Swordtember Day 24 - Decay

Nightmarish Necrosis

Weapon (rapier), very rare (requires attunement)

The Nightmarish Necrosis is a chilling weapon crafted by the enigmatic Doctor Viren D. Blutsauger, a renowned physician and a member of the Tierra Kingdom’s Order of 32 Beasts. While Doctor Viren is celebrated for single-handedly eradicating the devastating plague that swept the southern peninsula of the Tierra Kingdoms through his groundbreaking research, he is also feared as a combatant who employs a lethal array of poisons and diseases cultivated in his laboratory. The Nightmarish Necrosis is an early prototype from his arsenal. Unlike his later, more refined creations funded generously, this weapon was crudely fashioned from whatever materials he could scrounge and hastily enchanted. Yet, its true terror lies in the potent bacteria he engineered and stored within the blade. When nourished with sufficient blood, these bacteria can undergo random mutations, leading to varied and unpredictable effects upon infecting a living host.

Blood Fermentation. During a long rest, you or another creature can choose to feed the bacteria within the weapon by sacrificing any number of your hit dice. For each hit die sacrificed, Nightmarish Necrosis gains 1 charge, up to a maximum of 8 charges. The bacteria then produce a disease that remains potent for 24 hours. Roll a d6 to determine the type of disease produced. If you’re proficient with Alchemist’s Supplies, you can roll the die twice and choose which of the two diseases to produce. If you roll the same number on both dice, you can ignore the number and choose any disease on the table.

1. Blackened Blight. The victim's flesh and muscles darken and wither. They take 1d6 necrotic damage at the start of each of their turns and have disadvantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws.
2. Pustulent Plague. Boils and pustules erupt on the victim's skin. They become poisoned and take 1d8 poison damage at the start of each of their turns.
3. Bone Brittle. The victim’s bones decay and weaken. Their speed is halved, and they take an additional 1d6 necrotic damage for every 10 feet that they move.
4. Searing Sepsis. The victim's veins visibly blacken under their skin, causing intense pain. They take 1d8 necrotic damage at the start of each of their turns and are unable to regain hit points.
5. Necrotic Nausea. The victim's internal organs begin to decay. They take 1d6 necrotic damage at the start of each of their turns and are poisoned.
6. Cerebral Corrosion. The victim's brain becomes infected. They become unable to speak coherently and have disadvantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws.

Bacterial Injection. When you hit a creature with this weapon, you can expend a charge to force the target to make a DC 16 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the target is infected with the currently active disease. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature’s saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to Nightmarish Necrosis’s Bacterial Injection for the next 24 hours. If the creature is unable to rid itself of the disease for the entire 1-minute duration, the disease becomes chronic and remains until it’s cured.

----------------------------------

All the files will be added to a new Swordtember 2023 folder that you can find in the Vault