Snake Eyes (5e Equipment)

Weapon (shortsword), uncommon History The first Snake Eyes was created for the illegal gambling dens of the cities. The game was simple, the players had to take a short sword and draw it. The sword would then have an 4 in 5 chance of activating a spell to dull the blade and make it unusable. The players would take the sword, and without telling if the spell activated or not, plunge it into their hand, or if they were playing in a particularly twisted gambling den, plunge it into their gut. The sword would be passed around this way until one unlucky person did not have the spell activate when he stabbed. The winners would leave with the loser's bet, and the loser would leave with a stab wound, if he was even lucky enough to leave at all. The stakes rose in Snake Eyes as more spells were added to the blade, until the game and the knife were banned from most game houses as the deaths, fire damage, drownings, electrocutions, and other unspeakable horrors from the random spells on the variations of the blade, caused the gambling dens to lose more money than they gained. Now Snake Eyes are an uncommon sight. Many were destroyed or thrown away, as not many wanted to use such an unpredictable blade as a weapon. Checks Snake Eyes appears to be a normal short sword with skulls and dice attached to the hilt, with only the "Luck" ability initially apparent. A DC 15 Arcana, History or Investigation check reveals the following information Arcana: The blade seems to have random properties assigned to it every time it is drawn however what the properties are unknown. History: The blade was used in gambling for some time, but was banned due to its dangerous magical properties. Investigation: The blade is an uncommon magical item. However, it seems people are hesitant to buy it for unknown reasons. An Intelligence check of DC 25 for Arcana, History or Investigation or the identify spell reveals the full history of the blade as well as its effects. Effects Luck. If Snake Eyes is on your person, you can call on it's luck and re-roll an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, accepting the new result. This property cannot be used again till the next dawn. Devil's Dice. When you draw this weapon, roll 1d6 to determine the effect of the sword. The effect lasts for 1 minute or until you sheathe the sword. Snake Eyes: Roll on this table again. If you roll 1 a second time, you drop to 0 hit points and die. Cold: You deal an additional 1d4 cold damage on a hit with this weapon. Fire: You deal an additional 1d4 fire damage on a hit with this weapon. Cure: You may cast the spell cure wounds once from the blade as a bonus action. Blade: No effect. Safety: The weapon deals 1 bludgeoning damage instead of its normal damage.

---

Back to Main Page → 5e Homebrew → Equipment → Magic Weapons