Fläsräpper (3.5e Equipment)

Fläsräpper


This sinister orgacraft greataxe was once a perfectly normal greataxe &mdash; no, it wasn't even originally an orgacraft weapon or a magic item. It was merely a masterwork steel greataxe with one tiny flaw &mdash; a few small nicks, holes, grooves, and hollow indentations within the blade of the axe, very easy for blood to get into &mdash; but not so easy for blood to get out of. But this wasn't enough to make the axe unsuitable for use in battle, and it was used in many battles, by many armies. Ownership of the axe was transferred many times, as soldiers fell in battle and other soldiers looted the corpses. The greataxe was used by humans, by dwarves, by orcs, by gnolls, and just about every race with an inclination to use axes in combat. Despite being a perfectly ordinary axe, it somehow survived even when other weapons around it were sundered like twigs. And with every battle it participated in, the axe absorbed the blood of the fallen. Blood twisted by rage, by anguish, by pain, by hatred, by hunger. Hunger for death. Hunger for warfare. Hunger for souls. A sort of sentience slowly awoke within the axe... By the 100th anniversary of its creation, the axe had become fully self-aware, awakened by the curse of warfare &mdash; a savage fury that distorts the sacred essence of the soul. From that day on, the nameless axe, once an axe like any other, would take on a new name, a name befitting its origins and the legacy it would carve out &mdash; Fläsräpper, the Reaper of Flesh. Given will by its curse, Fläsräpper would slowly but surely create a new dark age... an age of shed blood, shed tears, and souls denied a place in the afterlife. An age of agony, despair, and horror. An age of endless war.

Abilities of Fläsräpper
Fläsräpper is one of the most powerful weapons to exist, now or ever. But it has a dark secret. You don't wield Fläsräpper &mdash; it wields you. Fläsräpper corrupts and taints the mind and soul of its holder, driving them into ever-darker depths of bloodthirst and depravity. Fläsräpper is perpetually hungry for souls, and the soul of its holder is not off-limits &mdash; in fact, that's the soul that Fläsräpper drinks in most deeply. Those it cuts down are simply obliterated. The one who holds it becomes a monster &mdash; no, a Nightmare.

At its weakest, Fläsräpper is appropriate for a character of about level 15-20 to wield. However, its abilities scale with its wielder (no, wait, that term isn't quite right &mdash; the "owner" should really be called Fläsräpper's holder), and by the time a character is level 5, Fläsräpper's already become an epic-level weapon. Yes, it belongs in an epic campaign. Is it always going to be in an epic campaign? No. The DM can insert Fläsräpper into his campaign at any point he wants, even if the PCs' levels are far too low for Fläsräpper to be level-appropriate. Actually, the nature of Fläsräpper's abilities makes it always a bit over a level-appropriate power level, and this is completely intentional. Fläsräpper is stupefyingly powerful, but has a nasty tendency to overpower the will of its holder and manipulate the poor fool like a puppet. The PCs can certainly try to wield it, but chances are that is not going to end well. At all. You've been warned.


