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Whisperpipe of the Fen 8

—

by

Dale
in

From: Lineage 13 of the Veridian

This is not a common bow or crossbow, but a masterwork blowgun, roughly three feet in length. It is crafted from the single, hollowed-out stalk of a rare marsh reed known for its sound-dampening properties. The Whisperpipe is incredibly light and makes almost no noise when used. It fires small, fletched darts carved from thornwood. Function: The Whisperpipe itself is harmless; its lethality is entirely dependent on Liatris’s skill as an apothecary. It is the perfect delivery system for her various creations, allowing her to incapacitate a guard with a sleep-inducing dart from the shadows, cause distracting hallucinations with another, or deliver a lethal toxin from a safe distance. Its use is a direct reflection of her intellect and preparation.

Expounded Lore

The Whisperpipe is crafted from a single, unbroken stalk of Silence Reed, a plant that grows only in the heart of the Murkwater Fen—a place where magical energies cause sound to travel strangely, often becoming lost entirely. The reeds that thrive there have a unique internal structure, a porous, honeycomb-like matrix of hollow chambers that doesn’t just allow air to pass through but actively traps and cancels sound waves.

The crafting process is a meditative art known only to the fen-dwelling Veridian. A reed is harvested during a foggy dawn when the air is at its stillest, then slowly cured for months over the cool, smokeless embers of psychoactive herbs. This process imbues the reed with a minor psionic resonance, allowing it to subtly bond with the user’s intent. The number “8” is a reference to the “Eight-Fold Breath of Stillness,” a Veridian breathing technique used to calm the body and steady the mind for a perfect, silent shot. The Whisperpipe is considered the ultimate physical tool for mastering this spiritual practice.

Item Values

  • Tier 1 Stats: This weapon is a blowgun. It deals 1 piercing damage and has the Ammunition (range 25/100) and Loading properties.
  • Skills Gained: Proficiency in Stealth.
  • Passive Magics:
    • Silent Shot: Attacks made with the Whisperpipe are supernaturally quiet. Creatures have disadvantage on any Wisdom (Perception) check made to locate you based on the sound of the shot.
    • Aimed Breath: The Whisperpipe is an extension of the user’s breath and body control. You can use your Constitution modifier, instead of Dexterity, for attack and damage rolls with this weapon.
    • Perfect Dart Seal: The specific thornwood darts used with this weapon are exceptionally porous. Any poison or liquid applied to them will not lose potency or dry out for up to 24 hours.
  • Activatable Magics:
    • Guided Gust (3/Day): As a bonus action before making an attack with the Whisperpipe, you can focus your breath with a minor psionic push. The attack ignores half cover and three-quarters cover.
    • Ricochet Draft (1/Day): You can attempt to make an attack against a target that is not in your direct line of sight, provided there is an open path for air to travel (e.g., around a corner). Make the attack roll with disadvantage. On a hit, the dart is carried on a curving gust of wind and strikes the target as if fired directly.
  • Specific Slot: Weapon Slot (Ranged)
  • Tags: Ranged Weapon, Veridian, Stealth, Alchemical, Psionic, Utility-Weapon, Assassin-Gear, Silent, Masterwork, Focus, Trick-Shot, Breath-Weapon, Constitution-Based, Infiltration

The Whisperpipe of the Fen 8 is a tool of immense subtlety. Its value is not in the damage it deals, but in the damage it delivers. As such, it is a highly specialized instrument, worthless to a common warrior but a priceless treasure to the spies, assassins, and alchemists who understand its true purpose.

1. The Poisoner’s Emporium

  • Type of Shop: This is a deeply illegal and hidden establishment, likely operating behind the facade of a failing apothecary or a high-end spice merchant. Known to its clientele by a name like “The Last Draught,” this shop is the premier destination for those who trade in all things toxic. The proprietor is an amoral master alchemist who values a perfect delivery system as much as a perfect poison.
  • How It Is Bought & Sold: The Whisperpipe would be the ultimate prize in their collection, likely acquired from a desperate assassin in trade for a legendary poison. It would never be on display. Its existence would be hinted at only to their most trusted and affluent clients. A demonstration would be chillingly simple: firing a dart at a magically-enchanted, ever-singing bird in a cage across the room. The bird would simply stop singing and fall from its perch, the dart having made no sound to startle it.
  • Cost: The price is astronomical, as the proprietor understands that this tool makes their own wares infinitely more effective.
    • Price: 9,000 Gold Sovereigns, firm. They might also consider a trade for an item of equal value to their craft, such as the complete, unedited alchemical journal of a legendary arch-lich, or a live, healthy basilisk for venom extraction.

