Creating Legendary Items for my players (need ideas)

[Oramac]

Hi! A little background: my players have managed to make a deal with an ancient black dracolich (whom they do not know is a dracolich). In return for information and items to kill their current foes, they've pledged their lives to this dracolich. (Yes, it was a terrible deal for them!)

My plan is to have the dracolich give them 5 items: four "Swords of Binding" and one "Orb of Binding". There is one sword for each enemy (The BBEG and his 3 lieutenants). After 'significant trauma' each sword can be stabbed into and bound to one of the bad guys, after which the bearer of the Orb can speak the command word, consuming the 5 items and breaking the enemies bound souls and allowing them to actually die when killed. (up to this point, they would resurrect after 1d4 days)

So what I'm looking for are ideas of boons and features that these TEMPORARY legendary items can have to aid the players.

The party will be 11th level for the battle (maybe 12th), and has the following characters:

Genie Warlock
Champion Fighter
Swashbuckler Rogue
Oath of the Undying Death Knight (my homebrew)
Starseeker Ranger (also my homebrew; unpublished while playtesting)

[Greywander]

Can you give us a little more info about your players? It will make a big difference whether the warlock took Pact of the Blade or not, or if the champion is a longbow Sharpshooter or a PAM user. Also, a cliff notes version of the homebrew would help.

I assume you've already determined who's getting the orb?

[Kurt Kurageous]

And the dracolitch plans on having their champions fight all four at once? What's to stop the foes realizing this and splitting up?

If not, then each weapon is attuned to kill one of the foes. When in the presence of the foe, the sword signals the wielder must attack. If the sword strikes the target when it has zero hit points, the target is put in a state of suspended animation that stabilizes the target in an unconscious state and makes it impossible for them to regain HP.

For flavor, the weapon is tormenting/torturing the soul of the target all the while.

[SociopathFriend]

So from the sound of it- each of the Binding Swords is the same and can be used interchangeably with the BBEG and his henchies?

A few ideas then:

Bounded Target. When Attuned to this weapon, you will always know the general direction of (BBEG and henchmen) and as an Action can flawlessly locate their exact position if they are within 100 feet of you.

A Blade to Bind Them. Whenever a Binding Sword deals damage to (BBEG and henchmen) any other member (BBEG and henchmen) will take half of the damage if they are within 30 feet of the initially damaged target.

Bonded Purpose. Whenever someone Attuned to a Binding Sword or Binding Orb is forced to make a Saving Throw- their bonuses to the Saving Throw become equal to the highest bonus of another Attuned to a Binding Sword or Binding Orb.



Whether you want limited uses on any of those is up to you.

[Oramac]

Can you give us a little more info about your players? It will make a big difference whether the warlock took Pact of the Blade or not, or if the champion is a longbow Sharpshooter or a PAM user. Also, a cliff notes version of the homebrew would help.

I assume you've already determined who's getting the orb?

No problem!

Genie Lock: Pact of the Chain; Also took Magic Initiate for Cure Wounds since the party is light on healing and the ranger player is a bit flighty.
Champion Fighter: Nothing special. Pretty standard hit-it-hard-with-a-greataxe kind of character. No feats or anything. Player tends to be EXTREMELY aggressive.
Swashbuckler Rogue: The Face. Also EXTREMELY aggressive.
Death Knight: Cliff notes: uses rune strikes to debuff foes; typically radiant, cold, or necrotic damage. Character also has a Flametongue Greatsword.
Starseeker: very passive player. I can count the times she's cast a spell on one hand. Usually attacks with a longbow unless the foe closes distance.

And the dracolitch plans on having their champions fight all four at once? What's to stop the foes realizing this and splitting up?

The BBEG and minions are performing a ritual for which they all must remain present and cannot change the timeline. Should have included that in the OP.

So from the sound of it- each of the Binding Swords is the same and can be used interchangeably with the BBEG and his henchies?

That's the current idea, though I'm open to suggestions!

A few ideas then:

Bounded Target. When Attuned to this weapon, you will always know the general direction of (BBEG and henchmen) and as an Action can flawlessly locate their exact position if they are within 100 feet of you.

A Blade to Bind Them. Whenever a Binding Sword deals damage to (BBEG and henchmen) any other member (BBEG and henchmen) will take half of the damage if they are within 30 feet of the initially damaged target.

Bonded Purpose. Whenever someone Attuned to a Binding Sword or Binding Orb is forced to make a Saving Throw- their bonuses to the Saving Throw become equal to the highest bonus of another Attuned to a Binding Sword or Binding Orb.

Good stuff! I'll definitely use some of that. Thank you.

