Property of: Samuel
Lore:
The Hawthorne Staff was created by the Druids of Forlorn, in an attempt to
destroy a powerful vampire lord in that land. The Staff is specifically
designed to use the power of life to fight undead, with particular emphasis on
vampires. Unfortunately, when the druids attempted to use their weapon, they
discovered that their foe was not actually a vampire at all, but an entirely
different creature, and the magic staff was useless to them. Their foe seized
the weapon and let it fall into the hands of some foolish vampire hunters headed
to Barovia. After a close call with the weapon, Count Strahd called upon some
of his most trusted servants to dispose of it, and ensure that it would never
return to his land.
Origin:
Samuel received the Hawthorne Staff from Madame Eva of the vistani, over
ten years ago. An angry weapon for an angry soul, she declared it, and told him
a bit of prophecy, "The staff will be destroyed one day. And that day will come
in Barovia." Since then, Samuel has avoided Barovia whenever possible.
Appearance:
The Hawthorne Staff is, as the name implies, carved from Hawthorne.
Intricately carved with vines and thorns. It can be weilded as a Quarterstaff,
or shrink to a 1' long, sharpened stake, which is how Samuel usually carries it.
Powers:
(2nd edition rules in red.
3rd edition rules in green.)
+2 Quarterstaff (damage, attack and speed factor), shrinks to 1', grows to 7''
When held in the presence (30') of undead, who fail a DC17
Will save, or are mindless, the carved thorns become real
thorns, which prick the weilder and draw blood to power the staff.
([-1 STR/1 CON damage])
(While "powered", new undead
entering the area can be detected by another thorn-prick which is painful,
but does not draw blood. The staff will remain "powered" until no
new undead have been detected for 1 hour.
The staff cannot be triggered by the same specific
undead individual unless an hour has elapsed from the last time the
individual was in range. Intelligent undead must make a new save each time
they come into range of the staff after being out of range for at least an
hour.)
The blood powers
the following special powers:
-
The staff is +4 impact vs. undead. (See next bullet for why
that matters.)
-
When the weilder rolls
[a natural 19 or 20/what would be
a threat, if undead were subject to critical hits]
, the weilder [takes another -1 STR and/
may choose to take another 1 CON damage to
make] the thorns do an additional 10 hp of
damage to the undead, and allow him to roll to confirm
the critical, as though the undead were not immune to critical
hits. (The extra damage is added before doubling if it's a
[20/confirmed critical]
).
Lost [
STR/
CON] can be regained [
at 1/day or 3/day of complete bedrest
/
as per normal ability damage].
However, if the staff is weilded against a natural living creature or
(demi-)human, the thorns only sprout where the weilder is holding it. The
thorns then inflict to the weilder 1/4 the damage done with each blow. It
also loses its +2 enchantment.
For this purpose, the staff reads the intent of the weilder. It does not
convey any magical knowledge of whether a creature is natural or not. (i.e.,
if the weilder doesn't know he's attacking a werewolf in human form, the
staff acts as though the werewolf really was a human, and inflicts these
penalties.)
In addition, when in 1' form, the staff becomes a stake that can instantly and completely
destroy a vampire with a
[called shot to the heart/coup de grace]
. However, the weilder
takes damage equal to the 10 + current hp of the vampire.
