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If a black blade is damaged (but not destroyed) how is it repaired? A wizard's bonded item is magically repaired when the wizard next prepares spells, but the description of the Bladebound magus says nothing about that. So, presumably Mending or Make Whole must be used.
I would think that any caster could perform the spell, since the blade has not lost its magic properties if it is not broken. Of course, the magus could further damage and then reforge his black blade, but I do not think that is a good idea.
Blade heals when arcana pool is renewed?
Unbreakable (Ex): As long as it has at least 1 point in its arcane pool, a black blade is immune to the broken condition. If broken, the black blade is unconscious and powerless until repaired. If destroyed, the black blade can be reforged 1 week later through a special ritual that costs 200 gp per magus level. The ritual takes 24 hours to complete.
Jatu, damaged but not destroyed. Say 40% damage?
I'd say mending is in order!
A black blade is bonded to a particular magus, much like a familiar, but in more of a partnership than a master-servant relationship.
If a bonded object is damaged, it is restored to full hit points the next time the wizard prepares his spells.
While this isn't technically a RULE, I would say it's clear that the RAI is to treat a Black Blade as a wizard's Arcane Bonded weapon for purposes of "healing" it. For all other purposes, the Black Blade is more like a familiar. It's kind of a fusion of both methods of Arcane Bond.
Also concur that a viable alternative is to have a Wand of Mending.
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The magus is a warmage first and foremost. Spells like mending are what support casters are for! They're also not meant for magic items that are of a bit of a quasi-artifact nature like the black blade. Besides... the magus can automatically repair damage to his blade when he prepares his spells.He should use mending. The only problem is that mending isn't in the magus spell list.
It is a strange omission as the only two classes with cantrips that don't get mending are the inquisitor and the magus.
buying a wand of mending could be a worthwhile investment.
LazarX, that is precisely what I do not see in the description of the Bladebound magus. It is explicitly stated for the Wizard's bonded item, but not for the black blade. Am I missing something?
It is reasonable to treat this ability as RAI, but Sagotel is a PFS character. Should the issue arise, I shall simply pay for a sufficient number of Mending spells unless the developers rule otherwise.EDIT A Mending spell cast by a 1st level cleric costs 5 gp: not a big deal for a 3rd level PC.
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I agree with you. If I were the judge, I wouldn't impose the restriction on a player. If I were the player, I would just pay the gold to have some Mending spells cast unless the judge told me otherwise. I definitely would not invest the 375 gold in a wand of Mending, considering how infrequently the situation is going to arise.
Another way to do this one is to be a Magus with both the Soul Forger/Black Blade archetypes and have your Black Blade be your item familiar. In this manner, your Black Blade is also your item familiar and if damaged will simply be repaired the next time you prepare spells.
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A black blade is bonded to a particular magus, much like a familiar, but in more of a partnership than a master-servant relationship.If a bonded object is damaged, it is restored to full hit points the next time the wizard prepares his spells.While this isn't technically a RULE, I would say it's clear that the RAI is to treat a Black Blade as a wizard's Arcane Bonded weapon for purposes of "healing" it. For all other purposes, the Black Blade is more like a familiar. It's kind of a fusion of both methods of Arcane Bond.
Also concur that a viable alternative is to have a Wand of Mending.
Or you could use an ioun stone to give yourself unlimited access to the mending cantrip for 1000. It depends on how frequently you expect items to be damaged.
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The magus is a warmage first and foremost. Spells like mending are what support casters are for! They're also not meant for magic items that are of a bit of a quasi-artifact nature like the black blade. Besides... the magus can automatically repair damage to his blade when he prepares his spells.He should use mending. The only problem is that mending isn't in the magus spell list.
It is a strange omission as the only two classes with cantrips that don't get mending are the inquisitor and the magus.
buying a wand of mending could be a worthwhile investment.
Citation needed. Or put another way, you have anything to upport your opinion?
A black blade is bonded to a particular magus, much like a familiar, but in more of a partnership than a master-servant relationship.If a bonded object is damaged, it is restored to full hit points the next time the wizard prepares his spells.While this isn't technically a RULE, I would say it's clear that the RAI is to treat a Black Blade as a wizard's Arcane Bonded weapon for purposes of "healing" it. For all other purposes, the Black Blade is more like a familiar. It's kind of a fusion of both methods of Arcane Bond.
