Magical items? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Magical items? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Malcaor
07-11-07, 09:51 PM My PCs are starting to get in the wealth range where they want to buy magical weaponry. At the end of our last session they bought a bunch of weapons with special abilities.

I started DMing for another group with more experienced players. One of the players told me that I messed up the weaposn big time. I am aware that the enhancement bonus from a magical weapon stacks with the bonus from special abilities. The players didn't buy any enhancement bonus and just bought +1 special abilities. So I made them pay the cost of just the special ability.

One of the more experienced players says that they have to buy enhancement bonuses to buy the special abilities.

Could someone explain jsut how thsi works please?
Colmarr
07-11-07, 09:54 PM Sure. It's quite simple really.

1. In order to have any enhancements, a weapon (or armour or shield) must be masterwork.

2. In order to have any special abilities, a weapon (or armour or shield) must be at least +1.

Easy :)

In general, magic armor protects the wearer to a greater extent than nonmagical armor. Magic armor bonuses are enhancement bonuses, never rise above +5, and stack with regular armor bonuses (and with shield and magic shield enhancement bonuses). All magic armor is also masterwork armor, reducing armor check penalties by 1.
In addition to an enhancement bonus, armor may have special abilities. Special abilities usually count as additional bonuses for determining the market value of an item, but do not improve AC. A suit of armor cannot have an effective bonus (enhancement plus special ability bonus equivalents) higher than +10. A suit of armor with a special ability must have at least a +1 enhancement bonus.

Magic weapons have enhancement bonuses ranging from +1 to +5. They apply these bonuses to both attack and damage rolls when used in combat. All magic weapons are also masterwork weapons, but their masterwork bonus on attack rolls does not stack with their enhancement bonus on attack rolls.
Weapons come in two basic categories: melee and ranged. Some of the weapons listed as melee weapons can also be used as ranged weapons. In this case, their enhancement bonus applies to either type of attack.
In addition to an enhancement bonus, weapons may have special abilities. Special abilities count as additional bonuses for determining the market value of the item, but do not modify attack or damage bonuses (except where specifically noted). A single weapon cannot have a modified bonus (enhancement bonus plus special ability bonus equivalents) higher than +10. A weapon with a special ability must have at least a +1 enhancement bonus.
Malcaor
07-11-07, 10:51 PM Ok thank you.
Morwen
07-11-07, 11:12 PM Also, if they bought more than 1 special ability, remember to add up the equivalent bonuses for the abilities to find the cost of the weapon/armor.

For instance, a +1 sword with the flaming and shock enhancements would count as a +3 sword (+1 enhancement, +1 for flaming, +1 for shock).
Phrennzy
07-12-07, 10:33 AM And that each head of a two-headed weapon has to be enchanted seperately, so a Double-Bladed sword can have one blade +1 Frost (8k) and the other +1 Flaming (8k), and the cost would be equal to enchanting two +2 enchants (16k).
eamon
07-12-07, 11:21 AM But don't worry about it too much; it's not horribly unbalancing to have weapons without enhancement bonus but with special abilities. Just make sure that the weapons themselves don't bypass DR/magic, and they'll be fine. You really want to bypass DR/magic, as it's quite common, so they'll decide for themselves to get that enhancement eventually. You could also hand out lesser augment crystals (which only work on magical weapons - i.e. at least +1 enh. bonus), which will further motivate them to get the +1 somehow.

