Ten Coolest Swords in Geekdom....
By
Antigonus,
Posted on: 2011-08-21 02:00 in Comic and Hero-Villain Culture
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Well, that's a hard one to answer. Since Dorian Hawkmoon is an incarnation of the Eternal Champion it makes things a bit difficult. I was sure that the Runestaff in that series was Hawkmoon's incarnation of Stormbringer (although it could actually be the Black Jewel in his forhead). But since in the Sword of the Dawn story they travel to other dimensions, it is possible that the actual Sword of the Dawn is another incarnation of Stormbringer (especially since it has the Army of the Dawn within it). The Hawkmoon stories are a bit wierd in that I believe that there are actually two incarnations of the Eternal Champion in them, Hawkmoon being one and the other the Warrior in Jet and Gold. |
Originally Posted by MisterD
Agree with the point about Saberhagen's Swords. Although that is 10? of them..so a bit hard to rank. And what about another Moorcock one..the Sword of The Dawn? That is another awesome one. Unless it cant get on the list cause Stormbringer already is. And I find it a complete joke that the writer of the article has not even read an Elric book..do some research!
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Since Stormbringer has so many forms, it's hard to say if we should list it more than once. Stormbringer also had a 'brother blade' in Mournblade, though a later story had thousands of 'brothers' summoned to Elric's aid.
Erekose had Kanajana, a weaker version of Strombringer - though it still could kill those around Erekose with deadly radiation.
Count Urlik Skarsol had perhaps the most potent form of Stormbringer in the Cold Sword/Black Sword. It demanded the blood of friends for its aid.
Corum Jhaelen Irsei I believe had a spear. But he also had the Eye of Rhynn and the Hand of Kwll.
The various Von Beks are both Eternal Champion incarnations and companions to the Champion, and use various weapons.
Frankish Roland, the Paladin of Charlemagne, had an unbreakable sword.
But the Black Sword is the Champion's Weapon, no matter its form. So, should we include its multiple forms? A very good question.
Elric, Corum, Erekose, and Hawkmoon (and their weapons) at one time were fused together into The Four Who are One. This was deemed the most incarnations that could safely be together at one time due to the amount of power they wielded and the strain it placed upon the very fabric of the multiverse.
The Sword of Bheleu from Lawrence Watt-Evans' Lords of Dûs four book series was also very powerful, but I never see it mentioned.
I've looked for hours but.......are there any D&D stats for Excalibur and Stormbringer?
The only thing I can assume about them is that they are either minor or major artifacts.
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I don't know if it was mentioned, but for me, there was always a certain nostalgia playing Diablo 1 as a kid, delving deeper into the abyss one level at a time, getting killed by Hell's endless horde of evil minions, wondering if I would ever face Diablo himself. Until by a stroke of luck I dropped The Grandfather Sword. Lord of Terror you've met your match...
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See, this never works. You go wrong right away when you don't include the Priceless Lassiter Pistol.... |
Originally Posted by Nericus
Long as we are talking swords, how about some of the coolest guns in Geekdom?
10: |
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The only time I've seen stats for either was back in the 1st printing 1st edition Deities and Demigods. |
Originally Posted by Nightphall
I've looked for hours but.......are there any D&D stats for Excalibur and Stormbringer?
The only thing I can assume about them is that they are either minor or major artifacts. |
Can't find my copy right now (it's around here somewhere).
But from memory Excalibur is a +5 holy avenger with sword of sharpness qualities. It's scabbard had some ability which cut damage from non bludgeoning weapons.
Stormbringer was a +5 intelligent sword that had a monstrous ego and would either drain all levels, or half the levels of the target on a hit (50-50% chance). Those drained levels passed on hit points and strength to the user for a short time.
They were both relic/artifact class.
Too many alts to list.
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Now this is from memory, so it may not be accurate, but here is what I remember. |
Originally Posted by Nightphall
I've looked for hours but.......are there any D&D stats for Excalibur and Stormbringer?
The only thing I can assume about them is that they are either minor or major artifacts. |
Excalibur was a +5 longsword of sharpness with quick strike ability. It could only be weilded in battle by the one and true king or those deemed worthy, so it was assumed that was either part of its enchantment, or that it was partially intelligent. It may require a LG alignment to use.
Stormbringer is much more difficult to recall all of its stats and abilities. First, the sword is intelligent, so it does have that stat, it has an alignment (CE). It literally feeds on souls, heals its user, gives the user more strength as a battle goes on (don't recall how much, but the old stats only went to 25 and I think it went to max), gives more endurance (constitution) as a battle continues. It can fly, return to user's hand, and if I'm not mistaken even do so by means of teleportation, though many of those abilities are at the sword's descretion. It keans and wails as it drains souls, which can unnerve many combatants. It can harm gods, and virtually any type of creature.
The sword literally delights in killing, particularly those the user is fond of.
Personally, I think "really good katana" should just be its own special mention on the list, and a lot of other swords would just fall under that. All of those are fairly interchangeable. Most of the other swords on this list are at least somewhat unique or have unique qualities.
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From 2nd Ed's Legends & Lore:|
Originally Posted by Nightphall
I've looked for hours but.......are there any D&D stats for Excalibur and Stormbringer?
The only thing I can assume about them is that they are either minor or major artifacts. |
"Excalibur is a sword of sharpness +5 that can only be wielded by a Lawful God warrior of 18 strength or greater. If stolen, taken by treachery, or lifted in an evil cause, Excalibur will beak upon contact with another weapon. It can only be mended by returning all of the resulting pieces to the Lady of the Lake, and she will only mend it for a worthy king, such as Arthur.
