Shadow Death (my first attempt at a legacy weapon)

[Rakusia]

shadow death is a standard +2 long bow it is made from onyx wood(jet black) with a black leather wrapped handle vines appear goin from the top and bottom of the handle to about mid way both sides. after each ritual is completed the vines will snake further across the bow until they reach to the tips.
omen: whenever anyone grasps shadow death in their hands shadows around seem deeper and the first time a voice is heard whispering its name in their heads

Longbow

Martial Two-Handed Projectile

Critical:
×3
Range Increment:
100 ft.
Type:
Piercing
Hardness:
5

history: this bow was created by the elven bowyer Villas Vonathdre. he was so obsessed with keeping his methods secret he opened a door to the plane of shadows to complete his work. finally after crafting his masterpiece it seemed as if the very essence of the plane was imbued into his work. the denizens of shadows feeling the power resonating in the weapon attacked wishing to take it as their own. taking up his creation he fought back the dark beings making his way to his native plane.
dc: 15
Ritual: using only shadow death as your weapon you must defeat any creature native to the shadow plane.
History: the next time the bow surfaced was fifty years later. an assassain had taken the bow from a fallen mark noticing its superb quality. His current mark being a high powered wizard he decided some prudence was called for and took his newest weapon with him. the wizard was alone in his study reading with his constant guard a shadow mastiff. firing a single shot he managed to slay the mastiff, unknowingly unlocking the first of powers his new bow could offer. he quickly fired a shot towards the wizard who knew something was wrong from his dogs last howl he threw up a wall of wind knocking the arrow up towards the ceiling. however it slipped into a shadpw and came out of a shadow behind him, piercing his heart the wizard fell to the floor.
ritual: using the shadow jump ability you must slay two enemies, while remaining undetected.
history: years later the bow fell into the hands of a vampiric ranger named fukurou. after having unlocked the first two tiers of power he felt this bow had nothing more to offer him. however he carried it to court with his wife many times. He used it to great effect in realizing his wives political ambitions and soon saw himself sitting on the throne. finally when the dragon attacked he once more pulled out shadow death and delivered the final shot ending the dragons life the bow once more fed from the monumental events it seemed linked to and took on a final power. now when it shot the arrows would break out in black fire. flames drawn from the shadows of the bows origin.
ritual: must use the bow for the killing bow of anything with the fire type or subtype.

powers least:
shadow shot at will may fire an arrow into shadows and recieve the targets flat footed ac as opposed ac.
shadow step times per day equal to half hit die may us shadow step to move equal to half movement speed
powers lesser:
shadow pet if anyone allowed animal companion slays their pet using the bow they may instead recieve a shadow mastiff as their new companion
shadow step times per day equal to half hit die may move between shadows equal to full movement speed
powers full:
shadow flames: 4 times per day one arrow may erupt into shadow flames dealing an extra damage equal to rogue sneak attack of equal level as the shooter
shadow walk once daily as the spell from a caster level 3/4 your own level

 

[Rakusia]

please constructive criticism did I make anything too powerful too weak? wanna get this right before I present it to my player

 

[Dozen]

please constructive criticism did I make anything too powerful too weak? wanna get this right before I present it to my player

The progression table wouldn't hurt. What you did describe is mostly fine, but:

shadow step times per day equal to half hit die may move between shadows equal to full movement speed

What's the movement cost per shadows passed? What's the range? Could I walk in a shadow here in my European home, pop out in Madagaskar, kill a monkey, and come back?

shadow pet if anyone allowed animal companion slays their pet using the bow they may instead recieve a shadow mastiff as their new companion

That's terrible no matter what kind of campaign you're playing. A roleplayer would never use it, an optimizer is going to abuse the hell out of it, and you may or may not have a party member eligible for an ability you have to pay in rituals for either way. Not to mention, it doesn't make sense for a shadow creature to be summoned by a bow that gets it's power from killing it's kin.

Also, work on the name a little bit. Shadow Death goes past descriptive and reaches into redundant for a bow with shadow powers.

 

[Rakusia]

Read again the voice is heard the first time. As in once. Again on shadow step. Can use it for half their standard turm distance. For standard character about 15 feet. As far as the dog it was just kinda a fluff power. Thought it was kinda cool. Player first time he heard about shadow mastiffs asked if he gould get one as a pet

 

[Dozen]

Read again the voice is heard the first time. As in once.

Wow, you're pretty damn fast. I didn't have the chance to edit properly before you replied. Even the grammar mistakes considered your speed is something to admire.

Player first time he heard about shadow mastiffs asked if he gould get one as a pet

And the logical course of action to aquire said pet is to... kill the pet he already has? Surely there is a better way to do this. Have the bow simply summon a mastiff for a couple of minutes once every encounter, maybe with a small stat boost as the character advances in level.

 

[Rakusia]

I did it the way i did as a way of showing the descent into darkness prolonged use of the bow could cause. Its a weapon mostly used by rogues and assassain types. Choosing that power is a tangible way of showing the power of the bow is a corrupting power changing the loving bond of your animal companion into the dark shadow of such a bond.

 

[Dozen]

I did it the way i did as a way of showing the descent into darkness prolonged use of the bow could cause. Its a weapon mostly used by rogues and assassain types. Choosing that power is a tangible way of showing the power of the bow is a corrupting power changing the loving bond of your animal companion into the dark shadow of such a bond.

And what is the corrupting force exactly? Contrary to popular belief, Shadowstuff, Negative Energy and similar sources are not dangerous. Not in the mental sense, anyway. They don't make you evil, selfish or less of a human being. That's an assumption based on they are 'weird', 'dark', 'edgy', or 'gross', and ignores everything we know of D&D morality. Shadows are Always Evil because they suck life force out of random people to continue their unlife and shadow mastiffs adopted an evil attidude to survive in the unforgiving wasteland that is the Plane of Shadow. Their origins are meaningless for the same reason you can't judge a human based on their skin tone.

Prolonged exposure to shadow matter causes loss in of pigmentation, a thin, uneven build in developing children or descendants(essentially Marfan Syndrome), and affinity for shadow magic. Nothing else.

 

[Rakusia]

Its not the power of the shadows insomuch as it is from the events and past users who accidently imbued the bow with its legacy in the first place. It uses shadows because of its creation it corrupts because of how its been used

 

[Dozen]

Its not the power of the shadows insomuch as it is from the events and past users who accidently imbued the bow with its legacy in the first place. It uses shadows because of its creation it corrupts because of how its been used

Hmm... Okay, that's reasonable. One last question, would the player agree to be corrupted in such a way?

 

[Rakusia]

Well hes already playing neutral evil... so the balls in his court