Approved Tech Knight's Soul

[Tristram Senan]

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

• Intent: To provide Tristram with a none lightsaber melee weapon.
• Image Source: Here
• Canon Link: N/A
• Restricted Missions: N/A
• Primary Source: N/A

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

• Manufacturer: [member="Tristram Senan"]
• Model: N/A
• Affiliation: Tristram Senan
• Modularity: No
• Production: Unique
• Material: imbued silver, leather, blood

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Classification: Great sword
• Size: Large
• Weight: Heavy

SPECIAL FEATURES

• lightsaber resistant
• harder than durasteel or alusteel
• edge sharpness comparable to chipped obsidian
• electricity imbument
• grip on the blade
• etched Pantoran and Outer Rim symbols into the blade, guard, and pommel

Strengths:

• Imbued Silver- The Knight's Soul is a sword created from imbued silver. Part of the imbument has given it properties similar to phrik or beskar. The silver is no longer soft but hard. It is harder now than durasteel or alusteel, but not as hard as phrik or beskar naturally are. It also is able to resist lightsabers now on the same level as phrik or beskar. The imbument of the metal has also given it a unique trait. This trait is that the edge of the blade is 1 molecule wide, just like chipped obsidian, and retains its edge. So now while the blade is made from silver the only trait of the precious metal it has retained after the imbument is the color.
• Electricity- The Knight's Soul has another unique quality behind its imbument. It can absorb electricity and then discharge it on impact. The amount of discharged electricity is equal to the amount it absorbs. The electricity does not need to be naturally created such as from arc rifles or stun gloves but can also be from force related sources such as force lightning or electric judgement. It is not just that it absorbs electricity however as it also seems to attract it like a lightning rod.
• Reach- The Knight's Soul is a greatsword. This means that it can strike from a greater distance most other melee weapons. It also allows for it to hit in a wider arc if swung horizontally. This increased distance provides more safety in melee combat than a regular sword is able to provide.

Weaknesses:

• Discharge- The Knight's Soul might be able to absorb electricity, but it can only store so much before it has to discharge. If the blade is storing electricity and hits its limit then the etched symbols will begin to glow the color of electricity. The user has a couple seconds to discharge it through either impact or planting the blade into the ground before it will wildly discharge. The wild discharge directs all of its built up energy at its wielder. If the blade is not immediately abandoned and over a meter of distance gained, the wielder will suffer levels of electricity that are so great they can be lethal. The discharge will always effect the wielder however no matter the distance, but anything past 1 meter greatly reduces the strength of it. Placing someone or a droid between the user and the blade will not stop the effect either as it will go around them on its way to the wielder. For this reason getting pinned by someone constantly directing electricity towards the blade is the worst case scenario for the user.
• Just a Sword- The Knight's Soul has many advantages thanks to the imbued silver, but it is still just a sword. The user only has two options when dealing with a ranged opponent, close the distance or throw the sword at them. This means it is always at a disadvantage against anyone with a ranged weapon. The other issue with it just being a sword is that its usefulness is entirely dependent on the skill of the user, even more so than other weapons.
• Hand to Hand- The Knight's Soul has a reach advantage being a greatsword, but that reach means nothing if an opponent gets into hand to hand range. The blade's length even with a grip on the blade limits what it can do up close. The user is better off dropping the sword or regaining distance than they are trying to make it work. In this way it is always at a disadvantage in hand to hand range against shorter weapons like it is against ranged weapons at a range.
• Repairs- The Knight's Soul is a unique weapon. This is partly due to the fact it is made from imbued silver, but also in how in the way it was imbued. It was created using Tristram's blood being mixed in with the silver while it was imbued using his force energy. If the weapon is ever broken or seriously damaged it can only be fixed by repeating the process of imbuing using Tristram's blood and force energy. Fixing requires a separate thread.
• Draining- The Knight's Soul is a heavy sword. The size of it and the imbuing of the silver has given it more heft than a blade of its size normally has. While this does increase the strength of impacts, it also means it is more draining to swing, move, and carry the weapon around than normal. The electrical effects on the weapon as well have a side effect of absorbing stray electricity being produced by the user's own bodily functions. This does not impair their reflexes or cause any sort of numbness or pain, but it does mean that while the wielder is using the weapon they are slowly being drained of their energy. The combination of the weight and this side effect of the imbuing means that if the wielder swings the weapon around wildly or too quickly they will fatigue themselves in only a couple of minutes if not sooner.

