Belzac Boomshot's page

"Rocks n' stones, what in blazes are ya talkin' about?" Belzac asks Varga, utterly baffled by his aged pop culture references. Not that he has any idea that those are what they are, of course.

"If dem Gomoks an' slavers are the same, then it makes our job that much easier," Belzac says, brushing a thumb over his nose. "No point in wastin' more time. If we get a movin', maybe we can get the drop on 'em."

"We're a long way from Fair'aven," Belzac says at last, having taken the past several moments with a grain of salt. His hand never moves far from the large holster on his belt, but he never shows any hostility towards Romycas. Stroking his long, braided beard, the dwarf continues.

"The mayor don't like it, but aways from town, there ain't no rules 'bout slavery or nothin', because there ain't no one to enforce 'em. Out here, it's all 'bout what you can take. Dem critters from before take hair, slavers take slaves, and dem Gomoks take my damned instruments. Might take yer lives, too, if y'all mess dis up. So listen to the the Tall Woman an' don't split up."

Surrounded by the strange creatures, Belzac assumes a defensive stance, once hand readied by the holster on his belt.

"Don't even think 'bout it," he says roughly, his fingers moving with a gunslinger's twitch, "Ye ain't yankin' on this beard. Not in a thousan' years. Now get outta here, b'fore I decide to put ya in some stew after all. I'm starved."

The dwarf was not quite sure if they understood a single word he just said, or if they were even edible, but he was willing to take chances on both accounts.

"Hmm. I bet that thing'd taste good in a stew with some taters," Belzac comments, hearing the talking cat's question.

"Well, I s'pose I could dig up some roots..." Belzac mumbles, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. The dwarf had lived on the road long enough to know what was good for eating, and what wasn't. He very nearly shudders when he recalls what had happened with the speckled shroom. "Just don't come cryin' to me if it don't taste good. Some of your hume' stomachs might not be able to handle it."

Belzac regards the display of Finwa's power with a curious expression, but merely shakes his head when offered a pillow. "Nah, I'm fine, thanks. I'mma jus find a nice rock to sleep on."

"Got some of the ol' darkvision myself. Comes with the stoneblood, y'see."

"There's a music shop in Fairaven called Flutes n' Chimes," Belzac says, nodding when Bryn mentions his lost instrument, "But it just ain't the same without your own instrument. It's like a piece o' your soul is missin'. You can't jus' replace that." The dwarf huffs, pushing back some of his hair.

"We'd best get a move-on. I've got some Gomoks to shoot up."

Belzac seems to brighten up considerably at the mention of Bryn's band. "Ah, so you're a musician too?" he asks, the flying gorilla debacle floating out of his mind, "Yeah, my beaut's a 'coustic alright. It does got one of them holes for an amp, though. O' course, they don't seem to have that much 'lectricity up here on the surface."

Despite the revelation that the Gomoktooths are incapable of flight, Belzac turns his gaze back to the sky, as though something might swoop down and snatch one of them up at any time. Swooping is bad, after all.

"They can fly, I swear!" the dwarf claims, before going quiet. He contemplatively strokes his beard, as though he had just remembered something. "Wait, no... wait a sec... Could they fly? Or was it dem goats..." he mutters, lost in thought. He decides to leave out the fact that his entire band had been drunk out of their minds when the Gomoktooth attacked them.

"What in the bloody 'ell is a 'Deathmatch Extravaganzer?'" Belzac asks, the whole 'safari' and 'season' nonsense flying over his head. Mus' be some surface folk nonsense...

"I'll let Scruffy take the lead," Belzac says, having mostly kept to himself over the past night. The small group was an odd bunch, but then again, everything on the surface was odd to him. To make a point, he pats the bulging holster at his side, then points up. "B'sides, someone's gotta keep an eye on the skies. I ain't lettin' no Gomok snatch me up. Not without a fight, at least."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." the dwarf mumbles as he stands, patting dust off his duster. He then pulls the man he attacked off the ground, taking the time to straighten his collar. "Same time next week, eh?" he tells him, before walking off without a care in the world. "Like I said, I was already plannin' gettin' my stuff back." He regards the odd group with a stony gaze before nodding to himself. "If y'all are goin' in that direction anyways, I might's well tag along."

"Gimme jus' one sec..." Belzac says to Charlene when the man's hand lands on his shoulder, his voice trembling with anger. When the man shoves him, the dwarf's hand reaches out to grab the closest object he could find. It just so happens to be an empty liquor bottle.

