I'm confused by he crafting magic weapons limitations on pg. 112.
The specific passage is as follows:
The creator’s caster level must be at least three times the enhancement bonus of the weapon. If an item has both an enhancement bonus and a special ability, the higher of the two caster level requirements must be met. A magic weapon must have at least a +1 enhancement bonus to have any melee or ranged special weapon abilities.
According to the SRD, a Magic Weapon with the equivalent of a +10 bonus costs 200,000 gp. This is well within the price range of a level 20 character with 760,000 gold. In fact, such a character might have 2 weapons with bonuses up to that amount.
However... who would be able to craft such a weapon?
According to the crafting rules the "creator's castor level must be at least three times the enhancement bonus of the weapon". So, a +10 equivalent enhancement requires a level 30 Wizard...?
But the next bit, "If an item has both an enhancement bonus and a special ability, the higher of the two caster level requirements must be met." Does this mean a +5 Bane of Dragons (+1) Wounding (+2) Icy Burst (+2) Shortsword requires someone who can craft the +5 or the combined +5 of the special abilities? Or does this require the Wizard level 30?
So a +3 Shortsword can be made by a caster of at least level 9. But a +1 Icy Burst Shortsword can be made by a caster of level 6?
Do I have this right? And, if so, what's the reason for this distinction? Are the special abilities not as good as the base enhancement?
I believe the enhancement bonus is specifically talking about the enhancement bonus, you can only have a +5 enhancement bonus before epic levels (IE not talking about addons/special effect), which would only be 15th level.
"So a +3 Shortsword can be made by a caster of at least level 9. But a +1 Icy Burst Shortsword can be made by a caster of level 6?
Do I have this right? And, if so, what's the reason for this distinction? Are the special abilities not as good as the base enhancement?"
That seems correct; it seems from my experience the enhancement bonus is typically favored by players over special effects; which typically aren't useful in every situation. A +5 to hit/damage is more useful than an extra d6 that will be frequently resisted completely.
I'm confused by he crafting magic weapons limitations on pg. 112.
According to the SRD, a Magic Weapon with the equivalent of a +10 bonus costs 200,000 gp. This is well within the price range of a level 20 character with 760,000 gold. In fact, such a character might have 2 weapons with bonuses up to that amount.
However... who would be able to craft such a weapon?
According to the crafting rules the "creator's castor level must be at least three times the enhancement bonus of the weapon". So, a +10 equivalent enhancement requires a level 30 Wizard...?
But the next bit, "If an item has both an enhancement bonus and a special ability, the higher of the two caster level requirements must be met." Does this mean a +5 Bane of Dragons (+1) Wounding (+2) Icy Burst (+2) Shortsword requires someone who can craft the +5 or the combined +5 of the special abilities? Or does this require the Wizard level 30?
So a +3 Shortsword can be made by a caster of at least level 9. But a +1 Icy Burst Shortsword can be made by a caster of level 6?
Do I have this right? And, if so, what's the reason for this distinction? Are the special abilities not as good as the base enhancement?
You've got it right Doug - The first weapon you mentioned would only require a 15th level caster.
The basic out-of-game reason is so a PC doesn't get a 5th level wizard doesn't slowly craft a +5 Sword at relatively low level, when that much bonus to hit (and damage) bends the probabilities too far. You can compare this to the Greater Magic Weapon spell, which requires a 20th level caster to hit +5. It also relates back to 3.0 and before when a specific "plus" of weapon could be required to bypass damage reduction.
In game, you just need a lot more magical knowledge to imbue a weapon with that much RAW magical force, as compared with a more structured effect (Icy, etc.)