Bladebonded

Sometimes, people who have never sought to develop their magic talents Awaken spontaneously and in unique ways. To this day, scholars have been unable to shed light on this mystery, but through the ages, they were able to identify fighters whose instrument of war accumulated occult energies until it became a true extension of its bearer. These warriors are called Bladebonded, referring to the mythical weapon of the first of them. Some sages see in this power a sign of divine favor, but then, what entity would grant it? Is it rather some sort of magic anomaly? Whatever the truth is, the aptitudes unlocked by such a connection are such that those who develop them usually become legends.

Being Awakened is a prerequisite for using the features of this archetype. If your character has not awakened yet, you can still choose this archetype, but you will only be able to use its features (related to your Steelmate) once your character has Awakened.

Steelmate

When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, one of your weapons becomes magical. Every Yatagan has a Steelmate. This item is intimately bound to you and will remain so throughout your adventuring career. Except for powers that can be used at a distance (Arcane Rebirth and Call Steelmate), features related to your Steelmate can only be used when you hold it.

Sentient weapon. Your Steelmate is considered a sentient magic item (see Arcana). Its alignment matches yours, and for the time being, it has no purpose and cannot conflict with you. Initially, it can only communicate with you by transmitting emotions, and its senses are limited to normal hearing and vision in a 30-foot radius. At the start, your Steelmate has the following ability scores: Intelligence 12, Wisdom 12, and Charisma 12, in addition to 3 points which you can distribute as you wish. You get 2 additional points to distribute at 7th, 10th, and 15th level, and 1 additional point at 18th level.

Throughout your progression, your Steelmate’s ability scores, means of communication, and senses evolve as detailed in the Steelmate table. Finally, if you die permanently, your spirit fuses with your Steelmate, which becomes a full-fledged sentient weapon and embraces your purpose. Should this occur, your GM will assist you in handling this conversion. According to certain sages of Eana, this phenomenon is the origin of all sentient weapons, which contain the souls of the Bladebonded that wielded them.

Steelmate
Score Intelligence Wisdom Charisma
12   Normal sight and hearing (60 feet) Empathy3
13-14 +1 1st-level spell slot, skill proficiency1 Normal sight and hearing (120 feet), skill proficiency2 Speech4, skill proficiency5
15-16 +1 2nd-level spell slot, skill proficiency1 Darkvision (60 feet), skill proficiency2 Telepathy6, skill proficiency5
17-18 +1 3rd-level spell slot, skill proficiency1 Darkvision (120 feet), skill proficiency2 Telepathy with others (60 feet), skill proficiency5
19-20 +1 4th-level spell slot, skill proficiency1 Blindsense (120 feet) Dominate person (1/short or long rest)

All unlocked abilities stack.

1 Choose from Arcana, History, Nature, or Religion

2 Choose from Insight, Perception, or Survival

3 Your Steelmate can transmit emotions to you. In addition, when you make a Wisdom check, if your Steelmate’s Wisdom modifier is superior to yours, you can use your Steelmate’s Wisdom modifier

4 Your Steelmate can talk. In addition, when you make an Intelligence check, if your Steelmate’s Intelligence modifier is superior to yours, you can use your Steelmate’s Intelligence modifier

5 Choose from Deception, Intimidation, or Persuasion

6 Your Steelmate can communicate directly with your mind. In addition, when you make a Charisma check, if your Steelmate’s Charisma modifier is superior to yours, you can use your Steelmate’s Charisma modifier

A Steelmate with an Intelligence of 18 has one additional 1st-level, 2nd-level, and 3rd-level spell slots, and proficiency in three skills.

A Steelmate with a Charisma of 17 can transmit emotions to its Yatagan, talk, speak directly to the mind of anyone within 60 feet, and has proficiency in three skills.

Bonus. At 3rd level, your Steelmate has a bonus of +1 to attack and damage rolls. This bonus grows to +2 at 10th level, and +3 at 18th level.

Spells. At 3rd level, your Steelmate holds a cantrip of your choice from the wizard spell list. You can cast this spell through your Steelmate once. You must then finish a short or long rest before you can use it again. When you finish a long rest, you can commune with your Steelmate for at least 1 minute to change the cantrip for another wizard cantrip.

Also at 3rd level, you must choose the spellcasting ability of your Steelmate between Intelligence and Charisma. The spell save DC of its spells is equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Steelmate’s spellcasting ability modifier, and its spell attack modifier is equal to your proficiency bonus + your Steelmate’s spellcasting ability modifier.

As you gain levels, your Steelmate can cast other spells: a 1st-level spell at 7th level, a 2nd-level spell at 10th level, a 3rd-level spell at 15th level, and a 4th-level spell at 18th level. Just like your Steelmate’s cantrip, each of these spells can be cast only once until you finish a rest, unless your Steelmate has extra spell slots due to a high Intelligence, in which case it can cast the same spell twice between rests.

When you finish a long rest, roll on the table below to determine which spells your Steelmate can cast:

d8 1st-level 2nd-level 3rd-level 4th-level
1 shield aid dispel magic stoneskin
2 grease web revivify dimension door
3 hunter’s mark see invisibility tongues arcane eye
4 sleep hold person fireball confusion
5 cure wounds darkness lightning bolt wall of fire
6 disguise self invisibility fear greater invisibility
7 false life blindness/deafness speak with dead blight
8 expeditious retreat heat metal haste polymorph

Your Steelmate takes care of the somatic, verbal, and material components, except in the case of material components with a cost. However, you must spend the casting time.

Arcane Rebirth. If your Steelmate is lost, stolen, or broken, it comes back to you intact after you finish a long rest. Additionally, you are impervious to disarming attempts on your Steelmate. Finally, only you can use the features of your Steelmate. For whoever else uses it, it is just an ordinary weapon of its kind.

Arcane Aegis

Beginning at 7th level, your Steelmate can react to threats and help you deal with adversity, moving, reacting, and striking back on its own. When you are targeted by an attack or must make a Dexterity saving throw, you can use your reaction to apply your Steelmate’s bonus to your AC and Dexterity saving throws for 1 minute.

Additionally, for this duration, every time a creature misses you with a melee attack, it immediately takes force damage equal to twice your Steelmate’s bonus. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest.

Call Steelmate

Starting at 10th level, you can call your Steelmate as a bonus action. It immediately materializes in your hand, no matter the distance and obstacles between you. If your Steelmate is on another plane, there is a 20% chance this feature does not work, in which case you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

Arcane Bulwark

Beginning at 15th level, your Steelmate gives you advantage on saving throws against spells and magical effects.

Legendary Arcana

Starting at 18th level, whenever you succeed a saving throw against a spell, you can use your reaction to make your Steelmate store a copy of this spell, which can be subsequently cast and expended. The conditions for casting the copied spell are identical to the original spell’s, with the exception that the Steelmate’s spellcasting ability is used instead of the spellcaster’s. Your Steelmate can store a maximum number of spell slots equal to your proficiency bonus.

You are about to be hit by an attack and decide to cast your Steelmate’s shield spell. Your Steelmate takes care of the verbal and somatic components: a voice rings out from it and it moves on its own in an arcane pattern. However, you must provide the casting time, which means you must expend your reaction and therefore will not be able to make an opportunity attack on this turn, for example.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Fateforge Role-Playing Game Adventurers Core Rulebook Copyright © 2019 Studio Agate Joëlle ‘Iris’ Deschamp