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Stycotl
2008-08-13, 01:01 AM
Hiidenkirves “Axe of the Goblin Lady”
Price (Item Level): 200,000gp (25th)
Body Slot:—(held)
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: Strong (DC 22) evocation
Activation:—
Weight: 3 lbs

When wielded by just anyone, this hand axe functions as a +1 alchemical silver weapon. In the hands of one of the faerie realm, however, additional properties are revealed. If wielded by a chaotic creature of the fey type, it becomes a +2 keen, returning, throwing hand axe. Further, when thrown by a fey of chaotic alignment, and it successfully strikes its target, the axe disappears, and in its place, the paired trauma ( http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4146062#post4146062) spell is summoned. If the thrown axe misses its target, it returns to the thrower at the end of his turn as normal. Once the two weapons of paired trauma appear, they continue to assault the initial target until it is defeated or they are directed to a new target by the thrower, and then they will behave as per the spell description. The two weapons utilize caster level 15 as their base attack bonus, each gaining 3 attacks per round on a full attack action, and have a +12 bonus to saving throws, 45 hit points, and an AC of 25. When the spell duration ends, the two weapons of the paired trauma disappear, and the hand axe returns to the thrower’s hand as normal, or at his feet if his hands are full. If either of the two weapons are sundered or in any other way destroyed, the spell ends prematurely, the hand axe returns to the thrower as normal, and the spell is not usable again for 12 hours. At any time, the thrower can dismiss the paired trauma with a swift act by outstretching his hand and calling for the hand axe to return at the end of his turn as normal.
Lore:
Ketzl was somewhat famous among the fey. One of the oldest of the skratta-sker, he was a goblin that never grew up, always wandering from place to place, always consumed by the need to explore, always in need of a bigger adventure. He was a tremendous prankster as well, and received much pleasure in life with his lies and practical jokes. Legend states that he was wandering through the lands of one of the myriad prime material planes, when he encountered an arch mage of great power and authority. Now, the mighty arch mage was unaware of Ketzl’s presence—indeed, he could not fathom the little goblin’s existence, too experienced in illusions and phantasms to believe in the mystical skratta-sker. Ketzl was fascinated by the potent magical creations that the wizard created for the most prestigious kings and queens of the world, and decided that he wanted one for himself. Now, a trickster and a thief though he was, Ketzl was not unwise; he knew that this arch mage had many defenses and wards that would surely obliterate the little goblin on the spot should he attempt to steal one of the magical devices. So the goblin did what he does best—he patiently waited, weaving subtle charms and enchantments of his own, and though they were nothing compared to the magic of the wizard, they slowly began to take effect. Soon, the wizard became a little lackadaisical in how often he buttoned up his tower’s arcane defenses when they needed maintenance, assuming that it was his own idea and his own laziness. Next, he began to leave his tower windows open, and later to leave his journals and spell books open on his work tables. Ketzl was afforded the opportunity to study the arch mage’s creations in close detail, even spending days at a time invisibly watching the man as he forged scepters befitting a ruler of continents, and weapons that would make proud a hero of legends. Finally, after weeks of painstakingly patient observation, Ketzl devised a plan, disguising himself as a noble lady that the arch mage fancied, and would go to great lengths to impress, had he the opportunity. Ketzl appeared to the wizard with a down payment on a very special weapon that her father wanted constructed as a gift to the faerie court, in order to seal a new alliance. Though the down payment cost the skratta-sker nearly everything of value that he had, he gladly parted with it in exchange for the magnificent magic that awaited him. The weapon was forged and given to the lady as she prepared to journey back home, the promise of further payment already agreed upon, and hints of a future courtship dangled enticingly before the arcane master. Ketzl has never been back to that plane of existence, not even to sate his curiosity as to what happened to the assuredly confused lady, the most definitely infuriated arch mage, and the kingdom that is now indebted to him. The goblin figures that after a few hundred years have passed, things will have cooled down, and he can enjoy the story from the perspectives of the descendents.

Stycotl
2008-08-13, 01:13 AM
new thought though: the spell does summon two +2 magic weapons for a short time, so that might actually make it more expensive than some of its 7th level counterparts...

