D&D 5E (2014) please help me develop this memorable scene (and reward)

[Tanaka Chris]

Personally with the throw and return power for now
Maybe add Thunder damage or something at later upgrades due to the Stormwind feel

Basically a reskinned Icebrand or Flametongue but for Thunder/Lightning damage/resistance.

 

[pukunui]

If you're building on the'Stormwind' family name, how about instead of the standard "boomerang axe" idea, the axe can instead attack at range by hurling a blast of air or a thunderbolt at a foe? Give the attack the same damage as a standard axe blow, but change the damage type.

At some point - around level 7 or so - I'm going to give it the ability to cast storm sphere (from the EEPC) 1/day. That spell is, I think, the most thematically appropriate for the "Stormwind" name.

Personally with the throw and return power for now
Maybe add Thunder damage or something at later upgrades due to the Stormwind feel

Basically a reskinned Icebrand or Flametongue but for Thunder/Lightning damage/resistance.

I'm somewhat hesitant to increase its damage output. It's a d12 weapon, and she has insanely good luck with her dice rolls, so she doesn't really need to do more damage. That's why I'm not giving it a flat +1. Giving it extra lightning or thunder damage later on should be fine, but at 4th level is a bit too much, I think. That's why I want to give it a bit more utility, such as with the thrown property. Dex is also her one bad stat, so the +2 to initiative from the Guardian property will no doubt be appreciated.

 

[Tanaka Chris]

I'm somewhat hesitant to increase its damage output. It's a d12 weapon, and she has insanely good luck with her dice rolls, so she doesn't really need to do more damage. That's why I'm not giving it a flat +1. Giving it extra lightning or thunder damage later on should be fine, but at 4th level is a bit too much, I think. That's why I want to give it a bit more utility, such as with the thrown property. Dex is also her one bad stat, so the +2 to initiative from the Guardian property will no doubt be appreciated.

Yup, totally agree. I did say the additional damage was for later upgrades

Oh, if you wanted a minor effect, maybe it detects the presence of *insert monster type which family slays here*... perhaps minotaurs or whatever the undead boss fight you planned to have here.

 

[pukunui]

Yup, totally agree. I did say the additional damage was for later upgrades

Right. Sorry. I missed that.

Oh, if you wanted a minor effect, maybe it detects the presence of *insert monster type which family slays here*... perhaps minotaurs or whatever the undead boss fight you planned to have here.

Hmm. Maybe. One of the other PCs has an amulet made from a silver dragon scale that grows slightly warm when it's brought within 120 feet of dragons (and also functions as a ring of warmth).


EDIT: OK, I think what I'm going to do with the axe to start with is this:
- Guardian minor property
- Confident quirk
- Thrown property (range: 20/60ft)
- 3 charges: spend 1 charge to cast thunderous smite. Regains 1d3 spent charges daily.


Then later, I might make it so it does extra thunder damage when thrown, and I'll increase the charges to 5 and add storm sphere, which will cost 4 charges to cast.


So now I just need to finalize the crypt. The next session is this Saturday, although to be honest, I'm not sure we'll get to the crypt, since we usually only play for 2 hours, and we've still got a good chunk of the Dues for the Dead adventure to play through first.

 

[Jackdaw]

If the PC comes from an established and unbroken noble line then there are a few questions that need answers for this scenario to make sense. Right now is sounds a tad video gamey.

Why did the descendants of the Stormwinds allow the axe to be entombed with the last user? It’s a powerful weapon and an emblem of the family, so why did great-great-grandma Stormwind go to lengths to deny it to her children? Why would they willingly decline their birthright? Who built this tomb to keep out all the looters (and other Stormwinds) until the PC could finally claim it? Was great-great-grandma Stormwind certain her soul would be bound to the tomb as a guardian for the axe? Why would she damn herself to protect it?

A brainstorm: Unbeknownst the PC the Stormwinds were ennobled by serving as sacred executioners for the crown. They had a different surname name back then, more in line with their duties. The axe was a gift from the king for playing a crucial role in the routing of a coup and performing the spiritually draining executions of the conspirators. The kingdom was tyrannical and the Stormwinds were loyal and righteous.

When the king’s even crueler godson assumed the throne the land descended into insurrection and the Stormwinds found themselves questioning their role as merchants of justice. They refused to raise the sacred axe against the new dissidents, so they were themselves executed, all except two sisters and their children, who managed to escape with the axe. They were given sanctuary in the Stormwind monastery, high in the remote peaks, where they assumed their new surname.