2. The Unscrupulous Fence

  • Type of Shop: A general-purpose black market dealer who trades in all manner of stolen goods, from artwork to armor. This fence, operating out of a network of warehouses and back rooms, knows “magic” and “rare” mean “valuable,” but they lack the specialist knowledge to understand the Whisperpipe’s true function.
  • How It Is Bought & Sold: The fence would have acquired the Whisperpipe from a common thug who looted it from a dead Veridian, describing it simply as “a fancy blowgun that don’t make no noise.” The fence would test it, confirm it’s silent, and price it as a high-quality stealth weapon, completely missing its true value as an alchemical delivery system. It would be offered to known thieves’ guild quartermasters or anyone looking for exotic ranged weapons.
  • Cost: This is where a truly knowledgeable buyer could find an incredible bargain. The fence is pricing the object, not its ultimate function.
    • Price: Around 3,000 Gold Sovereigns. The fence believes they are making a handsome profit on a unique curio, unaware that its true market value is three times that amount to the right buyer.

3. The Veridian Seeker

  • Type of Shop: This is not a shop, but a roleplaying encounter. A Veridian agent, possibly a stern and focused Lignage 13 member, is actively hunting for the stolen Whisperpipe. They are not a merchant, but a reclaimer of cultural heritage. They may have tracked the item to a city and could be a source of information, a rival, or a potential ally.
  • How It Is “Bought & Sold”: The item is not for sale. If a player has acquired the Whisperpipe from another source, the Seeker will approach them and demand its return, offering to pay a “finder’s fee” to avoid conflict. If the player learns of the Whisperpipe’s location (e.g., in the Poisoner’s Emporium), the Seeker might hire them to help steal it back, offering a different Veridian artifact or a great deal of alchemical knowledge as a reward.
  • Cost: The transaction is based on quests, favors, and knowledge, not coin.
    • Price: The “price” to acquire the Whisperpipe as a reward from the Veridian would be a legendary deed, such as saving their home fen from a powerful blight or defeating an ancient enemy of their people. More likely, the player’s reward is the alliance with the Veridian and whatever payment they offer for helping to reclaim the stolen item.

The Whisperpipe of the Fen 8 is a weapon of subtlety, not force. Its role in any environment is that of a ghost’s touch, delivering a payload from the shadows to shape events without ever revealing the user’s presence. Its use is a direct reflection of the user’s preparation, intelligence, and breath control.

1. In a Fortified Structure (Castle, Guarded Camp, etc.)

In this environment of patrols, guards, and defensible positions, the Whisperpipe excels at neutralizing threats before they can raise an alarm.

Roleplaying Defense:

  • Preventing an Alarm: Your party is sneaking through a courtyard and a guard on a watchtower is about to spot you. You cannot risk a noisy bowshot.
    • Roleplay: “Don’t move. If he shouts, we’re done for. I load a dart tipped with a fast-acting sleep poison. I find a spot in the shadows, take a slow, deep breath to steady my body—the Eight-Fold Breath—and exhale sharply into the pipe. The shot is utterly silent. The guard won’t cry out; he’ll simply feel a sudden wave of drowsiness, slump against the wall, and be asleep before he even knows he was attacked. We can pass.”
  • Creating a Diversion: You are trapped in a storeroom, and guards are posted outside the only door.
    • Roleplay: “We can’t fight our way out. We need them to leave their post. I’ll load a special dart, one coated in an alchemical paste that shrieks when exposed to air. I aim through the keyhole, not at the guards, but at the far wall down the corridor. I use a gentle puff of air. The dart flies silently past them and sticks into the wall. A moment later, a horrific shriek fills the hallway from the far end. The guards will draw their swords and go to investigate the sound, leaving the door completely unguarded for our escape.”

