Keen equivalent for bows?

[AGFlynn]

Has anyone ever seen an enchantment that bestows the keen magic ability on bows? There's nothin' in the new MI Compendium so I am assuming it dinnae exist.

 

[atomn]

Nope, I've just seen it for melee weapons.

 

[Owen K.C. Stephens]

Bastion Press had Arms & Armor, which gave the penetrating quality for piercing weapons, and was not restricted to melee weapons. It was keen, but for piercing rather than slashing.

I am unaware of any WotC source that does the same.

 

[Hypersmurf]

The Keen Edge spell is not limited to melee weapons. If you have a caster friend who knows it, you can get hooked up...

-Hyp.

 

[mvincent]

Has anyone ever seen an enchantment that bestows the keen magic ability on bows?

You could technically put the regular keen ability on arrows. There is some debate on whether the writer's intended the random generation chart to denote actual restrictions, but by strict RAW no restrictions are given.

 

[frankthedm]

But the answer is no keen bows. Some will let you get +1 Keen Arrows, but those cost you 166gp a shot.

 

[Hypersmurf]

But the answer is no keen bows.

I don't see any reason the Keen Edge spell wouldn't work on a bow.

Longbow 75 gp 1d6 1d8 x3 100 ft. 3 lb. Piercing

This spell makes a weapon magically keen, improving its ability to deal telling blows. This transmutation doubles the threat range of the weapon. A threat range of 20 becomes 19–20, a threat range of 19–20 becomes 17–20, and a threat range of 18–20 becomes 15–20. The spell can be cast only on piercing or slashing weapons.

The longbow is a Piercing weapon with a threat range of 20; why wouldn't the spell work?

And assuming the DM is allowing a Melee Weapon Special Ability to be placed on a ranged weapon, why wouldn't the Keen Melee Weapon Special Ability work on a bow?

-Hyp.

 

[AGFlynn]

Thanks all.
On re-reading the keen weapon ability I see that it does not state any prohibition on ranged weapons, nor does it specify melee weapons only.
So I guess it can be used on bows. D'oh.
Fortunately, my DM agrees and I won't have to retcon the last few months of my character's life.

 

[hong]

What would be REALLY cool is to make a longbow that morphs into a two-bladed sword, and it stays keen in both forms.

 

[AGFlynn]

What would be REALLY cool is to make a longbow that morphs into a two-bladed sword, and it stays keen in both forms.

So...you want a ranger who multiclasses in...ranger? An archery/two-weapon fighting kind of deallie? I'm all for that.