Ive looked and cant seem to find the answer to my question so I figured Id post it here. Apologies if it has been asked and answered elsewhere.
Can an item have both the holy and unholy quality on it?
Thanks in advance
Seems legit...although...that would be one odd sword. Maybe crafted by a true neutral hippie?
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I don't really see any RAW that would directly prevent it. Because the Holy enhancement aligns a weapon as Good and opposite is true for Unholy, I would say no because there would be a conflicting alignment situation. I would rule that either the second enhancement added either failed or over-rode the first. The latter case, could be more interesting. Maybe an evil priest wants to corrupt a holy relic.
I don't really see any RAW that would directly prevent it. Because the Holy enhancement aligns a weapon as Good and opposite is true for Unholy, I would say no because there would be a conflicting alignment situation. I would rule that either the second enhancement added either failed or over-rode the first. The latter case, could be more interesting. Maybe an evil priest wants to corrupt a holy relic.
Lol or let him try to craft it and when it is finished, tell him that it does +4d6 damage against NEUTRAL characters only. XD
Since the abilities only "activate" so to speak (have an effect) when presented with the right target I wouldn't see a problem having both on a single weapon.
In fact in years past I had a "swords" campaign where there were several legendary swords used by a peerage of knights in the past, one of these swords was "Balance" which was a holy/unholy/axiomatic/anarchic +2 bastard sword.
Don't forget you have to be neutral to wield it.
Sure... Neutral PC might want that to fight those pesky evil guys, and stick in the mud good guy.
Nothing wrong with a "screw you all" sword. Except that you're paying through your nose for this. After all, you pay +4 all the time, but are getting +2 at the most (unless you face a redeemed fiend with good alignment and evil descriptor, and even then the GM might rule against both counting at once).
Don't forget you have to be neutral to wield it.
Which was actually the point of the sword -- after all its name was "Balance" for a reason.
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Since the abilities only "activate" so to speak (have an effect) when presented with the right target I wouldn't see a problem having both on a single weapon.
While I like the flavor of a "balance" sword, I have to disagree. While the DR affects and increased damage are only triggered against the specific creaure, the weapon is always Good or Evil. I do not think it is reasonable that an item can exist as both good and evil simultaneously. However, I suppose if you argue that the effects of the enhancement have to be activated like an energy weapon, then both could exist and only manifest their alignment when that particular effect is activated.
That would be a good argument but I wasn't going to go with it -- instead I would point to the fallen angel that is evil but has the good subtype. Such dualities can always exist, just as a paladin under a infernal healing spell would radiate evil, but also good.
I would allow it to be on different heads of a double weapon, like the naginata of Kinkon from Inuyasha.
While I like the flavor of a "balance" sword, I have to disagree. While the DR affects and increased damage are only triggered against the specific creaure, the weapon is always Good or Evil.
Items are neither Good nor Evil unless they are intelligent. They have Good Aura or/and Evil aura which are not exactly the same thing as being good or evil.
The same way you can cast spell with evil descriptor and spell with good descriptor and they can exist upon single target at the same time (unles they specifically intergere with each other, which is not the case for most spells).
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Items are neither Good nor Evil unless they are intelligent. They have Good Aura or/and Evil aura which are not exactly the same thing as being good or evil.
Under normal circumstances you are correct, but in this case, the weapon becomes aligned. Per the description (CRB p.470, *emphasis mine*)...
"A Holy weapon is imbued with holy power. This power makes the weapon good-aligned and thus bypasses the corresponding damage reduction."
In fact in years past I had a "swords" campaign where there were several legendary swords used by a peerage of knights in the past, one of these swords was "Balance" which was a holy/unholy/axiomatic/anarchic +2 bastard sword.
Coincidentally, there is a very similar sword in Baldur's Gate 2. It's a +3 longsword that deals extra damage for each step away from true neutral the target is, and the wielder has to be true neutral. It was called The Equalizer.
Note that this is an official D&D branded game and went through Wizards of the Coast quality control (it was released around the time 3.0 was, and included 2nd edition backwards implementations of the sorcerer and barbarian), which means that such a weapon is at least tentatively "OK'd" for D&D. Pathfinder is a different animal, though closely related, of course.
Also note that The Equalizer is classified as a unique item and can get upgraded to minor artifact status.
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That all said, the hard line is this: yes, it's perfectly legal by the rules. There are rules that say you can (the crafting rules specifically say that if you meet the requirements you can add the enchantment to a weapon), and there are no rules that say you can't.
Items are neither Good nor Evil unless they are intelligent. They have Good Aura or/and Evil aura which are not exactly the same thing as being good or evil.Under normal circumstances you are correct, but in this case, the weapon becomes aligned. Per the description (CRB p.470, *emphasis mine*)...
"A Holy weapon is imbued with holy power. This power makes the weapon good-aligned and thus bypasses the corresponding damage reduction."
But you can't find anything that says you can't be aligned in more than one way at a time can you?