Items · Ranged Weapons · Magical
The Bloody Bow
The Bloody Bow (also known as the Bow of Blood) has a well... bloody past.
Full Item Description
The Bloody Bow is an ornate longbow, carved from an unknown species of redwood, stained with the color of blood. The bow is intricately carved, with channels and other designs going from end to end. On the bottom end of the bow is the mark of a master craftsman, with a defiling mark crossing through the man's mark.
History
The Bow first came to the world through the designs of one of Lokatt, the God of Conflict. Lokatt at first wanted to tame Blood Beasts, using them to promote conflict and strife. However, even the God's attempts failed. He then turned to allowing one of his followers to emulate such a beast. Lokatt commissioned the work to the craftsman Corran, knowing that Corran's skills surpassed his own in such matters. Appearances of the bow have been fleeting and rare, with no single owner being able to keep the bow (or his head) for very long after acquiring the bow. The owners who possess the bow for longer periods of time undoubtedly passed into legend, such as Lord Kelnor of the House of Drummer, who used the bow to decimate the ranks of Alduk's Army, which was currently trying to break into his castle's innermost keep.
Magic/Cursed Properties
When first used to attack another creature in combat, the bow will exact payment in blood from the wielder of the bow- causing equal damage to the wielder as done to the target. The Bow only exacts the initial blooding once, however, should the wielder fumble or halter while making an attack (critical fumbles in my games), the bow will exact a price in through another taking of blood. After the initial blooding, the Bloody Bow will only fire an arrow for the blooded individual- until that person's blood no longer flows through his veins. Anyone else picking up the bow with an intent to fire it in combat feels an incredible burning sensation moving from the hand holding the bow to the shoulder on the same arm. This burning sensation is the blood in their veins boiling- causing the affected limb to burn from the inside out.
When used by the person the bow is currently blooded to, the Bloody Bow increases the accuracy and damage done by the wielder. The bow also contains charges, which may be recharged in the following manner. Every time a critical hit is rolled for an attack roll, the bow gains a charge. After ten such charges have been built up, the wielder may speak a command word (The specific word has been lost to the ravages of time, however, the word 'kill' is often quoted as being the command word) and become a Blood Beast.
When becoming The Blood Beast, the character starts bleeding from every orifice. The character takes no damage, instead becoming a solid creature composed mostly of blood. The creature is a terrible sight, causing fear to anyone seeing it who lacks in strength of will. The transformation gives the bow wielder incredible strength and stamina, equal to that of a true blood beast. The bow melds into the mass of blood that forms around the wielder during the transformation.
The Transformation lasts but a single combat. Once transformed back into his normal form, the wielder becomes weak for ten hours while he recovers from the after-effects of the transformation. The character is also drenched in blood, drawing carrion birds and other predatory beasts attracted to blood.
The Blood Beast in Combat
Blood beasts generally attack using only their large stature to buffet and bash enemies with walls of moving blood. Blood Beasts are capable of engulfing enemies within their body, crushing the hapless foe within, allowing their blood to flow into the beast- healing it.
Scrolls
Twists, chapters, and details meant to stream with the submission — not general discussion.
No scrolls yet — leave one if you have a twist worth keeping.
Sign in to plant an idea scroll.
Award XP
Enjoyed this? Sign in to thank Ted with blade clashes — 5 XP each, up to 25.
5 10 15 20 25Sign in to award XP.
Discussion
Reader talk, questions, and feedback — not scrolls.
No comments yet — be the first voice in the hall.
Sign in to join the discussion.
Other takes
No other takes yet — the best compliment on the Citadel is a Retelling.
Bonds
Curated bonds across the Citadel. Kindred Favors are another thread in the same weave.
No bonds yet.
The Bloody Bow's background is somewhat generic (a god give the item to a powerful guy then it gets lost to time), the powers are a little like most things you would find in any RPG, your basic vampiric bow. But the added powers, such as the transformation to a Blood Beast, make it more than cliche. Your use of what appear to be fairly system specific rulings (as far as I can tell, it's D&D) is a little unhelpful, as it is best to leave the specifics to be determined by the various DM's. I have a question though, you refer to the Blood Beast, is that someething that might be found in the wild? If it is, will you be submitting it soon? Nicely written sub.
I'll get to work.
I'll see how you fix it and then vote - but looking good!
Updated: Updating to take suggestions into account.
The update is better. It is oddly hard to read in stops, as the text gets dense or awkward (alternatedly).
The Blood Beast section needs more information for me. Amended. I put in the Strolen's links to your in works Blood Beast submission. My question is how did this bow generate the magical blood beast transformation? Since The Blood Beast and its descendents exist, how did they "get into the bow" or how did this Corran bind one/ duplicate the magic.
The Blood tied bow is interesting in general though. It could use a bit more description for me and a bit more tie in to a world (a way to work it into a world).
Not bad - though I am not a fan of items that require kills to charge to unleash a power attack. For a video game, that would be fine. But that's my own preference.
As for the boiling blood description - I think just saying their blood begins to boil - literally - will make the need to explain the pain so caused unnecessary.
Other then those two quibbles, a pretty good post!
This is something I can use for a villain's lieutenant in my upcoming campaign, although I'll have to modify it a little for the system I use (no crits).
Good alternative options to acquire charges could be:
Automatically gains 1/day
Kill an enemy
Bring an enemy under half HP
Cause an Enemy to flee
Dip the bow in the blood of a powerful creature
Feed the Bow Blood (IE: Cut yourself to feed the bow... this could be used as a gambit.)