Roleplaying Offense:

  • Targeting a Sheltered Leader: An enemy captain is directing his archers from behind a large stone battlement, thinking himself safe.
    • Roleplay: “I can’t get a clean shot at him; the wall is in the way. I’ll use Guided Gust. I load a dart tipped with a debilitating neurotoxin. I take aim, and as I exhale, I focus my will into my breath. The dart doesn’t fly straight; it seems to be carried on an invisible current, curving up and over the stone wall to strike the captain in the shoulder. His archers will be thrown into confusion as their leader suddenly loses his ability to shout commands.”
  • Impossible Trick Shot: A powerful sorcerer is chanting a ritual in a sealed room, but you notice a small, barred window high on the wall. You cannot see him from your position.
    • Roleplay: “There’s no way in, but that window is an opening. I can’t see him, but I know he’s in there. I will use Ricochet Draft. I load a dart with a poison designed to cause coughing fits and break concentration. I aim at the stone wall next to the window. I exhale a sharp, psionically-charged puff of air, visualizing the dart’s path—bouncing off the wall at a perfect angle and whipping through the bars of the window. It’s a one-in-a-million shot, made at disadvantage, but if it hits, his ritual is ruined from an attack he thought impossible.”

2. In a Dense Wilderness or Swamp

In these environments of thick cover and natural dangers, the Whisperpipe becomes a tool of perfect, silent hunting.

Roleplaying Defense:

  • Calming a Hostile Beast: Your party accidentally disturbs a territorial beast, like a giant bear, and it’s preparing to charge.
    • Roleplay: “Hold your fire! Don’t make it angrier. I have a dart prepared for this, tipped with a potent sedative made from marsh blossoms. I aim for the beast’s thick flank. My breath is silent, the shot is silent. The beast won’t associate the sudden feeling of drowsiness with us. It will just feel a powerful urge to sleep, yawn, and perhaps lumber back to its den for a nap, leaving us to pass peacefully.”

Roleplaying Offense:

  • Hunting a Wary Target: You are hunting a creature or person who is exceptionally alert and has keen hearing.
    • Roleplay: “This target can hear a bowstring being drawn from a hundred paces. A spell would light up the forest with magic. But the Whisperpipe is just… breath. I can get into a high branch, load a lethal poison, and wait. My shot will be completely silent. The target will feel a small prick, like an insect bite, and then simply fall. No alarm, no chase. Just silence, followed by silence.”

3. In a Crowded City or Social Gathering

Here, among the masses, the Whisperpipe is the ultimate tool of covert action, able to deliver its payload without causing a panic.

Roleplaying Defense:

  • Remote Assistance: Your ally is in a tavern trying to win a card game against a notorious cheat. You suspect the cheat’s associate is using hand signals from across the room.
    • Roleplay: “From my shadowed table in the corner, I can see the spotter. I can’t expose him without starting a brawl. I load a dart with a substance that causes temporary, harmless vision blurring. I lift my drink to my lips, concealing the Whisperpipe. A silent puff of air. The spotter will think his eyes are just tired from the smoke, but his signals will become useless, defending my friend from the cheating and allowing him to win fairly.”

Roleplaying Offense:

  • The Rooftop Assassination: You must deliver a poison to a corrupt official who is speaking on a crowded balcony, surrounded by guards.
    • Roleplay: “From the rooftop opposite, I have a clear line of sight. A crossbow bolt would be instantly traced back to my position. But the Whisperpipe leaves no trace. I use my Constitution, my own body’s steadiness, to aim. One silent breath. The tiny thornwood dart will cross the distance unheard, striking the target in the neck. To the crowd below, it will look as if he simply had a heart attack or seizure. By the time they realize what truly happened, I will have long since vanished into the city.”

Perception of Activation:

User’s Perspective (The Wearer)

By the Five Senses

  • Sight: As you exhale, you see a faint, momentary shimmer of emerald light inside the dark tube of the pipe. The wisp of your breath becomes visible for a split second as it leaves the muzzle, glowing with a soft green energy that envelops and guides the dart.
  • Hearing: The activation is silent to the outside world, but you perceive a deep, internal hum that resonates in your sinuses and chest. It is the sound of your own controlled breathing amplified into a psionic note of pure focus.
  • Touch: The smooth, cool reed of the pipe vibrates gently against your lips and hands. It’s a pleasant, harmonic resonance, as if the pipe is attuning itself to your breath to perfectly cancel out any sound.
  • Smell: For a brief moment, the air is filled with the clean, green scent of freshly snapped marsh reeds and cool, misty fen-air, regardless of your actual surroundings.
  • Taste: A fleeting taste of fresh rainwater and ozone, the taste of a storm held in a single breath.

