Now a character can have a cool sword that the character earns. It gets more powerful as he does. No more need to replace your sword when you need a better one (it just doens't "cut it" anymore).<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: An interesting way to earn a signature item of power<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Spending levels on a magical item? What if it is lost or destroyed?<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

An original and innovative way to enable the introduction of artifacts into a low-level game and allow the character to develop the powers of their magical swords as they themselves grow in power. Gives plenty of examples of how to do this, which in turn gives ideas for developing one's own artifacts. Does rely on the DM using 'deus ex machina' to allow the character to keep his weapon no matter what, which is the vulnerability of the system as presented.

I liked this product a lot ... it is very creative and complete!

Very useful product. I look forward to using this in a campaign soon:)

Quite useful product, if a little vaguely demonstrated. More examples of swords would have been helpful.

I bought this and Staves of Ascendence after being intrigued by the options in Unearthed Arcana. I was not disappoited, this is an idea that has been needed for a long time. No longer will your players just drop their magic sword when a new one shows up. With weapons that grow with your character your weapon will never be outdated.

An interesting book, and a great starting point if you want to introduce the idea of having truly legendary swords in your game (a la most fantasy novels as opposed to the typical D&D flavor of characters owning stacks of throwaway +1 swords).

I guess my only complaint was that I didn't really like the idea of having to take levels in a class entirely dedicated to your weapon. On one hand the weapons are typically better -- in power and in flavor/interest -- on the other hand you figure you could have taking a PrC or gotten extra paladin abilities and just bought a better sword when you needed one.

While it was an interesting concept, I think ultimately the basic mechanics of this work fails. It forces the player to pigeon-hole himself into one of the Scion classes in order to unlock the powers of the ancient legendary weapons therein. I find this highly restrictive, and a 'waste' of a level. The resulting depedance of character on blade is also bad. In conclusion: the mechanics don't work.

However, the swords do. The weapons presented int he work are imaginative and inspiritng, and I strongly recommend purchasing it for them alone. Which is why I gave it such a high grade.

Swords of Our Fathers is to be admired not so much for its usefulness, but more for its boldness. I find the use of a prestige class to acquire more power from a weapon distasteful and a bad idea. What if the weapon is lost or destroyed? The book fails to handle either situation effectively. More effective are rules found in Dragon Magazine for leveled weapons, or even the simple idea that a weapon might increase in power with its owner without any investment by that owner. (If a DM is evenhanded in application of such "freebies", game balance does not suffer.) Yet, the Game Mechanics have attempted to bring a new possibility to the arena, for which they deserve praise.

Very good product. Really gives players an incentive to not throw out their old weapons, when used judiciously.

Excellent product! A very interesting way of letting your trusty longsword +1 grow with the character. The only gripe I have with this product is that I think most of the swords presented in the PDF is overpowered, but that's mostly due to our gaming style.

Great idea for makeing a favorite weapon even more special.

As many others have noted, the mentality of "get a magic weapon, use it, get a better one, discard the first" is far too pervasive. I have always liked the idea of improving your signature weapon as you go along, instead of discarding it - many of my characters have paid (often great amounts!) to do just that. And I have eagerly read the many articles or web thoughts on just that topic, but always been disappointed. Dragon Magazine's take on it - feed the weapon XP, and watch it grow - was particularly disappointing.

So it was with great excitement and anticipation that I bought Swords of Our Fathers.

I was not disappointed.

The central idea - connect advancement in a prestige class with advancement of the blade's power, representing your character's dedication to learning the art and magic of the blade, is extremely elegant. While it seems similar to Dragon's article, the difference is that instead of choosing to advance either the character OR the blade, you now may advance both ? a critical difference.

The PRCs themselves are a bit generic, but that is kind of the point. (This is not to say they are underpowered ? they are about average for PRCs focusing on their particular styles). They are merely a framework for the interaction between the PC and the weapon's powers

The main criticism I have of the product ? that there are no guidelines for writing up your own weapons of legend ? was negated by a posting on their website. JD wrote up a whole article on it, along with two extra demo blades ? all for free.

TGM is a class act, and this is a great product. 5/5 stars!

Maybe it's just me, but I don't like the idea of taking levels in a prestige class just so I can use the powers of a sword.

So so. The mechanics are well done, but I wasn't too excited about any of the examples. But then again the mechanics are the tough part to design on your own.