D&D 5E Help me come up with a property for a magic flail

[Jefe Bergenstein]

Hi all, I'm trying to come up with an additional magical perk for a flail that I awarded the party's paladin. A little background: I'm running a converted Age of Worms adventure path, set in Golarion (pathfinder world). The party is currently 5th level, and just completed "The Whispering Cairn". Technically it's the first adventure in the published path, but since we ran some introductory adventures to set the stage, I had scaled everything up.

The flail in question is a Wind Duke https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_Dukes_of_Aaqa relic they found in a previous adventure which lead them to investigate the Whispering Cairn in the first place. It was originally just a mithril triple headed flail that looked like an air censor. Each head could be opened, and could holy water, acid etc, which would trigger on a hit. After completing the adventure, and finding the Wind Duke Zosiel's tomb, I had its enchantment unlocked, so now it is a fully magical +1 flail that can glow per the light cantrip.

I did want to add another small benefit to it, as it is the paladin's main weapon and will likely remain throughout the campaign. If it matters, he's an order of the ancients paladin serving the fey lords, with an emphasis on trickery and the thrill of life. I'm trying to avoid giving any additional direct damage/survivabity potential, as the character is probably overpowered as is. So something in the exploration/interaction arena would be best. The party has an item that can cast Gust of Wind once per day already, so that's out. After the 6th adventure, Gathering of Winds, the item will be upgraded again and let him cast Fly once per day.

I was thinking allowing it to let him cast the Jump spell twice per day. He plays the character big, bold and fearless, and is always the first into trouble. It also kind of fits with the air theme already. Any other ideas? For reference, the rest of the permanent PC party is a rogue (thief) and an infernal warlock, so don't want to necessarily step on their toes with whatever it gets.

Second, I have all players add a bond, trait or flaw for each attuned item, so was hoping to crowdsource an idea for that as well. The flail's original owner was a Wind Duke who was destroyed by a Sphere of Annihilation during the War Chaos, so thought a decent bond might revolve around the preservation of the wielder's legacy, immortalizing his deeds, etc.

Thanks in advance for any ideas!

 

[Grakarg]

Look at the Quirk/minor property list in the DMG and see if that sparks some ideas.

I like the 'Guardian' property on an item for a Paladin. It gives a +2 to initiative, which would be good on a paladin since they typically don't have a great dex score. Its something that will seem great to the player, and won't really affect balance too much. (And moving fast in the initiative seems like a speedy wind duke-ish thing to do.)

 

[jgsugden]

You already hit the idea I thought of first: Jump. Levitate as an action (uses the action each turn to maintain) is a second option. Summon an air mephit is another. Thunder Wave on a crit (once per day max) is another. Use a bonus action to give it reach until the start of your next turn is another.

In terms of a bond/trait/flaw: Fidgity - he should move during every round of combat if he can do so without provoking an OA and should constantly be walking around and fiddling with things...

 

[CM]

• Winds around the flail spontaneously rise and flames gutter when the forces of chaos draw near.
• Can create an effect equivalent to Animal Messenger or Sending (although the message is carried on the wind, instead)
• Something that amplifies the wielder's voice (similar to 4e ritual Battlefield Elocution)
• Feather Fall?
• Prevailing winds favor the wielder in cases where their party is tracking someone/something by scent, or trying to avoid being tracked by scent.
  

 

[Big J Money]

Here's an oddball one:

Once per week, the Wind Duke creates a gentle but persistent cage of air around the wielder. This sphere repels all liquids and gasses for several hours, allowing him to breath freely when walking through gasses and liquids. It's not strong enough to affect projectiles.

And in my personal style I would of course never tell the player outright about this ability's properties, only some clues like "you feel all breezes around you suddenly stop and the air becomes purer". Let them play with it.

 

[Coredump]

He can use it to Grapple an opponent, with a +X bonus (or advantage?)

 

[Ibn Khaldun]

Maybe build on the glow ability? Something like, once per day or some such, it can flash brightly when it strikes a foe, blinding it?

 

[Shiroiken]

For a minor trait, I would recommend that it make the wielder sympathetic towards creatures of Elemental Air and antagonistic against creatures of Elemental Earth. I like quirks that work both ways, because I'm a fairly evil DM

For abilities, I would suggest that it have charges, and can a spell by spending the appropriate charges. I would suggest it only be able to use 1 spell at a time, limiting overlap. Max 4 charges, recovering 1d4 per day seems good.

Suggested Air Themed Spells
Light: 0 Charges
Gust (EE): 0 Charges
Feather Fall: 1 Charge
Fog Cloud: 1 Charge
Unseen Servant: 1 Charge
Dust Devil (EE): 2 Charges
Levitate: 2 Charges
Skywrite (EE): 2 Charges
Fly: 3 Charges
Gasseous Form: 3 Charges
Conjure Minor Elemental (Air only): 4 Charges
Storm Sphere (EE): 4 Charges

 

[Kobold Stew]

Two ideas:

1. replicating a spell: wielder can cast Unseen Servant 1/day. (a cool ritual that's underused, and could be flavoured to be air-elemental themed).

2. a non-standard ability that could reward player creativity: all winds avoid the wielder, creating a 10' zone of calm. (we can see how that would be of advantage on an elemental air plane, but it could be put to use on enemy ships, etc.)

 

[Greenstone.Walker]

The flail's chains attempt to entangle and wrap around whatever they strike.
You have advantage on all rolls to disarm your opponent (the chains grab their weapon).
You have advantage on all rolls to knock your target prone (the chains wrap around their legs and trip them).

The acid head of the flail can produce one vial of strong acid per day.

The chains are spiked with tiny spines which can be removed and spread on the ground. The flail produces one bag of caltrops every day.