DESCRIPTION
With various force users being so common on the galactic battlefield, the appearance of lightsaber resistant armors has become nearly as common as lightsabers themselves. Tristram was aware of this issue and so decided he would need a melee weapon that can be used when a lightsaber is a bad idea. He could have gone with a vibrosword, but a memory from his past as a Jedi led him to find someone who knew how to imbue. Once he found this master in imbuing and gathered the materials, he helped with both the imbuing of the metal and forging of the sword. Once finished, the Knight's Soul was ready for use in the galaxy.

The Knight's Soul is both simple and complex in how it was created. The simple part of its design comes in how the sword was forged. The metal for the blade was smelted down, poured into a mold, and then hammered into its final shape. After the blade was finished the guard and pommel were then formed in much the same way as the blade. Leather was wrapped around the hilt and the lowest part of the blade for a better more stable grip. The guard and pommel were added and hold the leather in place. The last thing done was Outer Rim and Pantoran symbols being etched into the blade, guard, and pommel. For those with a keen eye they would notice some of the Pantoran symbols are those used by nobility.

The complex part of the Knight's Soul is in how the silver was imbued. Ingots of silver were slowly smelted down into a liquid form. Once that was done Tristram's blood was steadily poured into it as he infused his force energy into it. The master of imbument directed the imbuing process using their own force energy. This process was continued for a full 24 hours at the end of which the imbuing was complete. Once this process was done, the silver lost most of its natural traits and took on traits related to Tristram himself. It made physical his mental toughness, gained the unnatural sharpness of edge that relates to his trickster nature, and took on the electrical properties that speak of both his deep emotions and tendency to use electric judgement. These traits carried over even after the now imbued silver was forged into its new form.

 

[Gir Quee]

Under Review.

 

[Gir Quee]

The second is that the blade has the weight of a one-handed sword rather than a two-handed sword...The weight behind impact however seems to be the same as it would be for a regular weapon of its size.

How does this work? Granted, we're talking about space magic for this sub, but typically mass is conserved, or in the case of Sith Swords, increased.

 

[Tristram Senan]

[member="Gir Quee"]

I don't have an exact science or theory to quote here. The basic idea is that the blade feels like it weights as much as a one handed sword to the one using it and swinging it only wears out the user as much as a one handed sword might. The impact though carries the same amount of force a two-handed sword would have for it's size. The idea is that it really is only acting special on the weight for the one using it.

I can reword that section to reflect this if you want me to and try to help clarify my meaning better.

 

[Gir Quee]

[member="Tristram Senan"], I understand the concept. I'm just not sure if we can do that from a lore or practical gameplay perspective. It's a unique item, which certainly gives it some leeway, but I would like either the lore or gameplay aspects to be addressed before we go forward with including this concept.

Lore:
This effect isn't something that we see from Force-imbued blades in canon, and the other closest equivalent, Sith Swords. Sith swords actually have the opposite effect, and are far heavier than they initially appear to be. Now, I do not know many of the more obscure force artifacts out there, but it's hard for me to go along with this when what I do know suggests the opposite. Can you link me to a Force artifact that was made similar to this (alchemy, imbuing, etc) that produced a similar effect?

Gameplay:
Basically, we're giving the sword an impact/momentum boost on the offense without the typical corresponding weakness of weight to the user. In real life, this would be breaking the law of momentum conservation or arguably the law of conservation of energy. Now this is Star Wars, and we break many laws, but this is something that is so intrinsic to most people that they're going to expect it roleplay. This can make it a significant advantage, especially since this character won't tire as easily while using it, and it can now arguably be moved faster to initiate or block attacks. Combined with its significant length, it will not likely be terribly hard to keep a shorter-ranged foe at bay with its rank. And we're just talking the relative lightness here.

You could alternatively view this as an increased damage and range mechanism for its size. But glancing at the picture, this is probably something like a double stat increase if we were using numbers (compared to the average one-handed sword).

