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Staff, legendary (requires attunement by a spellcaster)
A small fragment of the Raven Queen's soul (or, depending on the campaign setting, the soul of a different Death domain deity) has been trapped inside this staff. It lures in its wielder by offering great power, and then begins to feed on their soul.
Once a player attunes to this staff, they gain the option to channel its power when casting a spell or making an ability check or saving throw. This causes the following effects to occur:
- If casting a spell, the spell's damage is converted to Necrotic, and each damage die is upgraded
(d4 → d6, d6 → d8, d8 → d10, d10 → d12, d12 → 2d6)
- If the wielder makes an ability check, a d4 is added to the roll. The staff's user can allow everyone nearby to witness the dark power they possess, or they can choose to mask their power from observers. If they mask the effect, an observer cannot tell what is going on unless they pass a Wisdom (Insight) check based on the wielder's spell save DC.
- If a Natural 1 is rolled while channelling the staff's dark magic, use a d20 to roll on the Dark Magic Table (below).
Dark Magic Table
The first time using this table, instead of rolling a d20, the following happens:
The Raven Queen's faint laughter appears in the user's mind and steadily grows in volume. The staff then telepathically speaks to its wielder: “At long last, I have been granted entry to your mind.”
The wielder is now able to communicate telepathically with the entity within the staff; it identifies itself as the Raven Queen, but is only a small fragment of her soul and cannot access the rest of herself.
Starting now, dark thoughts will periodically enter the user's head, sometimes urging them to be suspicious of others’ desire for the staff's power, sometimes hinting that they would be entirely useless if not for the staff in their possession. Over time, the user will gradually feel themself wanting to rely on the staff more and more.
| d20_roll |
Effect
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| 1 |
Banishment: The staff and its user are banished to the Shadowfell for 1d10 days.
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| 2-3 |
Insanity: The staff's user must make a DC 20 saving throw (the relevant ability being the user's spellcasting ability). On a failed save, they suffer from Short-Term Madness.
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| 4-9 |
Sacrifice: The staff's wielder sacrifices their Strength (if 4 is rolled), Dexterity (5), Constitution (6), Intelligence (7), Wisdom (8), or Charisma (9).
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| 10-12 |
Necrotic Sphere: Everyone in a 30 ft radius sphere centered on the staff, including its user, must make a Constitution saving throw, based on the user's spell save DC. They all take (user's character level + user's spellcasting modifier)d6 Necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one.
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| 13-19 |
Summon: Undead (if 13-17 rolled), Fiend (if 18 rolled) or Dragon (if 19 rolled)
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| 20 |
Instant Death: The user must point the staff at one creature. This creature will either be instantly killed or suffer the effects of Banishment (DM's choice). If the user fails to point, the creature will be chosen at random from those in the user's vicinity.
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Summon: When this option is selected from the Dark Magic table, the staff's user summons a random monster of the type specified. The monster's CR is equal to the user's (if no monster CR matches the user's level, the monster with the closest CR will be summoned). The summoned monster is controlled by the DM. It will attack whoever is closest to it (aside from the staff wielder) and will fight until it's reduced to 0 Hit Points or 1 minute passes. Any Fiend or Dragon summoned will be black and deal Necrotic damage with its elemental attacks, regardless of the monster's original appearance and stats.
Sacrifice: Each time this option is selected from the Dark Magic table, the user's relevant Ability Score is permanently reduced by 1. (If the selected ability already has a score of 3 or lower, a different ability is selected at random.) Each sacrifice further augments the power of the staff, as shown below.
| 1st |
The first time an ability is sacrificed to the staff, the staff's orb grows slightly and the wood of the staff becomes slightly darker. The user gains resistance to Necrotic damage. From now until the 3rd Sacrifice, if the staff's user attempts to cast a spell or make an ability check or saving throw, roll a die. If the result is odd, the user channels the staff anyway.
