Death's Scythe (3.5e Equipment)
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Death’s Scythe[edit]
Wizened sages and philosophers have speculated as to why a skeletal figure wielding a scythe has became a ubiquitous symbol for death. Most say it is but a metaphor and nothing more. However, a tiny few survive the onslaught of this ancient cursed weapon and live to tell of it. This +6 keen wounding vorpal scythe is the material embodiment of forgotten deathly magic and the parent of its symbol. A character touching the weapon finds it impossible to be rid of it. The weapon mysteriously appears in his possession, within a short moment, if any attempt is made to give it away or discard it.. Just after sunset, the character involuntarily transforms into a level 15 human warrior skeleton proficient with the scythe and forgets his own identity, temporarily becoming an NPC under the DM’s control. The accursed then searches immediately for the scythe, instinctively knowing its exact location. Once and only when the weapon is in hand, the accursed tirelessly seeks out prey to kill. Its prey must be evil if the character is good, good if he is evil or either good or evil if he is neutral. Creatures not of the proper alignment are passed over. Anything attacking the accursed and not of the proper alignment is ignored and avoided. Those of the proper alignment are attacked mercilessly until dead. One hour before sunrise, the accursed transforms back to his original form and becomes immediately unconscious for two hours. Upon awakening, the character becomes fatigued and recalls nothing of the episode or any subsequent. The human warrior skeleton cannot be turned or rebuked. Only to the accursed undead creature does the scythe grant the following powers:
Discern Alignment: The accursed knows the alignment of any creature with just a look. It can be fooled by spells that hide alignments.
See Invisibility: Invisible creatures are visible to the accursed when wielding the scythe.
At will and as a free action, the scythe’s wielder may use haste, passwall, death knell or fly. Only one of these abilities can be in use at any one time. The activation of a second, deactivates the first and so forth.
Immunity to all mind-affecting effects, spell or otherwise.
Lifesense (su): The accursed notices and locates living creatures within 120 feet, just as if it possessed the blindsight ability. It does not need a line of effect to locate creatures. It also senses the strength of their life force automatically, as if it cast deathwatch.
Death’s Gaze (su): The eyes of the accursed are portals into death’s cold soul. This gaze attack paralyses creatures 5 HD or less with terror and forces them to make a DC 15 Fortitude save or die from fear. All other creatures must make a DC 20 Will save or become paralyzed with fear for 2d6 rounds. It has a reach of 30 feet. This is a mind-affecting fear effect.
To remove the curse, the weapon must be destroyed by means of a difficult task decided by the DM (i.e.
divine intervention or a dragon‘s breath).
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