I am planning on having my players encounter the magical weapon I described down below. Knowing my players one of them will attune to it without identifying it first. I am considering leaving out the last line where it mentions what happens if the weapon reaches 20 charges as otherwise the player will simply never try to gain the 20 charges as it is ment kind of as a goal for the weapon and the player to reach. I am thinking of adding in a sentient element to it that will drive the player to reach its maximum amount of souls (charges) but I think that that could possibly still have the player avoid trying to get the 20 charges. Maybe if the entity within the weapon will punish the player if they won't feed it. But that might also feel like as if I, as a dungeon master, am forcing the player to take a big risk.
If you have any Ideas of how I could best implement this weapon into my game i would gladly hear it! If you think I should make adjustments to the weapon itself i would also love to know!
Thank you, Lucas
The Soul Eater Axe Weapon (Battle-axe), very rare (requires attunement)
You have a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon.
An eye for an eye. Whenever this weapon deals 12 or more slashing damage to a single target the wielder heals half the amount of hitpoints done to its target.
Soul Eater. A creature killed by this weapon must succeed a DC 12 Charisma saving throw or its soul will be devoured by the weapon. Every soul that is devoured is one charge within the weapon.
If the weapon reaches 10 charges the bonus to attack and damage increases to +2 and the weapon deals an extra 1D8 necrotic Damage. If the weapon reaches 20 charges the bonus to attack and damage increases to +3 and the weapon deals an extra 2D8 necrotic Damage.
All charges within the weapon fade after the wielder takes a long rest.
Curse. This axe is cursed, and becoming attuned to it extends the curse to you. As long as you remain cursed, you are unwilling to part with the axe, keeping it within reach at all times. You also have disadvantage on attack rolls with weapons other than this one, unless no foe is within 60 feet of you that you can see or hear.
If the wielder takes a long rest after reaching 20 charges on the weapon they must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution Saving throw or receive 5 levels of exhaustion. If they fail by 5 or more the wielder dies, its soul being ripped from their body.
Personally, I'd not show what happens when it reaches X number of charges. Keep this a secret surprise, so when/if it does happen you can go "Here, your weapon has upgraded" and they might not even realize why at first. Then let them know after they finish a long rest that the weapon has returned to its previous state, no longer dealing the bonus. You can add to that by saying that it has a slight physical change when it temporarily "upgrades" such as serated edges forming on it or it becoming a bit longer/wider/having an ominous black aura/whatever.
I'd also not tell them it's cursed outright, and definitely not what the result of the curse would be.
I personally subscribe to the idea that Identify has limits. I've considered homebrewing my own version of Identify that is capable of identifying different sorts of things based on the level it's cast at, but I've been lazy.
My players have some cursed items that they don't know about. One item was revealed and the players had fun with that moment. So I keep the others secret for just the right moment.
The axe you created would be very difficult to trigger the curse. Essentially you have to kill 20 creatures who must fail the chr check and all without taking a long rest.
From a GMing perspective, be wary of "you suddenly die without warning"; it tends to result in bad feelings from the players. Mechanically speaking, though, it's perfectly legal to have cursed items not reveal their properties -- it's not even hard for PCs to do, just cast Arcanist's Magic Aura 30x over 30 days.
If the wielder takes a long rest after reaching 20 charges on the weapon they must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution Saving throw or receive 5 levels of exhaustion. If they fail by 5 or more the wielder dies, its soul being ripped from their body.
So is it 20 lifetime charges, or do the charges reset on long rests? Like, is this an overheat type curse, or a scaling weapon exploding as it attains its ultimate evolution?
As to how to handle knowledge of the curse, I’d narrate that with each soul it consumes, they feel it tugging a little tighter on their own soul, threatening to suck it in with all the others. Maybe at some point you call for an insight check on themselves. Success on the check reveals that their gut tells them the curse that steals the souls of their enemies touches them as well, and your exhaustion from killing may be its opening to claim your soul. Failure tells them this weapon really likes consuming souls.
