| Name: | Katana |
| Description: | The katana is the pinnacle of the swordsmith's craft, combining grace and artful design with razor-edged efficiency. |
| weight (lb) | 10 |
|---|---|
| cost (gp) | 40 |
| damage | 1d10 |
| criticals | 19-20/x2 |
| damage type | slashing |
| size | Medium |
| proficiency | exotic |
Notes[]
- The katana, in all respects, is identical in function to the bastard sword, with the exception that it takes up slightly less space in the player's inventory.
- Katanas are listed under the exotic blueprint category of the item palette in the Toolset.
Blade of the Elements[]
Besieged by a powerful wu-jen, Lord Sunang of Kara-Tur was forced into some very expensive alliances. Weapons like these were plentiful, but not cheap, and the strain of equipping his army against an ever-strengthening foe eroded his influence. In the end, Sunang's lands fell to their own weakness, not the swords of his enemy. Merchants may have supplied both sides with these same arms to extend their profits, but three centuries have hidden the answers.
- Enhancement bonus: +3
- On-hit: slay elemental (DC=14)
- Required level: 10
Divine Fury[]
"...in the night there came the rain of fire, which crashed as though an avalanche of stone. There were craters in the square, and inside were the stars, from which we forged our vengeance and took back the land of our fathers." The writings of Kaa Mihnd, explaining how a poor fishing village could possess the weapons to challenge their wealthy overlord. The account has never been verified, though these blades are the supposed outcome.
- Damage bonus: +d6 electrical damage
- Enhancement bonus: +3
- On-hit: stun (DC=14) (50% / 2 rounds)
- Required level: 16
Kaga-To[]
If memory serves correctly, these weapons date to the stadium battles of old Kai Chen province, where promising warriors would test their skills against the greatest samurai of the day in ritual combat. If ever a challenger was victorious, he or she won the people's ovation and fame forever, symbolized by a Kaga-To katana. The blade is etched with a simple phrase: "Tell me how you fight, and I will tell you what you are."
- Enhancement bonus: +1
- On-hit: daze (DC=14) (50% / 2 rounds)
- Required level: 6
Katana of the Mummylord[]
This magic weapon has an enhancement bonus to attack and damage, but it doesn't bear the hallmarks of any specific maker.
- Enhancement bonus: +5
- On-hit: poison (1d2 constitution damage; DC=22)
- Use limitation: undead
- Required level: 21
Note: Requires Hordes of the Underdark. This weapon is used by the creature summoned with the epic spell mummy dust.
Master Li's Way[]
Once thought a unique instance of the swordmaker's craft, several katanas of this type have now been linked to a ship that ran aground on the Sword Coast some years ago. All bear the markings of Master Hu Li, a great artificer from the east, but little else is known of him.
- Damage bonus: +d4 acid damage
- Enhancement bonus: +2
- Keen
- Required level: 12
Radiant Death[]
This finely crafted katana belonged to the renowned swordsman Viromoto, a weapon master from the East who fought a hundred duels before finally dying. The keen blade shatters through any opponent's defenses, but it is so sharp and light that it is difficult for even a master to wield. Viromoto gradually became distrustful of the weapon and for his final duel he favored a different weapon -- only to fall in battle, his first and only defeat.
- Decreased AC: -5 natural armor bonus
- Enhancement bonus: +6
- Keen
- Massive critical: 5
- Use limitation: weapon master
- Required level: 21
Note: Requires Hordes of the Underdark.
In chapter 3 of the Hordes of the Underdark campaign, players might encounter a version of this weapon with a +12 enhancement bonus, which pushes the required level to 32.
Sword Saint Legacy +1[]
This weapon bears the mark of the dwarf Marrok, Master Blacksmith of Neverwinter's Shining Knight Arms and Armor. He forged it early in 1373 DR, to aid the heroes who sought to free his quarantined city from the virulent grasp of the so-called Wailing Death.
- Damage bonus: +d6 sonic damage versus evil
- Enhancement bonus: +1
- Required level: 5
Sword Saint Legacy +4[]
This weapon bears the mark of the dwarf Barun, a Master Blacksmith who worked from a makeshift forge in the Uthgardt village of Beorunna's Well. He forged it late in 1373 DR, to aid the war effort against Lady Aribeth the Betrayer, who was then marching against the northern city of Neverwinter and the Lords' Alliance.
- Damage bonus: +d6 sonic damage versus evil
- Enhancement bonus: +4
- Required level: 15
Sword Saint Legacy +8[]
With death being the ultimate challenge for a great warrior to overcome, powerful and noble warriors have begun to sacrifice their physical bodies, so that their spirits can inhabit an ancestral katana. The more powerful the warrior was in life, and the more noble his spirit, the more powerful the sword. It is told that the great Master Kendai Kousra inhabits a weapon so powerful that a god claimed it as his weapon of choice.
- Damage bonus: +2d6 sonic damage versus evil
- Enhancement bonus: +8
- Required level: 22