If you want to solve it "ingame", depending on your game status, they might have been deceived by a scheming artificer. Artificers are capable of infusing weapons with special abilities without the enhancement modifier - but only temporarily. The quest might then be to catch the fraud and get their money back, or something like that.
mvincent
07-12-07, 12:13 PM But don't worry about it too much; it's not horribly unbalancing to have weapons without enhancement bonus but with special abilities.1) Not requiring the initial +1 will make magical arrows much more worthwhile for the price (not a bad thing necessarily)
2) If the group starts to regularly use the Greater magic weapon spell to obtain their enhancement bonuses (like many experienced groups tend to do), then not requiring the initial +1 will give them a decent price advantage with their other weapons also.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Malcaor 07-11-07, 09:51 PM	My PCs are starting to get in the wealth range where they want to buy magical weaponry. At the end of our last session they bought a bunch of weapons with special abilities. I started DMing for another group with more experienced players. One of the players told me that I messed up the weaposn big time. I am aware that the enhancement bonus from a magical weapon stacks with the bonus from special abilities. The players didn't buy any enhancement bonus and just bought +1 special abilities. So I made them pay the cost of just the special ability. One of the more experienced players says that they have to buy enhancement bonuses to buy the special abilities. Could someone explain jsut how thsi works please?
Colmarr 07-11-07, 09:54 PM	Sure. It's quite simple really. 1. In order to have any enhancements, a weapon (or armour or shield) must be masterwork. 2. In order to have any special abilities, a weapon (or armour or shield) must be at least +1. Easy :) In general, magic armor protects the wearer to a greater extent than nonmagical armor. Magic armor bonuses are enhancement bonuses, never rise above +5, and stack with regular armor bonuses (and with shield and magic shield enhancement bonuses). All magic armor is also masterwork armor, reducing armor check penalties by 1. In addition to an enhancement bonus, armor may have special abilities. Special abilities usually count as additional bonuses for determining the market value of an item, but do not improve AC. A suit of armor cannot have an effective bonus (enhancement plus special ability bonus equivalents) higher than +10. A suit of armor with a special ability must have at least a +1 enhancement bonus. Magic weapons have enhancement bonuses ranging from +1 to +5. They apply these bonuses to both attack and damage rolls when used in combat. All magic weapons are also masterwork weapons, but their masterwork bonus on attack rolls does not stack with their enhancement bonus on attack rolls. Weapons come in two basic categories: melee and ranged. Some of the weapons listed as melee weapons can also be used as ranged weapons. In this case, their enhancement bonus applies to either type of attack. In addition to an enhancement bonus, weapons may have special abilities. Special abilities count as additional bonuses for determining the market value of the item, but do not modify attack or damage bonuses (except where specifically noted). A single weapon cannot have a modified bonus (enhancement bonus plus special ability bonus equivalents) higher than +10. A weapon with a special ability must have at least a +1 enhancement bonus.
Malcaor 07-11-07, 10:51 PM	Ok thank you.
Morwen 07-11-07, 11:12 PM	Also, if they bought more than 1 special ability, remember to add up the equivalent bonuses for the abilities to find the cost of the weapon/armor. For instance, a +1 sword with the flaming and shock enhancements would count as a +3 sword (+1 enhancement, +1 for flaming, +1 for shock).
Phrennzy 07-12-07, 10:33 AM	And that each head of a two-headed weapon has to be enchanted seperately, so a Double-Bladed sword can have one blade +1 Frost (8k) and the other +1 Flaming (8k), and the cost would be equal to enchanting two +2 enchants (16k).
eamon 07-12-07, 11:21 AM	But don't worry about it too much; it's not horribly unbalancing to have weapons without enhancement bonus but with special abilities. Just make sure that the weapons themselves don't bypass DR/magic, and they'll be fine. You really want to bypass DR/magic, as it's quite common, so they'll decide for themselves to get that enhancement eventually. You could also hand out lesser augment crystals (which only work on magical weapons - i.e. at least +1 enh. bonus), which will further motivate them to get the +1 somehow. If you want to solve it "ingame", depending on your game status, they might have been deceived by a scheming artificer. Artificers are capable of infusing weapons with special abilities without the enhancement modifier - but only temporarily. The quest might then be to catch the fraud and get their money back, or something like that.
mvincent 07-12-07, 12:13 PM	But don't worry about it too much; it's not horribly unbalancing to have weapons without enhancement bonus but with special abilities.1) Not requiring the initial +1 will make magical arrows much more worthwhile for the price (not a bad thing necessarily) 2) If the group starts to regularly use the Greater magic weapon spell to obtain their enhancement bonuses (like many experienced groups tend to do), then not requiring the initial +1 will give them a decent price advantage with their other weapons also.