By Extra-Sensory Perception

  • Psionic/Mental: This is the core of the experience. You feel your will, your focused intent, merge with your physical breath. For the instant the dart is in flight, you feel a direct, telekinetic connection to it, allowing you to guide its path to ignore cover or even curve through the air. It’s a feeling of perfect, effortless projection.
  • Proprioceptive: You have a moment of supernatural awareness of your own body—the exact pressure in your lungs, the controlled contraction of your diaphragm. It is the physical manifestation of the “Eight-Fold Breath,” a feeling of perfect internal balance and control.

Positives

  • You feel a sense of absolute control and flawless precision over the shot.
  • There is no jarring recoil or loud noise to break your concentration, allowing for immense focus.
  • The ability to perform impossible feats of marksmanship feels intuitive and natural, like an extension of your own will.

Negatives

  • The level of focus required is mentally taxing; each special shot leaves a faint sense of mental fatigue.
  • A missed shot, especially a Ricochet Draft, feels like a deep personal failure of will and focus, which can be demoralizing.
  • You become so focused on your breath and the “internal” sensations that you can be slow to react to immediate external threats.

Observer’s Perspective

By the Five Senses

  • Sight: The activation is incredibly difficult to perceive. A very keen-eyed observer might notice a faint, momentary wisp of green-tinted vapor exit the pipe’s muzzle with the dart. During a Ricochet Draft, this wisp might be seen tracing an unnaturally curved path through the air. The dart itself is small, dark, and hard to track with the eye.
  • Hearing: Absolutely nothing. The primary and most unnerving feature of the weapon is that the shot itself is completely silent. An observer might hear the soft thud of the dart’s impact, but never the shot that preceded it.
  • Touch: None.
  • Smell: If standing within a few feet of the user, one might catch a brief, out-of-place scent of fresh marsh air.
  • Taste: None.

By Extra-Sensory Perception

  • Magical/Aural: A person capable of perceiving magic would not see a flare of arcane or divine power. Instead, they would detect a brief, highly disciplined pulse of psionic energy originating from the user’s mind and breath, focused into a telekinetic projection by the pipe. The signature is fleeting and subtle.
  • Subconscious/Intuitive: This is the most common perception. The observer sees no cause, only the effect. A guard suddenly slumps over. A dart appears quivering in a wall. A potion flask shatters from across a room with no visible projectile. This creates a deeply unsettling sense of “action without cause,” making the user seem like a ghost or a spirit who can affect the world with their silent will alone.

Positives

  • To an ally, the user is a ghost, an impossibly effective and discreet operator who can neutralize targets without raising any alarm.
  • The silent and subtle nature of the attack makes it a perfect tool for infiltration and covert operations.

Negatives

  • To an enemy, the user is a terrifying and unpredictable threat. Attacks seem to come from nowhere, with no warning, which can be devastating to morale.
  • The supernatural silence and “action without cause” can easily be mistaken for malevolent witchcraft or ghostly intervention, drawing fear and hostility from superstitious populaces or zealous witch hunters.
  • Because the cause is so hard to perceive, an enemy may not even realize where the attack is coming from, making the user a frustratingly difficult target to locate and retaliate against.

Artisan’s Formula: The Zephyr Pipe

Materials Needed

  • Core Component: One flawless, three-foot stalk of River-Confluence Bamboo. (Note: This bamboo grows only at the precise meeting point of two rivers. It must be hollowed out using only focused air and water pressure, as physical tools will disrupt the resonant chambers within the wood.)
  • Sound-Dampening Agent: A fistful of raw, uncured Phase Spider Silk. (This silk’s ethereal nature will be used to line the pipe, trapping sound waves before they can escape.)
  • Mouthpiece Component: A single, perfectly preserved Ammonite fossil. (The spiral shape of the fossil is believed to be ideal for focusing breath and psionic energy.)
  • Alchemical Binding Agent: One vial of “Still-Air Paste.” This requires:
    • The downy, silencing feathers from the wing of a Giant Owl.
    • The powdered crystal dust from a geode found in a windless, deep cavern.
    • A single, prolonged exhalation from a meditating master, captured and sealed within a magically prepared vial.

