Item: Cane of the Maelstrom
A large crystal of warpglass floats above the head of this silvery purple +3 anarchic greater striking club. If you successfully Strike a creature, the cane also affects the target with a Warpwave.
While you carry the cane, you hear a constant, distracting chorus of laughing, incoherent Protean whispers and sing-song voices in your mind. Blatant acts of self-indulgence or narcissism quell these whispers, from a few minutes up to a full day depending on the scope of the act, but they immediately return when you use the artifact's powers. The gradually rising chorus eventually drives away rational thought and renders the cane's owner insane, even if staved off from time to time with self-centered acts.
As the artifact's abilities pull material from the Maelstrom, it doesn't function in areas where planar connections are severed.
Activate R envision
Trigger You are targeted by a ranged attack from an opponent you can see
Effect You draw a temporary shield of chaotic turbulence with a cerulean flash. You gain a +3 circumstance bonus to AC against the triggering attack.
Activate 10 minutes (command, envision, Interact)
Effect The Cane of the Maelstrom casts a 5th-rank Mirage spell and infuses the illusion with quasi-real substance drawn from the primal chaos of the Maelstrom. Creatures that don't disbelieve the illusion treat structures and terrain created through the spell as though they were real, ascending illusory stairs, becoming trapped by illusory quicksand, and so on. If no creature disbelieves the illusion during its duration, the changes become wholly real and permanent when its duration expires.
Activate 1 minute (Interact)
Effect The Cane of the Maelstrom casts a 5th-rank Creation spell, except the duration is unlimited and you can create delicate or complex objects by succeeding at an applicable Crafting skill check when you activate this ability.
Trait Effects
Artifact: Items with this trait are artifacts. These magic items can't be crafted by normal means, and they can't be damaged by normal means. Artifacts are always rare or unique.
Cursed: An item with this trait is cursed to cause trouble for its owner. A curse isn’t detected when the item is identified, though a critical success reveals both the presence and exact nature of the curse. Cursed items can’t be discarded once they’ve been triggered or invested the first time. The item can be removed only if the curse is removed.
Divine: This magic comes from the divine tradition, drawing power from deities or similar sources. Anything with this trait is magical. A creature with this trait is primarily constituted of or has a strong connection to divine magic.
Thrown: You can throw this weapon as a ranged attack; it is a ranged weapon when thrown. You add your Strength modifier to damage as you would for a melee weapon. When this trait appears on a melee weapon, it also includes the range increment. Ranged weapons with this trait use the range increment in the weapon’s Range entry.
Critical Specialisation Effects
Certain effects can grant you benefits when you make a Strike with certain weapons and get a critical success. This is called a critical specialisation effect. The exact effect depends on which weapon group your weapon belongs to, as listed below. You can always decide not to add the critical specialisation effect of your weapon.
Club: You knock the target away from you up to 10 feet. This is forced movement.
Related Items
| Name | Level | Rarity | Price | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hunter's Dawn | 23 | Unique | - | 1d6 |
| Stargazer | 14 | Uncommon | 6500 gp | 1d6 |
| Nightmare Cudgel | 11 | Uncommon | 1000 gp | 1d6 |
| Habu's Cudgel | 8 | Unique | 415 gp | 1d6 |
| Hydra Head Club | 6 | Rare | 225 gp | 1d6 |
| Club | - | Common | - | 1d6 |
| Mindrender Baton | 15 | Rare | 6500 gp | 1d6 |
| Fiendbreaker (Heroic) | 20 | Unique | - | 1d4 |
| Freedom's Flame | 21 | Unique | - | 1d6 |
| Zealot Staff | 17 | Common | 13000 gp | 1d4 |
| Fiendbreaker | 15 | Unique | 6500 gp | 1d4 |
| Spiral Athame | 22 | Unique | - | 1d4 |
| Dragonprism Staff (Greater) | 20 | Common | 68000 gp | 1d6 |
| Staff of Arcane Might (Major) | 20 | Rare | 90000 gp | 1d4 |
| Staff of Impossible Visions (True) | 20 | Uncommon | 70000 gp | 1d4 |
| Staff of Providence (True) | 20 | Common | 64000 gp | 1d4 |
| Staff of Sieges | 20 | Uncommon | 65000 gp | 1d4 |
| Staff of the Desert Winds (True) | 20 | Common | 70000 gp | 1d4 |
| Staff of the Magi | 20 | Rare | 90000 gp | 1d4 |
| Whispering Staff | 20 | Common | 70000 gp | 1d4 |