Magic Weapon Special Ability Descriptions

139 Pages·2013·1.54 MB·English

WEAPONS
As magic items go, magic weapons are a staple of all campaigns. Magic weapons have enhancement
bonuses ranging from +1 to +5. They apply these bonuses to both attack and damage rolls when used in
combat. All magic weapons are also masterwork weapons, but their masterwork bonus on attack rolls does
not stack with their enhancement bonus on attack rolls. Weapons come in two basic categories: melee and
ranged. Some of the weapons listed as melee weapons (for example, daggers) can also be used as ranged
weapons. In this case, their enhancement bonus applies to either type of attack. In addition to an
enhancement bonus, weapons may have special abilities, such as the ability to flame or the ability to attack
on their own. Special abilities count as additional bonuses for determining the market value of the item, but
do not modify attack or damage bonuses (except where specifically noted). 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. You can’t simply have a flaming
longsword—it would have to be at least a +1 flaming longsword.
Additional Damage Dice: Some magic weapons deal additional dice of damage. Unlike other modifiers to
damage, additional dice of damage are not multiplied when the attacker scores a critical hit.
Ranged Weapons and Ammunition: The enhancement bonus from a ranged weapon does not stack with
the enhancement bonus from ammunition. Only the higher of the two enhancement bonuses applies.
Ammunition fired from a projectile weapon with an enhancement bonus of +1 or higher is treated as a
magic weapon for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
• A sling stone hurled from a +1 sling is treated as a magic weapon. Similarly, ammunition fired
from a projectile weapon with an alignment (such as a +1 holy longbow or a masterwork crossbow
under the effect of the align weapon spell) gains the alignment of that projectile weapon (in
addition to any alignment it may already have).
• A +1 unholy arrow fired from a +2 anarchic shortbow would be both evil-aligned and chaos-
aligned (the former from its own unholy special ability, the latter from the shortbow).
Magic Ammunition and Breakage: When a magic arrow, crossbow bolt, or sling bullet misses its target,
there is a 50% chance it breaks or otherwise is rendered useless. A magic arrow, bolt, or bullet that hits
is destroyed.
Light Generation: Fully 30% of magic weapons shed light equivalent to a light spell (bright light in a 20-
foot radius, shadowy light in a 40-foot radius). These glowing weapons are quite obviously magical.
Such a weapon can’t be concealed when drawn, nor can its light be shut off. Some of the specific
weapons detailed below always or never glow, as defined in their descriptions.
Hardness and Hit Points: Each +1 of enhancement bonus adds 1 to a weapon’s hardness and 1 to its hit
points. Only the weapon’s actual enhancement bonus applies; special properties with an enhancement
bonus equivalent for the purpose of determining market price don’t increase the hardness or hit points
of a weapon.

