Tears of Blood: A dark and forbidding weapon, Tears of Blood is a spear forged of blackened steel and completely enameled over in translucent, glassy crimson. Its broad, chisel-like head is of the same steel and carved with intricate channels; the razored edges seem perpetually wet with blood, which arcs from the weapon in gleaming teardrops when Tears is used in combat.
The lance saps its wielder's vitality, but pays back the price in combat; with every successful strike, Tears of Blood draws out a portion of the the victim's life and feeds it to its wielder.
Though considerably more visceral than his prior creations, the magesmith Ar'keli consented to the enchantment of Tears at the insistence of his adventuring companion Jurvan the Twice-Barbed. The spear became only one portion of the panoply the Sky Banners carried to wield against Korvokkhar the Night Dragon; Jurvan was destroyed during the battle, and the weapon was added to Korvokkhar's immense hoard until the dragon mysteriously disappeared some two centuries later.
Tears of Blood was last seen in the hands of a wandering warrior less than a decade past. Swathed in silken veils, even the species of this individual is in some doubt.
Tears of Blood is a spear +2. As long as Tears of Blood is wielded, its bearer recieves a -3 penalty to Constitution; however, half of all damage dealt by the weapon is channelled to the wielder as healing energy. Excess healing remains as bonus hit points for one hour. If a victim is injured twice by Tears the wounds begin to bleed out at a rate of 1 hit point per round (cumulative, adding another hit point per round if additional wounds are dealt); these hit points are, however, not absorbed by Tears' wielder.
7 comments:
Very cool stuff, but I would end up hacking this a lot because there are a lot of effects to keep track of - the hp recovery and the victim # of hits/bleedout. I'm one of those simpletons though - gotta have it quick and easy.
I may make the recovery of HP up to where their maximum and leave it at that. I might also make it a +1 to damage by anyone after the first two attacks by the spear.
@Chgowiz:
Hacking it up is fine! And you have good suggestions for the hack, too.
This was a conversion of a spear / lance originally in a bit of my writing, so there's even less of a "right way" to handle the mechanics than usual ;3
Yikes! Very nasty weapon.
I agree with Chgowiz, it's a bit more complex than I prefer to keep track of in a fight, but I love how icky the thing is, and how it bites the wielder as well as their mutual victims. I'm tempted to replace the bleeding with a morale penalty.
I love your evocative names as well, though I have to admit, when I first read the name "Ar'keli," my irreverent-player instincts kicked in and I immediately thought of this guy. ;p
Very cool, and very dark.
This will make it into my world, at least as a spear of wounding and vampiric regeneration.
Perhaps sentient.
@trollsmyth:
Ah well. We all have our weak crunch moments, I suppose ~ ;3 (morale penalty could be interesting --)
Interesting name-association, too; hadn't occured to me *grins*
@Hamlet:
Hehehe ;3
Ah well. We all have our weak crunch moments, I suppose ~ ;3Pffft! I'm just old and male and can't keep too many mental balls in the air at once anymore. ;)
@trollsmyth:
Tchaa! I doubt 'male' or age has anything to do with it ~
It is a little complex. But that's why things exist to be tinkered with, right? ;3
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