Acoma wrote:
Some kind of Peace Bond spell seems reasonable (and pretty cool actually), maybe slowing down time right at the end of a swing to reduce or nullify damage rather than slow down the drawing of a weapon so it could still be used defensively perhaps?
But who would cast it (and how many times before they stopped allowing people through the gate)? How long would it last? How easy is it to be dispelled? Magic doesn't feel like the right answer to this problem. If the problem is to prevent people from using their weapons offensively during their time in Rathurbosk, it's easier just to take their weapons off them at the gate than to ensorcel their blades on entry. Whilst the Dragon Warriors mechanics may make it seem so, the flavour of Legend with which I play is for magic to be something other than a science that works predictably and, even if it did, magic-wielding guards would probably be better employed tackling some of the more intractable problems of the Rathurbosk over which mundane methods have yet to prevail. Legend, even in a relatively high-magic region like Krarth or Rathurbosk, still has a long way to go until it's the high-magic realm of Faerun, where magic has widespread utilitarian applications. And how would visitors to the city feel about having their weapons tainted by sorcery? If their weapon "failed" them in combat after they left Rathurbosk, some would inevitably blame the Rathubosk enchantment for every misfortune that befell them thereafter.
I do, however, like the idea of a warlock spell that could be used as you've suggested. But would it target the weapon (as per, for example, the
Bedevil spell) or the wielder (as per, for example, the
Weaken spell)? And which warlock spell might it replace in his roster?