Ever-striking weapon enhancement?

[FoxWander]

I'm not sure where I saw this once, or even if it's 3E, but the effect was that the weapon would always hit. You made an attack roll and whatever the difference between what you rolled and what you needed to-hit was drained from your hit points as "extra energy to guide the strike" or something. Has anyone seen something like this in a d20 book? If not, I know it was in a 2E book somewhere. What amount of weapon enhancement do you all think this would be if it isn't in a book already?

 

[Azazu]

Sorry Son - never heard of it!!

But it does sound pretty cool

 

[Trainz]

I would say minimum +2, possibly +3.

The number of times your typical fighter misses with his itterative attacks by a margin of 1 to 4 is enormous. Sacrificing from 1 to 4 hit points to inflict from 10 to 20 damage on a critter (especially when used to confirm a crit) is just too good to pass.

I would probably make it a fighter prestige class, the blood warrior, that has this ability. The higher level the blood warrior, the less the cost in hit points...

...YMMV.

 

[FoxWander]

Yeah it was a pretty cool weapon. And it wasn't as over-powered as it might sound either because the description I remember specifically said that you don't feel the draining effect when it happens. So you could be swinging away thinking you're just real lucky, and then you keel over from HP loss from your own sword. But when you figured it out it was really nice to have that one weapon you could always rely on- of course, once you start using it you're never quite sure how close to death you are.

The reason I'm looking for it is I want to put the enchantment on my evil NPC assassin's crossbow and I'm curious what the GP cost of the thing will be.

 

[thegreatbuddha]

Hmmm... makes 3.5 Power Attack even MORE attractive to Two-handed fighters.

Myself, I'd give it a +2

And BTW: It was a 2e weapon. I know it from the Encyclopedia Magica series. I couldn't tell you the original source, but I'm thinking it was from an FR supplement.

 

[marshaldwm]

I'm not sure where I saw this once, or even if it's 3E, but the effect was that the weapon would always hit. You made an attack roll and whatever the difference between what you rolled and what you needed to-hit was drained from your hit points as "extra energy to guide the strike" or something. Has anyone seen something like this in a d20 book? If not, I know it was in a 2E book somewhere. What amount of weapon enhancement do you all think this would be if it isn't in a book already?

The only one I have seen in d20 is in the Kruk-Ma-Kali module from Kenzerco.

It is called the Vampiric sword

Basically it has no magical plus to hit and no plus to damage, but only does damage as a greatsword(2d6). It is a cursed weapon. If you miss, it drains onehit point for each point low. If you need a +1 to hit, the + to hit is multiplied by five as an additional penalty.

For example if you need a 20 to hit a demon with DR +3 You lose 15 hits points no matter want, plus any you rioll lower than a 20.

A vicious weapon.

 

[FoxWander]

Hmmm... makes 3.5 Power Attack even MORE attractive to Two-handed fighters.

Myself, I'd give it a +2

And BTW: It was a 2e weapon. I know it from the Encyclopedia Magica series. I couldn't tell you the original source, but I'm thinking it was from an FR supplement.

I had considered the Power Attack problem. That's why I'm only putting it on a crossbow. Basically the assassin npc uses it as a can't miss attack with bolts of slaying and such. I could acheive the same effect almost with a crossbow that had a True Strike enhancement of some kind but that doesn't have the vicious flavor of an assassin who's willing to hurt himself to ensure a killing shot. I was thinking +2 as well.

And thanks for the 2E info. The more I thought about it the more I was pretty sure of that, and the FR source too. Now I'm just curious which FR book. Oh well, too bad all my books are 3 months away.

 

[Darklone]

This weapon is in the Villain Design Handbook... but it's an artefact.

 

[MerakSpielman]

I think it's pretty cool. You better not attack anything that has too high of an AC! Imagine if you shot that crossbow at a fighter with +5 plate, +5 shield, +5 ring, +5 amulet (etc. You all know how to get obscene AC)... and then you rolled a 2 on your attack roll...

 

[kreynolds]

Here's a version that I made a while back...

Everstriking
This rare and powerful ability allows the wielder to strike true against nearly any foe. The weapon channels its wielder’s spiritual energy to correct wayward attacks. Whenever the wielder misses, subtract the failed attack roll from the AC of the target to find the difference. For each point of difference, the sword draws 1 hit point from the wielder to correct the attack and successfully strike the target. For example, if the wielder is attacking a fighter with an AC of 25, and the wielder gets a total of 21 to the attack, the wielder takes 4 points of damage and their attack then succeeds. Weapons with this ability will even correct attacks that missed due to cover.

However, if an attack misses due to a roll of a natural 1 or due to a miss chance (such as blur, displacement or an invisible target), the weapon deals the wielder 1 point of Constitution damage, allowing the wielder to reroll for the attack. If their second attack roll still fails due to either of these reasons, the weapon will attempt to correct it yet again, dealing an additional point of Constitution damage to the wielder. This process continues until the wielder successfully strikes the target. The wielder heals the damage to Constitution normally.

Strong divination and necromancy; CL 18th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, chill touch, true strike; Price: +100,000 gp.

...and here's a lesser version of it, inspired by the Inevitable Crossbow from page 104 of the Arms and Equipment Guide....

Inevitable
These are weapons of fate. Eventually, they will strike true, even when in the hands of the most green warriors. If an attack with an inevitable weapon misses its target, the wielder’s next attack, if directed at the same target, gains an additional +1 insight bonus on the attack roll. If the second attack misses, the insight bonus increases to +2. As long as the wielder continues to attack the same target and continues to miss, subsequent attacks gain bigger insight bonuses, increasing by +1 each time, up to a maximum of +5.

Even if you miss with the fifth attack with a +5 insight bonus, your next attack, if at the same target, retains the +5 bonus. So long as you continue attacking the same target, the bonus remains until you hit. The insight bonus reverts to +0 as soon as you successfully hit your target. This sequence of attacks must occur on consecutive rounds; if a round passes without the wielder attacking the same target, the weapon’s insight bonus reverts to +0. This ability can be placed upon melee, thrown and ranged weapons, but not upon ammunition.

Faint divination; CL 5th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, true strike; Price: +16,000 gp.

I think the above prices are correct, but I can't be sure. I've got a few different versions of this doc floating around between work, home, and my laptop. I'll check later.