Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 volcanon2 Feb 15, 2009 15:19:49	This kinda come from Fire Emblem, but I have a PC who basically put everything into STR and he would probably appreciate a giant axe of doom at low levels. Demon Axe An incredibly strong axe which pulses with demonic power. Only the most brave dare to wield it. Weapon: Greataxe Enhancement: Attack Rolls and damage rolls. Critical: Bonus 3d12 damage. Property: Successful hits with demon axe deal an extra d12 for each point of enhancement. When the user would hit a target, roll 1d10. On 1, demon axe deals damage to the user instead. Speed -1, Check -1, Attack -5. If user is good, demon axe always deals it's damage to user instead. Lvl 3 +1 Lvl 9 +2
#2 Novacat Feb 16, 2009 0:10:22	There are a number of things wrong with this. #1: Simple math error. Increasing the enhancement bonus of an item increases its level by 5, not 6. #2: Bonus Critical Dice should be dependent on the level of the item, rather than a static figure. Static values to damage don't usually scale well. #3: This will slow the game down. Every time he attacks, he has to roll an extra die. That's bad for fluidity of the game. If you want a weapon to be dangerous to the wielder, have a set amount or fraction of damage dealt be applied to the wielder, not an extra roll. #4: These penalties are hardly appropriate for a weapon. The attack penalty in particular makes this weapon absolutely impractical, no matter what the benefits. #5: Instead of choosing a specific weapon for this enhancement, choose one or two weapon groups.
#3 volcanon2 Feb 16, 2009 1:46:26	Okie - how 'bout this: Devil Axe An incredibly strong axe which pulses with demonic power. Only the most brave dare to wield it. Weapon: Axe Critical: Additional 1d12 damage per level of enhancement. Property: When Devil Axe deals damage to a target, it deals double damage instead and deals 5 damage to user plus 2 per level of enhancement. User gets Speed -1, Check -1, Attack -3. Cannot be used by good characters. Lvl 3 +1 Lvl 8 +2
#4 Novacat Feb 16, 2009 7:45:01	This is even worse in some ways. #1: The attack penalty is lessened, but still outrageous. A -1 is going to be bad enough to give most players pause about whether or not to use the weapon. Remember that non-proficiency is effectively a -2 penalty, and that's a penalty most players refuse to suffer. #2: Double damage? Are you serious? #3: The level is too low for what you're trying to do.
#5 bastard_dm Feb 16, 2009 9:29:07	If your player wants an "axe of doom" at low levels, why not a vicious executioner's axe? It's level 2 magic weapon in the PHB that grants +1d12 on a crit (plus the 1[W] the axe already gets due to high crit). Sounds pretty "of doom" to me... If he wants to increase damage on his non-crit attacks with a two-handed weapon, he should be playing a barbarian or something similar. Also, he can choose feats and magic items that boost his weapon damage. What you are doing simply will not work within the rules- even at epic tier, adding any sort of multiplier to the damage on all attacks is grossly overpowered, regardless of the penalty. If you really want to make an even more "of doom" weapon, re-read the rules for artifacts in the DMG: heroic-tier artifacts exist. Such an item might want to be used in brutal, horrible ways- thus creating a moral dilemma for any non-evil PC that would want to use it. Unless you're making artifacts, leave the alignment requirements off of any magic items you create- they have no way to know the alignment of the person using them.
#6 evilkobra Feb 16, 2009 9:45:22	Wouldn't one of those weapons that deal an extra 3X damage if the wielder takes X damage also do more or less the same thing? Bloodclaw or something like that, I'm AFB. If you really want to reflavour it, you could always say that you must always choose to use this option if your alignment is Good. A Bloodclaw Executioner's Axe could be really, really scary.
#7 volcanon2 Feb 16, 2009 20:13:16	Proficiency still kicks in, I had it on the original but I forgot to put it back in the second version. He has retarted strength (23 or something), or attack penalties don't actually hurt much. I want to make an axe of doom that deals big damage but had a bunch of penalities including damages the user. How 'bout you lmk what would be fair then?
#8 Novacat Feb 16, 2009 22:41:36	How does this look?
#9 volcanon2 Feb 16, 2009 23:42:03	Looks good, actually. I spoz it is less imba too... thanks.
#10 Dark_Stryke Feb 17, 2009 12:29:15	I think the +[W] damage and the self damage should both by limitted to 1/round, or this weapon would be super broken for people with multiple attacks. I'm picturing the barbarian's encounter power that lets you attack 6 times, and it scares me. Imagine being able to deal +3[W] on each hit. That takes it from a maximum of 6[W] to 24[W]!
#11 masteraaron Feb 18, 2009 9:45:23
#12 Novacat Feb 18, 2009 11:22:43	I think the +[W] damage and the self damage should both by limitted to 1/round, or this weapon would be super broken for people with multiple attacks. I'm picturing the barbarian's encounter power that lets you attack 6 times, and it scares me. Imagine being able to deal +3[W] on each hit. That takes it from a maximum of 6[W] to 24[W]! You'll also be taking 90 damage yourself when that happens. However, you're probably right. Let's change it to "your first attack each round".
#13 Dark_Stryke Feb 18, 2009 14:41:08	You'll also be taking 90 damage yourself when that happens. However, you're probably right. Let's change it to "your first attack each round". Not the way you had it written. "Once per round, when you hit with the weapon, you take 5 damage." However, the +[W] happened on every swing.
#14 Novacat Feb 18, 2009 17:53:32	Not the way you had it written. "Once per round, when you hit with the weapon, you take 5 damage." However, the +[W] happened on every swing. Oops.