Swordtember Day 6 - Execution

Head Hunter

Weapon (greatsword), very rare (requires attunement by a creature of lawful alignment)

This greatsword, adorned with a carving of The Radiant Father, was a sacred weapon crafted for the temple knights known as The Order of The Morning Lion. This order was established during the reconstruction of the Azalis Empire after its devastation in The 2nd Chaos Insurgency. Initially, their primary mission was to maintain public order and to hunt down and eliminate any remnants of The Chaos Touched and Children of One. However, when King Zhalim Nizzam Azalia ascended to the throne, The Morning Lion transformed into a tyrannical force, acting as judge, jury, and executioner to those who dared challenge the new king. To bypass the sacred constraints of their weapon, the king cunningly enacted a law designed to permit its use in such a manner so that, adhering to the blessing, they were still acting in accordance with existing laws. Over time, The Order of The Morning Lion also became known as The Red Gauntlet, a reference to their rusted and blood-stained gauntlets, which were the result of the numerous executions they carried out on a daily basis during the reign of King Zhalim.

The Head Hunter grants a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with it and it deals an additional 1d6 radiant damage on a hit.

Execution. The Head Hunter holds 3 charges, regaining all expended charges at dawn. In place of an attack, you can expend 1 charge to attempt to execute a prone or incapacitated creature within 5 feet of you. Make an attack roll with the Head Hunter, adding an additional 1d8 to the roll. If your total exceeds the target's remaining hit points, the target dies and is decapitated by the guillotine blade of the sword. Against fiends, undead, fey, and aberrations, you add an additional 1d8 to the roll (for a total of 2d8). You can target creatures up to one size larger than you.

Judgment. In place of an attack, you can attempt to grapple a creature up to one size larger than you using the sword. Make a Strength (Athletics) check contested by the target's Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. On a success, the creature is grappled, and its neck or head is caught in the sword's guillotine gap as it splits open and closes in quickly. While a creature is grappled this way, it takes 1d6 radiant damage at the start of each of your turns. While grappling a creature with the Head Hunter, you cannot use the sword to make attacks.

Lawful Order. The Head Hunter demands adherence to the law. If the wielder knowingly breaks any existing rule or law that applies within the specific area they are currently in, they immediately take 4d10 psychic damage as the sword's judgment is passed onto them. This damage cannot be reduced or prevented in any way.

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For this one, I have to give credit to LaserLlama for coming up with the execution feature. It's originally an exploit for Alternate Barbarian, but I think it definitely fits with the theme, and I want to bring it to regular class in the form of an item feature. I highly recommend searching up LaserLlama Alternate Classes. They're quite fun and bring more dynamic, especially to martial classes.

all the files will be added to a new Swordtember 2023 folder that you can find in the Vault