Item: Viper Rapier

Apex: When you Invest an Item that has the apex trait, it improves one of your attributes, either increasing the attribute’s modifier by 1 or to a total of +4, whichever would give you a higher score. This gives you all the benefits of the new attribute modifier until the investiture runs out: increasing Intelligence lets you become trained in an additional skill and learn a new language, increasing Constitution gives you more Hit Points, and so on. An apex item grants this benefit only the first time it’s invested within a 24-hour period, and you can benefit from only one apex item at a time. If you attempt to invest an apex item when you already have one invested, you don’t gain the attribute modifier increase, though you do gain any other effects of Investing the Item.

Deadly: On a critical hit, the weapon adds a weapon damage die of the listed size. Roll this after doubling the weapon’s damage. This increases to two dice if the weapon has a _greater striking rune_ and three dice if the weapon has a _major striking rune_. For instance, a rapier with a _greater striking rune_ deals 2d8 extra piercing damage on a critical hit. An ability that changes the size of the weapon’s normal damage dice doesn’t change the size of its deadly die.

Disarm: You can use this weapon to Disarm with the Athletics skill even if you don’t have a free hand. This uses the weapon’s reach (if different from your own) and adds the weapon’s item bonus to attack rolls (if any) as an item bonus to the Athletics check. If you critically fail a check to Disarm using the weapon, you can drop the weapon to take the effects of a failure instead of a critical failure. On a critical success, you still need a free hand if you want to take the item.

Finesse: You can use your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier on attack rolls using this melee weapon. You still calculate damage using Strength.

Invested: A character can invest only 10 magical items that have the invested trait. None of the magical effects of the item apply if the character hasn’t invested it, nor can it be activated, though the character still gains any normal benefits from wearing the physical item (like a hat keeping rain off their head).