The curse is very unlikely to ever trigger. You don't just need to participate in killing 20 creatures, you need to individually kill 20 creatures, and all of them need to fail their CHA saving throws. It's likely that at least 50% (if not more) of your enemies will pass the saving throw. So really you need to independently strike the killing blow to 40+ creatures before taking a long rest.
And... lose the "you just die," factor. Personally I'd quit the game over something like that, since it would come with no warning at all. Whenever you put in an ability like that, ask yourself: Who is having fun here and enjoying this? Instead, why not have them go berserk and be required to attack anyone near them for 10 turns? Way more fun.
Don't mention the curse, but slowly increase the backlash efect.
For example: take a long rest with 10 charges and you suffer 1 point if exaustion from haveing nightmares. Add an extra 1 point of exaustion for every 5 souls after that.
The curse is very unlikely to ever trigger. You don't just need to participate in killing 20 creatures, you need to individually kill 20 creatures, and all of them need to fail their CHA saving throws. It's likely that at least 50% (if not more) of your enemies will pass the saving throw. So really you need to independently strike the killing blow to 40+ creatures before taking a long rest.
And... lose the "you just die," factor. Personally I'd quit the game over something like that, since it would come with no warning at all. Whenever you put in an ability like that, ask yourself: Who is having fun here and enjoying this? Instead, why not have them go berserk and be required to attack anyone near them for 10 turns? Way more fun.
No warning at all? The axe steals life force from people cut with it.
the axe doesn’t let you be away from it
it makes it harder for you to use other weapons.
these are all warning signs...
and honestly...
I think with the charges resetting every long rest. Short of being the biggest murder hobo in D&D history, I do t think it would ever EVER trigger the 20 charges active during long rest, and, on top of that, then there’s the saving throw.
honestly, the cursed parts are pretty needed, you can still effectively use any ranged weapons from 61+ feet away. The axe heals you. And the charges will usually only give you the pros before resetting.
if a character is greedy enough to intentionally not long rest to “bask in the power” of the axe getting stronger, then they made a good personal choice to have a chance at their soul being ripped out and into the axe. IMO, if the player makes the conscious choices needing to be made to reach that point. It is what it is.
Dear Dungeon masters,
I am planning on having my players encounter the magical weapon I described down below. Knowing my players one of them will attune to it without identifying it first. I am considering leaving out the last line where it mentions what happens if the weapon reaches 20 charges as otherwise the player will simply never try to gain the 20 charges as it is ment kind of as a goal for the weapon and the player to reach.
I am thinking of adding in a sentient element to it that will drive the player to reach its maximum amount of souls (charges) but I think that that could possibly still have the player avoid trying to get the 20 charges.
Maybe if the entity within the weapon will punish the player if they won't feed it. But that might also feel like as if I, as a dungeon master, am forcing the player to take a big risk.
If you have any Ideas of how I could best implement this weapon into my game i would gladly hear it!
If you think I should make adjustments to the weapon itself i would also love to know!
Thank you,
Lucas
The Soul Eater Axe
Weapon (Battle-axe), very rare (requires attunement)
You have a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon.
An eye for an eye. Whenever this weapon deals 12 or more slashing damage to a single target the wielder heals half the amount of hitpoints done to its target.
Soul Eater. A creature killed by this weapon must succeed a DC 12 Charisma saving throw or its soul will be devoured by the weapon.
Every soul that is devoured is one charge within the weapon.
If the weapon reaches 10 charges the bonus to attack and damage increases to +2 and the weapon deals an extra 1D8 necrotic Damage.
If the weapon reaches 20 charges the bonus to attack and damage increases to +3 and the weapon deals an extra 2D8 necrotic Damage.
All charges within the weapon fade after the wielder takes a long rest.
Curse. This axe is cursed, and becoming attuned to it extends the curse to you. As long as you remain cursed, you are unwilling to part with the axe, keeping it within reach at all times. You also have disadvantage on attack rolls with weapons other than this one, unless no foe is within 60 feet of you that you can see or hear.
