Help me create a Legendary Sword

[Elvtyrr]

So I have an idea for a flavorful but not overly powerful sword that I'm going to give to my players as part of the campaign that I'm running. The fluff is basically that this sword was forged long ago by a zealous sect of mage hunters that tasked themselves with enforcing the proper use of magic, think something similar to the Inquisition. Given the purpose of its creators this blade is a spell drinker and absorbs magic from things that it strikes to empower itself and as such has a hunger for magic that ever so slightly affects the wielder.

I want the crunch to match the fluff but don't want it to be ridiculously powerful as I'm more of a fan items that feel magical and aren't just simply stat sticks. That being said I do want this item to have synergy with the Mage Slayer feat to the point that wielding the sword if you have the feat is a very deadly combination against any spell caster but without having too much, if any, overlap with the feat so it doesn't feel like any features are wasted. In any event this is what I have so far:

Ilduar, the Mage's Ruin

Weapon (longsword), legendary, requires attunment

Ilduar is a sentient sword with base emotions from a long lost age when magic was feared and hunted for it's power. The primary driving force of this swords personality is to feed it's insatiable hunger for magic. Even if you aren't attuned to the sword you gain a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls made with this weapon.

When you are attuned to this weapon it gains the following traits:
Magic Consumption. Ilduar attempts to feed an any magic it with witch it comes in contact.
- Ilduar can store up to 9 charges at a time.
- You can, as a bonus action, expend all stored charges to gain +1d6 Force damage per charge on attacks made with Ilduar until the beginning of your next turn.
- When you are targeted with a spell the caster must make a charisma save with a DC equal to 8+ the level of the slot used to cast the spell. Failure causes Ilduar to consume the magic of the spell, negating all of it's effects and gaining charges equal to the level of the slot used to cast the spell.
- Whenever you deal damage with Ilduar to a creature under the effects of a spell the spell's caster must make a constitution save as if she were damaged by the attack. Failure causes Ilduar to consume the magic of the spell, negating all of it's effects and gaining charges equal to the level of the slot used to cast the spell.
- Whenever Ilduar causes damage to a creature with spell slots it attempts to consume their magic. Roll a d10; Ilduar attempts to consume a spell slot equal to the die result rounded down to the highest level slot available to the damaged creature. The creature must succeed on a charisma saving throw equal to 8+the level of the spell slot that is being attempted to be consumed or lose the spell slot giving Ilduar that many charges.
- Whenever Ilduar consumes magic it grants you advantage on attack rolls against the magic's source while giving you disadvantage on all other attack rolls until one of the following conditions are met; Ilduar reaches it's full 9 charges, the source of the consumed magic is at least 1 mile away, the source of the magic has no more spell slots for the day or the magic's source has been destroyed.
- A creature with spell slots must succeed on a charisma saving throw equal to 8+ the highest level spell slot available to them to become attuned to this sword. A creature cannot attempt to attune to Ilduar more than once within a 24 hour period.

Updated based on suggestions from the community, please continue to critique.

[ImSAMazing]

Sounds cool, but in combination with a friendly Archmage this is OP as hell. He just keeps casting low level concentration spells, you keep destroying in his concentration. By the time he run out of all spell slots(4+3+3+3+3+2+2+1+1=22 slots), you deal 22d8 damage extra...

[Ace Jackson]

I agree that it sounds cool, but I am skeptical about the archemage exploit, they're NPCs, they probably wouldn't like to go for the idea, plus in the process of charging it up, you'd quite likely get to the point of draining all the HP in one concentration breaking stroke.

This said, if for some reason party spellcasters went for the idea and just bought dozens of health potions that would be a problem as well.

To counter these possible exploits, perhaps it also drains an equivalent or lower (if equivalent level is already fully drained, higher if all lower and equal slots are gone) level spell slot every time it breaks concentration? This would cut the max exploit level in half. Or go even farther and remove spell casting ability with a DC 15 check against the casting stat to be thrown once a week if someone is knocked out cold by it, that would also dissuade player exploitation, as all it would take is one unlucky damage throw, and suddenly the full casters can't cast or wildshape for at least one full week.

