KlifIs This Anything?
Two identical blades. One always strikes true. One lies through its teeth. Every morning you wake up not knowing which is which and the only way to find out is to use them.
The most commonly-cited origin involves a gnome. Records disagree on the name, but the most repeated version i s Crumwick Follensby-Follensby-Follensby-Nimbleton-Follensby-Esq., Esq., a blacksmith of considerable skill and considerable irritability, who loved a good riddle and could not stand to be in the same room as someone who already knew the answer.
He forged the blades himself. Set the magic himself. Then, by most accounts, dropped them in a random merchant's stock at a busy market, bought a meat pie, and left. Nobody saw him again, or at least nobody who saw him knew who they were looking at.
Whether Crumwick made THE WITNESS or merely found them and added to them is disputed. Some scholars place the blades a century before any record of the gnome. He has never been available for comment.
Those who have carried both blades for long enough sometimes describe them less as two weapons and more as one unresolved question.
---
THE WITNESS
Weapon: Shortswords (or any identical weapon pair)
Rarity: Very Rare
Attunement: Required as a pair
THE WITNESS is two identical blades attuned and wielded as a single weapon system. They cannot be attuned separately. A creature that carries only one, or wields only one while the other is undrawn, gains no benefit from either.
TRUTH AND LIAR
At the end of each long rest, the DM secretly designates one blade as Truth and one as Liar. This assignment is not revealed to the wielder. When the wielder makes attacks, both attack dice are rolled openly. The wielder knows which die corresponds to which blade, but does not know which blade is advantaged.
Truth blade attacks are made at advantage.
Liar blade attacks are made at disadvantage.
The wielder may determine the assignment through observation over the course of the day.
THE FALSE READ
When the Liar blade misses, the wielder becomes aware that a read has occurred. The DM provides one piece of false information about the target. This may include but is not limited to: current HP threshold, intended next action, damage vulnerabilities or resistances, or current condition. The information is delivered confidently and without indication that it is false.
UNATTUNED
If the blades are carried without attunement, both are treated as attacking at disadvantage at all times. The False Read does not trigger.
NOTE: THE WITNESS is written here as shortswords. The mechanic applies equally to any pair of identical one-handed weapons suitable for dual wielding.
OPTIONAL: THE WITNESS may be treated as sentient. If so, neither blade speaks unprompted. What, if anything, they say is left to the DM.
#iTA #isThisAnything #DnD #TTRPG #Homebrew #MagicWeapons #MagicItems
ForesterDesigns