Also concur that a viable alternative is to have a Wand of Mending.
A wizard bonded item has several other abilities that a black blade doesn't have.
If any bonded "thing" is restored to full hit point when you regain spells, a druid or ranger animal companion is restored to full health when he regain his spells.Another way to do this one is to be a Magus with both the Soul Forger/Black Blade archetypes and have your Black Blade be your item familiar. In this manner, your Black Blade is also your item familiar and if damaged will simply be repaired the next time you prepare spells.
I have considered that combo. The soul forger give away too many abilities, especially considering that RAW a black blade can't be further enchanted.
Mending only works on magic items if cast at a high enough CL compared to the CL of the item. That could limit a wand of mending being useful.
+ mending has a weight limit depending on CL.
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Mending only works on magic items if cast at a high enough CL compared to the CL of the item. That could limit a wand of mending being useful.
+ mending has a weight limit depending on CL.
Good catch, I had completely forgotten that.
Nice problem: what is the CL of a black blade?Now we have a serious problem:
Repairing Magic Items
Repairing a magic item requires material components equal to half the cost to create the item, and requires half the time. The make whole spell can also repair a damaged (or even a destroyed) magic items—if the caster is high enough level.
No official CL to use as a base for mending/make whole (I would probably rule that the weapon CL is the same as the magus class level, but it is a personal rule).
No price on which to base the cost of repairing the weapon, and beside that the price cited above is the cost to repair a destroyed magic item.RAW it is not repaired when you memorize your spells. Especially as we have a rule that say "If broken, the black blade is unconscious and powerless until repaired." Unconscious and powerless don't seem in line with the idea "fully repaired when you regain your spells".
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Trying to make a FAQ question out of this, so say if you think it is good enough (or hit the FAQ button to approve it):
FAQ question:
How do you repair a damaged black blade seeing as:
- it has no listed CL to use mending/make whole ;
- it has no listed price to repair it at half cost?
I never said it was easy. I only stated that a CL 1 wand of mending will not be enough. And while I already feared that there might be no CL given for the black blade I was too lazy to look it up.
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Black blades are unreadable as long as they have at least one point in there arcane pool. Don't use their arcane pool up and the cannot be harmed. IMO the arcane transfer should be able to go both ways so the magus can transfer one arcane point to his black blade to make sure it always has one point in its arcane pool. The blade bound magus should take the arcane theft spell as well. If the magus gets a mythic tier he should consider taking legendary item for his black blade.
Black blades are unreadable as long as they have at least one point in there arcane pool. Don't use their arcane pool up and the cannot be harmed. IMO the arcane transfer should be able to go both ways so the magus can transfer one arcane point to his black blade to make sure it always has one point in its arcane pool. The blade bound magus should take the arcane theft spell as well. If the magus gets a mythic tier he should consider taking legendary item for his black blade.
First I'm not sure what you mean with unreadable. If you mean indestructable that's wrong, they are just immune to the broken condition but they can be damaged or destroyed.
I meant unbreakable As long as a black blade has one arcane point in its arcane pool it the black blade is unbeakable. Meaning the black blade is immune to the broken condition. Thus it cannot be sundered or broken by any physical means. It can be disjunctioned end or disintrigated.
Incorrect. There's another thread on the boards that pretty much debunks this. The unbreakable special ability simply makes the immune to the broken condition, it doesn't make them so they don't take damage. So, if it has 10 hp, and it takes 7, it doesn't gain the broken condition, but if it takes 3 more hp it is destroyed. It never was broken, but it eventually was destroyed.
edit : Thread in question
The thread itself is only another debate, but by itself it's not a ruling, just other people discussing the same issue.I meant unbreakable As long as a black blade has one arcane point in its arcane pool it the black blade is unbeakable. Meaning the black blade is immune to the broken condition. Thus it cannot be sundered or broken by any physical means. It can be disjunctioned end or disintrigated.
Incorrect. There's another thread on the boards that pretty much debunks this. The unbreakable special ability simply makes the immune to the broken condition, it doesn't make them so they don't take damage. So, if it has 10 hp, and it takes 7, it doesn't gain the broken condition, but if it takes 3 more hp it is destroyed. It never was broken, but it eventually was destroyed.
edit : Thread in question
I suggest you post any Rules items showing that the blade is immune to taking damage or destruction in that thread then. So far, nobody has been able to find any rules crunch supporting that it is immune to damage, and plenty to support it can be damaged.
