Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Talisman 01-25-08, 03:28 PM	I'm currently playing a rogue 3/paladin 9 and fighting with Whitefire, a +1 icy burst bastard sword, which is made of frystalline (BoExDeeds, I think) which allows it to bypass DR as if good. For story reasons, my PC isn't going to toss his blade aside even if a better one comes along, so my GM came up with this: Whitefire was stolen long ago, and 5 gems were pried from its pommel. I'm currently looking for these gems, and whenever I find one and reattach it, Whitefire will gain a new ability. My GM is letting me make requests as to what I get, but he's reserving choice of the capstone abilty for himself (as well as, naturally, final choice on the other abilities). This is my long-winded way of asking for interesting sword enhancements I can ask for. Holy's a given, seeing as I'm a paladin and all; I'm also thinking of speed and truebane (Dragon #345). Keen is useless, as I already have Imp. Crit. We're playing fast and loose with the "max. +10" rule, and planning to go epic anyway. I have a ton of books, but I do not have MIC. Any advice/suggestions welcome.
dman11235 01-25-08, 03:31 PM	Dang, no MiC? Transmuting is the first thing I always say. Well, collision is next, and speed is a good one. Bodyfeeding will be awesome since you're a rogue and crit fairly often. These are in the SRD (psionic items section). Wounding. The rest I usually use are MiC though.
mvincent 01-25-08, 04:48 PM	interesting sword enhancements I can ask for. Holy's a given, seeing as I'm a paladin and all; I'm also thinking of speed - Holy isn't as imporant, since you can already bypass DR/good (but it's good anyway). - No need to increase the actual enhancement bonus, as the greater magic weapon spell can do that for you (maybe take leadership to get a cohort to cast it for you). - At levels 14+, wounding becomes particularly effective. - Evil outsider bane is good. - Spell storing can be fun (and can end a fight quick). An empowered shocking grasp can up you damage on a hit by about 26 points. - If your DM is basing the abilities on cost, the sword could function as other wondrous items (increasing str, dex, AC, saves, etc.), without the exponential cost of further enhancement bonus. - Making the sword intelligent can give you some cool powers at a reasonable price. - The speed ability is overpriced. Boots of speed are generally considered better (and much cheaper).
Talisman 01-25-08, 06:53 PM	Bodyfeeding will be awesome since you're a rogue and crit fairly often. I imagine Telling Blow (which I have :devil:) and smite would combine with this nicely. I may have to re-work the fluff, though... "By the sacred power of Pelor, I drain the life from your body and take it for my own!" Hmm...doesn't sound too paladin-y. - Holy isn't as imporant, since you can already bypass DR/good (but it's good anyway). Yeah, I mostly want it for the +2d6 damage...my damage output is subpar, and I'm looking for boosts. - No need to increase the actual enhancement bonus, as the greater magic weapon spell can do that for you (maybe take leadership to get a cohort to cast it for you). My GM (gods bless him) is probably going to increase the enhancement bonus and up the special abilities. As I said, we're taking the "rules" as "guidelines." - At levels 14+, wounding becomes particularly effective. Hadn't considered it... - Evil outsider bane is good. Yep :D - If your DM is basing the abilities on cost, the sword could function as other wondrous items (increasing str, dex, AC, saves, etc.), without the exponential cost of further enhancement bonus. Good idea! The GM's done things like this before, so I think he'd be open to the idea. - The speed ability is overpriced. Boots of speed are generally considered better (and much cheaper). Hadn't considered that...we do have a sorcerer/cleric/mystic theurge who specializes in buffing, so I should probably persuade him to take haste and forget about speed. Thanks for the ideas, guys! Anybody else?
mvincent 01-25-08, 07:10 PM	we do have a sorcerer/cleric/mystic theurge who specializes in buffing, so I should probably persuade him to take haste and forget about speed.The boots of speed (or mithral fullplate of speed) are still considered more advantageous, as they don't require anyone spending an action to activate them, and you rarely need more than 10 (separate) rounds of haste in a day. Also, building a wondrous item into a weapon is kosher for either +50% or +100% of cost (or for no extra cost if the item was already slotless, like an ioun stone).
