Morath, Scepter of the Soul Vortex

This torch-like scepter almost hums with necrotic energy and appeared when the first soul was returned to the Material Plane after its death. Since then, it has been lost and found throughout its gruesome, storied history.

While attuned to the rod, you have resistance to necrotic damage, and you know the chill touch cantrip as if it were from your class's spell list. If you are a warlock, you also gain a +3 bonus to your spell attack rolls and saving throw DCs of your warlock spells while holding the rod.

An eerie, green flame erupts from the head of this rod when you hold it, shedding bright light in a 20-foot radius and dim light for an additional 20 feet. While holding the rod, you can use a bonus action to mentally snuff out or relight the flames. While the flames are lit, you can use an action to make a ranged spell attack with it, using your spell attack bonus, out to a range of 30 feet. When you do, the flaming rod emits a phantasmal skull that flies out to attack the target. On a hit, the target takes 3d8 necrotic damage, and if the target is a creature, you regain hit points equal to half the amount of necrotic damage dealt. The skull disappears immediately after the attack.

Random Properties. Morath, Scepter of the Soul Vortex has the following random properties:

1 minor beneficial property

1 minor detrimental property

1 major detrimental property

Spells. The rod has 8 charges and regains 1d3 + 1 expended charges daily at dawn. When you reduce a humanoid to 0 hit points, the rod regains 1 expended charge. While holding the rod, you can use an action to expend 1 or more of its charges to cast one of the following spells from it, using your spell attack bonus and spell save DC: bestow curse (1 charge), circle of death (4 charges), confusion (2 charges), insect plague (3 charges), ray of enfeeblement (1 charge), or speak with dead (1 charge).

Bestow Greater Curse. When you cast the bestow curse spell while holding the rod using either the rod or a spell slot, you can choose to force the creature to make the saving throw with disadvantage. On a failed save, the target is simultaneously cursed by all four of the spell's listed options. Once this property has been used, it can't be used again until the next dawn.

Death Grip. While holding the rod, you can use an action to cast the finger of death spell from it, using your spell save DC. Once the rod has been used to cast this spell, it can't do so again until the next dawn.

Sentience. Morath, Scepter of the Soul Vortex is a sentient chaotic evil rod with an Intelligence of 17, a Wisdom of 13, and Charisma of 14. It has hearing and darkvision out to a range of 120 feet. The rod communicates telepathically with its wielder and can speak, read, and understand Common. While you are attuned to it, it also understands every language you know. It can choose to communicate with other creatures by manifesting the phantasmal skull above the rod and using it to speak.

Personality. The rod is possessed by Morath, the first human to ever die, and is an independent spirit from within the Thousand Voices, the largest collection of discordant lost souls found within the multiverse. Morath's time on the Material Plane was short, but filled with pain and confusion. As a result, Morath seeks to experience humankind's most base desires vicariously through the actions of the rod's wielder, often attempting to compel the wielder to give in to such urges in moments of weakness.

Curse. The rod bears a curse that affects any non-human that becomes attuned to it. Even if the attunement ends, the curse remains. When you die while cursed in this way, you must make a Charisma saving throw against your own spell save DC. On a failed save, or if the rod is more than 100 feet away from you when you die, your soul is immediately siphoned into and becomes a part of the Thousand Voices, leaving your body a vacant husk and unable to return to life by any means short of a wish spell. On a successful save, your soul leaves your body and enters the rod, as if you had cast the magic jar spell, using the rod as a container. You can only return to your body if it's holding the rod, but can otherwise gain the benefits of the spell as normal. If your soul returns to your body, you return to life with 1 hit point. While your soul is detached from your body in this way, your attunement to the rod is carried over to any other creature you possess for the duration.

Destroying the Scepter. The only way to destroy the rod is to destroy Morath while your soul is contained within the rod. When you do, use your original body's statistics and abilities for your soul, with the exception that your hit point maximum is halved. Use the archmage stat block for Morath's soul. From outside the rod, this combat resolves instantaneously, regardless of how much time passed within the rod during the battle. If you die while within the rod in this way, your soul is lost to the Thousand Voices. If Morath dies, the rod is destroyed and you return to your body with 1 hit point, regardless of where your body is at the time.