 * At its base, Fläsräpper is a +4 bodyfeeder enervating unholy orgacraft greataxe.
 * Fläsräpper does damage as though it was three sizes larger (its actual size is Medium, but it can change its size to whatever would be most appropriate for its holder to wield two-handed), its threat range is 19-20, and it has a critical multiplier of &times;4.
 * Fläsräpper's enhancement bonus is increased by +1 for every 5 character levels its holder possesses. Yes, it becomes a +5 greataxe at level 5. +6 at 10. +7 at 15. +8 at 20. You get the drift; the pattern continues from there. Fläsräpper is capable of outperforming just about any other weapon. This stacks with any increases to Fläsräpper's enhancement bonus from invested essentia.
 * When Fläsräpper's holder reaches character level 15, the enervating property becomes the soulbreaker property. When Fläsräpper's holder reaches character level 20, the unholy property becomes the unholy surge property.
 * A character capable of utilizing incarnum can invest essentia points into Fläsräpper to increase its enhancement bonus by +1 for every essentia point invested. Fläsräpper is not considered to be a soulbound weapon - it has no maximum essentia capacity of its own (being limited solely by its holder), and its effective enhancement bonus is unaffected by its capacity to have essentia invested into it. (This is just a little extra bonus for soulborns and incarnates who attempt to wield Fläsräpper; Fläsräpper is already a perfectly competent weapon, if not overpowered, without any invested essentia.)
 * An evil or chaotic incarnate who holds Fläsräpper may become chaotic evil without losing any of his/her class features. His/her class features are unaffected by the alignment change (a formerly neutral evil incarnate continues to specialize in melee damage, while a formerly chaotic neutral incarnate continues to specialize in movement speed). The character may use soulmelds with the chaotic or evil descriptors (or both, assuming that such a soulmeld exists and is available to incarnates). If a chaotic evil incarnate later loses possession of Fläsräpper, he/she suffers the usual penalties for having an alignment incompatible with the incarnate class, including loss of class features and ability to progress in the incarnate class, and must atone, return to his/her previous alignment, or change to a different viable alignment (neutral good, lawful neutral, neutral evil, chaotic neutral) as standard for the incarnate class or regain Fläsräpper in order to regain class features and the ability to progress in the incarnate class.
 * All damage inflicted by Fläsräpper is vile damage. It cuts the very soul of its victims.
 * Fläsräpper cannot be used to inflict nonlethal damage, even at a penalty; attempting to do so converts the damage from vile damage to lethal damage.
 * Fläsräpper consumes the souls of all it strikes down. Any creature killed by Fläsräpper cannot be revived by anything - its very soul is gone, consumed utterly by Fläsräpper. This property can be suppressed by striking to inflict lethal damage instead of vile damage, as described above (which means that all of the related properties below can be ignored). A character under Fläsräpper's control practically never strikes to inflict lethal damage, instead opting to feed the axe as much as possible.
 * When the holder kills a creature through inflicting vile damage with Fläsräpper and consuming its soul, both the holder and Fläsräpper are healed by 4 points per Hit Die of the slain creature. Any excess is gained as temporary hit points that last for up to 1 hour.
 * Even creatures and characters that are normally able to respawn themselves if killed, such as immortalists, blood knights, and elder evils, can be permanently killed by Fläsräpper. It eats souls. What more needs to be said?!?
 * The only exception to this principle is a creature whose soul has been split into multiple pieces, each stored in separate vessels. In such a scenario, Fläsräpper only consumes the portion of the soul within the slain creature (and the holder and Fläsräpper only gain a fraction of the hit points they otherwise would have, according to the number of pieces the creature's soul was split into). Still, since Fläsräpper ate the piece of the soul in the body of its victim, it will likely take that creature a much longer time to return, and when it does, it may be missing some of its memories.
 * A creature whose soul isn't even inside of its body (such as a lich) is also safe from being consumed by Fläsräpper. However, if Fläsräpper is used to destroy the vessel containing the soul, it consumes the soul, and if the creature in question does not have more fragments of its soul existing elsewhere, it is instantly destroyed, wherever it may be.
 * Fläsräpper can't consume the soul of a creature that doesn't have a soul in the first place.
 * If Fläsräpper kills an outsider, elemental, or other creature whose soul and body are one and the same, that creature's remains are utterly obliterated.
 * If Fläsräpper kills a creature whose soul has been displaced by another's (for instance, a victim of a magic jar spell), it consumes all of the souls that are within the body at the time of death. If the slain creature's own soul is not among those, it is spared; it gets to proceed to the afterlife as normal, and the creature in question can be resurrected as normal. The creature that was possessing it, on the other hand, dies instantly, even if its body was intact, and is impossible to resurrect.
 * Not even an imprint of the soul remains in a creature killed by Fläsräpper; thus, speak with dead and similar spells do not work.
 * Fläsräpper can only be damaged or destroyed by its counterpart. (Soul Calibur is the default counterpart of Fläsräpper; a different good and/or lawful-aligned major artifact weapon may be chosen to fulfill this purpose if Soul Calibur is not included in the campaign.)
 * Fläsräpper is intelligent. (In fact, it has many of the qualities of an elder evil, though not all of them.)
 * Alignment: Chaotic Evil
 * Intelligence 16, Wisdom 20, Charisma 24
 * Lesser power: 10 ranks in Knowledge (history)
 * Lesser power: 10 ranks in Knowledge (religion)
 * Lesser power: 10 ranks in Search
 * Lesser power: 10 ranks in Diplomacy
 * Lesser power: Continuous deathwatch
 * Lesser power: Can daze monster 3 times/day
 * Lesser power: Can hold person 3 times/day
 * Greater power: Can use haste on owner 3 times/day
 * Greater power: Can use flame strike 3 times/day
 * Greater power: Can use shard storm 3 times/day
 * Greater power: Can locate creature 3 times/day
 * Greater power: Can cause fear at will
 * Greater power: 20 ranks in Intimidate
 * Greater power: 20 ranks in Sense Motive
 * Greater power: 20 ranks in Bluff
 * Greater power: 20 ranks in Martial Lore
 * Greater power: 20 ranks in Spot
 * Greater power: 20 ranks in Listen