Tools Required

  • An Alchemical Workstation: To grind the feathers and crystal and to carefully mix the Still-Air Paste without dissipating the captured breath.
  • A High-Pressure Air Bladder and Water Nozzle: Specifically for the delicate process of hollowing out the River-Confluence Bamboo.
  • Masterwork Lapidary Tools: To cut, shape, and polish the Ammonite fossil into a functional and perfectly fitted mouthpiece.
  • A Long, Thin Glass Rod and Silk Swabs: For the painstaking process of lining the inside of the finished pipe with the alchemical paste and spider silk.

Skill Requirements

  • Mastery in Alchemy: Required to successfully create the Still-Air Paste, a volatile process where the captured breath can easily be lost.
  • Expertise in Woodworking or a similar Artisan Skill: To precisely shape the bamboo and fit the ammonite mouthpiece without causing any cracks or leaks.
  • Proficiency in Arcana: To handle the metaphysically unstable Phase Spider Silk and to guide the final attunement process.
  • Exceptional Breath Control (Roleplaying Requirement): The crafter must themselves be a practitioner of meditative breathing. The final attunement is impossible without a body conditioned for precise, controlled exhalation.

Crafting Steps

  1. Hollowing the Stalk: This is the initial challenge. Using focused jets of water to break down the internal nodes and high-pressure air to expel the pulp, you must clear the inside of the bamboo stalk. The process is slow and requires a delicate touch, as too much pressure will crack the entire stalk, rendering it useless.
  2. Creating the Still-Air Paste: At an alchemical station, the owl feathers and crystal dust are ground into a powder finer than air. This powder is placed in a bowl. The vial of captured breath is then unsealed, and the escaping essence is directed into the powder. The breath itself acts as the solvent, mystically transforming the powder into a shimmering, near-weightless paste. This must be done quickly before the breath dissipates entirely.
  3. Lining the Pipe: The Still-Air Paste is carefully applied to the raw Phase Spider Silk, making it tacky. Using the long glass rod and silk swabs, you must painstakingly push and guide the sticky silk into the hollowed-out bamboo tube, pressing it against the inner walls until a perfect, seamless, and sound-dampening lining is formed. This process can take many hours.
  4. Fitting the Mouthpiece: The Ammonite fossil is polished and shaped so that it can be fitted perfectly to one end of the bamboo stalk. A small amount of the remaining Still-Air Paste is used as a sealant to ensure an airtight fit. The physical construction is now complete.
  5. The Attunement of Breath: The pipe is dormant. To awaken it, you must sit in a quiet place and perform a deep, meditative breathing exercise, using the pipe for every exhalation for one uninterrupted hour. You must sync your own life’s rhythm—your heartbeat, your breathing—with the pipe. Success is marked when the pipe suddenly feels weightless in your hands, an extension of your own lungs. On your next exhale through the pipe, you will feel—not hear—a faint, psionic hum, confirming the link is forged.

Man of Quiet Breath and Loud King

Hear the telling of the time of the Loud King. In that age, the world had a great headache. The King shouted his laws from his high tower, his soldiers shouted his orders in the streets, and his criers shouted his greatness until the birds, it is said, fell from the sky with sore ears. The King believed that the loudest voice was the strongest voice, and so his rule was a constant, roaring storm of noise. And it was so.

But in the Murkwater Fen, a place of wet earth and sleeping sounds, lived a Man of Quiet Breath. He was of the Verdant People. The noise of the Loud King’s world was a pain to him, a sharp stone in his shoe. He could feel the vibrations of the shouting in the water and in the roots of the trees. He thought, a great fire is not fought with more fire. A shout cannot defeat a greater shout. But a great noise can be unmade by a small, perfect quiet. I will bring the King a gift of silence.

The Man of Quiet Breath knew he needed a tool. He went to the deepest part of the fen, where the Silence Reeds grew. The old lore said these reeds held the ghosts of silent things. To harvest one, a person must walk the Eight-Fold Path of Stillness.

The First Path was to still his own heart-beating, so the water-striders would not feel his life. The Second Path was to walk upon the dark water and make no ripple. The Third Path was to pass the den of the great marsh-serpent while it slept, and not wake it. The Fourth Path was to breathe so softly that the bog-mist did not swirl. The Fifth Path was to have a mind so empty that the thought-reading sprites could find no perch there. The Sixth Path was to know the location of the most perfect reed without using his eyes. The Seventh Path was to hold a single breath for so long that the sun moved a full hand across the sky. The Eighth Path was to cut the Silence Reed so softly, the fen did not know it was gone.

