Post/Author/DateTime	Post
KelanenPrinceofSwords 01-13-06, 02:39 PM	Is it possible for an adamantine blade to have the brilliant energy power (or vise versa)? Does a brilliant energy weapon ignore DR from stoneskin? :confused:
nastynate 01-13-06, 02:48 PM	A brilliant energy weapon doesn't lose any of it's other qualities, so if adamantine, it would still bypass the DR of stoneskin. From a flavor stand-point I know it doesn't make much sense, but by the RAW that is how it works.
Tyler Do'Urden 01-13-06, 02:51 PM	I think it would have to just so it's not completely pointless. Part of the point of adamantine is that it bypasses hardness and adamantine damage reduction. But anything that has hardness is an object and most things that have DR/adamantine are constructs, both of which are entirely ignored by brilliant energy anyway. However, a creature under the effect of stoneskin is still living matter, so I think the brilliant energy would still affect them and the adamantine property would kick in.
KelanenPrinceofSwords 01-13-06, 03:42 PM	Thanks for your answers, nastynate and Tyler Do'Urden. Anyone else have a differing opinion?
Tony Vargas 01-13-06, 05:00 PM	Yeah, I'll disagree. A brilliant energy weapon is partially transformed into light. Light isn't adamantine. Of course, there's no energy type given for the damage caused by a brilliant energy weapon, either. If it's energy, it'd go against ER, not DR, anyway - and if it's 'unnamed energy' (like the extra damage from viscious) it just bypasses everything. So that's not much help. It's an ill-defined enchantment, and, IMHO, the last thing the game needs is yet another way to bypass armor. Save yourself a headache on several levels and just ban it.
Tyler Do'Urden 01-13-06, 05:04 PM	Yeah, I'll disagree. A brilliant energy weapon is partially transformed into light. Light isn't adamantine. Yeah, "A brilliant energy weapon has its significant portion transformed into light, although this does not modify the item’s weight." This suggests that on some level the material is unchanged. It's kind of an expensive weapon to make it completely negate itself, you know?
BatGnat 01-13-06, 05:44 PM	From the PHB/SRD under magic weapons: Activation: Usually a character benefits from a magic weapon in the same way a character benefits from a mundane weapon—by attacking with it. If a weapon has a special ability that the user needs to activate then the user usually needs to utter a command word (a standard action). We have always played with that meaning i can turn flaming off if i want to. Turn it off when it has no effect. ;)
Tyler Do'Urden 01-13-06, 05:53 PM	Brilliant energy isn't command-word activated, it just is, hence the confusion.
BatGnat 01-13-06, 06:00 PM	where does it say you cant turn it off?
antsterr 01-13-06, 08:11 PM	I would suggest that a brilliant energy weapon could have a command word to activate it's power but could also be constant. but then any scabbard would need to be enchanted to hold properly or it would just fall out. or it would have to be secured to the handle of the weapon and take longer to draw then a normal weapon. Adamantine I believe that by the rules Adamantine stacks with brilliant energy for the purpose of bypassing stoneskin. Assume maybe that the energy blade is adamantine, but in energy form rather then material form. something like that. Seeing as neither Adamantine weapons, stoneskin enchantments or brilliant energy weapons exist, It's hardly fair to say logic would disallow their abilities to stack.
JadeSpider9643 01-13-06, 08:19 PM	So wait a sec....If I have a brilliant energy adamantine weapon, I CAN'T sunder the other guy's [metal] weapon? That sucks. And yet on some absurb level is simultaneously AWESOME!
Dhavaer 01-13-06, 08:19 PM	where does it say you cant turn it off? It doesn't. But the effects that you can turn off, like corrosive or frost, explicitly require you to active them. If you don't activate it, you can't deactivate it.
mvincent 01-13-06, 08:50 PM	If I have a brilliant energy adamantine weapon, I CAN'T sunder the other guy's [metal] weapon?I reckon he couldn't sunder your brilliant energy sword either. As weird as it sounds, I'd have to allow an adamantine brilliant energy weapon. D&D allows weirder things than that: flaming+frost weapons, tower shields that can be used on horseback, vorpal whips, wounding saps, rust monsters that can rust gold, etc.
KelanenPrinceofSwords 01-13-06, 09:49 PM	Thanks for the input, to everyone who has shared their thoughts on this perplexing matter. As it stands, I think I will allow adamantine brilliant energy weapons in my game. The adamantine factor really only comes into play against stoneskin; otherwise, it offers none of the usual benefits of an adamantine weapon (bypassing hardness, damaging golems, etc.), because brilliant energy weapons have no effect on nonliving objects or consructs. For this reason, I believe such a weapon would be very rare -- the extra 3,000 gp added to the cost of a weapon made from adamantine would make an already extremely expensive weapon even more so, and for little added benefit. (But then again, in a world where stoneskin is widely used -- which describes most D&D games -- perhaps it would be worth it.)
mvincent 01-13-06, 10:22 PM	The adamantine factor really only comes into play against stoneskinfwiw: it could also be useful against Intellect Devourers and the Iron Body spell, and sets precedence for other special materials/brilliant energy combinations.
KelanenPrinceofSwords 01-13-06, 11:51 PM	fwiw: it could also be useful against Intellect Devourers and the Iron Body spell, and sets precedence for other special materials/brilliant energy combinations. True dat! I guess the real q is can brilliant energy by combined with another special material? If it works with adamantine, it should work with any other special material.