Specific process for Enchanting??

[CAHaugen]

The character I'm looking to make is going to be focusing on Sundering. Because why not. It's fun and it'll be challenging.

I'm focused on the Bec de Corbin, because it offers 1d10 20/x3. The Lucerne Hammer offers 1d12, but 19-20/2. I'd rather have the higher Multiplier than a slightly higher CTR and a possibility of an additional +2 Damage. Also BdCs are just awesome as heck.

Anyways, eventually I'll be making it out of Adamantine (Because all Sundering weapons should be made of this!).

My question is this:

Once I buy / make the +1 Bec de Corbin, can I enchant it later or must it be enchanted upon it's initial creation?

What I mean is, does this function like say Skyrim - You can enchant something after you create it, or must you enchant it during it's creation?

Additionally, what about non-magical enhancements? Our DM is allowing published material; Since there is still a rich archive for actual published material, I scoured it for a bit and found the following:

Folded Metal: Dragon #358
Basically the forging process of the weapon was done far better and you gain +4 Hardness for the cost of 200 Gold and an additional +7 to the Craft DC. (This means that the +1 Adamantine Bec de Corbin now has a Hardness of 26; +20 from the Adamantine, +2 from the +1 Enchantment Bonus, and +4 from Folded Metal).

I assume that this will obviously be required during it's creation, so that's not a problem. Just another +200 gold on top of the already-3,000 gold for the Adamantine.

The real issue is when I begin to add enchantments. Specifically, the ones I want are the following:

Defending: DMG v 3.5
+1 - You may transfer some, or all, of your weapon's enchantment bonus as an AC bonus. It lasts one Turn, and it can be done as a Free Action.
Impact: Magic of Faerun & A&EG
+1 - You double the CTR of a Bludgeoning weapon (So 19-20) (I don't need this, but I figured if I got the gold, why not. Likewise, I can also get Keen for another +1 since the BdC is a Piercing weapon, as well. That's for the DM to decide, though. I'd also rather spend the gold to get this bonus than spend a Bonus Feat to get Improved Critical...)
Sundering: City of Splendors: Waterdeep
+1 - On a successful Sunder Attempt, you deal an additional 1d6 Sunder Damage.
Sweeping: MoF & A&EG
+1 - You get a +4 Strength Bonus toward Trip Attempts.
Force: A&EG
+3 - You deal +1d6 Force Damage upon a successful hit, and you have a chance to dispel.

In total, this is anywhere from +6 - +8. The +/-2 comes from whether or not I decide I want Impact, Keen, or both. My DM may decide that if I use the hammer-end, I need Impact, while the spike requires Keen. He may decide that they stack, since the hammer-end on a real Bec de Corbin is also pointed and sharpened, making it essentially a sledgehammer with nails on it.

I do already know that you can gain the benefits of up to +10 pre-epic weapons, and that you only apply up to +5 toward their Enchantment Bonus. I also do know that you don't "add" the bonuses together, but go off of the highest one.

This is why Force is so appealing. It's the highest at +3. This makes my Hardness an additional +6. With the Adamantine and Folded Metal, that's a whopping 30 Hardness. Perfect for Sundering all sorts of crazy crud. Not to mention that when you Sunder something, Force deals 100% Damage (Along with Acid / Sound), whereas Fire / Heat / Electricity deals 1/2 Damage and Cold / Darkness / and such deals 1/4 Damage. Between the +1d6 Sundering and the +1d6 Force, in addition to the actual damage rolls and Modifiers, that's a lot of Sunder Damage I can deal in a single shot. Trust me, I entirely mean to demolish my world.

With various Feats I can take as a Fighter, I'll be able to dish out insane damage, force Trip Attempts, and even Sunder incoming attacks (Gryphon's Book of Feats [DM said published material...]).

But this is a lot of money to be spending. Which is why I come here. I don't want to be spending tens of thousands of gold, just to find out I "did it wrong". I want to do it once, and be done with it.