SilentNight
2008-08-13, 11:15 AM
Well, there's also steel wind from magic of faerun. 3rd level spell that turns two daggers into animated longswords. Not that powerful but you could probably find some way to buff it up.

Baron Corm
2008-08-13, 11:34 AM
Maybe just buy the two +2 weapons, give them Throwing and Returning, dual-wield them, and have the flavor be whatever you want, but mechanically it stays the same?

Or, make a new weapon property. "When thrown, this weapon becomes a different weapon. The new weapon may be any non-exotic melee or throwing weapon, and is chosen when the weapon is created, and may not be changed.

The weapon retains any magical enhancements it had before changing its base type. When attacking melee with this weapon, there are no changes. May only be applied to thrown weapons or weapons with the Throwing property."

Price: +1 bonus.

Probably not even worth a +1 bonus. Maybe make it one of those static 2,000-15,000 gp ones. I think there might be something like this in the Magic Item Compendium. Maybe that one just let you change the material type? I don't have it on hand but it would be good to look at for price comparison.

Stycotl
2008-08-13, 12:19 PM
the other idea that i had if this doesn't work out was to just put throwing, returning, and fleshgrinding (it stays and auto-hits target for 5 rounds; check it out in MIC), so that i would throw it, it would hit, then it would maul the target for another 5 rounds, and then presumably return to me when it was done.

also, in my calculations, i missed the per-charge fee, which, at only 3/day, would make it 13,000gp more or less. so, a little better, but still needs some tweaking.

EDIT: poo, i like your idea. i'd need to modify it, but it certainly has some potential...

Stycotl
2008-08-13, 06:39 PM
ok, there it is.

here's the text of the original post, so that you can see what i started with:

ok, i want a +1 magical dagger, with the ability to use a 7th level spell (probably at 15th level caster) either at will, or 3/day, with the trigger release on a successful attack. the pricing has been complicated, and i want to know what other people think would be a fair price for it, especially when other 7th level effects usable a few times a day are not that expensive.

target spell:
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4146073&posted=1#post4146073

yeah, i know you're all scratching your head now. basically, i want this thing to disappear when successfully thrown at a target, and in their place, the twin weapons of the spell are summoned, pummel the target for a few rounds, and then, when the weapons disappear, the dagger reappears back in the thrower's hand (a la 'returning' property, which will be figured in later).

base cost of +1 dagger = 2,302 gp (8,302 gp once returning is thrown in)

base cost of 7th level/15 caster level effect, usable at will or 3/day = 210,000 gp (ouch) (arguable that it would 420k gp with an at will ability; though i could, by the srd, have it usable 1,000/day and still cost the same as 3/day; DM approval comes in here...).

created for a warlock/sublime character

mitigating factors: one already set in stone: spell only triggers on a successful thrown attack. others are flexible; maybe something like 'only usable in conjunction w/ martial maneuver', or 'only usable in a shadow hand stance', or 'only usable by chaotic creature', etc.

i realize that mitigating factors won't drop price a lot, but they should help.

so, base price, before other modifiers: 218,302gp for a per-day item, or *possibly* 428,302 gp for a per-hit item.

so, am i missing anything? how much do you think that mitigating factors are worth? any of you have any ideas for better mitigating factors?

realize that mitigating factors generally look pretty stupid when you already have the character in mind that it is gonna be for; "'can only be used by creature with dodge feat'. well goodness gracious, he already has dodge, so what kind of sacrifice is that?" but, pretty much all magic items that have prereqs are built like that, with a specific type of user in mind, so it at least narrows the field.

just so you can get a better idea, here's the character sheet:
http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=71609

Stycotl
2008-08-15, 02:19 PM
i've played around with it a bit--though i haven't been able to actually, thoroughly playtest a whole adventure or anything. but this is pretty straightforward, and i feel, pretty weak for the equivalent of a 27th level item (according to MIC). so i'm dropping the base price to 200,000gp, which puts it at 25th level along with the +5 vorpal sword. i still feel that to be too expensive, but we all have to compromise somewhere, right?