stats for a resizing magic wep abillity?

[satori01]

I have been toying with the notion of creating an "resizing" weapon ability. (Name suggestions are appreciated)
Essentially as a free action the wielder can cause the weapon to grow 1 size increment without the deleterious consquences ie a greataxe would go from 1d12 to 3d6 , the greatxe would increase in size and appearance but still respond,(and require) the "regular" size weapon prof.

So essentially written up it would look like:

Resizing: Upon command,(freeaction) the weapon will resize up one size catergory, ie, a large weapon will become huge etc. The
weapon increases in Damage and Reach and weight, but still can be used at no penality by an individual proficent in the base weapon. Caster Level 7 Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Enlarge, Market Price +2 bonus.

(think the Tetsaiga from Inuyasha)
Critiques and suggestions are welcome.

 

[Judas]

Thun... Thunder.... Thundercats, HO!

Sorry, that just what stuck in my head after readin this.

 

[Maitre Du Donjon]

The name "Erectile" comes to mind, don't know if its appropriate...

Basically, you get a weapon the increases in damage, but not that much. You also get, for large weapons, the benefit of having a reach weapon and a close quarters weapon in the same item.

I think +2 is a little much, but +1 might not be enough either. Its comparable to an energy weapon (increased damage, in different situations) and it basically gives you a feat (Exotic WP: spiked chain, ie having a weapon that has a 10' reach and can still hit opponents close by).

Anywho, my 2 cents.

Maitre D

 

[LokiDR]

+1

Most times, it will only give you +1d6 or there abouts. Pole-arms would get more reach, but 10' to 15' is not that much of a difference, especially if you can't hit things 10' away from you when you have 15' reach.

I would say it should be command word activated, to match other weapon enhancements, like flaming. Thundercats, Ho!.

By the way, shouldn't this be in house rules?

 

[Spatzimaus]

First, this should go in the House Rules forum. There's nothing in the official material that gives this ability, so anything you come up with is a house rule.

Nitpick aside, this debate has happened quite a bit in that forum. The thing is, increased Reach is a HUGE ability, because it practically guarantees you'll take at least one AoO each turn. This is the big advantage of weapons like the Glaive, but they add a big downside to compensate. There's one third-party book that has a reach ability, but practically everyone agreed that it was far too cheap.
The consensus was that adding 5' of exclusive reach (where you can't attack adjacent) would be a +1, but adding 5' of inclusive reach (like the spiked chain has) would be more like +2.

Second, why would increasing weapon size always give reach? A greatsword is like a Large Longsword, but it still only has 5' reach. The extended reach of a Giant's longsword is due to the Giant himself, not the weapon. The exception is larger spears used by big creatures.

Look at the Sunblade: it's a Bastard Sword that is wielded like a Short Sword. That's the sort of thing you can be mimicking here. Increased weapon damage without an increase in weight or proficiency change. So, with the Sunblade enchantment you can basically add 2 points of nonmagical damage to the base weapon (1d6 -> 1d10) that multiplies on crits. That's a +1-cost enchantment. The fact that the weapon now looks like something bigger is just flavor.

If you want improved reach, buy that separately, but it'll be far more expensive.

 

[Enkhidu]

I think th only real problem you will have with this ability is the "free action" bit. In fact, if "free action" became "standard action," I might even say that this would be a flavor enchantment, and one not worthy of a an actual bonus equivelent.

 

[Artoomis]

First, do not allow a "Command Word" item to be a "Free Action."

Command Word = Standard Action, so that a "Free Action" "Command Word" is an oxymoron.

Second, I'd say +2 sounds about right.

 

[satori01]

Thanks for the replies, this was intended for house rules, but I apparently fell prey to the late night multi window maze spell.
First a couple of thoughts:

1) I never intended the power to be command work activated, rather it should be at will. The power frankly is not strong enough to warrant the wait.

2) The part about reach is to indicate that the weapon will follow all the rules concerning changing weapon sizes, thus the increasing reach was meant to apply solely to reach weapons. Again I appoligize for any confusion, it was late....

3)Concerning cost, I think it is definetely better than a +1, yes on average it will do about 1d6 damage more, equivalent to flamming etc weapon, however this resizing also applies the extra dice on a critical hit, thus it is more akin to a burst weapon.
Add in the extra reach for reach weapons, and it definetely is better than +1.
The problem I am having is it is a weak +2 power, I dont believe it is equivalent to the "burst" for a non reach weapon.
I very well might go +1 market price, +2 market price for a reach weapon, I'm not entirely fond of that solution so thoughts on this are most appreciated.

rewritten the stat line might go like this:

As a free action the wielder of an resizing weapon can increase the size of his weapon by one increament,(see table5-1 in Savage Species). The weapon acts in all respects as a weapon of its new size, gaining extra damage and reach,(if applicable).
Caster level:8 Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, enlarge.
Market Price +1 for melee, +2 for reach.