D&d 3.5 Weapon Ideas

[Sketchopotamus]

So my DM is allowing us, custom made 'weapons of legacy' of sorts. Its only special to our character, and levels up with us. Our halfling rogue who uses a bow, is having a hard time coming up with ideas. It can't be too overpowerful, and must be related to our weapons. No character ability buffs either.

Any ideas?

[Diarmuid]

Some nice bow ideas:

Splitting enhancement from Champions of Ruin
Variable Composite Strength (matches strength of character)
Ranged Power Attack

Champions of Ruin has a bunch of very cool archery related spells for the Justice of Weald and Woe prestige class (ranger may also gain access). Giving some of them as x/day abilities could be cool as well.

[Nihilarian]

I like the idea of increased Sneak Attack range.

[Sketchopotamus]

Yeah I love the splitting enchantment, and I suggested it, only the DM hates that enchantment. Our weapons (at the end) have to be approved by him.

I like the idea of the ranged power attack.

And I like the idea of the composite strength idea, only he doesn't have a strength modifier... lol

[Gavinfoxx]

Dex to damage
Fire through wind wall and like
Overcome X points of DR per shot
Count as force damage for purposes of DR, or for affecting incorporeal or etherial things
Not need arrows
Dex to damage twice
Extend range of point blank range
Negate some forms of concealment
Give or upgrade precise shot and/or rapid shot to the improved versions

[Sketchopotamus]

I like the idea of increased Sneak Attack range.

That's a cool idea! Like instead of being able to only do sneak attack damage in 30', increase it too like 60'?

[Diarmuid]

That's the general bump for SA dmg. There's something in PF that does that I think, maybe only for crossbows.

I house rule Far Shot to do the same thing in my games in addition to what it normally does.

Even if he doesnt have a Str mod now, he could at some point get one...and when he did his dmg would automatically go up. But...if these weapons are tailored for the character, and he would more than likely be prioritizing Dex, then Dex to dmg is a decent idea.

[Sketchopotamus]

Dex to damage

Thats a nice idea, but i'm pretty sure there is a feat called Deadeye that you can take that allows dex to damage. I don't remember where at though.

[Sketchopotamus]

Yeah, I agree. His character is hugely dex based. My character is a Duskblade wielding a spiked chain. The bonuses I gave myself were stuff to tripping and disarming, along with extra spell slots the higher the weapon level is.

Eventually, each weapon is a +5 at like level 16 or something.

[Gavinfoxx]

http://www.brilliantgameologists.com/boards/?topic=642.0

Deal half sneak attack damage to immune things... and by larger sneak attack range... you know... 300 feat rather than 30? Enable actual sniping?

And you want to be doing stuff like DOUBLE dex to damage on all attacks where sneak attack would work at like 300 range for archery to not suck.. have dex to damage NOT be precision damage, but be actual flat damage that works on everything...

"Dead Eye [DC Pg. 95, DR304 Pg. 84] - Requires Dex 17, Point Blank Shot, Weapon Focus, BAB +14 (DR304 is Dex 13, BAB +1)
This adds Dexterity to your damage within 30' as precision damage. Dragon Magazine #304 only had Dex 13 and BAB +1 requirement, which obviously made the feat much better. As it stands, it's quite situational; while your Dex is probably massive and thus the damage bonus is massive, the limitation in the range and the fact that many enemies are probably immune and there are no easy ways to bypass these immunities, unlike with Sneak Attack or Skirmish, makes it far less amazing than it would be otherwise. It's worth considering but if you can get the damage from more reliable sources, do so."

[Sketchopotamus]

Actual sniping would be awesome. I gave him the idea that his weapon takes away the -20 penalty of hiding after shooting by 1 each level, so when the weapon reaches level 20, he'll take no penalty to hide after he shoots.

[Sketchopotamus]

How about the ability to multiply dice damage (i.e. Sneak Attack damage) by the crit multiplier? Is that too overpowered?

Example being, if his rogue has 4d6 sneak attack and with his bow being a x3 multiplier, if he crits he does 12d6 sneak attack damage along with anything else

[Gavinfoxx]

You want reliable damage, more than peak damage. MASSIVELY increasing per arrow reliable damage is ideal. Archery sucks. Also make archery not suck at any ranges over 30'...

Does he have a ring of blinking yet?

[Sketchopotamus]

Agreed, it does. And I agree, more damage per hit, and not just relying on crits.

No he doesn't have a ring of blinking yet

[Gavinfoxx]

I mean, look at all the crazy hoops I had to jump through to make a good feat-based long-range precision archer...

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=271165

[Sketchopotamus]

Yeah it's so hard make a good archer, who drops loads of damage. There really isnt one.

[Gavinfoxx]

Which is why they need overpowered artifact bows to make up for the inherent problems with archery. Make sure the DM understands this.

[Sketchopotamus]

He is presented my friend's rogue with a bow that he made up, called Torquebow. Or however he spells it. I'm not sure what it does, but he buffed it like crazy.

[Undertucker]

If long range sneak attacks is what you are wanting, you should grab a couple of uses of the Sniper's Shot spell (Spell Compendium) each day.

Though this could just be on an Eternal Wand instead, if his UMD is good enough..

[Blightedmarsh]

Something that lets you reuse your magic ammunition over and over

[Irk]

Actually, Archers can be really really good. I created one recently here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=328915), and Piggy Knowles' Archer Build Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=284283) begs to differ.

Even just a standard Ranger 16/Scout 4 with improved skirmish and swift hunter is already really good.