tyrecian 01-25-08, 09:24 PM	Well, not so paladin-esque (but flavor can be made around such stereotypes, after all you are a rogue/pally, a very uncommon hybrid) are Vampiric and Vicious, which synergize well together. Added to holy, you are rolling a lot of D6's in that partial surprise round. As has already been said, Wounding can be veracious later on, when things have many HD and you can take it down even further by whittling at their constitution. Merciful is always nice for a paladin, in essence, giving the pally a free ride to mistakesville for a trigger-happy rogue pally: DM: Oh My God, you critted on the guy! I can't believe you just dropped him! He was joking, he was actually the mayor's advisor! Holy Cow, i can't believe you did that! Richie Blueblood the Paladin: Well, he shouldn't have joked like that. In addition to the stones/gems of power, if you are going to also be buying additional bonuses in terms of numerical enhancement (+X) then defending can be a really nice (i am assuming you are running both PAttack and Expertise, being a rogue primary) addition in tough situations where hitting the beast is second to avoiding it (think about an elephant, easy to hit, but noone wants to get sprayed with water, or grappled by a playful trunk, and egad! those tusks!). As far as core there ya go. Keen and speed are nice, but not really necessary to your ends, although speed is really nice if you don't want to bother with the boots, but almost all melee get the boots of speed. insofar as the MiC, i would imagine that it pwns all n00b core enhancements. It must certianly be the most 1337 collection ever, sadly i don't own that book.
dman11235 01-25-08, 11:13 PM	I imagine Telling Blow (which I have :devil:) and smite would combine with this nicely. I may have to re-work the fluff, though... "By the sacred power of Pelor, I drain the life from your body and take it for my own!" Hmm...doesn't sound too paladin-y. Just say this: "By the power of Pelor, the destruction of your evil becomes my strength!" Say nothing on stealing life and it's fine.
Talisman 01-26-08, 01:25 AM	Well, not so paladin-esque (but flavor can be made around such stereotypes, after all you are a rogue/pally, a very uncommon hybrid) are Vampiric and Vicious, which synergize well together. Added to holy, you are rolling a lot of D6's in that partial surprise round. Where is Vampiric from? I don't see it in the DMG.
Ebonarc 01-26-08, 01:38 AM	Where is Vampiric from? I don't see it in the DMG. Magic Item Compendium, page 45.
Waterhammer 01-26-08, 01:55 AM	As was mentioned, Defending is a good one. Another would be Thundering. That sonic attack can get by many types of DR.
dman11235 01-26-08, 04:59 PM	What about psychokinetic instead? Force>sonic.
SkipSandwich 01-27-08, 01:14 AM	why not ghost strike? it not only gives you all the usual benifits of a ghost touch weapon, but also allows you to sneak attack incorporal creatures, since most paladins aren't to fond of the undead, it could be an interesting choice. That being said, collision and psychokinetic from the XPH are also solid choices.
kalstrand 01-27-08, 04:25 PM	I've always like Wrathful Healing from the Enemies and Allies book if you can get your DM to allow it.
aelryinth 01-27-08, 09:19 PM	Well, what we really want is to keep with the Theme, and the name. WHitefire is evocative, but the elemental burst powers are particularly useless unless this is a sword made for harming fiery creatures. That doesn't include undead, demons, or devils. It does, however, include yugoloths. So, let's say this is a sword for killing yugoloths, and to an extent, other evil fiends. Add Sacred (+1d6 Holy dmg, the 'downtoned' version of Holy) to the blade for +1 with the First Gem. For the second Gem, make it Evil Outsider bane. Synergy effect, the frost dmg bypasses the cold resistance of fiends, being treated as divine 'cold fire'. Effectively, you've a Holy burst Evil outsider bane weapon. We're up to +5, with 3 more gems. Wounding is particularly thematic here. You can imagine it as cold crusting every wound from the weapon's blade, steaming dry ice with holy power. +7. Hmm. ghost Touch. Synergy effect, the cold is treated as divine/holy dmg against undead. Whitefire is colder then the grave! +8. Last Gem. I'd raise the enhancement +2. If your DM wants to give it the Avenger Dispel Circle effect in a paladin's hands, that would be nice, too. OR punches through the DR of anything with dr /good automatically. Build the sword, make it a theme, especially if its going to be a holy weapon. Make it memorable! Also, there's an enhancement you can add to a weapon for 30k called Prismatic Burst. For a crystalline sword, that's particularly appropriate...a coruscating halo of light erupts off the edge of the blade, and....:) ===Aelryinth
Oliver D'Argent 01-28-08, 04:33 PM	You might also consider Metalline (originally from the Forgotten Realms Underdark book, but also in the MIC). It allows you to switch the composition of the blade to any of these materials: steel, alchemical silver, cold iron, or adamantine. Along with Holy, that would take care of most of your needs to defeat DR.
Silverthumb 01-28-08, 08:05 PM	I've always like Wrathful Healing from the Enemies and Allies book if you can get your DM to allow it. God, I love Wrathful Healing.