[3.5] Magic Item Questions

[Dac]

I've worked for years under the assumption that a magic weapon has a max of +5 in enhancement bonuses and +5 in special abilities pre-epic, but my DM is telling me now that this is not the case - that you can have +1 enhancement and +9 in special abilities. Is this the case? I'm trying to find a rule that refutes it, because it sounds so alien.

And is it also true that you can't have the same special ability more than once? That's another one she's saying that sounds bizarre.

[kamikasei]

I've worked for years under the assumption that a magic weapon has a max of +5 in enhancement bonuses and +5 in special abilities pre-epic, but my DM is telling me now that this is not the case - that you can have +1 enhancement and +9 in special abilities. Is this the case? I'm trying to find a rule that refutes it, because it sounds so alien.

Your DM is correct. "A single weapon cannot have a modified bonus (enhancement bonus plus special ability bonus equivalents) higher than +10. A weapon with a special ability must have at least a +1 enhancement bonus." Nothing about special abilities being capped at a +5 total.

And is it also true that you can't have the same special ability more than once? That's another one she's saying that sounds bizarre.

I'm not sure anything specifically forbids it. I think even if you allow it all or most special abilities wouldn't stack with one another, so you'd only be hurting yourself.

[Dac]

I'm not sure anything specifically forbids it. I think even if you allow it all or most special abilities wouldn't stack with one another, so you'd only be hurting yourself.

What about multiple enchants of Collision? It's untyped damage - you just do 'more' whenever you hit. Multiple special abilities of that stack?

[lightningcat]

I've not found anything that stops most special abilities from stacking, and have used that ruling several times. My personal favorite is multiple instances of flaming burst. Some special abilities, such as keen, are worded so that they wouldn't stack.

But my personal favorite use of the specail ability stacking is using a magic bow along with magic arrows. You can get up to +18 in special abilities.

[Seffbasilisk]

Multiple enhancements from the same source don't stack, so sorry, you can tack on as many Collisions as you like, but unless the DM houserules it, only one works.

And even if you have a +9 bow, and +9 arrows, it only adds +9 to the damage and attack, because it's an enhancement bonus and doesn't stack.

That's why with a magical bow, it's best to use nonmagical arrows. Heck, even masterwork arrows don't stack with a masterwork bow.

One trick archers do, is to put the base +X on the bow, and have arrows of +1 flaming, or what have you.

Edit: @OP: Your DM is correct. Otherwise all Vorpal swords would cost as much as a +9 weapon (+5 and +4), as it is, Vorpal is...a bit much, but that's at a net of +5 (+1 weapon, +4 Vorpal.)

[lsfreak]

One trick archers do, is to put the base +X on the bow, and have arrows of +1 flaming, or what have you.

Note that you can have a +1 bow with +9 worth of enhancements, and still cast Greater Magic Weapon on it. It's fairly typical to have the equivalent of a +14 weapon at very high levels, as a result (+1 weapon with +9 worth of enhancements and a +5 bonus from GMW).
+1 bow with +9 of enhancements, Greater Magic Weapon to make it +5, and +1 arrows with +9 worth of enhancements nets you the equivalent of a +23 weapon. Granted, it's ridiculously expensive.

[Seffbasilisk]

Note that you can have a +1 bow with +9 worth of enhancements, and still cast Greater Magic Weapon on it. It's fairly typical to have the equivalent of a +14 weapon at very high levels, as a result (+1 weapon with +9 worth of enhancements and a +5 bonus from GMW).
+1 bow with +9 of enhancements, Greater Magic Weapon to make it +5, and +1 arrows with +9 worth of enhancements nets you the equivalent of a +23 weapon. Granted, it's ridiculously expensive.

Enhancement bonuses don't stack, they overlap. So the GMW doesn't make the bow a base +6, it turns the +1 into a +5.

[Douglas]

Enhancement bonuses don't stack, they overlap. So the GMW doesn't make the bow a base +6, it turns the +1 into a +5.

He knows. That's why his proposed magic bow + magic arrow + GMW had an effective bonus of +23 instead of +25. +5 from GMW, +9 from the bow's special abilities, and +9 from the arrow's special abilities.

[lsfreak]

He knows. That's why his proposed magic bow + magic arrow + GMW had an effective bonus of +23 instead of +25. +5 from GMW, +9 from the bow's special abilities, and +9 from the arrow's special abilities.

Right. I should have clarified, though, that the +9 worth of enhancements on the bow can't be the same +9 on the arrows; as pointed out, you can't have multiple of the same enhancement on a weapon (no splitting longbows of splitting, and much as I'd like every arrow I shoot to split into 4).