Jdvn1
Hanging in there. Better than the alternative.
Really neat magic items can set the tone for a D&D game--after all, a cool character has a cool weapon. What is Indiana Jones without his whip or Zorro without his sword? In a D&D game, weapons are all about the weapon abilities. A cool weapon ability can define your character. The Le games comes close to capturing this in 17 Magic Weapons, of which I got a reviewer copy.
The zip file comes with two pdf files--one to view the pdf in all its glory, and one which is a more printer-friendly version. There's also an rtf file so that you can easily copy/paste some of the text for whatever purposes you'd need to copy/paste the text. There are also two versions of the cover, and bonus material. The Le does a good job of providing different versions of the material, and with bookmarks.
Going into the pdf, I was optimistic. I had heard this was a good pdf, and I generally like new magic items. 17 Magic Weapons does not, in fact, have magic weapons, but weapon qualities. It also does not have 17 weapon qualities. Well, it does, but in total there are 19 weapon qualities. That is two extra for your price! Okay, enough of the excitement. Let me give you the run down on the qualities now.
Arcane Wizardry. For the price of 18 000 gp, you can re-roll a save once per day. If you're a Wizard, you can force a target of one of your spells to reroll instead. Neat ability. That one of the creation prerequisites is limited wish seems a bit over-the-top, though.
Barbarian Rage. For a non-Barbarian, this weapon quality grants the wielder the Rage abilitiy as a first level Barbarian. For a Barbarian, it grants the wielder an ability called Paradoxal Rage. This is a very weak ability, and I wouldn't recommend any Barbarian to ever use it. Definitely not worth the +2 enchantment it's listed as, much less a +1.
Bardic Harmony. I liked the color on the ability, and it also gives a +2 bonus to Will saves to all users. A Bard will also get the ability to make a Harmony Strike, which causes the victim to become deafened. It is a very neat thematic ablity, but possibly worth +2 instead of +1. The definition of deafened is also provided immediately after the weapon quality description, which is very nice for reference sake.
Clerical Restoration. For 17 500 gp, the wielder can heal himself 1d4 x wielder's level hit points. This is an odd mechanic since most item effects are based on the creator, but it is interesting. For a Cleric of below 11th level, healing spells heal +1d4 hit points. This should say "cure spells" instead of "healing spells" but the point probably gets across. For a Cleric of 11th level or higher, you get caster level +2 to healing spells. Which is not a great ability. Maybe if it cured +2 hp/spell level then it'd be useful. The creation cost lists deathwatch, which is odd. The rules on this ability are shaky, but I think it is an interesting idea that could be better implemented.
Dragon Perception. This grants the user +1d4 on attack rolls versus dragons, though there is nothing in the creation cost to justify this. Also, depending on the type of dragon blood used to create the item, there are other bonuses. There is a variation for every dragon except for Bronze. I think this might be an oversight. I think this is a neat idea for a weapon quality, but it was not done very well at times. That Bronze was missed disappointed me, and the Copper dragon's creation cost does not make much sense--it grants +1 to all known skills (I presume this means any skill check which the character can make normally), for a price of 4000 gp, and the corresponding spell is fox's cunning. It seems to me that it should come from an Int-boosting spell if anything, since skill points are based on Int. I am not sure what the justification of fox's cunning is. The creation cost for the gold dragon variation includes two spells, which probably is not necessary. The white dragon variation effectively gives the user Draconic as a known language for the price of 9500 gp and two spells, eventhough this is a weaker ability than the copper dragon (normally worth 1 or 2 skill points, instead of multiple).
Druidic Vision. This is a neat ability with good color. It allows the wielder to make a Nature Strike to cause the victim to become staggered. A Druid gets to be able to speak any of his known languages while Wild Shaped. The stagger definition is lsited after the weapon quality. My only complaint is that the creation cost is, again, weird. Tongues would make more sense than speak with animal, and greater magic fang doesn't seem to fit quite right.
I would like to mention at this point that, of the six weapon qualities, I like three of them and dislike three--The Le is batting about .500 and each of the six weapon quality descriptions has had grammar errors. So far, it strikes me as unpolished. This normally would not have bothered me, but there are a number of mistakes. The next weapon quality is the first to not have any such errors.
Exhaustion. On a critical hit, the victim of a weapon of exhaustion must make a save or become exhausted. The exhausted definition is listed after the weapon quality description. This is a good ability, though this also has a little less colorful description than the rest.
