Occam's Razor

Weapon (broadsword), legendary (requires attunement)

The finest blade forged by Finn Durgin, Occam's Razor weighs less than a regular basket-hilted broadsword. Its straight, unusually thin fullered blade shows a complex Damascus pattern formed from two different grades of steel and thin layers of mithril. The basket hilt has gold and platinum woven into it, and a half-spherical diamond peeks out of a setting in the pommel. Finn's triangular FD mark is stamped at the very base of the blade.

The blade functions as a finesse weapon since the materials and workmanship make it so light and well-balanced. Its scabbard likewise sports gold, platinum, and mithril filigree in intricate detail to match the hilt and echo the Damascus pattern. Finn worked metal for a lifetime before spending two years forging and enchanting Occam's Razor, and it shows. A year later, Finn died with a smile on his lips.

You receive a +3 bonus on attack and damage rolls made with Occam's Razor. The wielder gains +2 to Intelligence and makes Wisdom (Insight) rolls with advantage when used to uncover the truth. The blade never dulls, no matter what material it tries to cut. When you roll a 20 on the attack roll against a creature, it takes an additional 4d6 slashing damage. Then roll another d20. If you roll a 20, you lop off a limb, or just a chunk of its body if it has no limbs.

If a sentient being touches the blade while telling a lie, the diamond in the pommel turns cloudy and dark before becoming clear a few seconds later. The worse the lie told, the darker the diamond becomes. The term "I swear on the razor" carries weight across Dunhill. As a bonus action the wielder can point the diamond on the pommel skyward and say "crathadh breugan" ("shave falsehood" in Occam) to invoke zone of truth twice per day (creatures in the zone may roll a Charisma saving throw DC 16 to resist).

Finn Durgin forged the sword for his favorite niece Siobhan, and gave it to her upon her swearing in as the fourth Provost of Occam. Siobhan willed it to the Runlorg Society, who founded and still run the Bochord (the largest library in Occam), upon her death, and it has served as the symbol of the Runlorg Society's President ever since. Presidents or their delegates wear it at every official function, and its truth-telling abilities help protect the Bochord's collected knowledge from charlatans. Amelia Durgin, the current President of the Runlorg Society, wears her ancestor's weapon with pride.

Note: In my game, a broadsword is simply a basket-hilted sword that uses longsword statistics. I've seen variants that change the damage to 2d4 instead of 1d8 or eliminate the versatile property, and that's fine if you want to use that. I just don't want the weapon clutter that ran rampant in AD&D to bog down the game too much. Occam's Razor weighs 2 pounds instead of the basic longsword weight of 3 pounds.

Part of T.W.Wombat's Lore 24 project, detailing the world around Fellport.
For all city posts, see the Fellport Index. For posts about the wider world, see the Beneterra Index.