These potent weapons were created by the smiths of ancient Myth Drannor. They are used in the long process of selecting a ruler for the isle of Evermeet (as described in the novel Elfshadow). When first forged, moonblades vary from +1 to +4 to hit and damage, and have one special ability (see following). A moonblade may be passed from one owner to another, usually by generation. Each time a moonblade is passed on, the moon blade itself decides whether to accept the new owner or not. The owner must be elven, of good alignment, and act in a selfless and heroic man ner. Major acts of cowardice, cheating, or lying will all count against an individual attempting to possess a moonblade.
It is the DM's decision whether a moonblade accepts a new owner. If the moonblade does not accept or if it is touched by a non-elf, the blade inflicts 5d8 points of damage. Individuals of evil alignment must successfully save vs. death magic or be instantly slain. Even if the save is successful, the evil individual will feel intense pain, and will be unable to ever handle the blade again.
Moonblades start out with a single ability and gain another ability with each new owner. Each ability is symbolized by a small rune that appears on the blade. These abilities can be selected by the DM from the Weapon Extraordinary Powers (DMG, Appendix Three, Magical Item Descriptions), or can be determined by rolling 1d20 and referring to the following table.
Die Power and
Roll Description
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1 Additional +1 to hit and damage (to a maximum of +5)
2 Danger Sense; sword glows blue if danger is imminent (within one turn)
3 Dreamwarning; owner receives a prophetic dream warning of danger
4 Fire Resistance (as ring)
5 Warning; reveals location, number, species of hostile enemy within 240'
6 Throwing; can be thrown up to 100', and return to wielder in one round
7 Human Influence (as ring)
8 Sharpness (as sword)
9 Spell Turning (as ring)
10 ESP (as medallion)
11 Command (as armor)
12 Good Luck (as luckstone)
13 Opening (as chime)
14 Blasting (as horn)
15 Fear (as spell)
16 Dancing (as sword)
17 Flame Tongue (as sword)
18 Wounding (as sword)
19 Life Stealing (as sword)
20 Elfshadow; once per day, user may summon a duplicate identical in every
way (level, hp, AC, etc.), to fight for 2d10 turns, or until slain; if
slain, elfshadow returns to sword, and cannot be summoned again for 2d4
days