Need help creating an Evil/Cursed Weapon - Please advise!

[Govinator]

Hello Playground!
Long time lurker, first time poster!:smallsmile:

So without any further ado- I am attempting to create a weapon for a leader in one of my homebrew campaigns. This person is an ancient vampire who is second in command next to his brother (another vampire), who is the ruler of an undead Sparta. I am thinking it would be great for combat/flavor if he had a weapon that would raise its victims (strictly those it has killed, not just damaged) as undead the next round.

I am thinking that this could be a weapon of one of my homebrew world's "old empires", a remnant from a time long past. As such, I want it to have both an advantage (free raise dead) alongside some kind of disadvantage...
For example, perhaps the undead raised are always mindless and violent, so unless the sword's wielder can channel divine energy to control them, he will just be making more of a problem for himself (This is just a thought).
For flavor, I like the thought that it may be crafted of magically hardened onyx, as that is the component associated with raising any undead.

So can you help me create an evil/cursed weapon along these lines? Is it a +3 Unholy Onyx Greatsword of Animate Dead? Any thoughts would really be appreciated, I feel like I have a cool idea but I want to flesh it out.

Also, this is for Pathfinder, but changes could be homebrewed in if necessary!

[Shining Wrath]

Perhaps the weapon requires charges to function. 1 charge creates a size M or smaller skeleton, but it takes 20 or 50 to create a size H lich.

And the weapon is recharged, of course, by slaying the living. So you can't create 1 undead per round, but if you just dropped a level 20 Paladin you can raise him as something pretty nasty.

[malmblad]

I would say that the sword has such a strong connection with the negative plane that the wielder is susceptible to damage from positive energy or more susceptible if it already has a weakness as with this case of the wielder being a vampire. Maybe go so far as to say the sword will draw the positive energy from channel energy and ground it into the wielder (opposites attract). Save all the risen, but potentially kill the wielder who may or may not rise after dying from the sword.

[Govinator]

@Shining Wrath: I like that idea, but hows this... The weapon will raise whoever it kills, and then gains a charge. However, it starts only being able to raise enemies up to a certain power of undead, up to a certain number (say 5). Say at 1st tier, the thing can only create CR1 zombies out of those it kills. Every living it slays will then help it reach the next "Tier", where it can raise the slain as a more powerful undead, say from CR1 to CR 2 up to a certain power limit.The sword couldn't raise a dead to be more powerful than the victim was in life, so that limits it somewhat. But I would want to think of a manner to expose limitations or disadvantages to using it.

Which leads me to...
@malmblad: I like that idea, however I had something a bit different in mind. Say, the sword has some kind of detrimental effect to normal living beings, but since the wielder is a vampire (special case of "undead"), the effect is negligible to him. I don't think positive energy would quite work in that manner. Do you understand what I mean?

I'm sorry, I feel like I am not conveying these thoughts clearly. :smalleek:

[Morbis Meh]

My idea is a little mean but hey it is oddly appropriate: Anytime a creature is created from the blade the HD of the creature created is taken as permanent HP loss to the wielder showing that the sword is draining the power of the wielder to create new unlife. The death of the newly created minion would restore the HP loss so it can be dealt with in a pinch if it becomes a problem.

[malmblad]

Which leads me to...
@malmblad: I like that idea, however I had something a bit different in mind. Say, the sword has some kind of detrimental effect to normal living beings, but since the wielder is a vampire (special case of "undead"), the effect is negligible to him. I don't think positive energy would quite work in that manner. Do you understand what I mean?



Well, you can go the other way with it and say the connection is so strong that the wielder takes negative energy damage every time it raises a creature because they act as the conduit to raise the creatures. This would heal the vampire or any other undead wielder but damage a normal living creature. You can also base the damage on how many HD the slain creature has. I can see a very lengthy encounter where the vampire brings an entourage of living thralls that retreat to their master to be slain by the sword when they are low on HP... I might end up using this in my own campaign.

[Govinator]

Well, you can go the other way with it and say the connection is so strong that the wielder takes negative energy damage every time it raises a creature because they act as the conduit to raise the creatures. This would heal the vampire or any other undead wielder but damage a normal living creature. You can also base the damage on how many HD the slain creature has. I can see a very lengthy encounter where the vampire brings an entourage of living thralls that retreat to their master to be slain by the sword when they are low on HP... I might end up using this in my own campaign.

This. THIS! This is great, I love it!

Now I simply have one question... can someone help me get a rough idea of how to stat such an item? And what do you all think of it flavor-wise? Should it be a greatsword, an axe... What I'm imagining is a weapon that is wreathed in a black gaseous shadow... Upon close inspection you can see the black onyx from which it was made, but that's not immediately clear.
Any last thoughts? :smallbiggrin:

[Medic!]

You could always use the Lifedrinker weapon from the SRD as a template for your weapon. Have it bestow negative levels to animate the corpses of those it slays. If it was me doing it that way I'd put a cap on it somewhere, like every HD of animated undead costs 1 negative level or every 2 HD costs 1 negative level. If the negative levels are purged the undead de-animates or leaves your control or something like that, and make the negative levels work like wielding an evil weapon as a good character, where they last as long as you possess the item but disappear when you rid yourself of it.

Any cursed weapon worth its salt is a shifting weapon...make it turn into whatever it thinks will be most appealing to the wielder it desires, imo.

