Phantom Blade

Crime and Punishment
Author Keith Baker
Series Campaign Style
Publisher Atlas Games
Publish date 2003

At first glance, this is a small knife with a long handle and a sharp, narrow blade, a surgeon’s tool, suitable for precise operations. On closer examination, a character will find that the blade itself is an illusion; although the pain it causes feels real, it is insubstantial and cannot actually cause any sort of physical injury. While this may seem to be useless, it can be quite valuable in the hands of a skilled torturer. A phantom blade allows its wielder to make Heal checks to torture a victim without causing a loss of hit points (although the victim still takes 1d4 points of nonlethal damage per check).

Faint illusion; CL 1st; Craft Wondrous Item, agony; Price 800 gp