Price this item!

[comrade raoul]

(Inspired by the Ultima CRPGs. Note that the rules assume that the weapon's base damage die is 1d8; if you use 3.5e weapon sizing rules, assume that these rules only apply to Medium versions of the weapon, which might be the only versions that exist.)

Glass sword: A glass sword is a +5 longsword with a beautifully crafted glass blade (hardness 5, 1 hit point). The weapon has been imbued with powerful effects that allow it to strike with deadly force, but which threaten to destroy the blade with each blow. In addition to its enhancement bonus, a glass sword has deals double damage on each successful hit, as though it had scored a critical hit. (A successful critical hit with a glass sword deals triple damage.) However, if any of the dice rolled for base weapon damage (2d8, or 3d8 on a critical hit) result in a natural "8," the weapon immediately shatters after dealing its normal damage. Glass swords that shatter in this way irrecovably lose all of their magical power, even if they are somehow reassembled.

Of course, a regular +5 longsword is priced at 50,315 gold pieces. Does the combination of the weapon's deadly special powers, along with weapon's low hardness and HP and the approximately 24% chance to be destroyed on each successful hit, make it worth more or less money?

Personally, I'm leaning towards pricing it at around 60k. Probably, glass swords should be treated as minor artifacts for purposes of item creation, though.

 

[Geoff Watson]

If you're interesting in a D&D/Ultima crossover, Hong has a fair bit on his website.

http://www.zipworld.com.au/~hong/dnd/britannia/index.htm

The glass sword is nasty, especially when you get a critical (as the knight did when he used it in Hong's game).

Geoff.

 

[wuyanei]

Instead of double damage, how about letting the glass sword be a use activated item that casts slay living on any target hit?

Price it as a item that:

1) Grants +5 to hit and +5 to damage rolls: 2000 x 5 x 5 / 50 (one hit only) = 1000 gp

2) Slay Living (Clr lv 5) on any successful hit: 5 x 9 x 50 (as potion) = 2250 gp

3) We'll handwave the base glass sword to be equal to a MW longsword: 315 gp

Total price: 3565 gp, which is about the price of a 9th level scroll.

 

[dedicated]

Instead of double damage, how about letting the glass sword be a use activated item that casts slay living on any target hit?

Price it as a item that:

1) Grants +5 to hit and +5 to damage rolls: 2000 x 5 x 5 / 50 (one hit only) = 1000 gp

2) Slay Living (Clr lv 5) on any successful hit: 5 x 9 x 50 (as potion) = 2250 gp

3) We'll handwave the base glass sword to be equal to a MW longsword: 315 gp

Total price: 3565 gp, which is about the price of a 9th level scroll.

It's not a single use item though

 

[wuyanei]

Eh? The glass swords in Ultima were single use items that shattered upon hitting a foe. Bascially, they were a semi-plot device that let you kill any one creature with one blow.

 

[Pyrex]

It's pretty close. Odds are it's not going to survive past it's third strike.

And pricing it as an item with X-uses is more likely to produce a usable number than trying to price it as a magical weapon.

 

[comrade raoul]

Eh? The glass swords in Ultima were single use items that shattered upon hitting a foe. Bascially, they were a semi-plot device that let you kill any one creature with one blow.

Truth. I'm not quite going for that; I think the best way to implement that approach would be to treat glass swords as minor artifacts that dealt some obscene amount of bonus damage (somewhere in the hundreds) with a single blow, and encourage the DM to place them near situations where she knew players would have to use them. (You must kill the balor in the next room, but you and your friends are only 10th level?)

 

[wuyanei]

Which is what Hong did (his glass swords did +50d6 damage).

If you must price your version of the item, then:

1) There is a 15/64 ~ 24% chance that sword shatters for each blow. Therefore, it is good for:

1 + (1-0.24) + (1-0.24)^2 + ... + (1-0.24)^Infinity ~ 4.26 blows.

price the item as a five-use item. Ignore crits for pricing purposes, since a critical hit just means that the sword has a greater chance of being destroyed.

2) Double damage every time is very hard to price, since it ties in with so many other factors (Str, feats etc.) For simpilicity, we will just treat the effect as a speed ability, which is basically double damage for one attack. This is acceptable for a limited number-of-use item, but is obviously unsuitable for a permanent weapon.

Total +8 cost factor: 128000 gp / 10 (five uses) = 12800 gp.

Expensive, but might be worth the cost if used with true strike + Maximum Power Attack + various Str boosts.

 

[comrade raoul]

Total +8 cost factor: 128000 gp / 10 (five uses) = 12800 gp.

Expensive, but might be worth the cost if used with true strike + Maximum Power Attack + various Str boosts.

This seems really plausible, and makes glass swords properly, but not prohibitively, expensive.