The Willbreaker
There are many magical weapons in the world, but those rare few among them that attain the highest magic levels may attain sentience. The Willbreaker is beyond even these. That is not its true name, of course, but only that given to it by the scant and nearly indecipherable rantings of those scholars of history unfortunate enough to have crossed paths with it. Some say its a weapon that has consumed one thousand mortal souls, others claim it is the relic of a long-dead lich after the master's phylactery became its undoing. Still others claim it is a primordial entity sealed away by the earth itself in a firey volcanic battle aeons before the first mortal creature drew breath. Regardless, none yet have proven strong enough to wield its power for long. What is its goal? Its desire? These are not questions meant to be answered for mortal ears to hear.
Phisical Properties
In appearance, the Willbreaker is a naked obsidian-fletched longsword. At some point, a former wielder wrapped one end in a thick piece of hide to create a makeshift handle. The blade's facets gleam with inner darkness, such that one's reflection in the glassy fractals is distorted and broken. It is rumored that if you stare at your reflection long enough, it will no longer be your own eyes gazing back at you.
Functionally, the Willbreaker is a longsword with the versitile property, dealing 1d8 slashing damage, or 1d10 slashing damage when wielded in both hands. It weighs 7 pounds, requires attunement, and any sheath the wielder may attempt to use for it will swiftly degrade against its razor-sharp edges.
The attunement cannot be broken willingly, nor will a remove curse spell affect the attunement, as the weapon is not cursed. The attunement can only be broken by a wish spell, or the desire of the entity inside the sword.
Leveling Up
The Willbreaker is a legacy weapon, meaning that it gains strength as it gains levels. The easiest way to level up the weapon is to have it always match the attuned wielder's level, but it is not the only way. You may use a variant of the milestone system to level the weapon, however, be careful that the sword does not overlevel or underlevel the player by too much, or it may become too powerful, or not powerful enough.
Here are some alternate levelling methods
- The sword levels up when it kills mortal beings. The sword requires killing blows equal to its currentl level in order to gain the next level.
- The being in the sword may ask the wielder to perform odd or morally questionable tasks for it. Completion of these tasks rewards a level, with the tasks becoming more dificult and more repugnant as the sword gains higher levels.
- The sword may take things from its wielder. These things could be stat points, certain memories of the character or a skill proficiency. This one requires DM discretion, as too much of this may result in losing the character's flavor.
Passive Abilities
The Willbreaker has a number of passive abilities, which it gains as it attains higher levels.
Passive Abilities
| Level | Ability |
|---|---|
| 1st | Unbreaking |
| 2nd | Deafened Permanently |
| 3rd | 1 Maximum Charge |
| 4th | |
| 5th | +1 Magical Weapon |
| 6th | 2 Maximum Charges |
| 7th | |
| 8th | Blinded Permanently |
| 9th | |
| 10th | +2 Magical Weapon |
| 11th | |
| 12th | 3 Maximum Charges |
| 13th | |
| 14th | Paralized Permanently |
| 15th | |
| 16th | |
| 17th | +3 Magical Weapon |
| 18th | |
| 19th | |
| 20th | Embrace the Darkness |
Active Abilities
In addition to the passive magical effects, the user can spend charges from the weapon to evoke certain magical effects. The Willbreaker gains three charges every day at midnight, but it cannot hold any more charges than its stated maximum based on its level.
Active Abilities
| Charges Spent | Effect |
|---|---|
| 1 | As an action, end one magical effect currently on you. |
| 2 | Whenever a spell or magical effect forces you to make a save, you may use your reaction to gain advantage on that save. |
| 3 | As a reaction, you may cast counterspell. The counterspell's slot level is equal to half of the Willbreaker's level, rounded down. |
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Ability Descriptions
The abilities listed in the passive abilities table are described in full here.
Unbreaking
The Willbreaker is made of volcanic glass, but the entity inside prevents the sword from being brittle. The Willbreaker is immune to damage from non-magical sources. From magical sources, the Willbreaker has a hardness of 18, and 10 hit points per item level.
Using Detect Magic on the Willbreaker results in the caster feeling a powerful alien aura of no known school of magic.
Any attempts to identify the source of the magic are rebuffed by the sword. The identifier must make a Charisma save, DC 10 + the item level of the sword. Failure results in no gained information, and the identifier recieves 1d6 per item level in psychic damage.
Sucess results in the identifier being pulled into the pocket dimension within the sword, and having a conversation with the ephemeral entity inside. The entity may divulge as much or as little as it wishes, but the character's sucessful roll guarantees the entity's truthfulness. After 1 minute, the identifier is expelled back into the plane from which they came.
Deafened Permanently
At 2nd level, the attuned wielder is permanently deafened. While the Willbreaker is within 5 feet of the wielder, the wielder is immune to deafness, allowing them to hear normally, and gains advantage on any checks involving hearing.
This deafness can be healed with a greater restoration spell, but the deafness will return almost immediately thereafter if the wielder is still attuned.
Blinded Permanently
At 8th level, the attuned wielder is permanently blinded. While the Willbreaker is within 5 feet of the wielder, the wielder is immune to blindness, allowing them to see normally, and gains advantage on any checks involving sight.
This blindness can be healed with a greater restoration spell, but the blindness will return almost immediately thereafter if the wielder is still attuned.
Paralyzed Permanently
At 14th level, the attuned wielder is permanently paralyzed. While the Willbreaker is within 5 feet of the wielder, the wielder is immune to paralysis, allowing them to move and act normally, and gains advantage on any checks to resist status effects.
This paralysis can be healed with a greater restoration spell, but the paralysis will return almost immediately thereafter if the wielder is still attuned.
Embrace the Darkness
At 20th level, the entity within the sword begins to seep out. The wielder can give into this entity to gain powerful magical abilities.
As an action, you give yourself over to the entity. For 1 minute, you gain advantage on all attack rolls, checks and saves. Whenever you hit an enemy with the Willbreaker, they must make a Constitution save of DC18 or be stricken with deafness, blindness, and paralysis for 1d4+1 hours.
When the minute ends, your will is consumed by the Willbreaker for 1d4+1 hours, during which time, the DM controls your character, and will use it to further the Entity's inscrutable goals. Your character retains no memories of this time.
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