Fighter's Lament. This weapon quality grants the user a frightful presence once per day for one round. A Fighter can use this weapon to attempt a Dispelling Strike in order to try to dispel an active magical effect on the victim. That the creator needs martial weapon proficiency as part of the creation requirment is probably silly, but that is minor. I like this ability a lot.
Knockdown. The wielder of this weapon can attempt a Knockdown Strike, which will knock the victim prone. However, there is a possibility that the wielder is knocked down instead! This is actually a good ability, though. This quality also does not need two spell prerequisites.
Leaf Giving. This weapon quality makes the enchanted weapon deal bludgeoning damage and grants a variable bonus to AC. I don't like this because AC bonuses are always static numbers. Having to roll an AC bonus for every attack (because that's what the text specifies you do) seems to make attacking someone turn into an opposed roll. The bonus should also be the same type as granted in barkskin, since that's one of the requisite spells for the quality. The weapon also will force a seed to grow to maturity, though this seems to have little mechanical effect. Goodberry 3/day would probably make more sense, though the stated text is interesting.
Monk's Silence. This weapon quality gives the wielder SR and a bonus to AC. A Monk wielding the weapon has the option to forego these benefits in order to make his weapon good aligned and to deal extra damage to evil characters. This is a neat ability, but the drawback is so great, that it is probably not worth the 17 500gp.
Nutrition. This weapon quality has the power to make some plants grow and give berries, which can be eaten for various berries. It is odd, though, that eating too many berries causes one to be sick. This reminds me of an extreme measure to dissuade someone from eating too many berries. One could just say, "Eating more than three berries gives no extra effect."
Paladin's Remorse. The wielder of this weapon has a version of Smite Evil, usable once per day, and the weapon always deals one extra point of damage to evil creatures. A Paladin, instead of the Smite Evil, can exchange a Smite Evil for a Smite Chaos. The versatility is nice, though I can't see a Paladin of mine going out of his way to get this.
Peaceful Telepathy. This allows the user to speak telepathically with another creature, as long as they know a common language. That's pretty normal. If the user and the targetted creature do not know a common language, then the user can roll to try to communicate with the creature anyway. It's an interesting feature, but I'm not sure it warrants a roll. I would have applied some other limiting factor.
Ranger Targetting. An enemy struck by Ranger Targetting ammunition gives all of his opponents a +1 to attack rolls. Nice ability. Furthermore, a Ranger can spend a standard action to increase his crit threat against that creature by 1. Seems thematic to me. This is one of the few abilities I would use as-is.
Refraction. Pending a Reflex save, the wielder of a weapon of refracting can attempt to redirect a spell--but to a friendly target. The target is random. Going by the color of the spell, I am not sure why the target must be a friendly target, nor do I know why the target must be necessarily random. Nor do I know why the spell has to successfully affect a creature at all. Are spells innate drawn toward targets? Can the spell distinguish between allies and enemies? In my opinion, this is a very neat idea gone bad, due to poor justification.
Perception. A non-Rogue using this weapon can Search for traps as a Rogue does and effectively gains Trapsense +1. A Rogue using this weapon can choose to forgo all of his sneak attack damage to deal one point of ability damage to any stat of the targetted creature. Note that there is a Monk feat that uses one use of stunning fist to give the enemy a -6 to Strength. In comparision, I think the Perception quality should instead require dropping +2d6 sneak attack instead of the whole thing. I am also not sure why keen edge and owl's wisdom are required for this quality.
Shifting. This weapon quality gives the wielder blur, and if the user is 11th level or higher, then the wielder can transfer the ability to someone else. The ability stops for a while when there is a successful attack or spell. Given the drawback, the quality is a defensive one that seems pretty neat.
Sorcerer's Philosophy. A Sorcerer's Philosophy stone has the returning quality as well, and gains a +1 to hit a creature every time it hits that creature. When the bonus gets to +5, it resets back to +0. The resetting bonus is odd and I don't recall anything like it. I don't like the idea of a bonus going away. A Sorcerer with the stone has a chance to cast at a higher caster level and has a doubled range increment with the stone.
I liked about 12 of the 19 weapon qualities, which is just under two-thirds. Most of the weapon qualities I liked, though, I would change. A number of the abilities have some bonuses with weird names, which seems pointless to me. If you want a bonus to stack, give it no name at all. It would also be nice if there were much fewer grammar errors in the pdf. The pdf is most useful to me as a way to get ideas for that really cool item I'll give a character or NPC every once in a while. The abilities are different and I can imagine using them in my campaigns.