I do not feel comfortably giving significant advantages like this without a corresponding tradeoff somewhere. Alternatively, we could lessen the effect so that it's just noticeable: sort of minor advantage in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Tristram Senan]

[member="Gir Quee"]

Okay didn't notify me for some goofy reason, but I was just seeing it as the weight only effecting the one holding it and that is it. I can't point at an actual canon source of this to justify it. The actual weight and what not would still be the same so that is why it doesn't effect impact just that who ever is wielding it doesn't feel the weight as much.

Actually I can think of an instance of something like this from Canon. In the Rebels series for the darksaber. Sabine was training with Kanan on how to use the darksaber and she pointed out through dialogue how it was beginning to feel lighter and lighter to her as she used it and her attacks were even reflected this as she became quicker and less worn out.

Anyways if that still doesn't feel good enough I can just take this part out altogether. It was never meant to be such a big part of the design.

 

[Gir Quee]

[member="Tristram Senan"], Darksaber is also a lightsaber, rather than a physical blade. I think it would probably be easiest to approve this if we removed that section.

 

[Tristram Senan]

[member="Gir Quee"]

Well I bring up the darksaber because while it is a lightsaber and this is a physical sword both were crafted by pouring force into them while they were being created. So while the end product might be different the core process is the same.

 

[Gir Quee]

[member="Tristram Senan"], I can see a case for the Force being used to make a weapon lighter (or even simply feel slightly lighter), but I don't think that the base concept of the heavier hitting and light weight for the user is feasible.

I think it'd be easiest to simply cut down any sort of weight modification on the sub. Alternatively, we have a couple of other ideas that we could pursue instead. One option would be to make the blade heavier for anyone else besides Tristam to use (sort of a security feature). Alternatively, I could see this being made either strictly heavier or lighter than a normal (this would apply equally to the user and those facing it).

I'm afraid that this issue has distracted me from thinking about the overall balance of the sub. So let's talk about that, starting my summarized interpretation of the strengths and weaknesses:

Strengths:
-Lightsaber Resistant (same level as Restricted Materials like Beskar/Phrik)
-Exceptionally sharp cutting edge (molecular level)
-Electrical absorption/discharge (similar to a Sith Sword)
-Enhanced Reach

Weaknesses:
-Limited ability to store electricity
-Potential range mismatches against shorter or longer ranged weapons
-Difficult to repair

I largely see the greater reach of the weapon being balanced out by potential range mismatches with other weapons; that's simply the organic nature of this sort of weapon. So let's revisit that list with those two being removed.

Strengths:
-Lightsaber Resistant (same level as Restricted Materials like Beskar/Phrik)
-Exceptionally sharp cutting edge (molecular level)
-Electrical absorption/discharge (similar to a Sith Sword)

Weaknesses:
-Limited ability to store electricity
-Difficult to repair

The strengths of this are pretty exceptional, and I don't think the weaknesses balance them out. These could be acceptable weaknessses for minor strengths, but not for the major advantages granted by this weapon (this looks like it is exceptionally getting two restricted material's advantages in a single submission: Force imbuement & Beskar/Phrik's lightsaber resisance).

The limited ability to store electricity is pretty vague in how it can hold, meaning that it's quite possible to use this without ever having this weakness come into play. Even if it did, this actually looks like it could be used offensively as a weapon to hurt other people around it.

The difficult to repair has similar issues. This looks like something that will rarely be damaged, especially since you can determine the damage that it will be taking. Moreover, there is no way to regulate or keep track of the repair thread either.

We've got a couple ways forward on the balancing with this. The easiest way to approval would be to pick either lighsaber resistance or Force Imbuement to get the cutting effect. I can see a case for getting the lightsaber resistance and a limited ability to absorb and discharge lightning based on Sith Swords. However, Sith Swords are noticeably much heavier than their normal counterparts. That means that another significant weakness that has a practical combat effect would have to be included to balance that out.

Positives:
-Lightsaber Resistant (same level as Restricted Materials like Beskar/Phrik)
-Exceptionally sharp cutting edge (molecular level)
-Electrical absorption/discharge (similar to a Sith Sword)
-Enhanced Reach

Negatives:
-Limited ability to store electricity
-Potential range mismatches against shorter or longer ranged weapons
-Difficult to repair

 

[Tristram Senan]

[member="Gir Quee"]

I am fine with just dropping the weight issue, and I think I have a compromise that can add another weakness to help balance it out. I'm thinking of making it draining to use because of a combination of the weight and that it just absorbs energy from the user due to their nervous system's natural functions. I can mention it does not seem to effect their body function such as reflexes and feeling things, but it does mean the longer they use the weapon the less energy they have. Combined with the weight this could mean swinging the weapon around a lot will fatigue someone in a couple of minutes if not sooner.

