Knife-thrower concept feasibility

[Mighty Halfling]

Some options:
Custom Magic Item - It shouldn't be difficult to craft a "throwing glove" that imbues thrown weapons with an enhancement bonus. It would essentially be like a bow.

-Stuart

I said the same thing:

In my opinion, WotC needs to make a set of gloves that temporarily imbue thrown weapons with magical bonuses. Otherwise it gets costly if you start throwing your magic weapons and can't get them back.

In this thread, now let's get WotC working on it!

Such an item doesn't even have to be gloves. It could be an amulet, sheath or "quiver." Or they could be conjured magic items that disappear after they hit.

 

[szilard]

How about this:

Gloves of Masterful Throwing

These gloves grant an enhancement bonus of +1 to +5 on attack and damage rolls to thrown weapons which are thrown with them. The enhancement bonus lasts for a single attack per weapon.

Faint transmutation; CL 5th; Craft Wondrous Item, greater magic weapon, creator’s caster level must be at least three times the glove's bonus; Price 4,000 gp (+1), 16,000 gp (+2), 36,000 gp (+3), 64,000 gp (+4), 100,000 gp (+5).

-Stuart

 

[nute]

I have a concept for a knife-throwing character that will have levels in Scout, Ranger, Rogue and eventually the Master Thrower and Invisible Blade PrC's. Upon scrutiny, however, this concept is impaired by the overhead that acquiring a dozen magic daggers would entail. Daggers can't be enchanted in stacks like ammunition (OTOH, they don't get destroyed after striking their target). Anyone got any ideas for how to get around this? Perhaps some spell or magic item I've missed?

Simple - get your DM to rule "throwing daggers" as mechanically identical to shuriken. Can't be used as a melee weapon, only as a thrown weapon. Just change the name of the weapon, and you're golden.

 

[green slime]

Anyhow,

The main trouble with the knife thrower, is that, in order to do it moderately successfully, it is very feat intensive and very equipment intensive, even if you manage to obtain "of returning" daggers.

There are, of course, certain paybacks, but they are not extremely obvious. You aren't the humungous damage dealer at close range, that the PA-2hander tank is, nor the ranged rain of death the archer is.

As a combatant, you'll mostly just be highly irritating. Combine with Tumble, sneak attack, invisibility and manuveur to take out those weakling wizards.

What you lose in sheer power, is gained IMO by cool. You don't have to switch to another weapon because you get involved in melee, get swallowed, or get grappled.

 

[Mighty Halfling]

You could add a spellcaster element to a PrC, allowing him to deliver touch attack-spells with successful knife hits.

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

sorry, but there's no way i'd allow this IMC. it comes back to you in time to make one or two more attacks with it, all in a round?

no.

have a few daggers, let them come back to you, and use them the next round... THAT i'd allow. hell, i'd even let you find a few daggers as treasure, just to make it easier.

but that class ability is absolutely absurd.

How is it any more absurd than, say, a magical bow? It's the exact same mechanical ability.

 

[Felon]

There are, of course, certain paybacks, but they are not extremely obvious. You aren't the humungous damage dealer at close range, that the PA-2hander tank is, nor the ranged rain of death the archer is.

As a combatant, you'll mostly just be highly irritating. Combine with Tumble, sneak attack, invisibility and manuveur to take out those weakling wizards.

What you lose in sheer power, is gained IMO by cool. You don't have to switch to another weapon because you get involved in melee, get swallowed, or get grappled.

I think it's one wondrous item away from being a perfectly viable and decidedly dangerous build. Of course, it relies on combining the features of the master thrower with the damage payload of a rogue or improved skirmish scout, but that works for me.

 

[Bagpuss]

tBoNS is broken, and there's no two ways about it.

And a single enchanted knife returning is broken because?

Mechanics wise it's no worse than having a single enchanted bow do a full attack in a round.

"Fantasy physics" wise it's no worse than for speed of the danger returning, than the speed of an archer drawing, knocking and firing a full attacks worth of arrows at high level.

I fail to see how it's broken.

 

[Bagpuss]

Get lots of daggers and oils of magic weapon, until you can afford 4 +1 returning daggers.

Returning doesn't help you above two attacks, as you can only catch the first two to return and the other two end up on the floor. Since even Quick Draw doesn't let you put the caught daggers away as a free action.

Returning

This special ability can only be placed on a weapon that can be thrown. A returning weapon flies through the air back to the creature that threw it. It returns to the thrower just before the creature’s next turn (and is therefore ready to use again in that turn).

Catching a returning weapon when it comes back is a free action. If the character can’t catch it, or if the character has moved since throwing it, the weapon drops to the ground in the square from which it was thrown.

 

[Felon]

Such an item doesn't even have to be gloves. It could be an amulet, sheath or "quiver." Or they could be conjured magic items that disappear after they hit.

In fact, I believe R.A. Salvatore equipped Jarlaxle with just such an item.