What can a Flying Weapon do?

[Deca4531]

One of my character builds that is designed to be a Thor theme character uses a weapon with the Flying (http://www.realmshelps.net/cgi-bin/magweapdesc.pl?power=Flying&src=mweapontype) enchantment. when i first made this i thought it would be a much more effective means of allowing the hammer to return to my grasp. (the Returning (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicWeapons.htm#returning) enchantment dose not allow you to move before the hammer returns)

something i wondered about, lets say i throw the hammer, it bashes a monster in the face and flies on, in that same turn could the weapon fly back to me, hitting the same monster in the back on the head?

and are there any other creative ways to use this weapon enchantment that i have not considered?

[Fouredged Sword]

It takes an enchanted weapon and turns it into an Animated Object. (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/animatedObject.htm)

So your hammer gets it's own set of actions and can fly around and hit things on it's own. You could order it to fly back to your hand after it is thrown, and it would do so even if you moved. You could also order it to attack a wizard, and it would fly out and attack the wizard until told otherwise.

I could see this being broken with riverind and the enchantment that blocks particular spells. It can immune to HP damage and the small list of spells capable of harming it. That turns the weapon into an unkillable companion unless the target spends a lot of rounds finding just the right counter to break through the defenses.

Note, this would be a cheep way to get a colossal animated object, as you can enchant it with sizing as well.

[Psyren]

Unless it has Flyby Attack (and it won't - no Int = no feats), then it can't fly over to someone, hit them and then return to your hand all in one turn.

[Fouredged Sword]

No, but nothing says you can no longer wield it normally, especially if it is ordered to let you by remaining motionless. You could throw it as a wielded weapon, with it preparing a readied action to fly back to your hand. It would still be constrained by it's move speed though.

Also, you could make it an intelligent item independent of being a magic weapon. The animated object that is the sword couldn't think, but the intelligent item can activate it's own abilities and give orders to itself. That starts to get into odd rules areas though, as you have two sets of independent stats for the same object.

[Deca4531]

Unless it has Flyby Attack (and it won't - no Int = no feats), then it can't fly over to someone, hit them and then return to your hand all in one turn.

well my intent was to combine it with the Throw Anything fear, then throw the hammer myself, once it hit the target it would make its own atk action followed by a move action back to me, distance allowing.

[Darrin]

something i wondered about, lets say i throw the hammer, it bashes a monster in the face and flies on, in that same turn could the weapon fly back to me, hitting the same monster in the back on the head?


It counts as an animated object, but it doesn't actually have any intelligence. Somewhat similar to mindless undead, it can be given instructions (i.e., "guard this door", "attack that creature over there"), but there aren't really any clear rules on how you give instructions to such things, or how complicated they can be.



and are there any other creative ways to use this weapon enchantment that i have not considered?

Flying Force Surfboard (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10294124&postcount=5).

Another similar trick would be to use a gauntlet instead (or a light shield that can morph into a gauntlet), which can work something like a permanent mage hand effect with unlimited range.

[Deca4531]

It counts as an animated object, but it doesn't actually have any intelligence. Somewhat similar to mindless undead, it can be given instructions (i.e., "guard this door", "attack that creature over there"), but there aren't really any clear rules on how you give instructions to such things, or how complicated they can be.



Flying Force Surfboard (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10294124&postcount=5).

Another similar trick would be to use a gauntlet instead (or a light shield that can morph into a gauntlet), which can work something like a permanent mage hand effect with unlimited range.

Wow, lol. just wondering, in the bit about the shield, how did you get 32HD?

[Darrin]

Wow, lol. just wondering, in the bit about the shield, how did you get 32HD?

Sizing property, +5000 GP in the MIC. Here's my reasoning from the Flying Force Surfboard post:

"To determine the size of our Magic Carpet of Flying Forcewall, let's assume that a tower shield for a medium-sized creature protects it from head-to-toe, so it's just as tall as the creature it's protecting. For width, let's assume it's half that, so a medium-sized tower shield is roughly 5' x 2.5'. A colossal-sized creature occupies a 30' x 30' x 30' cube, so we can assume a colossal-sized tower shield is roughly 30' tall and 15' wide. There's no standard way to determine a creature's size based on it's physical dimensions, but a 30' tall object generally becomes a 30' tall colossal animated object. Weapon size also corresponds roughly to a colossal-sized object (heavy shield = one-handed weapon, generally one size smaller than the size of the wielder, tower shield is bigger than a heavy shield, so roughly corresponds to a two-handed weapon for sizing purposes)."

Then I looked up Animated Object, Colossal in the MM, which has 32HD.

[Deca4531]

OMG! i was looking around for different kinda of hammers i might use for this build when i found a pre-made Thor hammer: Hammer of Thunderbolts (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Hammer_of_Thunderbolts)

[unseenmage]

With DM permission you can also hit a Flying weapon with either the Awaken Construct (SC21) spell (this grants it free will), the Sacred Guardian Template (DL:BoK84), or just pay to make an Intelligent Magic Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/intelligentItems.htm).

Whether you can apply things like the Awaken Construct spell or the Sacred Guardian Template, or if making the Flying weapon an Intelligent Magic Item allows it to have feats is entirely up to your DM though.

[Deca4531]

Isn't making an item intelligent very expensive. i think i looked into it once when trying to create an intelligent suit of armor (was trying to make an iron man build)

[Fouredged Sword]

That depends on how powerful you want it. If the goal is just a item smart enough to control itself, then you just need a few thousand GP.

[Deca4531]

i can imagine a problem coming up when my weapon decides it dosent want to fight for me anymore.

"Hammer, smite that foe!"

"come on man, cant we all just get alone."

[unseenmage]

i can imagine a problem coming up when my weapon decides it dosent want to fight for me anymore.

"Hammer, smite that foe!"

"come on man, cant we all just get alone."

That entirely depends on the Intelligent Magic Item's Special Purpose and how your DM adjudicates such things. It can be a risk, yes. But for the most part keeping it's bearer alive is well within the boundaries of a reasonable action for Intelligent Items to take.