Workshop Week 15 — Meet the Rocborne Hand Ballista! (Patreon)

Hey heroes! Thanks for hanging out last night while we made this crossbow! Here's the first look at its mechanics and flavor.

Rocborne Hand Ballista
Weapon (crossbow, heavy), very rare (requires attunement)

This massive, heavy crossbow is carried using its two handles from above instead of held from underneath. You gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon. In addition, the massive size of this crossbow allows you to load up to two bolts instead of one each time it's loaded, which are shot simultaneously whenever you fire the weapon. You can only load the crossbow with two bolts in this way once on each of your turns. The crossbow emits a roc-like screech each time it's fired that's audible out to 100 feet.

When you take the Attack action with the crossbow to fire two bolts at once, make two attack rolls against the same target one after the other. If both attacks hit, the target takes an extra 1d10 piercing damage. If the target is Huge or smaller, it must also succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or have its speed be reduced to 0 and be incapacitated until the start of its next turn.

When you roll a 20 on an attack roll made with this weapon, the target takes an extra 1d10 piercing damage. When you roll a 1 on an attack made with this weapon, you fall prone by the weapon's powerful kickback.

The rocborne man rested peacefully upon the feathery ground he called home. He stretched out in the sun and enjoyed the crisp air, rushing breeze, and warming sun. From afar, he heard the tell-tale sound of a roc: one that he knew by heart.

He got up and brushed the blue down from his cloak before bounding headward, being careful to balance and adjust to the shifting ground beneath him. He was excited.

The man reached the head of the roc whose back he called home and shouted something that only they could understand. The giant roc's piercing eye swept back to acknowledge the man before before shifting its body to one side. As the roc turned, the man stayed standing by adopting a wide stance.

From the distance, the other roc's form came into view through the clouds. The tiny silhouettes of the buildings he once called home dotted its back.

While the rocborne may live to roam, there is always joy in returning home.

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Thanks for your patience heroes! I'm live now! Come on out and hang while we make this crossbow!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA04t-EdjLo

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Hey heroes!

Scraw! Let's do a roc-themed item this week! Using your suggestions, I've put together the item ideas below. The write-ups below are a first pass of the item, and their names, rarities, and mechanics can be subject to adjustments.

I'll be updating this post just before 7:30pm EDT tonight with the exclusive YouTube link to the stream. You should get an email alerting you to the change!

Item Ideas

Steel-taloned Boots
Wondrous item, uncommon (requires attunement)

While wearing these talon-toed steel boots, your feet can control its claws as if they were your own. You'd gain a bonus to unarmed attacks with your feet and could pin a creature down if you landed on them, like a hawk catching its prey.

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Rocwing Token
Wondrous item, rare

This colorful roc feather token was a gift from a powerful bird spirit. While holding the feather aloft, you can speak its command word as an action to summon a column of gusting wind at your location. Creatures other than you in the column would need to succeed on a saving throw or be launched upward, taking falling damage upon crashing back to the ground. You can hold onto the feather to transform it into a feather glider and soar upward into the air, slowly gliding back down with a pseudo-flying speed.

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Monster-slayer's Hand Ballista
Weapon (heavy crossbow), very rare (requires attunement)

This enormous monster-slaying crossbow packs a wallop and is decorated with red, blue, and gold designs. Bolts fired from it would scream like a giant roc's cry and deal additional piercing damage, giving a bonus to against large creatures and knocking back smaller ones.