Warhammer Chaos Weapons in D&D 5e


4th Edition


I apologise for the title, but I wasn't really sure how else to call this.

Way, way back in the 1980s, Games Workshop released a pair of splatbooks for their then-new Warhammer, Warhammer Roleplay and Rogue Trader settings called "Realms of Chaos". In one of those was a huge array of magical weapons that Chaos Champions could potentially get for their loyal service.

Now, I'm a pretty big fan of this older Chaos fluff, and I've been tinkering around with a setting based off of it for a while. However, as part of that, I'd like to be able to replicate all of the various Chaos Weapons that were part of that fluff. Some are obvious enough - the Animation property clearly equates to the Dancing property in 5e - but others are harder to figure.

So, I thought I'd ask here and see if anyone was interested in helping me translate those old Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay properties into D&D 5e powers.


Are you planning on making Chaos a new damage type?


Zak S (who did Vornheim and A Red & Pleasant Land) is apparently working on some new book inspired by Realms of Chaos. Though I haven't read it. Good luck with your endeavor


Well, I don't know if I have any major ideas here, but I'll try and give a basic summary of the powers here - leaving out the "cursed" ones like Bewitched (can temporarily take control of the wielder) or Coward (will refuse to strike unless master can pass a Will Power test), for obvious reasons.

Animation - The weapon can fight on its own. This is basically the Dancing enchantment, which I think already exists in the DMG.

Banishment - Can cast Dispel once per day.

Breathe - Wielder is immune to gas attacks and can breathe liquids.

Chainsword - Can destroy armor, hits are always Strength 4 (that's about a 13-14 in D&D), inflicts 1 wound on a successful strike, -1 penalty to opponent's armor saving throws.

Chill Blast - Can project a bolt of cold (D3 S3 hits, S2 against Undead) against one target each shooting phase.

Command - Allows allies within 4D6 yards to use bearer's Leadership.

Cool - Increases bearer's Cool stat.

Creature - Is randomly endowed with the powers of a Cockatrice, Dragon, Minotaur, Skeleton, Spider, Troll or Wraith.
* Cockatrice: Petrifies victim on a hit, bearer causes Fear, rare variant grants flight.
* Dragon: Can launch blasts of flame, bearer can fly.
* Minotaur: Penetrates armor easily, bearer suffers from Blood-Greed.
* Skeleton: Bearer causes Fear, is Immune to Psychology, and Immune to Poison.
* Spider: Attacks are poisoned, bearer Fears fire.
* Troll: Can spray corrosive slime once per day.
* Wraith: Wounds automatically, drains strength, bearer causes Fear.

Damage - Ignores armor, inflicts D4 Wounds.

Deathdealer - Instantly slays creatures of a single specific type, randomly determined when the weapon was fashioned.

Deathlust - Increased damage inflicted on a successful strike.

Deflection - Can be used to negate missile attacks on the wielder.

Degeneration - Inflicts lingering damage.

Disenchantment - Drains mana points from victims struck.

Double Damage - Inflicts twice the normal amount of damage.

Enchanted - No special properties, beyond counting as a magical weapon.

Enfeeble - Drains Toughness from victims struck.

Entrancing - Enemies nearby are affected by Stupidity unless they pass a Willpower test.

Fade - Victims statistics continually drop after being wounded until they hit 0 and they are destroyed.

Ferocity - Grants +1 Attack.

Fiery Blast - As per Chill Blast, but fire instead of cold.

Flames - Weapon bursts into flames when readied for battle, allowing it to ignite flammable targets, inflict extra fire damage, and panic opponents scared of fire.

Flight - Grants bearer the ability to fly.

Freeze - Victims wounded by this weapon are killed outright, as they freeze solid.

Frenetic - Weapon Skill replaces Attacks for number of attacks per round.

Glittering - Lowers enemy Weapon Skill.

Hacking - Inflicts D6 wounds on a strike.

Hate - Bearer gains the benefit of Hatred against a specific form of enemy, randomly determined at creation.

Howling - Bearer causes Fear.

Hurling - Weapon can be used as a throwing weapon, returning to its wielder's hand after being thrown.

Illusion - Bearer can disguise self.

Immunity - Bearer's Toughness is increased.

Impunity - Bearer's Wounds are increased.

Intelligence - Bearer's Intelligence is increased.

Lashing - Weapon can be used to attack from up to 4D6 yards away.

Leadership - Bearer's Leadership is increased.

Levitation - Bearer can levitate at will.

Magic Absorption - Nullifies the first spell cast on the bearer whilst they hold it; the bearer can then cast the spell themselves from the blade, after which it can absorb a new spell. Bearer can choose to absorb a spell cast whilst they have one stored, but this overwrites the stored spell with the new one.

Magic Destroyer - Can destroy magical items held by a struck enemy.

Magic Force - Bearer can spend magic points to increase Strength when striking with this weapon.

Magic Reflection - By passing a Weapon Skill check, the bearer can deflect a spell back at the caster.

Magic Thief - The blade can absorb the properties of a magical item held by a victim struck, rendering that item powerless and letting the blade mimic those powers for the next 24 hours.

Might - Bearer gains +3 Strength.

Mighty Strike - Bearer can deliver a S10 hit once per day.

Mind Eater - Inflicts no physical damage, but victim loses all mental stats and is affected by Stupidity.

Non-Flammability - Bearer is immune to all Fire damage.

Parry - Bearer can sacrifice Attacks to negate strikes made against them.

Piercing - The weapon's strikes ignore armor.

Plague - Victims struck are infected with a plague, determined randomly when the weapon is created.

Poisonous - Attacks with this weapon are poisoned.

Powersword - Ignores armor, attacks are S5, -1 penalty to armor saving throw.

Protection - Bearer can select one kind of creature every 24 hours; neither the bearer nor that kind of creature can physically approach one another.

Random - Weapon has six powers, randomly determined at creature, and randomly cycles between them every turn.

Relic - Only usable by Good aligned creatures, either an increased bonus to hit or increased damage against either undead or daemons.

Resilience - Increases bearer's Toughness.

Riposte - Can nullify enemy attacks against the bearer.

Sanctity - Undead that get too close are automatically destroyed or take automatic damage depending on power, bearer can sense the undead.

Savagery - Grants the bearer +D3 Attacks.

Screaming - Bearer inflicts Terror.

Shrieking - Bearer's presence causes Panic tests.

Singing - Enemies who get too close must pass a Willpower test or be paralysed.

Skeleton Horde - Enemies slain become skeletons, which serve the bearer for 24 hours before being destroyed.

Skeleton Summoning - Bearer may summon 2D6 skeletons to fight for him once per day.

Slacken - Drains Initiative rather than inflicting damage, victim reduced to zero Initiative is paralyzed permanently.

Sleep - Bearer can attempt to force a victim within 8 yards to fall asleep for D6 turns.

Spell - Holds 1D4 randomly determined spells, each of which can be cast once per day.

Stealing - Can drain ability score points from victims and bestow the stolen points upon the bearer; the effect is undone after 24 hours.

Strength - Bearer gains +1 Strength.

Swiftness - Increases bearer's Initiative.

Warp - Mutates a victim with each stroke.

Warrior Summoning - Bearer may summon a troop of D6 Chaos Warriors wielding basic Magic Weapons to fight for him once per day.

Weaken - Drains Strength from those struck.

Will - Increases bearer's Willpower.

Wounding - Inflicts D3 Wounds with each strike.

Vampyre - Automatically wounds on subsequent attacks, but bearer cannot attack another target until the "marked" victim is dead.


Alright, I thought I'd go ahead and put my thoughts on the translations here. I decided to go with the idea of "spell-mimicking" chaos weapons taking inspiration from the Magic Staves in the DMG, though I made them immune to the chance of destruction if the last charge is expended.

Universal Chaos Weapon Charge Rules:
* Chaos Weapons have 10 charges.
* A Chaos Weapon regains 1D6+4 charges daily at dawn.
* A Chaos Weapon reduced to 0 charges loses all magical properties and becomes an ordinary weapon of its type until it recharges.

Animation - This is just the Dancing Sword, except any kind of weapon can be an Animated Chaos Weapon.

Banishment - This Chaos Weapon can cast Dispel Magic for 2 charges. This Dispel is cast as a 3rd level spell; for each charge the caster is willing to spend, its spell level increases by +1

Breathe - Wielder is immune to gas attacks and can breathe liquids.

Chill Blast - This Chaos Weapon deals +1D6 Cold damage on a successful strike. It can also cast Ray of Frost (caster level 1) at will. By spending a charge, the bearer may increase the Ray of Frost's caster level; one charge for 5th level, two charges for 11th level, and four charges for 17th level. The bearer can also spend 5 charges to cast Cone of Cold.

Command - Allies within range gain Advantage on all Will saves.

Cool - This Chaos Weapon grants the bearer Advantage on all Will saves.

Creature - Is randomly endowed with the powers of a Cockatrice, Dragon, Minotaur, Skeleton, Spider, Troll or Wraith.

* Cockatrice: On a successful strike, the victim must make a DC (11+ Bearer's Character Level) Constitution saving throw. On a failure, they are magically restrained and must repeat the saving throw at the end of the round. On a success they are freed, on a failure they are turned to stone for 24 hours. Bearer has the Frightful Presence trait. Bearer can spend 3 charges to cast Fly as a 3rd level spell and can spend +1 charge for each additional spell level

* Dragon: Bearer can the breath weapon of a randomly determined (when the weapon is created) Young Dragon. By spending 2 charges per category, this breath weapon may increase its age category. The bearer also has the Flight ability. Bearer gains the Frightful Presence trait.

* Skeleton: Bearer gains the Frightful Presence trait and Immunity to Poison and Exhaustion.

* Spider: The weapon deals +1D6 Poison damage and the bearer gains the Climb speed of a Giant Spider.

* Troll: Bearer has the benefit of the Regeneration trait. Legendary variants also grant the bearer the Loathsome Limbs trait. The bearer can spend 5 charges to cast Cone of Acid (as Cone of Cold, but does Acid damage).

Deathlust - The weapon's damage is increased by one die type (so D4 to D6, D6 to D8), maximising at D20.

Deflection - The bearer gains the Deflect Missile ability as if they were a Monk of equivalent character level.

Degeneration - Strikes from this weapon inflict ongoing physical damage.

I could probably go on, but I'll go with these first few draft ideas, to not overload folks with stuff to critique/comment upon.


The technology stuff in the Tech Guide/Iron Gods AP has a chainsaw. Stat wise could help you with a chainsword.

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