Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Jhaelen 08-27-06, 11:34 AM	When trying to redesign the Treebrother (from Weapons of Legacy) quarterstaff to be more useful in melee combat, I searched my books for useful boosting spells. In Complete Divine on page 181 I found the spell Spikes and was a bit suspicious about it's power level. It's a level 3 spell and grants a +2 enhancement bonus, +1 damage/level and a doubled threat range for 1/hour per level. So it effectively gives you a permanent +2 keen quarterstaff 'of spikes' which is clearly much better than any magic weapon you could find at this level. Searching the boards I found an old thread in the Living Greyhawk campaign where someone complained because the spell was restricted there. No I downloaded the latest campaign rules, but there's no mention of the spell. Does anybody know, if this is because the spell was errataed in the Spell Compendium? P.S.: A similar question: Weapon of the Deity (Complete Divine, p.188) for Obad-Hai turns your weapon into a Defending Quarterstaff (+5 at level 18+). Does this affect both ends of the quarterstaff? I.e. is this actually a +5 defending / +5 defending quarterstaff? If so, that's a potential +10 AC if you're using it with TWF - not too shabby...
Lanoitakude 08-27-06, 12:44 PM	The spell was changed in the Spell Compendium. It's duration was kept the same as Brambles (1 round/level). This makes the spell much more balanced, because before, it was downright disgusting.
Rerednaw 08-27-06, 12:47 PM	I do not have the Spell Compendium. However many of the spells in the 'Complete' series of supplements are included in this book along with their associated nerfs. For example along with the duration drops, Spikes and Brambles are now both enhancement bonuses so the stacking is limited as well. Cheers.
Jhaelen 08-27-06, 03:53 PM	Thanks for the info! I really dislike the fact WotC decided to put their errata in the Spell Compendium instead of publishing them on the web site, as they've done in the past. But it's no use complaining, I guess... :( That's about what I'd have done to put it in line: 1 round/level and state that the bonus damage isn't multiplied with a critical. Any ideas about the issue with double weapons and the Weapon of the Deity spell?
risner 08-27-06, 08:06 PM	+2 enhancement bonus, +1 damage/level and a doubled threat range for 1/hour per level. Well, since you would have to price it as if it added +2 attack bonus and the price of keen and something for the damagae, that may become a very costly enchantment.
copper_wyrmling 08-27-06, 10:31 PM	Thanks for the info! I really dislike the fact WotC decided to put their errata in the Spell Compendium instead of publishing them on the web site, as they've done in the past. But it's no use complaining, I guess... :( That's about what I'd have done to put it in line: 1 round/level and state that the bonus damage isn't multiplied with a critical. Any ideas about the issue with double weapons and the Weapon of the Deity spell? Weapon of the Deity specifically says that "a double weapon gains this enhancement bonus and special ability for only one of its two ends, as chosen by you". As for Spikes... the problem with the SpC version is that there's really not much reason to use it over Brambles, unless you've managed to find a bronzewood falchion or something like that. Most wooden weapons don't have good critical multipliers / ranges. I would've put the duration to minutes / level or maybe even 10 minutes / level, just to justify the level-bump from Brambles a bit better. Incidentally, Living Greyhawk didn't restrict the spell until the FAQ ruled that Brambles and Spikes stacked (the Complete Divine versions, that is) - wooden weapons do have a number of disadvantages, especially when you're regularly fighting creatures with material-based DR.
Jhaelen 08-28-06, 04:47 PM	Weapon of the Deity specifically says that "a double weapon gains this enhancement bonus and special ability for only one of its two ends, as chosen by you".Darn, dunno, how I managed to overlook that! :embarrass Thanks! As for Spikes... the problem with the SpC version is that there's really not much reason to use it over Brambles, unless you've managed to find a bronzewood falchion or something like that. Most wooden weapons don't have good critical multipliers / ranges. I would've put the duration to minutes / level or maybe even 10 minutes / level, just to justify the level-bump from Brambles a bit better. Incidentally, Living Greyhawk didn't restrict the spell until the FAQ ruled that Brambles and Spikes stacked (the Complete Divine versions, that is) - wooden weapons do have a number of disadvantages, especially when you're regularly fighting creatures with material-based DR. Ah! Thanks again for the clarification! That puts everything back into perspective again :cool: