The Scales of the Last Dawn
A battle-worn necromancer carries the scales of Anubis and the fire of Olympus into the melee, weighing foes with every blade-lit spell.
Spellbook · Aspect Blade, Necromancer tradition · Level 5
The Scales of the Last Dawn
A battle-worn necromancer carries the scales of Anubis and the fire of Olympus into the melee, weighing foes with every blade-lit spell.
Ex librisNefru Kallias, Keeper of the Last MeasureWizard, School of Necromancy, trained as an Aspect Blade
At a glance
Level
5
Aspect Blade, Necromancer tradition
Spells
8
3 cantrips, 5 signature
At the table
A margin note
Plot hook
Spells
8 spellsCantrips
3- As part of casting, make a melee attack with the weapon used in the spell's casting. On a hit, the attack deals its normal effects, and the target is sheathed in booming energy with the movement-triggered damage described.
- Duration
- 1 round
- Target
- One creature within 5 feet
- Components
- S, M (a melee weapon worth at least 1 sp)
- Save or attack
- Melee weapon attack against one creature within 5 feet
- Damage
- Weapon damage; at character level 5, an additional thunder damage on a hit. If the target willingly moves before the start of your next turn, it takes thunder damage.
- Higher levels
- At character level 5, the initial thunder damage becomes and the movement damage becomes ; both increase at higher character levels as described in the spell.
- Source
- Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide; reprinted in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything
- Make a melee spell attack against a creature you touch. On a hit, it takes lightning damage and cannot take reactions until the start of its next turn. You have advantage on the attack roll if the target is wearing metal armor.
- Duration
- Instantaneous
- Target
- One creature you touch
- Components
- S
- Save or attack
- Melee spell attack
- Damage
- lightning
- Higher levels
- Damage increases by at character levels 5, 11, and 17.
- Source
- Player's Handbook
- One creature you can see within range hears a dolorous bell and makes a Wisdom saving throw, taking necrotic damage on a failure. A creature missing any hit points uses d12s for the damage instead of d8s.
- Duration
- Instantaneous
- Target
- One creature you can see within range
- Components
- V, S
- Save or attack
- Wisdom saving throw
- Damage
- necrotic
- Higher levels
- Damage increases by at character levels 5, 11, and 17; a target missing any hit points takes d12s instead of d8s.
- Source
- Xanathar's Guide to Everything
1st level
3- A wave of thunderous force erupts from you. Each creature in the cube makes a Constitution saving throw, taking thunder damage and being pushed 10 feet away on a failure, or taking half damage without being pushed on a success. Unsecured objects are pushed as described in the spell.
- Duration
- Instantaneous
- Target
- Each creature in a 15-foot cube originating from you
- Components
- V, S, M (a tiny ball of bat guano and sulfur)
- Save or attack
- Constitution saving throw
- Damage
- thunder
- Higher levels
- Damage increases by for each slot level above 1st.
- Conditions
- Prone
- Source
- Player's Handbook
- You imbue your weapon strikes with radiant power. Until the spell ends, your weapon attacks deal extra radiant damage on a hit.
- Duration
- 1 minute
- Target
- Self
- Components
- V, S
- Save or attack
- None; applies to your weapon attacks
- Damage
- The next time you hit with a melee weapon attack before the spell ends, the attack deals an extra necrotic damage and you gain temporary hit points.
- Higher levels
- No higher-level scaling.
- Source
- Player's Handbook
- A creature you touch makes a Constitution saving throw, taking necrotic damage on a failed save or half as much damage on a successful one.
- Duration
- Instantaneous
- Target
- One creature you touch
- Components
- V, S
- Save or attack
- Constitution saving throw
- Damage
- necrotic on a failed Constitution save, half as much on a success
- Higher levels
- Damage increases by for each slot level above 1st.
- Source
- 2024 Player's Handbook
2nd level
1- A 5-foot-radius knot of spectral grave-webs clings to a point within range. The area is difficult terrain. A creature that fails its Strength save is restrained while in the web or until it breaks free using its action; a restrained creature takes necrotic damage at the start of its turns.
- Duration
- Concentration, up to 1 minute
- Target
- A 5-foot-radius area centered on a point within range
- Components
- V, S, M (a drop of bitumen and a spider)
- Save or attack
- Strength saving throw when a creature enters the web or starts its turn there
- Damage
- necrotic at the start of each of the target's turns while restrained by the spell
- Higher levels
- No higher-level scaling.
- Conditions
- Restrained
- Source
- Original Creation
3rd level
1- Spirits wreathe you. Until the spell ends, your attacks deal extra damage of a chosen type, creatures within 10 feet cannot regain hit points, and a creature you damage has its speed reduced by 10 feet until the start of your next turn.
- Duration
- 1 minute, concentration
- Target
- Self; the effect applies around you and to creatures you hit
- Components
- V, S
- Save or attack
- None; applies when you hit with an attack
- Damage
- Weapon hits deal an extra necrotic, cold, or radiant damage; creatures within 10 feet of you cannot regain hit points.
- Higher levels
- Extra damage increases by when cast using a 5th- or 6th-level slot, and by when cast using a 7th-level or higher slot.
- Source
- Tasha's Cauldron of Everything
In the margins
4 notes
FormulaStrike true, then let the thunder ask whether they wish to flee.
WarningThe dead are witnesses, not ammunition. Ask their names before calling them.
DiaryI dreamed the western gate stood open, and someone had stolen the heart from its scale.- WarningHold the blade as a focus only if the spell permits it; a beautiful symbol is no substitute for a listed component.
The book itself
Gold and lapis-blue light mark celestial magic; black-violet shadow marks the passage of the dead.
The weapon motifs are illustrations and casting cues, not a rule that changes a spell's components or action economy.
A tiny jackal-headed judge appears in the margins whenever the wielder makes a difficult choice.
The caster
Wizard, School of Necromancy, trained as an Aspect BladeNefru Kallias, Keeper of the Last Measure
Studies: Close-quarters evocation and necromancy, with weapon cantrips and spirit-binding rites.Manner: Quietly formal, courteous even in battle, and difficult to provoke; she treats judgment as a duty rather than a pleasure.Focus: A black-iron khopesh with a sun-disc pommel; used as a weapon and, when appropriate, as an arcane focus under the Aspect Blade's table rules.Quirk: Before a dangerous fight, she taps her blade twice against her palm, as if checking that an unseen scale is balanced.Wants: Find the missing heart recorded in the codex and learn whether its owner was condemned justly.Nefru was an embalmer's apprentice who survived a temple fire and emerged carrying the scorched ledger of the dead. A wandering sword-mage taught her to bind evocation and necromancy to disciplined movement.
The book
A black-lacquered codex bound in oxhide, its gold-leaf scales weigh the pages shut. By moonlight, the scales shift like a balance, and the ink glows with alternating starfire and grave-cold blue.
Its wards · GM only
About the book
FormatRitual codex with hinged bronze covers
ThemeCelestial judgment, Egyptian and Olympian mythic imagery, and the measured boundary between radiance and death.
Written by aAspect Blade, Necromancer tradition
Caster level5
SystemDungeons & Dragons 5E
Plot hooks
1The codex's scales have begun to tip toward a sealed tomb, though its bearer has not yet learned whose heart lies within.
2A celestial tribunal accuses the spellcaster of animating a witness whose testimony could overturn an ancient verdict.
3A rival seeks the bronze covers, claiming they contain the true name of the jackal judge depicted in the margins.
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