Sunday, July 23, 2006

Lesser Elemental Weapon - Weapon Quality

Elemental, Lesser: These masterwork weapons are created by elemental craftsmen, such as salamanders, or xorn. Each invokes the power of an elemental energy. They are decorated with arcane runes attuned to the the element they invoke.

Once per day as a free action, the bearer may speak a command word to activate the weapon's power. For the next minute, the weapon will do +1d6 additional acid (earth), electric (air), cold (water), or fire energy damage when it hits an opponent. More powerful versions of the weapon give the ability to do extra damage 2 or 3 times per day.

This quality may be added to any masterwork or magical weapon.

Caster Level: 3rd; Market Value: 1 use, +400 gp; 2 use +800 gp; 3 uses +1,250 gp.

NPC Gear: Masterwork Lesser Fire Element Longsword, 3rd
Treasure Value: Masterwork Lesser Fire Element Longsword, 2nd

Math:

What I did was take a +1 weapon adjustment as the base value of the item (2,000 gp) and divide it as appropriate for 1 use per day, 2 uses per day, and 3 uses per day.

This compares favorably with a 1st level spell treated the same way. Magic weapon creates a temporary +1 weapon, which I have ad hoc decided is equivalent to a +1d6 energy damage bonus.

Because of its limited use, this weapon quality does not fit effectively into scaling modifier system mostly used for weapons, which assumes that the bonus is availabe for every attack made with the weapon. So the value of a weapon with this quality is improved by a fixed amount, much as some armor qualities.

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