Can I enchant a Shield's spikes separately from the Shield itself?

JCLabelle

First Post
Can I do this :

Enchant a Shield to be +1 ( 1000 gp ).
Enchant the Shield's spikes to be +1 ( 1000 gp ).

Or, must I do this :
Enchant the shield to be +1, and then pay another +1 for the Spikes to be considered a + 1 weapon. ( 4000 gp ).

Or does it work in another way?
 

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RogueJK

It's not "Rouge"... That's makeup.
The weapon and armor aspects of the shield are considered two different items when you are enchanting them. You pay 1000 gp to enchant the shield as a +1 piece of armor, and a seperate 2000 gp to enchant the shield as a +1 weapon. So it would be a total of 3000 gp for a +1 shield with +1 shield spikes.

[Edit] Caliban's right... That's what I was trying to say, in a roundabout way. I blame it on a lack of sleep. ;) [/Edit]
 
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Caliban

Rules Monkey
Sorry, no.

Shield spikes are not a seperate weapon. They are an addition to the shield that modifies the damage that the shield itself does when used in a shield bash.

You can enchant the shield as a shield and/or a weapon.

If you want to add weapon enhancements to the shield, you first have to enchant it as a +1 weapon (even if it is already a +1 shield.)

The weapon enhancements and abilities use the weapon chart in the DMG, and the shield enhancements and abilities use the armor chart in the DMG.

The big limitation is the shield is still limited to a total of +10 in effective enhancements.
 
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Iku Rex

Explorer
Caliban said:
The big limitation is the shield is still limited to a total of +10 in effective enhancements.
I think you reading this way too literally.

IMO the +10 limit should be counted separately for "Spiked Shield, martial weapon" and "Spiked Shield, type of armor".

The rule stating that the total enhancement bonus and special abilities cannot be more than +10 is listed under "Armor" and I think "enhancement bonus to armor" and "and special shield ability" is implied, if not stated.
 

Caliban

Rules Monkey
Iku Rex said:
I think you reading this way too literally.

No, I don't think I am.

If you allow a shield to be both a +10 weapon and a +10 armor, then it makes shield bashing with the Shield Expert feat way to powerful.
IMO the +10 limit should be counted separately for "Spiked Shield, martial weapon" and "Spiked Shield, type of armor".

I sincerely disagree.

The rule stating that the total enhancement bonus and special abilities cannot be more than +10 is listed under "Armor" and I think "enhancement bonus to armor" and "and special shield ability" is implied, if not stated.

It is also stated under Weapons, and I think that the limit very clearly applies to any type of enhancement. There is one limit of +10 on an item, not two seperate limits.
 

Iku Rex

Explorer
Caliban said:
If you allow a shield to be both a +10 weapon and a +10 armor, then it makes shield bashing with the Shield Expert feat way to powerful.
You give the creators of S&F too much credit. And remeber, a Spiked Shield is (uniquely?) both armor and a weapon.
Caliban said:
It is also stated under Weapons, and I think that the limit very clearly applies to any type of enhancement.
I disagree. :)
I know it's also listed under weapons but exactly the same argument applies there.

Even your own reply agrees that you need to have a +1 weapon enhancement bonus on a shield to give it a special weapon ability. If "enhancement bonuses" and "special abilities" were all the same, that would not be the case.

("A weapon with a special ability must have at least a +1 enhancement bonus.)
 

JCLabelle

First Post
I agree with Caliban, my main concern was because of Shield Expert. Did'nt say anything about it in my first post so that people would give me a strictly rules based answer. There would be very few reasons for any Dual Wielder to go any other route if you could enchant them separately.
 

Caliban

Rules Monkey
Iku Rex said:
You give the creators of S&F too much credit. And remeber, a Spiked Shield is (uniquely?) both armor and a weapon.
I disagree. :)
I know it's also listed under weapons but exactly the same argument applies there.

Even your own reply agrees that you need to have a +1 weapon enhancement bonus on a shield to give it a special weapon ability. If "enhancement bonuses" and "special abilities" were all the same, that would not be the case.

("A weapon with a special ability must have at least a +1 enhancement bonus.)

Exactly. And weapon and armor special abilities have a market modifier that combined with the enhancement bonus gives the total effective bonus.


And both weapons and armor are limited to a total of a +10 effective bonus. A shield would be limited to a total of +10 in effective bonuses, no matter if they were weapon or armor bonuses, in my opinion.
 

Varius

First Post
For armor spikes it states that the spikes "may be made into magic weapons in their own right". Shouldn't it be the same for shield spikes?
 

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