Haven't done much in the way of homebrew weapons yet so I'm happy to take any feedback/opinions/thoughts. Quick backstory is that I've got a lvl 7 drow shadow sorcerer, eager to RP, who doesn't really know how he got his powers (he crossed into the Shadowfell by mistake and got infused with shadow stuff). He's new to the party with no cool gear to speak of so I wanted to give him something that would provide a few more spell options, an opportunity to connect with his origin story and RP with me a bit, as well as provide future threads for the campaign (they might end up meeting a mageocracy building their power on the ruins of the Netherese down the road).
That said, I'm always a bit cautious about overpowering the group. We're not into intense, tactical combat. But that doesn't mean they should be able to steamroll combat and lose any fear of player death >:-)
Let me know what you think! And to the loremongers...I know I'm futzing with the Netherese and Shadar-Kai a bit. Just go with it ;-)
Gloom (Staff of Shadows)
This smooth, black staff with thin gold filagree appears to be made of obsidian or some kind of dark wood at first glance. Picking it up reveals it to be cold to the touch and surprisingly light. Looking closely, you can see a light mist of shadow trickling down the edges as if the shadows themselves are being held together by the paper thin gold plating. You must be attuned to the staff to gain its benefits and cast its spells.
Sentience
The staff contains the soul of an ancient and powerful gloomweaver of the Shadar-Kai who was captured and experimented on by Netherese wizards to satisfy their sadistic curiosity. They restrained him with enchanted gold bindings to remove his resistance to the Shadow Curse of the plane and drain his soul while infusing his body with "shadow stuff"; turning him into a mindless shade at their command. Instead, he was able to resist the process holding on to a small fragment of his soul but his body was destroyed in the process; being reduced to an object of pure shadow held together by the enchanted bindings.
Gloom is a sentient chaotic neutral weapon with an Intelligence of 18, a Wisdom of 16, and a Charisma of 10. It has hearing and darkvision out to a range of 120 feet.
The weapon can speak, read, and understand Common, Elven, Sylvan, and Netherese and can communicate with its wielder telepathically. Its voice is still and sombre. While you are attuned to it, also understands every language you know.
Personality
While much of its personal history has faded from its memory, Gloom retains a distrust of human wizards and a burning hatred for any remaining vestiges of the Netheril empire. It will do anything to prevent the rise of the Netherese or the propagation of their ideology to establish a ruling class of wizards over all other sentient beings.
Resistance
Anyone attuned to the staff gains resistance to necrotic damage.
Shadow Magic
The staff has 10 charges and regains 1d6 + 4 expended charges daily at dawn. If you expend the last charge, roll a d20. On a 1, the filagree cracks and staff collapses into a dark mist, tumbling onto the ground before dissipating.
Spells. While holding the staff, you can use an action to expend some of its charges to cast one of the following spells from it, using your spell save DC: black tentacles (4 charges) or negative energy flood (5 charges).
Veil of Shadows. While holding the staff in an area of dim light or darkness, you can use an action and expend 2 charges to pull shadows from the area toward you to surround your form. The shadows remain for 10 minutes, making your immediate area obscured for creatures other than you; providing half cover (+2 AC) for ranged attacks. The shadows moves with you, remaining centered on you. Coming within 5 feet of torchlight or daylight will dissipate the shadows surrounding you.
Shadow Double. While holding the staff, you can use an action and expend 2 charges to create an illusory duplicate of yourself for 1 minute or until the spell ends. The duplicate appears in your space and moves with you; mimicking your actions and shifting position so it's impossible to track which image is real. You can use your action to dismiss the illusory duplicate.
Each time a creature targets you with an attack during the spell's duration, roll a d20 to determine whether the attack instead targets one of your duplicates. You must roll an 11 or higher. If an attack hits a duplicate, the duplicate is destroyed. A duplicate can be destroyed only by an attack that hits it. It ignores all other damage and effects. The spell ends when the duplicate is destroyed. A creature is unaffected by the double if it can't see, if it relies on senses other than sight, such as blindsight, or if it can perceive illusions as false, as with truesight.
Id say it is power appropriate for around level 8 or 9.
Veil of shadows needs to specify the type of obscurity (light or heavy). Half cover also usually boosts DEX saves, not sure if you meant to exclude that.
