Whip Way
Hello everyone and welcome to another exciting edition of Magic Market, where we bring you new magic items each and every week in order to improve both your heroes and villains alike. Yesterday’s article was all about whips, and so when I was writing today’s article I had the less than lethal weapons strong in mind. Fantasy movies, games, and television are full of magical whips, so why is it that the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game doesn’t really seem to have any? Well, it’s probably because whips aren’t very good weapons. Luckily, I fixed that with yesterday’s Extraordinary Feats, so check out that article, get excited, then check out these awesome new whips.
Beastmaster’s Lash
Made from the braided hair and hide of a woolly mammoth, this powerful whip smells strongly of tanned leather. The heavy whip seems to vibrate slightly when coiled, as if eager to be let fly.
This +1 animal bane whip is prized by those who would seek to control mighty beasts. In addition to its ordinary magic, any creature of the animal type that is damaged by the whip must succeed on a Will save (DC 15) or be affected by the spell dominate animal. If the attack that hit the creature was a critical hit, the DC of the saving throw is increased by +3. Finally, a character with a beastmaster’s lash may use Intimidate in place of Handle Animal to push an animal or magical beast.
Giant’s Scourge
An enormous whip constructed from the hide of a brass dragon, the giant’s scourge was originally produced by fire giants as a means of disciplining new troops. Eventually, the whip found its ways into the hands of a dwarven hero whose clansmen had been enslaved by the giants. The hero’s rage was so intense and righteous that the dwarven gods blessed the whip to allow him to use it to chastise the giants who had wronged his people.
This truly enormous whip is enchanted to let creatures of any size wield it without difficulty. This Huge +3 whip can deal lethal damage at the wielder’s discretion, and can damage creatures regardless of their armor bonus or natural armor bonus to AC.
Serpent’s Whip
Made from snakeskin, this emerald green whip is slick to the touch and hisses softly through the air. Stylized serpent’s eyes adorn the whip near its forked head, seeming to gleam with menace.
In addition to functioning as a +2 whip the serpent’s whip has a magical property which allows its wielder to transform it into a living weapon. By speaking a command word, the wielder of a serpent’s whip can transform the head of the whip into that of a living viper, which bites any creature hit by the whip. While animated in this way, any time that the serpent’s whip successfully hits a creature, whether it damages that creature or not, it makes a bite attack at a +7 bonus against the target, dealing 1d4+2 points of damage on a successful hit and injecting the target with viper poison (injury; save Fort DC 9; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d2 Con damage; cure 1 save.). This transformation lasts for one minute each time it is activated, and cannot be activated until 1 minute has passed since its last use.
If a serpent’s whip is further enchanted, any improvement to its enhancement bonus will similarly increase the attack bonus and damage bonus for the animated viper’s attacks. The special abilities of a serpent’s whip do not count as an enhancement bonus equivalent, and it costs only 10,000 gp to increase its enhancement bonus to +3 (or grant it a special ability that is equivalent to a +1 enhancement bonus).
Vine Lash
Composed of the vines of 6 different flowering plants, this whip is a feast of color when in bloom. Tiny thorns cover the whip, which discourage birds and other animals from landing on it, but which fail to penetrate stiff gloves, making them unlikely to cause discomfort to the wielder.
Normally a +2 whip, the vine whip is prized by druids, rangers, and nature’s other defenders for its unique magical properties. Firstly, the vine whip allows characters to prepare any spell from the plant domain as though it were on their spell list, using the spell level at which the spell appears on the plant domain.
Additionally, as long as the wielder has the entangle spell prepared, he can cast it as a spell-like ability at will. When cast this way, the spell is centered on the wielder and has a 15-foot radius. While the entangle effect created by this spell-like ability is in effect, the vine whip loses its enhancement bonus.