Friday 24 May 2019

One Roll Weapons of Destiny for D&D 5e

Image (cc) Blazbaros
I'm always toying with ways to tie the PCs, the world, and the story together.  These are weapons that can be found and used by starting characters but are in some way destined for the end game, and requiring the completion of a mid-tier quest arc.  Roll a set of polyhedrals (or use the button at the bottom of the post) to discover your destined weapon!

The d20 - Crafted long ago by...
  1. Dwarves, from rare minerals and alloys
  2. Gnomes, from fine silver woven with spells
  3. Elves, from a branch of the oldest tree
  4. Drow, from darkness made tangible
  5. Angels, from a fragment of a star
  6. Elementals, from distilled elemental energy
  7. Fey, sung into shape from some organic matter
  8. Merfolk, from the horn of a narwhal
  9. Slaadi, from the remains of a dead Modron
  10. Mind flayers, from psychically infused iron
  11. Devils, and was forged in the fires of the Hells
  12. Demons, from solidified corruption
  13. Centaurs, from finest polished bronze
  14. Yuan-Ti, from the bones of a Naga
  15. A vampire, and was forged and cooled in blood
  16. A lich, by corrupting a hero's weapon
  17. A banshee, and lost by her in death
  18. Lizardfolk, from the bones of a gargantuan beast
  19. A sphinx, from a treasure of the gods
  20. Orcs, by melting down the weapons of their foes
The d6 - …to be wielded in a war against:
  1. Undead
  2. Monstrosities
  3. Fiends
  4. Dragons
  5. Celestials
  6. Aberrations
The d10 (tens) - This weapon is a fine:
  1. Spear
  2. Mace
  3. Quarterstaff
  4. Handaxe
  5. Longsword
  6. Warhammer
  7. Battleaxe
  8. Halberd
  9. Greataxe
  10. Greatsword
The d10 (units) - Decoration/appearance:
  1. Hums or throbs when held, but this lessens when attuned to the wielder
  2. Hung with tiny bells, charms, or similar small items
  3. Inlaid with veins that pulse, glow, or reflect light in an odd way
  4. Covered in writing, runes, or glyphs in a known or unknown language
  5. Looks different out of the corner of your eye somehow
  6. Engraved all over with scenes of battle and heroism (or slaughter)
  7. Causes a ringing in the wielder's ears, which lessens when attuned
  8. Crafted in the image of an animal or mythical creature
  9. The wielder can (only) speak in the creator's language until attuned
  10. The hilt is wrapped with the skin of a rare, magical, or extinct creature
The d4 - Initial properties:
  1. It's vicious, whether wickedly sharp, toxic, or something else, adding +1 to damage
  2. It's well balanced, or somehow blessed or guided, adding +1 to attack rolls
  3. It's unusual; it gains or loses Finesse, Heavy, Versatile or a similar property
  4. It glows, thrums, or sings, gently or fiercely, in the presence of its intended enemy
The d12 - To awaken the destined powers of this weapon...
  1. It must be bathed in a certain spring, lava flow, mana field, or similar
  2. The wielder must slay (a number of) its intended enemies
  3. It must be re-forged by the descendant of its original creator
  4. The wielder must avenge the death of the last hero who fell using it
  5. It must be joined with lost part, and made whole again
  6. A ceremony, only known by a dwindling few, must be performed over it
  7. It must be infused with the power of ancestral spirits at a secret location
  8. It must be used to slay the previous wielder, corrupted before its destiny could be fulfilled
  9. The wielder must free the soul of its creator from torment
  10. The wielder must resolve an ancient grudge among the creator's people
  11. The wielder must free the creator's descendants from tyranny
  12. It must be used to sunder a specific icon of the intended enemy
The d8 - Destined properties:  Once awakened it becomes a +2 magic weapon and...
  1. Only it can seal, banish, or deliver the killing blow to a specific intended enemy
  2. It counts as a +3 weapon against its intended enemy
  3. On a failed DC15 save creatures of the enemy type that see it are blinded, fearful, or similar
  4. It deals d6 additional damage of a flavourful type, and makes an intended enemy hit by it vulnerable to this type of damage
  5. Once per day the wielder can Charm, Command, or use a similar effect on an intended enemy
  6. It deals an additional 3d6 damage to the intended enemies
  7. The wielder is protected from some specific power of the intended enemy; Dragons' breath weapons, Beholder and Basilisk gazes, charms, curses, etc.
  8. When it strikes an intended enemy it pushes them back and/or inflicts a status such as blinded, stunned etc.


Now all it needs is a name and some history, a place to lie awaiting discovery, enemies to slay and a bold party of adventurers ready to fulfil its destiny! 

You can find more RPG random generators on the blog here or on my twitter - I would love to hear your thoughts on these tables below in the comments, and the legends you create.

4 comments:

  1. Wonderful post and very useful!
    Thank you for this.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Wouter! I'm already thinking of more like this, it's fun and I think I've been bitten by the bug.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mice set of inspirations there. Of course, for my campaign world, the D6 roll for to be wielded against would probably read:
    1. Dragons
    2. Dragons
    3. Dragons
    4. Dragon-blooded descendants
    5. Dragons
    6. Something else

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha well you can always roll-or-choose!

      Delete

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