Daemon Weapon

[Macrus]

Hi

I am running a campaign where the villain is planning and getting a daemon weapon by using scarifies. The PCs might stop him from doing it but in the case that they fail then I need to give him an ability for the weapon. That is where I'm stuck I cant really think of anything that would be good for him to have.The weapon he has is a glaive. At the moment the PCs are in the region of level 4-5.

Thanks for the help.

Macrus

[Madfellow]

At this early stage in their careers, you probably want to keep it simple. Make it a +1 glaive that deals an extra d6 necrotic damage, or something to that effect.

[Shaofoo]

You don't need to give an ability to the weapon itself, maybe the big bad can get a buff and an all new ability that is unique to him (maybe some AoE fire or necrotic attack).

If you want to make it so that the players find the demonic weapon after the BBEG is killed maybe make it an intelligent weapon with meager mind stats and some abilities relating to sacrifice (either sacrifice your own HP for power or even sacrifice other's HP or even the life of your enemies) but of course it is heavily cursed and you will probably be forced to go against the wishes to sacrifice everything to the demon god and not to mention it could be cursed by the spirit that was sacrificed in the first place as well, it dwells in the weapon and hates it when people use it. also the public might not take it too kindly in having a demonic weapon shown around.

[Fwiffo86]

Swiped partially from Palladium RPG I think...

"Death is the softest kiss"

Power: when hitting a target at or below one-quarter hp, make a constitution save (DC 13 or 8 + prof + [Cha] mod), or be reduced to 0 hit points.

Adjust HP threshold higher or lower as desired. Change DC as desired.

[Shaofoo]

Swiped partially from Palladium RPG I think...

"Death is the softest kiss"

Power: when hitting a target at or below one-quarter hp, make a constitution save (DC 13 or 8 + prof + [Cha] mod), or be reduced to 0 hit points.

Adjust HP threshold higher or lower as desired. Change DC as desired.

So basically if you try to hit a weakened enemy using the weapon you might get killed yourself?

[Aurthur]

I am running a campaign where the villain is planning and getting a daemon weapon by using scarifies. The PCs might stop him from doing it but in the case that they fail then I need to give him an ability for the weapon. That is where I'm stuck I cant really think of anything that would be good for him to have.The weapon he has is a glaive. At the moment the PCs are in the region of level 4-5.


You could go the blood-drinker route. Have the weapon deal (W) damage + 1d6 necrotic and have it heal the wielder the necrotic. It's common a common mechanic with some of the monsters in the monster manual, and wouldn't overpower it from a to-hit perspective (depending on the level of the villain wielding it).

[Fwiffo86]

So basically if you try to hit a weakened enemy using the weapon you might get killed yourself?

It amazes me that you would think that. No. Try again.

Special hint:
The creature hit with the weapon will make the save.

[Shaofoo]

It amazes me that you would think that. No. Try again.

Special hint:
The creature hit with the weapon will make the save.

I am sorry that you went with the snark route

Here is your quote

"Power: when hitting a target at or below one-quarter hp, make a constitution save (DC 13 or 8 + prof + [Cha] mod), or be reduced to 0 hit points."

I am assuming that this power was written towards the person wielding the weapon because you are saying that when you hit the target not when you are targetted by the attack, yet the next phrase still is talking to you so that you have to make a constitution save because at no point does it specify the target of the attack.

Here is a similar power taken from the d20srd

Disruption
A weapon of disruption is the bane of all undead. Any undead creature struck in combat must succeed on a DC 14 Will save or be destroyed. A weapon of disruption must be a bludgeoning weapon. (If you roll this property randomly for a piercing or slashing weapon, reroll.)

See how at the start the description immediatly talks towards the undead being hit as opposed to the person using the weapon, by your translation it would say

"Power: when hitting an undead target at , make a constitution save (DC 14), or be destroyed."

