A New Kind of Weapon Enhancement

[Galethorn]

I know I've seen this discussed before, but I can't remember which board, or what the general consensus was....so please excuse any redundancy on my part, if in fact there's already a thread about it here that I never saw...
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You know how there's elemental damage enchantments that weapons can have, like Frost, Shock, and Flaming? Well, what about one for bludgeoning, slashing and piercing? Here's one example...

Deep Cuts
When swung, this weapon cuts with far more power than the force of the swing would lead you to belive. The Deep Cuts ability adds +1d6 slashing with Medium or larger weapons on a successful hit. The ability can only be applied to Slashing weapons of Medium Size or larger.
Caster Level: 8th?; Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Keen Edge(?); Market Price: +1 bonus(?).

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That's the rough version of the equivalent to Frost, Shock, or Flaming...here's one that I think would be a +2 or +3...
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Massive Cuts
A weapon of Massive cuts is truly something to fear. On a successful hit, it does +2d6 slashing damage. This ability can only be applied to slashing weapons. Caster Level: 12th; Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Keen Edge; Market Price: +3 bonus.


And of course, there would be a Bludgeoning and Piercing version of each.

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I thought I might say why I would want to do this. The answer is simple: I want to have an option for magical weapons that do extra damage for some reason other than a cloud of some kind of element around it.

...Anyway, I'd like any feedback that anyone has...

 

[Technik4]

Oh, and I thought I might say why I would want to do this. The answer is simple: I want to have an option for magical weapons that do extra damage for some reason other than a cloud of some kind of element around it.

I thought that was what the regular enhancements are for. Incidentally, they received a small boost (I believe this applies only to the "plus" of a weapon), each enhancement adds a certain number to hardness and hp (I think its 5 hardness and 10 hp per plus, but check Olgar's Compiled Revision thread to make sure).

I see where youre going, and I think its mechanically ok, I just think its unnecessary.

Technik

 

[Spatzimaus]

Incidentally, they received a small boost (I believe this applies only to the "plus" of a weapon), each enhancement adds a certain number to hardness and hp

In 3E they already did this. Each point of Enhancement added 1 to Hardness and 1 to HP. If they're increasing that in 3E, more power to them.

Right now, an Enhancement bonus has 6 benefits:
1> +1 to attack rolls
2> +1 to damage
3> Increases the Sunder threshold by 1 (so you can Sunder better weapons and become immune to Sunder by lower ones)
4> Bypass a higher DR
5> +1 to object Hardness
6> +1 hit point
Most people don't think about anything beyond the first two. But, IMO Enhancement bonuses are SUPPOSED to be the best enchantment overall, the sort of thing you only replace if you REALLY want something specific.

As for the original post, there are a few enchantments that already do this. In the Psionic Handbook, there's Impact (adds 2 damage for a +1 cost), for example. There was another great one on these boards (under the names Bladestorm or Pain, depending on the version you wanted) a while back.

Frankly, though, if you want straight non-elemental damage you're better off sticking with Enhancement bonuses and Power Attacking off the attack bonus. You'll get all those other minor abilities as well, and still get the benefits you want.

Oh, and don't make it have different effects based on weapon size. I know that may make more sense, but it's bad from a game balance point of view. If it was balanced versus other enchantments at +1d6 then it'd be underpowered at +1d4.

 

[Galethorn]

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Edited based on suggested changes...
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The reason I'm not satisfied with the plain 'ol enhancement bonus is that I want to be able to have a weapon that's as good as one with an elemental damage type, without actually having it be "surrounded with crackling electricity" or "sheathed in fire".

 

[3d6]

It should probably add +1d4 rather than +1d6, because non-elemental damage doesn't have to deal with resistances.

 

[Beholder Bob]

Weapon damage

Actually, it does have to deal with resistance - a 20/+3 damage reduction effectively has resistance. And by taking this feat, you fail to increase the + of the sword, so are more likely to have to deal with this damage reduction. Still, the damage bonus is a bit high (if your + is high enough, ignore damage reduction, while no such benefit exists for elemental damage), so reduce it to d4 damage, of the same type as the weapon.

 

[Spatzimaus]

In 3.5E, DR will work differently, so the plus of your weapon will be less important then.

But, overall I agree with 3d6: it's not the equal of elemental damage. While those can be stopped by certain spells, or inherent immunities, slashing/piercing/blunt damage is far more likely to get through. Even when confronted with DR, the key is it'll only get stopped if the weapon wouldn't have overcome the soak anyway.

For example, let's say I have Stoneskin up, for DR 10/+5. Let's also say I'm using a Greatsword, and with all my bonuses I'd normally deal 15 damage per hit on average.

Without your enchantment, I'd deal 5 damage to the target. With your enchantment, I'd deal 5+1d6 to the target. In other words, the DR of the target did nothing to mitigate the damage, because it was already subtracted off the weapon's hit.
Elemental damage, on the other hand, can be blocked separately, so it's not as likely to get through against a prepared opponent.

Anyway, the version I use IMC:

PAIN (+2 cost): The weapon is surrounded by a cloud of crystalline shards. On a successful melee hit, these shards deal an additional +1d8 Slashing damage. This multiplies on a critical hit, as normal damage (+2d8 for a x2 weapon, +3d8 for a x3, +4d8 for a x4). Prerequisites: Shatter, Greater Magic Weapon
(and no, you can't put it on a ranged weapon, more for style reasons than anything else)

Effectively, a Longsword with this is just a 2d8 weapon. The nice part is, it's always Slashing damage, so put it on a hammer to get something with two damage types. If someone's immune to blunt damage you're not totally hosed. If you don't like the "cloud of stuff" concept, have it be magically serrated or reshaping or something.
You could also make it only 1d4 for a +1 cost, but I did this on purpose because of some variant Exotic Materials rules my campaign uses.