[Shining Wrath]

In common depictions death wields a scythe. Fritz Leiber's Death wielded a rapier that could not be parried.

I think either would be flavorful for a weapon that creates undead.

You might also consider what Big Brother wields and have a logical companion for that weapon.

A long bow would be just mean.

[malmblad]

I'm not big on negative levels it can slow combat down too much. On top of that trying to add levels to the vampire would get confusing.

I would template this ability after the clerics channel energy ability. It does 1d6 points of negative damage for every 2HD/levels slain. You can use the clerics use per day cap too. 3+ wielder's charisma modifier a day if you want to keep it in check.

If you want it to run rampant, forgo the usage cap and have it deal 1d6 per HD of the slain creature. Just don't be angry when a player decides it's worth being undead to use it. :smalleek:

I do like the idea of a companion weapon. But maybe it isn't something the brother vampire can wield. Maybe it's a weapon that channels positive energy that's released when it slays an undead putting it eternally to rest (circumventing all those tricks potent undead use to keep coming back like phylacteries). Maybe it's a mcguffin the characters have to find to combat the Vampires... I don't know. My wheels are just turning.

[Gildedragon]

The sword is glazed with glass made from black sand. Have it do +1d4 neg energy damage (harder to resist than most elemental damages) for one of its +1s. Have it constantly inflict minor wounds on the bearer, darkness at will, life drinker and unholy.

Alternatively, the blade is made from shadow and neg energy. Treat it as (anti)radiant but it deals no damage to anything immune to neg energy

[Govinator]

I'm not big on negative levels it can slow combat down too much. On top of that trying to add levels to the vampire would get confusing.

I would template this ability after the clerics channel energy ability. It does 1d6 points of negative damage for every 2HD/levels slain. You can use the clerics use per day cap too. 3+ wielder's charisma modifier a day if you want to keep it in check.

If you want it to run rampant, forgo the usage cap and have it deal 1d6 per HD of the slain creature. Just don't be angry when a player decides it's worth being undead to use it. :smalleek:

I do like the idea of a companion weapon. But maybe it isn't something the brother vampire can wield. Maybe it's a weapon that channels positive energy that's released when it slays an undead putting it eternally to rest (circumventing all those tricks potent undead use to keep coming back like phylacteries). Maybe it's a mcguffin the characters have to find to combat the Vampires... I don't know. My wheels are just turning.

Sorry, new to this forum's formatting, so I don't know how to quote both Shining Wrath and malmblad, but this idea isn't something I had considered!
Big brother does wield a weapon, but I hadn't thought to make it a companion to the undead maker that little brother is using!

The "weapon" that big brother has, for lack of a better term, is a control rod/staff that has all of the nation/city-state's mindless undead tuned to it. He had originally used it to control the group of undead he'd originally created when founding the city (long story, can post if interested), that I like to call the Scepter of Dominion. Not so much a combat weapon as a tool thru which he can literally, personally command his armies of the undead. There are lesser Rods of Domination that also control smaller groups of the armies, which are divided among some of the higher ranking vampires within the nation. His scepter however, is supreme to all of them.

I like the thought of keying the two weapons to one another, but how could we "link" this weapon to what little brother is using? Perhaps the undead that get created within a mile or so of the Scepter automatically fall under big brother's control, if not dominated immediately?

[Shining Wrath]

Sorry, new to this forum's formatting, so I don't know how to quote both Shining Wrath and malmblad, but this idea isn't something I had considered!
Big brother does wield a weapon, but I hadn't thought to make it a companion to the undead maker that little brother is using!

The "weapon" that big brother has, for lack of a better term, is a control rod/staff that has all of the nation/city-state's mindless undead tuned to it. He had originally used it to control the group of undead he'd originally created when founding the city (long story, can post if interested), that I like to call the Scepter of Dominion. Not so much a combat weapon as a tool thru which he can literally, personally command his armies of the undead. There are lesser Rods of Domination that also control smaller groups of the armies, which are divided among some of the higher ranking vampires within the nation. His scepter however, is supreme to all of them.

I like the thought of keying the two weapons to one another, but how could we "link" this weapon to what little brother is using? Perhaps the undead that get created within a mile or so of the Scepter automatically fall under big brother's control, if not dominated immediately?

I like the idea of the one weapon creating fodder for the other to control. And maybe the two weapons are complementary, but are also key to victory: if wielded against each other, the weapons will destroy each other and release all undead created by the one and controlled by the other (both conditions must be true) to true death.

But here's the catch: the weapons will do everything in their not-inconsiderable power to avoid being destroyed (duh). It's not just a matter of defeating the vampires or stealing their weapons; you must then overcome the egos of the weapons ... and you find out the scepter was the REAL BBEG, controlling the big brother vampire.

Anything you want to quote, just grab with your mouse and slap \[QUOTE\]\[\\QUOTE\] tags around it.

[Cirrylius]

I like the thought of keying the two weapons to one another, but how could we "link" this weapon to what little brother is using? Perhaps the undead that get created within a mile or so of the Scepter automatically fall under big brother's control, if not dominated immediately?
Heh. Have them both be combineable components of the undead's version of the Spear of Longinus. And have the brothers find out only when the PC's let it slip in their presence. And then watch the familial ichor love flow.:smallbiggrin: