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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.
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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.
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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.