Last week I introduced you to the story of Lord Kharos and his role in the creation of the five Dead Steel Weapons. This week we’ll start to explore these unique weapons as sentient magical items for use in 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons with the wily and curious battleaxe Shadow Splitter and the destructive mace Bonecrush.
Shadow Splitter
Weapon (battleaxe), legendary (requires attunement by a creature of good alignment)
This single bladed battleaxe is made of black steel like all of the other Dead Steel Weapons and its blade is etched with magical runes showing its connection to the realm of shadow. These runes pulse and glow with purple energy when their magic is active
You gain a +2 to attack and damage rolls with this weapon. It deals an extra 1d8 slashing damage against undead creatures that are incorporeal in nature (such as wraiths, shadows, and ghosts). While you wield Shadow Splitter, you are infused with the power of shadow that permeates the weapon, causing you to randomly flicker out of phase with the material plane. While you hold the weapon, you are under the effects of the freedom of movement spell and gain resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from non-magical sources. It has the following additional properties.
Shadow Travel. Shadow Splitter has 5 charges. As an action, you can expend one charge to gain the benefits of the etherealness spell for up to 1 minute, using Shadow Splitter to cut open a portal to the Ethereal Plane. This portal only allows the wielder to step through and closes immediately after they enter. When the effects of the spell end, you reappear on the Material Plane in the same fashion. You can choose not to use the full minute, but it still drains 1 charge from Shadow Splitter. Shadow Splitter recovers 1d4+1 charges each dawn.
Sentience. Shadow Splitter is a sentient weapon of neutral good alignment, with an Intelligence of 8, a Wisdom of 11, and a Charisma of 14. It has normal hearing and vision out to 60 feet and can sense the presence (but not the type) of undead creatures out to 120 feet.
The weapon can speak, read, and understand Common, and can communicate with its wielder telepathically. Its voice is muted and echoes as if it has traveled a long distance.
Personality. Shadow Splitter is the most relaxed of its brethren, though is still desires to destroy the threat posed by the undead. Its true desire, however, is to use its abilities to travel to new and interesting locations. If it goes three days without using its Shadow Travel ability, conflict occurs at the next sunrise.
Shadow Splitter loves to travel and be used, and regularly chats with its wielder. If it is stationary for too long it begins to get bored, and when it is lost gets truly morose. Secretly it wonders why it doesn’t seem as dedicated to its task as the rest of the Dead Steel Weapons and worries that it is flawed in some way because of it.
Bonecrush
Weapon (mace), legendary (requires attunement by a creature of good alignment)
Bonecrush is a mace with a flanged head of black steel joined to a wooden handle reinforced with several bands of iron. Unlike the rest of its brethren, it carries no further identifying marks or runes.
You gain a +2 to attack and damage rolls with this weapon. It has the following additional properties.
Shockwave. You can use an action to strike the ground with Bonecrush and send a shockwave out from the point of impact. Each creature of your choice within 60 feet of that point must make a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or become stunned for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. Once used, this property can’t be used against until the next dawn.
Holy Thunderforce. Bonecrush has 10 charges. Its wielder can use 1 charge to cast thunderous smite. Or they can use 2 charges to cast shatter. The DC for the saving throws to resist these spells is 14. Bonecrush recovers 1d6+4 charges each dawn.
Sentience. Bonecrush is a sentient weapon of chaotic good alignment, with an Intelligence of 13, a Wisdom of 12, and a Charisma of 16. It has normal hearing and vision out to 60 feet and can sense the presence (but not the type) of undead creatures out to 120 feet.
The weapon can speak, read, and understand Common, and can communicate with its wielder telepathically. Its voice is low and rumbling, like a long peal of thunder in the distance.
Personality. Like the other Dead Steel Weapons, Bonecrush is dedicated to destroying the undead and it revels in its power. If it has a fault, it is that it is sometimes too willing to use violence to solve its problems and constantly urges its wielder to use its abilities. Unlike Harrower and Sunspike, it doesn’t particularly care who it harms in service to its goal, provided it isn’t being used for evil purposes. If its abilities are not used for 2 days, conflict occurs at the next sunrise. Bonecrush doesn’t speak much, but when it does it is forceful and direct.
Next week we’ll explore the next two of the Dead Steel Weapons – the holy dagger Sunspike and the longsword Harrower.
Ben Erickson
I think Bonecrush’s shockwave might be too good. It’s basically a mass hold monster. I was thinking it might ought to be single-target, or affect all creatures in a short cone (like 20 feet).
The major difference is that Hold Monster paralyzes the targets instead of stunning them. I’ll grant that they’re very similar, but stunned lacks the automatic critical hit from melee attacks that being paralyzed carries with it. I don’t think that’s too much from a once per day ability, especially when it’s other two abilities replicate one 1st and one 2nd level spell.
Whelm in the DMG also has the same ability, word for word at a slightly higher DC, so I don’t feel I’m off the reservation too far for a legendary item. 😉
So far I’m really enjoying these. I like how each weapon seems focused against a particular kind of undead, with the possible exception of Harrower.
Thanks! I’m glad you like them. As you’ll see next week, Harrower was constructed as much more of a love letter to the classical “undead bane” weapon.