As valuable as Excalibur itself is the sword's scabbard, which prevents bloo from flowing from is wearer's wounds. Anyone wearing the scabbard suffers damage only from bludgeoning, magic,fire, and other forms of non-cutting attacks. The scabbard only functions for a Lawful Good wearer."
I'm pretty sure the stats have appeared in Dragon magazine for 3rd edition, as well. I believe Stormbringer was featured in an article, but I don't recall seeing it in any of the official books, though there are certainly a number of swords that perform a similar life/soul-drinking function.
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I can't believe we got this far into the thread without someone mentioning Narsil.
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Originally Posted by Mental_Giant
Narsil and/or Glamdring should be on there.
For some new school flavor, I can't think of a cooler blade than Uther Doul's Probability Sword from China Mieville's The Scar. |
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Rodoan mentioned it before me on Page 3, but I agree, it should have been brought up in the first comment.
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Originally Posted by Draugadan
I can't believe we got this far into the thread without someone mentioning Narsil.
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That's because, while Orcrist, Glamdring and Narsil were probably more powerful and awesome, Sting was the cool and memorable blade in LotR and the Hobbit.
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Originally Posted by Mental_Giant
Rodoan mentioned it before me on Page 3, but I agree, it should have been brought up in the first comment.
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From Wikipedia:|
Originally Posted by MajorPrankster
The books about Elric and Stormbringer are written by Moorecock
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| Elric first appeared in print in Moorcocks novella, "The Dreaming City" (Science Fantasy #47, June 1961) |
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Originally Posted by Chyll
You'd know because they are classic fantasy stories, the first written before D&D was published and most before it got popular
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I must admit.....after the weapons I've seen NPCs wield, and especially after seeing the stats of some weapons in the Epic Level Handbook......I'm a bit underwhelmed by Excalibur.
Unless like others have said: there should be a 3.5 update to it?
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Not a bad list, but isn't it Galatine that young Arthur removes from the stone, while Excalibur is the returned version from the Lady of the Lake?
Good to see Stormbringer (and twin Mournblade) there...no Durendal (Roland's sword) at first glance though.
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there are different versions of the legend of Arthur and the sword...|
Originally Posted by Neuronia
Not a bad list, but isn't it Galatine that young Arthur removes from the stone, while Excalibur is the returned version from the Lady of the Lake?
Good to see Stormbringer (and twin Mournblade) there...no Durendal (Roland's sword) at first glance though. |
Excalibur is sometimes referred to as any sword that Arthur wields, sometimes it's specifically the sword from the lady of the lake, and sometimes the sword in the stone is excalibur (from the lady of the lake) and sometimes it isn't.
Excalibur itself is said to have the power to make it's wielder the victor of any battle, duel, whatever it's in... which is kinda scary cuz it simply means that no matter what the end game will always favor the wielder's goals....however sometimes the only way that the wielder can win is by taking fatal attacks.. so >.> it's not really a great sword in my opinion
The real power is Excalibur's Scabbard which has the power of protection. The barer of that scabbard will come to no harm...
I'd personally prefer never to carry the Excalibur as a sword for fighting as there are too many pitfalls with it's power... you, your kingdom, you army, or any number of things could end up dead/destroyed and still remain the "winner" especially if you are in a desperate struggle that you'll likely lose. I'd rather have it as an off sword than the attacking sword.
I'd rather wield the Muramasa for attacking... only if I always kept the Excalibur scabbard on me. Those are supposed to be cursed and the scabbard would counter that.
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If your asking OD&D, I can provide straight from Dieties & Demigods.|
Originally Posted by Nightphall
I've looked for hours but.......are there any D&D stats for Excalibur and Stormbringer?
The only thing I can assume about them is that they are either minor or major artifacts. |
Off-hand I think Excalibur in OD&D was a Sword of Sharpness (epic win) and a Holy Avenger. Excalibur's scabard prevented Arthur form being harmed by bladed weapons.
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I know this is meant to be 'geek' list..but, how are they defining it? Is it the 10 most powerful swords, from all over, the 10 most well know, the 10 most geeky? I freely admit too having heard nothing or very little about the manga type swords on the list. Does that make me less of a geek? I'm sure there could be a list of just swords that appear in manga and no one BUT manga nerds would even know about.
Also..regarding Excalibur..in my mind, it is not a geek sword at all. Ask almost anyone at random if they have heard of it and the answer will be a yes. But it is NOT a geek sword..is it a historical and mythological sword. The history and myth came first. Just because geeks use it for D&D or whatever does not make it suddenly geek property.
What?! No mention of Thundar's Sun Sword??
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I was expecting a light saber to be the #1 sword.
@Joshua.
You know this topic has reminded me of one of my pet-peeves here in CoH; I know a lot of you have shared in this frustration and that being the lack of swords to choose from ingame; Lets take Katana for example in the seven years I have been playing we have iirc 11 swords 2 of which are repeats (colored version of legacy blades.) So be it 9 Katanas to choose from... I never understood this from the design aspect it would seem to me creating swords would be fairly easy, what gives???
I want a fire katana! The Oni Mastermind pet has it! I want it for katanas and for fire melee!
@Joshua.
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Originally Posted by Nericus
Long as we are talking swords, how about some of the coolest guns in Geekdom?
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I'm partial to the Noisy Cricket myself.
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Every time I'm in a position to see cosplayers. It's one of the better costumes for emaciated goth kids.
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Originally Posted by Durakken
Also from what is said Stormbringer is a D&D thing so considering D&D sucks in my opinion why would i or anyone who doesn't care about D&D know about it...also when's the last time you've seen a cosplay of it ^.^
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Also, can't believe some people haven't heard of Stormbringer! *hangs head in shame*
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