about magic weapons & armour

[Nikodemos]

Hi Folks

Not long ago the game I was playing in changed from 2e to 3e. So I converted my character with not to much trouble, although I do have some unique magical items. We are currently doing the Giants Campaign, and we have know reached the point where we are about to enter the Fire Giants lair. So I am looking at enhancing my magic weapons and/or armour. So now I am left trying to translate these unique items from 2e to 3e. Here are the items:-
Black Leather +5, +2 saving throws, and +1 Hide (Due to colour)
Large Steel Shield +3, with the following abilities Light 2/day, Prot Evil 2/day (Both of these abilities @ 12lvl) and Control Environment (Whether the weather is hot or cold, I am always comfortable).
Mithral Scimitar +1, (+2 to hit, Max Damage, and +2 AC), Charged Item, with 10 charges when I got it. Each ability costs one charge.
Now I have looked at how to create magic weapons and armour in the DMG, and know that the item can't have more than a +10 combination of damage/protection and special abilities, with the maximum damage/protection being +5. Now one of my questions is, does every magical ability you add to a weapon or armour have to have a + rating. My example would be say the Control Environment ability on my shield, now the closest magic item I have found is a Ring of warmth, so could this be a permanent spell, or because it is armour, would it have to have a + rating. TIA

Yours Nikodemos

 

[CRGreathouse]

Now one of my questions is, does every magical ability you add to a weapon or armour have to have a + rating.

No. You can rpice it as if it was a ring or other item, then double it because it's effectively slotless.

 

[Thanee]

Yep, there is even at least one example, where this is done. It's in Magic of Faerûn, where there is a +STR enchantment for armor, which does not add to the '+' enhancement bonus for price calculation. The cost for the enchantment is twice that of Gauntlets of Ogre Power or Belt of Giant Strength, because it is effectively slotless, of course.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Nikodemos]

Thanks CRGreathouse and Thanee, for both your prompt reply and the useful info. Now I will have to see if the ref has Magic of Faerun, to see if there are any other useful bits in there. Especially useful since, I am playing in the FR.

Yours Nikodemos

 

[CRGreathouse]

OA, as I recall, also has many such weapon enhancements.

 

[dcollins]

Now one of my questions is, does every magical ability you add to a weapon or armour have to have a + rating.

I'll just point out that any such exception would be purely the province of the DM to allow. If he's playing solely by the core rules, then there aren't any examples to the contrary... and none of the specific things you're looking for are detailed in accessory books, either, I don't believe.

 

[twjensen]

Fast and loose conversions

The x2 price seems like the right approach for added powers. I'd use it sparingly, but a convert from 2e to 3e seems to be just the place for it. You don't want super high powered weapons and armor to start popping up everywhere, and the 2x rule could let slip by some items that do the same thing as DMG items but cost less.

That said, I'd be inclined to use the rule on the 2e items and let it go at that. Provided, of course, that I was the DM in the 2e game. Otherwise, I'd *price* the items with the 2x rule, and then let the player buy items from the new 3e list of the same or lower price. That way the 3e equivalent wouldn't have any "broken" items but should be roughly the same in power level.

 

[Lela]

OA, as I recall, also has many such weapon enhancements.

DotF also has Armor of Command which gives you a + to Cha as a Circimstance bonus. I'm not sure of the price though.

 

[Dash Dannigan]

No. You can rpice it as if it was a ring or other item, then double it because it's effectively slotless.

Listings for bonuses counts towards the total bonus of +10. The effective maximum bonus that any armor or shield can have is +5 (to AC) with a maximum of +5 special ability bonuses. (albeit you can have a +3 shield with +7 special ability bonuses, etc.) Isn't that right?

Any special ability bonuses such as +2 Str or other abilities all apply to total maximum bonus (+10). If such abilties were slotless doesn't that mean you could pile on a bunch of special abilities without limit?

The +2/+4 Str enhancement p.137 MoF, market values at +8k/+32k. Why is this different from other special abilities which obviously have +bonuses that go towards the +10 max?