Which would make a good curse for a weapon as we were talking about curses

Friendly advice: Do not unleash the snark next time

[Shining Wrath]

A weapon that granted demonic resistances to damage rather than doing extra damage might be the ticket. Of course, it only grants those resistances after being bathed in the blood of the innocent - that is, you must wound some sentient creature with a non-evil alignment, then you gain resistance to [list] and immunity to [list]. AFB, you'll have to look up demons, but I think it's acid and non-magic weapons resistance, and fire and poison immunity.

[Fwiffo86]

I am sorry that you went with the snark route

Here is your quote

"Power: when hitting a target at or below one-quarter hp, make a constitution save (DC 13 or 8 + prof + [Cha] mod), or be reduced to 0 hit points."

I am assuming that this power was written towards the person wielding the weapon because you are saying that when you hit the target not when you are targetted by the attack, yet the next phrase still is talking to you so that you have to make a constitution save because at no point does it specify the target of the attack.

Here is a similar power taken from the d20srd

Disruption
A weapon of disruption is the bane of all undead. Any undead creature struck in combat must succeed on a DC 14 Will save or be destroyed. A weapon of disruption must be a bludgeoning weapon. (If you roll this property randomly for a piercing or slashing weapon, reroll.)

See how at the start the description immediatly talks towards the undead being hit as opposed to the person using the weapon, by your translation it would say

"Power: when hitting an undead target at , make a constitution save (DC 14), or be destroyed."

Which would make a good curse for a weapon as we were talking about curses

Friendly advice: Do not unleash the snark next time

Fair enough. I will reign in the snark. However, that being said, I can't imagine anyone other than people who comb through text looking for loopholes of language would take any other meaning out of my initial description. I offered a power for the demon blade. One that made sense for someone who is sacrificing intelligent beings to create it. Power and creation are of similar principle. I just don't see (short of breaking the sentence down to squeeze a different meaning out of it) how that could have been misconstrued.

[Shaofoo]

Fair enough. I will reign in the snark. However, that being said, I can't imagine anyone other than people who comb through text looking for loopholes of language would take any other meaning out of my initial description. I offered a power for the demon blade. One that made sense for someone who is sacrificing intelligent beings to create it. Power and creation are of similar principle. I just don't see (short of breaking the sentence down to squeeze a different meaning out of it) how that could have been misconstrued.

Honestly that is what it says directly, no twisting of the words, that is what it says in plain English to me. You reference the wielder of the blade and at no point you make the target force a save but rather the wielder. That is just bad English my friend. You might want to say:

Whenever you are struck by this blade while at a quarter or less hit points | make a Con save or be reduced to 0 hit points.

Or

When you strike an enemy that has a quarter or less hit points | the enemy must make a Con save or be reduced to 0 hit points.

You took the first part of the latter and the second part of the former, I don't know how else to interpret your power as you being affected.

Plus who says that demons play fair, sure a demon can promise you lots of powerful things for a sacrifice and sure you might get a seemingly powerful blade but wouldn't it be funny if the demon betrayed you and killed you by the blade that he promised (why, cause he is a demon!) or maybe the victim of the sacrifice cursed the blade so that when someone else used the blade to sacrifice another they will be killed instead.

Of course such a thing would probably have some other powers to make it worthwhile (or just make it horribly cursed with no benefits, not everything that you loot from the body has to be usable by the party).

Point is, a demonic sacrifice doesn't have to buff the blade, it can buff the BBEG while saying that the blade is buffed and after the fight say the blade dissolved into acid slime or something.

[Ardantis]

I second the intelligent item suggestion, as well as the necrotic blood sucking. Low level but flavorful and impactful to the party should they choose to keep it.

[Safety Sword]

What if the blade allowed the BBEG to turn the sacrifices into undead, or better yet, low level demons.

That would give him motivation to use it, as every kill adds to his army. Left unchecked a massive army could be made.

You could start this power off slowly and then scale it to allow more uses per time period as the party requires larger challenges.

