PERSONALIZED WEAPONS (Fair? Balanced? Sucks? Your comments appreciated!)

PERSONALIZED WEAPONS

A personalized weapon is crafted for the hand (or hands) of a specific wielder. Wielding it provides a +1 personalized bonus on attack rolls.

You can’t add the personalized quality to a weapon after it is created; it must be crafted as a personalized weapon. The personalized quality adds 600 gp to the cost of a normal weapon. Adding the personalized quality to a double weapon costs twice the normal increase (+1200 gp). This quality can not be added to ammunition.

Personalized weapons are not automatically considered masterwork. It is possible to have a masterwork personalized weapon made, effectively doubling both the cost and the benefit. Masterwork personalized weapons add 900 gp to the cost of a normal weapon, and grant an additional +1 on all attack rolls made with the weapon. Crafting a masterwork personalized double weapon costs twice the normal increase (+1800 GP).

Personalized weapons cannot be granted magical enhancements unless they are also masterwork.

Personalized weapons only grant their attack bonuses when being wielded by their intended recipients. Trying to use a personalized weapon made for another person incurs a net -1 penalty to all attack roles made with the weapon.

Masterwork personalized weapons can be used at no penalty by people other than their intended users. The bonus for being a masterwork weapon and the penalty for being personalized simply cancel each other out in the hands of another warrior.


And now - a question for you rules junkies out there -

The +1 bonus on attack rolls from a masterwork weapon does not stack with any magical enhancement the weapon recieves.

Assuming that someone has a masterwork personalized weapon made so that they can enhance it, should the bonus for having a personalized weapon stack with any magical bonuses such an enhancement would grant?

I'm leaning toward yes, as a personalized weapon doesn't necessarily represent overall quality - a blade perfectly balanced for one warrior's swing may be badly balanced for another's. I would imagine that while a +1 magical enhancement simply covers the benefit of masterworking (and makes the blade sharper/club harder/whatever, thus providing a +1 to damage), it cannot easily replicate the benefit of having the blade made for a single person.

So, a +2 personalized longsword would grant a total +3 to attack (+1 for personalization, +2 for magical bonuses) but only +2 to damage.

If I allow this added benefit, should I change the price?

For reference:

MASTERWORK WEAPONS

A masterwork weapon is a finely crafted version of a normal weapon. Wielding it provides a +1 enhancement bonus on attack rolls.

You can’t add the masterwork quality to a weapon after it is created; it must be crafted as a masterwork weapon (see the Craft skill). The masterwork quality adds 300 gp to the cost of a normal weapon (or 6 gp to the cost of a single unit of ammunition). Adding the masterwork quality to a double weapon costs twice the normal increase (+600 gp).

Masterwork ammunition is damaged (effectively destroyed) when used. The enhancement bonus of masterwork ammunition does not stack with any enhancement bonus of the projectile weapon firing it.

All magic weapons are automatically considered to be of masterwork quality. The enhancement bonus granted by the masterwork quality doesn’t stack with the enhancement bonus provided by the weapon’s magic.

Even though some types of armor and shields can be used as weapons, you can’t create a masterwork version of such an item that confers an enhancement bonus on attack rolls. Instead, masterwork armor and shields have lessened armor check penalties.


Of course, feel free to comment on the rule as a whole.

What you're effectively doing is giving a weapon a +1 bonus to hit that stacks with everything else. I would price it similar to an AC Bonus (other), e.g. luck, insight, sacred or profane, i.e. 2,500 gp x bonus squared. As a comparison, deflection bonuses cost 2,000 gp x bonus squared and enhancement bonuses to armor or shields cost 1,000 gp x bonus squared.

Since the property takes no space, I would double the cost, but since it's tied to a specific weapon and user, I'd halve it back again for that restriction, giving a final adjustment of +2,500 gp.

I'd forget about giving a -1 to anyone else since anyone wielding it should be no worse off than if he was using a generic weapon.

Thanks for the comments. I'll mull them over. Please, keep them coming!

FireLance said:

What you're effectively doing is giving a weapon a +1 bonus to hit that stacks with everything else. I would price it similar to an AC Bonus (other), e.g. luck, insight, sacred or profane, i.e. 2,500 gp x bonus squared. As a comparison, deflection bonuses cost 2,000 gp x bonus squared and enhancement bonuses to armor or shields cost 1,000 gp x bonus squared.

Since the property takes no space, I would double the cost, but since it's tied to a specific weapon and user, I'd halve it back again for that restriction, giving a final adjustment of +2,500 gp.

