Here is my small contribution to Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day.
My current favorite of the Swords & Wizardry family is The Hero Journey Fantasy Roleplaying by James Spahn. It is an offspring of S&W White Box and is flavored with a bit of The Lord of the Rings. In THJ, Magic weapons are not only forged but can be created in a special way. They can become infused with the magic of the heroic actions of their owners. And sometimes they take on an aspect of a heroic deed. So, a weapon that becomes magic when it is used to slay the orc chief may become particularly effective against orcs and gain the moniker “Orc-Bane”. But what about weapons that are used by villainous non-humans? Do they absorb the essence of the vile actions of their owners? I say yes!
Here is a d4 table of magic weapons that became magic through the actions of their horrible owners:
1: Crotchsplitter (Shortsword +1/+2 against opponents more than two feet taller than its owner.) This sword was used by the famed goblin king Gobsmack who led his goblin horde against the humans and fought the Battle of Snakeskin Pass.
2: Spear of Morphos (Spear +2. Allows its wielder to cast the Sleep spell once a day.) Used by the hobgoblin warrior Grindtooth during his battles against the Cult of the Morphos, god of sleep and dreams. It gained the power of sleep when Grindtooth spitted the high priest of Morphos at the altar of the largest Temple of Morphos in the world.
3: Brainspatter (Mace +1) Used by Grunzen the orc warrior to repeatedly, well, spatter brains.
4: Backbiter (Dagger +1 Humanbane) The favorite weapon of Bocaraton, the wererat, Scourge of the Eastern Cities. Bocaraton embeded his dagger in the back of countless victims during his infamous career.