Custom Weapon help.


Advice


I am building a weapon that is basically a metal syringe for my poisoner rogue to use. I based the crit on a daggers. It is going have springs set up so it can automatically decompress. This will allow me to just have to push it as if I was injecting the poison, then let go while the tip is in poison. It will fill up and I can quickly use it again. Due to all this here are what I am thinking the stats are:

Name: Metal Syringe

Damage: 1d2 Piercing
Critical: 19-20 2x
Special Ability: Holds one Dose of Poison
Special Ability: Can refill the poison as a free action.
Special Ability: You can choose to inject poison on hit.

So the question is simple, do these stats/abilities look good and what should I price it at.


Free action refilling is insanely good for any character with the slightest interest in using poisons. If I was running a TWF roguish type character I would seriously consider using those instead of daggers just so I could occasionally shove Save or Lose effects onto each and every strike when I needed to really go full power.

Just in case you can't tell, I think you should drop that aspect of the weapon unless you are trying to aggressively buff poison use. It costs a rogue talent just to get the action cost for applying poisons down to a move. There is no way you should get a faster reloading time than that just by sticking the poison in a container instead of over a weapon.


Snowblind wrote:

Free action refilling is insanely good for any character with the slightest interest in using poisons. If I was running a TWF roguish type character I would seriously consider using those instead of daggers just so I could occasionally shove Save or Lose effects onto each and every strike when I needed to really go full power.

Just in case you can't tell, I think you should drop that aspect of the weapon unless you are trying to aggressively buff poison use. It costs a rogue talent just to get the action cost for applying poisons down to a move. There is no way you should get a faster reloading time than that just by sticking the poison in a container instead of over a weapon.

The weapons are meant purely for poisoning. How about a swift or move so you can only do 1 per round. Or maybe make it drawbale as a free or swift action so quick access to it? If all else fails I could try having it hold more then 1 dose?

Scarab Sages

I'd make the weapon fragile with no way of removing the fragile condition as well. That's a precision movement needed to make a syringe work, any damage would break the poison reservoir.


I almost think I would require a feat to use this weapon effectively. Think about a doctor trying to give a shot to a child who is afraid of needles. That sometimes requires a whole extra person to hold the child still. Now consider trying to give someone a shot when they clearly do not want it and are swinging a battle axe at you. Seems basically impossible.

Another thought is instead of a feat there is just a flat percentage chance that the poison will not take full affect due to not making it into the blood stream of the creature.

Last thought, combine my two ideas and have a large miss chance that taking a feat would reduce or remove.


Weapon Master's Handbook:
Simple Light Melee Weapon (4 DP)
Fighter Weapon Group(s): Close
Weapon Qualities: Concealed (1 DP), Lesser Damage (-1 DP), Tool (0 DP, syringe), Improved Critical Multiplier (3 DP), Weapon Feature (deadly, 1 DP)

SQ: This weapon can be loaded with and deliver single dose of poison. Normally, loading the poison into the syringe is a move action, but a character may select the Rapid Reload (syringe) feat to load the poison as a free action.

Honestly this weapon is a bit too strong as a simple weapon, and I'm not sure how to properly allocate design points for the poison use, since there isn't one in the book. It would most likely be a martial or even exotic weapon.

Also this exists for reference, meaning that the weapon is probably really overpowered.

I also cannot find the price of a basic syringe, closest I found was a sewing needle, but that's not applicable here, so assume it's 1gp, for a final price of 11gp.

stats:
light piercing (1d2/x3)

Grand Lodge

Artifix wrote:

I am building a weapon that is basically a metal syringe for my poisoner rogue to use. I based the crit on a daggers. It is going have springs set up so it can automatically decompress. This will allow me to just have to push it as if I was injecting the poison, then let go while the tip is in poison. It will fill up and I can quickly use it again. Due to all this here are what I am thinking the stats are:

Name: Metal Syringe

Damage: 1d2 Piercing
Critical: 19-20 2x
Special Ability: Holds one Dose of Poison
Special Ability: Can refill the poison as a free action.
Special Ability: You can choose to inject poison on hit.

So the question is simple, do these stats/abilities look good and what should I price it at.

Free action refill is really really strong.

Perhaps:

Name: Metal Syringe

Damage: 1 Piercing (if your using this its not about weapon damage.)
Critical: 19-20 2x
Special Ability: Holds one Dose of Poison
Special Ability: Can refill the poison as a Swift action.
Special Ability: You can choose to inject poison on hit.

I would let this accelerate a class into Swift Poisoning...but giving Free action poisoning is a little too strong.

Someone mentioned Fragile weapon...this can also help balance the weapon depending on the price of replacing them.


So something like this?

Name: Metal Syringe
Weapon Type: Simple, Light
Fighter Category: Close
Hands: 1 handed

Damage: 1 Piercing
Critical: 20/3x
Quality: Concealed
Quality: Tool
Quality: Fragile, this can’t be removed
Special Ability: Can hold 2 doses of Poison
Special Ability: Can inject Poison on hit
Special Ability: Can Refill Poison as Swift Action

Cost: 15 gp
Weight: 1/2 Ib

Grand Lodge

Artifix wrote:

So something like this?

Name: Metal Syringe
Weapon Type: Simple, Light
Fighter Category: Close
Hands: 1 handed

Damage: 1 Piercing
Critical: 20/3x
Quality: Concealed
Quality: Tool
Quality: Fragile, this can’t be removed
Special Ability: Can hold 2 doses of Poison
Special Ability: Can inject Poison on hit
Special Ability: Can Refill Poison as Swift Action

Cost: 15 gp
Weight: 1/2 Ib

Perhaps 75-100gp? You don't want this to be too easy to buy at Level 1 starting out...More of a Level 2+ thing. They would still need the poison mind you but some poisons are dirt cheap.


Okay. Also a friend gave me an idea as how to fix the overpowered part. Perhaps instead of having the fragile quality or low damage, make it provoke an attack of opportunity due to it having such limited range. Maybe a feat could remove this or something?


Artifix wrote:
Okay. Also a friend gave me an idea as how to fix the overpowered part. Perhaps instead of having the fragile quality or low damage, make it provoke an attack of opportunity due to it having such limited range. Maybe a feat could remove this or something?

Have it take a move action to reload, and let him use Rapid Reload to do it as either a swift or free action.

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