Relevant in bold.
Sharding
Price +2 bonus; Aura moderate conjuration; CL 10thDESCRIPTION
Restriction: This ability can be placed only on melee or thrown weapons.
The wielder of a sharding weapon can make a special ranged attack with the weapon in place of any melee attack. To do this, the wielder goes through the motion of throwing the weapon without releasing it. The weapon splits off a duplicate of itself that flies as if thrown by the wielder at the intended target. The duplicate gains a range increment of 10 feet for this purpose, but uses the same proficiency and otherwise functions the same as the original weapon. The duplicate vanishes after hitting or missing its target.
Deflection
School abjuration [force]; Level sorcerer/wizard 7; Subdomain defense 7CASTING
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (a piece of rubber dipped in glue)EFFECT
Range personal
Targets you
Duration 1 round/levelDESCRIPTION
You surround yourself in a whirling barrier of force that sends any attack that misses you hurling back toward its source.
This applies to any melee or ranged attack directed against you so long as it uses an attack roll to determine whether or not it strikes you. If an attack misses you, the attacker must make a second attack roll against its own Armor Class, using all of the applicable modifiers of the original attack and if it hits, the attacker takes the attack’s damage and suffers all the other consequences of getting struck with that attack. You cannot deflect attacks that miss you for any reason besides a failed attack roll (such as concealment). Similarly, you cannot deflect attacks that actually do strike you but simply fail to do any harm.
Had a disagreement at the table yesterday on how a ‘Sharding Weapon’ would interact with the spell ‘Deflection’.
My take is that you follow the order of operations;
-With a Sharding Weapon, the attacker selects a target and throws a shard at the target.
-The attacker then rolls a d20 to see if it’s a hit or a miss.
-On a hit the shard deals damage to the target and then disappears.
-On a miss the shard disappears before the target’s ‘Deflection’ spell can activate to be turned against attacker.
Their take is;
-The attacker selects a target and throws a shard at the target.
-The attacker then rolls a d20 to see if it’s a hit or a miss.
-On a hit the shard deals damage to the target and then disappears.
-On a miss, the shard arrives at (or near) the target, then Deflection activates and overrides the weapons ability to disappear and forces it to re-target the attacker, forcing the attacker to then make an attack roll against himself.
-Roll d20.
-On a hit the shard deals damage to the attacker and then disappears.
-On a miss the shard arrives at (or near) the attacker and then disappears.
So, which do you fine denizens of the Paizo ‘rules questions’ board think is correct?
Equal specificity, contradicting rules. Expect table variation.
The former is probably more technically correct, but I'd rule the latter at the table because it's more awesome.
Technically, the deflection spell has no requirement for the weapon to continue existing. It doesn't mention the necessity for a weapon at all (and certainly applies to energy attacks and other things that don't persist after the attack.) It would work on a missed attempt to inflict wounds with a touch attack, as an example of a more esoteric attack.
How you want to flavor it is up to you, personally I'd flavor it that the sharding copy didn't disappear until the entire attack was complete, which includes the deflection but really that doesn't matter to the mechanics.
i'd say that it all goes down to the 'intended target'.
say your using the sharding with an ability to rebounce from the main target and hit a second one (there are a few abilities that does so). since you have more then one intended target the shardding won't disapear untill the last attack. (asumiing the bouncing is still in effect even if main target misses). the deflection ability highjack the attacker ability to pick the intended target on a missed attack. and it doesn't end the attack in case it misses.
hack normal arrrows and bolt that miss have 50% to get distroyed by the rules (100% if they hit) if we go with the 'attack is not avialble after the miss to rebounce back' there should be 50% that any such attack would never bounce back becouse it was destroyed when missed. clearly deflection ignore that case, so id rule the missed attack is not distroyed here as well untill after the deflection part is done.
the fact deflection uses the attacker's attack roll bonus and abilities is also an indecation to said highjack, as opposed to say the feat tree that let you deflect ranged attack sent at you and then throw them back using your own attack roll, in which case i would say the shard projectile is gone before thrown back.