Also, as it absorbs magic, and influences the user, this seems a prime opportunity to make the item sentient, perhaps give it a conflict of conscience, it owes it's existence to magic, but if it were to fulfill it's purpose, it would need to destroy itself.

I'd also consider upping the consequences of a caster using it.

Would it be possible to tame it like one might a horse? What benefits could you get?

EDIT: You also don't mention what type of damage the extra d8s deal. That could inform a lot of history and "character" for the weapon.

[AmbientRaven]

I would maybe add a drawback, such as

-When attuned to Ildur if a frinedly character targets you with a spell you must pass a Cha save vs The spell casters DC. If you fail Ildur destroys the magic of the spell, treat the spell as if it had been counterspelled

also as ImSAmazing said, dmage is to high hitting allies. I would cap it at maximum 5 chages.

[Mjolnirbear]

Limiting the extra dice to attacks made against enemy creatures should help balance it, even if it makes sense that the sword hates ALL magic.

Also this could interfere with an ally's debuff spell such as curse or hunter's mark or slow. Your allied mages might hate it, but i think it's both appropriate and makes the power level more balanced.

If you make it sentient (emotions only perhaps) then you might impose a willpower battle if the weilder fails to immediately attack an enemy magic user. What i mean is if you have the option to attack a mage but attack the fighter instead the sword might wrestle for control to hit the target it hates the most.

[RealCheese]

I also think the charge damage is too high. What if you can store the charges indefinitely but you must expend them to deal the bonus damage?

[Elvtyrr]

Lots of great suggestions from everyone. I'll try to address each question.

I'm not sure what damage type makes the most sense for raw magic energy. How I imagine it is that it infuses itself with the power of the weave that was feeding the spell it devoured. Would force damage be the most accurate representation of that in D&D?

I really like the idea of making it hard to buff or heal the wielder and the sword having a chance to destroy the incoming spell. I would have it consume the magic and gain a charge rather than just counter the spell though.

I absolutely love that it can consume debuffs on enemies as well because that falls right in the flavor of wanting to consume all magic.

I'm skeptical of having the sword be sentient as I'm unfamiliar with the rules of sentient items in this edition and I thought that they were fairly over complicated in 3.x. I like the idea of it having base emotions that pull at the wielder but I am not a fan of it having a high enough ego to actually wrest control of its owner. Perhaps once it feeds on magic it seeks out the source of that magic at the detriment of all others. I could make it so that it gives advantage to attacks against the source of whatever magic it most recently fed on and disadvantage on attacks against all other creatures. This effect wouldn't end until the creature is slain, has distanced himself at least 1 mile from the sword, or the sword has no charges left . I'm concerned that those parameters might be too harsh for if it consumes a healing spell or buff though.

The infinite charges from slapping allies is a problem. Perhaps I cap the charges at 5 and have it be activated to expend all of its current charges to grant +1d8 force damage per charge for a set duration of rounds/minutes/hours?

I was also thinking about it gaining charges equal to the level of spell slot used to cast the spell that it consumes to better represent that it is transferring the raw magic energy of the spell into itself. If I do this though the max charges would have to be 9.

What do you guys think?

[Yagyujubei]

Ok, so how it's worded right now that sword is insanely op. I propose these changes.

as a sentient(ish) legendary weapon I think it wouldn't be a stretch to allow it to scale as your campaign long exclusive blade. thusly I think you should make it +1 at 11, +2 at 16, and +3 at 19 or 20.

correspondingly I think you should cap the maximum charges able to be stored to 2,4, and 6 depending upon the enchantment bonus on the sword, and you should have to expend charges to deal the extra damage with a limit of spending 2 charges on any single attack.

even with those restrictions it's still stronger than any other magic weapon listed in the DMG imho but it's not game breakingly absurd. Basically you're giving yourself free access to smite on top of a bunch of other benefits.

I love the flavor of this drawback and would add it.

