Quick Question about flaming/thundering weapons

[BOZ]

i'm a novice 3E DM. one of my players posed this question to me:

Hey BOZ - I need to find out how you determine activating weapons with multiple element-ing and element-ing burst effects. Example - my greataxe is thundering and flameburst (which gives it standard flaming ability as well). Usually, it takes a standard action to activate these powers - will I need to activate each on separately or will one activation do them all?

 

[glass]

IIRC, your player's axe only has one ability that requires activation (the basic flaming property). Both the thundering and flaming burst properties activate activate automatically on a crit.

If it was (say) a flaming and a frost weapon, I believe it could be either one action for the lot or one action each at the whim of the creator.

Hope this helps.


glass.

 

[Zad]

What Glass said. If it was flaming and frost, it would be up to you. You could rule that:

1. you can activate both together or one or the other as a standard action
2. you need a standard action to activate each
3. the weapon always activates both together -they're linked, so you can't supress one without turning off the other. One action activates both.
4. Since there's no harm to the wielder, you could just walk around with it always on, and hence not really fuss over it.

It's all good

Technically I think answer #2 is the right one according to the rules, but #1 or #4 is more practical and worries less about nuisance issues.

 

[Scion]

Where I read it I dont know, but the correct answer (so far as I am concerned, and I think it is official) is that there is a seperate command word for each that take a standard action to activate, and the maker of the item can choose to put several of them on a seperate command word so that they can be activated all at the same time.

ie for a flaming/frost weapon there would be: 1) flame on! 2) frosty! 3) dual x cross!

the first two would only have one active, the third would have both active. saying 1 a second time would get rid of flaming (whether it came from 1 or 3), etc etc.

Seems like a good plan to me, that and most of the time it is pretty safe to just leave them active.. I never understood why one guy in a group I used to be in always shut it off after battle.. even when we were going from room to room and such.. he always spent the first round activating, always, every time.. crazy guy..lol

 

[Felikeries]

thunder power is nearly a nuissance to harsher combats,so it might be easier to summon say 1 roller +10 to use

flaming should be seen as a tactical vantage that requires some modifiers such as 10 enemies slayne from current battle(or with sword that day+10to use),fire elemental use by enemies(x2 defense when using 1 rolloer to summon),+5 roller to use against ice,-5,then-10***(two rolls neccessary).....all combat that isn't underground attracts 1D6 roving evil enemies within 5 rounds

 

[shilsen]

Where I read it I dont know, but the correct answer (so far as I am concerned, and I think it is official) is that there is a seperate command word for each that take a standard action to activate, and the maker of the item can choose to put several of them on a seperate command word so that they can be activated all at the same time.

I believe this information (and the suggestion that one could have multiple powers of the weapon triggered by the same command word) appeared in the FAQ.

 

[Scion]

Thanks shilsen hopefully it is there somewhere..

I'm sorry felikeries, what are you trying to say?

I think you are saying that thundering should attract random encounters.. or something like that, but I am not sure.

 

[Hypersmurf]

I'm sorry felikeries, what are you trying to say?

I think you are saying that thundering should attract random encounters.. or something like that, but I am not sure.

Nobody's ever sure...

Remember, if you use the Sage's ruling, that the choice is made at time of creation, not at time of activation.

Either your Flaming and Frost properties are linked to the same command, or they have different commands.

If you have them linked to the same command word, and find yourself fighting in a cave filled with flammable gas, you can't activate just the Frost power. It's both, or neither.

If you have them linked to different command words, you can start either or both, independently... but it takes two standard actions to get both running.

-Hyp.