Magic Weapon Special Ability Descriptions
Name: Each entry begins with the feat name, it's source, then a summary of the feat. The name of the spell
is color coded to indicate what feats are useful and what feats is a waste of space. The color scheme is
as follows, using colors in the following order: Below Average Feat (Orange), Average (Green), An
Above Average Feat (Blue), You’d be a fool not to take this (Purple)
Price: All weapon abilities have a price which is either an increase in the enhancement bonus for purposes
of calculating the price, or a flat gold piece value. A single weapon cannot have a modified bonus
(enhancement bonus plus property bonus equivalents) higher than +10, nor can it have a market price
(not counting special materials or the price of the masterwork weapon itself) of greater than 200,000
gp (or 200,000 gp for each end of a double weapon).
Property: This indicates what the property can be added to. Usually it is any weapon. Some properties can
be applied only to a particular category of weapons, and are so noted. A few properties can be added
only to a smaller subset of a category (such as projectile weapons). Not all properties can be added to
ammunition. Properties that can only be used a limited number of times per day are not available for
use in ammunition. Other weapon abilities are not available in ammunition, and you will find that in
this part of the stat block.
• Ammo - This means you can apply it any ammunition. Only radiant holding has this quality.
• Ammo/Melee/Thrown - This means you can apply it to any ammo, melee, or thrown weapon.
This is usually a weapon ability that must directly contact the target.
• Any - This means you can apply it to any weapon or ammunition.
• Any Weapon - This can be applied to any weapon, but not ammunition. Weapon abilities that have
a limited use per day typically cannot be applied to ammunition.
• Bludgeoning Ammo/Melee/Thrown - This means you can apply it to any blunt ammo, melee, or
thrown weapon. Only impact has this quality.
• Bludgeoning Melee - This means you can apply it to any bludgeoning melee weapon. Only
disruption has this quality.
• Bow - This means you can apply it to any bow, but you cannot apply it to the ammunition. Only
arcane might has this quality.
• Bow, Crossbow, Arrow, Bolt - This means you can apply it to any bow, crossbow, arrow, or bolt.
Only splitting has this quality.
• Crossbow - This means you can apply it to any crossbow, but you cannot apply it to the
ammunition. Only quick loading has this quality.
• Katana - This means you can apply it only to a katana. Only focus has his quality.
• Light Melee - This means you can apply it to any light melee weapon. Only shielding has this
quality.
• Light Weapon, Rapier, Whip, Spiked Chain - This means you can apply it to any light weapon,
or a rapier, whip, or spiked chain. Only Finesse has this quality.
• Melee - This means you can apply it to any melee weapon. Any weapon ability that is melee only
becomes dormant if, for any reason, the weapon is used as a ranged attack.
• Melee/Thrown - This means you can apply it to any melee or thrown weapon. Only morphing has
this quality.
• Piercing Melee - This means you can apply it to any piecing melee weapon.
• Piercing/Slashing Melee - This means you can apply it to any piercing or slashing melee weapon.
Usually that means a bladed weapon.
• Piercing/Slashing Melee, Whip, Scourge - This means you can apply it to any piercing or
slashing melee weapon, and to a whip or a scourge. Only viper has this quality.
• Projectile - This means you can apply it to any bow, crossbow, sling, or weapon that throws a
projectile. You can also apply this against the weapon’s ammunition. Only bloodseeking,
dragonhunter, and force have this quality.
• Ranged - This means you can apply it to any ranged weapon or ammunition. Only distance, exit
wound, precise, and seeking have this quality.
• Siege - This means you can apply it to siege weapons. You cannot apply it to the ammo itself. Only
disrupting, necromantic, self-loading, and starburst have this quality.
• Slashing Melee - This means you can apply it to any slashing melee weapon. Only passage,
vorpal, and whirling has this quality.
• Spear, Shortspear, Longspear - This means you can apply it only to a spear, shortspear, or
longspear. Only changeling has this quality.
• Thrown - This means you can apply it to any thrown weapon. This includes melee weapons that
have gained the weapon ability throwing. Only returning and teleporting have this quality.
• Two-Handed Melee - This means you can apply it to any two-handed melee weapon. Only
berserker has this quality.
Caster Level: The caster level of a weapon with a special ability is given in the item stat block. For an item
with only an enhancement bonus and no other abilities, the caster level is three times the enhancement
bonus. If an item has both an enhancement bonus and a special ability, the higher of the two caster
level requirements must be met.
Aura: The item’s aura strength, which is revealed if it is subjected to a detect magic spell, followed by a
semicolon. Next, in parentheses, is the Spellcraft DC required to determine the school of magic,
followed by the school or schools of magic associated with the item’s aura (usually determined by the
spells listed in an item’s prerequisites). If the item requires only universal spells, or if it requires no
spells, this reads “no school.” If multiple spells of different schools are required, the item’s aura is of
the school of the highest-level spell. When two spells of different schools are equally high in level, the
entry mentions both schools.
Activation: Usually a character benefits from a magic weapon in the same way a character benefits from a
mundane weapon—by attacking with it. If a weapon has a special ability that the user needs to activate
(such as the sunlight power of a sun blade), then the type of action required to activate the item’s
effect, along with what the user must do to activate the item is include in this entry. An entry of —
indicates the item operates continuously, without any need for activation.
Prerequisite: Some weapon abilities have the quality of synergy. A synergy property has a prerequisite,
much as a feat does. Specifically, the item must already possess another particular property before a
synergy ability can be added to it. Otherwise, synergy abilities function the same as any other weapon
property. Despite the requirements for adding synergy abilities to armor and weapons, most
adventurers consider them well worth the cost. These properties allow you to upgrade a favored ability
of an item over time, rather than paying for it all at once. Synergy properties always replace their
prerequisite property. Many synergy properties expand upon or improve the prerequisite property, and
others both subsume the prerequisite property and add new abilities. To determine a synergy item’s
effective enhancement bonus (and thus its aura strength and overall gp value), add together the bonus
equivalent of the synergy property, the bonus equivalent of the synergy prerequisite property, the
item’s enhancement bonus, and any bonus equivalents for other properties the item has. However, after
adding a synergy property, the item loses its synergy prerequisite abilities. A synergy property still
counts as any of its synergy prerequisite properties for the purpose of qualifying an item for still more
synergy properties.
• +1 greater anchoring full plate has a total effective enhancement bonus of +3 (+1 enhancement + 1
anchoring + 1 greater anchoring), with a value of 9,170 gp and an aura strength equal to that of +3
full plate. However, +1 greater anchoring full plate does not still give its wearer the anchoring
property’s +5 bonus on checks to resist being tripped, overrun, or bull rushed. It instead gives the
wearer the greater anchoring property’s benefit (a +10 bonus on such checks).
• A +1 acidic burst longsword is still considered a corrosive weapon for the purpose of qualifying to
receive the energy surge synergy property.
Description: A visual description of the item, read by the DM to a player whose character has discovered
the item. A description of the item’s functions, including its effect, duration, range, uses per day, and
so on.
Lore: Information about the item that may be learned by making appropriate Knowledge checks. The
item’s name and/or functions must be known before Knowledge checks reveal this information.
Construction: What you need to add this particular weapon ability to a weapon.
Upgrade: If a weapon ability has any synergies that require that particular ability as a prerequisite, then
those synergies are listed here. It should be noted that when you stack multiple synergies on the same
base prerequisite, you only have to buy the base weapon ability once. Only the base prerequisite is
suppressed by a synergy and it can be suppressed multiple times, but it has no additional effect.
• A +1 acidic burst/energy surge longsword is a total +4 weapon, because it still has corrosive as a
weapon ability, it is just not active. Both acidic burst and energy surge act like corrosive. Since
corrosive gives an extra +1d6 acid damage, those two synergies would add together for +2d6 acid
damage, but not a total of +3d6 acid damage, because the original corrosive weapon ability is
suppressed.
Alternate: When a weapon ability is almost exactly the same as another, they are listed here, in case you
want to see if a different “flavor” is to your liking.
Synergy: When a particular weapon ability works well with another weapon ability, or a group of weapon
abilities, those abilities are listed here along with a short explanation as to how you might use it.
Editor: This is where general notes and observations are made. They are entirely subjective.

