Bane Weapon Question

[Chester]

I need to double check this:

The barbarian in my party (3.5 edition) acquired a Warhammer +2 w/ Gnoll Bane.

Will the bane effects work on gnoll zombies?

:smallfrown:

[ZamielVanWeber]

No. You would need a zombie bane weapon. The zombie template removes subtypes that indicate kind.

[Hamste]

It would not work I don't think. A gnoll bane weapon is actually Humanoid (gnoll) bane. The Undead type overwrites the humanoid type and so the bane weapon wouldn't give a bonus. It's a pretty sucky bonus though (I mean seriously? A weapon that gives a bonus against a specific race that a lot of player do not even see? It is situational at best, useless at worst) so the DM might be willing to let the barbarian keep it even against gnoll zombies.

[KillianHawkeye]

No. You would need a zombie bane weapon. The zombie template removes subtypes that indicate kind.

There are no zombie bane weapons, but you can get one that is undead bane.

[ZamielVanWeber]

D'oh. Yes, Undead Bane thank you. I don't know why I accidentally created a subtype there.

[Chester]

It would not work I don't think. A gnoll bane weapon is actually Humanoid (gnoll) bane. The Undead type overwrites the humanoid type and so the bane weapon wouldn't give a bonus. It's a pretty sucky bonus though (I mean seriously? A weapon that gives a bonus against a specific race that a lot of player do not even see? It is situational at best, useless at worst) so the DM might be willing to let the barbarian keep it even against gnoll zombies.

I'm the DM for this campaign; gnolls are integral to the story so far, and the party encounters them frequently. :smallbiggrin: Hence, the gnoll bane.

Undead also factor into the story.

I figured that our barbarian wanted a hammer for possible undead bludgeoning, but has focused mostly on his axe. This, I figured, provides more of a balance; he has to make specific choices in weapons during each battle, in the hopes of preventing him from becoming overpowered. Hence, the hammer is just +2 against most things, but the barbarian has focused on the axe. Choices, choices.

[Chronos]

Was this a weapon he chose himself, or one that came up in loot? If the former, then you might want to mention to him that it won't work, and ask him if he'd like to change it to undead bane.

[Chester]

Was this a weapon he chose himself, or one that came up in loot? If the former, then you might want to mention to him that it won't work, and ask him if he'd like to change it to undead bane.

The weapon came up. Long story short: character's father is the chieftan of his barbarian tribe. He requested his father's favored weapon for the quest. It was my call: I wanted it to be useful, but not overpowered.

Basically, the party is ill-equipped to go picking fights with undead, but they're insisting. The gnoll bane was to give the barbarian a bonus against frequent enemy, and the hammer was his request vs. undead.

The plan: throw skeletons and zombies at them until the cleric turns them and the barbarian bludgeons them all to pieces with the hammer. Then, call in the Necromentals . . . :smallamused:

Undead bane is definitely helpful, but makes little sense in context (his barbarian tribe has been battling gnolls for years).