The Master Swordsmith
Hello, everyone. I would like to welcome you to this week’s Masters and Minions. This week I have an encounter involving Heatflayer, a cursed sword which devours the soul of its wielder. A few weeks ago, Maxus Doon, the master swordsmith, created a powerful falchion for the caliph of Megiros. Inexplicably, however, when Heatflayer was completed, instead of giving it to the caliph the swordsmith instead kept it for himself. Since then he has been acting like a different person. In fact the sword came out cursed, and has possessed Maxus, controlling his every action. Heatflayer portrays Maxus as having gone insane with the power he granted him, while in actuality Maxus’ soul was trapped and consumed by the sword. The Heatflayer-possessed Maxus is quite hostile and fights up-close, attacking ranged combatants first while using his fire spell-like abilities to separate the group.
Maxus Doon (possessed by Heatflayer) |
CR 10 |
XP 9,600
Human fighter 9
N (NE) Medium humanoid (human)
Init +2; Senses Perception +1 (+3)
DEFENSE
AC 22, touch 14, flat-footed 19 (+3 Dex, +8 armor, +1 deflection)
hp 67 (9d10+18)
Fort +10, Ref +7, Will +4
Defensive Abilities armor training, bravery, weapon training (blades, heavy) +2, weapon training (axes) +1
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee Heatflayer +18 (2d4+2d6+7 +1d6 fire/15–20)
Ranged throwing axe +14 (1d6+6)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 10th +12 ranged touch)
At will–ray of fire (fire damage ray of frost)
3/day–burning hands (DC 16), fireball (DC 18), flaming sphere (DC 17), scorching ray
1/day–cone of fire (fire damage cone of cold) (DC 20), fire shield, wall of fire
STATISTICS
Str 18, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 10 (14), Wis 12 (16), Cha 8 (20)
Base Atk +9; CMB +15; CMD 29
Feats Weapon Focus (falchion), Step Up*, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (falchion)*, Power Attack*, Weapon Specialization (falchion)*, Disruptive*, Greater Weapon Focus (falchion)*, Toughness, Master Craftsman (weaponsmith), Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Improved Critical (falchion)
Skills Climb +17, Craft (weaponsmith) +15, Intimidate +12
Languages Common
*Bonus Feats
Equipment Heatflayer, +2 Breastplate, Belt of Incredible Dexterity +2, Ring of Protection +1
Heatflayer (Cursed Sword)
This potent +1 flaming vicious falchion grants its wielder various fire based spell-like abilities. If the wielder uses more than 5 spell levels of Heatflayer’s spell-like abilities in a day he must make a Will save (DC 20+1 per previous attempt). On a failure his soul is trapped within the sword and Heatflayer gains control of his body, as the spell magic jar, with the sword acting as the jar. Unlike magic jar, this effect is permanent unless Heatflayer decides to end it, which returns Heatflayer’s spirit to the sword. Once the wielder has used a total of 20 spell levels, this Will save must be made every time he uses a spell-like ability granted by Heatflayer. Losing and regaining possession of the sword does not allow the wielder to “reset” this effect, and once he has used 20 spell-levels of Heatflayer’s spell like abilities he will always be subject to the threat of imprisonment. Ray of fire counts as half a spell level for this purpose.
Imprisoned characters are unable to trap souls or otherwise reverse the effect, allowing Heatflayer to use the blade’s spell-like abilities freely. Imprisoned characters can communicate telepathically, but only with the sword’s wielder. Once Heatflayer has taken a body for himself, the soul trapped within the sword takes one negative level per spell level used by the sword’s wielder. Characters that die in this way are consumed utterly, and cannot be resurrected without first using wish or miracle to restore their souls. Once this occurs, the character’s body begins to rot, withering away into uselessness after 2d4 days and forcing Heatflayer back into the sword. If Heatflayer is more than 190 ft away from the sword at this time, the sword becomes a plain +1 flaming vicious falchion.
Aura: moderate evocation; CL: 9th; Magic Items: Any magic weapon that has both the flaming and vicious abilities.
Heatflayer
NE
Int 14, Wis 16, Cha 20
Bluff +18
Heatflayer actively encourages its wielder to use its powers.