Gate Pass Gazette Cipher Sword shenanigans

[Selganor]

I recently had some strange ideas regarding Cipher Swords (from GPG #3)

1. Can a 10th level Artificer make a Schematic of the (very rare) weapon and then create Infusions of them?

2. If so, does someone who was given one of those Infusion Cipher Swords (ICS) lose the gained mastery levels if the Artificer doesn't maintain the Infusion?
The ICS would then be a normal sword again and therefore the Attunement would vanish.
("If you ever willingly end your attunement to this weapon, you take 8 (4d4) psychic damage that cannot be negated or reduced and lose all mastery you’ve gained.")
But since the recipient of the ICS didn't voluntarily end the Attunement, would the above clause be applicable?

And now for the maybe weirdest thought:
3. Can a Pact of the Blade Warlock with an ICS make it his Pact Weapon? Since the Pact Weapon always exists (even if in some other dimension when he sends it away) it should be able to be maintained by the Artificer. The limitations (or disadvantage on attacks with other weapons) probably wouldn't matter that much to the Warlock and since A5E Warlocks can also be Int-based they may be able to gain mastery levels easier than the usual martial classes.

Just wondering...

What do you think?

 

[Sepulchre]

I recently had some strange ideas regarding Cipher Swords (from GPG #3)

1. Can a 10th level Artificer make a Schematic of the (very rare) weapon and then create Infusions of them?

2. If so, does someone who was given one of those Infusion Cipher Swords (ICS) lose the gained mastery levels if the Artificer doesn't maintain the Infusion?
The ICS would then be a normal sword again and therefore the Attunement would vanish.
("If you ever willingly end your attunement to this weapon, you take 8 (4d4) psychic damage that cannot be negated or reduced and lose all mastery you’ve gained.")
But since the recipient of the ICS didn't voluntarily end the Attunement, would the above clause be applicable?

And now for the maybe weirdest thought:
3. Can a Pact of the Blade Warlock with an ICS make it his Pact Weapon? Since the Pact Weapon always exists (even if in some other dimension when he sends it away) it should be able to be maintained by the Artificer. The limitations (or disadvantage on attacks with other weapons) probably wouldn't matter that much to the Warlock and since A5E Warlocks can also be Int-based they may be able to gain mastery levels easier than the usual martial classes.

Just wondering...

What do you think?

The real advice here is work it out with your DM. But I’ll give my opinion:

1. The cipher sword seems fair game for an infusion.

2. If the artificer doesn’t maintain the infusion, “any infusion [they] fail to maintain vanishes and reverts to a mundane item.” I don’t think you can be attuned to a non-existent magic item, so the attunement would end, even involuntarily. (As an aside note, if the same sword were later re-infused, I would rule that a new magic item.)

3. This case doesn’t not appear to be covered by the language of pact weapon. But I would rule that it can become a pact weapon, but that if the infusion isn’t maintained and the magic item ceases to exist, the pact weapon bond is broken and the pact weapon feature reverts to its ordinary effect.

Edit: fixed an important typo.

 

[W'rkncacnter]

I recently had some strange ideas regarding Cipher Swords (from GPG #3)

my opinion:

1. Can a 10th level Artificer make a Schematic of the (very rare) weapon and then create Infusions of them?

yes. there's 0 reason why they couldn't.

2. If so, does someone who was given one of those Infusion Cipher Swords (ICS) lose the gained mastery levels if the Artificer doesn't maintain the Infusion?
The ICS would then be a normal sword again and therefore the Attunement would vanish.
("If you ever willingly end your attunement to this weapon, you take 8 (4d4) psychic damage that cannot be negated or reduced and lose all mastery you’ve gained.")
But since the recipient of the ICS didn't voluntarily end the Attunement, would the above clause be applicable?

no...unless the creature attuned to the sword is also the artificer who didn't maintain the infusion, in which case uh...i'd say that's the narrator's call.

And now for the maybe weirdest thought:
3. Can a Pact of the Blade Warlock with an ICS make it his Pact Weapon? Since the Pact Weapon always exists (even if in some other dimension when he sends it away) it should be able to be maintained by the Artificer. The limitations (or disadvantage on attacks with other weapons) probably wouldn't matter that much to the Warlock and since A5E Warlocks can also be Int-based they may be able to gain mastery levels easier than the usual martial classes.

i'd say the warlock should have to summon the weapon for the artificer to maintain it but that's honestly so trivial i don't think it needs to be seriously mentioned. i don't see why this wouldn't work.