Burst effect question...

[Sunglar]

Hello all:

One quick question that caused some confusion in my last session… Is the extra damage from the Burst effect (i.e. Flaming Burst, Shocking Burst) of the magical weapon special ability, cumulative with the regular Flaming or Shocking effect?

Is the extra 1d10 added to the weapon’s damage on a critical hit in addition to the 1d6 from the Flaming or Shocking effect or does it supplant it?

Your thoughts are appreciated….

 

[hong]

According to the Sage, if you roll a crit, the +1d10 (or +2d10, or whatever) replaces the +1d6 damage. All sane DMs treat this as the Sage having one of his not-so-lucid moments and have the damage stack instead.

 

[kreynolds]

According to the Sage, if you roll a crit, the +1d10 (or +2d10, or whatever) replaces the +1d6 damage. All sane DMs treat this as the Sage having one of his not-so-lucid moments and have the damage stack instead.

Yup. The Sage says they don't stack, but Monte says they do stack. Go with Monte on this one.

 

[Sunglar]

Hong:

Thanks, I know it's a lot to ask but do you know the number of Dragon where that appeared? Or where was it?

Sunglar

 

[Tiberius]

According to the Sage, if you roll a crit, the +1d10 (or +2d10, or whatever) replaces the +1d6 damage. All sane DMs treat this as the Sage having one of his not-so-lucid moments and have the damage stack instead.

Why? It seems perfectly reasonable to me to have the extra damage kick in and not stack. What is the argument against this?

-Tiberius

 

[kreynolds]

Why? It seems perfectly reasonable to me to have the extra damage kick in and not stack. What is the argument against this?

-Tiberius

Because if it doesn't stack, it's not worth the +2 cost. Think about it. How often are you gonna crit?

 

[Crothian]

Well, the Burst weapon is designed for high multiple weapons. I agree they should stack, but with a multiple of x4 so you get +3d10 damage, you really don't need them to stack. It's on the x2 weapons that the burst would become nearly worthless.

 

[hong]

Hong:

Thanks, I know it's a lot to ask but do you know the number of Dragon where that appeared? Or where was it?

Sunglar

Hm, just had a look at the latest D&D FAQ (you can get it from the Wizards website; it's basically all Sage Advice columns since 3E came out), and it's not there. It must be an emailed response to someone.

As for why the damage should stack: it's just not worth the cost of the enchantment otherwise. You can get a ghost touch, flaming sword or a holy sword for the same price as a flaming burst sword, for example. Either of the first two choices would probably be a lot more cost-effective.

 

[Tiberius]

Because if it doesn't stack, it's not worth the +2 cost. Think about it. How often are you gonna crit?

OK, I think I'm seeing a conceptual difference here. I am operating under the impression, based on the following SRD quote, that <elemental> burst weapons work like this:

A flaming burst weapon functions as a flaming weapon that also explodes with flame upon striking a successful critical hit.

Fighter Bob is happily swinging his flaming burst sword. He inflicts 1d8 + strength modifier+ 1d6 damage per hit 90% of the time. The other 10%, being when he crits, he inflicts 2d8 + 2*str + 1d10.

Are you asserting the interpretation that the flaming burst weapon would do 1d8 + str mod on a standard hit and 2d8 + 2*str + 1d10 on a crit, or that the weapon should do 1d8 + str mod+ 1d6 on a standard hit and 2d8 + 2*str + 1d6 (flame) + 1d10 (burst) on a crit?

-Tiberius

[Edited for clarity]

 

[Voadam]

Tiberius,

Yep, that's it. It does the flaming damage (1d6) and on a crit it also explodes for 1d10 damage.

Okay flaming is +1

Flaming burst is +2

The 1d6 all the time is +1

So for a more expensive plus one (because it can't be taken alone) you either get +0-4 hit points on a crit, or +1d10. The latter seems more reasonable. Remember, you can still roll a 1 on a crit and so it is possible to gain no benefit from a crit burst under the sage interpretation, while you at least get +1 damage under Monte's.

Monte's version makes it a reasonable choice for any weapon, Skip's means only use it for high multiplier weapons.