Magic Weapons

Demon Blade

by Conrad Hubbard

Description: The Titanswar left a heritage of many horrific and dangerous weapons which served the Titans and the more evil of the gods. The summoners of Vangal brought hordes of demons to the earth and bound them into mighty blades whereby bloodthirsty warriors could harness their power against the minions of the titans. Unfortunately for would-be bearers of the demon blades of Vangal, the creatures bound within are not deprived entirely of free will and their fickle wickedness can often be troublesome. The mighty spells of the summoners bound the demons to the blades for 100 years of faithful service. In the 150 years since that time, only a few have finished their time, for even the promise of freedom is not always enough to keep a demon constantly faithful.

Powers: The exact powers of the Demon Blade vary according to what type of demon is bound within it. Regardless of the type, each turn during which the demon does not defy the orders of the bearer of the blade counts towards its 100 years of servitude. But the demon is not forced to be faithful and there is always at least a 10% chance that the demon will defy the wielder's wishes to wreak havoc. Particularly tempting circumstances are up to the Dungeon Master to determine if they cause the demon to be more like to misbehave.
Every demon blade is treated as a weapon with a +1 enhancement bonus. All demons can communicate via telepathy with the wielder of the blade only. Additionally, they endow the blade with immunity to electricity and resistance 20 to cold, fire and acid. Demons who are bound are likely to try to trick a wielder into destroying the blade to free them, especially since they cannot do so themselves.
Other powers depend upon the type of demon bound within the blade. Demons may enact any spell-like ability they possess if the blade is currently held in the hand of a wielder. At no time may such a power be used to destroy the blade or harm it in any way, even by accident, since the binding prevents this sort of activity. All spell-like abilities are treated as though originating from the blade, as they are powered by the demon within. Spells, such as teleport without error, and the natural ability to summon other demons, will automatically fail as the binding prevents the demon's escape. Other powers may be rendered useless or limited in effect due to the binding. The wielder has no control over their use other than the fact that each turn of faithful use moves the demon one turn closer to freedom.
The following example of powers assumes that the relatively common demonic Vrock is the creature bound. A Vrock Demon Blade may cast the following spells at will: darkness, desecrate, detect good (the demon may choose to inform the wielder), detect magic (the demon may choose to inform the wielder), mass charm (but unless the blade touches the victim the demon cannot telepathically transmit commands), mirror image (creates images of the demon which are likely to confuse a foe greatly) and telekinesis. Other Demon Blades will vary in powers and dangerousness to use according to the demons bound within them.

Caster Level: 15th
Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms, Binding
Market Price: 240,000 gp
Cost to Create: 120,000 gp + 9600 XP
Weight: According to weapon type