Broken Item? Axe-Staff!

[AbeTheGnome]

i was just thinking about one of my first characters, a dwarven gish (fighter-sorcerer). i ended up designing a custom item for him. it was a dwarven waraxe that doubled as a staff of frost. the axe portion had the frost and icy burst qualities, and of course a +1 enhancement. i just paid the cost of both items and paid a Waterdhavian smith to combine them for me. i don't remember exactly how much it cost me, but it was a heavy chunk of gold. if you were the DM, would you let this item slide?

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

i was just thinking about one of my first characters, a dwarven gish (fighter-sorcerer). i ended up designing a custom item for him. it was a dwarven waraxe that doubled as a staff of frost. the axe portion had the frost and icy burst qualities, and of course a +1 enhancement. i just paid the cost of both items and paid a Waterdhavian smith to combine them for me. i don't remember exactly how much it cost me, but it was a heavy chunk of gold. if you were the DM, would you let this item slide?

As long as the cost guidelines were observed (which it sounds like they probably were) I would have no problem approving such an item. I would use the rules for combining two items (I believe its 1.5 x the costlier item plus the cost of the lesser).

 

[awayfarer]

So it was an axe blade on the end of a length of wood? Wouldn't that just be an axe?

The special qualities don't sound too bad as long as the price was right.

 

[AbeTheGnome]

As long as the cost guidelines were observed (which it sounds like they probably were) I would have no problem approving such an item. I would use the rules for combining two items (I believe its 1.5 x the costlier item plus the cost of the lesser).

there are rules? like, official rules? i had no idea. i think my DM was just winging the price for combination/modification.

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

there are rules? like, official rules? i had no idea. i think my DM was just winging the price for combination/modification.

I wouldn't call them rules, more like guidelines, but they are printed in the DMG. You have to use a strong dose of common sense when using the pricing guidelines in the DMG or you will end up with some really broken items.

 

[Pyrex]

I would use the rules for combining two items (I believe its 1.5 x the costlier item plus the cost of the lesser).

Other way around actually. Normal cost for the most expensive, 1.5x for the others.

But given how expensive staves are in the first place, in my game I'd probably choose to reduce (or possibly even ignore) that multiplier for this particular item.

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

Other way around actually. Normal cost for the most expensive, 1.5x for the others.

But given how expensive staves are in the first place, in my game I'd probably choose to reduce (or possibly even ignore) that multiplier for this particular item.

I was incorrect it is x2, but I was correct about the most expensive:

Multiple different abilities Multiply higher item cost by 2 Helm of brilliance

You may be thinking of the 3.0 rule though, I can't remember.

 

[AbeTheGnome]

ok, i found the place in the SRD where they go over this, but it seems to be referring to adding multiple abilities to the same item, not combining two different items, like a staff and a weapon (even though a staff can technically be used as a weapon). anyone have a different read on this, or another source for info?

 

[AbeTheGnome]

i suppose the simplest way to do it would be to replace the item cost (usually a MW quarterstaff) with the completed magical waraxe. i dunno. what would you price this item at, and why?

 

[Pyrex]

Well, no, there are no rules for taking apart a magical axe and replacing the haft with a magical staff.

What someone with both Craft Staff and Craft Arms & Armor *could* do is take the axe, enchant it as an axe, then enchant it as a staff using the 'multiple different abilities' rule

Multiple Different Abilities: Abilities such as an attack roll bonus or saving throw bonus and a spell-like function are not similar, and their values are simply added together to determine the cost. For items that do take up a space on a character’s body each additional power not only has no discount but instead has a 50% increase in price.