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Stacking Weapon Enhancements
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<blockquote data-quote="Hypersmurf" data-source="post: 3367518" data-attributes="member: 1656"><p>As written, absolutely.</p><p></p><p>There's an FAQ answer that suggests otherwise:</p><p><strong>The new descriptions for the flaming, frost, and shock</strong></p><p><strong>weapon special abilities say that these weapons’ energy</strong></p><p><strong>effects work only on command. Why was this changed in</strong></p><p><strong>the revision? Does that mean that their wielders must use a</strong></p><p><strong>standard action to activate them for each attack? Or do the</strong></p><p><strong>energy effects last awhile? If so, how long do they last?</strong></p><p><strong>What’s the chance that you burn (or freeze or shock)</strong></p><p><strong>yourself when holding onto an activated weapon? Can you</strong></p><p><strong>put away an activated weapon without damaging the</strong></p><p><strong>scabbard where you store it? What happens if you have</strong></p><p><strong>ammunition with these effects? Do you have to activate</strong></p><p><strong>each piece of ammunition separately? What happens if you</strong></p><p><strong>have a flaming, frost, and shock weapon? Logically, such a</strong></p><p><strong>weapon couldn’t exist, but what if it did? Would you have</strong></p><p><strong>to activate each property separately? Finally, how does all</strong></p><p><strong>this affect flaming burst, icy burst, and shocking burst</strong></p><p><strong>weapons? Do these weapons’ flame, frost, and shock</strong></p><p><strong>properties have to be activated for the burst powers to</strong></p><p><strong>work?</strong></p><p></p><p><em>The flaming, frost, and shock weapon special abilities</em></p><p><em>always have been command activated; the revision just</em></p><p><em>clarified that.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Activating an energy power requires a standard action, but</em></p><p><em>once you activate energy power, the power works until you use</em></p><p><em>another action to deactivate it. You can activate or deactivate</em></p><p><em>one of these powers on up to 50 pieces of ammunition at the</em></p><p><em>same time, provided that all the ammunition is in your</em></p><p><em>possession, all the ammunition is the same kind, and all the</em></p><p><em>ammunition has the same power.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Any attack you make with an activated weapon deals</em></p><p><em>energy damage to your foe if you hit—you don’t have to do</em></p><p><em>anything special to deal energy damage with an activated</em></p><p><em>weapon.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>A burst weapon’s burst power is use activated and it works</em></p><p><em>even when the weapon’s energy power is not activated (see the</em></p><p><em>last sentence in each power’s description).</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>The energy from a flaming, frost, shock, flaming burst, icy</em></p><p><em>burst, or shocking burst weapon never harms you while you’re</em></p><p><em>wielding or carrying the activated weapon (see the power</em></p><p><em>descriptions), and it will not harm your equipment. If you lose</em></p><p><em>or set down an activated weapon, the energy it produces will</em></p><p><em>harm other objects it touches, so it is best to deactivate it first.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>There’s nothing illogical about a flaming, frost, shock</em></p><p><em>weapon (at least not within any framework that allows weapons</em></p><p><em>to generate energy in the first place), and there’s no rule against</em></p><p><em>such weapons (think of the weapon as having fiery, frosty,</em></p><p><em>shocking flames). </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em><strong>The character creating such a weapon</strong></em></p><p><em><strong>decides how it can be activated. Most such weapons probably</strong></em></p><p><em><strong>are made so that the wielders can activate all three powers</strong></em></p><p><em><strong>simultaneously, or activate them one at a time, as desired.</strong></em></p><p></p><p>I can't find any rules support for the bolded section, however. Activating Flaming is a standard action; activating Frost is a standard action; there's nothing in the item creation rules to suggest that it's possible to make two standard action activations happen on the same standard action.</p><p></p><p>The "Give them the same command word" argument doesn't hold water, since I can say "Activate!" as a free action, but I can only say "Activate!" to activate the Flaming ability as a standard action. It's already possible for me to say the command word without activating the ability... so if I have two abilities with the same command word, each will still only activate when I take a standard action to do so, regardless of how many times I say the word outside of that standard action.</p><p></p><p>-Hyp.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Hypersmurf, post: 3367518, member: 1656"] As written, absolutely. There's an FAQ answer that suggests otherwise: [b]The new descriptions for the flaming, frost, and shock weapon special abilities say that these weapons’ energy effects work only on command. Why was this changed in the revision? Does that mean that their wielders must use a standard action to activate them for each attack? Or do the energy effects last awhile? If so, how long do they last? What’s the chance that you burn (or freeze or shock) yourself when holding onto an activated weapon? Can you put away an activated weapon without damaging the scabbard where you store it? What happens if you have ammunition with these effects? Do you have to activate each piece of ammunition separately? What happens if you have a flaming, frost, and shock weapon? Logically, such a weapon couldn’t exist, but what if it did? Would you have to activate each property separately? Finally, how does all this affect flaming burst, icy burst, and shocking burst weapons? Do these weapons’ flame, frost, and shock properties have to be activated for the burst powers to work?[/b] [i]The flaming, frost, and shock weapon special abilities always have been command activated; the revision just clarified that. Activating an energy power requires a standard action, but once you activate energy power, the power works until you use another action to deactivate it. You can activate or deactivate one of these powers on up to 50 pieces of ammunition at the same time, provided that all the ammunition is in your possession, all the ammunition is the same kind, and all the ammunition has the same power. Any attack you make with an activated weapon deals energy damage to your foe if you hit—you don’t have to do anything special to deal energy damage with an activated weapon. A burst weapon’s burst power is use activated and it works even when the weapon’s energy power is not activated (see the last sentence in each power’s description). The energy from a flaming, frost, shock, flaming burst, icy burst, or shocking burst weapon never harms you while you’re wielding or carrying the activated weapon (see the power descriptions), and it will not harm your equipment. If you lose or set down an activated weapon, the energy it produces will harm other objects it touches, so it is best to deactivate it first. There’s nothing illogical about a flaming, frost, shock weapon (at least not within any framework that allows weapons to generate energy in the first place), and there’s no rule against such weapons (think of the weapon as having fiery, frosty, shocking flames). [b]The character creating such a weapon decides how it can be activated. Most such weapons probably are made so that the wielders can activate all three powers simultaneously, or activate them one at a time, as desired.[/b][/i] I can't find any rules support for the bolded section, however. Activating Flaming is a standard action; activating Frost is a standard action; there's nothing in the item creation rules to suggest that it's possible to make two standard action activations happen on the same standard action. The "Give them the same command word" argument doesn't hold water, since I can say "Activate!" as a free action, but I can only say "Activate!" to activate the Flaming ability as a standard action. It's already possible for me to say the command word without activating the ability... so if I have two abilities with the same command word, each will still only activate when I take a standard action to do so, regardless of how many times I say the word outside of that standard action. -Hyp. [/QUOTE]
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