The bonus material, while some may like it, did not really impress me. The sell text says that the special bonus material is a surprise, so I won't ruin the surprise for you. If you want to know what it is, you will probably have to buy the pdf (or just ask someone who owns it), but I did not find it particularly useful.
The zip file comes with two pdf files--one to view the pdf in all its glory, and one which is a more printer-friendly version. There's also an rtf file so that you can easily copy/paste some of the text for whatever purposes you'd need to copy/paste the text. There are also two versions of the cover, and bonus material. The Le does a good job of providing different versions of the material, and with bookmarks.
Going into the pdf, I was optimistic. I had heard this was a good pdf, and I generally like new magic items. 17 Magic Weapons does not, in fact, have magic weapons, but weapon qualities. It also does not have 17 weapon qualities. Well, it does, but in total there are 19 weapon qualities. That is two extra for your price! Okay, enough of the excitement. Let me give you the run down on the qualities now.
Arcane Wizardry. For the price of 18 000 gp, you can re-roll a save once per day. If you're a Wizard, you can force a target of one of your spells to reroll instead. Neat ability. That one of the creation prerequisites is limited wish seems a bit over-the-top, though.
Barbarian Rage. For a non-Barbarian, this weapon quality grants the wielder the Rage abilitiy as a first level Barbarian. For a Barbarian, it grants the wielder an ability called Paradoxal Rage. This is a very weak ability, and I wouldn't recommend any Barbarian to ever use it. Definitely not worth the +2 enchantment it's listed as, much less a +1.
Bardic Harmony. I liked the color on the ability, and it also gives a +2 bonus to Will saves to all users. A Bard will also get the ability to make a Harmony Strike, which causes the victim to become deafened. It is a very neat thematic ablity, but possibly worth +2 instead of +1. The definition of deafened is also provided immediately after the weapon quality description, which is very nice for reference sake.
Clerical Restoration. For 17 500 gp, the wielder can heal himself 1d4 x wielder's level hit points. This is an odd mechanic since most item effects are based on the creator, but it is interesting. For a Cleric of below 11th level, healing spells heal +1d4 hit points. This should say "cure spells" instead of "healing spells" but the point probably gets across. For a Cleric of 11th level or higher, you get caster level +2 to healing spells. Which is not a great ability. Maybe if it cured +2 hp/spell level then it'd be useful. The creation cost lists deathwatch, which is odd. The rules on this ability are shaky, but I think it is an interesting idea that could be better implemented.
Dragon Perception. This grants the user +1d4 on attack rolls versus dragons, though there is nothing in the creation cost to justify this. Also, depending on the type of dragon blood used to create the item, there are other bonuses. There is a variation for every dragon except for Bronze. I think this might be an oversight. I think this is a neat idea for a weapon quality, but it was not done very well at times. That Bronze was missed disappointed me, and the Copper dragon's creation cost does not make much sense--it grants +1 to all known skills (I presume this means any skill check which the character can make normally), for a price of 4000 gp, and the corresponding spell is fox's cunning. It seems to me that it should come from an Int-boosting spell if anything, since skill points are based on Int. I am not sure what the justification of fox's cunning is. The creation cost for the gold dragon variation includes two spells, which probably is not necessary. The white dragon variation effectively gives the user Draconic as a known language for the price of 9500 gp and two spells, eventhough this is a weaker ability than the copper dragon (normally worth 1 or 2 skill points, instead of multiple).
Druidic Vision. This is a neat ability with good color. It allows the wielder to make a Nature Strike to cause the victim to become staggered. A Druid gets to be able to speak any of his known languages while Wild Shaped. The stagger definition is lsited after the weapon quality. My only complaint is that the creation cost is, again, weird. Tongues would make more sense than speak with animal, and greater magic fang doesn't seem to fit quite right.
I would like to mention at this point that, of the six weapon qualities, I like three of them and dislike three--The Le is batting about .500 and each of the six weapon quality descriptions has had grammar errors. So far, it strikes me as unpolished. This normally would not have bothered me, but there are a number of mistakes. The next weapon quality is the first to not have any such errors.
Exhaustion. On a critical hit, the victim of a weapon of exhaustion must make a save or become exhausted. The exhausted definition is listed after the weapon quality description. This is a good ability, though this also has a little less colorful description than the rest.
Fighter's Lament. This weapon quality grants the user a frightful presence once per day for one round. A Fighter can use this weapon to attempt a Dispelling Strike in order to try to dispel an active magical effect on the victim. That the creator needs martial weapon proficiency as part of the creation requirment is probably silly, but that is minor. I like this ability a lot.
