For all your Critting Needs
A weapon of refined, blackened steel. When agitated it starts to vibrate, building up unstoppable tension that must be released in a dangerous impact.
Improving Critical: After you roll Initiative, at the start of your turn, the Critical Range of this weapon improves by 1. This makes so on the first round of combat your attacks with this weapon crit on a natural 19 or 20; on the second round on a natural 18, 19 or 20 and so on.
When you exit combat or deal a critical hit with the Fatal Steel Greataxe, its Critical Range resets to 0 (you crit on a 20).
Momentum Strike: Bonus Action. After you hit a creature with a non-critical attack with the Fatal Steel Greataxe, you can add 1d6 to the damage for each point of Critical Range the weapon has accumulated. After the attack the Critical Range resets to 0.
Example: Korr the Barbarian starts his third turn, the Fatal Steel Greataxe now crits with a natural 17, 18, 19 or 20. He smacks the Noble Guard Emissary with the axe, rolling a 15 on the die. He still hits the guard but it’s not the critical hit he wished for. Korr decides to spend his Bonus Action to use the Momentum Strike feature, adding +3d6 to the damage, not a critical but lethal enough!
His next attack this turn will crit only on a natural 20, next turn the Critical Range will improve again, allowing him to crit on a natural 19 or 20.
Give Me That Crit!
Who doesn’t love a Critical Hit? It is maybe the most iconic moment we recognize in our hobby. There will be time for a Insight to decompile what happens in our brains when we roll a sweet 20, but now it’s time to Loot the Room!
The Fatal Steel Greataxe is a simple reward for a simple kind of player: there’s not much strategy to it, you just swing it and hope for those increased chances. You all know one player that will appreciate this type of gamble. By putting this axe on the treasure pile, you’re rewarding those who come to the table for that core fantasy of rolling high and creating an epic moment. It’s not only the increased chances of a critical, knowing that the crit will come will make each attack a push. “Do I use the strike now or next turn? Maybe I can get a nice Critical with the second attack…”.
Also, knowing that you have a ¼ chance to crit and rolling below the Range again and again is very funny for the whole table, the player is not missing and wasting their turn, they are just benign greedy with their Momentum Strike.
This is a strong item, but most importantly it gives the player a cool thing to track instead of a flat bonus that makes the math go bad. An easy way to keep track of the Axe is to put a d20 (a BIG one, I suggest) near the character’s sheet, with the minimum natural roll required to crit showing. 19 on the first turn, 18 on the second, etc..
Finally, certain class abilities could make this feature particularly strong, stacking critical chances and damage: As always I suggest you embrace it completely, characters that choose to use this weapon could always be renouncing any other cool weapon (Maybe from the Trove) to do it, let them be brutal.
Hooks
What is exactly Fatal Steel? How did this weapon come to fruition?
| d6 | Hook |
| 1 | Fatal Steel was used by heroes of the past against Dragons. In this day and age, the Dragon Kings have made it illegal and the tradition has been lost to time. Only ancient forges, too deep underground to be burned by the Fire, preserve the ways to make these weapons. |
| 2 | Two of these Axes are given to the strong sons and daughters of an Orc Clan. They are meant to be used to destroy the competition in a fair but lethal fight and earn the role of Chief. |
| 3 | Wild Sorcerers that understand the flow of the Arcane Winds use daggers made from Fatal Steel. The deadliness of the weapon makes up for the lack of swordsmanship. |
| 4 | These weapons are made from a Meteorite, the black metal starts shining purple as it gets unstable. |
| 5 | Dwarven smiths shun this material, it is seen as unreliable and a strong metal is preferred. Still, forges in more discrete streets could fancy you an upgrade, for a price of course. |
| 6 | This is just common steel, but to be forged in this form it requires critical precision and a lot of luck. Even a fortunate blacksmith’s apprentice could stumble into making Fatal Steel. |
Variations
As with all weapons, it doesn’t need to be an axe. I suggest to keep it two handed and particular, just to reinforce the archetype of the big armament that smashes everything.
You could also spice up the Active ability if damage doesn’t satisfy your players’ needs.
| d6 | Weapon | Ability: Bonus Action. Reset the Critical Range to 0 to… |
| 1 | Lance | Push the target of the atack and up to 2 additional creatures directly behind him 10ft and they are Prone. |
| 2 | Maul | Destroy a piece of armor or natural defense the creature has on itself, giving it -2AC for the rest of the encounter. |
| 3 | Broadsword | The attack also damages another creature within 5ft of you. |
| 4 | Halberd | Perform a Swiping retreat, you can move half your speed after the attack, without taking attacks of opportunity. |
| 5 | Pike | The damage roll from the attack Explodes: reroll any dice that rolled the maximum result. |
| 6 | Scimitar | You also heal for the same amount of damage the attack deals. |
