One-shot magical weapons

[Kittenstomp]

Hello all, I'm a long time gamer that hasn't touched D&D since the old brown book days, having played L5R, Palladium and GURPS instead. I know almost nothing about the system but have recently joined a D20 player group. I'm playing a Rogue 3/Swashbuckler 3 who fights with a rapier or throwing knives. I have a cool concept but absolutely no idea where to look for rules in creating it.

I want single-use magical throwing knives, aka disposable weapons. Above all else, I want knives that explode. Any idea where I could look in the books for something that would let me do this by the rules?

[Arbitrarity]

Treat as ammunition: /50 cost. Now, explosive knives. Let's see. Treating as ammunition, you can imbue them with 1 shot spells (custom items are here. Beware). Examples of such might be fireball, or custom explosive effects. Such explosions would probably be priced like spells, so any instances of spells that duplicate what you're looking for might help. Also, there's a explosive enhancement in complete warrior.

[Seffbasilisk]

If you treat them as ammunition, (or just use shuriken), then you're dealing with a +4 weapon (+1, Ranged Explosive +3). That's 32K. So we're talking 640gp + masterwork cost (300) + dagger cost (2). So for 942gp, you can throw a dagger that does 1d4+1 damage, and explodes on impact to deal in a 5' radius explosion 2d4 damage with a reflex save DC 15 for half.

And there's a 50% chance you can recover them after that...but still...that's 942gp per weapon.

If you dip sorcerer or warmage, there's a 2nd level spell called 'Ice Knife' which shoots a knife made of ice at the target for some damage, and 2 dex damage if they fail a save, and if it misses, it explodes in 10' radius burst of damage.

[blue_fenix]

There is essentially no equivalent to what you're talking about in official D&D rules as far as I know, but you could certainly convince a spellcaster to help you with a custom enchantment, which the DM would have to approve and price using existing magic items as a guide.

Oh, wait, there is one thing somewhat similar - alchemist's fire, flasks of a chemical that can be thrown and explode on contact. Not daggers, but it's something. Note that alchemist's fire is non-magical.

[SilverClawShift]

I can't recall anything that does exactly what you're looking for off the top of my head. At least not in any 'mass disposable' sense.

You might be looking at a houserule type thing here.

[Arbitrarity]

If you treat them as ammunition, (or just use shuriken), then you're dealing with a +4 weapon (+1, Ranged Explosive +3). That's 32K. So we're talking 640gp + masterwork cost (300) + dagger cost (2). So for 942gp, you can throw a dagger that does 1d4+1 damage, and explodes on impact to deal in a 5' radius explosion 2d4 damage with a reflex save DC 15 for half.

And there's a 50% chance you can recover them after that...but still...that's 942gp per weapon.

If you dip sorcerer or warmage, there's a 2nd level spell called 'Ice Knife' which shoots a knife made of ice at the target for some damage, and 2 dex damage if they fail a save, and if it misses, it explodes in 10' radius burst of damage.

I didn't say explosive enhancement was a good choice. Actually, it's freakishly overpriced, IMO.

[UserClone]

What about a one-shot magical dagger which does energy damage based on the orb series of spells? Fire+Sonic=approximately an exploding dagger. You could also ad-hoc that they are non-refundable (i.e. you threw it, you bought it) to help lower the cost, in addition to enchanting them as ammo, such that they are nonmagical daggers if used in melee.

[goat]

Why not a returning dagger of go-boom (I can't be bothered to look up an appropriate enchantment)?

[Ted_Stryker]

There's the Javelin of Lightning which turns into a 5d6 lightning bolt. 1500 gp a pop for those. I get the sense that if one-shot items are your characters main form of attack, it is going to be really frickin' spendy to do it. A returning dagger with the thundering or some kind of burst effect would be a lot more efficient.

EDIT -- You might be able to use one of the items mentioned in this thread to figure out how to make a "scabbard of infinite exploding daggers."

[crabpuff]

Its like a necklace of fireballs, so why not a bandoleer of knives just have them raise the cost a little.

[goken04]

Oh, wait, there is one thing somewhat similar - alchemist's fire, flasks of a chemical that can be thrown and explode on contact. Not daggers, but it's something. Note that alchemist's fire is non-magical.

And there are arrows of alchemist's fire in RotW. They have a hollow shaft filled with alchemist's fire. For a longbow, they do 1d6 damage +1 fire damage and force the target to make a DC 15 Reflex Save to not catch on fire. I think they're something like 50 gp (sorry, don't have my books with me), so they're well worth the price.

It should be pretty easy to make daggers that simulate this effect, with a hollow blade that shatters on contact and is filled with alchemist's fire. This could be a cheap alternative. Daggers (treated as ammunition; alternatively darts or shuriken) that do 1d2 (should be 1d3, if you're just doing damage as one size smaller, but with the +1, to simulate the balance of the arrows..) +1 fire damage and force the target to make a DC 15 Reflex Save or catch fire. Granted, not uber powerful, but def. simulates the effect for a reasonable price (I'd price them like the arrows, or maybe with a 50% increase).

[tainsouvra]

I'd ask for a DM ruling that your throwing daggers be enchantable as magical ammunition, and thus go boom rather than be reusable, but be much less pricey than a persistent item would be.

[Deth Muncher]

Hello all, I'm a long time gamer that hasn't touched D&D since the old brown book days, having played L5R, Palladium and GURPS instead. I know almost nothing about the system but have recently joined a D20 player group. I'm playing a Rogue 3/Swashbuckler 3 who fights with a rapier or throwing knives. I have a cool concept but absolutely no idea where to look for rules in creating it.

I want single-use magical throwing knives, aka disposable weapons. Above all else, I want knives that explode. Any idea where I could look in the books for something that would let me do this by the rules?

I dunno about you, but in the campaign I'm in right now, one of the first things we encountered was this...magic well thing. Basically, you dip a weapon in the well, concentrate on a spell, and roll a d%. If you roll high enough, the weapon is imbued with the spell. I now (As a Sorceror 7 Halfling) have a Sling which shoots bullets which explode into Flaming Spheres. But thats the only thing I can think of, and I don't think many DM's like doing things like that.

[Orak]

It would help too if you described what you were looking for when you say "exploding".

If you want the dagger to do damage to creatures around it you will find that it will be an expensive knife. I would suggest the Meteoric Dagger from the Magic Item Compendium. It is basically a one shot dagger that is reusable each day.

But if you want just want to add some fire damage to your daggers you could just go with a flaming dagger.

[crabpuff]

I dunno about you, but in the campaign I'm in right now, one of the first things we encountered was this...magic well thing. Basically, you dip a weapon in the well, concentrate on a spell, and roll a d%. If you roll high enough, the weapon is imbued with the spell. I now (As a Sorceror 7 Halfling) have a Sling which shoots bullets which explode into Flaming Spheres. But thats the only thing I can think of, and I don't think many DM's like doing things like that.

Did a fat fairy come out after you dipped the weapon and ask you if you dip it? hahahaha Sorry I was thinking of A Link to the Past game, couldn't help it.

Or you could get a bunch of daggers and Oil of impact (its referenced somewhere other that in the novels now). That would give you a exploding effect.