Lartiss, The Wyrm's Bane

[beaumont sebos]

[Jamfke]

You could always go the route of having the Jedi's soul trapped in the saber by a Sith.
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[garhkal]

[Cool McCool]

I like the idea of it being a dark sword - maybe not "pulsing with the rage and hatred of the Dark Side", but something a little more grey.

I would make the sword a character in its own right, with skills and the whole lot!

Then I'd give it some goals. Things that it wants to see done over everything else. "Becoming a human" might be one. "Dying in glorious combat" might be another.

Then I'd give it an itch to scratch. Something that it needs for its owner to give it, or else it gets upset. No more fancy powers unless you scratch that itch of its. Killing Hutts and that might be good.
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Still funky after all these years

[DreadLordBill]

Still though, it's a cool weapon!

[Kayle Skolaris]

Just a suggestion...

Capsule: Lartiss the Wyrmsbane began existence as a typical Shard on its homeworld of Orax. Roughly 200 years after it attained sapience, a Hutt gangster of the era heard of the living crystals of Orax and arranged for an entire crystalline 'forest' to be taken from the planet. As no one else knew of the Shards at that time, and would not hear of their existence for many millennia yet, no one came to their defense.

Millions of Shards died in the culling of the forest. The Hutt henchmen sent to perform the task had no idea how to remove the Shards safely, and only a few dozen out of over eighteen million survived. Most of those died later. But one particular Shard survived. It was force sensitive, and the psychic backlash of the holocaust around it drove the crystalline being irrevocably insane. It felt each and every death in excrutiating detail, and with the razor-sharp memory all Shards possess, has never been able to forget any of it. In desperation, it called out for help, but there was no one who could help it. Shards are naturally immobile, and the massive group mind that is the Shard species could do nothing but stand by in frozen horror as millions of their own were butchered.

Lartiss gained no solace from its brethren, but it did recieve an answer. The Dark Side responded, providing cold comfort where no other existed. As the Hutt 'mining expedition' departed with their murdered cargo, they unknowingly took along their own doom. Lartiss responded to the influence of the Dark Side and fed directly from its power. Where once it was a brilliant white crystal, it now dimmed to an inky black. The blinding heat of its pain and anger outshone the greatest supernova while the ineffable darkness of its hatred was blacker than the darkest singularity.

It began to play with the minds of those aboard the pirate cruiser it was being transported aboard. With astonishing ease, it drove the crew to murder one another, save for a dozen Nikto M'dweshuu Cultists. Sensing their hatred for their forced servitude to the Hutts, Lartiss chose to make them its proxies. It directed them to build it a body from which it could strike at those who had murdered so many of its people. This body took the form of an ornate lightsabre handle. Rather than go to the trouble of creating a true lightsabre and somehow fitting itself inside the housing, Lartiss chose to be the sole internal mechanism of the lightsabre. While from the outside it resembles a typical lightsabre, were one to open the casing one would find only a pitch-black crystal pulsing with dark power.

Its body completed, it drew upon the power of the Dark Side to molecularly bond the casing, providing Lartiss with a nearly-impenetrable (15D) armored housing to protect its fragile true self. It directed the Nikto to take the ship to a world where it could meditate on its next course of action. Slowly, over the course of decades, it would extend its power from this hidden world and drive the Cult of M'dweshuu to rise up against their Hutt masters again and again. Decades grew into centuries and centuries into millennia. Over all that time, it would allow itself to be passed from wielder to wielder with little reservations, but would always slowly begin to corrupt its new owner to the ways of hatred and anger. It usually directed this hatred towards the Hutts and their slave races, and frequently worked through the Cult of M'dweshuu to achieve its eternal quest for vengeance. It decided long ago that it would not be satisfied until five Hutts lay dead for every Shard killed that sad day six thousand years ago. 'Five for One' became the enigmatic battlecry of its wielders over the centuries, with each demanding a blood debt of five enemy lives for each ally slain.

