Vasquez's Gunblade

Stub-class article · First seen: s03 · Last seen: s16
Vasquez's Gunblade
the gunblade · Vasquez gunblade · Vazquez's gunblade · the revolver-longsword · Vasquez's longsword
Vasquez's Gunblade — Custom martial weapon (longsword frame, integrated revolver-style primer chamber) portrait
Item
StatusActive
First seens03
Last seens16
TypeCustom martial weapon (longsword frame, integrated revolver-style primer chamber)
AttunementNot required (mundane, custom build)
HolderVasquez
OriginForged at Shamil's forge, Wyrmbough Grove, session 3

Vasquez’s Gunblade is a custom revolver-and-longsword built by Vasquez at Shamil’s forge in Wyrmbough Grove over the long rest at the end of session 3 [1], combining the looted Indiana-Jones-corpse pistol from Death-at-Sunset’s hoard with Vasquez’s own longsword. Mechanically it is a longsword for the purposes of Vasquez’s class features, with a bonus-action primer-chamber slam that adds 2d6 elemental damage (fire or lightning, per the loaded primer) to the strike on impact [4]. The weapon is not magical — Identify has not been cast on it, no rarity has been assigned, and the Magic Items Index explicitly classes it as “not strictly magical but campaign-significant.”

Overview

Vasquez’s Gunblade is the campaign’s most identity-defining custom weapon. After the s3 takedown of Death-at-Sunset, Vasquez looted a pistol from the corpse of a previous (long-dead) hoard-raider — known affectionately as “the Indiana-Jones-corpse pistol” — and asked Shamil for after-hours use of the Wyrmbough Grove forge: “I know this is kind of awkward to ask. may I borrow your forge for the night? I have a project that I am trying to conduct, and I don’t exactly trust anyone else to do it” [3]. Over the long rest he combined the looted pistol with his own longsword into a single revolver-and-blade.

Mechanics

Per the s3 build and the s4 first-fight clarification:

  • Treated as a longsword for Vasquez’s class features (Mage Slayer, Action Surge, fighter weapon proficiencies).
  • A bonus action slams the hammer on the revolver chamber, loading a primer charge.
  • On the next successful melee hit, the primer detonates and adds 2d6 elemental damage — fire or lightning per the loaded primer [4].
  • The chamber holds multiple primer charges; Vasquez has burned charges across most major fights since s4.
  • Not magical; no Detect Magic signature.

Notable use

  • s4 — sabretooth tigers: first combat use; lit two tigers up.
  • s5 — fungal-zombie giant: alchemist-fire-into-chest-cavity assist (Caelumn’s Witch Bolt detonated the splash).
  • s6/s7 — Maelis & the Titan: lightning primer used through both halves of the fight.
  • s9 — quarry transformation: Vasquez’s first attack post-Mharos-bonding was a gunblade strike with a soul-drag rider.
  • s12 — taffy form: Action Surge crit on the second attack re-roll for 36 damage on a candy goblin.
  • s13-s16: continues to be Vasquez’s primary weapon despite the Aurelian plate’s rage-blocking quirk and the looted Aurelian Paladin greatsword sitting in inventory.

Status as of session 16

Carried by Vasquez. Vasquez has spoken in s10 and s13 about wanting to “build a better gunblade” using the looted Aurelian Paladin’s enchanted greatsword as raw material — the Aurelian sword is being held in inventory specifically against that future crafting project [5]. No retune has been done in transcript.

See also

References

  1. ^ Session 3, line 2110 — Forged at Shamil's forge over the long rest; pistol + longsword combine.
  2. ^ Session 4, line 374-394 — First combat use vs sabretooth tigers; primer-charge mechanic clarified.
  3. ^ Session 3, line 2080 — Inline citation.
  4. ^ Session 4, line 394 — Inline citation.
  5. ^ Session 10, line 1611 — Inline citation.
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