[SchizofranicDM]

Indeed the point of LA is so that by the time a creature of LA 4, for example were to become a 4th class level something, they would be powerful enough to take on a 7th or 8th level creature/character and have a fair chance of winning. Given that the LA were increasing, that would mean that the character would be continually kept at a certain power level, and that's just not fair or balanced.

[Ssri-Tel-Quessir Hitokiri]

All true but because of the increasing power of this weapon depending on levels I feel that the increasing LA would be justified. Say this character reaches the level of Morganth and has only taken +4 LA. Look at the damage potential of this character. It is still massive and only gets bigger as the character gains levels. I just see this as another limitation to add on to the character with this "natural ability". Make it an initial LA of +2 and then for every 5-8 levels after increase it by +1 IF you decide to advance the arm blades further. Otherwise, you keep it where it is currently at in damage and cannot increase the damage unless you take that +1.

[Rintaran]

That sounds alright to me. I'd put it at an LA increase every 6 levels. This would greatly slow down the rate of growth for the character and the weapon, but he's pretty bad-[CHAIR] anyways.

The only real con I see, is that it makes things more complicated.

[Lyinginbedmon]

Much more complicated

[Ssri-Tel-Quessir Hitokiri]

The weapons themselves were complicated to begin with so I just wanted to keep in that tradition.

[Lyinginbedmon]

Although that is a valid point, making these weapons even more complicated isn't going to help make them usable

What we're looking for is a fluid powerful weapon with an equally fluid drawback

[Jimp]

Fluid, hmm, maybe they're upkeep and maintenance?
Maybe since they're part of his anatomy using them will hurt him or the more health he looses in battle the weaker the blades get?
If they're sundered he looses his arms? (lol I'd love to see that)

[EDIT] Another thought, since they're part of him, if they took damage (sudner or overuse, whatever) maybe repairing them would hurt Grimdolf in the proscess. Or would it be natural? hmmm

[Lyinginbedmon]

Well firstly, Grimdolf is the guy who made the Arm Blades, Morganth is the one who wields them (at least, we think he's the only one left that wields them)

Secondly, sundering the Arm Blades would just remove them from use. They wouldn't remove Morganth's arms, and they can grow back in a few days

Thirdly, we've already established that they can only be used in extreme circumstances anyway, so they'd be useless if they got weaker with the character.

[Ssri-Tel-Quessir Hitokiri]

I really don't see how the increasing LA would be much more complicated. If these things increase in power as the character increases in power, the player should have to make a sacrafice of some sort to make sure that everything stays in balace.

[Lyinginbedmon]

The big penalty is something that we are trying to incorporate into the weapon itself, not keeping ol' Morganth stuck at having to get the XP of a character at 70th level instead of 69th!

[Dthclaw]

What if the weapons did a certain base damage, like 1d10 or something, and in order to do more damage they sap some of Morganth's physical being? Unavoidable ability damage/drain to deal an extra couple hit die of damage (or more). HP damage once you reach a certain threshold of ability loss.

No pain, no gain.

Would fit, seeing as how Grimdolf was an evil bugger.

[Lyinginbedmon]

Again, this weapon is for use at the bare minimums of conciousness. Adding ability removals is going to make it even less playable.

Now, if we added something to the weapon itself, such as the possibility of an imprisonment spell being cast on the caster, then it would help make it less broken.

[Dthclaw]

I personally would favor simply reducing the damage to something reasonable, as the LA seems a bit much. Besides, Morganth was created and isn't his own race. He is a unique creation in his own right, much like archfiends or the Celestial Hebdomad, the Five Companions, etc. He would just simply be.

If you're going to make him his own race and do level adjustment, take a look at Savage Species to get an eyeball on what his abilites stack up to. The armblades, in their current form, would easily justify a horrifically high LA, not counting any other special abilities he may have. Realisticaly, an LA can't be assigned if the damage potential keeps going up... and up... and up. Which would be a good reason to say it does XdY damage, where X and Y are fixed, unchanging numbers.

[Lyinginbedmon]

Well, I'm in favor of Schizo's idea of the base roll with an increasing bonus since that seems the most fair. I also think that a minimum remaining health of 8% will help keep it restricted enough even for the lowest level characters (Who it would help the least).

This in mind, I think it's balanced enough, but am still looking for help if anyone is offering it

[Lyinginbedmon]

We've already discussed that 68d6 will deal too much damage for even god-level characters, so we are currenlty opting for 2D6+1/level 19-20/x2