General Strategies
The key optimization strategy is to take as many special abilities as you can afford. All the way up to +9.
You can make up for the lack of weapon pluses with Greater Magic Weapon. Consider putting it on a wand
or a staff so you don't drive your cleric crazy. A few levels in UMD and you can buff up in the AM, and let
your cleric memorize those other cool spells on his list. Also consider using a spell that mimics a special
ability to temporarily buff your weapon. If it's not a buff you will need often then put the buff in a scroll. If
it is a buff you will use all the time, then try placing the buff in a staff or a wand. It is likely to be cheaper
than putting it on your weapon directly, and it frees up your weapon for other cooler special abilities.
Editor (Minority Opinion): As a general rule, making out your weapon’s special abilities is a good rule of
thumb. However, what if you can’t hit the target? GMW is nice, if you have access to the spell and
your enemies don’t dispel magic your buffs. A +1 to hit and +1 damage increases the chances to hit,
which is a force multiplier on top of the extra +1 damage. Every +1 in your weapon is one more point
of BAB you can switch to power attack without having to worry about missing.
Editor (Metagaming): If you are playing with a strict DM who uses WBL to the letter, you can capitalize
on that. Players are often afraid to give up equipment, afraid they won’t get something cool again.
They become packrats, afraid to use scrolls or sell stuff for fear of never getting it again. If your WBL
says you will only have 30,000 gp of equipment, then using or giving equipment up merely means you
have a delay before getting something new. So I would suggest you get one general purpose weapon,
and then have money set aside for a slayer weapon. What kind? What ever you have next as your big
boss monster. What do you do with your old slayer? Give it to a friendly NPC. If should you need your
slayer back, go to the NPC and switch out your current slayer for your old one. WBL is only concerned
with what you have, not what you can exchange something for.
Editor (Projectile Weapons): For a projectile weapon, the enhancement bonus in the weapon and the
ammo don’t stack. This means that you’d be better off keeping the enhancement bonus in the weapon
higher then the ammo. You also can keep your WBL down by only buying 5 to 10 special arrows,
rather then a whole bundle of 50. The advantage of projectile weapons is that you can diversify your
ammo selection and deal with many different types of encounters better then someone who specialized.
The fighter who poured everything into one expensive two-handed greatsword ,might have limited
options if he is fighting an enemy who is immune to metal.
Editor (Touch Attacks): You need to look at each WA very carefully. WAs sometimes only work on a
successful attack, where as some only function when you damage. If you have to damage the target,
then you more then likely have to make a normal attack. However, you can make a touch attack with
any weapon, it’s just that you forgo any chance to do damage. For example, if you have a binding
shortbow, you don’t care about the 1d6 damage, you just want the evil necromancer (as opposed to all
those good necromancers out there) to stick around so you can murder the crap out of him. A touch
attack is all you need to activate your weapons dimensional anchor effect. Keep that in mind,
especially for specialty weapons you might pick up.

Ability Buffs
(Finesse)
There is only one ability buff built into a sword, and that is Finesse. Now, it is a +3 bonus that only works
in certain melee weapons and it is only a +2 enhancement bonus to dexterity. Frankly, your choices for
ability buff in a weapon suck. But that’s okay. Buying ability enhancement bonuses in a weapon would be
x1.5 cost anyways. Get your ability buffs in wearable wondrous items.

