Weapon Upgrade Idea...

[Thondor]

All special magical enhancements have a 'cost' listed in their discription. It's located in the Italicized end line where it says the CL and spell as well as the price. Keen for example is a +3 (of the top of my head) while flaming is a +1 equivalent enhancement.

These values are given so that the DM can have an idea of how powerful a weapon he is giving out. And so that he doesn't ever make a weapon above +10. (Unless you want epic weapons)
A +5 flaming keen defending returning javelin for example would be a +11 weapon and would be disallowed by the rules.[ +1 flaming, +3 keen, +1 defending, +1 returning = +6 non-standard enhancement + 5 standard (attack and damage) = +11]
(my numbers might not be exactly right I don't have my DMG with me but you get the idea)
But thus you have a rating of how powerful magic enhancements are.

Frankly I'm a little confused about what Aristotle is proposing myself. I think what he meens is that when the PC's stumble across this 'Leveled Legendary item' the Character must spend a certain amount of XP to 'awaken' it.
However this makes little sense because of his weilder only line. This could be adapted to mean that only Decendants could awaken it. thus your meeting a more difficult prerequisit so XP cost is less.
Bloodline would mean that the PC could be the 23th cousin 4 times removed and wield it. Slightly higher cost.
excetera

So the Character pays a cost as dictated as such :
total enhancement bonus - relation to legendary weilder= Xp cost
Relation
Decendant: -3
bloodline: -2
race/culture: -1
everyone: 0

*the item always counts as at least +1

The Xp cost for the item would equal 3X standard Xp cost for crafting the item.
+1: Craft: 80 xp X 3 = 240 xp
+2: Craft: 320 xp X 3 = 960 xp
+3: Craft: 720 xp X 3 = 2 160 xp
+4: Craft: 1280 xp X 3 = 3 840 xp
+5: Craft: 2000 xp X 3 = 6 000 xp

note that the adventure required to obtain the item will usually pay for the items cost. Which is how it should be.

I'm nearly postive that what I've discribed is not even similar to what Aristotle intended but it's yet another way to do things

 

[Storyteller01]

Doesn't the Samurai fromOA do something similar to this? Pay X exp and Y gold to gain Z enhancment equivalent, dependent on your level?

If it's relevant, Bastion Press' "arms and Armor' book has a table that allows an intelligent weapon to gian levels with its owner. It gains exp equal to that earned by its weilder.

Quintessential Paladin from MGP has a similar bent. A characer can spend exp and gold in a ceremony to improve a bonded weapon.

Weaspon Bonus: +1
xp cost: 80
gp cost: 200

Weapon Bonus: +2
xp cost: 320
gp cost: 800

Weapon Bonus: +3
xp cost: 720
gp cost: 1800

Weapon Bonus: +4
xp cost: 1280
gp cost: 3200

Weapon Bonus: +5
xp cost: 2000
gp cost: 5000

Weapon Bonus: +6
xp cost: 2880
gp cost: 7200

Weapon Bonus: +7
xp cost: 3920
gp cost: 9800

Weapon Bonus: +8
xp cost: 5120
gp cost: 12800

Weapon Bonus: +9
xp cost: 6480
gp cost: 16200

Weapon Bonus: +10
xp cost: 8000
gp cost: 20000

I can't remember off hand, but these costs look similar to those found with the OA Samurai.

These costs are the total for a weapon. If a fighter had a +1 Keen blade and wished to increase the blades enhancement to +2 (ie: a +2 Keen weapon), he would pay 400 xp and 1000 gp (the difference between a +2 and +3 weapon).

There are some restrictions:
1) You can only add bonuses once per level

2) You cannot add more bonuses in one sitting than your Wis or Cha bonus, whichever is lower (this idea was originally meant for a paladin, so you'll probably change this).

3) The total bonuses from special abilites cannot exceed the weapons actual enhancement bonus. A paladin cannot cannot add Keen to his weapon if he already has it enhanced as a +2 Holy weapon. He'll need to make it a +3 weapon first.

 

[yazton]

Ok Thanks. Now I have something to go on.
Now my only question is if you can find it, do you think you could make me a list of each property and what it is worth? I.E.
Flaming is +1
Keen is +3
Defending +1
Returning +1
ect....
Otherwise this sounds good enough to transpose into my campain. Thanks!


Yazton

 

[Storyteller01]

Ok Thanks. Now I have something to go on.
Now my only question is if you can find it, do you think you could make me a list of each property and what it is worth? I.E.
Flaming is +1
Keen is +3
Defending +1
Returning +1
ect....
Otherwise this sounds good enough to transpose into my campain. Thanks!


Yazton

No disrespect, but I haven't got that kind of time!! It's listed in the DMG, both in a table and as part of the ability description. Don't know if you have 3.0 or 3.5, or if there is a difference.

EDIT: Guess it didn't take that long after all!

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicWeapons.htm#tableMeleeWeaponSpecialAbilities


Keen is actually a +1 enhancement. My original example breaks down in this manner: +1 enhancement (+) Keen (+) another +1 enhancement = a +2 Keen weapon. For the purposes of item creation cost and this ceremony, a +2 Keen weapon is the same as a +3 weapon

 

[yazton]

Thank you Storyteller01. I'm sorry if I offended you. You all have been a great help to me. I think I have enough to go on now. Thank you for all of your kind help, in helping me figure this out!

Yazton

 

[Storyteller01]

Thank you Storyteller01. I'm sorry if I offended you. You all have been a great help to me. I think I have enough to go on now. Thank you for all of your kind help, in helping me figure this out!

Yazton

I was being a smart@$$. Every book out there seems to have a new weapon ability.

Sorry if I seemed offended.

 

[babomb]

The Dragon article in question is issue #289.

To craft a leveled item, you have to meet all the requirements to create a normal item with its max abilities. It is, however, cheaper to make a leveled item. Weapons cost bonus squared * 2000 GP * 0.6, armor half that.

The weapon starts at a +1. You can raise the weapon to a bonus no higher than (your level - 1)/2. (I.e., You have to be level 5 to raise it to +2, etc.) The Total XP cost for a given bonus is bonus^2 * 200 for armor and bonus^2 * 400 for weapons (800 and 1600 for +2, respectively). This works only for you; if another PC picks up the sword, it's only a +1. Also, for double weapons, each head is independent, and XP need not be distributed evenly.

The game Secret of Mana had leveled items too, but they worked independently of your XP. The way it worked was that a weapon started at level 0. Every time you killed an enemy (regardless of how much XP it was worth), the weapon gained 9-its current level XP. Every 100 XP, it leveled up. This gave you a new technique with it. However the weapon had a level cap (initially 1). You could only raise its level by having the blacksmith "reforge" it. This process required money and "weapon orbs" that you could only get by beating bosses. (The reforging also increased its to-hit and damage, and sometimes gave it special properties, like extra damage vs. insects.) The highest you could get a weapon was level 8.99. Also, each character had to level the weapon up independently: a sword might be level 6 for one character and 2 for another.