Armor Spikes & elemental enchantments

[Epametheus]

Let's say that the fighter has +1 Flaming armor spikes on his full plate. How exactly would that work out when the enchantment is activated? Would the spikes start igniting whatever combustables they were in contact with? Would they simply not interact with what's around the fighter until he tried to impale someone on them?

Ex) A fighter that's mounted on a horse activates the Shocking enchantment that's on his armor spikes. Does he start frying the horse that he's sitting on, or would be the horse only be hurt it if he actively stabbed it with the spikes?

I guess what this amounts to is "do elemental-enchantmented weapons deal passive damage to anything that they're in contact with that's not the wielder?"

 

[Antikinesis]

A weapon's elemental damage comes into play when you make a successful attack with the weapon. The elemental damage is rolled separately and added to the normal damage.

I don't believe that you can inflict elemental damage with a weapon unless you actually attack with it, and that such damage is only inflicted on the target. (Referring to "normal" elementally-enhanced weapons... not spell-storing, charged, etc.)

Some exceptions would probably need to be made for attacking flammable objects in contact with other objects, but that's just common sense.

-AK

[Edited for clarity.]

 

[Mr Fidgit]

I guess what this amounts to is "do elemental-enchantmented weapons deal passive damage to anything that they're in contact with that's not the wielder?"

i think they do...

the DMG specifies that a weapon with an energy enchantment "does not harm the hands that hold the weapon", it doesn't mention anyone else

if these weapons didn't do 'passive' damage, you couldn't light a fire with your Flaming sword (or chill your beer with a Frost dagger )

 

[Stalker0]

One of the arguments that is made every so often is that if your elemental weapons didn't do damage when you didn't want them to, then you could simply sheathe them and leave them active and never have to worry about them.

So on that argument, I would think the weapon does do damage to whatever it touches. However, since these are armor spikes, it wouldn't be as bad as you think.

For instance, I would allow you to do that riding a horse, unless your constantly armor spiking your horse of course

If you get paper near your flaming spikes, then it'll burn. But I wouldn't make your armor red hot or anything, afterall its magic

 

[Teleri_mm]

The best thing to do in these kinds of gray areas is to just go with what is easiest to deal with in the game… as long as it is not game breaking… and I don’t see how letting you ride your horse with flaming armor spikes would be game breaking. If these items dealt damage all the time it would be a pain in the arse to deal with all the time, so just say there effect only does damage when you want it to. Or don’t. Always remember rule 0.

Teleri_mm

 

[Saeviomagy]

It's worth considering that if your weapon dealt the damage just by being in contact with something, then you'd be able to make touch attacks which just delivered the elemental damage, something I don't think would be healthy for the game at all.