Ability Damage/Penalties
(Diseased, Dragonhunter, Enfeebling, Marrowcrushing, Mindcrusher, Necrotic Focus, Weakening,
Wounding)
The ability damage available in a weapon are constitution, dexterity, strength and wisdom. There is only
one strength penalty. You can also damage abilities with poison, but that is in it’s own section called,
poison. Really creative, eh?
Constitution: Now this can get scary. Diseased, Marrowcrushing, and Wounding all do constitution
damage. The problems are, diseased only works once for an average loss of 2 points. Marrowcrushing
is a +3 bonus, and wounding is a +2, but is blocked by anyone who is immune to critical hits. Still, con
damage is the great equalizer. Every two points of con drops your hit point maximum by your level. If
you lose enough con, you just flat out die. Alas, if can be quite expensive to buy, and rightly so.
Dexterity: There is only one dexterity lowering weapon ability, but it isn’t bad. That is diseased. The
saving throw DC is low, but they have to save every time you hit them. The problem is, once you
inflict the damage, it doesn’t stack with itself. So you do an average 2 dexterity damage. Meh. Not
impressive.
Strength: If you are looking for strength damage, enfeebling is nice, except that it’s only on a critical with
no modification for having a high multiplier. So look to add keen if you want to make it effective. If
you are targeting dragons, dragonhunter does 1 strength damage on each hit, but only to dragons and
those with the dragon subtype. Bummer. And if you don’t mind non-stacking penalties, then consider
weakening. A flat -4 to strength when you land a critical for 10 minutes. So if you aren’t planning on
criticals to begin with, the total +2 of enfeebling and weakening would reduce your target’s strength by
8.5 on average, when you confirm a critical, that is.
Undead: Now, if you are an undead that can do ability damage, you’d have to be on crack to take necrotic
focus. Sure, it let’s you channel your drain, but at a +3 cost. Please. While we include it in the ability
damage section, just ignore it.
Wisdom: There is only one wisdom drain and that is Mindcrusher. Each blow makes the target make a will
save against DC 17. The thing is, once you start failing, it gets harder and harder to make the save.
This is best in a weapon where you make a many attacks in a wrong, not in a weapon where you are
hoping to make one massive hit a round.

Antimagic
(Binding, Dispelling, Greater Dispelling, Illusion Bane, Impedance, Shattermantle, Spellblade)
Sometimes half the trouble of hitting someone is getting through all the buff spells. Sometimes you just
want the target to stand still. Since warriors often can take the time to learn magic so they can counter it,
putting your antimagic in your weapon can help.
Anti-Spell Resistance: Shattermantle helps take down spell resistance. The problem is, it does it so poorly.
To use it effectively, you need multiple attacks, and you need someone else to be casting spells, or the
ability to cast quickened spells yourself. You could put it in a scourge and go for the touch attack, I
suppose, but otherwise, it’s fairly useless. Now if it lasted a minute instead of a round, that might be
something.
Anti-Spell-Like Ability: Impedance is supposed to make all spellcasting more difficult, but really is only a
hassle to those who use spell-like abilities. See, any spellcaster worth spit will have maxed out his
spellcraft check. That means by the time you can afford this WA, your enemies will automatically pass
the spellcraft check. Now those with spell-like abilities often skimp on spellcraft, so it’s much more
effective against them. Still, it’s one of the few ways to harass a wizard and maybe he’ll roll a one, or
been cheap and though a 10 was good enough.
Anti-Spell: There is one anti-spell WA and that is Spellblade. You become immune to one targeting spell
that you are a valid target for. Your weapon absorbs that spell if it is used against you and can then fire
the spell next round as a free action. For 6,000 gp, it is one of the best WAs available.
Dispel Magic: Dispelling, Greater Dispelling, and Illusion Bane all do the same thing, cast dispel magic.
Illusion bane only works on illusions, of course Illusion Bane comes with the ability to overcome any
miss chance from an illusion, so it’s a wash, cost wise. I guess it depends on what sort of buff spell
annoys you most.
Stay Here: Binding is for those people who hate it when the villain teleports away. I’d suggest putting it in
a bow, since it only functions twice a day and you often will need to peg someone who is hiding in the
back of the enemy horde. Also note it says “successful attack”. A touch attack is a successful attack, it
just doesn’t do any damage.

Arrow Management
(Agility, Deflecting)
If you wish to deflect incoming arrows, then you are left with deflecting. Now, deflecting is a reflex save,
and agility is a buff to you reflex save only. If you wanted to make a sword that could casually knock one
arrow out of the air a round, then this would be the way to go.

Attack Modifiers
(Blurstrike, Brilliant Energy, Impaling, Shadowstrike)
When you got to fight dirty, these are the WAs. These four WAs make it easier to hit by making your
attacks touch attacks, by-pass armor, reduce your enemy to flat-footed, or eliminate dexterity bonuses to
armor class. All excellent choices for someone into sneak attack or weapons that deal poison. Mix and
match to meet your specific killing needs.

