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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 9489435" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/lyo75kw.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /><a href="https://www.dmsguild.com/product/331339/Vestigial-Appendages--the-Lost-Armament-of-the-Amber-Temple" target="_blank">Product Link</a>Product Type: Character OptionsCoS-Required? Game mechanics no, everything else yesCurse of Strahd is rather light on magic items, particularly in regards to magic weapons. It’s likely that the Sun Blade will be the only one many gaming groups ever see. Vestigial Appendages adds 20 new magic weapons to the module, all tied lore-wise to one of the Vestiges from the Amber Temple. Their placement in Curse of Strahd can be done as an additional Tarokka reading, placed in an area in the same fashion as the other three treasures (Tome of Strahd, Holy Symbol of Ravenkind, Sun Blade). Alternatively, they can be placed elsewhere in Barovia, most likely in the hands of a powerful NPC or part of a significant treasure hoard. Each weapon is rare, has its own unique artwork in the book, a +2 bonus on attack and damage rolls, applies some persistent penalty while wielded in line with the Vestige, and requires attunement. For DMs who incorporate them into other Tiers of play, the book has suggestions for lowering or raising their power.I won’t go over every weapon in this post, instead highlighting about half of the ones I find the most interesting.Chaos Acument of Zrin-Hala is a warhammer that harmlessly sparks electricity in the hands of the attuned. A bolt of lightning jumps out at a selected target within 20 feet whenever it’s used to make a knockout or killing blow, and foes who fail a Constitution save to halve the damage cause another bolt to jump out from the warhammer, which can be done up to 5 times. Its one-time curse upon attunement is that the wielder forgets minor or major events from their life based on whether they succeed or fail a Wisdom save.Drizlash’s Chelicerae is a longbow made out of chitin that appears to squirm in the wielder’s hands. It can cast a Web spell in tandem with making an attack, and can also summon a Swarm of Insects under DM control that either erupts around a struck target on a critical hit or from the weapon itself on a critical fumble. Its curse is that the attuned becomes disinterested in food that isn’t meat or insects, and suffers psychic damage whenever they take a short or long rest where they haven’t consumed at least one piece of meat or insect.Khirad’s Persuasion is a rapier that whistles as it’s swung and quietly titters just enough for the wielder to barely hear it. It has 3 charges that can be expended to perform the Dodge action as a bonus action. Its curse causes the wielder to be unable to take fights seriously, uncontrollably laughing during battle when taking certain actions, and has disadvantage on Intelligence and Wisdom saves while in combat.Pinion of the Grave Wyrm Tarakamedes is a glaive carved from a single large piece of bone. It has 3 charges that can be expended when taking the attack action in combat, where the wielder instead targets all creatures within 10 feet as part of a whirling attack, and targets also become prone if they fail a Dexterity save. Its curse is that its cumbersome nature imposes disadvantage on Acrobatics skill checks.Seriach’s Hellish Incisor is a morningstar whose offensive end is a mass of gums and teeth constructed from infernal creatures, smelling of sulfur. It has three charges that can be expended to deal bonus fire damage on a successful hit, and whenever it delivers a knockout or killing blow it has the chance to summon an allied hellhound if the wielder makes a DC 15 Charisma ability check. Its curse makes the attuned smell of sulfur, imposing disadvantage on Charisma ability checks and saving throws, along with Stealth against creatures that can smell.Tenebrous’ Accord is a quarterstaff with an immobile homunculus sitting at its end. It can absorb up to 3 souls, which must come from a slain creature of CR ½ or lower. A soul can be spent to inhabit the homunculus, animating it for 10 minutes or until destroyed, and a destroyed homunculus reforms at the staff’s end. Its curse causes the attuned to automatically fail all Stealth checks against undead, as such monsters are inextricably drawn to their presence.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/ZPRAkEo.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Vampyr’s Embrace is a longsword that is not like the other weapons here. First off, it’s sentient and can telepathically communicate, urging the wielder to give in to base emotions. It also holds the original soul of Rahadin’s, which is placedinto the sword by Strahd’s father. The current Rahadin is implied to be something worse.* Vampyr’s Embrace has three charges, and how many are in the sword impose various buffs and debuffs: if no charges remain the wielder has disadvantage on attack rolls, but if there’s one or more charges then bats, rats, and wolves of all sizes will not attack the wielder. Charges may be added whenever the wielder successfully performs a melee attack against an enemy with blood and no charged abilities have been used. A charge may be spent to either deal 1d12 bonus necrotic damage, Dodge as a bonus action, or add 1d8 to a saving throw.*Not a fan of this change to canon, as this robs Rahadin of agency in his complicity in the genocide of his people.Vampyr has a much higher standard than the other vestiges. Anyone who first tries to attune to the weapon has their consciousness teleported into a circular room without any allies or gear (not even clothes) and has to fight 10 wolves and 1 dire wolf at once. This is Vampyr’s trial, and if he is satisfied with the PC’s battle prowess then they will return to their body and attune to the weapon. The weapon has no real curse besides the penalty from lack of charges and its own telepathic whispers.Yrrgra’s Shadowpiercer is a hand crossbow that is black with gold inset, and dark steam continuously emanates from the weapon. It has three charges that can be spent to target a creature’s shadow, letting a crossbow bolt teleport through it and out of another creature’s shadow within the wielder’s vision, treating themselves as originating at that particular shadow for range purposes. The weapon also deals 2d6 necrotic damage when used this way. Its curse is that when not resting in complete darkness, the attuned rolls each hit die twice spent during short rests and take the lower result, and can only regain up to half their hit point maximum during long rests.Zantras’ Arresting Quip is a net that self-repairs over the course of an hour if damaged. Creatures restrained suffer disadvantage on mental ability checks while they remain tangled in the net. Its curse causes the wielder to become overconfident, making their mind vulnerable to psychic damage.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/uZWJOck.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Zhudun’s Decrier is a flail with two chained heads, one brimming with radiant energy and the other with necrotic energy. Whenever a successful attack roll is made, an even result on the die deals 1d4 bonus radiant damage or 2d4 vs undead. An odd result instead deals 1d4 bonus necrotic damage, or 2d4 vs celestials. Its curse caused the attuned to suffer disadvantage on death saving throws.Overall Thoughts: I certainly don’t mind the addition of themed weapons to Curse of Strahd, and tying their lore to one of the Vestiges is a neat means of foreshadowing those entities’ foul nature should a party journey to the Amber Temple. I also like how each magic weapon is of a different type, barring two of them being quarterstaffs. Only five out of the twenty are simple weapons, but as several of the martial weapons are of types that can be equipped by more roguish classes such as Bards and Monks, this arsenal isn’t of use only to traditional warriors.That being said, the sinister origins of these weapons can cause PCs in the know to be reluctant to use them, particularly for the more overtly “dark magic” ones such as Vampyr’s Embrace or Seriach’s Hellish Incisor. Also, the curses tend to vary in their penalties; some PCs will be hardly impacted, while others will be much worse. For instance,Pinion of the Grave Wyrm Tarakamedes relies on a skill that is situational in play, but the disadvantage on Intelligence and Wisdom saves from Khirad’s Persuasion makes the wielder very vulnerable to a lot of mind-affecting abilities which Strahd and several other monsters in the module are fond of using. And while it’s equally “rare” as the others, Vampyr’s Embrace feels more special and broadly useful, in that it has not one but 4 unique benefits. I can understand this, given Vampyr’s prominence in Strahd’s downfall, but at the very least I would’ve made it Very Rare, if not Legendary.Join us next time as we review Aspects of Fate, containing nearly half a dozen Tarokka-themed subclasses!</blockquote>

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