All this the Man of Quiet Breath did. He now held the perfect reed. He hollowed it with his own breath and fitted it with a mouthpiece of ancient stone. This was the Whisperpipe. For his dart, he did not use a thorn of poison, for he was not a man of killing. He used a single thornwood dart, and on its tip he put one drop of the nectar of the Silent Lotus, a flower which, if tasted, takes away a person’s voice and, more importantly, their desire to make noise.

He journeyed to the great city of the Loud King. The noise of the city was a physical blow. He climbed to a high, forgotten rooftop, across from the King’s tower. He saw the King emerge onto his balcony, his mouth already open to begin his daily shouting of laws. The King was surrounded by his guards, his listening-men. There was no straight path for a dart. A banner flapped in the wind. A great stone pillar stood in the way.

The Man of Quiet Breath put the Whisperpipe to his lips. He loaded the single dart. He took a long, slow breath, a breath that held the quiet of the fen within it. He breathed out, not with air, but with purpose. He breathed a path into the world.

The dart left the pipe. It was a ghost. It did not fly true. It flew clever.

The little dart went up. It went around the stone pillar. It passed through a fold in the King’s flapping banner. It was a breath that knew a secret way through the world. It found the King’s throat. It was a touch no louder than a falling drop of dew.

The King took a great breath to begin his proclamation. He opened his mouth to shout. But only a small, sad puff of air came out. The shout was gone from him. He tried again, and again, there was only silence. The wanting to shout, the need to fill the world with his own voice, had vanished. He looked at his hands. He looked at the sky. He was, for the first time in his life, quiet.

And in that new, sudden silence, the people in the square below could hear their own thoughts for the first time in many years. And they discovered that their thoughts were not of the King at all.

The Moral of the Story: A king’s shout may rule a city. But a wise man’s whisper can rule the king.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition)

Whisperwind Blowgun Weapon (blowgun), rare (requires attunement)

This masterwork blowgun is crafted from a single, three-foot stalk of a dark, hardened marsh reed. It is unnaturally light, and intricate, swirling patterns are visible in the grain of the wood. It makes no sound when fired.

You have a +1 bonus to attack rolls made with this magic weapon. When you make an attack with this blowgun, you can choose to use your Constitution modifier, instead of your Dexterity, for the attack roll.

The blowgun has 3 charges, and it regains all expended charges daily at dawn. When you make an attack with it, you can expend 1 charge to have the dart ignore half and three-quarters cover.

Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition)

The Fen-Reed Pipe Mythos Artifact/Weapon

A strangely ancient blowgun, carved from a single piece of a dark, unknown species of reed. The pipe seems to absorb sound, and its inner surface is carved with microscopic, non-Euclidean spirals that guide the flow of air. It is a terrifyingly effective tool for silent assassination.

  • Weapon Stats: Functions as a Blowgun (Damage 1d3 + poison). Range: 20 yards.
  • Supernatural Silence: Firing the pipe makes no sound. An attack made with this weapon never reveals the user’s position due to noise. A target may make a Hard Listen roll to hear the faint whisper of the dart itself, but not the source of the shot.
  • Guided Breath: Once per day, the user may attempt an “impossible” shot. This allows them to ignore any cover that is not total (e.g., a target partially hiding behind a pillar or furniture). This requires the user to succeed on a Hard POW roll to psionically guide the dart with their will. Failure means the shot automatically misses.
  • Sanity Cost: The pipe is believed to be a relic of a pre-human, serpent-worshipping culture. Fully understanding its alien craftsmanship and purpose requires a successful Cthulhu Mythos roll, costing 1/1d4 SAN.

Blades in the Dark

The Sump-Reed Pipe Special Gear | Fine Weapon | Arcane

A long, elegant blowgun crafted from a single stalk of petrified Sump-Reed. It is unnaturally light and silent, a perfect tool for delivering a Leech’s concoctions or a Spider’s venom from the shadows of Duskvol. The pipe seems to guide the user’s breath, bending it around obstacles.

  • Silent & Precise: This is a Fine ranged weapon. When you attack with it from a hidden or prepared position, you may take +1d to your Hunt or Prowl roll. An attack with this pipe is always silent and does not reveal your position.
  • Payload Delivery: This is the perfect tool for delivering an alchemical payload. When you use it to deliver a poison or potion, the effect gains Potency.
  • Impossible Shot (Costs 2 Stress): You can push yourself to bend your breath around corners, through grates, or past cover. You can attack a target that is not in your direct line of sight. Describe your impossible shot; the GM will tell you the consequence or risk of your new position.

