The way i see it the only way to get this would be to take death prophecy but then again it is also a major virtue so its still a 3 point cost.
re worded to something like " no blade wielded by man" or "you will be felled not by blade but by your own greed" you get the idea and it goes with the celtic thing your trying to do
I don't agree with the "Death Prophety" substitute.
Death Prophety states that "you will die in a particular way", which is not the same with as "you will not die in a particular way". To oversimplify, someone with the Death Prophety is "immune to dying" from all but one source, and someone with Greater immunity is "immune to dying" from one source. It's oversimplification, I admit it.
Greater Immunity: Swords is acceptable in my opinion, as it has an advantage and a drawback compared to Greater Immunity: Steel. It is not overpowered, and can give a special touch to a character.
Definitively, it is a Greater, not a Lesser, for the reasons already explained in this thread (not rare and deadly)
I am wondering - how common a weapon is the sword in the middle ages (e.g. is there 1 sword for every, say, 20 long knives or 20 spears)? More to the point, how common a hazard is a sword (compared to water, fire, infection etc.)? Note that this is a "real" question, not a way to imply that I would make it a lesser immunity (though I probably would).
I would like to add two observations to the discussion. First, I think steel is a much more common hazard than swords. I'd say that at least 4 swords out of 5 are made of steel in Mythic Europe, but at least 4 steel weapons out of 5 are not swords (with "steel weapon" I mean a weapon that would be ineffective against someone immune to steel, e.g. a steel tipped pike).
Second, I do not agree with the notion of immunity to swords being "stupid" or "removing tension". Quite the opposite - I think it's one of the easiest virtues for the storyguide to handle properly. If he wants to make the character shine and the player feel the virtue was worth the point(s), the storyguide can confront the party with a really mighty enemy armed with a really mighty sword. On the other hand, the storyguide can easily avoid the virtue from becoming abusive and/or ruining his plots by simply confronting the character with enemies armed with spears and bows or, if more "knightly", with maces and lances. In this regard, a magic ring that makes the user invisible is much harder to handle without "bending" the plot.
The reason swords are a common threat to Magi IMO is that the enemies Magi face are often rich enough to carry swords. A wealthy knight often wields a sword just to show that he has the means to buy one. (and because a sword is a very good weapon)
Axes are probably more common and spears certainly are, but those peasant mobs should not be a real problem for most Magi. 