Avoiding Getting Hit
(Blurring, Defending, Defensive Surge, Displacement, Duststorm, Parrying, Shielding, Smoking)
Now, you would think that magic item abilities of a defensive nature would be best bought in armor. That
said there are a few WAs worth taking a look at.
Miss Chance: Blurring and Displacement both give the wielder a miss chance. The blurring works all the
time and displacement only for 15 rounds. Basically it’s like the cloak of displacement except much
more expensive and it ends if you are disarmed or put your weapon away. Don’t be fooled. It’s a waste
of money and of no real value. Back before the errata and displacement was 100,000 gp and on all the
time, it might have been worth it, but not now. No, instead go with Smoking. Smoking gives a 20%
miss chance that is due to cover as well as a number of other perks. I do recommend blurring or
displacement, but get those in wondrous items or spells. Smoking is a keeper. Finally, duststorm. The
problem is that it screws over your allies just as much as your enemies, but to have a damage causing
cloud of total non-illusion concealment surrounding you is awesome. Combine it with smoking for real
AoE cheese.
Armor Class: Defensive surge costs +1 bonus and gives you a +2 AC until the end of your next turn for a
limited number of times per day and only when you fight defensively. If you happen to be made of
gold, this still would be dead last on the list. Shielding actually turns your weapon into a shield. Of
course, you could just buy a shield. No, the best WA for AC is Defending. And since you don’t have to
actually use the weapon in combat, you could put it in a weapon you are holding but don’t use much.
Shield Spikes, armor razors, the other end of your two headed weapon. Alas, it doesn’t stack with
itself, although it does stack with all other AC modifiers.
What The…: Finally we have parrying that gives you precognition. Huh? You get a +1 insight bonus to
AC and +1 insight bonus to saving throws. I don’t know what the hell this has to do with parrying. I
always thought parrying was blocking a blow with your weapon or something, not visions of what’s
going to happen a half a second in the future. That said, it costs +2 bonus. Meh.

Ballista
(Disrupting, Necromantic, Self-Loading, Starburst, Quick Loading)
Most siege weapons are catapults or the like, but for a PC, the Ballista is the sweet spot.
Ballista: A light ballista is essentially a Huge heavy crossbow. A heavy ballista is a Colossal Heavy
crossbow fixed in place. Its size makes it hard for most creatures to aim it, as described. Unless the
crew chief has the Ballista Proficiency feat, a Medium creature takes a –4 penalty on attack rolls when
using a ballista, and a Small creature takes a –6 penalty. This applies to both light and heavy ballista. If
the heavy ballista is not fixed to the ground, the penalty becomes -8 and -10 respectfully. Additional
members of the crew can use the aid another action to grant the crew chief a +2 bonus on the attack
roll by succeeding on a DC 10 Profession (siege engineer) check. The max crew size, including crew
chief, is 2 and 4 respectfully. Unlike most other catapults, a ballista aims at either a creature or an
object (such as a section of wall) rather than a square. Loading a light ballista requires two full-round
actions. Loading a heavy ballista requires four full-round actions. The crew can share the action cost,
thus a four man crew can load a heavy ballista in 1 full-round. A large crew member’s counts as two
medium for purposes of calculating action cost. Huge size or greater can just pick up the thing and
treat it as a normal crossbow. A ballista need not be re-aimed; each attack succeeds or fails
independent of previous attack rolls. A light ballista takes up a 5-foot square, while a heavy ballista
takes up a 15-foot-by-15-foot space.
Loading Speed: Self-loading does away with one full-round of loading time. Quick Loading, which works
on crossbows, which a ballista is, reduces reload time to a move action, if you reduce the over all
loading time down to 1 full-round. For example, four men are loading a quick loading heavy ballista.
They can do it in a move action. One man is loading a self-loading, quick loading heavy ballista. The
self-loading takes care of one full-round action. The man then spends his first and second round using
a full-round action to load, then on the third round, he only needs to use a move action, then can fire.
Self-loading and Quick loading are usually used only on a light ballista, which means one man can
reload as a move action. It should be noted, that a light ballista only takes up one 5 foot square, so one
could load it on a Tenser’s floating disk with little trouble. Since wizards usually have lousy BABs and
don’t often get multiple attacks anyways… Can you see where I’m going with this?
Ammunition Modification: By the time you could afford disrupting, the undead you will be fighting will
ignore this effect. Necromantic is disgustingly underpriced at +3,000 gp. Seriously. 20 HD of zombies
for 10 rounds for shooting a bolt of wood within 60 feet of a pile of bodies? You can’t beat that with a
stick. Now starburst, that’s the ticket. It takes your bolt and makes it an area effect explosion that does
piercing and slashing damage equal to the damage rolled on a normal attack. The only downside is that
it now comes with a DC 15 reflex save. So make sure you make the ballista with the ability to turn this
weapon function on and off. Sometimes you’re just going to want to hit someone right in the face with
a sharpened tree and it would suck if it instead exploded and the target used evasion to ignore it.

