The July Blog Carnival is being hosted by Of Dice and Dragons here. This post is about a legendary person and his weapon of choice. Another spellcaster will appear on Saturday.
Ganister favored the ancient ways. It is said that he was the last of his people, a survivor of a great battle. He never said very much about his past.
In life and battle, he wore what he called a battle tunic. It was a thick tunic tied with a sash around his waist. On occasion, he would wear a cloak. More striking that his apparel was his choice of weapon, a sling.
In battle, he was equal or better than any bowman, especially at longer ranges. It is rumored he won many an archery contest, when he was allowed to compete.
He made all his sling stones himself. Most stones measured 1.5 inches long and half as much wide and cast in an almond shape. A few were spherical measuring a bit more than 1.5 inches in diameter and weighing more than a pound. All stones are made of a dull gray metal presumed to be lead, or a lead alloy. Each sling stone has an insciprition allowing Ganister to select a particular stone from the pouch by feel.
The stones are kept in an ordinary looking leather pouch. After using the stones, they will magically reappear in the pouch on the following morning. The stones will re-appear despite any obstacle or magic short of a wish spell.
In the hands of a skilled slinger, the almond shaped sling stone can do 1d6 damage and the larger balls do 1d8. The slinger also has the same effective range as a longbow when using these stones. In addition to damage, each stone has a unique power.
Shield - This spherical stone has the power to shatter shields. Any shield struck with the stone must make a saving throw or be shattered.
Circle - This spherical stone has the power to dismiss various wall-based spells like wall of iron, wall of force, etc. Against non-magical walls, it does 1d4 structural points (or hull points) of damage.
Snake - This almond shaped stone will paralyze a target on a succesful hit. (Saving throw negates paralysis).
XX - This almond shaped stone will enlarge to the size of a boulder in the air. On a successful hit, the stone will strike or fall on a victim for 6d6 damage.
Lightning Bolt - This almond shaped stone acts as a Chain Lighning spell. On a succesful hit, the first target takes 3d6 damage and moves to a second target (automatically hit) for 2d6 damage before striking a third target for 1d6 damage. Allies will not be hit by this stone.
<> - This almond shaped stone will strike the ground beneath a target to create a 3 foot diameter hole. If a saving throw with -2 penalty fails, the target will "drop out" for 1d6 turns. When the target reappears, he or she will only know that it was in a very cold place, but will be otherwise unhurt.
* - This round stone is not used to strike a target, instead when slung, it creates an tremor for an area within a 30 foot radius. Anyone within the affected area falls to the ground (no save). Siege engines within the affected area misfire and take 1d6 points of structural damage.
The legendary weapon is not the sling, but the stone. Maybe the legendary person overshadows the weapons, maybe the other way around. Still, I think a sling throwing NPC standing admist the heavy archers launching these stones would make for a very interesting game.