[TyGuy]

Might I suggest using the DMG tables for minor & major detrimental & beneficial item properties?

[Kurt Kurageous]

Might I suggest using the DMG tables for minor & major detrimental & beneficial item properties?

Something along the line, "attuned PC gains the following flaw, "I can think of nothing else but the binding and destruction of (target's name). Everything else is meaningless."

[Greywander]

No problem!

Genie Lock: Pact of the Chain; Also took Magic Initiate for Cure Wounds since the party is light on healing and the ranger player is a bit flighty.

Dragon's Dark Eye of Dominion
When you hit with a spell attack while carrying this orb, you can cast the Command spell on the target without expending a spell slot. You can also cast Command at will.

Once per short rest, you can cast any 1st or 2nd level spell from the sorcerer list.

Champion Fighter: Nothing special. Pretty standard hit-it-hard-with-a-greataxe kind of character. No feats or anything. Player tends to be EXTREMELY aggressive.

Giant Hungering Dragon's Tooth
Initially appears to be a short sword made from a fang of some kind. As a bonus action, you can cause it to transform into a colossal greatsword or back into a short sword.

The short sword deals 2d6 damage on a hit, and otherwise acts like a normal short sword. The greatsword deals 4d6 damage and increases reach by 10 feet.

On a critical hit, the target is banished to a demiplane. In reality, the target is sent to the dracolich's phylactery where its soul is consumed. The target loses 20 HP at the start of each of its turns until it dies or escapes. At the end of each of its turns, the target can make a CHA save against the dracolich's spell save DC, returning to the space it was initially banished from on a success.

Swashbuckler Rogue: The Face. Also EXTREMELY aggressive.

Dragon's Talon of Teleportation
This wicked talon is a short sword that crits on a 19. As a bonus action, or immediately before or after attacking with the talon, you can teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space you can see.

While carrying the talon, you can cast Alter Self without spending a spell slot.

Death Knight: Cliff notes: uses rune strikes to debuff foes; typically radiant, cold, or necrotic damage. Character also has a Flametongue Greatsword.

Dragon's Corrosive Black Rib
This curved greatsword appears to be made of a sharpened dragon's rib, blackened, possibly by fire or perhaps acid. On a hit, the sword deals an additional 1d8 acid damage and 1d8 necrotic damage. Once on each of your turns you can forgo one of your weapon attacks to spew forth corrosive darkness that eats away at anything in a 30 foot cone. Creatures in the affected area must pass a CON save against your spell save DC or take 2d8 acid damage and 2d8 necrotic damage. Unattended objects in the affected area automatically take damage.

When you hit a creature with an attack with this weapon, you can choose to forgo damaging that creature and instead destroy a weapon or other item they are carrying or wielding or a suit of armor they are wearing. Only non-magical items can be destroyed this way.

Starseeker: very passive player. I can count the times she's cast a spell on one hand. Usually attacks with a longbow unless the foe closes distance.

Dragon's Black Barb
When you speak the command word as a bonus action, this rapier transforms into a tail that attaches itself to your body. The tail will defend its wielder with a mind of its own. When a hostile creature comes within 30 feet of you, the tail will lash out at that creature, making one attack with the tail against that creature as a reaction.

You can wield the barb in either rapier or tail form, and it has the same statistics in either form. The barb has a reach of 30 feet, and on a hit the target is poisoned and its speed is reduced to 0 until the start of your next turn.

Just spit balling some ideas.

[SociopathFriend]

Good stuff! I'll definitely use some of that. Thank you.

The locating part is ripe for fluff imo.

For example to get the general direction the blade just has to be held in their hands and it will slowly shift to point the way.

Meanwhile the activated effect wrenches their arms around almost painful force to direct them.

[Oramac]

snip

Just spit balling some ideas.

This.......this is amazing!! Holy crap. I will definitely use some of these. Thank you.

[Greywander]

This.......this is amazing!! Holy crap. I will definitely use some of these. Thank you.

Thanks, I was hoping you would like it. I was on my phone when I wrote those up, and the first draft of any homebrew is always a bit janky anyway, so I'd like to do a rewrite to clean it up a bit and maybe tweak them somewhat. For example, I'm think the barb won't use a reaction but would still be limited to once per round. The rib will probably get double damage vs. objects and structures.

What do you think of the specific features, and how well do they seem like they'd mesh with each player? I tried to tailor each item to each specific player.

