What does /tg/ think of the Book of Swords trilogy? Have you

The Oakeshott Codices were better

>>50167292
I've heard about these since forever but I've read them. What are they about...other than swords, of course?

>>50167337
^never read them

>>50167337
Basically 12 magic swords that are forged by the hands of men forced by the God of Smiting (Named Vulcan or something). Magic exists in the world, but it's not overly common. Each sword does a specific thing really well. Woundhealer doesn't act that good as a sword, but it sure can heal. Townsaver causes its wielder to go into a forced combat frenzy whenever bandits are present in their town (or something along those lines). Stonecutter is pretty dope too.

>>50167486
>Stonecutter is pretty dope too.

Thanks. Is the writing any good?

>>50167529
It's been a while since I've read, but I remember the writing being simple, but in a good way. There's no overly long descriptions for things, and there's not a lot of lingo that isn't thoroughly explained, like the use of capitalized Sword to refer to the magical swords. The first book is a pretty comfy read, while the other two ratchet up the tension.

>>50167486
I really do like the swords, they're all pretty interesting.
Coinspinner grants perfect luck, allowing the wielder to accomplish anything they desire. At least until it vanishes without warning.
Doomgiver reflects injury: Stab the bearer and you get the gut wound.
Dragonslicer slays dragons.
Farslayer can be thrown to kill anybody anywhere. But it stays in the corpse, so you better hope their buddies don't know who threw it.
Woundhealer heals anybody stabbed or cut with it. People eventually figure out that it can be used for combat by impaling yourself with it so it constantly heals you while fighting.
Mindsword charms anybody who sees you carrying it unsheathed.
Shieldbreaker controls the bearer in combat, shattering any weapon or shield his foes hold and slaying them on the spot. Including the other Swords.
Sightblinder is a sword of invisibility.
Soulcutter kills through ennui. Everybody nearby when it is drawn just falls over and stops caring so hard they die.
Stonecutter is basically an army of masons in a blade.
Townsaver makes the wielder invincible while they fight to defend a place, but doesn't protect them from dying after they win.
Wayfinder can point the way to both physical objects and to goals.

>>50167626
>Doomgiver

I thought Doomgiver caused massive dread or grief or some shit?

>>50167652
That's Soulcutter. The Sword of WHY THE FUCK DID YOU MAKE THIS.

>>50167652
Whoops that was Soulcutter. It's definitely on

>>50167660
Fucking forgot I hit the post button while there was a cooldown. I meant "It's one of the most dangerous swords."

>>50167626
I've always felt Dragonslicer was supremely under-powered compared to the rest of the swords. Many Swords can do its job but better and with less effort or death-of-wielder on top of their other uses. Sword of Heroes vibrates when dragons are near and cuts trough dragon scale like butter. Good. It also refuses to leave your hand (even to change grip) when dragons are near, gets stuck in a dragon's heart for several minutes after said dragon's death (stuck longer for bigger dragons. God help you if there is more than one dragon), actively guides itself at a dragon's heart for all attacks and sometimes even while you are blocking, and best of all does not protect you against fire. Bad.

Still, I would so love to use this or something like this at the table. The absolute peerless ability mixed with flawed magic is intriguing. Like an infinite power, itty-bitty living space sorta deal. I feel giving a player any one Sword could be an adventure in itself and, provided appropriate hidden stats, would make combats with or against said swords interesting puzzles.

>>50168677
You gotta remember, The Sword effectively made Nestor's career. But other than that I sorta agree. It's not the most fantastic of the swords.

>>50168677
Yeah, there were major power imbalances between the swords.
Coinspinner could do Wayfinder's job (assuming it stayed with you). Shieldbreaker can do anything Townsaver, Dragonslicer, and Doomgiver can do.
Stonecutter and Dragonslicer are sorta booby prizes compared to the others.
Shieldbreaker is basically the unquestionable best sword right up until Woundhealer breaks it.

I do agree that they're great models for magic artifacts that aren't just "+3 to hit and damage".

>>50167292
I liked them for the most part. The first three are good reading, and classic fantasy. The second trilogy is more variable.

Here's the thing, the whole thing isn't actually fantasy in the traditional sense. The clues are there, but you have to have read Empire of the East to pick up on them. The setting of the Swords is after EotE, which is ages after weird science ended nuclear armageddon and brought magic to Earth.

The Swords setting is fantasy the same way Vance's Dying Earth, Brooks' Shannara, Silverburg's Majipoor, Bradley's Darkover, and Cooke's Numenera are fantasy.

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>>50169649
Do you know if Empire of the East has a better description of Draffut then Swords does? I could never get a solid image in my head while reading and this is the only art of Draffut I've found thus far and it looks nothing like I imagined the dog turned god to look like.

>>50167292

I loved it. Perfect young adult books that read very well for adults, too.

The swords themselves are hard to put into an RPG because they're absolutes. They override basically everything to accomplish their task.

As for balance, they're not really supposed to be balanced against one another. But the "weak" swords like dragonslayer and stonecutter also have fewer drawbacks and complications. Like Doomgiver, the Mindsword, and Coinspinner are unbelievably powerful... But also VERY big strings are attached to their use.

The characters and plot really hums along nicely. All three books you can burn through in a day or two. If you're into fantasy, definitely do it.