For Players

The Adaptable Hilt

Weapon (sword), rare

This plain hilt has a deep cylindrical cavity where the tang of the blade would usually go. As an action, you can fill this cavity with any material or energy available in the environment, and then speak its command word.

A magic blade then springs from the hilt, made of the same material or energy that the hilt was loaded with, and taking the shape of any sword you are proficient with. The blade lasts for 1 minute, until you are no longer holding it, or until you dismiss it (no action required).

Regardless of the form of the blade, it does damage and has effects dependent on the type of material it is loaded with, replacing the weapon's normal damage. For example, if you fill the hilt with ice, the blade will do cold damage and may reduce the speed of a creature struck by it.

The DM determines what kind of damage the blade does and what additional effects (if any) are applied by it when you load the hilt with different materials. You may attempt to influence the result by visualizing what effect you wish to achieve.

For DMs

In the box to the right, I've listed some examples of what certain materials might do. The effects should be balanced around how easy the material is to obtain and how powerful the secondary effects are.

For instance, I've included "air" as a possible material. Since it can be obtained anywhere, it's not as powerful as the other options, but it still has a minor effect. Meanwhile, the vine blade does no damage because restrained is a very powerful condition.

On the other hand, if a player is able to obtain a very rare material to use in the hilt, or thinks up a unique and plausible secondary effect for a certain material, the blade might be a lot more powerful. This weapon is limited only by you and your players' creativity.

These are the guidelines I'll be using if I introduce this item to my campaign:

Secondary effects last until the start of the wielder's next turn. Any DCs for these effects should be 14.

Pure damage does 3d6.

Damage plus a minor secondary effect does 2d8.

Save-or-half does 4d8.

A major secondary effect only applies the effect and does no damage.

Of course, feel free to throw out my numbers entirely and decide what you want the blade to do!