I had an idea for an offensive consumable item, and I figured I’d share it and get some feedback. Its power scales with the user, so it should presumably be pretty rare. on consuming, it casts a spell, but I didn’t want to make the spell separately so I’m just describing the item as though it was a spell too. it perhaps tries to do a bit too much, but I thought it wouldn’t be the same if I took away any particular aspect.
#The Martyr’s Evil Eye
- range/area: self / sphere 5ft + 5ft for every level of exhaustion sacrificed
- duration: instantaneous
- damage: necrotic / remaining caster HP + 1/3 max HP for every death save sacrificed
- save: CHA save for half-damage
A black marble with faint green swirls, that seem to move when seen out the corner of the eye. With a willing sacrifice of life force and stamina, the marble cracks open and a necrotic aura radiates out, quickly obscuring those within the sphere. Flashes of green light from within briefly silhouette nightmarish creatures. The aura expands out, reaching its maximum size, before popping like a bubble and exposing the haggard survivors and withered bodies of the dead. The fragments of the marble turn to dust.
Item must be in contact with the caster. All creatures within the radius of the sphere, including the caster, take damage equivalent to the caster’s remaining HP. The caster may increase the damage by 1/3 of their max HP for every death saving throw they sacrifice. All creatures, except the caster, take half-damage on a successful CHA saving throw. Radius of the sphere is 5ft plus an additional 5ft for every level of exhaustion sacrificed.
The item is for self-sacrifice in a moment of desperation. The more you sacrifice, the more damage is dealt, but the lower your chances of escape and survival. Sacrifice more of your own life force to deal more damage to each enemy, sacrifice your exhaustion to deal damage to more enemies. If you sacrifice all 3 death throws, or all 6 levels of exhaustion, then you’re instantly dead, but you deal the maximum damage to maximum enemies.
I thought that an item that always killed the user was kind of boring, so i included the part about death saves. I included the part about exhaustion so that even if the unconscious character is immediately healed back to consciousness, there are still lasting repercussions that make rejoining the fight or even fleeing difficult. Plus it fit thematically - health for health, and effort/exhaustion to cover area.
I also imagined the exhaustion bit as a ring, where you could increase range/area of a spell by spending levels of exhaustion.
What are your thoughts? Its kind of mechanically complicated, but I didn’t know how to simplify it without losing something too much character.
I’m aware that there is no stat for willpower, which is why finding something to roll for it is unclear. I’m not an expert but I’m not a complete beginner either.
To me, the biggest argument against rolling for willpower is that we don’t want to take away player agency for things that are internal to their character. But the counter to that is people can’t always control things internal to them, like mental disorders. A roll to see if your player stops procrastinating could be pretty entertaining, for example. Or more likely a roll to see if you give into a temptation that you know you shouldn’t, like if you’re a reformed thief presented with a great crime of opportunity. Sometimes it’s fun to add some chaos. It’s why we roll to begin with.
It’s worth noting that your description of charisma sounds a lot like willpower. That whole bit about believing in yourself 😜. I know it’s not what you meant by it, but I think it’s a pretty salient regardless.