Cluster bomb ammunition for siege engines

[Max Caysey]

OK, so… I know I have been asking a lot of siege weapons related questions these few days, sorry for that… but I now have an ammunition related question.

I was looking at the Starburst and Explosive enchants.

My question is this: would a combination of these two enchants result in cluster ammunition?
1) Starburst ammunition explodes above ground, raining down shrapnel on a 20-ft. radius area, dealing the normal 14d6(for a heavy trebuchet).
2) Explosive ammo explodes on impact dealing another 1d6 fire damage and 1d6 fire damage in a 10-ft. area.

So, would it not be feasible to deduct that combining these two would make every little shrapnel piece explode, thus resulting in first the starburst explosion and then all the smaller pieces exploding as well?

Thanks!

[Allanimal]

I'd have to read the actual RAW to be sure, but if it doesn't say they combine in a special way, then it doesn't. You get just what it says.

So you'd get 15d6 + 1d6 fire in the center 10' area and the 14d6 in the 10'-20' area.

[ExLibrisMortis]

I wouldn't let these enchantments stack in any interesting sense. Maybe the 1d6 fire damage would apply within the 20' area, maybe the extra radius would add to the 20' radius (so you would get 1d6 fire in a 30' radius, plus the basic 14d6 in a 20' radius), but that's as far as I'd go. By RAW, I think Allanimal has the right of it.

You can, probably, reasonably, expect to use arrowsplit on a masterwork ballista bolt, and fire it from a +1 splitting starburst ballista, which would get you 2d4+2 20' radius bursts. Trouble is, the ballista costs 72 000 gp + base cost (you also use two bolts per shot fired, but that's relatively cheap). In the case of trebuchet ammunition, arrowsplit is not a legal spell by default, but I wouldn't object to a homebrew version that affects stones (so neither should anyone else, clearly :smalltongue:).

The DC 15 Reflex for half damage is pretty bad, though. Even if you force an average of 7 saves (so you can punch through Evasion on some/most shots), that's going to cut into your overall damage. It's probably a lot easier to use shot, which deals 7d6 damage in a 25x25' area centered on the square you hit, and allows no save at all.

You could also try firing shot from a starburst trebuchet, and then argue along the lines of "shot affects each creature within two squares of the impact, it should center a 20' burst on each creature", but that is a looong stretch.

[Max Caysey]

Ok...

So I guess my approach was too much, but then how do I increase the damage? I cant 14d6 simple does not seem like a lot. Is there any way I can increase the damage of siege engines?

Thansk

[InvisibleBison]

Ok...

So I guess my approach was too much, but then how do I increase the damage? I cant 14d6 simple does not seem like a lot. Is there any way I can increase the damage of siege engines?

Thansk

1) Cast delayed blast fireball (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/delayedBlastFireball.htm), set to detonate after 2 rounds.

2) Put the bead in a dollop of quintessence (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/quintessence.htm).

3) Put the dollop of quintessence in a barrel.

4) Repeat 1-3 until the barrel is full.

5) Use trebuchet to hurl the barrel at your enemies. When it impacts, the quintessence will be knocked free, allowing the beads to detonate. Assuming each bead takes up about 1 cubic centimeter, you can fit over 20,000 beads into a 55-gallon barrel. That would do 260,000d6 damage at the minimum caster level for delayed blast fireball.

[Yahzi]

20,000 beads
That's a pretty expensive barrel. Surely only a hundred beads would completely obliterate a 20' radius area.

[Psyren]

You can enhance them for another +5, but most of the stuff beyond that is situational e.g. Bane. It's hard to boost the damage of ranged weapons, especially in 3.5.

[ExLibrisMortis]

To do more damage, get more siege engines. Put big stacks of trebuchets in extradimensional space, and focus them through the a portal. Spam the enemy with fifty barrels of shrapnel per round.