Lightning Lance? Anyone know how to create this?

[Leopold]

Sigh..this Conversion is brutal sometimes. I know I have seen a Lightning lance I just don't remember where.

Anyone know of rules for one?


If you don't know what it is here is a breif overview:

Lance that is held and shoots bolts of lightning doing 5d6 pts of damage successful reflex save (i guess) for half.


I think that's how i would convert it...

 

[Taloras]

The only thing i know of similar is the Javelin of Lightning....which is:

Javelin of Lightning

This javelin becomes a 5d6 lightning bolt when thrown (DC 14). It is consumed in the attack.

Caster Level: 5th; Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, lightning bolt; Market Price: 751 gp; Cost to Create: 526 gp + 18 XP.

 

[Neo]

Well its a weapon so.....

MW Lance = 310gp cost

next to be enchanted at all it must have at least a +1 enhancement. <bonus squared x 2000gp>

1x1x2000gp = 2000gp

Lightning bolt ability, well you don;t say if its just a number of times per day, charges etc.. so i'll assume it's at will. <Command Word, Spell level x caster level x 2000gp>

we know its 5d6 damage your after so which you would have to be 5th to do and you also have to be 5th to cast 3rd level spells, so this tells us our caster level, the spell level is the level of Fireball which is 3rd... so

3x5x2000gp = 30,000gp

Total Base Cost = (310+2000+30,000) = 32,310gp

this is the Market Price.

Half the Market Price is the cost it would cost someone to make it, so in our case.

16,155gp to Make

The Experience point cost is 1/25th of the Base Cost (Market Price) which is

1292.4 (rounded down) so 1292 xp

As stated in the DMG it also take 1 Day for every 1000gp of value to make the item, well we know it costs 16.1K to make so that translates to.

16 Days to Create.

all this summed up leaves us with the following

Lightning Lance
Magically enchanted heavy lance, this lance is capable of firing on command a lightning bolt capable of doing 5d6 points of Damage, Reflex save (DC10+3+ <creators int or cha mod>) for half damage. The lightning bolt has a range of 150 feet. The lance otherwise functions as a +1 Heavy lance (see PHB).

Caster level: 5th; Prerequisites: Craft Arms & Armor, Lightning Bolt. Market Price: 32,310gp; Cost to Create: 16,155gp + 1292xp

 

[Xarlen]

Not really worth it, for the cost.

 

[Jondor_Battlehammer]

Looks good, but if your going that far, trick it out all the way. Give it Shocking Burst and have it cast Shocking Grasp on your mount.

 

[Neo]

Not really worth it, for the cost.

Oh I don't know, when you consider a +3 Longbow costs 18,375gp and is limited to 100ft range, and by the number of arrows you have, not to mention the min/max damage of 4-11.

and compare it to the Lightning lance, which if you create yourself only costs 16,155gp, has a 150 ft range, has unlimited shots, and has a min/max damage range of 5-30 (2-15 if saved) then it measures up pretty good for the money.

 

[Caliber]

Remember that magic items don't use the creators abilities to determine their saving throw, so that Lance forces a Ref save against DC 14.

Watch as all Rogues become immune!

 

[Neo]

Remember that magic items don't use the creators abilities to determine their saving throw, so that Lance forces a Ref save against DC 14.

Very true

DC is 10 + spell level + the ability bonus of the minimum ability score needed to cast that level of spell.

or spells level multiplied by 1.5 and added to 10 (see DMG page 176).

 

[Archer]

At the point you could generally afford the lightning lance you could be firing that +3 composite mighty +4 longbow 4x per round for 1d8+7 (10 within 30 ft) with a x3 19-20 crit. That's probably just an average not counting using +3 GMW arrows or presige classes that enhance archery vs doing 2-15 points of damage (5-30 on that rare unsuccessful save) per round or about 20% as much damage. Rogues and monks would probably take an average of less than 1 pt of damage. If you can manage to catch a bunch of creatures in your bolt then you are doing well.

Don't forget the base cost of the weapon is doubled to 4k since it is not the most expensive power on a slotted item. Only the most expensive power on a slotted item is base cost, everything else is doubled.

My 9th level character has ref as his worst save and would only fail 30% of the time.

 

[James McMurray]

Also, if you want to compare items, you have to let the owner of the longbow make it himself as well. That means he gets +4 worth of enchantment to use, so he can have +2 frost and shocking, or +2 holy.

That would up his damage to 1d8 + 2 (enchantment) + 2d6 (special ability) + 4 (mighty) + 2 (specialization) for a range of 11 - 28 (no save). Given that he is firing 4 times a round, I think its a fair comparison to say that he'll win out in the end. He does have to worry about ammunition, but arrows aren't exactly hrd to come by.