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[Granite26]

I don't see how exactly they'd be able to recognize the sword in question. Most mundane historical artifacts are fake. Not to mention busted to pieces after a few hundred or thousand years

That's boring reality talking...

[Pilsu]

Beats the boring fantasy of killing something inexplicably conferring a weapon special properties. And indestructibility. And special recognizable design

[Footkerchief]

I think "extreme craftsmanship" is mostly a dwarf thing. It would still remain important, anyway, as you'd still want to create amazing things on the spot, even if worldgen produces a few of its own.

That's part of the broader issue of recognition and knowledge, which is pretty nebulous in DF right now.

[Felblood]

It's possible that every dwarven or elven blade is manufactured with distinguishing markings. Extreme craftsmanship.

--and the legendary weapon doesn't have to be recognizable. If it's still just an +iron battleaxe+ and it get's lost or stolen by someone who doesn't know it's significance, it's old name could be lost, since there's nobody who can tell it was the same weapon.

I kind of like the idea of warriors being buried with their favorite weapons, though. Even a grave robber would know that the sword in Urist McAwesome's tomb was the famous DragonReaver the Bloodshed of Fat Kittens.

[G-Flex]

Beats the boring fantasy of killing something inexplicably conferring a weapon special properties. And indestructibility. And special recognizable design

"Inexplicably" depends on how the world works, which we, in all honesty, have no clue about yet.

And it could be more of a "retroactive history" thing anyway, if necessary.

And "special, recognizable design" isn't even strictly necessary. In many mythologies and legends, magical items are OBVIOUSLY magical, whether it's some visible sign (hey, this thing glows for some reason) or just something able to be felt by sentient beings.

[Mel_Vixen]

Well visible sign is the catchphrase. Most weapons and armors got etchings/gravings or other marks like little plates (done on Chain-armor) which mark them.

Other Weapons are known by Pictures and descriptions in other works. Many of the Famous or Rich were painted in oil, engraved or sketched in books and with them mostly theyr Weapons and Armor.

Even if the weapon is still mundane its or its creators fame should be acknowledged. In our World this works for example On the weapons of Masamune and Muramasa (jap. 12th and 15th century). Masamunes swords by the way shall make the Owner calm and peacefull. Weapons made by Muramasa on the other hand are said to be bloodthirsty.

Would be nice to get out that these ominous very small treesymbol, on the blade you got from the old drunk, is the Mark of Elf MCelf the only elven Smith in the world even thought it has no "Power".

[Felblood]

Perhaps whether the sword is distinct enough to be recognizable once lost is random, and determined the first time something important is done with it. That way, some swords are just normal looking, even though they are worth a lot to the right buyer, if you can prove what it is.

I'd like to see all swords, made by dwarven smiths, marked with the symbol of their civ or fortress. Perhaps only those of fine or higher quality. Once we have writing, a good smith could even sign his works.

[G-Flex]

Well, to its credit, the game already does keep track of who makes a masterpiece item, and by extension, which civilization he was from.

[Granite26]

Well, to its credit, the game already does keep track of who makes a masterpiece item, and by extension, which civilization he was from.

It tracks who made EVERY item, and when.  It's just the big ones that are exposed to us.  (This is at the root of the restacking crisis.)

Beats the boring fantasy of killing something inexplicably conferring [a] special recognizable design

No it doesn't

[Pilsu]

No it doesn't

I can see nothing good coming out of every stupid interchangeable copper sword forging a legend and people inexplicably being able to tell which one is the one stories tell about. "But it's fantasy!" What kind of an excuse is that? Even fantasy follows rules and I somewhat doubt dwarves are canonically omniscient

[Mikademus]

^ You're applying Earth to a fantasy world (again). What if the power is tangible? What if you feel it when touching the artefact? What if you feel you're more skilled than usual when wielding it? What it the item is capable of communicating its power? There're so many solutions to this non-problem.

Also, to address your favourite worry, so what if ever +copper sword+ is magical, it is just normal inflation. Then the truly majestic weapons are what's aimed for.

And for the record, a +copper sword+ that has slain a hundred goblins should acquire powers:

"This is Goblinsbane the Snatcher of Snatchers, the +copper sword+. It's craftdwarfship is unremarkable. It has slain 112 goblins. It shrieks in the night for goblin blood to drink." (and that music gives dwarves happy thoughts and a morale bonus in combat. And goblins a morale loss)

[Granite26]

No it doesn't

I can see nothing good coming out of every stupid interchangeable copper sword forging a legend and people inexplicably being able to tell which one is the one stories tell about. "But it's fantasy!" What kind of an excuse is that? Even fantasy follows rules and I somewhat doubt dwarves are canonically omniscient

1:  I am against items getting magic powers from doing (great) things, but I DO like the history of objects used in special things.

2:  Read Tolkien.  Every other twig in those stories had a fifty page back-story about where they came from.  "This sword was carried by my great-great-grandfather in the battle of whosiwhatsit"

[Murphy]

Named weapons should become less prone to wear. But instantly turning a -copper sword- into an artifact with "craftdwarfship of highest quality" looks like overdoing it. In some cases (i.e. curse or blessing) said sword's properties could change, but not its quality. After all, a dog that kills a goblin gets a name, but doesn't become any more powerful.

Of course, Toady might implement a way to repair worn and reforge low-quality items. That would allow players to preserve the name and story while making the weapon match its glory. And item decorations are already implemented, so if the player wants, he can make the item recognisable.

[Sowelu]

--and the legendary weapon doesn't have to be recognizable. If it's still just an +iron battleaxe+ and it get's lost or stolen by someone who doesn't know it's significance, it's old name could be lost, since there's nobody who can tell it was the same weapon.

Hmm.  That actually gives me fun ideas of separating legends somewhat from the actual items in terms of hist figs.  Surely that axe had SOME owner before it got swiped, who's long dead, and sure, everyone probably knows the time Bomrek cut off two trolls' heads with one swing using that axe.  But once it's stolen and Bomrek is dead, who knows which axe that is?  Surely nobody from the next fortress over!

And when they go and reclaim all the stolen loot, well, odds are decent that someone with a broken axe might pick that up and decide they like the new, found one.  Then make their own stories with it, never knowing what it did before.

I guess if some adventurer then gets the axe and manages to learn both legends, that would start to make the axe more famous...

[knowbuddyuno]

Would it be possible to make a raws value or worldgen option to determine the frequency of legendary items/their methods of creation? So those who want a low-magic setting where finding a single magical weapon in years (real time) of playing DF is a huge deal, while other people who want every weapon in the game to be enchanted can have that too? I imagine it could be managed simply by changing the likelihood of a given event causing the creation of a magical item. Say, killing a dragon with a sword gives a weapon a minor fire effect one time in two, ten, a hundred, or a thousand, depending on whether you wanted it to occur several times in one worldgen or only once in several worldgens. Any other system of magic/legendary item creation that I can think of would also be manageable by frequency settings. I guess that could be a lot of work for Toady, though.