Lartiss is not a true lightsabre, despite being wielded with the lightsabre skill. Its blade is an eerie dark shaft so black that light seems to refuse to touch it, giving it a shadowy aura as a dark mockery of a lightsabre's bright energy halo. In combat, it functions in all respects as a normal Lightsabre save that the damage inflicted is equal to its Alter score. Not being a true lightsabre, it cannot be modified to produce more damage. Additionally, a wielder cannot add his own Alter dice to the damage of Lartiss, although he may still use Control to improve his skill. Instead, Lartiss functions as an odd form of Holocron, being capable of acting as a Teacher for any skill it possesses. It has picked up a number of unlikely skills for an immobile crystal over the centuries due to having its wielders install droid brains into various vehicles that Lartiss could then control via restraining bolts or the Dark Side. Also, Lartiss will usually use its many powers on behalf of its wielder. From healing an injured wielder to frying one of his enemies with Force Lightning, Lartiss can be extremely helpful to a cooperative owner. It likes to work with its owners as much as possible and will tolerate a great deal of defiance before becoming annoyed. It vastly prefers to use persuasion and deception to manipulate its owners into following its advice. However, Lartiss definitely has its own agenda and has killed more than one owner who thought he could control the insane living weapon.

Ironically, Lartiss knows nothing of the creation, use, or history of lightsabres. It would very much like to know these things, but for some reason has never been able to hold onto the knowledge. This frustrates it a great deal and serves to heighten its anger and hatred of pretty much everything. Little does it know that this flaw in its memory is a Dark Side Curse levied upon it to ensure that it maintains the evil mindset necessary to continue its never-ending crusade of revenge and murder.

From the standpoint of a Force User, Lartiss is effectively a Master. Indeed, Lartiss is quite possibly the most evil being in galactic history, having channeled the powers of the Dark Side of the force for over six thousand years now. It serves the Dark Side by corrupting wielders into more and more depraved acts of revenge and mayhem, with nothing being too vile for consideration. As an example of its raw power, Lartiss visited Orax several centuries after it became what it is today and wiped clean all memory of itself and the entire holocaust from the minds of its entire species. Nothing of that event remains in Shard memory save for a tiny handful who survived the massacre along with Lartiss. Even Lartiss does not know what has become of these Shards over the centuries, though it knows for certain that many died shortly after the initial event as cracks in their crystalline structure slowly spread and disrupted the delicate internal balance of life energies that keeps a Shard alive. Little does Lartiss realize, it too suffered damage that day. The dark insanity that has gripped it and proved so delicious to the Dark Side is a direct result of a tiny hair-line fracture that has never been healed. It is unknown what would happen to Lartiss were this flaw in its crystalline form to somehow be healed...

Lartiss, the Wyrmsbane
Type: Darkside Corruptor
Species: Shard
Age: 6,239
Size: 35 centimeters long/6 centimeters diameter

Dexterity: 0D

Knowledge: 5D
Alien Species 7D, Alien Species: Hutts 11D, Alien Species: Hutt Slave Races 9D, Cultures 8D, Cultures: Hutts 10D, Cultures: Hutt Slave Races 8D+2, Intimidation: Terrify Wielder 9D, Languages 7D+2, Languages: Huttese 10D+1, Languages: Weequay 8D, Languages: Vodran 8D+1, Languages: Nikto 8D, Languages: Nimbanese 8D+2, Languages: Klatooinan 8D, Planetary Systems 6D+2, Planetary Systems: Hutt Space 9D+1, Scholar: Cult of M'Dweshuu 10D+2, Scholar: Dark Side Lore 9D+2, Scholar: Hutt History 12D+1, Scholar: Hutt Slave Races 10D, Streetwise 8D, Tactics 8D+1, Willpower: 12D+2

Mechanical: 4D
Archaic Starship Piloting 7D+1, Astrogation 6D+1, Astrogation: Hutt Space 9D, Capital Ship Gunnery 5D, Capital Ship Piloting 5D+2, Capital Ship Shields 5D, Communications 4D+2, Ground Vehicle Operation 4D+1, Hover Vehicle Operation 5D, Powersuit Operation 4D+1, Repulsorlift Operation 5D+2, Sensors 8D, Space Transports 7D+2, Starship Gunnery 7D+1, Starship Shields 7D+1, Walker Operation 5D