One sister became a penitent, obsessed with the axe, the nature of mercy and her family’s historical role in denying it. She rose to the head of the order and enshrined herself and the axe with a promise it would only be used as a weapon against tyranny. The other sister and all the children eventually fled to a neighboring kingdom where they used the brewing skills the monks had taught them to rekindle the family fortune. She only spoke of her family’s dark past when she was blotto drunk.

The Stormwind monastery is now unnamed and in ruins, having suffered a man-made rockslide decades ago. The monks crushed themselves and a contingent of king's men who came seeking the axe rather than let it fall into unworthy hands. The tomb at its heart is wreathed in tapestries that depict a multitude of executions, all originally witnessed by the first sister when she was a girl. The undead monks still guard the axe and will only relent when someone of the Stormwind bloodline answers the question: “Who is thine enemy?”

The replica axe was forged by a grandson of the first sister who researched the family line and (wrongly) deduced that the Stormwinds were originally freedom fighters. It looks nothing like the real axe.

Brainstorm over, just tossing out ideas!

 

[pukunui]

[MENTION=6789113]Jackdaw[/MENTION]: Thanks for the brainstorm! It's given me some ideas of my own. I had already begun contemplating the family history a bit. I was toying with the idea that the ancestor may not have been as lawful-minded as her descendants have become.

Baldur's Gate was originally a pirate haven. Greataxes, however, make me think of Vikings more than pirates. Perhaps Skie was a sea reaver from the north who raided the Sword Coast for many years before - for whatever reason - deciding to become something of a vigilante, hunting down pirates and bringing them to swift justice. Eventually she chose to settle down in Gray Harbor as it began transforming into a proper town.

I'm thinking I'll drop the idea that the axe is just a replica. Could be a red herring, or I could retcon that bit. The PC's brother is a politician - maybe there are rumors circulating that his ancestor was a pirate or sea reaver, and he wants his sister to go check out the tomb to see if there's any truth to the rumor - because it could be damaging for him politically or something.

While in the tomb, the ancestor's spirit manifests and she says she's been watching the PC and can sense she's destined for something important (in this case, stopping the Cult of the Dragon from bringing Tiamat into the world) and wishes to help her.

The point, though, is that the ancestor was probably rougher and more violent than her genteel descendants, which may come as a bit of a shock to the PC. I like the idea of there being an altar to some wild elemental god or something and in order to unlock the tomb, the PC has to go through a little ritual. I like the line my wife came up with: "Blood of my blood, breath of my breath". I think I mentioned above that maybe the PC has to drop a few drops of her blood into a bowl on an altar and then, as it starts to bubble, she has to blow on it. Maybe once she does this, the spirit manifests.

 

[Jackdaw]

All good! I like the pirate angle, and the "Blood of my blood, breath of my breath..."

Maybe Skie the pirate made a big show of gifting her axe to the Marshall of the city, a token in exchange for being forgiven past crimes and sailing under the banner of Gray Harbor. But she slipped him a replica because hey, she's a pirate. She's set up the whole situation to insure the adventurer's spirit is manifest in her bloodline. The axe actually came to her the same way, as the extension of a truly ancient, unbroken bloodline: both the axe *and* the bowl are treasures, made at the same time, from the same metals. The axe is for the living, the bowl is for the dead. The PC's spirit is bound to the bowl when she accepts the axe, to continue the tradition after her passing.

 

[pukunui]

Hmm. That's not a bad idea. Still not sure if I should go with the replica - which ends up getting replaced with the real thing - or not, though.

 

[jayoungr]

Hmm. That's not a bad idea. Still not sure if I should go with the replica - which ends up getting replaced with the real thing - or not, though.

My two cents: people replace weapons all the time in games; upgrading and imbuing a weapon is more unusual and memorable.

 

[pukunui]

[MENTION=6702445]jayoungr[/MENTION]: Thanks for that. I think I will upgrade her weapon rather than replace it.

I also think I've figured out what I want to do with the crypt. I'm going to go with the classic "mind, body, spirit" theme.

The test of the mind is solving the riddle in order to open the crypt.
The test of the body is pushing your way up the gust of wind corridor.
The test of the spirit is making the sacrifice at the shrine in the tomb.

And what I'm going to do for that is have a ritual knife and an old horn on an altar. I might have the "blood of my blood, breath of my breath" phrase inscribed on the altar or something. Anyway, the idea is that she has to cut herself with the knife and blow the horn, and that will prove her bloodline and summon her ancestor's spirit. The reason this is a test is because, over the centuries, the Stormwinds have become more genteel and civilized than their progenitor, so they may not be willing to go through such a primitive ritual.


EDIT: How's this for the riddle:

One tooth to bite,
it's the forest's foe.
One tooth to fight,
as all Northmen know.

The answer is ... can anyone guess?