Originally posted on the Realms of Evil forums (Womb of Creation), October 16, 2001. The author did not name an edition; it is filed under D&D 3e by its rules. Shown as written, with light spelling and formatting fixes only.

Description

The Holy Axe of Sacrifice is a magical greataxe with a massive double steel head. The shaft is of rare darkwood, the same used to craft the Darkwood Shield (found in the DMG), the place where the axe is actually gripped is wrapped in a unidentifiable black fabric. The fabric has a different feel each time it is held, and anyone looking directly at it feels as if it is staring back with its deep black folds staring into ones soul, grinning in anticipation of the taste of ones very essence.

Background

A evil necromancer archmage had many apprentices under him. One in particular which would soon be able to match the archmages power and wit. The archmage foresaw this and so had immediately despised the pupil, jealous of what he could become. His punishments towards the pupil were harsh and cruel, and he often beat the pupil with his magic. He hurt the child mentally and physically, hoping the pupil would lose hope and give up his magical career. Instead the pupil, an human male by the name of Artiase experimented day and night on a greataxe which he would turn to a magical weapon which he could use on his master. Not to strike him down, but to trap his very soul inside. He borrowed books from his masters lab and from other higher mages, on the art of crafting magical weapons. Years of study and preparation lead to the final day when his master was to be trapped inside the axe. On the day of graduation the master and pupils exchanged going away gifts. Artiase gave his old master the axe, and had the master wrap the magical black fabric onto the handle as the finishing touch. The master did so just for show and to his horror, his soul was ripped from his very body and trapped within the now cursed black fabric. The pupil had no idea of the true power of the greataxe and discarded of it swiftly, and just as swiftly taking place of his old master as high necromancer at the mages tower.

Benefits

• This greataxe functions as a +1 magical weapon without any of the special abilities applied. Its effects stack with the +1 enhancement bonus.
• As long as one keeps a firm grip on the greataxe, one may fight to the bitter end, until reaching -10 hp.
• The wielder may sacrifice any number of Constitution points (temporary) and receive the same amount as a bonus to attacks and damage until the end of combat.
• Grants the wielder +2 to saves against energy drain and similar effects.
• The wielder of the axe may sacrifice any number of hit points in exchange for a bonus of that number divided by four to combat-related checks (for example, trip attacks or avoiding being tripped, disarm, bull rush, etc.).
• When the wielder knows his end is near he may give his life to the axe, sacrificing everything; his soul enters the black fabric of the axe. The body continues to function with Intelligence 5, Wisdom 5, Charisma 5, and -2 to Str, Con, and Dex. When the body has fallen (beyond -10 hp) the soul lives on within the axe until it is eaten totally by the axe or one of two things occurs:
  • A cleric of high level transfers the soul back to the body of the fallen, or
  • The trapped soul finds another host in which to place itself, whether an ogre or a greedy adventurer PC. When the potential host is holding the axe, he must make a successful Fortitude save or have the trapped soul enter his body. The soul keeps all the feats, skills and BAB it had when alive, and gains the host's Str, Con, Dex and Cha, but keeps its old Intelligence and Wisdom.

For each day that the soul does not find a host or is not transferred back to its old self, the soul loses 200 XP unless it makes a successful Constitution check (DC 20), as it is slowly eaten away by the strange essence within the black fabric. The check is high because the eerie ribbon is extremely powerful, as is the weapon, and it is hard to resist being devoured. When making the check, use the Constitution score the soul had when alive in a body.

Notes

• The original uses "*" as a placeholder for the number of Constitution points or hit points sacrificed; it is written out here as "any number."
• The author's out-of-character remarks are omitted; the Constitution check he added in an edit is kept.