Item Familiar: Scythe of Reaping

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Scythe of Reaping


Aura moderate necromancy (faint when dormant); CL 10th (varies with abilities)
Slot —; Price 18,318 gp (base item, see text); Weight 10 lb.
Alignment matches owner (see text)

DESCRIPTION

The Scythe of Reaping appears as a plain but well-balanced masterwork scythe. To any wielder lacking the Item Familiar feat, it functions only as a +1 scythe and exhibits no unusual properties.

For a character with the Item Familiar feat (see Unearthed Arcana / SRD variant rules), the scythe functions as an item familiar and gains abilities as its owner invests experience and advances in level. These abilities manifest automatically once the appropriate level is reached and the item familiar rules are followed.

Item Familiar Progression

  • Level 1: +1 scythe
  • Level 4: +1 keen scythe
  • Level 7: +2 keen scythe
  • Level 10: +2 keen mighty cleaving scythe
  • Level 13: Becomes intelligent (see below)
  • Level 16: +3 intelligent keen mighty cleaving scythe
  • Level 19: +4 intelligent keen mighty cleaving scythe

If the wielder ever ceases to invest experience into the item familiar (see below), the scythe becomes dormant and functions only as a +1 scythe until its bond is restored.

ITEM FAMILIAR REQUIREMENT

The Scythe of Reaping is treated as an item familiar. The wielder must possess the Item Familiar feat to access its full abilities.

The scythe consumes 10% of all experience points gained by its wielder, as per the normal rules for item familiars. If the wielder refuses or is unable to invest this experience, the scythe immediately becomes dormant. Once sufficient experience is invested to satisfy the requirement, its abilities are restored.

INTELLIGENT ITEM ABILITIES (LEVEL 13+)

At 13th level, the scythe awakens as an intelligent item.

  • Alignment: Matches wielder
  • Intelligence: 10
  • Wisdom: 10
  • Charisma: 12
  • Ego: 5

Communication: Speech (Common)
Senses: 60 ft. darkvision and hearing

Lesser Power:

  • Cause Moderate Wounds (3/day)

The scythe adopts personality traits reflecting its wielder. If the wielder dies, the scythe retains these traits permanently.

SPECIAL ABILITY

If the wielder of the Scythe of Reaping dies, the weapon remains for one year and one day, after which it vanishes. It later reappears in the possession of a new wielder, initially in its dormant (+1 scythe) state.

Each prior wielder leaves a faint mark upon the weapon. These manifest as small runes along the blade. A creature handling the scythe may receive fleeting impressions of former wielders; this effect is purely narrative and has no mechanical benefit.

CONSTRUCTION

The Scythe of Reaping cannot be crafted by normal means. It is not created through standard item creation feats, but instead appears spontaneously in the possession of a destined wielder.

However, if a DM allows its construction, treat it as follows:

Requirements: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, keen edge, bull’s strength, animate objects, cause moderate wounds, creator must possess Item Familiar feat
Cost to Create: 9,159 gp + 733 XP + 19 days

Note: These costs reflect only the base +1 keen mighty cleaving scythe equivalent. Additional abilities are unlocked through the item familiar progression and do not require separate crafting costs.

LORE

The Scythe of Reaping is whispered to be a tool of inevitability - a weapon not forged, but appointed. It is said to appear beside those whose lives are intertwined with death on a grand scale: warlords, executioners, plague-bringers, or reluctant heroes fated to cut down many. No two accounts agree on its origin, though many attribute it to a cosmic arbiter of mortality, whether divine, fiendish, or something far older.

Those who wield the scythe often cannot recall when they first acquired it. It simply was - as familiar as an old scar or a long-held regret. Over time, wielders report an unsettling sense that the weapon understands them, reflecting their intentions with unsettling clarity. Some describe it as a companion. Others, as a mirror.

When a wielder falls, the scythe lingers only briefly before fading from the world, carrying echoes of its former master. Scholars and occultists prize accounts of these weapons, believing the faint runes etched into their blades are fragments of forgotten lives - stories of blood, ambition, sacrifice, and ruin, preserved in cold steel until the next hand takes up the harvest.

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