-When attuned to Ildur if a frinedly character targets you with a spell you must pass a Cha save vs The spell casters DC. If you fail Ildur destroys the magic of the spell, treat the spell as if it had been counterspelled

[Naanomi]

Have it do something on a crit, that is a way to be flavorful without too much risk of abuse. Destroys the lowest spellslot remaining on a crit of a caster?

[Occasional Sage]

I love the flavor of this drawback and would add it.

-When attuned to Ildur if a frinedly character targets you with a spell you must pass a Cha save vs The spell casters DC. If you fail Ildur destroys the magic of the spell, treat the spell as if it had been counterspelled

Absolutely this, or something like it. Mage-hunting while accepting buffs is ludicrous. Perhaps give advantage on the CHA save to divine casters?

As for the damage type, Ilduar isn't simply rebounding the spell. Instead, it is becoming energized or awakened by the hostile magic; what form does that excitement take? I would make the damage type appropriate to the style/alignment of its maker(s). Perhaps Necrotic to make the players a bit nervous? Thunder would be fun too, with the sword singing exultantly with every hit and making stealth impossible.

Hmm, I like that.

Ilduar deals an additional 1d8 Thunder damage (changed, not additional) for each charge it currently has.
If Ilduar has any charges, it begins to sing ancient hymns. This singing can be heard clearly within 20' per charge, and with a DC X up to 50' per charge.

[Nifft]

I don't think it's a good idea to grant stacking passive bonus damage from charges.

Granting bonus damage on par with Flametongue (flat bonus damage) seems more reasonable IMHO.

[Elvtyrr]

I updated the OP with some of the suggestions given by the community to attempt to bring it more in line with the power level I'm looking for. let me know what you think of the updates.

@ Occasional Sage: I'm not sure that I like the singing bit but releasing a thunderous boom with each strike while charged seems okay but I still feel like force damage is the closest of the energy types to capturing the feeling of "raw" magic.

@ Nifft: You think that adding like a +2 damage per expended charge would be better than extra dice?

[Tenmujiin]

I updated the OP with some of the suggestions given by the community to attempt to bring it more in line with the power level I'm looking for. let me know what you think of the updates.

@ Occasional Sage: I'm not sure that I like the singing bit but releasing a thunderous boom with each strike while charged seems okay but I still feel like force damage is the closest of the energy types to capturing the feeling of "raw" magic.

@ Nifft: You think that adding like a +2 damage per expended charge would be better than extra dice?

I'd drop it to 1d4 per charge, dice are fun but it deals too much damage as-is

[Nifft]

@ Nifft: You think that adding like a +2 damage per expended charge would be better than extra dice?
I think scaling bonus damage is a bad idea.

[KorvinStarmast]

For this sword to be truly legendary, you need to add one additional power:



Once per short rest, you can unscrew the pommel and pour out one pint of your favorite ale/beer at the perfect temperature for you .

[saeval]

I think the bonus dice should be D4's, D6's at most.

I think it should have a low spell cap, like 5 or 6 levels maximum, with a max number of charges spent on any one attack 3 or less.

countering spells should use the holders reaction, even if its a friendly buffing them. (and being countered)

spells countered should give less than their spell level, level -1 or 2 to represent energy lost in the transfer/acquisition. This works both as a detriment and a bonus, in that the wielder could potentially counter more spells.

there should be feedback damage if the sword consumes more than it can handle in spells. potentially damaging only the wielder, or like in a burst-5 including the wielder. maybe have the sword visibly crack each time something like this occurs.

when attacking a spellcaster, it should always go for lowest spell slot available. (most characters can attack more than once in a round... this is still crazy powerful this way)

to be remotely balanced the spell charges should be expended for each attack, not lasting over rounds/minutes.

An ability that prevents teleportation within 10ft of the sword (maybe forces a concentration check) wouldn't be entirely out of line.

this combined with mageslayer, is pretty much a free kill.

[EvilAnagram]

Magic Consumption. Ilduar attempts to feed an any magic it with witch it comes in contact.
- Ilduar can store up to 9 charges at a time.
- You can, as a bonus action, expend all stored charges to gain +1d6 Force damage per charge on attacks made with Ilduar until the beginning of your next turn.
The immediate problem with this is that it adds up to an average of 31 damage per attack to any attack you make that turn. That can add 124 damage to a fighter's average turn. If he action surges, that's 248 damage. Tacking on the HP of an adult dragon to a single turn is really OP.

