“When you stare into the abyss the abyss stares back at you.”
-Fredrich Nietzsche
Spiral draws you in. At rest the whip is its namesake, naturally coiling into its mesmeric pattern. Woven with braids of banshee hair, Spiral’s pull is to a place not fully known or readily grasped. Regardless of it’s origins, the whip draws its wielder into a narrow, more insular perspective. Trust only yourself, it whispers; move your mind towards the entropics whorls you can now see, the banshees sing.
Given time, Spiral’s wielder can draw those whorls to mind, and drawing those to mind can manifest them into the physical world. The spirals appear as spinning gales or hypnotic patterns floating in space.
You begin to see spirals everywhere and at a glance, for a spiral is one of the multiverse’s true shapes. But it is a shape that beckons introspective madness. It draws you in. You become connected and yet more vulnerable to the world. It takes more and more concentration to remember what you were before you started spinning. Eventually you stop concentrating and start spinning.
You end up inside. Of what, it cannot be told.
The staged curse
A staged curse has multiple curse levels, each level corresponding to an additional power. Wielding Spiral provides the wielder with the initial curse and power or property. To gain the additional properties, the wielder must take the associated curse. Once the curse is taken, it cannot be foregone until the player rids itself of the weapon.
Spiral
This whip made of peppered braids of hair is made of constant spirals. You are drawn in, hypnotized by it.
Cursed Whip
Level : 15
Enhancement: +3 attack rolls and damage rolls
Critical: The target of the attack is dazed until the end of its next turn.
Curse : -2 on saves versus dazed, stunned or immobilized effects that a save can end.
Property: You gain a +4 item bonus to Arcana checks.
Curse II: -4 on Perception,Diplomacy, and Bluff checks. You can expend a healing surge to get rid of this penalty for one round.
Power II: (Healing Surge) Wind Spiral. Standard Action. Make a melee basic attack with Spiral. If you hit, choose one effect and apply it to the target: Ongoing 10 psychic damage (save ends), slide the target 4 squares, or the target is dazed and weakened (save ends both).
Curse III: Wielder gains vulnerable 10 psychic and vulnerable 5 necrotic.
Power III: (Daily * Charm) Standard Action. Make an attack with Spiral; +18 vs. Reflex; on a hit, the target is dominated (save ends).
A Jack of All Trades ,or if you prefer, an extreme example of multi-classing, Gamefiend, a.k.a Quinn Murphy has been discussing, playing and designing games straight out of the womb. He is the owner and Editor-in-Chief of this site in addition to being an aspiring game designer. As you would assume, he is a huge fan of 4e.
By day he is a technologist.
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I like the idea that the weapon’s power is fed by accepting curses on yourself, nice work.
The tragic imprint is such an awesome template, because it makes an item that is almost more quirky than downright broken. It’s still a great item to have, even if it has detriments – it’s up to the Characters then to decide if the risk is worth the rewards!
I’m glad you guys like! I’ve got more in the pipeline with this mechanic, and they just get crazier. Next up: A shield imprinted with the tragedy of a heartbroken medusa.