The Short Sword of Mask +4 is an enchanted and magical short sword which inflicts 1d6+4 points of piercing damage, has a THAC0 bonus of 4, a speed factor of 0 and weighs 2 lbs. There is a 15% chance that a hit with this weapon can entangle (movement speed set to 0, +2 penalty to AC) a target for 24 seconds (or four rounds), and no save can be made against this effect, but it can be blocked by Magic resistance. This item appears in Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal and Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition. It's sold at Watcher's Keep by Sister Garlena on the top of the tower. It can be upgraded by Cespenar into an empowered + 5 version, which requires the Heart of the Damned and some gold as well.
In-game description (before upgrade)[]
| “ | This blade is highly prized by those who serve the Shadowlord, as well as any who engage in shadowy business. | ” |
Upgraded[]
The Short Sword of Mask +5 deals 1d6+5 points of piercing damage, has a THAC0 bonus of 5, and there is a 15% chance that a hit with this weapon can entangle (movement speed set to 0, +2 penalty to AC) a target for 24 seconds (or four rounds). It also has a 15% chance to Level drain the target for 1 level (no save, nonmagical effect, that, therefore, bypasses magic resistance and can't be dispelled).
In-game description (after upgrade)[]
| “ | Combined with the Heart of the Damned into a single lethal weapon, this deadly blade is the preferred tool of assassins and thieves. | ” |
Gameplay[]
The entangling effect featured in both forms of this sword has several noteworthy characteristics:
-It stacks with itself, making it so the enemy's AC can be made progressively worse, beyond the initial +2 penalty
-It stacks with other entangling effects, such as Entangle (spell) and Wild Surges #11 and #69
-It affects creatures immune to other forms of entangling, such as Dragons. The vine-like overlay effect won't be displayed on them, but they'll still receive the AC penalty and their movement speed will be set to 0 (so they receive the full effect). In fact, the only protection against this weapon's entangling effect (besides magic resistance) is protection against AC-lowering itself (extremely rare) or against movement speed modifications (not as rare, but uncommon).
Legend[]
- b = before the upgrade
- a = After the upgrade.