A semi-regular column: new magic items! Let’s see how long I can sustain the enthusiasm for this lol!

Havengi’s Longsword

Cursed Weapon (longsword), very rare (requires attunement)

Havengis was a swordsmith who lived over 600 years ago. He crafted a number of magical swords during his time, many of which were regarded as the best of the period. Havengi lived his final days on the edge of the immense Desert of Dust, his eyesight failing and his once masterful hands no longer capable of crafting swords. In a last-ditch attempt to recover his abilities, Havengi summoned and sought assistance from a devil. Unfortunately, everything comes with a price, and Havengi’s last weapon was cursed by the devil he’d sold his soul to. The sword disappeared for centuries, only to be recovered in a dungeon by one of your player’s characters…

Havengi’s Longsword is a +2 longsword with stylistic gold and silver inlays running along the blade. Any historian will note the inlays (along with swordsmith’s very specific bindings on the grip) indicate it is a Havengi-made weapon. As such, the sword can be sold for twice the usual amount of a magical longsword of the same value.

Aside from providing a +2 bonus to hit and damage, the attuned user can use a Magic ACTION to have Havengi’s Longsword point in the direction of the nearest fresh water source, no matter how far away. While grasping the sword’s hilt, the attuned user is protected from the ill-effects of deserts or hot environments that might cause them to dehydrate, including spell effects that cause dehydration.

The Curse

Havengi’s Longsword is cursed, but this will not become apparent until the attuned user rolls a 1 on d20 while attacking. Instead of affecting the target, the magical energies of the sword turn inward, draining the attuned user of a portion of the water in their body. They suffer 1 Exhaustion level. The next time the attuned used rolls a 1-2 on d20 while attacking, they suffer another Exhaustion level. This continues to increase by 1 (i.e. rolling 1-3 on the next attack roll), with the attuned used suffering a new Exhaustion level if they roll in the new range. If the attuned user dies from this effect (i.e. rolls in the range of 1-6 on their attack roll and reaches Exhaustion level 6), their body shrivels up and their soul is cast into Hell.

The only way the curse can be removed from the blade is to confront the greater devil who created it – this unknown devil lives in one of the nine circles of Hell. Perhaps the runes underneath the ornate wrappings on the sword’s grip reveal the plane and the location of the devil. And perhaps Havengi’s very soul is currently present in that dark citadel, deep within that fiery plane, longing for a release from his eternal torment…

For more Laidback DM, click here.