Corrupted Weapon (5e Race)
Corrupted Weapon[edit]
Throughout the ages, there have been weapons of great power sought out by foolish, daring adventurers. These were known by many names, and were thought to have been forged by dark creatures of the abyssal plane. The rumors promised great power, but none of them have ever been found.
Until now.
As the rugged, grizzled adventurer picks you up, within seconds, you manage to overtake his soul. You are a corrupted weapon, a soul trapped within a blade. The moment someone picks you up, you begin to corrupt the person who was foolish enough to attempt to wield you. You overtake their physical form and turn back into your true demonic form, ready to reap chaos.
Imprisoned Soul[edit]
Corrupted weapons are souls, typically of demonic origin, contained within a weapon. The souls are trapped within a crystal on their weapon, which can take many different appearances. Some examples of Corrupted weapons are a Scythe with an eye-like gem in the blade, a bow and arrow with a blighted crystal, or a sword with a crystal on the hilt.
When they are picked up by a sentient creature, the Corrupted Weapon’s soul will attempt to take over their host’s physical form by destroying the soul of the host and putting itself in its place. When the corrupted weapon’s soul fully takes over, it then changes to it’s “True Form”, their demonic form from before they were sealed away in the weapon. However, their soul is split between the weapon and the host, and the two halves are always connected.
While most corrupted weapons are demonic in nature, there have been poor, innocent souls transferred into weapons. These are created when ancient magics trap an unwilling soul into the crystal on a weapon. These souls, while typically not evil, will usually take over a host simply due to them wanting to be freed from their prison. These are called Trapped souls.
Appearance[edit]
| Rhaast artwork, https://darth_tyyranus.artstation.com/ |
The True Form of corrupted weapons can vary, but most often they appear demonic. Prominent features are varied skin color (usually red) with a cosmetic exoskeleton appearing across their body. Typically tall, with a fit, muscular build, the True Form looks like the embodiment of evil. However, Trapped Soul’s True Form’s can be quite different. While they may not be an exact copy of their original selves, they are a slightly demonic manifestation of their previous body with differences such as grayed or varied skin tone, horns, and other traits.
History[edit]
Corrupted Weapons were originally created for a multitude of reasons. Sometimes, they are created to seal away a great threat. Others were made with evil intents, such as locking away innocent souls, or to lure in foolish adventurers.
Corrupted Weapon Names[edit]
Corrupted weapons of demonic origin are gender-less, and often have names with harsh, guttural pronunciations. Typically, the name of the demon trapped inside is part of the weapon name, such as "The Blade of Ozgog". However, Trapped Souls can be from any race and usually carry the name they were born with.
Example names Ozgog, Testrazal, Jagthoxiuth, Argaxoz
Corrupted Weapon Traits[edit]
Corrupted Weapons contain ancient, evil souls within weapons, and tend to have a few tricks up their sleeves.
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength OR Dexterity score increases by 2 and your Constitution score increases by 1.
Age. Corrupted Weapons do not age, but their physical forms will. Their Possessed Forms have a lifespan of around 300 years, but this is made null by the fact they regain a new physical form each time they take over a new host.
Alignment. The demonic souls of Corrupted Weapons are most always evil by nature, but the souls of their Possessed Forms keep their alignment from before they were trapped.
Size. In their Possessed Form, they stand tall at well over 6 foot. Your size is medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Corrupted Weaponry. Corrupted Weapons can take the form of any available martial weapons and gain power as they grow stronger. For every 5 class levels, the Corrupted weapon gains a +1 to attack and damage rolls. This bonus also allows the corrupted weapon to overcome resistances to non-magical damage. This weapon cannot be broken or changed by any physical strain or magic except for the wish spell, and therefore cannot be enchanted. When without a Possessed Form, the weapon can be used by others with the previous benefits, but only if the Corrupted Weapon is not willing to take them over as a host. When a Corrupted Weapon isn’t in it’s Possessed Form, it cannot cast spells, move, or speak, and is considered prone. However, it can communicate telepathically to any creature within 30 feet of it, similar to the message spell.
Soul-Bound. The souls of both the Weapon and its host, even when in their Possessed Form, are bound to the crystal in their weapon. Their connection to the weapon cannot be broken by anything other than the wish spell. If their weapon is lost or stolen, it will always appear back to the Possessed Form at the start of a long rest. This binding, however, has a negative side effect. When the Corrupted Weapon’s Possessed Form uses any weapon other than itself, it loses all of it’s attack and damage bonuses gained through the race until it completes a long rest.
Host Transfer. Corrupted Weapons, while they may not be able to die, their Possessed Form is just as mortal as those around them. If the Possessed Form of a Corrupted Weapon dies, it’s form reverts back to that of it’s now deceased host, and the Corrupted Weapon's soul that was in the host is returned back to the Corrupted Weapon. To take over a new form, the Corrupted Weapon must be picked up or wielded by a sentient creature. When picked up and ready to transfer to the host, the creature must make a DC 20 Wisdom saving throw. If failed, the Corrupted Weapon begins ejecting the soul of the host and re-obtaining their Possessed Form. It takes 5 minutes for the Possessed Form to manifest, this is an exhausting task and leaves them with 2 levels of exhaustion.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language of your choice.
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