Dancing weapons

Hrmm.. you know I never thought about this before... Do Dancing weapons still recieve the strength bonus of the person who released them?

Dancing: As a standard action, a dancing weapon can be loosed to attack on its own. It fights for 4 rounds using the base attack bonus of the one who loosed it and then drops. While dancing, it cannot make attacks of opportunity, and the person who activated it is not considered armed with the weapon. In all other respects, it is considered wielded or attended by the creature for all maneuvers and effects that target items. While dancing, it takes up the same space as the activating character and can attack adjacent foes (weapons with reach can attack opponents up to 10 feet away). The dancing weapon accompanies the person who activated it everywhere, whether she moves by physical or magical means. If the wielder who loosed it has an unoccupied hand, she can grasp it while it is attacking on its own as a free action; when so retrieved the weapon can’t dance (attack on its own) again for 4 rounds.
Strong transmutation; CL 15th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, animate objects; Price +4 bonus.

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To damage, yes, to hit, no.

Im going to have to disagree with the above poster

"In all other respects, it is considered wielded or attended by the creature for all maneuvers and effects that target items."

Attacking is NOT a maneuver or effect that targets the weapon.
Sundering the dancing weapon would be covered by the statement above
Disarm would be covered, a targeted dispel magic would be covered.
Attacking with the weapon is not.


Further
I would play dancing weapons as attacking with an attack bonus of (BAB+Enchanment) and a damage bonus of the enchantment on the weapon only.
Otherwise Ill get a four dancing great axes (wielding them two handed when I release them of course) And release them one after the other. By the 4th round I get 16 two handed attacks each round. With the fighters action simply to pick up and rerelease the dancing weapon that just fell from the 5th round onwards. 16 Two handed attacks per round with my level 20 fighter and they all carry his full BAB and Str and feats as you ruled its just as If Im wielding it... Seems wrong somehow doesnt it ?

Majere

I agree with Majere. The "effects that target items" sentence is completely irrelevant when it comes to attack and damage bonuses.

The text does not specifically state anything about damage bonuses, but we can assume that if it doesn't get the wielder's strength bonus added to its hit rolls, then the strength bonus would not apply to damage either.

I recently traveled this row before, when my 12th level fighter got a +2 Dancing Scimitar (a +6 weapon!!!) and I came to the realization that it was useless compared to my +1 Flaming Burst Scimitar (+3 weapon). After a lot of reasearch and questioning (here and elsewhere), here is what the Dancing Property actually does (from the wielder's point of view):

As a Standard Action a character can activate a Dancing weapon.

When activated, a Dancing Weapon attacks on its own. It attacks with the BAB bonus of the person who activated it (including multiple attacks if the wielder has them i.e BAB +6/+1), plus the enhancement bonus of the weapon itself. The damge dealt by the weapon is equal to the base damage of the weapon plus its enhancment bonus. The character is not actually attacking with the weapon for feats that effect attack rolls.

For example, my 12th level fighter with 20 Str, Weapon Focus, Greater Focus, Specialization, & Improved Critical Scimtar, and Power Attack would be like this. While attacking with a +2 Dancing Scimitar: +21/+15/+11; 1d6+9; 15-20/x2. While Dancing: +14/+9/+4; 1d6; 18-20/x2. If I take a 5 point penalty for Power Attack, the Dancing weapon does not recieve this penalty nor does it recieve the bonus to damage.

On the surface, this seems like a bad deal. I did the math, and I did more average damage just Full Attacking every round instead of wasting a standard action to activate a Dancing weapon for a measly increase in damage for a few rounds then wasting more actions to put away a weapon & grab it 4 rds later. However, that's not the power of Dancing.

While Dancing, it attacks every round (including multiple times if you have a BAB over +6) even if you take OTHER actions. Thus, in the above example, I can take a Move Action or Full Round Action & my Dancing Scimitar while still get 3 Attacks at +14/+9/+4. Dancing is a way to combine multiple attacks with Standard, Move & Full Round Actions, a VERY, VERY hard thing to do in 3.0 & 3.5.

However, there is still some things I'm not sure about. Such as whether a Bless, Prayer, of Bard's Inspire Ability affects a Dancing Item (as its not really attacking, just a magic effect that uses an attack roll).

Hope this helps,

Vraille Darkfang said:

However, there is still some things I'm not sure about. Such as whether a Bless, Prayer, of Bard's Inspire Ability affects a Dancing Item (as its not really attacking, just a magic effect that uses an attack roll).

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I think the answer is no, because of this statement: "the person who activated it is not considered armed with the weapon"

combined to the fact that buffs are usually considered to be targeting creatures.