The Fleeting Blade
A ruined scabbard carries a dark blade. It is sealed air-tight with red wax, as if the air itself could instantly rust and ruin the steel. Maybe the protection is not to preserve the weapon itself, but the bearer.
Short-lived Lethality: This weapon is a +5 Dagger, giving you +5 to hit and damage rolls. Once the dagger is removed from its scabbard, breaking the wax seal, the weapon starts to dissolve in the air, becoming silvery smoke. The weapon lasts for 1d4 rounds.
A Consumable Weapon
Ok, this is a short article. We need them sometimes. Yet, I still have a couple of remarks to make about this simple but potent idea.
Consumables are so fun to create and put in your games, but they don’t often see actual use by our players. In the most common DND system the characters are just so self sufficient that the conservative instinct takes hold. The solution? The items just need to be of a power level way above what characters currently have and there must be a worthy target. If your characters are casting 3rd level spells, give them at least a 5th level magic scroll. If they can already heal for 2d8s hp, give them a potion that heals a flat 30. As with Tricks in the Quiver, you also need to add mini bosses, elite version of your standard enemies, to your encounters: no one is going to waste this precious dagger on some stupid kobolds, however the back of that Ogre Lieutenant is looking pretty vulnerable right now.
My second tip is about how to actually track this at the table. Simply make the player that brings the blade out roll a d4 and place it in front of their character sheet. At the start of their turn, reduce the number on the die. If it was a 1 remove it: the Dagger has vanished in your hands.
Hooks
There are many hidden secrets regarding the origin of this blade, here’s some:
| d6 | Hook |
| 1 | The wax seal presents the crest of a local Noble House. This is an assassin’s blade, but they want you to know who did the act. |
| 2 | The Villain mockingly throws the weapon at the feet of the character, knowing she can’t do anything about it yet. |
| 3 | Wraiths attack the characters with Mist Blades, maybe the party can manage to preserve one of them before it is too late. |
| 4 | The Mist Blade is created when a necromantic death ray hits a silver weapon. This one managed to be saved, unlike its bearer. |
| 5 | The weapon is carried with two similar blades in the mantle of a spy, lurking on the party. |
| 6 | The dagger is found in an ancient, unholy forge in an abandoned castle. The process of crafting it was an act of evil itself. |
Variations
The flat +5 bonus could be a little dull, it mostly serves the purpose of tempting the players’ eyes. But you can really spice up a Mist Blade, sure that the item is not gonna last too long.
| d4 | Name | Weapon Type | Container | Bonus |
| 1 | The Duelist | Rapier | A red silk cloth, carefully wrapped around this elegant blade. | All attacks have Advantage and when the wielder is missed by an attack they can immediately make an attack with the rapier against the attacker. |
| 2 | The Beheader | Axe | A black leather sleeve for the head, it has a golden lock. | On simple humanoids, if the attack misses you still deal damage, on a hit it counts as a critical hit. |
| 3 | The Harvester | Scythe | A wicker sack and dirty bandages bound the long sharp blade. | +5 to hit and damage, if this weapon kills a creature, it reaps its soul and lasts for 1 extra round. |
| 4 | Impact Gem | Hammer | 3 Rings of Bronze around the Purple gem, head of the hammer. | Each creature hit by the hammer is pushed 30ft. Taking 3d6 bludgeoning damage if it’s stopped, then falling Prone. |