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Haven't done much in the way of homebrew weapons yet so I'm happy to take any feedback/opinions/thoughts. Quick backstory is that I've got a lvl 7 drow shadow sorcerer, eager to RP, who doesn't really know how he got his powers (he crossed into the Shadowfell by mistake and got infused with shadow stuff). He's new to the party with no cool gear to speak of so I wanted to give him something that would provide a few more spell options, an opportunity to connect with his origin story and RP with me a bit, as well as provide future threads for the campaign (they might end up meeting a mageocracy building their power on the ruins of the Netherese down the road).
That said, I'm always a bit cautious about overpowering the group. We're not into intense, tactical combat. But that doesn't mean they should be able to steamroll combat and lose any fear of player death >:-)
Let me know what you think! And to the loremongers...I know I'm futzing with the Netherese and Shadar-Kai a bit. Just go with it ;-)
Gloom (Staff of Shadows)
This smooth, black staff with thin gold filagree appears to be made of obsidian or some kind of dark wood at first glance. Picking it up reveals it to be cold to the touch and surprisingly light. Looking closely, you can see a light mist of shadow trickling down the edges as if the shadows themselves are being held together by the paper thin gold plating. You must be attuned to the staff to gain its benefits and cast its spells.
Sentience
The staff contains the soul of an ancient and powerful gloomweaver of the Shadar-Kai who was captured and experimented on by Netherese wizards to satisfy their sadistic curiosity. They restrained him with enchanted gold bindings to remove his resistance to the Shadow Curse of the plane and drain his soul while infusing his body with "shadow stuff"; turning him into a mindless shade at their command. Instead, he was able to resist the process holding on to a small fragment of his soul but his body was destroyed in the process; being reduced to an object of pure shadow held together by the enchanted bindings.
Gloom is a sentient chaotic neutral weapon with an Intelligence of 18, a Wisdom of 16, and a Charisma of 10. It has hearing and darkvision out to a range of 120 feet.
The weapon can speak, read, and understand Common, Elven, Sylvan, and Netherese and can communicate with its wielder telepathically. Its voice is still and sombre. While you are attuned to it, also understands every language you know.
Personality
While much of its personal history has faded from its memory, Gloom retains a distrust of human wizards and a burning hatred for any remaining vestiges of the Netheril empire. It will do anything to prevent the rise of the Netherese or the propagation of their ideology to establish a ruling class of wizards over all other sentient beings.
Resistance
Anyone attuned to the staff gains resistance to necrotic damage.
Shadow Magic
The staff has 10 charges and regains 1d6 + 4 expended charges daily at dawn. If you expend the last charge, roll a d20. On a 1, the filagree cracks and staff collapses into a dark mist, tumbling onto the ground before dissipating.
Spells. While holding the staff, you can use an action to expend some of its charges to cast one of the following spells from it, using your spell save DC: black tentacles (4 charges) or negative energy flood (5 charges).
Veil of Shadows. While holding the staff in an area of dim light or darkness, you can use an action and expend 2 charges to pull shadows from the area toward you to surround your form. The shadows remain for 10 minutes, making your immediate area obscured for creatures other than you; providing half cover (+2 AC) for ranged attacks. The shadows moves with you, remaining centered on you. Coming within 5 feet of torchlight or daylight will dissipate the shadows surrounding you.
Shadow Double. While holding the staff, you can use an action and expend 2 charges to create an illusory duplicate of yourself for 1 minute or until the spell ends. The duplicate appears in your space and moves with you; mimicking your actions and shifting position so it's impossible to track which image is real. You can use your action to dismiss the illusory duplicate.
Each time a creature targets you with an attack during the spell's duration, roll a d20 to determine whether the attack instead targets one of your duplicates. You must roll an 11 or higher. If an attack hits a duplicate, the duplicate is destroyed. A duplicate can be destroyed only by an attack that hits it. It ignores all other damage and effects. The spell ends when the duplicate is destroyed. A creature is unaffected by the double if it can't see, if it relies on senses other than sight, such as blindsight, or if it can perceive illusions as false, as with truesight.
Id say it is power appropriate for around level 8 or 9.
Veil of shadows needs to specify the type of obscurity (light or heavy). Half cover also usually boosts DEX saves, not sure if you meant to exclude that.