Bless
(Resounding)
There is one WA that acts like Bless and that is resounding. Every blow you land acts like a bless to you
allies in the nearby area. It’s not really my thing, but it does make a little bell ring on every hit.
Thematically, it’s cute.

Casting Spells
(Duststorm, Illusion Theft, Prismatic Burst, Spell Storing)
These WAs allow you to cast various spells. Duststorm allows you to cast Haboob, which since you are
immune to it, can be just awesome. Illusion Theft allows you to store any illusion spell you counter with
your weapon. ANY. That includes shadow conjuration and shadow evocation. That includes 9th level
spells. That is a wide selection of spells at your disposal, if you have a friendly spellcaster or two willing to
help get your preferred illusion preloaded into the weapon. You can do the same thing with any 3rd level
targeting spell with spell storing. Finally, Prismatic Burst does only one spell, and only on a critical,
Prismatic Spray. I've seen it used by someone who could crit on a 15-20. It was impressive. They stopped
using it because the enemy would turn to stone, then the stone statue would get blown up by a fireball and
destroy the target's equipment. Or the enemy would be sent to another dimension. Sometimes both. Once,
they turned a colossal purple worm into stone and then sent in into another plane. I rolled randomly both
for universe, population density at the point of arrival, and how bad it's arrival would be. It landed on top of
a hill and rolled down over a village. They felt bad until I mentioned it was Eberron. Then it was okay.
Eberron had it coming, apparently.

Charged By Something
(Chargebreaker, Intercepting)
If something is charging you, chargebreaker is useful while your level is still in the single digits. A
fortitude save to knock someone down at DC 14 is okay, but once you get to the double digit levels, most
targets will easily make it. Fortunately it's fairly cheap and affordable at low levels, so it might be
something to stick on the end of a pike. Still, I don't see getting charged often enough to make it worth it,
unless you happen to be a professional jouster. No, intercepting is much more useful, because it covers
multiple situations. Even better to use both together. You see, unless you have a held action, chargebreaker
won't knock someone down until after they charge. With intercepting, you will always have a chance to go
first, and note, you don't have to do damage with chargebreaker, you just have to hit them, so you can forgo
damage to go for the touch attack. I wouldn't recommend it, because the chances of chargebreaker working
are 50/50 on a good day, but sometimes you need to stop playing the odds and hope to get lucky.

Charging at Something
(Charging, Valorous)
Occationally you might find yourself on horseback riding at something while holding something pointy.
Charging helps by making that weapon do an extra 2d6 damage. Valorous increases the damage multiplier
by one step.

Concealment
(Hideaway, Shrinking)
Hideaway is cheaper, shrinking is more useful. Both make it easier to get weapons past those who would
search you.

Critical Modifiers
(Blessed, Dragonhunter, Impact, Keen)
Blessed is useful against evil for confirming criticals. No evil version of this WA exists. It only works three
times a day, but for someone focusing on criticals, that could be important. Dragonhunter bumps up the
critical multiplier for dragons, but not really that special. No, the two that are important are impact and
keen. Impact works with any bludgeoning weapon, including projectiles, where as keen only works with
slashing or piercing melee weapons. Both double the critical range of a weapon. So you know, I cannot find
any weapons that are 17-20 critical range. I also cannot find any 18-20/x3 or 18-20/x4 or 19-20/x3
Weapon Recommendations (18-20/x2 Melee): For light martial melee we have the kukri. Rapier and
Scimitar is also popular one handed marital weapons, depending if you want piercing or slashing.
Falchion is the winner in the two-handed marital melee category. Eagle’s claw or elven lightblade for
the light exotic weapon, but eagle’s claw gets the edge in versatility. The Elven thinblade and great
scimitar are the top of the one-handed exotic melee list. And finally, The great falchion and the jovar
tie for best two-handed exotic melee weapon, with elven courtblade getting an honorable mention.
Weapon Recommendations (19-20/x4 Melee): We have only one weapon for this critical group. That is
the Great Hammer, an exotic two-handed melee weapon that does 1d10(s)/1d12(m) bludgeoning
damage. That means you will have to use impact with it.
Weapon Recommendations (18-20/x2 Ranged): The only ranged bludgeoning weapon worth putting
impact on is the ranged exotic weapon called a Glot. The glot is a specially balanced sphere of metal
designed to be thrown low to the ground. It then skips and bounces across the ground with little
reduction in velocity to strike its target. If the ground between you and your target is solid, flat, and
relatively free of obstructions, the glot’s range increment increases to 20 feet. If the ground is also icy,
the glot skips even more readily over the frozen ground and its range increment increases to 30 feet. If
you use a glot to attack an airborne target, its range increment is always 10 feet. You can make ranged
trip attacks with a thrown glot. The glot costs 1 gp, does 1d3(s)/1d4(m) bludgeoning damage. You
aren’t buying it for the damage, you are buying it for the best critical range on a thrown weapon
available.