"Here's yer bloody harp, ya sonuvab@@~!!" he suddenly bellows, turning to swing the glass bottle at the man's head. The sound of shattering glass splits through the air as the bottle explodes into a thousand pieces. Not one to avoid escalating a situation, he immediately discards the broken bottleneck and tries to follow up by tackling the man.

"For the last time, it ain't no blasted flute or any of that slag!" Belzac yells, tossing up his arms up in annoyance. Having finally noticed the newcomers, he takes the opportunity to vent his frustrations at them, turning away from the infuriating owner. "Just 'cause it got strings don't make it no damned harp! Them Gomoks took my guitar; no telling what in blazes they plan on doin' with it though. I was just on my way to git it back right when this ignoramus got in my face." He tosses the owner yet another look.

Tag.

"Watch ye bloody mouth, hume! I don't mind ya servin' me lousy ale, or bein' a cheapskate with yer pay, or even makin' me pay extra for room n' board, but don't ya DARE call me a liar!" The owner of the angry, robust voice spits on the ground, as though the very idea of dishonesty disgusted him. A thick, callused finger emerges from the shadows, pointing at the large human. "Dem Gomoks got my stuff, and I intend to get it back. You'll get yer show, so for the time bein', I'll be holdin' onto my money."

Having apparently settled with the owner, he quickly directs his disdain towards the human who had the audacity to taunt him. "And flute? Flute? Come an' say that to my face! Do I look like a bloody elf to ye?! If ya want some of that junk ye best go prancin' into the forest! I bet you'll 'ave plenty of fun in there!"

"Ye don't 'av to worry bout carrying my things around. I don't trust leavin' the axe in anyone else's hands," Belzac says, patting the assembly of items slung on his back.

"So, what would be the plan? Unless I heard wrong, you folk won that showdown."

"What in the bloody 'ell is an accordion? Whatever it is, I don't like it. But y'all can see, I have the guitar covered."

Belzac grunts, seemingly unimpressed by Jonah's performance.

"Yeah, yeah, so ye can get yer knickers off and on real fast... big whoop. Now MY art is something to behold!"

Reaching over his shoulder, Belzac pulls out his guitar and breaks out into a boisterous solo that rips through the air.

Perform (guitar): 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (20) + 13 = 33

Belzac's expression turns grim as he lets out a sigh.

"Of course you aven't... sometimes I forget that you surface folk have no taste in music whatsoever. Not that it matters anyways - the Kegs don't exist no more. All got themselves blown to smithereens, 'cept me..." the dwarf's face goes melancholy before he breaks out into a smile, "But bah, who needs 'em? I was the only good thing about that band anyway!"

Sizing up Squealy Nord at a glance, Belzace smooths out a beard braid and nods to himself.

"Not exactly what I was expectin', but I suppose you'll do. I been tryin' to get into a new band for months, but I kept gettin' turned down. Not everybody can appreciate my art, you see."

A look of outrage passes over Belzac's face at the suggestion of being shaven.

"Me - a dwarf - shaven? Are you out of ye bloody mind? Now ye listen here, now...!"

His tirade dies out before it even begins when he hears Vinny's question, his expression becoming one of surprise. Gathering himself up, he takes the opportunity to boast.

"Well now, I'd be the lead guitarist of the Powder Kegs, the loudest, most explosive band in the under-deep!" he says with gusto, before looking over the members of Squealy Nord with a raised, bushy brow, "Surely y'all heard of us before, eh?"

Unfortunately for the dwarf, braided facial hair seems to be in style this year.

"Oi! What in blazes are ye doin'? Hands off the beard!"

Likewise! Dotting here for now.

Alright, that should put me at 39 hp unless I royally screwed up the math somewhere along the line.

Here's the fluff and crunch for Belzac Boomshot, bard/mysterious stranger (and prospective guitarist).

Virtua Monk wrote:

"A black blade normally refuses to use any of its abilities when wielded by anyone other than its magus, and acts as a masterwork weapon of its type."

It may function as a masterwork weapon, but it is not a masterwork weapon. You need an actual masterwork weapon before you can add enhancements. Additionally, since it is not a masterwork weapon it cannot be selected as an arcane bond.

Virtua Monk wrote:

The rules say only permanent magical items can be intelligent, so the black blade would have to qualify as a magical item [weapon] and therefore must be masterwork.

That simply prevents temporarily magical items from being turned into an intelligent magical item. Your logic usage is backwards, and in this instance faulty. Only permanent magical items can become intelligent magical items. A black blade, though intelligent, is not an intelligent magical item.

Virtua Monk wrote:

From that and the description of how a Black Blade can be acquired I think it is fair to conclude that if the Bladebound Magus is less than level 3 and has the Black Blade, it would function as a masterwork weapon of it's type until the bond is formed, at which point the powers manifest (thus allowing the weapon to be gained via the heirloom weapon trait.)