Knave (2nd Edition)

Hollow Fen-Reed Blowgun (one-handed, ranged)

A long, dark blowgun carved from a single, petrified reed that feels strangely light. It makes no sound when fired, the dart emerging with only a faint puff of air.

  • Damage: 1d4
  • Properties:
    • Firing this blowgun is completely silent.
    • Darts fired from this weapon ignore any cover unless the target is completely obscured.
    • You may choose to use your Constitution bonus for ranged attacks with this weapon instead of your Dexterity bonus.
  • Drawback – Fragile: The ancient reed is brittle. Any time you take damage from a fall of more than 10 feet or are hit by a critical attack, there is a 1-in-6 chance the reed shatters, becoming useless.

Fate Core System

The Fen-Keeper’s Breath

In Fate, an item of this significance is best modeled as a core character Aspect that grants narrative permissions and access to powerful stunts.

New Character Aspect: Bearer of the Silent Wind This Aspect defines the character’s unique method of interaction with the world: precise, quiet, and from an unexpected direction.

  • Invoking this Aspect: A player can spend a Fate Point for a +2 bonus or a reroll on any Stealth roll involving remaining unheard, or any Shoot roll made from a hidden or difficult position.
  • Compelling this Aspect: A GM can offer a Fate Point to compel this. For example: “The utter silence of your attack is so unnatural that it attracts the attention of a nearby spirit that is sensitive to such things, creating the complication Angered an Unseen Watcher.”

Stunts Granted:

  • Path of the Silent Dart: Because I wield The Fen-Keeper’s Breath, my ranged attacks with it are completely silent. I can attack without automatically revealing my position, forcing enemies to use an Overcome action with Notice to locate me.
  • Breath Bends the Reed: Because I wield The Fen-Keeper’s Breath, once per scene, I can spend a Fate Point to make a Shoot attack against a target that is behind cover. I do not need to roll to Create an Advantage first; I can just describe how my focused breath guides the dart around the obstacle to my target.

Numenera & Cypher System

Acoustic Nullifier Tube

This artifact is a three-foot-long tube made of a dark, fibrous bio-mechanical material that feels light and warm. It uses a combination of internal sound-dampening structures and a minor telekinetic field to launch small projectiles in absolute silence.

  • Level: 5
  • Form: A long, hollow tube of a dark, organic material with a polished synth mouthpiece.
  • Effect: This weapon fires small darts (it comes with 1d6+4 darts). It is completely silent. An attack with this tube is a Speed-based action.
    • Action: The user makes an attack against a target within short range. A successful attack inflicts 3 points of damage. (Any poison or drug on the dart is a separate effect).
    • Enabler: Firing this weapon does not create an audible sound and does not automatically reveal the user’s position if they are hidden.
    • Action: By taking an extra moment to aim and attune the guidance system, the user’s next attack with this weapon ignores the Armor bonus granted to a target by cover. After using this ability, the user must make a depletion roll.
  • Depletion: 1 in 1d20 (Check only when the “ignore cover” Action is used.)

Pathfinder (2nd Edition)

Blowgun of the Bending Wind Item 6 Traits: Magical, Evocation, Uncommon Price: 240 gp Usage: Wielded, 2 hands; Bulk: L

This +1 striking blowgun is crafted from a single, unnaturally straight stalk of a dark marsh reed. It is cool to the touch and feels lighter than it should. When you exhale through it, the air seems to move with a will of its own.

This blowgun is completely silent; firing it is a quiet action and does not automatically reveal your position if you are hidden. Darts fired from this blowgun have their range increment increased to 40 feet.

Activate [One-Action] command, envision; Frequency once per 10 minutes; Effect You make a Strike with the blowgun. This Strike ignores the target’s cover, up to greater cover.

Savage Worlds (Adventure Edition)

The Silent Sting Pipe Magical Ranged Weapon

This masterwork blowgun is crafted from a rare, sound-dampening reed. It is favored by silent hunters and assassins for its ability to deliver poison from a distance without a sound.

