Chain Lightning (Rune Long Sword):

The sword is actually surprisingly plain for a rune weapon and looks like a sword that might be carried by a moderately successful mercenary. The scabbard with the weapon is plain blue enameled metal with no gems and has no gold or silver decorating it. When drawn, the blade of the weapon is a light blue grey and the runes are deeply engraved down the middle of the blade. The blade tapers slowly until it reaches near the tip of the blade where it tapers more quickly into a sharp point.

When the blade is pulled out of its scabbard, the runes can be seen to glow in their own light with the crackling of electricity and along the blade, blue lightning crawls slowly up and down. Because of this , the weapon can be used as a light source when drawn and will illuminate a 10 foot (3 meter) radius area. The hilt is constructed of very dark grey steel that is almost black. The handle is plain with no ornamentation and the hand grip is braided steel wire. As such, this weapon is fairly unlikely for thieves that do not know the weapon’s abilities to steal.

The magical abilities of the weapons are quite unusual and some scholars have considered the weapon to be a lesser rune weapon while others have considered it to be a greater rune weapon. Along with the unusual special abilities, Chain Lightning does have all the abilities that are common with most rune weapons and is well balance and an excellent sword. The weapon does not have the ability of soul drinking. The sword is of an Unprincipled alignment and can be wielded by individuals of Principled, Scrupulous, and Unprincipled alignments. The personality of the weapon seems to be of an older man, perhaps a grizzled veteran of many battles.

Many stories have been told about the weapon but many people assume that the person who had the sword created for him was attacked by a teammate at one time. It is either this, or he, the entity in the sword, or both were paranoid. As might be indicated by the lightning on the blade, the blades main offensive weapon is lightning. The wielder himself/ herself is immune to the electricity of the weapon except for having their hair stand up. While the weapon does not fully protect from external lightning attacks, it does reduce their effectiveness.

The weapon has the ability to fire lightning from the blade of the weapon. The bolt may be aimed at a specific individual by pointing the point of blade at that person but it does mean that this is the person who will be struck by the lightning bolt. The lightning is believed to be possessed by a very minor air elemental and will only strike at individuals that mean specific harm to the person who owns and possesses the sword. Instead, the beam will hit anyone else within range of the lightning bolt who has such intent.

The swords first choice of targets are other members of the sword bearers party who have ill plans for the current owner of the sword. This is of course not merely dislike but true intention to inflict harm. If there is no one within the range of the lightning bolt, the bolt will go into the ground and dissipate. If the bolt does strike an individual though, either the sword bearers intended or someone different, the bolt will actually bounce to another target at a slightly weaker strength. Like the first strike, all targets have to have intentions to harm the wielder of the sword and must be in range of the lightning bolt. It will continue to bounce until it is out of individuals to hit, in which it dissipates into the ground, or until it runs out of energy. An individual will only be struck once by a lightning bolt although a new lightning bolt can strike that same individual.

Attributes:

I.Q.:	14.	Communicates with wielder through limited telepathy.
M.E.:	15.
M.A.:	12.

Characteristics:

Like all Rune Sword it is completely indestructible.
Links to wielder within 6 months of constant contact. Can sense each other presences within 4 miles.
Gives wielder +1 on all saving throws.
Add +1 attack per melee round.
Can be used to parry energy blasts at -6.
Can only be used by individuals of Unprincipled, Scrupulous, or Principled Alignments, anybody not of those alignments takes 2D4 points of damage each time they touch the weapon or 3D6 damage if creatures of magic.

Weapon Bonuses:

Due to superior craftsmanship, equal to dwarven quality, has +2 to strike, +3 to parry, and +2 on initiative.

Weapon Damage:

In hand to hand, the sword inflicts 6D6+6 per strike. This is broken down as 4D6+6 of the damage being from the sword blade itself while the lightning on the blade inflicts an additional 2D6 of the damage. Targets that are impervious to lightning or energy will not receive damage from the lightning and only receive 4D6+6 damage from the sword blade itself. Weapon inflicts S.D.C. in S.D.C. Worlds and inflicts M.D.C. in M.D.C. Worlds. (Plus strength bonus if applicable.)

Weapon's Special Abilities:

Protection Against Lightning: The sword gives the wielder complete immunity to lightning which originally was fired from the sword itself. This includes if a magic user or psionic redirects a bolt at the wielder. The sword bearer also takes half damage from lightning bolts from other sources.

Chain Lightning: The weapon can only fire a single lightning bolt melee round but otherwise can fire an unlimited number of lightning bolts per day. The lightning bolt however will potentially hit multiple targets / opponents.

The bolt will only strike individuals who have intentions to harm the bearer of the sword. The first target of choice is an individual in the sword owners group that has bad intentions against the owner. If there are no individuals within the bolts range that have bad intention toward the sword bearer, the lightning bolt will travel to the ground and dissipate. After the lightning bolt strikes its first target, whether it is directed or if it hits the target indirectly, the lightning bolt will to additional targets at the rate of one target per melee attack of the wielder of the sword. The bolt will only strike individuals who mean to harm the wielder of the weapon and will not strike a target twice with the same bolt.

The initial lightning bolt has a range of 60 feet (18.3 meters) and inflicts 6D6 points of damage. After each strike, the lightning bolt’s damage decreases by 1D6 and range decreases by 10 feet (3 meters). [First Strike: 6D6 and 60 ft (18.3 m) range, Second Strike: 5D6 and 50 ft (15.2 m) range, Third Strike: 4D6 and 40 ft (12.2 m) range, Fourth Strike: 3D6 and 30 ft (9.1 m) range, Fifth Strike: 2D6 and 20 ft (6.1) range, and Sixth Strike: 1D6 and 10 ft (3 m) range.]

The initial aimed strike gets the wielders hand to hand bonuses with a bonuses of +3 to attack but all indirect attacks have only a bonus of +3 to strike with no bonuses for hand to hand.

In S.D.C. environments, the lightning bolts inflicts S.D.C. damage and in M.D.C. environments, the lightning bolts inflicts M.D.C. damage.

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Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

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