A question of magic weapons and armor. [Archive] - Wizards Community

A question of magic weapons and armor. [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
KingGolem
04-22-07, 08:11 PM Ahem; I have always thought that I had a pretty good understanding of how weapons and armor are enchanted with the whole +1-5 bonus and the weapon special qualities. However, upon closer inspection, it seems much more complicated than I previously assumed. I thought that when you had a masterwork weapon that you were ready to enchant, you chose a special quality that you wanted, and depending on what enhancement bonus it said in the SQ description was how much you would have to pay to enchant it. For example, you had a masterwork longsword that you wanted to make into a +1 Flaming longsword. Since flaming is a +1 enhancement, I thought you would have to pay 2,000gp for the base price and 80xp, and thus taking 2 days to enchant. However, I then read that in order to add a special quality to weapons/armor, they had to have an enhancement bonus equal to or greater than that of the special quality. Could someone please explain this to me? :confused:
RequiemOfReason
04-22-07, 08:19 PM You must add together all the "pluses", square it, and multiply it by 2,000 (for weapons), or 1,000 for armour.

A +1 Flaming (+1) Speed (+3) Longsword costs 25,000 to enchant, just like a +5 longsword.
KingGolem
04-22-07, 08:26 PM Ok, but more specifically, after you have added the "enhancement bonus," how do you add the special quality? Or do you have to choose a special quality immediately? It seems that to get a +1 Flaming longsword you must first have a +1 longsword, so how does it get from +1 longsword to +1 Flaming longsword?
RequiemOfReason
04-22-07, 09:11 PM The same way it would get from +1 to +2.
Also, you could enchant it directly from masterwork to +1 Flaming. There's no need to take it one step at a time.

Usually, however, you can upgrade an item by paying the difference between its current cost and its new cost.

The difference between a +1 enchantment and +1 Flaming is (8,000 gp - 2,000gp = 6,000 gp). So, if you were doing the enchanting, it would cost you 3,000 gp and take you three days.

Observe:
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/creatingMagicItems.htm
draconic_swine
04-22-07, 10:37 PM However, I then read that in order to add a special quality to weapons/armor, they had to have an enhancement bonus equal to or greater than that of the special quality. Could someone please explain this to me? :confused:

This rule might have existed in 3.0, but there's nothing of the sort in 3.5. All you need to add special abilities to a weapon is to make it a +1 weapon first. You can have a +1 morningstar with +9 worth of special abilities.
tarkin
04-23-07, 11:44 AM The rule did not exist in 3.0.

He entirely had wrong information. Almost everything in his first post was, shall we call it a "House Rule".

The rules for magic armor/weapons are relatively simple.

1. A weapon/armor MUST have a +1 magical enchantment before any other enchantment is added.

2. To price the weapon, add all the +x up (+1, Flaming, Keen = +1+1+1 = +3) Consult the chart and see that a +3 total weapon costs 18,000 gp (Chart is bonus squared x 2,000 gp).

3. To price armor, do the same (but the chart is bouns squared x 1,000 gp) and then add any +x,000 gp cost enchantments.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
KingGolem 04-22-07, 08:11 PM	Ahem; I have always thought that I had a pretty good understanding of how weapons and armor are enchanted with the whole +1-5 bonus and the weapon special qualities. However, upon closer inspection, it seems much more complicated than I previously assumed. I thought that when you had a masterwork weapon that you were ready to enchant, you chose a special quality that you wanted, and depending on what enhancement bonus it said in the SQ description was how much you would have to pay to enchant it. For example, you had a masterwork longsword that you wanted to make into a +1 Flaming longsword. Since flaming is a +1 enhancement, I thought you would have to pay 2,000gp for the base price and 80xp, and thus taking 2 days to enchant. However, I then read that in order to add a special quality to weapons/armor, they had to have an enhancement bonus equal to or greater than that of the special quality. Could someone please explain this to me? :confused:
RequiemOfReason 04-22-07, 08:19 PM	You must add together all the "pluses", square it, and multiply it by 2,000 (for weapons), or 1,000 for armour. A +1 Flaming (+1) Speed (+3) Longsword costs 25,000 to enchant, just like a +5 longsword.
KingGolem 04-22-07, 08:26 PM	Ok, but more specifically, after you have added the "enhancement bonus," how do you add the special quality? Or do you have to choose a special quality immediately? It seems that to get a +1 Flaming longsword you must first have a +1 longsword, so how does it get from +1 longsword to +1 Flaming longsword?
RequiemOfReason 04-22-07, 09:11 PM	The same way it would get from +1 to +2. Also, you could enchant it directly from masterwork to +1 Flaming. There's no need to take it one step at a time. Usually, however, you can upgrade an item by paying the difference between its current cost and its new cost. The difference between a +1 enchantment and +1 Flaming is (8,000 gp - 2,000gp = 6,000 gp). So, if you were doing the enchanting, it would cost you 3,000 gp and take you three days. Observe: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/creatingMagicItems.htm
draconic_swine 04-22-07, 10:37 PM	However, I then read that in order to add a special quality to weapons/armor, they had to have an enhancement bonus equal to or greater than that of the special quality. Could someone please explain this to me? :confused: This rule might have existed in 3.0, but there's nothing of the sort in 3.5. All you need to add special abilities to a weapon is to make it a +1 weapon first. You can have a +1 morningstar with +9 worth of special abilities.
tarkin 04-23-07, 11:44 AM	The rule did not exist in 3.0. He entirely had wrong information. Almost everything in his first post was, shall we call it a "House Rule". The rules for magic armor/weapons are relatively simple. 1. A weapon/armor MUST have a +1 magical enchantment before any other enchantment is added. 2. To price the weapon, add all the +x up (+1, Flaming, Keen = +1+1+1 = +3) Consult the chart and see that a +3 total weapon costs 18,000 gp (Chart is bonus squared x 2,000 gp). 3. To price armor, do the same (but the chart is bouns squared x 1,000 gp) and then add any +x,000 gp cost enchantments.