If the wielder takes a long rest after reaching 20 charges on the weapon they must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution Saving throw or receive 5 levels of exhaustion. If they fail by 5 or more the wielder dies, its soul being ripped from their body.
Personally, I'd not show what happens when it reaches X number of charges. Keep this a secret surprise, so when/if it does happen you can go "Here, your weapon has upgraded" and they might not even realize why at first. Then let them know after they finish a long rest that the weapon has returned to its previous state, no longer dealing the bonus. You can add to that by saying that it has a slight physical change when it temporarily "upgrades" such as serated edges forming on it or it becoming a bit longer/wider/having an ominous black aura/whatever.
I'd also not tell them it's cursed outright, and definitely not what the result of the curse would be.
I personally subscribe to the idea that Identify has limits. I've considered homebrewing my own version of Identify that is capable of identifying different sorts of things based on the level it's cast at, but I've been lazy.
My players have some cursed items that they don't know about. One item was revealed and the players had fun with that moment. So I keep the others secret for just the right moment.
The axe you created would be very difficult to trigger the curse. Essentially you have to kill 20 creatures who must fail the chr check and all without taking a long rest.
From a GMing perspective, be wary of "you suddenly die without warning"; it tends to result in bad feelings from the players. Mechanically speaking, though, it's perfectly legal to have cursed items not reveal their properties -- it's not even hard for PCs to do, just cast Arcanist's Magic Aura 30x over 30 days.
That's.... a little extreme.
So is it 20 lifetime charges, or do the charges reset on long rests? Like, is this an overheat type curse, or a scaling weapon exploding as it attains its ultimate evolution?
As to how to handle knowledge of the curse, I’d narrate that with each soul it consumes, they feel it tugging a little tighter on their own soul, threatening to suck it in with all the others. Maybe at some point you call for an insight check on themselves. Success on the check reveals that their gut tells them the curse that steals the souls of their enemies touches them as well, and your exhaustion from killing may be its opening to claim your soul. Failure tells them this weapon really likes consuming souls.
The curse is very unlikely to ever trigger. You don't just need to participate in killing 20 creatures, you need to individually kill 20 creatures, and all of them need to fail their CHA saving throws. It's likely that at least 50% (if not more) of your enemies will pass the saving throw. So really you need to independently strike the killing blow to 40+ creatures before taking a long rest.
And... lose the "you just die," factor. Personally I'd quit the game over something like that, since it would come with no warning at all. Whenever you put in an ability like that, ask yourself: Who is having fun here and enjoying this? Instead, why not have them go berserk and be required to attack anyone near them for 10 turns? Way more fun.
Don't mention the curse, but slowly increase the backlash efect.
For example: take a long rest with 10 charges and you suffer 1 point if exaustion from haveing nightmares. Add an extra 1 point of exaustion for every 5 souls after that.
Attack: [roll]3d20dl2+6[/roll] Damage: [roll](if([roll:-1:critical], =0, 1d8, 2{1d8}.expand()))+4[/roll] Sneakattack: [roll](if([roll:-2:critical], =0, 2d6, 2{2d6}.expand()))[/roll]No warning at all? The axe steals life force from people cut with it.
the axe doesn’t let you be away from it
it makes it harder for you to use other weapons.
these are all warning signs...
and honestly...
I think with the charges resetting every long rest. Short of being the biggest murder hobo in D&D history, I do t think it would ever EVER trigger the 20 charges active during long rest, and, on top of that, then there’s the saving throw.
honestly, the cursed parts are pretty needed, you can still effectively use any ranged weapons from 61+ feet away. The axe heals you. And the charges will usually only give you the pros before resetting.
if a character is greedy enough to intentionally not long rest to “bask in the power” of the axe getting stronger, then they made a good personal choice to have a chance at their soul being ripped out and into the axe. IMO, if the player makes the conscious choices needing to be made to reach that point. It is what it is.
Blank
*nerfed. Not needed.
apparently I am banned from editing. I posted that in bugs forum so that’s another topic. And doesn’t need further comment.
sorry for posting 2x in a row
Blank