reasonable charisma and is therefore quite hard to resist if it wants its own way. I could also see some problems interacting with many of the would be allies, like drow, when its in the party. Would you as a DM ignore those aspects or do you make the adventure harder for the players (like shining at inopportune times) to compensate for its in combat benefits. Oh and as a final thought the same adventure contains the wand of orcus. How harsh are you when choosing the detrimental effects – disadvantage on saves vs spells plus aging up to 30 years? Something a bit more lenient?

I ask this because our group has often included intelligent items and artifacts in our adventures but rarely have they been entirely beneficial to the party and sometimes have been downright problem items, leading in the worst cases to character death – usually after being charmed to dominated by the item. Basically are intelligent items more trouble than they are worth?

 

[Croesus]

In Princes of the Apocalypse you can find and wield the four elemental evil weapons. Now these are more subtle influencers as all they do is add a character flaw to the wielder. So either the player has to role play this flaw voluntarily or use the inspiration mechanic to reward the player. Did any players do this in your game or did you let the characters use them unhindered?

I have a visceral dislike of items that mess with PC's minds. As a player, I really value being able to control my character's actions and assume other players feel the same. So I took some steps to warn the PCs about the effects of the elemental weapons. The party encountered an NPC who happened to have seen a prophet firsthand, so was able to warn them about the unhealthy effects of one of the weapons. They later encountered another prophet, who I played up as certifiably paranoid, which the players (correctly) blamed on the weapon he was holding. Fortunately, the players are rather cautious, so no one has attempted to wield the one weapon they've since obtained. In fact, they're trying to figure out how to destroy them all to stop the cults.

Because those are some of the more interesting (and powerful) items in the module, I'm adding other stuff for them to find. Half the fun of D&D is finding stuff. The powerful items I add won't be completely risk-free (they'll likely have drawbacks), but they won't change the PC's personalities.

That said, I do add items all the time that are intelligent (an intelligent floating lantern was a big hit in an earlier campaign). I run them as NPCs. If I added an intelligent weapon, I'd run it the same way - it would be like the PC's intelligent warhorse, familiar or companion, not something trying to possess or dominate the character. Though the item may indeed encourage the PC to do certain things, it will always be the player's choice, not mine.

 

[Unwise]

I love intelligent items, I just think that using them as a domination thing is lazy and not very fun in most circumstances. There are lots of cool things you can do with an intelligent weapon or item that does not remove control of the PC from the player.

- The item can activate and deactivate its abilities whenever it wants.
- Change the way you as the DM describe scenes and people to reflect the items influence. I have used many paranoid item. I describe people reaching inside their jacket towards a dagger shaped bulge etc and the PCs cut down people just reaching for a cigar case. I describe how shifty the inn keeper seems and the PC stays awake guarding all night.
- Let the PCs know that the item likes and dislikes their actions. Appear to be keeping some sort of tally. This influences PC behavior significantly.
- Open up new abilities when the item likes the PCs more, but the item now expects more of them and will shut off the abilities if they don't behave. Carrot and stick approach.
- Describe simply how the item makes the PC feel. You often don't need to do more than that to discourage a PC using an evil item in my experience.
- Temptation, do this action and I'll give you X power.

IMC the Paladin has a Holy Avenger. The sword is literally the embodiment of his god wrath. That is all it is, it truly is an instrument of vengeance. The PC was shocked to find that the Holy Avenger was not a loving caring compassionate sword, it was the material manifestation of righteous rage, it just wants to smite and kill (righteously of course). He actually has to fight to keep it in check. He has learned that the last wielders of the item all did terrible things in their gods name. The Holy Avenger is the wrath of a god, without the wisdom of a god. It just wants to smite the bad guys, not stop and think. His Oath of Devotion gives him immunity to charm, so if he keeps his principles, he can maintain control of the rage. This has been far more interesting for all concerned than simply having an item that marries up exactly with the personality and principles of the PC.

 

[Eltab]

I'm designing an AP-like campaign with TWO intelligent items.
One is an OotA-inspired anti-demon sword that wants to attack all demons on sight, and complains about having to waste its abilities on any other foe. It may drag its wielder around on the battlefield (partial move) if it loses patience.
The other is a specific "key" to a specific plot problem. It will encourage the PCs onwards towards its goal (a place). It knows what must be done once they arrive, but has NO IDEA what might be there to interfere with them. (A Demon Lord, I think: give the sword something awesome to do while everybody else is bogged down in a Powerful Ritual (TM).)

For obvious reasons, you do not meet with the second item until late in the arc. Then it becomes the primary plot driver.

 

[Celtavian]

I like having an item that has a price for power.

 

[Arcshot]

I definitely like to provide an opportunity for the PCs to pick up an 'intelligent' magic item that would give marginal benefit with a negative catch. I am careful of not penalizing the PC with the item so much that it causes major problems, just an inconvenience will do. One such item is the Sword of Vengence (DMG206). It gives a minor perk of +1 yet forces the PC to fight relentlessly; could end up in a dangerous situation at times but still manageable.