Items and Artifacts 001 - Lycanthropy and Honor

Magic items are gleaned from hoards of conquered monsters or discovered in long-lost vaults. An artifact is a unique magical item of tremendous power, with its own origin and history.

ITEMS

AMULET OF ARKAY

Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement)

Your Endurance score is 19 while you wear this amulet. It has no effect on you if your Endurance is already 19 or higher.

CHRYSAMERE

Weapon (longsword), legendary (requires attunement)

The Paladin's Blade is an ancient claymore with offensive capabilities surpassed only by its own defenses. It lends the wielder health, protects them from fire, and reflects spells cast against the wielder back to the caster.

You gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon.

This weapon has 5 charges, and it regains 1d4 expended charges daily at dawn. While wielding this weapon, you can use an action to expend 1 or more charges to gain the following benefits.

Resist Fire. As an action, you can expend 2 charges to gain resistance to fire damage for 1 hour.

Restore Health. As an action, you can heal yourself for 1d8 for each charge you expend.

Reflect. If you roll a 20 on a saving throw against any spell that targets only you (not an area of effect) and the spell is 7th level or lower, you can use your reaction to expend 2 charges to reflect the spell. The reflected spell has no effect on you and instead targets the caster, using the slot level, spell save DC, attack bonus, and spellcasting attribute of the caster.

ELEIDON'S WARD

Armor (shield), legendary (requires attunement)

Eleidon was a holy knight in Breton history. He was a sought after for his courage and determination to set all wrongs right. In one story, it is said that he rescued a Baron's daughter from sure death at the hands of an evil warlord. For his reward, the Baron spent all of his riches to have an enchanted shield build for Eleidon.

While holding the shield, you have access to a pool of healing power that replenishes daily at dawn. With that pool, you can restore a total number of hit points equal to your character level x 5.

As an action, you can touch a creature and draw power from the pool to restore a number of hit points to that creature, up to the maximum amount remaining in your pool.

This ability has no effect on undead and constructs.

GRAY COWL OF NOCTURNAL

Wondrous item, legendary (requires attunement)

The Gray Cowl of Nocturnal is a Daedric artifact that is said to have been stolen from Nocturnal over 500 years ago. Daedric runes line the center of the mask which translate to “Shadow hide you”. Whoever wears it shall be lost in shadows. Their true nature shall be unknown to all who meet them. Their identity shall be struck from all records and histories. Memory will hide in the shadows, refusing to record the name of the owner to any who meet them. They shall be known by the cowl and only by the cowl.

Whoever wears the hood takes on the identity of the Gray Fox, allowing the wearer to have any crimes (or good deeds) attributed to the Gray Fox, rather than themselves. You can't be identified while wearing the cowl, and even if you take the cowl off in front of others, they won't associate you with the Gray Fox.

While wearing the cowl you also gain the following benefits:

Fortify Sneak. You have advantage on Sneak (Agility) checks.

Feather. Your carrying capacity is doubled.

Detect Life. As an action, you can detect life up to 120 feet for 1 minute. If you sense life in this way, you can use your action to see a faint aura around any visible creature that bears life within range. The effect can penetrate most barriers, but it is blocked by 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt.

HIRCINE'S RING

Ring, rare (requires attunement)

Most people who wear this ring are unaffected by it. If worn by a lycanthrope they gain the following benefit:

Upon putting on this ring, you transform into the werecreature granted by your Beast Shape feature. for up to 1 minute. Once the ring is used, it can't be used again until the next dawn.

RING OF BLOODLUST

Ring, rare (requires attunement)

A lycanthrope that wears this ring gains the following benefit:

While in your Beast Shape form, you gain +1 to attack and damage rolls while wearing this ring.

RING OF INSTINCT

Ring, very rare (requires attunement)

A lycanthrope that wears this ring gains the following benefit:

While in your Beast Shape form, you can make one additional attack whenever you use the Attack action on your turn.

RING OF THE HUNT

Ring, very rare (requires attunement)

A lycanthrope that wears this ring gains the following benefit:

When you use your Beast Shape feature, you gain 10 temporary hit points, which last until your Beast Shape ends.

RING OF THE MOON

Ring, very rare (requires attunement)

A lycanthrope that wears this ring gains the following benefit:

Terrify. While wearing this ring, you can use an action to force every creature of your choice that can see or hear you within 30 feet of you to make a Willpower saving throw (DC 15). If the creature fails its saving throw, it is feared for 1 minute or until it takes any damage.

A feared creature must spend its turn trying to move as far away from you as it can, and it can't willingly move to a space within 30 feet of you. It also can't take reactions. For its action, it can use only the Dash action or try to escape from an effect that prevents it from moving. If there's nowhere to move, the creature can use the Dodge action.

Once you use this property of the ring, you can't use it again until the next dawn.

SKULL OF CORRUPTION

Staff, legendary (requires attunement)

The Skull of Corruption is an incredibly powerful Daedric artifact created by Vaermina, the Prince of Dreams and Nightmares. The staff is made from twisted collection of bone, adorned with the skull of a terrible and unrecognizable creature.

There is a story about the Thieves Guild Master and the skull that is probably fiction, but highly amusing. The Master used the skull on her enemy, creating a clone of him to fight. After defeating the original, the clever duplicate snatched the Skull from the Master and used it on her. Although the cloned enemy could not directly attack the Master, it could use the Skull to create a duplicate Master. The two clones jointly ruled the Thieves Guild for years.