False, and I believe I saw this one clarified by a developer somewhere. The blade is gained at level 3. If someone already has the item, it cannot be gained.

blackbloodtroll wrote:

What about the masterwork transformation spell?

There is no such thing as a masterwork black blade. As it has no masterwork equivalent, the spell has no effect.

blackbloodtroll wrote:

Is the Black Blade not subject to spells, such as magic weapon?

If the blade is a valid target spells like magic weapon should function normally.

blackbloodtroll wrote:

Using the Craft Construct to make the Black Blade an animated object can be combined with construct modifications.

If you create an appropriate construct form and if...

My question here is not how to twist the rules, but actually came about by an innocent question someone else asked that got me thinking. Someone wanted to create a Dex based bladebound kensai on the Aldori Dueling sword instead of being forced to make a carbon copy Dervish Dance Scimitar version. As a GM I thought, well, why shouldn't he be able to? Pathfinder is about imagination, not unnecessarily restricting people and forcing them down a path.

The issue was that using the Aldori Dueling Sword instead of the Dervish Dance + Scimitar meant that he would lose out on Dex damage, or have to also build up strength. The simple solution (i.e. without creating any additional rules or feats) was to suggest having the weapon enchanted as a +1 Agile Sword. Problem solved, character concept approved. Up until he could get the enchantment done he'll have to suck it up.

At this point a lot of people have raised several good points and there has been some repetition for responses so I think I'll start with a quick summary of what we've been discussing before addressing Heaven's Agent's claims of logical fallacy. On that note I am attempting to interpret the rules using Ockham's Razor. "select among competing hypotheses that which makes the fewest assumptions and thereby offers the simplest explanation of the effect."

As a starting point I will summarize only points of fact. Once the relevant facts are compiled we can look at the conclusions we can draw with the minimum number of assumptions necessary to create a standard and fair method of dealing with Black Blades.

Origin and Acquisition of the Black Blade

1) As a class feature a Bladebound Magus is provided, without any additional cost, a one-handed slashing weapon of their choice at level 3 (or rapier or sword cane).

2) Also at level three, the Bladebound Magus class ability allows their chosen weapon to manifest powers and intelligence that scale with the level of the Magus. When this happens the weapon is known as a Black Blade. Class Abilities that grant powers to a weapon and scale with level is not a new concept, paladins also get this ability.

3) The item is bonded to the Magus and the class based abilities granted to the blade only function for the Magus. Also not a unique concept, a paladin's Divine Bonded weapon functions this way, as does the Arcane Bonded Item of a wizard or the arrows of an Arcane Archer. In each of these cases enhancement bonuses or abilities granted as part of the Class Ability can be added to existing enhancements as per the normal rules.

4) The weapon that is to become their Black Blade comes into the Bladebound Magus's possession by any number of means (with some common examples provided in the description). [assumption: This is most likely intended to provide the GM and the player the freedom to create an interesting character concept or Campaign plot.]

5) The Black Blade takes the spot of a familiar. It cannot be a familiar or bonded item for any other class, nor can the Bladebound Magus have a familiar or bonded item from any other class.

6) The weapon is granted as a class feature and has no price. [Assumption: the price is the regular Magus abilities given up to become a Bladebound Magus, like any other archetype that loses normal class abilities to gain new ones. The Black Blade is a powerful class ability and is already balanced out by the powers taken away when the archetype was designed.]

Ockham's Razor: The Black Blade should be treated exactly like any other intelligent magic item. For any effect, spell, enhancement, feat, etc. the normal prerequisites must still be met unless a specific exception is provided. Class Abilities granted by the Bladebound Magus level interact with other enchantments, spells or abilities exactly like the common rules from other classes that grant abilities to bonded items unless a specific rule in the Bladebound Archetype description says otherwise. So a Bladebound Magus would not gain the Wizard's unique ability to enchant their bonded item without the mandatory crafting feat.

Conclusions:

The Black Blade has no permanent enchantments (all are class based ability) so the powers of a Black Blade are not calculated into the cost of enhancements. However, because there is no rule excluding the Blade Blade from a total +10 enhancement modifier, this must be factored in to whether or not an enhancement (of any kind) can be added to the blade.

