RFC: Weapon Enhancement [Wicked]

[Judas]

RFC: (Request for Comment)

I have a player in a game that I gave a raiper to that does higher than normal damage. Something to give a uniqueness to his character. I have decided to attempt to create this for further use in other games. So I am asking for comments to help round out this idea of mine. So here's the first run at this.

• 
  Weapon Enhancement: Wicked
  Enchantment cost: +3
  A wicked weapon does double its based die damage. IE, a wicked longsword does 2d8 damage instead of the standard 1d8. The wicked enhancement does not require magical enchantment. The wicked enhancement cannot be added to an exisiting wepon. It must be added when the weapon is created. Magic is required for the crafting process, but the weapon itself is not considered magical and does not require the base +1 magic enhancement. The wicked enhancement cannot be dispelled or nullified by an anti-magic area. The wicked enhancement adds +10 to the crafting DC of the masterwork weapon. All wicked weapons are of masterwork quality. The damage multiplier is not changed.

Ok, even though the enhancement is not magical, I had it use +3 for cost purposes, plus limiting the stackability of other enhancements/enchantments with the weapon, to the standard +10 max of a non-epic weapon. I gave it some restrictions (can only be done at creation time, increased crafting DC) to help offset the benefit of staying potent in no-magic areas.

So what do you guys think? I'm sure I can use better wording for this, so if anyone wants to re-word it, be my guest.

I also thought of an alternative. Instead of double base die, +1 base die. So a 2d weapon doesn't become a 4d weapon.

 

[LightPhoenix]

That would be my worry - the real power of this adjustment is based on the power of the weapon. It's surely not as powerful on a dagger or stilleto than on a broadsword.

That said, Frost/Flame weapons do +1d6 and are only +1. Taking into account that this is elemental, I would say a +1d6 normal damage wouldn't be too much more than that - maybe +2.

Again though, this depends on the weapon.

 

[Judas]

I see your point about usefulness on smaller weapons. Or should I say, uselessness. The emphasis of wicked is the extra damage that can't be nullified. There's a few war wizards that are targeting the pc's weapons and armor with dispels to weaken them.

How about making the Wicked cost variable, dependant upon the weapon size? Small & under weapons (Including ammunition: sling bullets and such) are a +1, Medium weapons (and ammunition: arrows and bolts) are +2, and Large weapons are +3. Bigger than large are DM's discretion, but something wielding huge weapons is something I would run from.

One of the real concerns I have for this is because of what I started. The weapon my player has is a +2 Wicked Keen Raiper. The criticals are what concern me. And yes, he's either taken imporved critical, or he's going to next level.

[edit]
Now that I think about it more, it seems to make more sense to keep it a +3 because of the critial damage potential. Possibly even +4. A wicked Scythe doing a critical, 8d10!
[/edit]

 

[Bean 2.0]

actually it would be 16d4 on a crit with a scythe

 

[Ciaran]

Well, clearly he's just doing this so he can have a weapon that's officially designated as "Wicked Keen."

I'm leery of having magical enhancements that are immune to anti-magical effects. Not that this is necessarily bad for game balance, but it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Yeah, it's magic and all that, but there should be a certain amount of internal consistency.

If this player wants weapons with bonuses that work in anti-magic auras and ignore dispel attempts, let them convince a brilliant metallurgist to design some sort of enhanced adamantine alloy that gives, say, a +3 (or even +4) enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls. And of course the alloy requires certain rare minerals that the metallurgist doesn't have in the necessary quantities, and would the PCs be so kind as to go into the Underdark to fetch some more?

- Eric

 

[Judas]

Scythe is a base of 3d4? Ouch. But I guess that IS better than 8d10. Anyhow, it's not the player that's asking for this. I'm doing it for technical clairification when the times comes for the big battles I have planned for them. The player is in a strong gorup, and I'm going to make them have to work for every win. I want it to be hard for them, but still leave them with some "surprises" against thier foe.

[Wicked] isn't a magical enhancement, a dewomer that stays in the blade. It's an alteration to the metal itself, by magic, during the forging of the blade. I suppose I should raise the crafting DC from +10 to +20. These are supposed to be rare weapons. Even if you knew how to make such a weapon, it should be difficult to make in it's own right as well.

And thanks for the comments, you guys are making me take a step back an look at it in a different light. I do appreciate it.

 

[Oni]

A little brainstorming for you.

Instead of just doubling the base damage dice as that leaves very small weapons out in the cold. how about bumping the damage up two notches. For instance a dagger would go from 1d4 to 1d8. Not sure how well this will work, as I don't have my books here to reference but as I recall this ought to work better than straight doubling.

Alternately you could add flat damage. for the cost of a +1 bonus the weapon gets a +2 bonus to damage (but not to hit or anything else), +2 cost = +4 damage and so on and so forth. this would also make it more fair in regard to the base damage of the weapon you put it on.


Alternately you could go with your original plan and consider that the wicked damage is the same sort of damage as the base weapon but is a bonus die or dice and is not subject to being multiplied by a critical.

 

[Judas]

Okay, after some rethinking and some good suggestions, here is Wicked redone:

• Weapon Enhancement: [Wicked]
  Enchantment cost: +2
  A wicked weapon does an additional bonus die of damage equal to the weapons base damage die. The wicked bonus does not get get multiplied when a successful critical hit is scored. The wicked enhancement can only be placed into a weapon at the time of the weapons creation. Magic is required during the creation process, but the weapon itself is not considered magical. Alteration to the weapon structure during creation uses up 2 points of the weapons potential 10 points for non-epic magical weapons. All wicked weapons are considered masterwork. All wicked weapons retain the wicked bonus even in anti-magic areas or if a dispel magic is cast upon them (but any other magics placed on the weapon are effected as normal).
  
  ---------------------------|
  Alternative A:
  Weapon Enhancement: [Wicked]
  Enchantment cost: +2
  A wicked weapon has it's base die increased to the next larger die, ie 1d6 becomes 1d8, 1d10 becomes 1d12, 1d12 becomes 2d8, etc. A wicked weapons threat range also increases by 1.The wicked enhancement can only be placed into a weapon at the time of the weapons creation. Magic is required during the creation process, but the weapon itself is not considered magical. Alteration to the weapon structure during creation uses up 2 points of the weapons potential 10 points for non-epic magical weapons. All wicked weapons are considered masterwork.

I could use help rephrasing this colored text.

So does either one sound better?

 

[nameless]

Perhaps it shouldn't stack on top of the regular +2 enchantment. It's nice, but not that nice. I'd say that you require a wizard using Craft Magic Arms and Armor to create a wicked weapon, and it costs 4000 gp, plus 160 xp. After the process is done, just consider the weapon a masterwork weapon with a bonus nonmagical damage die.

You also might want to address the difference between longsword (1d8) and Scythe (2d4) or Greataxe (1d12) and Greatsword (2d6).

If you are intent on leaving it as a quasi-magical enhancement, here's my draft: The Wicked enhancement may be placed on weapons without a previous enhancement bonus. Wicked weapons are not magical in any way (unless further enchanted with other magical effects), retaining their bonuses in anti-magic areas and are not detected by Detect Magic spells. The cost of the Wicked enhancement is still applied when further enchantment of the weapon occurs, and the weapon is still subject to normal limits for magic weapons.

 

[Judas]

Perhaps it shouldn't stack on top of the regular +2 enchantment. It's nice, but not that nice.

Ok, I'm not understanding that. Please explain.