I'd forget about giving a -1 to anyone else since anyone wielding it should be no worse off than if he was using a generic weapon.

Click to expand...

On pricing:

After some thought, I see a couple of problems with this argument. First, a +1 enhancement for weapons only costs 2000 gp (as opposed to the suggested 2500). For that 2000 gp, a character not only recieves the +1 to attack that a personalized weapon would allow, but also a +1 to damage (which a personalized weapon does not).

Additionally, a +1 weapon is also considered magic for the purposes of bypassing damage reduction, a property that must have some value. Once more, a personalized blade does not grant this benefit, either.

Clearly, a personalized weapon, which is really only useful to one person can't be considered *more* valuable than a magical weapon, since it carries fewer benefits, and has a few special penalties, as well (specifically that the blade can't be used with the same facility by someone for whom it was not designed).

As for the penalty for trying to use a personalized weapon that was not personalized for you, I think that we disagree as well. Some swords in real life were in fact made so that any hand could pick them up and use them. A really nice one, in D&D terms, would be a masterwork blade. It would be well balanced for nearly anyone who picked it up, and would probably be made of the finest materials, carry a sharper edge, etc.

A personalized weapon is designed and forged with an entirely philosophy. Patterned after the movements and style of a specific user, the blade's hilt fits its users hand exactly, it's cutting edge forged to make the most of the wielder's reach and swing. This is what sets a personalized blade apart from masterwork weapons - rather than simply being technically flawless (which a personal blade may actually not be) it is instead designed to take advantage and use the strengths and flaws of its recipient.

As such, Joe Average might have more trouble wielding a longsword made specifically for John Hero than he would one made for another Joe Average.

However, if such a blade were technically flawless, that might help to minimize any of the penalties of the blade being personalized.

Thanks a lot for your input, Firelance - let me know if this makes any more sense than my original post (which may have been somewhat barebones). I'll edit to include a few more intricacies.

The_Universe said:

However, if such a blade were technically flawless, that might help to minimize any of the penalties of the blade being personalized.

Click to expand...

I think that the +1 to attack from it being masterwork balances that out. Joe Average is going to be slightly better with John Hero's masterwork blade than he would be with JH's normal one. It might make it as easy as wielding an average weapon. While the weapon is technically flawless, it still has unusual balances that make it about as easy to use as a normal weapon.

(If anyone ever read The Princess Bride, refer to the chapter that details the forging of the six fingered sword.)

Xath said:

I think that the +1 to attack from it being masterwork balances that out. Joe Average is going to be slightly better with John Hero's masterwork blade than he would be with JH's normal one. It might make it as easy as wielding an average weapon. While the weapon is technically flawless, it still has unusual balances that make it about as easy to use as a normal weapon.

(If anyone ever read The Princess Bride, refer to the chapter that details the forging of the six fingered sword.)

Click to expand...

Interesting. The "personalized" quality is actually based on the cat's eye swords from Dave Duncan's Chronicles of the King's Blades. I would guess that the concept is similar, although none of Duncan's heroes had an abnormal amount of digits.

Regardless, I have modified my original post as such:

"Masterwork personalized weapons can be used at no penalty (and may be magically enhanced by) people other than their intended users. The bonus for being a masterwork weapon and the penalty for being personalized simply cancel each other out in the hands of an average warrior."

I, too, thought you were referencing The Princess Bride. That chapter rocked.

I think this is a great idea. If it were me, I would require that the blade be masterwork in order to be personalized. That seems to be standard for many enhancements in D&D, and reflects the extra care and attention a personalized weapon would have. Then you can set the cost for Personalized to be what you want minus 300 (for the masterwork component). If you want the personalized bonus to stack, just give it a different name:

A Personalized weapon grants a +1 Personalized bonus to attack rolls when wielded by the person for whom it was made. It imposes a -1 penalty to attack rolls for any other wielder.

The penalty automatically negates the masterwork enhancement bonus and the Personalized bonus automatically stacks with enhancement without you having to special-rule it.

why create a new kind of bonus? this just screams compentence bonus.

DC

retardo question

What happens with Weapon Focus and a personalized weapon- stack/no stack?

Dream Chaser - I like the idea of changing it to competence bonus. I'll make the change.

Laurel - the weapon focus feat would stack with having a personalized weapon. Weapon Focus represents the dedicated study of a specific type of weapon. longbows/shortbows in your case, I would guess. Having such a weapon made to your exact physical specifications would only enhance your study of the weapon type.