Magic Weapon Special Abilities Vs Damage Reduction


Rules Questions


Amulet of Mighty Fists wrote:
An amulet of mighty fists does not need to have a +1 enhancement bonus to grant a melee weapon special ability.

Does an Amulet of Mighty Fists with no enhancement bonus and just special abilities overcome DR/Magic?

My gut reaction is to say "it is a magic weapon, it turns off in an anti-magic field, so yes", but my gut suffered from the Nauseated FAQ and has been cautious of hasty actions ever since.


No

Quote:
Overcoming DR: Damage reduction may be overcome by special materials, magic weapons (any weapon with a +1 or higher enhancement bonus, not counting the enhancement from masterwork quality), certain types of weapons (such as slashing or bludgeoning), and weapons imbued with an alignment.


Well, that was incisive, thank you :). I thought I read somewhere that a magical weapon counted the highest of its straight + enhancement, or any of its bonus-priced enhancements for such effects. So a +1 Vorpal weapon would overcome alignment-based DR because Vorpal is +5, for example, but perhaps I was getting mixed up with something out of the crafting rules.


Artificial 20 wrote:
I thought I read somewhere that a magical weapon counted the highest of its straight + enhancement, or any of its bonus-priced enhancements for such effects.

Maybe the confusion comes from the wording 'Weapon Enhancement Bonus Equivalent', but I am pretty sure 'Equivalent' refers to the materials in this table:

CRB wrote:

DR Type Weapon Enhancement Bonus Equivalent

Cold iron/silver +3
Adamantine* +4
Alignment-based +5

Looking at the text:

CRB wrote:
Weapons with an enhancement bonus of +3 or greater can ignore some types of damage reduction, regardless of their actual material or alignment.

So it's really about enhancement. Ultimate Equipment calls the combination of enhancement (+1 to +5) and special abilities (such as vorpal) a 'modified bonus', meaning special abilities are not called enhancement.

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