Sunday, May 23, 2021

OSR: d20 Magic Arrows

 

from Genshin Impact
You can find more magic arrows here and additional ideas here.  

Magical Arrows are lesser magic items, comparable more to potions than any other magic item.  They can be created by certain magical creatures or by Sages with knowledge of how to do so.  You can also find them as treasure or taken them off enemies.   

Magical Arrows are usually found together in bunches of 1d4+1.

The magic imbued into them is expended once used.  Even if you retrieve the arrow, it is just a normal arrow now, with the exception of Mage's Arrows- though Mage's Arrows are often destroyed by the effects they cause (Referee's Discretion). 

1d20
1- Arrow of Woodheart.  Upon striking a creature, the arrow forces that creature to save.  On a failed save, that creature turns into a beautifully detailed wooden carving.  On a successful save, the creature instead takes 2d6 damage.  Creatures with 5 or more HD have advantage on their saves.
2- Arrow of Zombie.   If anyone is killed by one of these arrows, they become an Undead with HD equal to what they had while alive.  If stabbed into a corpse, it raises the corpse as a 1 HD Undead.  Undead created by these arrows serve you for 1d6 days, then are unbound and free to do as they wish.
3- Ballista Arrows.  These arrows grow as they fly, until they are the size of ballista bolts.  They do 3d6 damage on a hit which ignores armor, but creatures can save to take half damage.  Medium or smaller creatures with 15(+1) or higher DEX instead take no damage on a successful save.   These arrows do double damage to structures. 
4- Rope arrows.  When these arrows hit a creature, they do no damage, but instead transform into ropes that hog-tie the creature.  That creature can either break free with a successful DC 16 STR check or the ropes can be cut as an action by another creature.
5- Screaming Arrows.  Scream when fired and when they hit someone.  Not loud enough to hurt but loud enough to break concentration on spells and grant disadvantage on any checks requiring concentration.  They are also barbed so pulling them out will leave a persistent wound that does 1d4 damage when removed and then per round until an action is taken to staunch the bleeding. The arrow continues screaming for 1 hour or until it is broken.
6- Arrow of Sunfire.  When it hits a target, it explodes in a flash of blinding natural sunlight.  This causes all creatures within 50' to take 1d6 radiant damage and to make a save vs blindness, with those who fail their saves being blinded for 10 minutes-CON modifier minutes.  Undead take 2d6 damage and must instead save vs fear when hit by the wave of sunlight.  Frightened Undead will immediately flee from the archer and continue running until out of sight or range.
7- Arrow of Wasting*.  Creatures struck by this take 1d6 CON damage and have disadvantage on STR and CON checks/saves for 1 day.  If this CON damage reduces a creature to 0 CON, that creature sickens and dies. 
8- Arrow of Love.  Before you use this arrow, you are advised to take a hair from a specific living creature and wind it around the shaft, or dip it in the blood of a living creature.  Creatures struck by this arrow must save- those who fail their save will immediately be infatuated with the creature who's blood stained the tip or who's hair was wrapped around the shaft of the arrow.  The affected creature will abandon their current project at the earliest possible opportunity to track down the object of his affections.  These passionate feelings last for 1d4 weeks, after which the haze of pheremones wears off and the honeymoon ends.  Creatures who pass their saves will be overcome with a sudden melancholy, and feel the need to re-examine their current choices, rerolling reaction dice against you.    
9- Wolfsoul Arrow.  Any creature struck by this arrow must save or believe it is a wolf.  The creature loses all functions of the higher mind and begins to behave as if it is a feral beast.  This creature's desires and personality remain the same, but it's intelligence is reduced to that of a dim beast.  If the creature passes his save, it instead takes 1d6 psychic damage that ignores non-magical and non-specialist armor. 
10- Mage's Arrow.  An arrow that can be loaded with a spell and infused with up to 4 MD.  Any MD infused into the arrow are automatically expended.  Upon impact, the spell loaded into the arrow is automatically cast as if the caster was standing where the arrow landed. 
11- Bloody Arrow.  An arrow that, upon impact, forces a creature to save.  On a failed save, the creatures starts bleeding profusely and gains the Bleeding Out condition.  Creatures below half HP make this save with disadvantage.  Creatures who pass their save instead take +1d6 sharp damage. 
12- Serpent's Arrow.  An arrow that, upon impact, transforms into a snake that obeys the person who fired it.  The snakes know no fear and will fight to the death without hesitation.  If killed, the snakes transform into clay figurines in the shape of serpents.  All serpents have 1 HD, No Armor, and make 1 1d6 bite attack.  Most are venomous- this serpent's venom is 1d4 [1= Paralytic venom that does 1d6 DEX damage, if this reduces a creature's DEX to 0 it cannot move and is paralyzed; 2= Induces horrible pain- the creature takes 1d6 Morale damage per bite.  If this reduces the creature's Morale to 0 it becomes frightened and flees from the snake; 3= Does 1d6 poison damage a round (max 3d6) until the creature bitten successfully saves against poison; 4= Forces an immediate save vs death - creatures with more HD than the damage rolled by the snake's bite attack make their saves with advantage.]
13- Arrow of Slaying**.  This arrow is designed to slay a specific creature or a specific type of creature.  A creature of that relevant type, upon being hit by an arrow of slaying, must save vs death.  On a successful save, the creature takes +2d6 sharp damage instead.  Creatures who are not the same type as the Arrow of Slaying is intended for are unaffected by it's magic, treating it as a normal arrow.  Example Arrows of Slaying include 1d8 [1= Arrow of Undead Slaying; 2= Arrow of Dragon Slaying; 3= Arrow of King Slaying; 4= Arrow of Traitor Slaying; 5= Arrow of Thief Slaying; 6= Arrow of Loxodon Slaying; 7= Arrow of Man Slaying (man here meaning 'Males'); 8= Arrow of Jon the Redeemer Slaying (Jon the Redeemer is a Secret Master of the Minions of the Dark Powers, an infamous archvillain).]    
14- Ghost's Arrow.  These arrows are actually immaterial and can only be touched or seen by creatures with souls.  They cannot harm Constructs, non-magical items or other items or creatures without souls.  These arrows ignore non-magical and non-specialist armor and do psychic damage.
15- Ricochet Arrow.  These arrows are imbued with an impossible flexibility.  If such an arrow misses because of a parry or because all the damage is absorbed by a creature's armor, it bounces off and you can attempt an attack roll with it again next round.  These arrows also bounce off solid surfaces, so you can use them to shoot around corners, hit enemies in the back and other fancy trick shots by bouncing them off shields, walls and other hard surfaces. 
16- Seafoam Arrows.  Any creature struck by this arrow must save.  On a failure, that creature and all their equipment is turned into seafoam for 1 hour.  After the time is up, the creature reforms, no worse for wear, wherever the foam that comprised his body ended up.  Creatures who pass their saves instead have their mouthes filled with salt water and lose their next action vomiting it up.
17- Beast Arrows***.  These arrows, upon impact, transform into a beast.  This beast is a normal beast and is not inherently loyal to you, and is quite angry from being stuck in an Arrow for a long period of time.  This arrow contains a 1d6 [1= Wardog; 2= Feral Cat; 3= Chimpanzee; 4= Wolf; 5= Wild Horse; 6= Wyvern.]
18- Acorn Arrows.  These arrows, upon impact, cause a tree to immediately sprout from the point of impact and experience 1d6+2 years of growth rapidly.  If impaled in a creature, this can force a save vs death (Referee's Discretion).   
19- Explosive Arrow.  An arrow that, upon impact, begins glowing.  After 1 round on the archer's next turn it explodes, dealing 3d6 explosive damage that ignores non-magical and non-specialist armor, save for half.  This explosive charge is strong enough to blow holes in castle walls, collapse cave entrances and destroy other such objects.   
20- Rust Arrows.  An arrow that, if it strikes a metal object, infects the metal with rust, causing it to take 1d6 damage a round if a large object or if Armor, reduces the AR of said Armor by 1 per round.  Any object reduced to 0 HP or AR is destroyed.  This rusting ability cannot affect enchanted metal.  The only way to prevent this rust from spreading is to splash the affected area with acid to burn away the rust, then dilute the acid with a large amount of water or neutralize it with a base.   

from Pixiv, by 36518095
*If a creature's ability scores are not specifically listed, any relevant ability score it has is equal to 1d6+HD. 

**Unlike other magical arrows, when you find a trove of some Arrows of Slaying, they might not all necessarily be of the same kind.  The cache you discover might include an Arrow of Orc Slaying, 2 Arrows of Werewolf Slaying and an Arrow of Wife Slaying.

***As above for Beast Arrows.  You might find a trove of Beast Arrow that contains a Giant Rat, a hawk and an pot-bellied pig in the same quiver.

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