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| 2nd |
After the second sacrifice, the orb grows larger still, causing the wood tendrils surrounding it to break off and dissolve into the air, leaving the orb floating in place. The remaining wood on the staff turns completely black. The user gains Truesight with a maximum distance of 10 feet; any creature within this distance can see a sinister violet glow (the same color as the orb) emanating from the their eyes. The user can mask this glow with illusion magic (e.g. Minor Illusion or Disguise Self).
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| 3rd |
The symbol of the Raven Queen appears, either in the orb or on the staff's handle. The user learns how the Dark Magic Table works but is no longer able to resist channelling the staff's power.
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| 4th |
The user gains full immunity to Necrotic Damage. They can hear the Raven Queen repeatedly chanting "Almost there, one more…"
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| 5th |
After a fifth sacrifice from the wielder, the Raven Queen has now received all the power she wants from the staff's user; she uses it to escape the staff and reconnect with the rest of herself. The wielder's mind is suddenly freed from her influence: they can now control the color of the orb (and glow from their eyes) at will and are no longer required to roll on the Dark Magic Table. From now on, the wielder will be able to roll on the Dark Magic Table as an action by expending a level 5 spell slot (or their highest level slot if 5 isn't unlocked yet). Doing so will cause Necrotic Sphere and Summon to no longer harm the user's allies, and rolling 4-9 on the table will cause no effect to occur.
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Summary. This is the summary of features granted by the Staff of the Death Goddess once all five sacrifices have been performed.
Channeling[edit]
The staff's user can channel its power when casting a spell or making an ability check or saving throw. This causes the following effects to occur:
- If casting a spell, the spell's damage is converted to Necrotic, and each damage die is upgraded
(d4 → d6, d6 → d8, d8 → d10, d10 → d12, d12 → 2d6)
- If the wielder makes an ability check, a d4 is added to the roll. The staff's user can allow everyone nearby to witness the dark power they possess, or they can choose to mask their power from observers. If they mask the effect, an observer cannot tell what is going on unless they pass a Wisdom (Insight) check based on the wielder's spell save DC.
Other Features[edit]
The staff's user gains several permanent benefits as well:
- 10 feet of Truesight
- Can change color of orb/glowing eyes at will
- Immune to Necrotic damage
- Can use Action to expend lv 5 spell slot and roll on Dark Magic table
Dark Magic Table[edit]
| d20_roll |
Effect
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| 1 |
Banishment: The staff and its user are banished to the Shadowfell for 1d10 days.
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| 2-3 |
Insanity: The staff's user must make a DC 20 saving throw (the relevant ability being the user's spellcasting ability). On a failed save, they suffer from Short-Term Madness.
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| 4-9 |
Nothing happens. The user's action and spell slot are wasted.
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| 10-12 |
Necrotic Sphere: Everyone in a 30 ft radius sphere centered on the staff (aside from the user and their allies) must make a Constitution saving throw, based on the user's spell save DC. They all take (user's character level + user's spellcasting modifier)d6 Necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one.
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| 13-19 |
Summon: Undead (if 13-16 rolled), Fiend (if 17-18 rolled) or Dragon (if 19 rolled)
The staff's user summons a random creature of the type specified. The monster's CR is equal to the user's (if no monster CR matches the user's level, the monster with the closest CR will be summoned). The summoned monster is controlled by the DM. It will attack whoever is closest to it (aside from the staff wielder and their allies) and will fight until it's reduced to 0 Hit Points or 1 minute passes. Any Fiend or Dragon summoned will be black and deal Necrotic damage with its elemental attacks, regardless of the monster's original appearance and stats.
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| 20 |
Instant Death: The user must point the staff at one creature. This creature will either be instantly killed or suffer the effects of Banishment (DM's choice). If the user fails to point, the creature will be chosen at random from those in the user's vicinity.
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If the staff wielder dies, all Sacrifices made to the staff will remain, and another user can attune to it.
Casting Remove Curse on the staff or its user will undo attunement, but all Sacrifices will remain in effect. Casting Greater Restoration on the user will reverse one Sacrifice each time. If all 5 Sacrifices have been made, neither spell will have an effect.
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| This is the staff as it appears when found. By the time a player has found it, it may have already absorbed power from the souls of its previous owners.
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