Critical Hit

Online RPG Zine

Author: Wolviranger

Sinner and Saint

December 22, 2021 /

This ancient weapon set was crafted in the Halls of one of the first true Dwarven nations, by a miner, smith and artificer of Clan IronFist by the name of Derglaer. While searching a tunnel for a vein of ore he came across a shard of obsidian crystal intertwined with a ribbon of golden metal, both of which the likes he had never seen nor heard of. He tucked it away in a pack so that he could examine it later. Back in his lab he began trying to separate the two, only to find a thin layer of a clear crystal almost like glass separating them, but keeping them firmly fused together, and through it all he heard persistent voices in his head. He shut himself off from everyone for a few weeks, working nonstop until he came to realize that somehow the materials housed elements of the outer planes. The golden metal he found out from an ancient tome, was called Lustrum (referred to by the dwarves as ‘Dumathoin’s Mantel’, which in some lighting, had a lavender hue), and seemed to house some aspect of the ‘Higher Planes’. The obsidian ended up being something called Abyssal Diamond, this was only found in the Nine Hells and contained some bit of that aspect within. The Glass substance between the two was unknown and when the two pieces were spread apart, it seemed to expand and retract but would never let them get more than a few feet apart. Derglaer hid the materials away for over 2 centuries, every day hearing the voices, everyday losing a bit of his sanity and his soul. Growing old and having the feeling that something tragic was about to happen, one night he barred himself in the great forge and went to work. Everything that he had was put into the creation, and when his clanmates managed to break in hours later they found the husk of what was Derglaer and two scimitars, one Abyssal Diamond and one Dumathoin’s Mantel connected by a clear glass chain, with 10 links, one tinted with a swirling blue and red mist inside.

Two days after the tragic incident the clan of IronFist was attacked by a host of demonic entities, most of the dwarves were killed in the retreat. Unknown to the dwarves, having completed the task they were summoned for, the demons left shortly after (about 50 years after the assault) and the mines became a ruin lost to time.
Adventurers have been in parts of the stronghold, not knowing the truth of the grand place they were in. At some point in the past, the blades were pulled out, along with most of the other dwarven treasures. It wasn’t until 500 years later that the twin sons of the last king began their quest to retake the nation, and then the search to reclaim its lost treasures.

These 2 blades are connected by a chain seemingly made of glass and consisting of ten links, the Soul Chain, that seems to change in size on mental command by its wielder, the length can vary from ten inches (each link is a small, about 1 inch) when sheathed, to 10 foot (each link is about 1 foot long) as when being used for Order and Chaos. Every creature killed by one of the blades has a portion of its being absorbed through the blade and stored in the Soul Chain (three souls are required to fill one link).

They are at their base a +1 scimitars, however, whenever the bearer kills a creature, weapons gain a soul. As a bonus action, the bearer can use any number of filled links to deal that much extra magical damage + character lvl on their next attack. Otherwise the wielder can decide to use the filled links + character lvl to heal any target within 15 ft.

Order and Chaos 

Five times per short rest, as long as the chain is storing 1 soul, as an action, the user can spin one of the blades with a flourish (Acrobatics or Perform DC 16), throwing it at a target up to 10 foot away. If the Saint is used, and the attack strikes, it deals 1D4 radiant damage per filled link (expending all souls in the links) + the characters Acrobatics or Perform skill, all damage done is channeled back to the wielder as HP. If the Sinner is used, and the attack strikes, it deals 1D8 necrotic damage per filled link (expending all souls in the links) + the characters Acrobatics or Perform skill, and gives the target disadvantage on all attacks and saving throws for a number of rounds equal to the number of links that were filled. 

Demon’s Fang

November 29, 2021 /

A Paladin of Torm and well known slayer of evil outsiders, Sir Erik of Creek, collected an assortment of demonic parts from his victories, thinking that if they were forged into a weapon, they would give him an advantage over the creatures he faced. When the day came he gave the parts to a runesmith. The blade of this weapon was forged with the bones of devils found in the Nine Hells and quenched in the blood of demons from the Abyss. Despite his best attempts to turn the weapon toward the divine, there was an air of haunting evil. Sir Erik refused the finely crafted rapier and began to spread rumors of the smith’s poor quality, quickly running him out of business. The smith, was taken in by an up and coming guild of thieves and assassins, as a gift he presented the rapier, Demon’s Fang, to the Guild Master, it was then placed in the guild armory for use on jobs. Less than a year later, a powerful Balor Demon, Errutu, (while in disguise) hired the guild to deal with an annoying warrior that was hunting his minions. Sir Erik was found dead two weeks later in a rundown inn, a single stab while sleeping from a long slender blade that seemed to leave a wound that had a hauntingly evil presence. Many decades later, Demon’s Fang was lost on a job, when the assassin, escaping the scene of his latest job, was aboard a pirate ship, which was sunk by a pirate hunting ship leaving Luskan on the way to Waterdeep. The weapon gradually found its way back to the shore and into the hands of a young halfling rogue, who hid it away until needed, so as to not bring unwanted attention to herself.

Smoke rises from this weapon revealing the demonic apparitions that haunt it. They lash out at living targets every time the bearer scores a hit, doing an additional amount of necrotic damage equal to character’s level (CL) for every 10 points of damage done.