Knockdown. The wielder of this weapon can attempt a Knockdown Strike, which will knock the victim prone. However, there is a possibility that the wielder is knocked down instead! This is actually a good ability, though. This quality also does not need two spell prerequisites.
Leaf Giving. This weapon quality makes the enchanted weapon deal bludgeoning damage and grants a variable bonus to AC. I don't like this because AC bonuses are always static numbers. Having to roll an AC bonus for every attack (because that's what the text specifies you do) seems to make attacking someone turn into an opposed roll. The bonus should also be the same type as granted in barkskin, since that's one of the requisite spells for the quality. The weapon also will force a seed to grow to maturity, though this seems to have little mechanical effect. Goodberry 3/day would probably make more sense, though the stated text is interesting.
Monk's Silence. This weapon quality gives the wielder SR and a bonus to AC. A Monk wielding the weapon has the option to forego these benefits in order to make his weapon good aligned and to deal extra damage to evil characters. This is a neat ability, but the drawback is so great, that it is probably not worth the 17 500gp.
Nutrition. This weapon quality has the power to make some plants grow and give berries, which can be eaten for various berries. It is odd, though, that eating too many berries causes one to be sick. This reminds me of an extreme measure to dissuade someone from eating too many berries. One could just say, "Eating more than three berries gives no extra effect."
Paladin's Remorse. The wielder of this weapon has a version of Smite Evil, usable once per day, and the weapon always deals one extra point of damage to evil creatures. A Paladin, instead of the Smite Evil, can exchange a Smite Evil for a Smite Chaos. The versatility is nice, though I can't see a Paladin of mine going out of his way to get this.
Peaceful Telepathy. This allows the user to speak telepathically with another creature, as long as they know a common language. That's pretty normal. If the user and the targetted creature do not know a common language, then the user can roll to try to communicate with the creature anyway. It's an interesting feature, but I'm not sure it warrants a roll. I would have applied some other limiting factor.
Ranger Targetting. An enemy struck by Ranger Targetting ammunition gives all of his opponents a +1 to attack rolls. Nice ability. Furthermore, a Ranger can spend a standard action to increase his crit threat against that creature by 1. Seems thematic to me. This is one of the few abilities I would use as-is.
Refraction. Pending a Reflex save, the wielder of a weapon of refracting can attempt to redirect a spell--but to a friendly target. The target is random. Going by the color of the spell, I am not sure why the target must be a friendly target, nor do I know why the target must be necessarily random. Nor do I know why the spell has to successfully affect a creature at all. Are spells innate drawn toward targets? Can the spell distinguish between allies and enemies? In my opinion, this is a very neat idea gone bad, due to poor justification.
Perception. A non-Rogue using this weapon can Search for traps as a Rogue does and effectively gains Trapsense +1. A Rogue using this weapon can choose to forgo all of his sneak attack damage to deal one point of ability damage to any stat of the targetted creature. Note that there is a Monk feat that uses one use of stunning fist to give the enemy a -6 to Strength. In comparision, I think the Perception quality should instead require dropping +2d6 sneak attack instead of the whole thing. I am also not sure why keen edge and owl's wisdom are required for this quality.
Shifting. This weapon quality gives the wielder blur, and if the user is 11th level or higher, then the wielder can transfer the ability to someone else. The ability stops for a while when there is a successful attack or spell. Given the drawback, the quality is a defensive one that seems pretty neat.
Sorcerer's Philosophy. A Sorcerer's Philosophy stone has the returning quality as well, and gains a +1 to hit a creature every time it hits that creature. When the bonus gets to +5, it resets back to +0. The resetting bonus is odd and I don't recall anything like it. I don't like the idea of a bonus going away. A Sorcerer with the stone has a chance to cast at a higher caster level and has a doubled range increment with the stone.
I liked about 12 of the 19 weapon qualities, which is just under two-thirds. Most of the weapon qualities I liked, though, I would change. A number of the abilities have some bonuses with weird names, which seems pointless to me. If you want a bonus to stack, give it no name at all. It would also be nice if there were much fewer grammar errors in the pdf. The pdf is most useful to me as a way to get ideas for that really cool item I'll give a character or NPC every once in a while. The abilities are different and I can imagine using them in my campaigns.
The bonus material, while some may like it, did not really impress me. The sell text says that the special bonus material is a surprise, so I won't ruin the surprise for you. If you want to know what it is, you will probably have to buy the pdf (or just ask someone who owns it), but I did not find it particularly useful.
