the Defending property

[Rkhet]

Say you have a +5 Defending shortsword. You cast Greater Magic Weapon on it, giving it a +5 bonus that normally overlaps with its existing bonus. Then you shift all five bonus points to AC. Would the weapon still strike at +5?

Related question: Say you have a +1 Defending shortsword. You cast GMW on it, giving it a +5 bonus. How many points can you shift to AC?

 

[Krafen]

Say you have a +5 Defending shortsword. You cast Greater Magic Weapon on it, giving it a +5 bonus that normally overlaps with its existing bonus. Then you shift all five bonus points to AC. Would the weapon still strike at +5?

No, the weapon would strike at +1 attack +0 damage (masterwork). When you transfer the enhancement bonus to AC, it simply transfers. If you have overlapping enhancement bonuses, they all transfer.

Related question: Say you have a +1 Defending shortsword. You cast GMW on it, giving it a +5 bonus. How many points can you shift to AC?

Casting greater magic weapon on the shortsword gives it (in your example) a +5 enhancement bonus. The defending property allows you to transfer as much of the enhancment bonus to AC as you desire. Whether the enhancement bonus comes from a permanent enchantment on the weapon or a spell does not matter.

 

[shilsen]

What Krafen said. It really sucks when you transfer all the enhancement bonus to defense and someone tries to sunder your weapon. Not that I'd ever do that to a PC

 

[kjenks]

Not quite, Krafen. If you transfer all of the enhancement bonus to AC, that would include the +1 enhancement bonus from masterwork. You have to read the Defending ability description very carefully to notice that you can transfer "all" or "some" of the enhancement bonus to AC. If you transfter 4 of your +5 to AC, you still have +1 attack and +1 damage. If you transfer ALL of your +5 to AC, you have +0 attack and +0 damage.

All means all.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Not quite, Krafen. If you transfer all of the enhancement bonus to AC, that would include the +1 enhancement bonus from masterwork. You have to read the Defending ability description very carefully to notice that you can transfer "all" or "some" of the enhancement bonus to AC. If you transfter 4 of your +5 to AC, you still have +1 attack and +1 damage. If you transfer ALL of your +5 to AC, you have +0 attack and +0 damage.

All means all.

So don't transfer all. Transfer some - namely, the +5 enhancement bonus to attack and damage from magic, but not the +1 enhancement bonus to attack from the masterwork quality.

'Some' can be a qualitative determinant as well as a quantitative one, and 'some' does not mean 'all'.

-Hyp.

 

[argo]

What Krafen said. It really sucks when you transfer all the enhancement bonus to defense and someone tries to sunder your weapon. Not that I'd ever do that to a PC

But the weapon would still have the bonus hardness and HP granted by the enhancement. That should help protect it some.

 

[Hypersmurf]

But the weapon would still have the bonus hardness and HP granted by the enhancement.

Why?

"Magic Armor, Shields, and Weapons: Each +1 of enhancement bonus adds 2 to the hardness of armor, a weapon, or a shield and +10 to the item’s hit points."

"Defending: A defending weapon allows the wielder to transfer some or all of the sword’s enhancement bonus to his AC as a bonus that stacks with all others."

If you've transferred 2 points of enhancement bonus to an unnamed bonus to AC, the weapon doesn't have those 2 points of enhancement bonus... and therefore the +4 hardness and +20 hit points are no longer applicable.

-Hyp.

 

[kjenks]

So don't transfer all. Transfer some - namely, the +5 enhancement bonus to attack and damage from magic, but not the +1 enhancement bonus to attack from the masterwork quality.

'Some' can be a qualitative determinant as well as a quantitative one, and 'some' does not mean 'all'.

-Hyp.

You can't do that because the +5 magical enhancement bonus overlaps with the +1 non-magical enhancement bonus from being masterwork. If you transfer +4 of your +5, that's "some." If you transfer +5 of your +5, that's "all."

This doesn't make much of a difference. It's only +1, after all.

 

[Hypersmurf]

You can't do that because the +5 magical enhancement bonus overlaps with the +1 non-magical enhancement bonus from being masterwork. If you transfer +4 of your +5, that's "some." If you transfer +5 of your +5, that's "all."

I have a +1 enhancement bonus from being masterwork, and a +5 enhancement bonus from magic.

If I cast a targeted dispel magic on the weapon, suppressing the +5 enhancement bonus (leaving only the +1 from masterwork), I have not suppressed all of the enhancement bonus on the weapon, only some of it. And yet, a +5 enhancement bonus was suppressed.

If I transfer the +5 enhancement bonus from magic to AC, I have not transferred all the enhancement bonus, only some. The +1 enhancement bonus from masterwork remains. And yet, a +5 enhancement bonus was transferred.

The two bonuses overlap, but they are still separate bonuses, and can be affected separately. I'm not transferring "+5 of my +5"; I'm transferring "+5 of my [overlapping +5 and +1]" - some, not all.

-Hyp.

 

[shilsen]

But the weapon would still have the bonus hardness and HP granted by the enhancement. That should help protect it some.

As Hyp posted above, if you're transferring those enhancement bonuses to defense, I don't see how they would still apply their hardness and HP benefit.