• The eye is supposed to allow the warlock cast Command for each beam of EB that hits, which should enable all kinds of shenanigans. Also, warlocks never have enough spells or spell slots, hence the secondary benefit.
• The tooth is just a high damage weapon for the one player with the most attacks. The long reach is mostly for flavor, but it also makes it easier to get into position to attack. It has a special effect on a crit because champions have an increased crit range.
• By contrast, the talon increases crit range because rogues love to crit on a Sneak Attack. Swashbucklers have bonuses specifically for being in melee, thus the teleportation effect. And then free Alter Self because Face.
• Your description of the death knight was kind of vague, so I just assumed it was a bit like a paladin. One weakness of paladins is a lack of AoE effects, so the rib gives a breath weapon-like effect. The object destruction kind of just naturally followed from the rib's flavor. It's also foreshadowing that their benefactor is, in fact, a black dracolich, hence acid and necrotic.
• For the barb, I wanted something the ranger could use while still using their bow. It's pretty straightforward: it helps keep enemies from approaching them. I'm assuming any player can use any weapon, so I wanted to make the barb less appealing to the rogue to use for off-turn Sneak Attacks, hence the reaction attack only triggers on entering that 30 foot radius.

It occurred to me later that maybe I should have had a healing effect somewhere, since you said that was an issue with the party. So let me know if you're feeling kind of iffy on any of these benefits, or if you think something else might work better, and I'll see what I can do in the second draft. Not totally sure when I'll be able to get to it; when is your next game? I can try to have it done before then.

[Kane0]

I've got good mileage out of r/bonusaction on reddit, there is some good stuff there.

[Oramac]

All right! Huge thanks to everyone who's pitched in so far. I'm loving this so much, I'm going to make these permanent items for the characters, instead of consuming them during the fight. (I know; it just means I can throw bigger and badder enemies at them later)

So here's what I have so far. I'm planning for the NPC to just hand each weapon to its respective owner. This should (maybe) prevent them going to the wrong player. Each name has the GMBinder link, but I'll outline it here as best I can since I know GMBinder can be wonky sometimes. I will obviously NOT be telling them about the curse.

EDIT: apparently spoiler tags don't play nice with links. Or I just suck. Meh.

Spoiler: Warlock

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### Dragon's Dark Eye of Dominion

##### Woundrous item, legendary; requires attunement

*This incredibly beautiful orb of is made of finely crafted steel, impregnated with crushed gems and powder to create a marvelous blue, red, and gold damascus pattern. Though apparently heavy, it weighs only 1 pound.*

___
While attuned to the Eye, you may use it as a spellcasting focus, and you gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls with spells.

**Spike of Binding.** A small adamantine spike hovers around the Eye. When you take the attack action on your turn, you may replace one of your attacks with an attack using the Spike. You use your normal spell attack bonus, and if the target is bloodied you have advantage on the attack roll. On a hit, the target suffers 2d6 necrotic damage and the spike impales itself to the target, binding it to the other spikes and this Eye.

**Binding Word.** Upon the binding of each of the four Spikes of Binding to a target, the bearer of this orb can speak its command word to irrevocably weaken the creatures affected by the swords, shattering their bound life essence.

**Bonded Purpose.** While attuned to the Eye, when you are forced to make a saving throw, you may choose to use the saving throw bonus of a friendly creature within 60 ft. of you. Once you have benefited from this feature, you cannot benefit from it again until the next dawn.

**Dominion.** The Eye has 3 charges, which is regains daily at dusk. When you hit with a spell attack while carrying the Eye, you may expend a charge to cast the *command* spell on the target without expending a spell slot, using your spell save DC.

**Curse of Binding.** Once the Binding Word property is invoked, your soul becomes bound to *Kovai, the Darklord*.

Spoiler: Champ Fighter

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### Hungering Dragon's Tooth

##### *Sword, legendary; requires attunement*

*This incredible sword appears to almost flow and mold itself as time passes. Its blade is incredibly sharp, and the hilt carries within it a Spike of Binding.*

___

You gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls with this magical sword.

**Spike of Binding.** A small adamantine spike sits within the hilt. When you take the attack action on your turn, you may replace one of your attacks with an attack using the Spike. You use your normal weapon attack bonus, and if the target is bloodied you have advantage on the attack roll. On a hit, the target suffers 2d6 necrotic damage and the spike impales itself to the target, binding it to the other spikes and this weapon.

**Binding Word.** Upon the binding of each of the four Spikes of Binding to a target, the bearer of this sword can speak its command word to irrevocably weaken the creatures affected by the swords, shattering their bound life essence.

**Dual Forms.** This sword is malleable. As a bonus action, you may speak the sword's command word, turning it into a shortsword or a greatsword. In shortsword form, the sword deals an extra die of damage on a hit, and in its greatsword form, the sword increases your reach by 5 ft.

