A question about enchanting arrows and other oddness...

[Arravis]

I have a few questions for you rules-gurus...
Is it possible to enchant an arrow so that it doesn't break when used? An arrow that essentially has a permanent enchantment. Additionally... could you enchant such an arrow with enchantments that are not allowed on bows, such as Brilliant Energy, etc... and if such a thing were possible, how would this affect an Arcane Archer's seeker and phase arrow powers.

I have a player in my campaign that's interesting in doing the above... I'm not sure on how to handle it. The pricing of such an item has me stumped... even if it was possible.

 

[kengar]

I have a few questions for you rules-gurus...
Is it possible to enchant an arrow so that it doesn't break when used? An arrow that essentially has a permanent enchantment. Additionally... could you enchant such an arrow with enchantments that are not allowed on bows, such as Brilliant Energy, etc... and if such a thing were possible, how would this affect an Arcane Archer's seeker and phase arrow powers.

I have a player in my campaign that's interesting in doing the above... I'm not sure on how to handle it. The pricing of such an item has me stumped... even if it was possible.

ooofa! hmmm

Well, if you wanted to allow it -which would be your call as DM- I would say have the arrow cost as much as if buying a magic weapon (i.e. a +1 sword). Possibly make the PC have it made from a special material like Mithral (so that it is light enough to fire from a bow, but hard enough not to break). Something like 2500gp for a +1 mithral arrow. He's still gotta go and retrieve the thing after he's shot it (unless he has the Returning enchantment put on it )

As far as "non-ranged" enchantments; personally, I would say no. The arrow is still a missle weapon, even if it is a special one.

EDIT: Almost forgot about the Arcane Archer question. I would say if he used this arrow for that, then it gets "used up" like any other arrow. Awful expensive for one shot, but his choice.

 

[Arravis]

I'm likely to agree with the concept that if an enchantment isn't allowed on a bow... it won't be allowed on an arrow... it's a simple balance issue.

I do think that a permanent arrow should be more expensive then an equivilant (sp?) weapon since all the bonuses of an arrow stack with a bow... imagine having two +5 long swords that combine into a +10 long sword... that's pretty darn powerful.

 

[kengar]

I do think that a permanent arrow should be more expensive then an equivilant (sp?) weapon since all the bonuses of an arrow stack with a bow... imagine having two +5 long swords that combine into a +10 long sword... that's pretty darn powerful.

Not exactly the same thing since not all effects stack (i.e. DR penetration), but I do see your point.

Maybe something like making the basic "initial" +1 enhancement a +2 equivalent in cost and counts as +2 towards the "total" enchantment slots of the arrow?

 

[Arravis]

I was thinking 1.5 times the cost... so a permanent +2 arrow would cost 1.5 times what a +2 sword costs... just an idea though. Is that too much? (If anything, I was thinking it wasn't enough... but maybe it's just me)

 

[tensen]

I would have to say no, to the permanent magical effect, unless you could first design a masterwork arrow that could withstand the impact.

Since an arrow is no longer masterwork after impact (well destroyed)... it likely could not be continued to be enchanted...since an enchanted item has to be masterwork as the base.

 

[Arravis]

Well, I could easily see a mithrill or adamantite arrow, enchanted to be light-weight. So I don't think it'll be an issue... nor do I think there is a presidence for what you're saying. Swords don't loose their enchantment and they've been used for a long time, no matter how roughly.

 

[Zhure]

Maybe treat it as a missile weapon regarding cost, rather than ammunition. So each arrow would have a price fifty times normal. <shrug>

 

[Zad]

Whether the arrow would be unbreakable in normal use is up to you as a DM to decide if you want that hassle in your world.

If you do it, you are basically RADICALLY changing the way that magic ammunition works in your world. The items are priced as disposable items. If they were reusable, I'd say they cost as much as a usual weapon of that bonus i.e. a +3 arrow would cost 18,000 gp.

You're opening up a real can of worms though if you do, and pretty much undercutting the entire core ability of the arcane archer class to boot. I don't think you want to go down that road. Just rule that the nature of the enchantment on arrows causes them to expend their magic on impact and they can't be made reusable.

And no, I would not allow brilliant energy or other such things on missile ammuntion. There's a reason it's a no-no. But you could probably make some specific, limited exceptions if you wanted to here, as long as the ammuntion was still destroyed.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Is it possible to enchant an arrow so that it doesn't break when used?

No - Enchantments are generally mind-affecting spells, and objects are immune to mind-affecting effects.

If you had an Intelligent arrow, you might be able to Charm it.

Additionally... could you enchant such an arrow with enchantments that are not allowed on bows, such as Brilliant Energy, etc...

Brilliant Energy is on the Ranged Weapons table. So yes - you craft 50 arrows at a time with Brilliant Energy, and they ignore armor bonuses. It's a Special Quality, not an enchantment, though.

You can't add Special Qualities that aren't on the Ranged Weapons table to an arrow, strictly speaking... although if you really really wanted to, you might be able to convince your DM to let you craft a +1 Ghost Touch arrow for the same price as a +1 Ghost Touch dagger, given that an arrow can be used as an improvised melee weapon.

-Hyp.