  • Range: 5/10/20
  • Damage: 1
  • Rate of Fire: 1
  • Notes & Qualities:
    • Silent: This weapon makes no sound when fired. A successful attack does not reveal the firer’s position to anyone who did not have a direct line of sight to them at the moment of the attack.
    • Payload Delivery: The pipe’s true purpose is to deliver toxins. Any creature making a Vigor roll to resist a poison delivered by a dart from this pipe suffers a -1 penalty to their roll.
    • Trick Shot: Once per encounter, the user may spend a Benny to ignore all penalties related to a target’s Cover.

Shadowrun, 6th Edition

Fenris-Reed Blowgun Exotic Ranged Weapon

An elegant and highly illegal piece of Elven talismongery, this blowgun is crafted from a single stalk of magically treated and silenced fen-reed. It is the preferred tool of “purist” assassins who disdain the noise of firearms, allowing for the nearly untraceable delivery of potent toxins.

  • Accuracy: N/A
  • Damage Value (DV): 1P
  • Armor Piercing (AP): –
  • Availability: 16R
  • Cost: 28,000 nuyen
  • Effects:
    • Magically Silenced: This weapon is completely silent. Firing it does not create a sound that can be traced back to the user with audio sensors or hearing.
    • Toxin Amplifier: The blowgun’s magical properties enhance the efficacy of any toxin applied to its darts. Any toxin delivered by a dart from this blowgun has its Power increased by +2 for the victim’s resistance test.
    • Guided Breath: Once per combat, the user may ignore all negative dice pool modifiers from environmental conditions (such as wind or rain) or cover for a single attack.

Starfinder

Xeno-Reed Dart Launcher Small Arm, Level 5 Price: 3,100 credits Damage: 1d3 P Range: 30 ft. Critical: — Capacity: 1 dart Usage: 1 Bulk: L Special: Analog, injection, silent

This long, dark tube appears to be a primitive blowgun carved from some kind of alien reed. In reality, it is a sophisticated piece of biotechnology that uses compressed air and a subtle kinetic field to launch a dart in complete silence and with surprising accuracy.

  • Special Properties:
    • Silent: Attacks with this weapon are completely silent and do not automatically reveal your position if you are hidden.
    • Injection: Darts fired from this weapon can deliver a poison, drug, or medicinal compound. The saving throw DC of any poison delivered in this manner is increased by +1.
    • Guided Shot: Once per day, as a standard action, you can make an attack with this weapon that ignores the AC bonus granted to the target by cover (but not total cover).

Traveller (Mongoose 2nd Edition)

Acoustic-Dampened Flechette Launcher Ranged Weapon, Tech Level 13

A specialized weapon used by corporate espionage units and black-ops teams. The launcher uses a compressed-gas system to fire a small, fin-stabilized flechette with almost no sound. Its primary function is the silent delivery of chemical agents.

  • Range: 25m
  • Damage: 1d6 AP: 2
  • Magazine: 1 (internal)
  • Cost: Cr 60,000
  • Traits:
    • Silent: An attack with this weapon is only audible within 2 meters of the firer.
    • Scope: The integrated smart scope provides one Boon die on all attack rolls.
    • Injector: The weapon is designed to deliver a payload. Any target damaged by a flechette must make two Endurance checks: one against the weapon’s damage and a separate one against the poison or drug effect. The check to resist the chemical agent suffers one Penalty die.
  • Ammunition: Uses specialized chemical-agent flechettes (TL 13, Cr 50 each, plus the cost of the chemical payload).

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (4th Edition)

Pipe of the Fen-Wraith Magical Blowpipe

This long, dark pipe is crafted from a single, unblemished reed that grows only in the most haunted and mist-shrouded fens of the world. It is said to have been a gift from a Spite to a Wood Elf scout, and it carries the silence of the swamp within it.

  • Range: 12 yards
  • Damage: 1
  • Enc: 0
  • Qualities: Magical, Elven-Craft, Silent, Precise
  • Special Rules:
    • Supernaturally Silent: This blowpipe makes no sound when fired. No Test is required for a target to be Surprised by an attack from this weapon if the user is hidden.
    • Venomous Breath: Any Poison applied to a dart fired from this pipe is considered to have its Virulence increased by +15 when the victim makes their Endurance Test.
    • Whispering Wind Shot: Once per session, the wielder may declare they are making a trick shot. This shot ignores all situational penalties related to cover. Furthermore, the shot may be used to hit a target not in the user’s direct line of sight, provided a path exists for the dart to travel (e.g., around a corner), though this requires the user to succeed on a Hard (–20) Ranged (Blowpipe) Test.