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General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
What's the game balance reason for needing a +1 weapon before enchanting further?
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<blockquote data-quote="Kid Socrates" data-source="post: 3393871" data-attributes="member: 10714"><p>I understand that in the rules that a weapon must first be a +1 before you can put special enchantments on it like flaming, shock, keen, so forth and so on on it. I'm assuming this is for low-level balance, that a lower-level character dealing an extra 1d6 elemental damage per round might tip the scales of balance. I'm just not sure it's that much of a difference.</p><p></p><p>The rules weigh an enchantment like flaming and shock (+1d6 elemental damage on successful hit) equally with a standard +1 bonus (+1 to hit, +1 to damage). The rules just say you have to have a +1 sword/hammer/what-have-you first before you put a special enchantment on it. Since the rules don't say you have to have a +2 weapon before putting special abilities equal to +2 on it, I assume it's for low-level balance.</p><p></p><p>The first thing that came to mind is someone putting flaming, frost, and shock on a sword and doing an extra 3d6 of elemental damage per round, and that could add up very quickly. Not sure if that's much beyond 2d6+1, but I'm also not that deep into the math of it.</p><p></p><p>My reason for asking is that low level magical weapons strike me as boring. I don't know when wealth level recommendations bring it up to +2 equivalent weapons, but all the abilities you can put on a weapon are much more interesting to me than a flat +1-5.</p><p></p><p>Is lower-level balance the reason they made that design decision, and would removing that enchanting restriction upset that balance?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Kid Socrates, post: 3393871, member: 10714"] I understand that in the rules that a weapon must first be a +1 before you can put special enchantments on it like flaming, shock, keen, so forth and so on on it. I'm assuming this is for low-level balance, that a lower-level character dealing an extra 1d6 elemental damage per round might tip the scales of balance. I'm just not sure it's that much of a difference. The rules weigh an enchantment like flaming and shock (+1d6 elemental damage on successful hit) equally with a standard +1 bonus (+1 to hit, +1 to damage). The rules just say you have to have a +1 sword/hammer/what-have-you first before you put a special enchantment on it. Since the rules don't say you have to have a +2 weapon before putting special abilities equal to +2 on it, I assume it's for low-level balance. The first thing that came to mind is someone putting flaming, frost, and shock on a sword and doing an extra 3d6 of elemental damage per round, and that could add up very quickly. Not sure if that's much beyond 2d6+1, but I'm also not that deep into the math of it. My reason for asking is that low level magical weapons strike me as boring. I don't know when wealth level recommendations bring it up to +2 equivalent weapons, but all the abilities you can put on a weapon are much more interesting to me than a flat +1-5. Is lower-level balance the reason they made that design decision, and would removing that enchanting restriction upset that balance? [/QUOTE]
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What's the game balance reason for needing a +1 weapon before enchanting further?
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