Damage Bonus
(Arcane Might, Bloodfeeding, Collision, Eager, Fierce)
These only give non-random untyped damage bonuses to the base damage of the weapon. This means that
damage is multiplied by critical rolls. Arcane might is for chumps, just trust me on this. Bloodfeeding is
actually a good choice because it takes a while to get going, but you can choose to apply the extra damage
after you hit, which means you can wait for the confirmed critical before adding the extra damage.
Collision is good, even if +2 bonus is a steep price to pay. A flat, non-random 5 points of damage is too
less then the average damage done by picking up +2d6 from some other WAs, but it always does 5 damage
and it stacks with your base damage, unlike energy damage. Eager deserves an honorable mention for the
extra two points of damage in the surprise round. Would-be sneak attackers should keep it in mind. Finally,
Fierce, the dexterity power attack. Alas, it doesn’t double if you use a two handed weapon, but it still lets
you do extra damage to targets. You should focus it’s use on easy to hit targets.

Damage: Acid
(Acidic Burst, Corrosive, Energy Aura, Energy Surge)
Acid might be the best over-all energy damage available. It isn’t as commonly defended against and it’s got
a nice spread. You start with corrosive, then upgrade to Energy Surge. Follow up with acidic burst to raise
your base acid damage to +2d6. Finally, energy aura. Now, energy aura can be any of four different types
of energy damage, but it’s the only way to get your base acid damage up to +3d6.

Damage: Cold
(Energy Aura, Energy Surge, Frost, Icy Burst)
Cold might be the worst over-all energy damage available. It is the second most common energy defense,
yet lacks any of the extra perks fire damage comes with. You start with frost, then upgrade to Energy
Surge. Follow up with icy burst to raise your base cold damage to +2d6. Finally, energy aura. Now, energy
aura can be any of four different types of energy damage, but it’s the only way to get your base cold
damage up to +3d6.

Damage: Dehydration
(Desiccating, Desiccating Burst)
If you hate water type critters or plants, then have I got an energy type for you. 1d4 to most targets, 1d8 to
everyone else. The burst is double damage against plants and water subtype AND it causes fatigue. Not my
top pick as far as energy damage, but not the bottom of the list, either.
Damage: Electrical
(Energy Aura, Energy Surge, Shock, Shocking Burst)
Electrical is middle of the road energy damage. It isn’t as commonly defended against as some, but more
then others. You start with Shock, then upgrade to Energy Surge. Follow up with shocking burst to raise
your base electrical damage to +2d6. Finally, energy aura. Now, energy aura can be any of four different
types of energy damage, but it’s the only way to get your base cold damage up to +3d6.

Damage: Evil
(Blasphemous)
This loser of a WA costs a +4 bonus. Yet, it is the only way to do evil damage. Yes, unholy doesn’t do evil
damage, it does damage that is evil-aligned, but blasphemous is actually Evil Type Damage. Still, I can’t
see any use for evil damage. I’d rather have damage that added to my base damage then damage that is a
separate energy type, but then again, I don’t know of any defenses against evil damage.

Damage: Fire
(Burning, Energy Aura, Energy Surge, Flaming, Flaming Burst)
Fire is a middle of the road energy type of damage. It is the most commonly defended against but it’s got
more options. You start with flaming, then upgrade to Energy Surge. Follow up with flaming burst to raise
your base acid damage to +2d6. Next you look at burning, because it has a chance of setting your target on
fire and doing damage for a few extra rounds. The save DC is 11, so by the time you might buy it for a
weapon, it’s kinda useless. Still, a better fire damage choice then energy aura. Energy aura can be any of
four different types of energy damage, but it’s the only way to get your base acid damage up to +3d6.

Damage: Force
(Force, Psychokinetic, Psychokinetic Burst)
Force is a nice damage type. It gets around a whole lot of damage reduction as well as hits incorporeal
targets. I can see why it got nerfed. Force changes the base damage of your projectile to force damage.
Psychokinetic actually adds 1d4 force damage. Psychokinetic burst, on the other hand, is worthless. Don’t
bother.

Damage: Nonlethal
(Merciful)
You only have no choice for non-lethal damage, and that's merciful. Now you might say nonlethal sucks,
but here's where it's awesome. It's a +1d6 for +1 bonus, AND it turns ALL damage the weapon does into
nonlethal. There is no Fire Nonlethal. There is no Acid nonlethal. There is only nonlethal. So that means if
you have a have dozen energy types on your weapon for +1d6 each, a merciful weapon turns that all into
nonlethal and stacks it together. Great for overcoming damage reduction.

