Mace of Disruption 5e: How the Destroy Save Works, Monster by Monster

The Mace of Disruption 5e is a rare magic mace that requires attunement. Every hit against a fiend or an undead deals an extra 2d6 radiant damage, and if that leaves the creature at 25 hit points or fewer, it must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or be destroyed outright. On a successful save it's frightened until the end of your next turn. The mace also sheds bright light in a 20-foot radius while you hold it. It has no bonus to attack or damage rolls. The verdict: a standout weapon for a campaign full of undead and fiends, and an ordinary mace against everything else.

Table of Contents

• •Mace of Disruption Rules Text
• •How the Mace of Disruption Works
• •Mace of Disruption: 2014 vs 2024
• •Is the Mace of Disruption Worth It?
• •Mace of Disruption for DMs
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Mace of Disruption Rules Text

How the Mace of Disruption Works

The extra damage

Any hit on a fiend or undead adds 2d6 radiant (average 7) to the mace's normal 1d6 bludgeoning. With +3 Strength, a hit averages 13.5 damage against those creature types and 6.5 against anything else. There's no +1 to attack or damage, so the mace hits no more often than a plain one.

The 25-hit-point destroy save

The check happens after the extra radiant damage lands. If the creature is at 25 hit points or fewer at that point, it makes a DC 15 Wisdom save. Failure destroys it. Each hit triggers a new check, so a character with two attacks gets two chances per turn once the target is low enough.

How often it works depends on the creature's Wisdom save and its hit points:

Zombies, skeletons and ghouls start at 25 hit points or fewer, so the very first hit can destroy them. The imp has Magic Resistance (Advantage on saves against magical effects) in both editions, which cuts its failure chance from 65% to about 42%.

The Frightened consolation prize

A creature that succeeds on the save is frightened until the end of your next turn: Frightened gives it Disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks while it can see you, and it can't willingly move closer to you. That's a real benefit when it works, but many undead are immune to the Frightened condition. In the SRD stat blocks that includes the Ghost, Shadow, Mummy, Mummy Lord and Lich. Against those, a successful save means nothing extra happens.

Big undead and fiends

Against a high-level target the destroy effect is a finisher, not an opener. A 2024 lich has 315 hit points (135 in 2014), a +9 Wisdom save and Legendary Resistance, which lets it turn a failed save into a success. Destroying it isn't the end either: a destroyed lich reforms in 1d10 days if its phylactery (2014 Rejuvenation) or spirit jar (2024 Spirit Jar) survives. Use the radiant damage against these and treat the save as a bonus.

What "destroyed" means

Neither SRD defines it. DM ruling: a destroyed creature dies outright, without being reduced to 0 hit points first, so traits that trigger on dropping to 0 don't fire. Two cases don't need a ruling: a zombie's Undead Fortitude never works against the mace anyway, because it doesn't apply to Radiant damage in either edition, and traits that name being "destroyed," like the lich's Rejuvenation or Spirit Jar, still apply.

Radiant damage and regeneration

The 2014 Vampire Spawn regenerates 10 hit points a turn unless it took radiant damage or holy water damage; every hit from the mace switches its regeneration off for its next turn. The mace's light, by contrast, is ordinary bright light, not sunlight, so it doesn't trigger sunlight weaknesses. (The Sun Blade's light is sunlight; its text says so.)

The light

While you hold it, the mace sheds bright light in a 20-foot radius and dim light 20 feet beyond that. You can't turn it off except by letting go. Good for a party without Darkvision, bad for stealth: a sneaking cleric has to stow the mace and draw it when the fight starts.

Mace of Disruption: 2014 vs 2024

The item's mechanics are the same. What changed around it: 2024 monster stat blocks have different hit points (a 2024 zombie has 15, an imp 21), and a 2024 character with Weapon Mastery can use the mace's Sap property, giving the struck creature Disadvantage on its next attack roll.

Is the Mace of Disruption Worth It?

In an undead- or fiend-heavy campaign, yes. Every hit against those creatures deals about twice a normal mace's damage, and weak undead frequently die on the first hit. Clerics and paladins are proficient with maces, and they tend to be the ones fighting undead.

Compare it with the other rare radiant weapon in the SRD:

The Sun Blade is the better all-round weapon. The Mace of Disruption is better against fiends and is the only one of the two that can destroy a creature with a single save.

When it's a trap: in a campaign with few undead or fiends, it's a rare mace with no bonus that takes an attunement slot and gives away your position.

Mace of Disruption for DMs

Where it turns up. A temple's reliquary, the grave of a fallen undead hunter, or a crypt that someone sealed with the mace still inside it. As a rare item, it fits a party around level 5 to 10, ideally before a long stretch of undead adventures.

What it changes. Hordes of zombies, skeletons and ghouls become much easier: each one has a 70-75% chance to be destroyed by the first hit. If your next arc relies on weak undead in numbers, expect them to go down fast, and lean on frighten-immune undead, high-hit-point bosses and creatures that aren't undead or fiends.

Pricing. The 2024 SRD values a rare item at 4,000 GP and adds the base weapon's cost, so 4,005 GP. The 2014 SRD gives no magic item prices. The magic item rarity calculator helps with a shop.

Hooks.

• •A necromancer has hidden the town's Mace of Disruption at the bottom of his own crypt, guarded by the only things that can't be destroyed by it.
• •A paladin order lends the mace to the party for one job: clear out the haunted mill. They want it back, and they'll know if it's been sold.
• •The light from a Mace of Disruption is seen moving through a graveyard every night, but its last known owner died ten years ago.

Which undead fell to the mace, and who's carrying it now, are good details for a campaign log. Loreify records the session and writes up the recap.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the Mace of Disruption require attunement?

Yes. It's a rare magic weapon that requires attunement in both the 2014 and 2024 rules.

How does the Mace of Disruption destroy undead?

When you hit a fiend or undead, it takes an extra 2d6 radiant damage. If it then has 25 hit points or fewer, it must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or be destroyed.

Does the Mace of Disruption give a +1 bonus?

No. It has no bonus to attack or damage rolls. Its power is the extra radiant damage and the destroy save against fiends and undead.

Does the Mace of Disruption work on liches and ghosts?

The radiant damage does. The destroy save only matters once the creature is at 25 hit points or fewer, and both are immune to the Frightened condition, so a successful save has no effect. A lich can also use Legendary Resistance to turn a failed save into a success.

How much is a Mace of Disruption worth?

4,005 GP under the 2024 SRD: 4,000 GP for a rare item plus 5 GP for the mace. The 2014 SRD doesn't price magic items.

Item text: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Analysis, rulings and ideas are Loreify's own.