Dancing Weapons

[youspoonybard]

I hate to ask for so much, but I'm planning on introducing a dancing weapon into my game, and I just don't know how they work. Can anyone who does give me a little info, please? Thank you!

 

[Magic Slim]

Dancing: As a standard action, a dancing weapon can be loosed to attack on its own. It fights for 4 rounds using the base attack bonus of the one who loosed it and then drops. While dancing, it cannot make attacks of opportunity, and the person who activated it is not considered armed with the weapon. In all other respects, it is considered wielded or attended by the creature for all maneuvers and effects that target items. While dancing, it takes up the same space as the activating character and can attack adjacent foes (weapons with reach can attack opponents up to 10 feet away). The dancing weapon accompanies the person who activated it everywhere, whether she moves by physical or magical means. If the wielder who loosed it has an unoccupied hand, she can grasp it while it is attacking on its own as a free action; when so retrieved the weapon can’t dance (attack on its own) again for 4 rounds.

The only unclear point to me is: on the round you release the weapon, does it make an immediate attack, or does its first attack happen on the following round, at your initiative count?

Slim

 

[youspoonybard]

Does it get your str bonus? Do size penalties for larger/smaller creatures apply? Does proficiency factor in?

 

[Magic Slim]

Does it get your str bonus? Do size penalties for larger/smaller creatures apply? Does proficiency factor in?

It behaves exactly as if the character was wielding it, so
a) yes it gets your Str bonus
b) Your own size penalty / bonus applies
c) Proficiency does factor in, ie if you are not proficient with the weapon, it'll have the standard -4 penalty to attack. If you have Weapon Focus, you can add that bonus to the weapon's attack roll.

Slim

 

[youspoonybard]

That what I thought...thanks!

Last q: can it be "held" two-handed? Indeed, this seems to be implied...

 

[kreynolds]

Last q: can it be "held" two-handed? Indeed, this seems to be implied...

I would say no, simply because everyone would be "wielding" them two-handed by default, and if that was the intent, I figure the description would have covered that. That's just me though.

 

[youspoonybard]

If that was the case, though, you wouldn't be able to have a dancing greatsword your size, right?

 

[Slander]

I was under the impression that the weapon only included the BAB and any bonuses on the weapon itself when determining attack/damage rolls; any additional bonuses coming from the wielder (strength, feats, etc) would be excluded.

It fights for 4 rounds using the base attack bonus of the one who loosed it and then drops.

Is that an incorrect reading of that line? I ask because I have a Dancing weapon now and I would very much like to include all of my bonuses if I can.



Slander

 

[kreynolds]

Is that an incorrect reading of that line?

Not at all, which explains why I freaked out about the Strength thing in the first place.

 

[MorganKiller]

I think it's just the plain BAB plus weapon bonus and the same goes for the damage. It's already pretty strong this way...

(I'm not sure about this, after all it uses character BAB, so why not use his strenght or feats?)