The other thing is that the weakness with the absorption limit is not just that it is limited but that it will discharge in a way that harms the user. You mentioned being used offensively, but it would be like someone pulling the pin out of a grenade they are holding and not tossing it. The levels of the wild discharge are strong enough to be lethal and so purposefully allowing it to do so is suicide under most conditions. If I did not word that well enough I can clarify it in the sub.

 

[Gir Quee]

I'm thinking of making it draining to use because of a combination of the weight and that it just absorbs energy from the user due to their nervous system's natural functions. I can mention it does not seem to effect their body function such as reflexes and feeling things, but it does mean the longer they use the weapon the less energy they have. Combined with the weight this could mean swinging the weapon around a lot will fatigue someone in a couple of minutes if not sooner.

That sounds like it could potentially work.

The other thing is that the weakness with the absorption limit is not just that it is limited but that it will discharge in a way that harms the user. You mentioned being used offensively, but it would be like someone pulling the pin out of a grenade they are holding and not tossing it. The levels of the wild discharge are strong enough to be lethal and so purposefully allowing it to do so is suicide under most conditions. If I did not word that well enough I can clarify it in the sub.

I'm more concerned about someone using like the grenade in your analogy: they throw the sword out away from them (move it with telekinesis, force push, etc) and basically use it to electrocute a bunch of people before retrieving it unscathed.

 

[Tristram Senan]

[member="Gir Quee"]

I will make that change then to the sub and let you know when I got it done.

As far as the part about someone treating it like a grenade, that just seems like a creative use of the weakness to me. I personally don't see that being an issue given someone would have to pump it full of electricity and the blade not strike anything until it is at its max capacity. That means they already have some other form of electricity generation, such as shockmitts or force lightning or an arc caster, and would be better off just using that against enemies rather then go through all the hoops to turn the sword into a discharge bomb.

 

[Gir Quee]

As far as the part about someone treating it like a grenade, that just seems like a creative use of the weakness to me. I personally don't see that being an issue given someone would have to pump it full of electricity and the blade not strike anything until it is at its max capacity. That means they already have some other form of electricity generation, such as shockmitts or force lightning or an arc caster, and would be better off just using that against enemies rather then go through all the hoops to turn the sword into a discharge bomb.

The issue is that this basically becomes a secondary fire mode. And quite possibly, one that's charged by an opponent, instead of a weapon that they already have. I would argue that given that the writer gets to decide how much energy it stores up (and thus when he has to get rid ofit), this would actually be a strength rather than a weakness.

 

[Tristram Senan]

[member="Gir Quee"]

I was trying to think of a good, hard limit on the storage and I was thinking that 1.5 power cells worth of energy could work. What do you think? Should I up it or leave it at that?

 

[Gir Quee]

I was trying to think of a good, hard limit on the storage and I was thinking that 1.5 power cells worth of energy could work. What do you think? Should I up it or leave it at that?

Power cells aren't really a standardized unit that's easily measured, but I think that's a step in the right direction. I think that the best way to solve this problem would be to simply remove any offensive potential from it though; something like the overcharged sword lashes out only at its user.

 

[Tristram Senan]

[member="Gir Quee"]

Sounds good to me. I will update the thread with both the earlier change and this one then let you know when it is ready.

 

[Tristram Senan]

[member="Gir Quee"]

Okay I updated the sub. I removed the mentions of the reduced weight from it, changed the discharge weakness to reflect how it functions now, and added on the draining weakness. I also changed the weight from average to heavy.

P.S. I also changed up the features section to mention it is harder than durasteel or alusteel and removed the mention of it being nearly as strong as phrik. It now more accurately reflects the hardness I mean for it to have.

 

[Gir Quee]

Awesome. Pending Secondary Approval. Thanks! [member="Jamie Pyne"]

 

[Ellie Mors]

<p>Approved.</p>