Cold Iron Brilliant Energy Longsword?

[shilsen]

It must really be a pisser to put in its sheath.

Nah, putting it there isn't so bad.. it's keeping it there that's the problem. Dang blade keeps slipping out the side of the sheath and right into your leg if you move wrong.

Heh! That's the first thing I thought of when I first read the weapon description.

 

[Bauglir]

It must really be a pisser to put in its sheath.

Nah, putting it there isn't so bad.. it's keeping it there that's the problem. Dang blade keeps slipping out the side of the sheath and right into your leg if you move wrong.

Heh! That's the first thing I thought of when I first read the weapon description.

It's easy. All you need is a very well trained pet snake.

 

[ARandomGod]

There's no activation method for brilliant energy weapons (unlike, for example, flaming weapons), so you can't turn it on and off. Once it becomes a brilliant energy weapon, that's how it remains.

While it's true that there isn't one spelled out... in general it's assumed that all items have an activation on/off switch, just in general noone ever needs to USE it. Why would you turn off +3? I mean, the mage who sold it to you probably didn't even think to TELL you how.

On the other hand, even if you didn't assume that, I wouldn't really even add to the cost (much) if you wanted to be able to. I mean, you're paying for both things, it will cost you one or the other to use either, why shouldn't you be allowed to turn the brilliant energy on or off?

On the other hand, now we have to wonder, when you turn that off (assuming you could get that), does the blade revert to it's original composition, or simply dissipate until turned back on?

Oh, and can you get a purple, two bladed brilliant energy weapon that does this?

 

[BryonD]

I agree with the assessment that a brilliant energy blade does not have a material, so it can't be cold iron or anything else.

But, I don't think it is a hard stretch to justify it anyway. You start with a sword and enchant it (yes, enchant ) to make it a brilliant energy weapon. The blade goes away. Who is to say that the non-material blade can not mystically retain the properites of the original material blade?

 

[Deset Gled]

Who is to say that the non-material blade can not mystically retain the properites of the original material blade?

Well, that was a point I tried to make earlier. The non-material blade does retain some properties of the original material blade. It retains weight, and obviously shape. The question is, what other properies does it maintain? The more I think about it, I think there is no reason to stop the blade form being treated as cold iron. I think that interpretation is reading a lot more into the flavor text than should be. After all, it isn't being treated as energy damage, either.

So, if you're high enough level to have a +1 brilliant energy longsword, and you go up against a knight with +4 full plate and a +4 heavy shield, you're ignoring 18 points of armor class, giving you a net +14 to hit compared to the person with a +5 longsword.

Sure, that's a great bonus in a very specific situation. But also consider that it will do negligible good against many other NPCs (barb or rogues in light armor, rangers in medium), and absolutely nothing against monsters. monks, and casters. +4 is a pretty hefty price tag for that limited of an ability.

 

[ARandomGod]

Well, that was a point I tried to make earlier. The non-material blade does retain some properties of the original material blade. It retains weight, and obviously shape. The question is, what other properies does it maintain? The more I think about it, I think there is no reason to stop the blade form being treated as cold iron. I think that interpretation is reading a lot more into the flavor text than should be. After all, it isn't being treated as energy damage, either.

I actually quite agree with that, there doesn't seem to be anything in the rules against it it's maintaining it's cold iron ness, just the way the flavor is read.

Sure, that's a great bonus in a very specific situation. But also consider that it will do negligible good against many other NPCs (barb or rogues in light armor, rangers in medium), and absolutely nothing against monsters. monks, and casters. +4 is a pretty hefty price tag for that limited of an ability.

Yea, mostly this is a sword that's good against PC's. ^_^ Throw in a bane against good and you've got the perfect weapon that the poor PC's can't even legitimately SELL (cause it'll just be used against good).

 

[Rugger]

It must really be a pisser to put in its sheath.

You could always strap on a Troll's arm or something as a sheath...

-Rugger

 

[Chun-tzu]

Oh, and can you get a purple, two bladed brilliant energy weapon that does this?

Or, here's an interesting idea. Imagine a two-bladed sword with one end enchanted with Brilliant Energy and the other with Cold Iron. When the Brilliant Energy is turned off, it's just a Cold Iron Longsword.

Makes a cool weapon, but requires a ton of feats to use properly (exotic weapon, two-weapon fighting, and so on).

 

[BryonD]

Well, that was a point I tried to make earlier. The non-material blade does retain some properties of the original material blade. It retains weight, and obviously shape. The question is, what other properies does it maintain? The more I think about it, I think there is no reason to stop the blade form being treated as cold iron. I think that interpretation is reading a lot more into the flavor text than should be. After all, it isn't being treated as energy damage, either.

If I was your DM, I'd let you have the Cold Iron properties. I certainly don't see any reason it would be a problem.

But, I'm also not going to be critical of using the flavor text as a guide to the formal rules. I do not consider it reasonable to expect the words on paper to account for every contingency. A simple non-rules description of concept is an easy way to support rational extrapolation. That a blade with no metal can not be cold iron is only reasonable. (And that may be the most by-the rules answer: only items made mostly of metal may benefit from cold iron, brilliant energy weapons no longer meet that).

I think the "correct" answer is no. But it ain't broken and it is cool and easy to imagineer, so I'd allow it.

 

[Felix]

Put it to your DM this way.

E = Mc^2 Right? So there's a relationship between the energy contained in an object and the physical properties of that object.

[Hand wave the physics]

Ok, well what the Brilliant Energy enhancement actually does is accelerate the mass of the sword to the point where it is simply energy; but the quality of that energy does not change. It is the energy of cold iron, and therefore retains the properties of cold iron. Yes, a +1 Brilliant Energy Longsword is a sword of energy, and it passes through non-living matter, but it is still 5lbs of steel. It's just 5lbs of really fast steel. Therefore, a Brilliant Energy enhancement should not remove the qualities of Cold Iron.

If that doesn't work, well, I wouldn't be suprised. But it's fun to say!