This staff has 5 charges and can only regain expended charges by using the Dreamsteal ability.

Clone. While holding the staff, you can use an action to expend 1 or more charges to clone a creature that is within 30 feet of you that you can see. You must expend an amount of charges equal to or greater than the Challenge Rating (CR) of the creature to successfully create a clone. The cloned creature appears in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of you, is friendly to you and your allies, but is typically hostile to the creature it was cloned from. The clone disappears when it is reduced to 0 hit points or after 1 minute.

Dreamsteal. While holding the staff, you can use an action to steal the dreams of a sleeping humanoid. Each dream stolen regains 1 expended charge. After having used the dreamsteal ability, the sleeping creature is prone to nightmares, which you can influence and shape. The sleeping creature is not aware of your influence over their dreams, but they vividly remember the nightmare.

Psychic Agony. When you make a melee attack using the staff, you can expend 1 or more charges to deal additional shadow damage. On a hit, the creature must make a DC 15 Willpower saving throw. On a failed save, the creatures takes 1d8 shadow damage for each expended charge, or half as much on a failed one.

STAFF OF WORMS

Staff, rare (requires attunement)

The Staff of Worms is a powerful staff that was once held by Mannimarco, the King of Worms.

You have resistance to disease damage while you hold the staff.

The staff has 7 charges. While holding it, you can use an action to expend charges to cast the spell animate dead (1 charge per spell level).

The staff regains 1d6+1 expended charges daily at dawn. If you expend the last charge, roll a d20. On a 1, the staff turns to dust and is destroyed.

SWORD OF THE CRUSADER

Weapon (longsword), rare (requires attunement)

You gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon, and deals an additional 1d8 fire damage on a hit. Undead creatures take twice as much fire damage from this attack.

WINGS OF THE QUEEN OF BATS

Weapon (battleaxe), rare (requires attunement)

You gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon.

When you attack a creature with this magic weapon and roll a 20 on the attack roll, that target takes an extra 10 disease damage if it isn't a construct or an undead. You also gain 10 temporary hit points.

ARTIFACTS

EBONY BLADE

Weapon (dai-katana), artifact (requires attunement)

The Ebony Blade, also known as the Vampire or the Leech, is a Daedric artifact created by the Daedric Prince Mephala. The blade resembles an ebony dai-katana, and is known to corrupt whoever wields it.

The Blade is considered to be evil and it is questioned if whoever chooses to wield the blade is naturally evil or if the weapon itself perverts its owner. Those who do take up this malevolent weapon end up with crazed eyes and their minds twist from the deeds the Blade forces upon them.

Although the weapon itself does not appear to be sentient, Mephala takes great interest in following whoever holds it, whispering her dark suggestions of betrayal and destruction. The strength of the blade comes from a nearly unquenchable lust for blood and deceit. Every time the Ebony Blade strikes an opponent, part of the damage inflicted flows into the wielder as raw power. The blade also has a supernatural ability to know who has gained the trust of its owner, and Mephala bids them to strike down their closest friends, unlocking the Blades true potential.

In the Second Era, the Ebony Blade was discovered by an Altmer named Nerien'eth. Mephala corrupted him absolutely and he murdered his students and fellow researchers, along with his wife, Alanwe. With the help of a group of adventurers from the Undaunted guild, Alanwe sacrificed her soul to place a charm on the blade which prevents the blade from staying with one owner for long.

Random Properties. The Necromancer's Amulet has the following random properties:

2 minor beneficial properties
1 major beneficial property
2 minor detrimental properties
1 major detrimental property

Magic Weapon. The Ebony Blade is a magic weapon that grants a +3 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with it. The weapon is also supernaturally light and has the Finesse property.

Spells. The blade has 7 charges. While holding it, you can use an action to expend 1 or more of its charges to cast one of the following spells (save DC 18) from it: Charm Person (1 charge), Confusion (2 charges), Glibness (4 charges), Mind Blank (4 charges), Modify Memory (3 charges, and Silence (1 charge). The blade regains 1d4 + 2 expended charges daily at dawn.

Life Drain. When you hit a creature with a melee attack using the Ebony Blade, the target must make a DC 18 Endurance saving throw. On a failure, the target takes an extra 1d4 shadow damage if it isn't a construct or undead, and you regain a number of hit points equal to half the shadow damage. This property can only be used once each turn.

The amount of hit points drained increases as the weapon gains more power, as shown on the Life Drawin column of the Ebony Blade Life Drain table.

Gaining Power. Each time the blade is used to kill one of your allies, such as a friendly towns-person or a member of your adventuring party, the Blade increases in power, as shown on the Ebony Blade Life Drain table. The wielder can hear Mephala whisper instructions to murder their friends and congratulates you when you bend to the Princes' wishes.

Destroying the Blade. The Ebony Blade can't be destroyed. Any attempts to so have failed. While trying to melt down the weapon in the Skyforge, it was reported that the blade instead cooled down the hot coals. The best way to keep the blade from harm is to keep it hidden.

EBONY BLADE LIFE DRAIN

Kills Life Drain

0 1d4

1 1d6

2 2d4

3 1d10

4 2d6

5 3d4

6 4d4

7 3d6

8 5d4

9 4d6