I've been pondering weapons in PF. I feel they have got the short end of the stick when it comes to Alchemist. PF tends to modify exsisting weapons with magic, which is cool, but really misses the magic boat in my opinion. When you add magic a whole would of strange weapons can come into play, like a sword the sive of a man bigger (6-7ft long blade, 1ft. wide) that wieghs 1 or 2 lbs. Might not be the most practical weapon, but I'm sure you could find a use for it. Or a Claymore at half its normal wieght.
Do any of you feel the magic weapons aren't magic enough?
Have you come up with any flashier magic abilities, and would you mind sharing them with us.
A giant weapon weighing 1lb would deal less damage then a standard sized weapon weighing 4lbs.
That is the problem with making lightweight weapons, you reduce the damage. I'd argue that lightweight (1/2 weight) should reduce the weapon damage by a single die and if weight less (effectively an ounce or two) then the damage should be reduced by two dice. minimum 1d4 damage.
So a 2d6 sword, made giant would normally inflict 3d6 damage, made lightweight it does 2d6 damage again and if made weightless it would do 1d6 damage. If it was a regular sword light weight would reduce the damage to 1d6 and weightless would reduce it to 1d4.
There certainly are a ton of possiblities though. I mean heck, swinging a Cloud Strife sword around made lightweight would certainly intimidate a lot of people (and it would do as much damage as a regular sword, but not giant sized). Or beyond light weight, there are a lot of possibilities. Say for example a carpet of adhesion net (eg gladiator net). Throw it on a character and it adheres to them rendering them immobile and possibly stuck to the ground/wall/etc if they fail their save vs magic. When the owner says the magic power word (only the owner, this would be a linked magic item) the adhesion stops. -Matt
While there is some truth to a lighter weight sword of large size inflicting less damage due to less force being applied, but a large blade will offer other edges if it's weight isn't being affected to the wielder (i.e large, solid, lightweight blade), first, added size = added leverage to make up for some lost damage, second is larger cuts, from a thicker and wider blade, it's also harder to avoid without parrying directly, an option that truthfully isn't always there (and if people see a massive blade, I doubt they're gonna be going "I bet that's weightless"). It's also possible to go the other way and simply buff the strength of the wielder to make the weapon usable.
More to the point, I think it's more my view that the enchantments and weapon alterations in the books are basically jumping off points and ideas, why can't you featherweight your weapons via alchemist?
Getting a mage to tell you where the hydra is...10,000 gold Hiring a summoner... 40,000 gold Hiring one hundred 10th level mercenaries... 98,567 gold Giving a hydra skull to your necromancer... priceless
A wider blade would reduce damage by applying the force over a larger surface area. This is why you can thrust something like a broadsword and possibly pierce chain mail, but a slashing/chopping attack is unlikely to break any links (though it is probably going to leave some bruises). With a person in chain or plate you don't generally slash or chop them, you thrust to try to pierce links/plates. That itty bitty point is much more likely to punch through then the length of the blade is.
Of course when you get in to supernatural strength, etc in a fantasy setting that offers more options of attack. However, with purely human strength, even really strong human strength and a sword you'd be thrusting against people in armor (well, anything stronger then leather armor). A really long (and heavy!) sword like a claymore with a strong swordsman might cut chainmail on something like an arm or lower leg where it is hitting fewer links. Thinks like axes tend not to use the head, but the point on the back of the head against armor (same principal as thrusting a sword), or alternately against limbs and most war axes have the advantage of weight over a sword of similar reach.
Something like a holy water sprinkler or morning star has the advantage of only hitting with a small spike or two with some good weight behind it to punch through armor.
You want the smallest possible contact patch hitting an armored opponent and next you want the most weight you can get. Levarage only counts in a swining attack, not thrusting and thrusting has a much greater advantage of a tiny contact patch to punch through armor.
Zweihanders (great swords) were generally used against unarmored opponents or lightly armored opponents such as pikemen. The sword was capable of removing the head from a pike shaft as well as providing longer reach for the swordsman for both doing this and reaching out and giving the pikemen a bad day. Great swords generally did not appear before the advent of the pike (the claymore being an exception).
A zweihander tended to be up to 6ft in length and weigh as much as 7lbs for a functional sword (ceremonial versions weighed as much as 16lbs, way to heavy to swing around as a real weapon). They could be half-sworded as they had a grip part way down the blade wear and armored guantlet could be used to grip the sword for shorter, faster strokes and for close in work where you can't thrust or swing such a long sword. -Matt -Matt
I do hope in a future mysteries of magic they talk a bit more about alchemy and maybe more thoughts on enchantments and creation of magical items. -Matt
If the magic weapon is GM made it can have any magic effect. (The "a sword the size of a man bigger (6-7ft long blade, 1ft. wide)" wielded by a human sounds much like a FF sword.)
I am of the opinion that the properties listed in the PF2 book are the 'common' added properties. This would because they are the simplest properties to add to armor and weapons.
There are other properties that can be added to armor and weapons in the western empire book.
May you be blessed with the ability to change course when you are off the mark.
Each question should be give the canon answer 1st, then you can proclaim your house rules.
Reading and writing (literacy) is how people on BBS interact.
I have always just created magic items which I thought were cool and made sense for what I was wanting. Then again, I am of the frame of mind that as long as you and your players are having fun, anything goes. If giving a magic item that has a magic property that isn't sanctioned in the book makes sense in my campaign, makes sense for the character it is intended for and adds some fun then I'm all for it.
I've always looked at the alchemy section as more of a set of suggestions and ideas rather than strict rules that cannot be broken. After all, it's magic. Anything can happen with magic.
gaby wrote:Do you think if they make a MoM on Magic Weapons,they will give them Levels?
Like the Rune weapons are the most powerful,under them ther the Master level Magic weapons,then Major and after that minor.
I hope they do make a MoM on Magic weapons. Do You?
Levels like with the TW creation rules in RUE,.... No, they shouldn't.
There is rumors that one of the MoM books is going to have magic item creation guidelines in them.
May you be blessed with the ability to change course when you are off the mark.
Each question should be give the canon answer 1st, then you can proclaim your house rules.
Reading and writing (literacy) is how people on BBS interact.
PF tends to modify exsisting weapons with magic, which is cool, but really misses the magic boat in my opinion. When you add magic a whole would of strange weapons can come into play, like a sword the sive of a man bigger (6-7ft long blade, 1ft. wide) that wieghs 1 or 2 lbs. Might not be the most practical weapon, but I'm sure you could find a use for it. Or a Claymore at half its normal wieght. 
