Kensai/Anointed Knight Clarification

[moritheil]

What happens to a kensai's weapon when he or she dies? Can a comrade pick it up and fight with it, while retaining the enhancement bonuses the kensai imbued, or does it revert to masterwork? Is the weapon permanently imbued for everyone, or does the imbuement only function in the hands of the kensai (or some other outcome)?

For that matter, does any of this change if considering an anointed knight instead?

 

[shilsen]

It works just for the kensai. The second paragraph of the Signature Weapon ability says, "The character focuses part of his life energy on the weapon, making it more effective in his hands and his hands alone."

I don't have the book the Anointed Knight (BoED) is in, so I can't comment on that.

 

[R-Hero]

It works just for the kensai. The second paragraph of the Signature Weapon ability says, "The character focuses part of his life energy on the weapon, making it more effective in his hands and his hands alone."

I don't have the book the Anointed Knight (BoED) is in, so I can't comment on that.

Same for the Annointed Knight. He takes levels in alchemy and applies the oils in a ceremony to awaken the ancestrial magic within.

His or her ancestors, not anyone elses. But the weapon is still a masterwork if someone else wields it.

What happens to a kensai's weapon when he or she dies?

Thats part of the Ancestrial weapon flavor. A character usually inherits it, but has to awaken the magic himself.
Dead beyond raising Character= Antique Masterwork Hand-me-down

 

[KarinsDad]

While this is true for the Kensai's signature weapon, it is not true for an Ancestoral Relic.

Nothing in the text of either Ancestoral Relic or Annointed Knight indicates that the effects only work for the character himself or while the character is alive.

In fact, the Annointed Knight Ancestoral Relic abilities are listed as permanent and the Ancestoral Relic feat states that the weapon gains those abilities, not that the weapon in the hands of the owner gains those abilities.


As for why this happens, a Kensai gives up XP to enhance his weapon. Although this is upwards of about 3/4ths of a level at high level, he will typically gain some of this XP back when he is a level lower than some of his fellow PCs and hence, gains more XP for the same encounter. And, a Kensai should have more magic items than others in his group since he does not pay gold or wealth for his magic weapon.


An owner of an Ancestoral Relic gives up a boatload of gold/wealth in order to enhance his weapon. It is twice as much gold as someone with the Craft Arms and Armor feat and it is limited to one specific weapon, but zero XP. All in all, this is a pricey feat, so the item should be permanent.

 

[moritheil]

Enlightening. Thanks!

 

[54dd4m]

I am playing Anointed Knight atm, had 6 levels of Knight class before entering it, and 5 lvls in prestige.
There is a question that is kinda tricky...
My family longsword [as anoint ancestral weapon ability] has turned into intelligent item.
Since i have Ancestral relic feat i can enhance it with some int. item abilities [spells lvl 1-4]
Now, what is my caster level, should i consider my HD [11] as caster lvl, or that i started from lvl 3 when i took Ancestral Relic feat, or should i take only levels from my prestige class [5] as a caster lvl, since i gained int.item trough prestige class.
How would u rule?