Repairing a sundered Ancestral Weapon

[Cheiromancer]

A character's ancestral greatsword is sundered. How does he repair it? Presumably a craftsman could repair it, (DMG 214, PHB 71) but would the repaired sword still be magical?

If not, could he get the lost magical properties back at half price in a manner analogous to the Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat (PHB 92), but using the provisions of the Ancestral Relic feat (BoED 39)?

DMG, p.214
REPAIRING MAGIC ITEMS
Some magic items take damage over the course of an adventure. It costs no more to repair a magic item with the Craft skill than it does to repair its nonmagical counterpart. The make whole spell also repairs a damaged—but not completely broken—magic item.

PHB, p. 71.
CRAFT (Int)...
Generally, you can repair an item by making checks against the same DC that it took to make the item in the first place. The cost of repairing an item is one-fifth of the item's price.

PHB, p.92.
CRAFT MAGIC ARMS AND ARMOR
...You can also mend a broken magic weapon, suit of armor, or shield if it is one that you could make. Doing so costs half the XP, half the raw materials, and half the time it would take to craft the item in the first place.

BoED, p. 39.
ANCESTRAL RELIC
...Choose an item you own. The item must be of masterwork quality...At any time, you may retreat to a consecrated or hallowed location and spend time in prayer in order to awaken the spirits inyour ancestral relic. This requires a sacrifice of valuable items worht hte difference between the market price of the magic item your relic will become and the market price of your current relic.

 

[Wolffenjugend]

AFAIK, a weapon that has been reduced to 0 hp is destroyed and cannot be repaired. But so long as it has 1 hp remaining, it can be repaired through the means you've listed.

 

[Sejs]

Make Whole.

 

[Cheiromancer]

The make whole spell cannot repair an item that is broken. It says that in the DMG entry quoted above (p. 214). But that entry only limits the make whole spell, not the craft skill. I would think that if the parts are present (e.g. the weapon was sundered, not dissolved in acid) it would be straightforward to reassemble them. If parts were missing, or if it was sundered by an acid attack or something, I think I would require a proportionately greater investment of time and materials; I don't have any rules to back me up on this, though.

But my question is: does a reassembled magic item become non-magical? If not, it seems to make the entry under Craft Magic Arms and Armor seem redundant. I'm tempted to say that a magic item that has been destroyed loses its magical abilities, and they are not restored when it gets reassembled. To reassemble it, you need to use the correct feat.

Another question would be: does an Ancestral Relic count as a magic item for the purpose of repairs? It didn't get its magical abilities from the Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat, so why should that feat be required to restore its magical abilities?

 

[Pax]

My advice: if you're taking the Ancestral Relic feat ... make the item out of Aurorum ... a special material on page 38 of the same book the feat is from (BoED). It costs +4,000gp, and specifically un-sunders itself when the pieces re placed bqck together (a single full-round action). VERY handy.

However, barring that .. I'd say there has to be SOME way to get the item repaired, at little or no cost to the character. Well, little or no monetary cost, anyway. Send them on a quest for an appropriate good-aligned temple, and the payment (for him, anyway) is the repair of the item - leave it behind, it'll be fixed if-and-when the character returns after completing the quest.

 

[MacMathan]

I am inclined to go easy on the character as they have spent a feat and should have some story invested in the weapon.

I would allow them to pay a craftsman to reforge it. Mixing in a quest to find a rare ingredient to respark the magic could be fun for the PC.

Otherwise I would probably just allow them to retreat with the reformed weapon a meditate upon it for a day to restore its powers, similar to when they upgrade it via the feat but without the gp cost.

 

[Wolffenjugend]

I think it also depends on how much sundering goes on in your campaign. If it's rare, then I'd rule the item is destroyed. If it's common, I'd have a way to get it repaired.

I don't think the rules cover this situation in any depth so it's really up to you to decide how you want to play it out. If it's a really special weapon, have the character go on a quest to find a legendary weaponsmith capable of repairing the item. It makes for a great story and you can bet the character will take extra care with the weapon in future.

p.s. remember in LotR, the broken sword of the dead king wasn't simply taken down to Billy Bob's Armour Shop and repaired. It sat broken for a long time and only the elves could repair it (IIRC). Much more interesting, IMO.

 

[Ransom]

My advice: if you're taking the Ancestral Relic feat ... make the item out of Aurorum ... a special material on page 38 of the same book the feat is from (BoED). It costs +4,000gp, and specifically un-sunders itself when the pieces re placed bqck together (a single full-round action). VERY handy.

Read the ancestral relic feat carefully, there are maximum limits to how much it can be worth and Aurorum at 4000gp mean you can't take the feat until 6th level and to me that really kind of loses the flavour of the feat.

Its all about taking this old rusted hunk of junk left to you by your Great Uncle Bartholomew and awaking the latent power inside of it.

If it's a really special weapon, have the character go on a quest to find a legendary weaponsmith capable of repairing the item. It makes for a great story and you can bet the character will take extra care with the weapon in future.

I like this idea, but as for taking care of the item I'm sure most PC's will take care of the ancestral relic but a lucky blow from a baddie and you're pooched.

 

[Oscar carramiñana]

I am inclined to go easy on the character as they have spent a feat and should have some story invested in the weapon.

I would allow them to pay a craftsman to reforge it. Mixing in a quest to find a rare ingredient to respark the magic could be fun for the PC.

Otherwise I would probably just allow them to retreat with the reformed weapon a meditate upon it for a day to restore its powers, similar to when they upgrade it via the feat but without the gp cost.

Agree with Macmathan say.

 

[Pax]

Read the ancestral relic feat carefully, there are maximum limits to how much it can be worth and Aurorum at 4000gp mean you can't take the feat until 6th level and to me that really kind of loses the flavour of the feat.

Mystically transforming INTO Aurorum would be possible, if you want to take the feat sooner.

Its all about taking this old rusted hunk of junk left to you by your Great Uncle Bartholomew and awaking the latent power inside of it.

And why cannot you inherit Uncle BArt's Aurorum shield, a little later in life? Is there some REASON why you HAVE to inherit (meaning Uncle BArt has to DIE), immediately on reaching 3d level? ^_^