Aligned weapons and DR

[Thurbane]

Just a quick question about weapon alignment and damage reduction: Holy/Unholy/Anarchic/Axiomatic Weapons, the Align Weapon spell and the Bless Weapon spell all align a weapon in regards to overcoming damage reduction, as does the ability of many outsiders to treat their weapons as aligned.
My question is this: is an intelligent weapon with an alignment considered aligned for purposes of damage reduction? Also, is there any other forms of aligning weapons I have missed?

 

[Hypersmurf]

My question is this: is an intelligent weapon with an alignment considered aligned for purposes of damage reduction?

I think it does.

Damage reduction may be overcome by "weapons imbued with an alignment".
The DR section notes that "ammunition fired from a projectile weapon with an alignment gains the alignment of that projectile weapon (in addition to any alignment it may already have)".

The Monster Manual notes that "A creature with an alignment subtype (chaotic, evil, good, or lawful) can overcome this type of damage reduction with its natural weapons and weapons it wields as if the weapons or natural weapons had an alignment (or alignments) that match the subtype(s) of the creature."

If we assume that a creature with the Chaotic subtype can overcome DR X/Chaotic, then this means that it does so as if with a weapon that has an alignment that matches the Chaotic subtype.

And the Align Weapon spell states that it cannot be cast on a weapon that has an alignment.

Finally, the Intelligent Items section states "Any item with intelligence has an alignment. Note that intelligent weapons already have alignments, either stated or by implication."

So an intelligent weapon is a weapon that has an alignment. A weapon that has an alignment that matches the Chaotic subtype can overcome DR X/Chaotic. A bow that has an alignment bestows that alignment on its arrows, as described in the section on DR. The Align Weapon spell - used to overcome Alignment DR - cannot be cast on an intelligent weapon. And a weapon imbued with an alignment can overcome DR.

All of it reads to me that an intelligent weapon can beat DR X/[Alignment].

-Hyp.

 

[Thurbane]

Thanks Hyp, that's pretty much what I was thinking as well.

 

[Kahuna Burger]

We did this maybe a month ago, and it came down to a argument over whether an inteligent weapon's allignment was magical or just a part of their personality without mechanical effects. I agreed with Hyp's stance (but luckily had posted it first and didn't get cognitive dissonance from the expereince. )

The revelvant portions, imo are :

Some monsters are vulnerable to chaotic-, evil-, good-, or lawful-aligned weapons. When a cleric casts align weapon, affected weapons might gain one or more of these properties, and certain magic weapons have these properties as well. A creature with an alignment subtype (chaotic, evil, good, or lawful) can overcome this type of damage reduction with its natural weapons and weapons it wields as if the weapons or natural weapons had an alignment (or alignments) that match the subtype(s) of the creature.

and

Any item with intelligence has an alignment. Note that intelligent weapons already have alignments, either stated or by implication. If you’re generating a random intelligent weapon, that weapon’s alignment must fit with any alignment-oriented special abilities it has.

my response to the personality vs mechanics aspect of the weapon's allignment was

Any character whose alignment does not correspond to that of the item (except as noted by the asterisks on the table) gains one negative level if he or she so much as picks up the item. Although this negative level never results in actual level loss, it remains as long as the item is in hand and cannot be overcome in any way (including restoration spells). This negative level is cumulative with any other penalties the item might already place on inappropriate wielders. Items with Ego scores (see below) of 20 to 29 bestow two negative levels. Items with Ego scores of 30 or higher bestow three negative levels.