Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Raggers 12-17-07, 06:48 AM	1) does Brilliant energy bypass damage reduction? i knoq it bypass living matter but DR? 2) If i have everal items with the same permanent spell on them, does it stack? eg 2 items with mage armour greater on them 3) on page 45 of the MIC, there is a transmuting ability for weapons. it reads 'a transmuting weapon does not gain any other benefit of the properties it takes on, and it always deals normal damage.' what does this mean exactly? does that meam i wouldn't be able to put wounding on it aswell? do criticals work with this weapon now? Its a bit vague... thanks if you can help
Kouk 12-17-07, 07:53 AM	1) does Brilliant energy bypass damage reduction? i knoq it bypass living matter but DR? 2) If i have everal items with the same permanent spell on them, does it stack? eg 2 items with mage armour greater on them 3) on page 45 of the MIC, there is a transmuting ability for weapons. it reads 'a transmuting weapon does not gain any other benefit of the properties it takes on, and it always deals normal damage.' what does this mean exactly? does that meam i wouldn't be able to put wounding on it aswell? do criticals work with this weapon now? Its a bit vague... thanks if you can help 1) Purely as written, Brilliant Energy only bypasses Armor bonuses. It ignores only "nonliving" matter as well, which means most creatures with DR will be safe as it is a natural ability, but I believe even if you are granted DR from a magic item or even a suit of special armor it cannot bypass it. The enchantment helps you hit your enemies, not necessarily do damage, though because there is room for interpretation you should get your DMs opinion as well. I could definitely see an argument for bypassing DR granted by Adamantine armor, though not from magical effects. 2) Stacking spell effects depends on the spell, but generally spells don't stack with themselves. In the case of Mage Armor or Greater Mage Armor, both effects grant an Armor bonus to AC, and Armor bonuses never stack with themselves (even from actual physical armor). Only the best bonus applies. See "Stacking" http://www.d20srd.org/srd/theBasics.htm#stacking here or in the Player's Handbook. 3) I believe that the description of Transmuting means the weapon does damage of a type it would otherwise normally do, such as Slashing for a Longsword or Piercing for a Spear. It does not do damage with the Force descriptor which would also bypass DR, nor does it do "untyped" damage which always bypasses DR. The weapon would also deal whatever damage its enchantments do, such as 1d6 Fire damage from the Flaming property, though an enemy's Energy Resistance would still apply as normal against it. Another way you could interpret it is that you cannot use a Transmuting weapon to deal Non-lethal damage, but I believe that does not make sense in this case, and it is rare that lethal damage is described as "normal".
Raggers 12-17-07, 08:29 AM	thanks so much that realy cleared it all up; i didnt know that about armor bonuses will need to tell my DM incase he didnt know aswell so just to clarify, i can still have wounding on my weapon with transmuting because it would still deal slashing damage (kukri) and the wounding part is not damage per se?
risner 12-17-07, 01:05 PM	1) does Brilliant energy bypass damage reduction? i knoq it bypass living matter but DR? 2) If i have everal items with the same permanent spell on them, does it stack? eg 2 items with mage armour greater on them 3) on page 45 of the MIC, there is a transmuting ability for weapons. it reads 'a transmuting weapon does not gain any other benefit of the properties it takes on, and it always deals normal damage.' what does this mean exactly? does that meam i wouldn't be able to put wounding on it aswell? do criticals work with this weapon now? Its a bit vague... 1) No 2) Nothing ever stacks except Dodge bonuses and circumstance bonuses from different circumstances. 3) IIRC Transmuting allows the weapon to look different, but it retains the stat of the real weapon. So a Longsword transmuted into a whip doesn't have 15 reach, doesn't trip, and doesn't do 1d6 damage nonlethal.
mvincent 12-17-07, 01:09 PM	1) Purely as written, Brilliant Energy only bypasses Armor bonuses. <snip> I could definitely see an argument for bypassing DR granted by Adamantine armorAgreed. Brilliant energy weapons require a bit of adjudication even under the best of circumstances. For instance: 1) Can a BE weapon sunder or disarm another weapon? (by the listed mechanics: yes, but by fluff: no) 2) Can a BE weapon be sundered or disarmed? 3) What if you had an armor or shield bonus from living material (say, an ogre using two-weapon defense while wielding gnomes). 4) Does DR from armor count? 5) How does BE interact with a tower shield 6) Can you attack someone blindly through full cover (say, with a BE spiked chain?) etc.
Kouk 12-17-07, 01:19 PM	so just to clarify, i can still have wounding on my weapon with transmuting because it would still deal slashing damage (kukri) and the wounding part is not damage per se? Wounding should work fine. Wounding does not deal with damage types like Slashing or Bludgeoning, it just does Constitution Damage. Damage directly to an Ability Score is not quite the same as a damage type, Ability Damage This attack damages an opponent’s ability score. The creature’s descriptive text gives the ability and the amount of damage. If an attack that causes ability damage scores a critical hit, it deals twice the indicated amount of damage (if the damage is expressed as a die range, roll two dice). Points lost to ability damage return at the rate of 1 point per day (or double that if the character gets complete bed rest) to each damaged ability, and the spells lesser restoration and restoration offset ability damage as well. The only way a creature is immune to the Wounding ability is if it also immune to Critical Hits in general or Ability Damage. The creatures normally immune to Critical Hits are constructs, undead, oozes, plants and elementals but exceptions are always possible (some other kinds of creatures are immune to critical hits and some of the types listed are actually not immune, see each individual creature's entry in the Monster Manuals). Also, creatures who are immune to Ability Score damage are possible, such as Undead again or various unique sorts of creatures. There are also various other ways to become immune, so if you aren't sure, ask your DM whether a creature is affected by your Wounding weapon when you hit it. 3) IIRC Transmuting allows the weapon to look different, but it retains the stat of the real weapon. So a Longsword transmuted into a whip doesn't have 15 reach, doesn't trip, and doesn't do 1d6 damage nonlethal. I believe you are thinking of the "Morphing" enhancement Risner. "Transmuting" allows a weapon to overcome any kind of DR after you hit the creature at least once.
BugHunter 12-17-07, 01:22 PM	3) on page 45 of the MIC, there is a transmuting ability for weapons. it reads 'a transmuting weapon does not gain any other benefit of the properties it takes on, and it always deals normal damage.' what does this mean exactly? does that meam i wouldn't be able to put wounding on it aswell? do criticals work with this weapon now? Its a bit vague... thanks if you can help It means that if the DR is 5/Good then the weapon picks up the good descriptor but it will not do the 2d6 extra damage. You can put any other properties on it that you want. If the the creature has the trait not subject to criticals then you are still unable to cause criticals.