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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