Can I get the +1 BdC and, as time goes on, buy more enchantments and place them on it as I see fit? One at 9th Level, another at 11th, maybe a third at 12th? So on and so forth? Or does it all have to be in one shot? Because I'm already looking at right around $101,215 or so...

Question applies toward Armor, too.

Sorry for the lengthy text. I figured the more information, the better. Also I really love this fricken weapon.

>Sunder left and right through shieldwalls to get to a chained ogre in a castle courtyard
>Sunder the ogre's chains and set him loose on the enemies
>Sunder open their castle gate
>Steal everything in sight as I sunder apart everything else
>BOSS BATTLE
>+3 Greatsword??
>Sundered.
>+2 Healing Pendant?
>Sundered.
>Insane Towershield of toweryness?
>Sundered.
>Lel.

[Segev]

The short answer to your question is "yes."

You can enchant and further enchant an item at any time, as long as it's masterwork to begin with. There are not official rules for CHANGING the enchantment on something; you can only add to it. But nothing stops you from continuing to stack more things on it until it hits its maximum allowable enchantment (e.g. you can't have a weapon with a more than +10 equivalent enhancement bonus, at least not without going to epic items).

This does mean things get progressively more and more expensive to keep enchanting, as a general rule, though. To go from a +1 Bec de Corbin to a +2 Bec de Corbin (or a +1 Impact Bec de Corbin, for an example of a +2 equivalent enhancement), you have to pay the difference in price. Assuming you've got an enchanter-for-hire doing the work, so we're dealing just in market prices, that's a difference of 8000 gp (for a +2 weapon) minus 2000 gp (for a +1 weapon), for a total of 6000 gp for that upgrade.

[atemu1234]

You do realize that the "slightly larger crit range" is double that of the Bec de Corbin right? And with the Improved Critical feat, is 1/5 of your swings? Versus the Bec de Corbin, which would still be only 1/10 of the time. The multiplier isn't as important as one would think. The average roll of a Bec with the Improved Critical feat is 5.5, on a crit that's 16.5. The average on the other one is 6.5, on a crit 13. But let's look at that damage over time, in ten rolls. Bec would deal 5.5 x 9 +16.5, which is 66 damage. Hammer would deal 6.5 x 8 + 26, which is 78 damage. More damage than the Bec. On average, you deal more damage with the Lucern Hammer. Just a thought. Want me to show you the numbers without Improved Critical?

Lucern would deal, out of twenty rolls, 6.5 x 16 plus 4 x 13. This adds up to 156 damage. Bec is 5.5 x 18 + 2 x 16.5, which adds up to 132 damage. The Lucern would probably perform better than Bec.

[Gildedragon]

The non magical enhancements are added at the time of creation (they modify the masterwork component)

Magical stuff can be added whenever (but starting with a +1)

If you're looking to up your hardness there is an alloy in dragon magazine, pure ore, that boosts it
And the dwarvencraft template from iirc A&EG

If you intend to sunder a lot the mountain hammer maneuvers (ignore hardness and DR) are your friends

[Crake]

This is why Force is so appealing. It's the highest at +3. This makes my Hardness an additional +6. With the Adamantine and Folded Metal, that's a whopping 30 Hardness. Perfect for Sundering all sorts of crazy crud.

The magical bonus to hardening only comes from your ENHANCEMENT bonus, not the *effective* enhancement bonus. So if you have all those abilities, but the sword is +1, its still only a +1 weapon. In addition, your sword's hardness is irrelevant for when YOU'RE sundering. Its only if you're GETTING sundered that hardness matters.

Also, with the introduction of Tome of Battle and mountain hammer strikes (which completely ignore hardness and Damage reduction) Adamantine is irrelevant for sundering.

[SinsI]

The character I'm looking to make is going to be focusing on Sundering. Because why not. It's fun and it'll be challenging.

Instead of investing that heavily into it, why not get your hands on Shards of Granite feat from Tome of Battle? Using its Battering smash mode, you'll be able to ignore object's hardness by taking -5 to hit.