**Critical Nature.** When you score a critical hit with this weapon, the target must make a DC20 charisma saving throw. On a failure, it is banished to a harmless demiplane until the end of its next turn, when it reappears in its previous space, or the nearest unoccupied space it its space is occupied.

**Curse of Binding.** Once the Binding Word property is invoked, your soul becomes bound to *Kovai, the Darklord*.

Spoiler: Swashbuckler

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### Dragon's Talon of Teleportation

##### *Dagger, legendary; requires attunement*

*This incredible dagger is both light and quick. Its blade appears translucent, and the handle is covered with fine dragon hide leather.*

___
You gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls with this magical dagger, and the dagger scores a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20 on the d20.

**Spike of Binding.** A small adamantine spike sits within the hilt. When you take the attack action on your turn, you may replace your attack with an attack using the Spike. You use your normal weapon attack bonus, and if the target is bloodied you have advantage on the attack roll. On a hit, the target suffers 2d6 necrotic damage and the spike impales itself to the target, binding it to the other spikes and this weapon. An attack with the spike may trigger Sneak Attack.

**Binding Word.** Upon the binding of each of the four Spikes of Binding to a target, the bearer of this dagger can speak its command word to irrevocably weaken the creatures affected by the swords, shattering their bound life essence.

**Translucent Guise.** The talon has 3 charges, which it regains each day at dusk. When you take the attack action with the talon, you may expend a charge to teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space you can see. You may teleport before or after your attack. Alternatively, while attuned to the talon, you may expend a charge to cast Alter Self, requiring no spell slots or material components.

**Curse of Binding.** Once the Binding Word property is invoked, your soul becomes bound to *Kovai, the Darklord*.

Spoiler: Death Knight

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### Dragon's Corrosive Black Rib

##### *Greatsword, legendary; requires attunement*

*This horrific curved greatsword appears to be made of a sharpened dragon's rib and coated in adamantine. It is constantly dripping acid, with foul energies dancing across the blade.*

___
You gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls with this magical greatsword. The greatsword deals an extra 1d8 acid damage on a successful melee attack.

**Spike of Binding.** A small adamantine spike sits within the hilt. When you take the attack action on your turn, you may replace one of your attacks with an attack using the Spike. You use your normal weapon attack bonus, and if the target is bloodied you have advantage on the attack roll. On a hit, the target suffers 2d6 necrotic damage and the spike impales itself to the target, binding it to the other spikes and this weapon.

**Binding Word.** Upon the binding of each of the four Spikes of Binding to a target, the bearer of this greatsword can speak its command word to irrevocably weaken the creatures affected by the swords, shattering their bound life essence.

**Spew Acid.** Once on each of your turns you can forgo one of your weapon attacks to spew forth corrosive darkness that eats away at anything in a 30 foot cone. Creatures in the affected area must make a constitution saving throw against your Rune Strike DC or take 2d8 acid damage and 2d8 necrotic damage. Unattended objects in the affected area automatically take damage.

**Curse of Binding.** Once the Binding Word property is invoked, your soul becomes bound to *Kovai, the Darklord*.

Spoiler: Starseeker

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### Dragon's Black Bow

##### *Longbow, legendary; requires attunement*

*This longbow is made from many tailbones of a dragon, held together by binding black energy traversing the length of the bow.*

___
You gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls with this magical longbow, which deals an additional 1d8 acid damage on a successful attack.

**Spike of Binding.** A small adamantine spike sits within the weapon. When you take the attack action on your turn, you may replace one of your attacks with an attack using the Spike. You use your normal weapon attack bonus, and if the target is bloodied you have advantage on the attack roll. On a hit, the target suffers 2d6 necrotic damage and the spike impales itself to the target, binding it to the other spikes and this weapon.

**Binding Word.** Upon the binding of each of the four Spikes of Binding to a target, the bearer of this bow can speak its command word to irrevocably weaken the creatures affected by the swords, shattering their bound life essence.

**Tail of the Dragon.** When you speak the command word as a bonus action, your tail grows with the power of a true dragon. Your tail will defend you with a mind of its own. Once per round when a hostile creature comes within 30 feet of you, the tail will lash out at that creature, making one attack with the tail against that creature. The attack gain a +10 bonus to the roll, and on a hit the target suffers 2d8 bludgeoning damage and is pushed up to 30 ft. away from you in a straight line.

**Binding Wounds.** The bow has 3 charges, and regains spent charges daily at dusk. Once per turn, when you hit with an attack using this bow, you may use your reaction and expend a charge to cast *healing word* from the bow as a 1st level spell, requiring no spell slots or material components.

**Curse of Binding.** Once the Binding Word property is invoked, your soul becomes bound to *Kovai, the Darklord*.