By Robert Herman (hermanr@fuse.net)
The Trickster's Klaive has two powers, both of which are always active. First, the Klaive does not "register" in people's minds as a weapon. People will see it, and understand that the bearer is wearing a long piece of metal, but will not consider the bearer as armed. This effect remains in place even if the bearer handles the klaive, but will be nullified if the weapon is actually brandished threateningly, held to someone's throat, used to attack, etc.
Therefore, the weapon can be worn openly in public -- in a restaurant or even a bank. Although a metal detector will certainly go off, the bearer can usually explain the weapon as "just a tool I carry around." A possible exception is when security is specifically checking for blades of a certain length; in this case, the weapon will not be permitted through.
The second function works only in combat. When fighting, the wounds delivered with the klaive go unnoticed. Those struck will realize they have been hit, but will not know how badly damaged they actually are until they take a full turn (or make a Wits + Medicine roll, difficulty 7, as part of a split dice pool) to examine their wounds. However, they also don't suffer wound penalties until this time. Further, the bearer will generally not be considered a "threat" in combat -- she will often be attacked only if she is the only convenient target.
Those who know about the particular klaive in question will not be affected. Those who have heard of or seen such blades, but do not know about the klaive in question, are still affected.
If the weapon is out of PC hands, they usually do not get a roll to detect it. Simply casually mention that the NPC is "carrying a Swiss Army knife on his belt loop," "fiddles with something in his pocket," or whatever. As soon as a PC figures out what is going on, he is immediately unaffected by the klaive in question.