Ultimate Weapons for PCs

[TorsteinTheRed]

Many video games have special quests available for the player character(s) to find the best weapon for them. I'd like to do something similar for my PCs. I have an idea on what I'd like the weapon to be, but would like some input from DMs on how over/underpowered they might be, and from players on whether you would be excited to receive one. Each character(assume they'll be moderately optimized) would be meant to find one about halfway through the campaign, and built up according to their own tastes:

(Insert plot relavent name here) Crystal: Binds into the owner's body once found. As a free action, the owner may summon a shimmering version of a weapon they are proficient in to their hand. This weapon deals 1 die of damage per HP sacrificed into it that turn, and automatically overcomes any DR. Additional damage dice, such as from Sneak Attack, may also be made to overcome DR at a cost of 1HP per 2 extra dice. This Crystal may be enchanted as if it were a manufactured weapon; if those enhancements deal damage, they overcome DR without an HP cost . (Issues: should there be a cap on the damage[maybe a max of ECL]? Should multipliers and flat bonuses from classes cost HP as well? Is the HP cost too high/low? What might be something similar for primary Casters[perhaps it helps overcome SR or Resistance/immunity?])

Thanks in advance!

[Pinkie Pyro]

I wouldn't say it's OP, considering it's mostly just a few spells stacked together, with DR piercing.

How easily can your players heal? if you have a healbot cleric, things could get a little out of hand due to the sheer ammount of HP you could safely go through.

Personally, I think it could use a few buffs, if it's supposed to be an ultimate weapon. something like "for every X HP sacrificed, gains a +1 bonus or equivalent enchantment for Y rounds" or other effects based on the trading HP for damage shtick.

[flappeercraft]

Many video games have special quests available for the player character(s) to find the best weapon for them. I'd like to do something similar for my PCs. I have an idea on what I'd like the weapon to be, but would like some input from DMs on how over/underpowered they might be, and from players on whether you would be excited to receive one. Each character(assume they'll be moderately optimized) would be meant to find one about halfway through the campaign, and built up according to their own tastes:

(Insert plot relavent name here) Crystal: Binds into the owner's body once found. As a free action, the owner may summon a shimmering version of a weapon they are proficient in to their hand. This weapon deals 1 die of damage per HP sacrificed into it that turn, and automatically overcomes any DR. Additional damage dice, such as from Sneak Attack, may also be made to overcome DR at a cost of 1HP per 2 extra dice. This Crystal may be enchanted as if it were a manufactured weapon; if those enhancements deal damage, they overcome DR without an HP cost . (Issues: should there be a cap on the damage[maybe a max of ECL]? Should multipliers and flat bonuses from classes cost HP as well? Is the HP cost too high/low? What might be something similar for primary Casters[perhaps it helps overcome SR or Resistance/immunity?])

Thanks in advance!

I would say that you should have it instead deal a base amount of damage like lets say 2d6 and in the case you want to sacrifice HP you gain an extra d6 for every HP sacrificed with a maximum of 10hp sacrificed which lasts for a round. I would reccomend make the HP sacrificed be only cureable naturally, magic does not affect the Hp sacrificed and you cannot sacrifice temp Hp.

[TorsteinTheRed]

I wouldn't say it's OP, considering it's mostly just a few spells stacked together, with DR piercing.

How easily can your players heal? if you have a healbot cleric, things could get a little out of hand due to the sheer ammount of HP you could safely go through.

Personally, I think it could use a few buffs, if it's supposed to be an ultimate weapon. something like "for every X HP sacrificed, gains a +1 bonus or equivalent enchantment for Y rounds" or other effects based on the trading HP for damage shtick.

I do like the idea of letting them sacrifice HP for temporary enchantment bonuses. I kind of want these to be their panic button weapons, rather than their primary ones, so having additional things tie into the sacrifice mechanic would help with that.


I would say that you should have it instead deal a base amount of damage like lets say 2d6 and in the case you want to sacrifice HP you gain an extra d6 for every HP sacrificed with a maximum of 10hp sacrificed which lasts for a round. I would reccomend make the HP sacrificed be only cureable naturally, magic does not affect the Hp sacrificed and you cannot sacrifice temp Hp.

I definitely agree with the HP not being able to be easily healed, or at least not able to be healed mid-fight. I'm pondering just making it encounter-based, so it won't be too harsh.

I did want to avoid giving them any base damage, though, so that they can only be used when they're willing to push the panic button and start sacrificing HP.

Thanks for the feedback!

[flappeercraft]

I do like the idea of letting them sacrifice HP for temporary enchantment bonuses. I kind of want these to be their panic button weapons, rather than their primary ones, so having additional things tie into the sacrifice mechanic would help with that.



I definitely agree with the HP not being able to be easily healed, or at least not able to be healed mid-fight. I'm pondering just making it encounter-based, so it won't be too harsh.

I did want to avoid giving them any base damage, though, so that they can only be used when they're willing to push the panic button and start sacrificing HP.

Thanks for the feedback!

If you want to make it more of a panic button I would reccomend making it instead contitution damage as 10 HP or something like that will definitely not hurt a fighter of a decently high level after all if hes doing 10d6 damage+strength which could be *1.5 due to 2 handed, etc then it seems like a good trade regardless but every 2 points of con damage removes 1Hp/HD which hits way harder and reduces fort saves. I would make it so that the constitution damage instead is 2d6 per point of constitution damage and also make it so that it can be healed with magic but make it definitely harder like make a CL check DC 35 or something like that to heal with magic, also make sure binding naberius and things like that don't work. In addition to that I would make it so that all magic that heals damage instead heals 1/2 the amount in here so that it is an actual sacrifice and definitely make it so that this ability only works if it actually has to take the constitution of the wielder so that they cannot pull the cheese of "Oh, I'm a necropolitan so I don't take any contitution damage as I don't have any" or "Oh, I have Sheltered vitality on so it does no harm to me". If you want it to actually be a panic button you could possibly make it no cap to how much contitution damage can be used so it is more of a how much of a risk are you willing to take to possibly win this whole thing. In addition you should make it so that the contitution damage just cannot be healed within X amount of minutes/hours for it to not be used with combat ability damage healing, after the time period you determine fair of no ability damage healing, then they can start to attempt to heal the damage as I described above with the CL checks, etc.

[King of Nowhere]

a "panic button" is, the way i understand it, something they should use if the fight is gong poorly. if the fight is going poorly, they are probably low on hp, so they cannot afford damage or CON damage. instead, that would be a huge weapon to start the fight - I sacrifice 100 hp, now I deal 100d6 of damage. instakill.

I think STR damage would be more appropriate; using that weapon makes you weaker in the long run, so it's the kind of thing that they would only use in extreme circumstances. Sort of like committing all reserves. Depending on the levels they're at, 1 or 2 or even 3 d6 of damage are appropriate; after all, a fighter can sacrifice about 20 points of STR, and 20d6 damages are nothing to a late game damage sponge boss.
And yeah, I agree those points should be hard to recover. recover naturally, or require higher spells like greater restoration; if they can heal them with a 2nd level spell, they are a meaningless penalty