 * Special purpose: Defeat/slay all
 * Dedicated power: Can use mass harm at will
 * Telepathy
 * Read languages
 * Ego: 59 (with base statistics)
 * If Fläsräpper is unclaimed (its last holder has died, for example), the first person to touch it is immediately forced to make a Will save against Fläsräpper's Ego score. Failure causes the victim to be compelled to pick it up and to be Fläsräpper's next pawn. The hapless fool's alignment becomes chaotic evil, and he/she becomes extra-violent in nature &mdash; subtly at first, but slowly being twisted into a berserker, an utter sociopath, or both. Within 2 weeks, the distortions in personality are strong enough that the holder is no longer him/herself at all, and if he/she was a PC, he/she becomes an NPC at this point. Over time, the wielder is transformed into the entity known as Nightmare, the Azure Knight and scourge of mankind; this transformation is complete in 1 year.
 * If the character who touched Fläsräpper succeeds on the Will save, he or she is safe from Fläsräpper' control for the moment, and may wield Fläsräpper normally until he or she drops Fläsräpper, stows it away, or is forced to make another Will save against its Ego.
 * Failing a Will save against Fläsräpper's Ego at any time causes the holder to fall under its control.
 * A character under Fläsräpper's control can potentially be freed by removing Fläsräpper from his/her possession (which thankfully only requires disarming him/her). Simply removing Fläsräpper from the character's possession may not be enough, as Fläsräpper does not relinquish control of a holder so easily; when possession of Fläsräpper is lost, the holder is entitled to an immediate Will save against Fläsräpper's Ego score. This Will save takes a &minus;2 penalty for every month that Fläsräpper has been in control of that character's actions. Success results in immediate freedom from Fläsräpper's control, even if the character has become the Nightmare, but the character gains awareness of everything he/she did under Fläsräpper's control (which means that he/she may need to be talked out of committing suicide). The result of failure depends on how long the character has held Fläsräpper, but in all cases, the character has its memories suppressed and remains under Fläsräpper's control for some time. Memories lost through a failed Will save against Fläsräpper's Ego score upon losing possession of it can be restored by limited wish, wish, miracle, or modify memory or a similar effect; all other effects of such a failed save can only be terminated before their duration expires by a wish or miracle. In any case, the caster must succeed on a caster level check against Fläsräpper's Ego score + 10. The consequences of losing Fläsräpper and failing the save are as follows:
 * If the character been under Fläsräpper's control for less than 3 months, he or she is immediately freed from Fläsräpper's control anyways, but doesn't remember anything that he/she did while under its control.
 * If the character has been under Fläsräpper's control for more than 3 months but less than 6 months, he/she remains under Fläsräpper's control for 8d8 rounds, during which he/she does everything in his/her power to reclaim Fläsräpper; if the character has not reclaimed Fläsräpper before the time is up, he/she is freed from its control, but remembers nothing of what he/she did while controlled.
 * If the character has been under Fläsräpper's control for more than 6 months but less than 9 months, he/she remains under Fläsräpper's control for 8d8 minutes, during which he/she does everything in his/her power to reclaim Fläsräpper; if the character has not reclaimed Fläsräpper before the time is up, he/she is freed from its control, but remembers nothing of what he/she did while controlled.
 * If the character has been under Fläsräpper's control for more than 9 months but less than 1 year, he/she remains under Fläsräpper's control for 8d8 hours, during which he/she does everything in his/her power to reclaim Fläsräpper; if the character has not reclaimed Fläsräpper before the time is up, he/she is freed from its control, but remembers nothing of what he/she did while controlled.
 * If the character has been under Fläsräpper's control for more than 1 year but less than 1 year and 3 months, he/she remains under Fläsräpper's control for 8d8 days, during which he/she does everything in his/her power to reclaim Fläsräpper; if the character has not reclaimed Fläsräpper before the time is up, he/she is freed from its control, but remembers nothing of what he/she did while controlled.
 * If the character has been under Fläsräpper's control for more than 1 year and 3 months but less than 1 year and 6 months, he/she remains under Fläsräpper's control for 8d8 weeks, during which he/she does everything in his/her power to reclaim Fläsräpper; if the character has not reclaimed Fläsräpper before the time is up, he/she is freed from its control, but remembers nothing of what he/she did while controlled.
 * If the character has been under Fläsräpper's control for more than 1 year and 6 months but less than 1 year and 9 months, he/she remains under Fläsräpper's control for 8d8 months, during which he/she does everything in his/her power to reclaim Fläsräpper; if the character has not reclaimed Fläsräpper before the time is up, he/she is freed from its control, but remembers nothing of what he/she did while controlled.
 * If the character has been under Fläsräpper's control for more than 1 year and 9 months but less than 2 years, he/she remains under Fläsräpper's control for 8d8 years, during which he/she does everything in his/her power to reclaim Fläsräpper; if the character has not reclaimed Fläsräpper before the time is up, he/she is freed from its control, but remembers nothing of what he/she did while controlled.
 * If the character has been under Fläsräpper's control for more than 2 years but less than 3 years, he/she remains under Fläsräpper's control for 8d8 decades, during which he/she does everything in his/her power to reclaim Fläsräpper; if the character has not reclaimed Fläsräpper before the time is up, he/she is freed from its control, but remembers nothing of what he/she did while controlled.
 * If the character has been under Fläsräpper's control for more than 3 years but less than 4 years, he/she remains under Fläsräpper's control for 8d8 centuries, during which he/she does everything in his/her power to reclaim Fläsräpper; if the character has not reclaimed Fläsräpper before the time is up, he/she is freed from its control, but remembers nothing of what he/she did while controlled.
 * If the character has been under Fläsräpper's control for more than 4 years, he/she remains under Fläsräpper's control permanently. He/she does everything in his/her power to reclaim Fläsräpper. Only a wish or miracle can restore such a character's sanity.

