Cost for a weapon upgrade 3.5?

[Chester]

Hello!

I can't seem to find prices to upgrade weapons, say to add a special property to it.

For example: adding Brutal Surge or something from the MIC to a +1 greataxe.

Where do I start?

[holywhippet]

This is a good place to start: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicWeapons.htm#tableMeleeWeaponSpecialAbilities

The dungeon masters guide has the same info I believe.

Take note that a weapon needs to be at least +1 to add special enchantments. It needs to be masterwork before you can add that +1 enchantment also.

[Maginomicon]

This is a good place to start: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicWeapons.htm#tableMeleeWeaponSpecialAbilities

The dungeon masters guide has the same info I believe.

Take note that a weapon needs to be at least +1 to add special enchantments. It needs to be masterwork before you can add that +1 enchantment also.

That is, first you must pay for it to be made (or rather, bought) masterwork. Next, you must pay for a +1 magic enhancement (which overlaps in some ways with the masterwork qualities). Only after it has the +1 can you start to pay for higher upgrades. For example, a +2 longsword costs 8,315gp. That's the same cost as a +1 bane longsword (as "bane" is worth a +1).

There is no such thing as a "bane longsword". There is such a thing as a "+1 bane longsword", since all magic weapons must have at least a +1 out front that was the first enhancement done to the weapon. (This tripped me up for the longest time, so I wouldn't be surprised if it trips you up too.)

To upgrade from one enhancement to the next, use the total number of effective upgrades to determine the final worth of the weapon and take the difference from its worth before the upgrade to get the upgrade price.

Thus, to upgrade from a +1 longsword to a +2 longsword (or from a +1 longsword to a +1 bane longsword), it costs 8,315gp - 2,315gp = 6,000gp.

[Slipperychicken]

Just to clarify, you pay the difference between "before" and" after".

Your +1 Sword is like 2,000gp. A +1 Brutal Surge Sword is 8,000gp. The difference is 6000gp, so that's what you need to pay to upgrade.

The idea is that so you don't feel obligated to "save up" for higher level enchants, you can upgrade for no penalty whenever you have the cash.

In 3.5, I'm not sure if there's a way to turn a normal weapon masterwork, but Pathfinder has the spell Masterwork Transformation, which does exactly that. Anyone familiar with PF would let you port it; they're basically the same system, and Paizo is a respected/trusted publisher which worked with WotC for a while IIRC.

[Chester]

Take note that a weapon needs to be at least +1 to add special enchantments. It needs to be masterwork before you can add that +1 enchantment also.

Already a +1 greataxe. :smallbiggrin:


Thus, to upgrade from a +1 longsword to a +2 longsword (or from a +1 longsword to a +1 bane longsword), it costs 8,315gp - 2,315gp = 6,000gp.

OK . . . I think I got it.

[holywhippet]

I'm curious as to why you'd ever want to make a regular weapon into a masterwork weapon, aside from purely fluff/plot reasons.

For the cost, take a look at the first table on the page I linked to. The value of the sword is based on the bonus level. The bonus level is the both the + enchantment and the value of each specific enchantment. So a bane enchantment is +1 while an axiomatic enchantment is +2. If you applied the former to a +1 weapon the value would go from 2000 to 8000, which would cost you 6000 gold. Applying the latter would make it go from 2000 to 18000, costing you 16000 gold.

Also keep in mind that the higher the bonus level the higher level a caster needs to be to apply the enchantment. So even if you have enough gold for a really powerful item, you need access to a caster who is willing and able to make it.

Also note that +5 is the higher enchanment level you can apply to a weapon, but +10 is the highest total bonus. So you could have a +1 Brilliant Energy, Speed, Shocking Burst weapon. Epic weapons can have higher values.

[Larkas]

In 3.5, I'm not sure if there's a way to turn a normal weapon masterwork, but Pathfinder has the spell Masterwork Transformation, which does exactly that. Anyone familiar with PF would let you port it; they're basically the same system, and Paizo is a respected/trusted publisher which worked with WotC for a while IIRC.

Just for completeness sake: masterwork transformation (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/ultimateMagic/spells/masterworkTransformation.html#_masterwork-transformation).

[Slipperychicken]

Just for completeness sake: masterwork transformation (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/ultimateMagic/spells/masterworkTransformation.html#_masterwork-transformation).

Thanks, I was on my phone while I made that post, so linking would have been rather difficult.

[Larkas]

Thanks, I was on my phone while I made that post, so linking would have been rather difficult.

No problem :smallsmile:

[holywhippet]

Just for completeness sake: masterwork transformation (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/ultimateMagic/spells/masterworkTransformation.html#_masterwork-transformation).

You know, it does occur to me that a monk's unarmed strike is considered to be a manufactured weapon for spells that can enhance or improve weapons. Masterwork fists anyone?

[Khedrac]

You know, it does occur to me that a monk's unarmed strike is considered to be a manufactured weapon for spells that can enhance or improve weapons. Masterwork fists anyone?
Yes, but a monk's natural weapons are not "items" and the spell specifically references one "item".

[Larkas]

You know, it does occur to me that a monk's unarmed strike is considered to be a manufactured weapon for spells that can enhance or improve weapons. Masterwork fists anyone?

Yeah, people have been discussing those implications for a while now. I never bothered to even read such discussions. :smallbiggrin: However, it does stand to reason that a monk's unarmed strike should probably be considered masterwork automatically after a certain level (3 or some such). They strive for self perfection and all that, after all.