In his final battle our hero doesn't get knocked out and finds himself fighting the Omega Hydra. Using his Arcane Pool he summons the power of his +5 Agile Black Blade to make it Vorpal...and it fails as this would put the enhancement bonus up to +11. Our hero contemplates all the battles over the years where having the Agile ability on the sword was really awesome and wonders if it was worthwhile

Making an assumption that a weapon capable of being an intelligent magic item would not be masterwork is not consistent with the concept of a Black Blade, nor the rules for intelligent magic items. Because the specific rules for the Black Blade say that in the hands of anyone but the Magus the Black Blade functions as a masterwork weapon this is a specific addition to the rule that Bonded Items function only for their owner. If, in the hands of a someone trying to enchant the weapon, the Black Blade functions like a masterwork weapon, could he enchant it? Because it functions like a masterwork weapon it meets the prerequisite so...Yes. Therefore, since there is a specific rule about the nature of the Black Blade, it is always a masterwork item The details, such as who pays the masterwork fee are game balance issues.

This may require that the character pay the 300g to make the item masterwork either at character creation (if they have the weapon that will become their Black Blade from the beginning) or at level 3 when the Black comes into their possession. Alternately, the GM can provide the player with a masterwork weapon at level three that becomes their Black Blade. (For all you nay sayers, what do you do if the GM gives the Magus a +1 Sword at level 3 and says "here's your Black Blade"?)

Powers of the Black Blade

1) A Black Blade is a weapon. It is a unique, physical weapon that can be broken by normal means.

2) The Black Blade must have an Arcane Pool to to be unbreakable. Thus if the Black Blade has used it's Arcane Pool it can be broken. In the hands of anyone but the Bladebound Magus it functions as a masterwork weapon and can be broken.

3) The unique Black Blade powers granted by the Bladebound Archetype do not prevent the Black Blade from benefiting from powers granted by Magus Arcana, spells and magical items such as Scabbard of Keen Edges.

4) Black Blades have an Ego Score that scales with the Bladebound Magus level. This Ego Score progression is a non-standard progression specifically designed to balance out the class.

5) Intelligent Item Ego scores are based on adding the combined modifiers (including mental stats) to the existing Ego Score of an intelligent item. This includes the Base Value modifier of the total enchantments on the item (as per the chart)

6) Additional powers added to intelligent items follow the standard Ego Modifier chart.

Ockham's Razor: An Ego Score is the base number that is modified. Unless a specific rule says the modification of an Ego Score is non-standard, it follows the standard rules for modification found in the Intelligent Items section.

Conclusions

A Black Blade follows the non-standard Ego Score Progression Chart that is subject to the same modification rules as other intelligent items. The base Ego Score of a Black Blade is the number provided in the Table: Black Blade Progression. Any additional powers or abilities that add modifiers to an Intelligent Item's Ego Score follow the rules for Intelligent Items and are added to the existing Ego Score of the Black Blade.

The initial value of the Black Blade is 0, as it's a class granted feature. The Ego Score Modifier for making it a +1 Agile weapon is +2 due to the base magic item value of 8000gp. Thus a "level 3" Black Blade has an Ego Score of 5+2 for a total of 7 and at level 5 it is 8+2 for a total of 10, etc.

Now as far as Heaven's Agent's claims of some logical fallacies on my part I'll try to address some.

It is not necessary for a magic item to exist prior to being intelligent, thus your statement about only permanent magic items can become intelligent is logically false. An item can be made intelligent at the same time (but not before) it is made magical as part of the creation process. Therefore, logically, the necessary and sufficient condition for intelligence in an item is that it is also permanently magical. The Black Blade is magical so it can be intelligent. Up until it is magical it is not intelligent. Logically sound.

To add to this the description of the Black Blade describes is specifically as a "particular form of intelligent weapon". No where does it say it is not magical and in fact if you look at the Black Blade Progression chart, it is a +1 weapon.

The rules on intelligent items are straightforward and the description of the Black Blade does not contradict them.

Ockham's Razor: Since it is specifically described as an intelligent weapon, it has a +1 magic enhancement, there is nothing saying it isn't magical and only permanent magic items can be intelligent it must be a magical weapon. In the hands of anyone else, it's both the magic and the intelligence are suppressed, but it is still a Black Blade. At no point is it ever magical and not intelligent, nor intelligent but not magical.

All that aside, adding abilities does prevent powerful ones like Vorpal being added later on. I think a more elegant solution would be to either add a Magus Arcana, a feat or ideally a class ability that allows a "wielder of a Black Blade to add their dexterity modifier to damage instead of Strength if their Black Blade can benefit from Weapon Finesse and the Magus has the Weapon Finesse Feat".

I mean seriously...the guy dedicates his whole life to the blade, but some prancing bard can add dex damage because he can dance with a scimitar and the magus can't, even if he's studied enough Aldori Dueling to wield an Aldori Dueling Blade? Dervish Dance is not supernatural so it's obviously learnable.