About the CL needed to use mending or make whole on the blade: We could use the CL for magic weapons which (if I remember right) is three times the enhancement bonus. Sure it gets additional bonuses but that would at least be a guideline.
That would mean you could use a CL 3 mending (if the weight limit is enough) to repair a damaged +1 blade.
Black blades are unreadable as long as they have at least one point in there arcane pool. Don't use their arcane pool up and the cannot be harmed. IMO the arcane transfer should be able to go both ways so the magus can transfer one arcane point to his black blade to make sure it always has one point in its arcane pool. The blade bound magus should take the arcane theft spell as well. If the magus gets a mythic tier he should consider taking legendary item for his black blade.
Another way to gain back Arcane Points would be to make your weapon out of Wyroot so that when you confirm a critical hit, you'll regain an arcane point. Since both the Black Blade and the Magus have their own arcane points, you'd have to choose which pool gains the arcane point at the time of the crit.
I'm not sure if a black blade can be made of special materials.
I'm not sure if a black blade can be made of special materials.
In or of itself, it couldn't be made from special materials, but here's an interesting writeup from the Black Blade archetype:
"Black Blades
A black blade is a particular form of intelligent weapon gained by a magus with the bladebound archetype. There are several ways a magus might gain this weapon. Sometimes it just appears among the magus’s possessions, and its origin is a mystery. Other times the magus finds a black blade during an adventure or event of some kind. Sometimes a black blade is passed down generation to generation in an ongoing search for a magus who can unlock its true potential.
A black blade is always a one-handed slashing weapon, a rapier, or a sword cane. The magus chooses the blade’s type upon gaining the blade, and once chosen, it can’t be changed. As a bladebound magus increases in level, his black blade gains power.
A black blade is independently conscious but features some personality traits reflecting its wielder. A black blade always has the same alignment as its wielder and even changes its alignment if its wielder does. The blade typically works toward its wielder’s goals, but not always without argument or backlash. Each black blade has a mission, and while sometimes two or more black blades will work in concert, each mission is singular in purpose (the black blade’s mission is usually up to the GM and the needs of the campaign or the adventure, or a GM can determine the weapon’s purpose randomly using Table: Intelligent Item Purpose). Some black blades are very open about their missions, but most are secretive. Certain sages have speculated that an invisible hand or arcane purpose moves these weapons."
My GM's and I argued that you would gain a blade if you dind't already have a one-handed sword in your possession, but if you did have a one-handed sword already, your weapon would become the Black Blade.
So I usually end up letting my Magus Soul Forger swing away with his free blade (Arcane Bonded Item, Soul Forger archetype) and hope it gets destroyed, then I rebuild my bonded item into a wyroot weapon by second level so that by third level the only weapon in my possession is a wyroot sword for my Black Blade to take over. That said, I don't usually go for that route since it requires breaking my own sword on purpose just to make my arcane bonded item into a special material just in time for my black blade to appear. So the above scenario is an interesting way to get your black blade to be made of an unusual material, but I wouldn't suggest doing so, otherwise you're simply gaining the system just to get your preferred weapon type.
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We already know that a black blade cannot be further enchanted. We also know that in the hands of anyone other than its magus, the black blade appears to be nothing more than a masterwork weapon.
Therefore, I argue that the black blade can be repaired just as any other nonmagical weapon can be repaired.
Or we can make things complicated. The black blade of a third level magus is a +1 one-handed weapon, so it has 15 hit points. Reforging the weapon would cost 600 gold pieces, 40 gold per hit point. One could calculate this cost at each level.
I'm not sure if a black blade can be made of special materials.In or of itself, it couldn't be made from special materials, but here's an interesting writeup from the Black Blade archetype:
"Black Blades
A black blade is a particular form of intelligent weapon gained by a magus with the bladebound archetype. There are several ways a magus might gain this weapon. Sometimes it just appears among the magus’s possessions, and its origin is a mystery. Other times the magus finds a black blade during an adventure or event of some kind. Sometimes a black blade is passed down generation to generation in an ongoing search for a magus who can unlock its true potential.
My GM's and I argued that you would gain a blade if you dind't already have a one-handed sword in your possession, but if you did have a one-handed sword already, your weapon would become the Black Blade.
