advice for a good +1 weapon enhancement in 3.5 d&d

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Ghost Touch is a requirement for melee fighters, but I prefer to have that on a backup weapon (usually a polearm, as it's usually worth carrying one of them too) as it is a waste against most foes.

Ghost touch is, indeed, a waste, and it's a waste for everyone. Just get a weapon crystal that grants ghost touch.

Also, it turns your weapon into a touch attack, so that +5 is most definitely a complete waste of money.

[Kelb_Panthera]

I understand the efficiency of the greater magic weapon method but it does create a vulnerability of being dependent on a caster to do it for you if you can't cast it yourself, which the character design can't do.

If you're not limited by books, and it seems like you're not, the tooth of leraje from Tome of Magic gives you a GMW effect that gives you the +5 once per day for 20 hours. It also happens to follow the formula for a 1/day item producing greater magic weapon at its caster level to the letter. Might see if your GM will allow you to acquire one or use it as precedent to create a custom item. I like a war mask.

Alternately, if you're psionic you can get a tatoo of metaphysical weapon with a capacitor and transducer per this article. Getting the power points to use it more than once in a while could prove tricky if manifester arrows rub you the wrong way or you're the only psionic character in the party without being an actual psionicist.

Worst case; there's always potions, expensive though that may be if you want to use them frequently.

If all of that fails and you don't have any ranks in UMD then you do indeed have no way to garner the effect without being a caster.

It does create a vulnerability to stuff like anti-magic fields or dispel.

Dispel; yes. AMF; no. That vulnerability already exists in your magic weapon no matter what.

But a big reason is I just don't like the appearance. Everyone has to draw a line where legal cheese just doesn't feel right in theatrics.

This one's not even cheese. It's just an alternate strategy. You don't have to do it if you feel like it's not your style but it's in no way taking advantage of fuzzy rules to garner an unintended effect.

You look at the most powerful characters in the game they all have at least +4. Elminister has the magical power to have pretty much anything he wants and he uses a +5 weapon.

The example characters of that sort were largely adapted from 2e characters. A lot of the other examples were made -very- quickly to the point that many that were created as examples of prestige classes aren't actually legal. Finally, they're created to match a certain baseline of mechanical competence rather than to be as powerful as the system will allow them to be so that they don't utterly and absolutely crush any PCs the DM may throw them at. They really shouldn't be taken as an example of how things -should- be done.

Though to be fair I assume a part of it is making the characters not a chore to fight. I did a if it's not epic it's ok gear setup using the multiple enchantment rules from MIC. Dozens of abilities, you would need a chart to remember them all. Having enemies or allies as such would be tedious.

Indeed. Now imagine trying to run an artificer to the limits of what the system allows.

Anyway, even if you don't use GMW, it's still better to have a myriad of special abilities rather than simply more enhancement bonus unless you're relying on lots and lots of attacks or normal use of power attack to do most of your damage so that either every swing matters or you need attack bonus to trade away. If you expect that your primary and haste granted attacks are the only ones that're gonna hit reliably then you really want those hits to -hurt-. You're better off with things like ghost touch, holy, blindsighted, etc that either let you target more reliably or improve damage or get past special defenses and so on.

The only real advantage to a +5 enhancement bonus is simplicity. There's no "if; then" aspect to it, there's no need to activate or deactivate, you don't have to worry about any resistances that you didn't already have to worry about anyway, etc. You just hit a bit more reliably and do a little more damage. I can see the appeal in that if you already have a whole host of other details you have to worry about.

[Troacctid]

But surely there must be a +1 ability somewhere out there in 50 books that does better than 1d6 of damage on average? No?

Sure there is. Vicious. 2d6 extra damage. Well, technically 3d6.

[Techwarrior]

technically 3d6.

Is there a good way to abuse the self harm aspect of that property? I have a terribly awesome idea for an NPC for my players to fight.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Is there a good way to abuse the self harm aspect of that property? I have a terribly awesome idea for an NPC for my players to fight.

Have you been playing Nova Drift by any chance?

Also, decent amounts of hardness (like, say, enhancing your unarmed strike with enhancement bonuses; also works well with the explosive ranged weapon property, if it's also got throwing) will block that brand of damage so it's a non-issue. Fast healing and regeneration heal it up pretty well, as well.

All in all, most of the +Xd6 weapon properties are handily replaced by a weapon crystal with several weapon crystal properties stacked on it (via the stacking rules in the MIC).

[Troacctid]

Is there a good way to abuse the self harm aspect of that property? I have a terribly awesome idea for an NPC for my players to fight.

It's a great combo with the bloodseeking property because you get a blood point for each living creature you damage, so it essentially charges twice as fast. Also combines well with the crusader's furious counterstrike ability and/or the Stone Power feat. Maybe Pain Mastery, although getting up to 50 damage is tough. Monster-wise, some of the ushemoi from MM5 power up when they take damage.

[Kelb_Panthera]

Is there a good way to abuse the self harm aspect of that property? I have a terribly awesome idea for an NPC for my players to fight.

Masochism spell from BoVD. Every 10 points of damage they take, they get another +1.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Add morphing and sizing?