[erikthered1300]

Maybe something along the lines of every 10 people slain adds +1d6 damage

[Knaight]

An option could be to have it be more powerful, but have the party have a good reason not to keep it. Maybe it deals +1d6 necrotic damage, but has to be refreshed via human sacrifice with the blood of an innocent every month. Maybe it has that benefit, but the weapon is a binding for the demon which is failing, and keeping it around gives a short term benefit with the risk of a pissed off demon breaking their seal at an inconvenient time.

[CantigThimble]

You could make it like a warlock lifedrinker and have it deal +charisma (min 1) necrotic damage, maybe also granting an extra attack (note extra attack doesn't stack). That would be the most flavorful way to do it, though it also pigeonholes the item.

[Fwiffo86]

Maybe it has that benefit, but the weapon is a binding for the demon which is failing, and keeping it around gives a short term benefit with the risk of a pissed off demon breaking their seal at an inconvenient time.

I like this here! Maybe state it something like: Have the weapon give a ginormous bonus, something extremely hard to not want to use, but have it come with the caveat that every sentient creature slain by it (intelligent undead are included) weakens the seal/binding preventing a powerful demon from entering the plane to exact revenge on the bloodline that banished him, using that very same sword?

Possible bonuses:
The sword grants proficiency in all save throws after slaying an intelligent creature for 1 hour.
--"-- an additional attack that uses a reaction after slaying an intelligent creature for 1 hour.
--"-- an additional +1d6 weapon damage for every creature slain (up to +3d6) for an hour.
--"-- reflects any spell that targets the wielder who saves with a N20 roll (as above for 1 hour).


Just some ideas tossed around. Number of creatures to kill to release the demon? Say... 35. Adjust up or down as is required by tension.

[Knaight]

Just some ideas tossed around. Number of creatures to kill to release the demon? Say... 35. Adjust up or down as is required by tension.

I'd avoid the set number. Something like an attempt to break out made every so often, where at any given time it might be when they finally attempt to break through? That works a bit better. A really fun option would be to have the demon make the attempts, have it be clear that they are making the attempts, and have some sort of actual strategy there. Maybe they generally let the seal be, but have a habit of trying to break out in the middle of fights that are already looking ugly (for both sides). Maybe they have a habit of trying to break out when it looks like they could get into a hostage situation quickly. Maybe they can swim very well (and the abilities of the weapon are related to use in water), and have a habit of trying to break out whenever the party takes a boat somewhere or fords a river or anything else that gets them a good escape situation.

The last one in particular seems fun. Some quick example stats:

Glaive of Rotting Coral
A long piece of driftwood adorned with barnacles and tipped with shaped coral, this glaive gives off a menacing feel. The coral at the edges is blackened and twisted, and a faint burbling follows the weapon at all times. The glaive draws leeches and marsh insects towards it when they are around.

Marsh Travel - All speed penalties for being in wetlands or water from knee to chest deep are avoided. A +10 to movement speed is given in these circumstances.
Swimming - The wielder gains a swim speed equal to their walk speed.
Unhindered Motion - The glaive moves just as well in water as in air. Gain advantage when attacking from knee to chest deep water. Opponents attacking in melee gain disadvantage when in knee to chest deep water.
Burst Bonds - Whenever the demon thinks it can break its seal and escape, the wielder must make a DC 5 Charisma check to keep it contained. Generally, this happens around lots of water.
Wet Rot - +1 to attack. If it is raining or the wielder is partially submerged, +1d6 necrotic damage. If the wielder is completely submerged, +2d6 necrotic damage.

[Macrus]

Thank you for all the great ideas, they are much apprenticed. Though in the end the villain failed with the sacrifice, and he wasn't able to complete it. Just means he will have to try again.

[Safety Sword]

Thank you for all the great ideas, they are much apprenticed. Though in the end the villain failed with the sacrifice, and he wasn't able to complete it. Just means he will have to try again.

I really hope he's going to send some assassins after those pesky PCs or create a distraction somewhere else to give himself the required time next time ;)