In 3.X, creating intelligent magic items is amazingly simple (though not easy). All one needs to do is be a 15th level spell caster and spend a more cash. A basic mind, one that can speak, requires a 0 level spell to infuse into the item and about 18,000 gold pieces, for a total around 20,000. I have looked through many different sources for rules to allow such minds to develop and have found only two. Most of what I was thinking of when I started researching for this post turn out to be items that increase in power along with their owner. I wanted to work up something like Bob the Skull from the Dresden novels. The two sources I found are Atlas' Occult Lore and Green Ronin's Advanced Bestiary. In Occult Lore there is a chapter devoted to soul fragments that increase in power with time and (if the player wants) infusion of experience points. This works very well for something like Bob, though the end point is the object is destroyed and the new spirit entity is freed. Advanced Bestiary as the lifespark template for constructs. This not only gives a mind to an object (remember that intelligent magic items are treated as constructs), but also allows them to take class levels. Not Bob, but a great idea none the less, one that allows for a new type of character for those DMs willing to use them in their settings. And combining the two does model Bob fairly well. But it is the lifespark template that gave me an idea- what happens when an object has two or more minds? Colonial sapient magic items are such objects.
Consider a golem that has three minds- one to control the legs, one for the arms and the third activates the construct's spell-like or supernatural abilities. Yes, existing golems usually have piddly for powers, but that doesn't mean they can't have more. This golem, which should cost a hell of a lot more than the basic model, has three separate sets of actions. It is able to move, strike and zap at the same time.
Now consider a sword with five minds. One is used for communication and the other four for activating its powers. Recharge times (like once per 3 rounds or once per hour) is a essential for this kind of object to prevent it from going bezerk and blasting everything in sight.
Those sound cool, huh? Well there is the downside- ego. Instead of dealing with one mind, the sword's wielder has to deal with five, each that may have its own desires. This is why colonial minds are rare- not the expense, but the danger to whoever "owns" them. It is also a danger with creature constructs as each mind may want to do something different and nothing, or worse, is the result. And if the level advancement rules are allowed from the lifespark template, their egos will only get stronger with time. The objects and creatures may even self destruct if there is no harmony in the colony. This could be controlled if one mind was created much stronger than the others, dominating them. This increases the cost but in the long run, it may be the only way to keep the minds sane and their "owners" safe.
When I started this, I wasn't so much thinking of Bob, but a parallel computer version of him. A temple, library or sanctum where the walls contained many minds- artifical and those of previous taskmasters (programmers and users). As long as the infighting could be kept to a minimum, it could be the world's version of the Library at Alexandria or the internet. Of course, neither were, or are, dominated by facts and truth. And consider what a library with access to spell books might be able to do.
