Multiple Intelligent Items
At some point, a DM might run into the situation where a character manages to get his hands on more than one intelligent item. This is not a problem for items that get along, or can at least coexist, but what about those that will not stand each other? Either because of differing alignments, or just personal distain, many intelligent items will not allow themselves to be held if another intelligent item is in the character’s possession. So, what do you do?
First, have the character roll a save against ego. If the character succeeds against the item with the highest ego he can do whatever he wants, including holding on to both items. If the character’s will save beats one of the items’ ego, but not the other, the more powerful item is dominant. The dominant item can make the character do anything, just as though he had failed a regular ego check. This includes dropping the less dominant item, dropping the dominant one, attempting to destroy the less dominant one. Items that have completely opposite alignments that are competing, including a true neutral item against any item of an extreme alignment, gain a +2 to their ego in regards to this check.
If the character’s will save is lower than both egos, the items roll for dominance. They roll 1d20 and add their ego. Whichever one has the highest result is dominant. If there are more than two intelligent items, the system is essentially the same. First the character rolls to overcome their ego. If the character’s roll fails to overcome two or more of the intelligent items in question, all of the items the character failed to overcome roll for dominance. In this case, items can “team up,” adding their ego together for the roll. The winning “team” is considered to be dominant, and as long as they all agree on an action they can carry it out without further trouble. If they disagree they must roll again, and once again some members can work together. This can lead to layered fights, with some items working together just to get rid of a more powerful one or a common enemy.
For example, let’s say Zerda the dwarven fighter carries two items: Legil, the lawful good sword, and Darmen the chaotic good shield. Both items are content to work together, though they tend to disagree. Then Zerda picks up Elifash, the chaotic evil helmet. Zerda rolls and, because of his low will save, he fails to overcome the ego of any of the items. Legil and Darmen both agree that they hate Elifash, so they work together to overcome it. Elifash is defeated, but Legil and Darmen cannot agree on what to do with it. Legil wants to keep Elifash and to find a way to destroy it, while Darmen just wants to drop it and leave. So Darmen and Legil roll again, this time Darmen is successful and Elifash is dropped.