Plot Twist
In truth, Fläsräpper is a reincarnation of a vile enemy of mankind from another dimension &mdash; the weapon known only as "Soul Edge". Soul Edge came from the same origins as Fläsräpper &mdash; it was an ordinary sword, forged by human hands, that was slowly transformed into a demon as a result of repeatedly being bathed in human blood through usage in countless battles. Why that particular sword was twisted and no others were is uncertain. But what is known is that Soul Edge was eventually destroyed by its archenemy, the spirit sword Soul Calibur, a blade forged from a purified shard of Soul Edge. Soul Calibur and Soul Edge were the mightiest weapons of their era - both shared the ability to alter their shape and transform themselves into any type of weapon imaginable, and they used this ability to become a perfect match for the fighting styles of their wielders. When Soul Calibur won, it was only after a long struggle that made it, too, an enemy of the people. Wanting nothing more than a world free of warfare, and fearing that it was no better than its counterpart, Soul Calibur sealed itself away to enter a deep slumber, believing that the wicked Soul Edge, devourer of souls and scourge of life, was gone forever.

Then Fläsräpper surfaced.

As the axe that would become Fläsräpper went through its countless battles, the same demonic energies that had once transformed Soul Edge began to stir once more. This was an ancient force, a force that hungered for souls. A force known only as "Inferno". And just as it did before, Inferno slowly animated and twisted the weapon, making it more and more powerful... and increasingly deadly. When the transformation was complete, Soul Edge was reborn, and took on a new name &mdash; the name of Fläsräpper. Fläsräpper has so far refrained from shapeshifting, apparently believing that doing so will draw Soul Calibur's attention; it instead is trying to consume as many souls as it can to regain its former power so it can once more take up the name of Soul Edge.

Soul Calibur isn't fooled. Even now, it waits for a new hero, one who will prove him or herself worthy to find it, take it in hand, and bring it to bear against its enemy.

But Soul Calibur was crafted when Soul Edge was tamed by an immensely powerful soul &mdash; the soul of the Hero King Algol. If someone with a will and a spirit strong enough to subjugate Soul Edge could exist in the past, then such a person could exist in the present as well. Is it possible that somebody might actually be able to use Fläsräpper as a righteous tool to remove vile and dangerous souls from the Great Wheel? To truly wield Fläsräpper, instead of being wielded? And if that does happen, how will Soul Calibur react? Will it trust Fläsräpper's holder, or will it strike him or her down in an effort to prevent the tragedy of Soul Edge from being repeated yet again?

(If you don't want to use the Soul Calibur story, just have Fläsräpper be the creation of a high priest of Nerull or something along those lines. Also, if using the given story, Fläsräpper and Soul Edge shouldn't coexist in the same campaign; Fläsräpper is Soul Edge from a storyteller's perspective, and their abilities closely overlap, so there really isn't much of a point to having both of them around anyways.)