| 18 people marked this as FAQ candidate. Answered in the FAQ. |
Does the Silversheen metal in Qadira, Gateway of the East incur the -1 to damage that alchemical silver weapons do?
No aura (nonmagical property); CL —; Craft (alchemy) 5 ranks, Craft (weaponsmithing) 5 ranks; Price +750 gp.
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Does the Silversheen metal in Qadira, Gateway of the East incur the -1 to damage that alchemical silver weapons do?
** spoiler omitted **
Since it says "count as", not "are treated as", I would say that they do not incur the -1 to damage.
However, I am biased, since I run a PC who uses a silversheen fauchard....
I'm using a silversheen scimitar and I didn't calculate a -1 to damage last night (first night with it), but I figured I'd ask to make sure.
The reason I had doubt was the mithral material entry just says "Mithral weapons count as silver for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction." So the mithral entry doesn't specify "alchemical" silver.
Both use the "counts as" wording, but the mithral entry specifies "for damage reduction" while the silversheen entry doesn't.
Do find it strange that the table for mithral pricing doesn't list how much it costs for weapons, but I suppose they fall under the mithral-by-weight listing.
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I'm going to err on the side of caution for now and give myself a -1 to damage when I use it. The problem is the phrase 'counts as' can be interpreted multiple ways. Does it only count as alchemical silver for the purpose of DR? Or does it count as alchemical silver in all ways, and as an added bonus is immune to rust?
I'll admit the cost is quite a bit higher than a masterwork silver weapon (400gp or so), so perhaps it's not unbalanced to remove the -1. However the wording is vague and I'd prefer some official input before I start enhancing it in PFS.
I'm going to err on the side of caution for now and give myself a -1 to damage when I use it.
That's how I would read it. Mithral counts as silver only for bypassing DR. Silversheen counts as alchemical silver. I would assume if they had meant only for bypassing DR they would have said so.
FAQing anyway.
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Would you please explain to me why silversheen would even exist if it had the same penalties as alchemical silver? It costs +750 gp for a silversheen weapon. Even removing the cost of it being automatically masterworked, you're paying +450gp for the basic property. The most expensive alchemical silver weapon costs +180gp.
Are you honestly arguing that this material has been printed to be inferior to alchemical silver in every way?
You're reading far too much into the description of silversheen. The fact that it lacks the damage penalty is precisely the point of it - otherwise it's just 'alchemical silver, but worse'.
Would you please explain to me why silversheen would even exist if it had the same penalties as alchemical silver? It costs +750 gp for a silversheen weapon. Even removing the cost of it being automatically masterworked, you're paying +450gp for the basic property. The most expensive alchemical silver weapon costs +180gp.
Are you honestly arguing that this material has been printed to be inferior to alchemical silver in every way?
You're reading far too much into the description of silversheen. The fact that it lacks the damage penalty is precisely the point of it - otherwise it's just 'alchemical silver, but worse'.
Actually it also can't be rusted by rust monsters though the wording is a bit weird it says it counts as but unlike the item silversheen it doesn't say its treated as.
Anyway hitting FAQ
This has now come up in my game, if anyone has any answers, I would love to hear them.
Ditto for me. One of my players just asked me. I feel like the +450 gp is too much to just be rust-proof, so I'm going to let him have it without the damage penalty, but I could definitely see the intent being that it has it. But I'm willing to be convinced either way.
I fail to see how something that counts as alchemical silver should lose one of the properties of alchemical silver. It's certainly a downer, but there's nothing stopping you from spending a bit more for mithral with no penalty.
Because a alchemical silver weapon does not need to be masterwork. A Silversheen weapon DOES need to be masterwork. More effort goes into the silversheen weapon. Also it costs a lot more to make. Because of this it does not have the -1 damage penalty.
My answer is yes. All that the description says is that they're masterwork, immune to rust, and count as alchemical silver. And alchemical silver has -1 to damage. So there you go. FAQ'ing anyway due to the lack of consensus.
Blades made of this special metal count as alchemical silver weapons and are immune to rust, including that of rust monsters, the rusting grasp spell, and so on.
It says 'counts as', not is 'identical to'. I take it they are referring to overcoming DR, not that it is penalised. It would be a very odd 'special material' indeed otherwise.
I would read it in the same way as a +3 magical weapon. Such a weapon counts as a silver weapon to overcome DR etc. without silver penalties.
Maybe the description is not complete and the bold part is missing.
Blades made of this special metal count as alchemical silver weapons for the purpose of ignoring damage reduction..
So i would say no -1 damage penalty.
I prefer to use weapon blanche from the APG. It comes in silver, cold iron, and adamantine.
There's also ghost salt weapon blanch from the PSFG for those pesky incorporeal creatures.
This question is not in the FAQ. Are you asking where the FAQ is in general?
This is what the book currently says about Silver Sheen.
This shimmering paste-like substance can be applied to a weapon as a standard action. It gives the weapon the properties of alchemical silver for 1 hour, replacing the properties of any other special material it might have. One vial coats a single melee weapon or 20 units of ammunition.
Since that -1 damage is a property I don't see how it could not apply.
I doubt that it the Qadira version works differnetly than the core version, but you can ask Mr.Jacobs.
He doesn't like to answer rules questions so I wouldn't ask how it work. I would ask if it was intended to work just like the default rules despite teh different wording.
This question is not in the FAQ. Are you asking where the FAQ is in general?
This is what the book currently says about Silver Sheen.
This shimmering paste-like substance can be applied to a weapon as a standard action. It gives the weapon the properties of alchemical silver for 1 hour, replacing the properties of any other special material it might have. One vial coats a single melee weapon or 20 units of ammunition.Since that -1 damage is a property I don't see how it could not apply.
I doubt that it the Qadira version works differnetly than the core version, but you can ask Mr.Jacobs.
He doesn't like to answer rules questions so I wouldn't ask how it work. I would ask if it was intended to work just like the default rules despite teh different wording.
Silversheen isn't a temp item. It's like making an item cold iron. Look under special materials instead of a general search on d20pfsrd or nethys to find the correct item.
