Intelligent weapons with alignment...

[Li Shenron]

I do have the SRD stuff... but I prefer the books for looking up rules

Hmm, what about this interpretation: For an intelligent weapon with alignment, it's "attacks" as "natural weapons" should penetrate DR ...

Doesn't that work only for creatures WITH DR? I think the weapon doesn't get DR against the opposite alignment only because it has an alignment...

 

[Li Shenron]

Now, that's obviously much cheaper than 50k for a Holy Anarchic +1 sword, but you don't get your +2d6s out of it...

I was JUST thinking about the same problem. I have never used intelligent weapons and I am totally unfamiliar with their prices, but I could have bet that giving it automatically the ability to bypass DR would have saved a lot of money. I can't say if bypassing DR (but not granting +2d6) would be worth one full +1 equivalent or less.

In any case, I think it's increadible that they didn't think at least about adding the ability to bypass opposite alignment DR to the list of intelligent items possible powers... or otherwise let them have it by default and included in base price.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Doesn't that work only for creatures WITH DR?

In general, creatures with DR X/Magic treat their natural weapons as magic weapons.

In general, creatures with an alignment subtype treat their natural weapons as aligned, whether or not they have DR.

So if you consider an aligned weapon to have an alignment subtype, it should bypass aligned DR. If not, it maybe shouldn't.

-Hyp.

 

[Li Shenron]

In general, creatures with an alignment subtype treat their natural weapons as aligned, whether or not they have DR.

Aha! So it is possible that a subtype=Good creature doesn't have DR/Evil, but instead it will always have Good natural weapons to bypass DR/Good.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Aha! So it is possible that a subtype=Good creature doesn't have DR/Evil, but instead it will always have Good natural weapons to bypass DR/Good.

Yup - see Howlers and Hell Hounds for examples. No DR, Aligned weapons.

-Hyp.

 

[Li Shenron]

Yup - see Howlers and Hell Hounds for examples. No DR, Aligned weapons.

-Hyp.

That's interesting, I had not noticed yet... In this case, if I had to adjudicate the behaviour of an Intelligent weapon, I think I would treat it as it had the alignment subtype and therefore bypasses DR, even if it could be rules both ways IMO. I wouldn't mind about giving a quality for free, but that's also because I think I would really make intelligent weapons the ultimate rare thing to find or craft.

 

[Darklone]

IMC, I have three intelligent weapons in the whole campaign till now and I don't really plan to include more... so I assume it's balanced

 

[Durifern]

Another thing I'd like to ask:
The SRD says that align weapon is a spell with the same descriptor as you're casting. So casting chaotic on a weapon to bypass some DR the spell is considered 'chaotic'.
Does that get a lawful good cleric of Tyr into any trouble?

 

[Darklone]

Sure, they can't cast it.