With every hit where the wielder gets advantage or sneak damage the blade heals the wielder with a portion of the damage done. The hit points that are restored is determined by the characters level starting at 3 HP restored. (level 4 restores 6 HP, lvl 8: 9HP, lvl 12: 12HP, lvl 15: 15HP, lvl 18: 18HP). This healing does not add to the amount of damage done.

Wolvi’s World of Wonders

December 6, 2020 /

I remember the first D&D character that I ever played (probably 30 years ago), he was a dwarven fighter, Darden SteelForge. I imagined him as muscle-bound, bruiser, a famous smith turned to the life of adventure. My GM at the time fed into this idea and gave me an amazing hammer, polished but still pitted from the life it had. It was a family heirloom passed down for centuries, it had been used to slay dragons, it had seen wars with goblins, taken down beholders, and now that power was mine.

I met my party in a tavern, as you are wont to do, and we were off to stop some farm raiding kobolds. In less than an hour we had our first encounter with the little beasts. It was my turn, and the little bugger was cowering before me, I drew my hammer back…. and asked the GM, what special properties did my hammer give me? Better hit, more damage, maybe fire damage, that would be cool (dwarves, forges and all), and she said, “It’s just a hammer.” I was dumbstruck, “But..it slayed dragons?”, she smiled and said, “Oh. That’s just for the story.”… Crestfallen I took my swing, and missed, horribly.

We finished the adventure, losing our wizard in the process, and it was time for looting the treasure the kobolds had collected. I didn’t want to fight over the things that the other three player wanted, I looked around, and nestled in the back of the cave was a dagger, not just any dagger… a +1 dagger. “Wait a minute. You mean to tell me that this little knife does the same damage as my “heirloom” and has a better chance to hit?!”, I stared at the GM, she just shrugged. As soon as we made it back to town, I sold the “ancient hammer” to a black smith for 5 silver, and never looked back.

Throughout my years of playing and GMing, I could never understand why players and GMs got so excited over the idea heirloom items. Sure, every once in a while you’d get that player that held onto that item or weapon forever, but chances are, after the first adventure, they never used it again. About 25 years ago I was running an AD&D campaign and I wanted an enemy that would stand out. This was about the time that Star Wars was making a comeback and Episode 1 was announced, so I thought what better way than to make a fighter with a light saber. Everything I came up with made the light saber either too weak for my fighter, or too powerful if the players got it. So I adjusted the damage and properties based on the level, and the more I developed that the more I realized that this was an heirloom weapon, something that the player wouldn’t throw away at the first chance cause there was a new toy. Something that, if stolen or lost, it would feel like a piece of them went with, and they couldn’t go to the smithy and replace it.

Here you will find some of the scalable weapons and items that I have created. They are not good for every GM/player and they may or may not fit into the design of your game, but give them a look and see.

As a side note, here is what I imagine my ‘heirloom’ hammer from above to be.

Hammer of SteelForge

-Michael

Hammer of SteelForge

December 6, 2020 /

In the far north, after a lengthy battle with orcs that nearly wiped out Clan DeepAxe, the clan leader, Jerdan SteelForge, saw that his people wouldn’t last the winter. He set out to find some way to get supplies for his kinsmen. After braving weather and monsters for weeks, he found himself slumped in a cave, contemplating the futility in his actions. Awaking from a sleep that he expected would be his last, he found a warm fire and an ancient looking dwarf. As payment for removing the orc menace from “his lands”, and continuing to do so, he offered the dwarf a diamond that would create food and drink, maybe not enough to get full, but enough to survive the winter. Upon accepting the old dwarf took on his true shape, a massive dragon that stretched further than the dwarf could see. Its scales were no less impressive, ranging in all the colors of the metallic, chromatic and gem dragons, and all the ones in between. Jerdan realized that this was one of the ancient dragon gods of legend. With its huge claw, it pricked a spot on it’s foot and where the single drop of blood landed, a shimmering gateway appeared, that led to the front gates of Clan DeepAxe. The dwarf also noticed that the blood had solidified into a multi-hued metal. A whisper in his mind told him to take it and go.

After feeding and telling his story to the clan, he was struck with an idea, almost as if he heard a whisper and he gathered the best craftsmen and runesmiths and headed to the forge. Two long, grueling weeks at the forge and it was done, using the dragon’s blood-metal they had masterfully crafted a near-indestructible warhammer, that shone of mithral, but danced with all colors in the light, and safely encased within, was the lifesaving diamond.

Jerdan used the hammer in many conflicts, against unimaginable foes, and when it was time, he passed it to his daughter, the clans finest warrior and their next leader. The tradition continued for generations, passing it to the dwarf that would bear the weight of Clan DeepAxe’s agreement with the ancient god, status and name not mattering, the hammer seeming to choose the next wielder on it’s own, then directing the current owner when it was time to hand it over.

Hammer of SteelForge
Versatile 1d8/1d10.
Returns, has a throwing range of 20/80.
Natural dwarven enemies take damage equal to weapon damage plus one additional damage die every 3 levels. (levels 1 base dmg, level 3 = +1 dice, level 6 = +2 dice, level 9 = +3 dice, etc…).
Starting at 3rd level, the wielder can summon a full meal a number of times equal to their character level +2.
At level 10, the weapon grants the ability to cast Hero’s Feast 1/week for every 5 levels (lvl 15: 2x/week, lvl 20: 3/week).

-Michael

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