I would change this to:

Ilduar attempts to feed on any magic with witch it comes into contact.
Ilduar can store up to 4 charges at a time.
When you hit with Ilduar, you can spend up to 4 charges to add +1d6 Force damage per charge.

This keeps it from getting ridiculous, and also allows the player to exercise more control over how they spend their charges.


- When you are targeted with a spell the caster must make a charisma save with a DC equal to 8+ the level of the slot used to cast the spell. Failure causes Ilduar to consume the magic of the spell, negating all of it's effects and gaining charges equal to the level of the slot used to cast the spell.
This is too powerful. First, it becomes more effective when the opponent uses more powerful spells. Why should it be better at blocking Meteor Swarm than Firebolt? In fact, I don't think this effect is necessary at all. Even the shield in the DMG that's specifically designed to stop magic isn't this good at stopping magic. I would cut this entirely. A sword designed to hunt mages should be for attacking mages, not increasing your defenses.


- Whenever you deal damage with Ilduar to a creature under the effects of a spell the spell's caster must make a constitution save as if she were damaged by the attack. Failure causes Ilduar to consume the magic of the spell, negating all of it's effects and gaining charges equal to the level of the slot used to cast the spell.
I would just say, "gaining a charge," especially with my next changes.


- Whenever Ilduar causes damage to a creature with spell slots it attempts to consume their magic. Roll a d10; Ilduar attempts to consume a spell slot equal to the die result rounded down to the highest level slot available to the damaged creature. The creature must succeed on a charisma saving throw equal to 8+the level of the spell slot that is being attempted to be consumed or lose the spell slot giving Ilduar that many charges.
I would make it:


When Ilduar causes damage to a creature with spell slots, it attempts to consume their magic.
The creature must make a Constitution saving throw equal to 8+STR+Proficiency of the attacker or lose their highest spell slot.
If the creature fails its save and loses a spell slot, Ilduar gains a charge.
If Ilduar causes damage to a creature maintaining Concentration, that creature has disadvantage on its save.
If the creature loses concentration, Ilduar consumes the magic and gains a charge.




- Whenever Ilduar consumes magic it grants you advantage on attack rolls against the magic's source while giving you disadvantage on all other attack rolls until one of the following conditions are met; Ilduar reaches it's full 9 charges, the source of the consumed magic is at least 1 mile away, the source of the magic has no more spell slots for the day or the magic's source has been destroyed.
The mechanical advantage is too much here. Combined with your other proposed abilities, and Ilduar just kills any mage it can hit.

Maybe instead:

Ilduar grants the wielder knowledge of the location of any magic user whose magic it has consumed.
If Ilduar still has a charge gained from a target creature, its wielder may take an action to learn how far away and in what direction that creature is.



- A creature with spell slots must succeed on a charisma saving throw equal to 8+ the highest level spell slot available to them to become attuned to this sword. A creature cannot attempt to attune to Ilduar more than once within a 24 hour period.
This is cool.

[Shining Wrath]

How about this one:
On a critical hit Ilduar drains the spell casters' highest remaining slot and grants that many temporary HP to the wielder? It's not super powerful but it adds some "Why yes I do hate mages" flavor.

Also, take a page from Tolkien: Ilduar glows blue along the edges if a caster with slots higher than 5th level is within 100'. Not so useful if you have a mixed party, but if you are Fighter / Paladin / Warlock / Rogue / Monk / Ranger you're golden.

[saeval]

I'm actually with EvilAnagram with the getting rid of spell countering entirely. It's what I felt originally, but didn't want to butcher the idea.

It is gamebreakingly powerful to counterspell that efficiently. If someone hated wizards and had that sword with any amount of spell countering, there would be no more wizards in the world.

For 5th edition in general, its already leaning towards extreme power.

[KorvinStarmast]

Evil Anagram: your mods look really good.

Nice ideas for a sword with a purpose.