Perception: 4D
Bargain 6D+1, Command 8D, Command: Cult of M'Dweshuu 11D+1, Con 11D, Investigation 9D, Persuasion 13D+2, Search 9D

Strength: 0D

Technical: 5D
Armor Repair 7D, Blaster Repair 7D+2 Capital Ship Repair 6D, Computer Programming/Repair 12D+2, Droid Programming 12D+1, Droid Repair 13D, Droid Engineering (A) 9D+2, First Aid 6D+1, Ground Vehicle Repair 5D+2, Hover Vehicle Repair 6D, Repulsorlift Repair 8D, Security 9D+1, Space Transports 8D+2, Starfighter Repair 7D+1, Starship Weapon Repair 6D+2, Walker Repair 5D+2

Special Abilities:
Special Abilities:
Computer Mind: Shards have an instinctive understanding of computers and droids brains and gain +1D with the Computer Programming/Repair and Droid Programming skills as well as any other skill that involves computer programming or operation such as Astrogation or Security.
Shards can interact directly with comlink-equipped computers with their Telecommunications ability.
Telecommunication: Shards can transmit and recieve electromagnetic transmissions as a means of communication. This allows them to detect any operating technological device or droid within 100 meters with an Easy Perception roll. Their signals can reach out to about 1 kilometer individually. Shards can also affect droids equipped with a restraining bolt as if they had a Control wand by making a Moderate Technical or Droid Programming roll.
Story Factors:
Sessile: Shards are completely immobile without their droid shells.
Fragile: Shards resist damage with only 1D when not shielded by their droid shells.

Force Skills: Control 12D+1, Sense 13D+1, Alter 13D
Possesses all known force powers and many unknown ones

Force Points: 31
Dark Side Points: 97
Character Points: 72

[Kayle Skolaris]

So, ummm... If you all hate my idea, it's okay to say so. I won't order an orbital bombardment or anything.

[PsiberDragon]

Kayle, I have to admit... I DO hate your idea....


... because I couldn't come up with something that cool...

Seriously. I think that idea rocks like hell.
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"Love like you will die tomorrow. Hate like you will live forever." - Unknown

[Gry Sarth]

Well I do hate it.


Period.


Nothing wrong with that.
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"He's Gry Sarth, of course he has the stats for them."

[Kayle Skolaris]

Hey Gry, what do you hate about it?

[Gry Sarth]

Just the concept of a "character" weapon in Star Wars. I think that's a very "D&Dish" concept which I don't feel fits the Star Wars setting. Not the way I play it, anyway.
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"He's Gry Sarth, of course he has the stats for them."

[PsiberDragon]

Kinda agree with you, there, Gry...

but the thought of using a Shard as a lightsaber crystal... and the backstory in and of itself... ya gotta give props to that, no?
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"Love like you will die tomorrow. Hate like you will live forever." - Unknown

[Kayle Skolaris]

Gry, I HATE the idea of a sapient weapon in Star Wars. It screams Dungeons and Dragons at the top of its lungs to me. However, what I describe above is actually POSSIBLE within the system and without resorting to any house rules. It's all off-the-shelf rules structured in a way that meets the 'sapient weapon' criteria.

[Gry Sarth]

Yes, it's a very well thought-out concept, I'll give you that. You did a commendable job in that regard, giving it a background as rich as any character would be lucky to have.

Regarding the Shard, I never much cared for the species, which I also think stretches the boundaries of the Star Wars setting uncomfortably. So, even though your sword is well put together with the existing "official" elements of Star Wars lore, in the end of the day you still end up with a very "D&Dish" sentient piece of weaponry.

Ok, so maybe I don't HATE the concept, it just rubs me the wrong way.
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"He's Gry Sarth, of course he has the stats for them."

[darthomer09]

Alas, to each their own. The idea is great and I like the concept, but I doubt I would ever use it in a game unless I planned a scenario around it.
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