I don't see how you can possibly derive the latter from the former. None of the examples are "Suddenly, your weapon becomes a black blade". It's "Suddenly, you find a new sword - it's a black blade", "You loot a new sword - it's a black blade", or "You're given a new sword - it's a black blade".
Obviously, you and your GMs can workout whatever you want to for your game, but it seems silly to me to bend the rules into a pretzel to allow a certain bizzare combo to work, and not just say "Ok, we're ignoring that rule".
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I don't see how you can possibly derive the latter from the former. None of the examples are "Suddenly, your weapon becomes a black blade". It's "Suddenly, you find a new sword - it's a black blade", "You loot a new sword - it's a black blade", or "You're given a new sword - it's a black blade".Obviously, you and your GMs can workout whatever you want to for your game, but it seems silly to me to bend the rules into a pretzel to allow a certain bizzare combo to work, and not just say "Ok, we're ignoring that rule".
Sometimes a black blade is passed down generation to generation in an ongoing search for a magus who can unlock its true potential.
It will require a careful choice of traits and class abilities, but you can have bladebound mage that is a Soul Forger or/and has the Rich parents traits.
With Soul forger he would start with a free masterwork weapon.
Making it a cold iron weapon would cost as much as the base cost of the weapon (a cold iron cost twice as much to make as their normal counterparts, but half of that is part of the free masterwork weapon) and making it alchemical silver would cost 90 gp.
At 3rd level he would unlock the powers of the blade and it would become his black blade.
Adding rich parents he could have a weapon made in Fire-forged, Frost-forged steel or Living steel.
If the GM subscribe the interpretation that haft is the same thing of hilt (I disagree with that interpretation but if we use the dictionary definition it has a base) he could even get a weapon with a wyroot hilt. [Edit, he would be short by 100 gp, I don't know if there is some other feat or trait that will give him that money]
Even taking only rich parents he would be capable to afford a masterwork weapon in cold iron, alchemical silver or living steel.
A generous GM could allow the player to pay the difference and allow him to get a weapon made of special materials when he get the blackblade at level 3.
After getting your weapon there is a "simple" way to "add" special materials to it.
You get the weapon "accidentally" destroyed, then reforge it from scratch using special materials.
I meant unbreakable As long as a black blade has one arcane point in its arcane pool it the black blade is unbeakable. Meaning the black blade is immune to the broken condition. Thus it cannot be sundered or broken by any physical means. It can be disjunctioned end or disintrigated.
Show me the rule that says something immune to the broken condition cannot be sundered. I can save you the time. It doesn't exist.
The Unbreakable archetype class feature gives you immunity to the broken condition. It can be used at full strength and with full capabilities all the way down to the point where it is destroyed. Nothing more. No immunity to sunder. No immunity to destruction. No immunity to being damaged.
If you want to debate that, go to the other thread linked in a post above. This thread is about how to REPAIR your damaged Black Blade.
A wizard bonded item has several other abilities that a black blade doesn't have.
Correct. Not in contention. It doesn't have to be the identical item to use the identical mechanics. Notice as well I said it wasn't a rule, or even RAW, but RAI due to the flavor text specifically listing it as a bonded item to the Magus (who is pretty much half Wizard).
If any bonded "thing" is restored to full hit point when you regain spells, a druid or ranger animal companion is restored to full health when he regain his spells.
Incorrect. I never said this would apply to any bonded thing. Those are your words. Mine are specifically to be taken in the context of repairing a bonded weapon by using the existing Wizard mechanics for bonded items. Applying it tangientally to other bonded items or even creatures outside the Magus or Wizard class are absolutely inapplicable. Animal companions have their own hit points and heal using CREATURE healing mechanics. Not ITEM healing mechanics. This example is apples and oranges.
At any rate, if a Black Blade is NOT treated as a Wizard's bonded weapon for the purpose of healing after being damaged, then we are left to Make Whole or Mend as ways to repair it.
Personally, I don't see any unbalancing issue with the Black Blade healing when the Magus reprepares his spells. Does anyone else?
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Black Blade Basics: A black blade is bonded to a particular magus, much like a familiar, but in more of a partnership than a master-servant relationship.
Like a familiar, not like a bonded item. A familiar don't return to full health when you regain the spells.
The way the Blackblade abilities and characteristics work, with them increasing as the Bladebound magus increase in level, is more similar to the way in which a familiar abilities work than the way in which a bonded item ability work.