Damage: Sonic
(Roaring, Screaming, Screaming Burst, Stunning, Thundering)
For some reason sonic got nerfed. I don’t know why. It doesn’t do anything special. The defenses are just
as easy to get as all the others. Sonic attacks are completely blocked by silence, a second level spell. I don’t
know of anything that does the same for fire or cold or anything else. Yet, the damage is 1d4, 1d8 for the
burst critical. The order to buy is screaming, thundering, screaming burst. Thundering and screaming burst
are the same damage/cost wise, but thundering also makes people deaf. Only consider upgrading to roaring
if you are looking at a critical weapon that has a multiplier of x2, and if the fear-causing feature is worth it
to you.
Stacking Damage: Stunning is a synergy that requires screaming. So it and screaming burst stack as far as
base sonic damage concerned. So if you take stunning and screaming burst, you do +2d4 sonic
damage. Not that impressive, but hey, it’s available.

Damage: Universal
(Charged, Maiming, Ravenous)
These three are the WAs that add to your damage with few strings attached. Charged is a flat +1d4. Kind of
sucks, but it's universal. Maiming only triggers on a crate, and the damage sucks. Still, universal. Ravenous
only kicks in after the first blow lands in one round, then every blow after that does an extra 2d6. It sucks
over all. Still, universal.

Damage: Vile
(Vile)
Vile damage cannot be healed by any normal means, so while you might be saying, “it’s only one point of
damage.” It’s one point that won’t come back. To maximize it’s effectiveness, you need to stack it with con
and level drain. That will make sure to not only take off the hit points, but keep them off.

Destroying Treasure
(Doomstrike, Rusting, Sundering)
Yes, I said it. Anything that involves destroying your enemy’s equipment destroys one of the primary
sources of income for a PC. There are three treasure destroying WAs. Combine them in a weapon at your
own risk. (Your party is likely to kill you on principle.)
Destroying Armor: Rusting is the most obvious equipment destroying, except that you can only rust armor
with it. I don’t get that. I mean, if I poke metal with it, it doesn’t actually rust metal, it just makes
armor fall apart. On the upside, you don’t have to make a damaging attack, you can just touch attack
for the rust.
Destroying Weapons: So you want to destroy someone’s weapon while he’s holding it. Sundering is an
obvious first choice. It gives you the improved sunder feat as well as an extra 1d6 for damage against
what you are trying to sunder. Doomstrike works well with that in that it gives you a free attack when
you successfully sunder. Sort of like, when you break the sword, your weapon stroke continues
through to hit the guy holding the sword, or something.

Disabling Conditions
(Coup De Grace, Cursespewing, Desiccating Burst, Exhausting, Radiant Holding, Paralytic Burst,
Paralyzing, Sickening, Slow Burst, Smoking, Spiderkissed, Stalactite, Strength Sapping, Stunning,
Stunning Surge, Torturous)
There are a number of WAs that impose disabling conditions on your enemies. These disabling conditions
range from the annoying to dead.
Dead: There are two weapon abilities that cut to the chase and go straight for the kill. Vorpal is the old
favorite, killing your enemy on a 20 and a confirmed critical. Scary as hell when it works, the problem
is, it doesn’t work very often. Now for a runner up is Tentacle. Tentacle is cheaper, but it gives your
target a DC 21 fortitude save, while still retaining the activate on a 20 thing vorpal has. Yet, there is
something about watching a sword sprout tentacles and rip out someone’s brain. You can talk about
lack of practicality all day, but you just can’t beat it for sheer STYLE.
Entangling/Slow: Entangling isn’t as impressive as it sounds, but it can slow someone down and limit their
movement. The only WA that does that is Spiderkissed. The DC isn’t that impressive, and it works
only on a critical. This is more a thematic WA then a useful one. If your goal is to slow people down,
then look at adding slow burst. Slow burst only works on a critical, but it is a flat 5,000 gp which
makes it cheap to add to high bonus weapons. The two working together could reduce the target to a
crawl.
Exhausted: Exhausted is a rather serious limitation and a rather good Debuff. Strength Sapping requires
the target save on every single damaging blow. This combined with weakening, you can reduce an
enemy to -10 strength and leave your average spellcaster helpless at your feet.
Fatigued: Not that impressive a Debuff in an of itself, but it is possible to stack it with some other source
of fatigue. Desiccating Burst causes fatigue on a critical that stacks with other sources of fatigue to
cause the target to become exhausted. Exhausting causes fatigue that does NOT stack with any other
form of fatigue, but it is on every blow, not just a critical. Frankly, I would just skip right to strength
sapping.
Nauseated: Awesome. If you like to grapple, then you need Smoking. Not only goes it give you a miss
chance, but you get to grapple your enemies and make them nauseated, reducing them to a single move
action and unable to attack.
Paralyzed: Who is your daddy? You are the daddy if your enemy can’t even twitch. But which WA to use?
Coup De Grace looks nice, but is a +5 for a WA that only works on a critical. Sure, a will save DC 27
is good, but at the level you can afford this weapon, your enemies will have freedom of movement.