3.5 - Weapon Transformation: Is it possible?

[Yajirobe]

Hi everybody

Here is my question:

Let's say that I have on my hand a morningstar +1, flaming burst. I'd like to "morph" it to a warhammer permanently, retaining the enchantments (so it would become a warhammer +1, flaming burst). What spell could I use to do that? What if said morningstar was made of a special material like, say, adamantine? Could I morph this adamantine morningstar +1 flaming burst into a adamantine warhammer?

[kitcik]

Max Diplomacy and trade.

[hewhosaysfish]

1) There's a weapon enhancement in the MIC called "morphing" that does this; it's a +1.

2) As for spells, I guess Polymorph Any Object could do it.
The spell description specifies that "A nonmagical object cannot be made into a magic item with this spell" but is doesn't mention whether a magical object retains its magic. It wouldn't be unreasonable to think that (assuming that new form is a valid one for the enhancement) the enhancement would persist. It's not completely explicit though so you'll want to check with your DM.

Similarly, it specifies "This spell cannot create material of great intrinsic value, such as copper, silver, gems, silk, gold, platinum, mithral, or adamantine" (emphasis mine). You could argue -based on the use of the word "create"- that turning an adamantine object into an adamantine object of no more than the same size isn't creating any adamantine and so is a valid use of the spell. If I were the DM I would let if fly but a more anal-retentive DM might not. Again, you'll want to ask your DM... and if your DM says no then tell him that hewhosaysfish thinks he's wrong. That should convince him.

The PAO would be permanent (same kingdom, same size, same or lower intelligence) but would be vulnerable to dispelling.

3) You could maybe use the fabricate spell (the basis of the Morphing enhancement, incidentally) to remake the morningstar into a warhammer.

If this works the it would be better that PAO because it would be Instantaneous rather than Permanent. But it might count as destroying and remaking the weapon and destroying it would cause the magical enhancements to be lost.

I vaguely remember that there are rules out there for transferring magical enhancements from one weapon to another for a fraction of the original crafting cost. You could do that to move the enhancement to a placeholder weapon, reshape the adamantine weapon, then put the enhancements back on it.
However, I can't remember what book those rules are from. I can't see it in the MIC or the DMG2. In fact, the more I suspect it's actually a 4e thing my DM houseruled into 3.5...

[Darrin]

Hi everybody

Here is my question:

Let's say that I have on my hand a morningstar +1, flaming burst. I'd like to "morph" it to a warhammer permanently, retaining the enchantments (so it would become a warhammer +1, flaming burst). What spell could I use to do that? What if said morningstar was made of a special material like, say, adamantine? Could I morph this adamantine morningstar +1 flaming burst into a adamantine warhammer?

Polymorph Any Object would work. Duration would be essentially permanent (same size, same material), but it could be dispelled.

You could also enchant it with the Morphing property (Magic Item Compendium), then switch it to whatever weapon you prefer whenever you like.

There's also the Dragonshard Pommel Stone in Forge of War. This can be enchanted with weapon enhancements, and then attached to any masterwork weapon or transferred to a new weapon.

[eggs]

3) You could maybe use the fabricate spell (the basis of the Morphing enhancement, incidentally) to remake the morningstar into a warhammer.
Dispel + This is has been how my group's handled it in the past. The Weapon Shift spell is the closest thing I know in the rules, but it comes with a very short duration. No matter what, if you're going for instantaneous duration, I think this is either going to come to a DM call or a bunch of handwaving.

[Diarmuid]

There is no 3.0/3.5/PF version of the old 2nd edition spell "Steal Enchantment" which would let you simply move all the magic from 1 item to another item.

Adding the Morphing enchantment, as has been mentioned, is your best bet as the PaO method is a bit dodgy and a given DM might not agree that it would work.