This fails the common sense test as far as I'm concerned.

The Black Blade is not classed as either a magic or mundane item, it is a class feature (and is described in it's description as such), more like a familiar than anything else, and thus cannot be further enchanted. When it is being described as being found as part of treasure that is merely to give an RP reason to how and why they have it, background purposes only.

It was supposed to be augmented by a Magus via their Arcane Pool ability. There is one other way it can be enhanced, it is called "Gaining more Magus levels" that is the only way.

It's a class feature that grants a weapon. The actual wording is very clear.

"the bladebound magus’ gains a powerful sentient weapon called a black blade..."

Following your logic that the Black Blade is similar to the Wizard Bonded Item class feature (and I agree) you find this in the Wizard class description:

"A wizard can add additional magic abilities to his bonded object as if he has the required Item Creation Feats and if he meets the level prerequisites of the feat. For example, a wizard with a bonded dagger must be at least 5th level to add magic abilities to the dagger (see Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat)."

So not only can a wizard can further enchant their bonded item, they can do it without even needing to acquire any crafting feats! (Not a class feature of the Bladebound Magus however)

Similarly, the paladin's Divine Bond with a weapon also allows additional enchantments to the bonded weapon.

so...I don't see the issue. However, I agree the Bladebound Magus' black blade is more like the bonded item for a wizard than the paladin's Divine Bond.

It just seems like people are hung up on a the idea that a class feature is not an actual "thing", rather than seeing it as a class feature that grants an item. If the other classes that have bonded item class features can add additional enchantments to their item, why would a class that is built around dedicating themselves to their bonded item be restricted? It's not a "game balance" issue either since the +10 cap is still in effect and there are TONS of examples of spells that temporarily affect magic items.

I have a serious issue with the threads I've read about black blade enhancement.

Everyone seems to say you can't permanently add to the enhancement of your black blade (i.e. through craft magic arms).

From what I've read of the acquisition of the Black Blade there is nothing saying that the blade can't be a magic weapon to begin with, or even that it can't be an heirloom weapon.

"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."

From the Magus rules: "At 5th level, these bonuses can be used to add any of the following weapon properties: dancing, flaming, flaming burst, frost, icy burst, keen, shock, shocking burst, speed, or vorpal."

This is virtually identical to the paladin's Divine Bond:
"These bonuses can be added to the weapon, stacking with existing weapon bonuses to a maximum of +5, or they can be used to add any of the following weapon properties: axiomatic, brilliant energy, defending, disruption, flaming, flaming burst, holy, keen, merciful, and speed."

and finally, from the magic weapon section:
Some magic weapons have special abilities. Special abilities count as additional bonuses for determining the market value of the item, but do not modify attack or damage bonuses (except where specifically noted). A single weapon cannot have a modified bonus (enhancement bonus plus special ability bonus equivalents, including those from character abilities and spells) higher than +10. A weapon with a special ability must also have at least a +1 enhancement bonus. Weapons cannot possess the same special ability more than once.

From this I can conclude the following:

1) A magus can receive his black blade at 1st level as an heirloom weapon, but the black blade powers do not "manifest" until the the character is sufficiently powerful (i.e. level 3). Until level 3 it is, for all intents and purposes, a normal weapon.

2) A magus can find his (or her or it's) black blade in a pile of treasure. Therefore the black blade itself is an item and is independent of the class ability that grants the weapon additional powers and abilities.

3) If the black blade has permanent enhancement(s) the magus cannot use the class ability to enhance the black blade past the +10 enhancement restriction. The enhancements are temporary enhancements granted by the class ability and therefore do not violate the +10 cap. This may mean that a magus cannot choose one of the special abilities (e.g. a magus that has a permanently enchanted +1 Brilliant Energy black blade can never choose Vorpal as this would create a +11 weapon, even if it is temporary)

4) A Magus can further permanently enchant the Black Blade, so long as the +10 cap is not violated. While this might require getting the blade itself to agree, as long as it is beneficial to the sword's ultimate goal. ("Hey Mr. Black Blade, I know you hate Demons so would you mind if I enchanted you with Holy and Bane (Demons)?")

The idea that "the rules don't explicitly say you can so you can't" is always overidden by ultimate pathfinder rule that the "rules" in the book are "guidelines".

On a slight tangent there is no mention if the black blade can be made of a special material. Is it so crazy that an elven magus inherits his father's mithril longsword and that for millenia the family has been trying to unlock to full potential of the sword?

Does this make sense? I'm no expert but this seems to follow the rules and more importantly the spirit of what a Black Blade is supposed to be.