Spear of the SkylordParagon Level
This longspear is always twice the height of its chosen bearer. Its haft is as black as a starless night sky, and its blade is the white of pure clouds. It was granted to a wind archon general during the earliest war, and it brings war from the skies even still.
The Spear of the Skylord is a +3 longspear with the following properties and powers.
Enhancement: Attack rolls and damage rolls
Critical: +3d6 thunder damage, or +3d8 thunder damage against creatures standing on the ground
Properties
- Your reach with this weapon is 3.
- You gain a +2 item bonus to Intimidate checks.
Power (Lightning) ✦ Daily (Standard Action)
You throw the Spear, and it hits like a lightning strike. Area burst 4 within 20; Strength vs. Reflex; 2d10 + Strength modifier lightning damage, and the target is knocked prone.
Miss: Half damage, and the target is not knocked prone. The Spear reforms in your hand after the attack.
Power ✦ Encounter (Minor Action)
You stir the sky's mighty winds. Close blast 5; Strength vs. Fortitude; the target is pushed 5 squares.
If all the fragments of the Spear of the Skylord are gathered in one place, an unknown ritual can reconstruct the Spear from the shards.
Goals of the Spear of the Skylord
- Be possessed by a ruler of sky or a sky-living people.
- Participate in war against people living on or in the earth.
- Kill servants of the gods.
Roleplaying the Spear of the Skylord
The Spear does not speak. It communicates its goals and satisfaction with its owner through gentle pulls, subtle emotions, and pulses of encouraging or discouraging energy along its haft. The Spear wants to be wielded by a strong, militant ruler, and it prefers commanding and militant owners that take charge and inflict their will on others.
Concordance
| Starting score | 5 |
|---|---|
| Owner gains a level | +1d10 |
| Owner can fly | +2 |
| Owner slays a servant of a god (max 1/day) | +1 |
| Owner conquers a town, city, or kingdom | +1 |
| Owner submits to another's authority (max 1/day) | -1 |
| Owner loses a battle | -1 |
Transcendent (Over 20)
“None rule over me or my sky.”
The Spear is proud to be in the possession of such a great commander.
The Spear's enhancement bonus increases to +4.
Critical: +4d6 thunder damage, or +4d8 thunder damage against creatures standing on the ground.
Property
Your fly speed increases by 4. If you have no fly speed, you gain fly 4.
Pleased (16–20)
“I challenge the right of the earthbound to command their own fate.”
The owner's conquests please the Spear, and it gives the owner greater power to continue the military campaign.
Property
The item bonus to Intimidate checks increases to +4.
Power ✦ Encounter (Free Action)
Use this power when you hit a creature with this weapon. The creature falls to the ground (if flying, taking falling damage as normal) and is immobilized (save ends).
Satisfied (12–15)
“Onward! Hordes yet remain for us to conquer!”
The owner has proved himself a champion against the earthbound. The Spear spurs its owner toward greater heights with greater gifts.
Property
You gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls against any creature standing on the ground.
Power ✦ Daily (Standard Action)
As the warlord's beat them into the ground power, but it affects allies within 10 squares of you.
Normal (5–11)
“I have the Spear, now I must claim a kingdom.”
The Spear keeps the owner under constant scrutiny, pushing him or her toward dominance of others.
Unsatisfied (1–4)
“The Spear chafes under my self-restraint.”
The owner does not seek the control that the Spear desires, and the Spear resorts to stronger encouragement.
Special: You take a -2 penalty to Diplomacy checks.
Angered (Below 1)
“I escape the Spear's wrath only by bearing it.”
The Spear considers its owner unworthy. If the owner does not find redemption soon, the Spear exacts punishment upon him or her. Until then, the spear creates predicaments in which the owner might find a path to rulership.
Special: Once per day, when you are addressed by a person of authority, the Spear leaps into its owner's hands and makes a melee basic attack against the person.
Moving On
“My sovereignty is in danger!”
The Spear of the Skylord leaves its owner in a spectacular fashion. When the owner (typically fashioned “the Skylord”) is engaged in a pivotal battle (often one on a scale involving armies), the Spear leaps from its owner's hand, and sails into the midst of the enemy or the enemy's stronghold, where it explodes with thunder and lightning, devastating the enemy. Thereafter, shards of the weapon wander the earth until they are again joined into the Spear.
If the Spear is displeased with its owner, it instead brings ruin to the owner's homeland. Massive cyclones and tornadoes descend upon the nation and cause disaster after disaster, and in the chaos the Spear disappears from its owner's possession.
Published in Dragon Magazine 364.