A player had the following question and wanted to get some feedback. Thoughts?
Question on upgrading: Since there is a spell in ultimate magic that allows the upgrading of normal weapons to masterwork weapons, would it be possible to do something similar through nonmagical methods with a cost of masterwork + normal material cost derived from final total? Basically instead of using magic, Edrukk would be reforging metal parts to remove impurities, making minor changes to the setup of the crossbow mechanism to reduce wear, replace wooden parts with stronger components, etc. The DC would be 20 as masterwork is already treated as a separate component.
It sounds like they are asking if they can cannibalize the original weapon to create a new weapon, replacing parts where necessary and reworking parts where they can. As if they were creating a whole new weapon to replace the old one, but they happen to be using parts of the old one.
Is there some reason they want to/need to keep the original weapon? This doesn't sound like an upgrade as much as a long way around to a replacement. Are they just trying to avoid the creation time necessary for making the actual weapon?
It's your call as DM, but in my mind, they are still having to make a new weapon and its masterwork component. I don't think I would grant a discount to the creation time without a more compelling argument.
|
as far as i know, no, it doesn't work like that, not that it really matters as most weapons are fairly cheap. so the amount of gold he'd be saving by doing this would be very little.
on the fluff side of things though, i don't like it to much as it'd be a lot less work to create a new weapon rather than upgrading bits and pieces of an older weapon. I'd guess that after upgrading from standard to masterwork there'd be very little of the original crossbow left.
secondly, if the same question was asked about upgrading a sword and similar fluff used (melt down the sword and reforge it) would you allow it?
Also is it very wise to do such a thing? even if the crossbow is this character's secondary weapon, they are still going to be without a ranged/secondary weapon during the upgrade
I allow characters to upgrade weapons through nonmagical means. In fact I encourage it. I like the idea of a tenth level fighter who's had his trusty Battleaxe since character creation. I use the same concept as increasing the power on an existing magic item. subtract the cost of the original item from the cost of the new one. Sometimes it takes some in game creative thinking, like plating the weapon in a more durable metal. All in all, if it can be done with a spell, does it really hurt your game in any way to let them use nonmagical means?
Thanks all for the feedback.
He gets no heirloom weapon or other bonuses. I think it's mostly an effort to save a little money and have the character be weaponsmithing instead of just buying a new, better weapon.
I decided I'd allow it in this case since I do see upgrading a crossbow as slightly different than upgrading a sword, in that it does have individual parts. Also, it's been a little low on treasure, so letting them save a few coins here doesn't affect much IMO.
(Also, for those who asked, the party's taking some time off to do crafting and whatnot, so it's not a big deal being without a weapon at the moment.)
|
A player had the following question and wanted to get some feedback. Thoughts?
Question on upgrading: Since there is a spell in ultimate magic that allows the upgrading of normal weapons to masterwork weapons, would it be possible to do something similar through nonmagical methods with a cost of masterwork + normal material cost derived from final total? Basically instead of using magic, Edrukk would be reforging metal parts to remove impurities, making minor changes to the setup of the crossbow mechanism to reduce wear, replace wooden parts with stronger components, etc. The DC would be 20 as masterwork is already treated as a separate component.
Whether or not it would work in real-life, through reforging / getting rid of impurities, this is the sort of thing I'd allow, if a player wanted to go this route. Maybe it's an advanced dwarven technique. Maybe the god of forgecraft's priests have used divination throughout the centuries and learned special methods of craft. Maybe the smith chatted with an azer, or something.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I'd allow it, it's hardly game breaking. I'd allow it if it was Heirloom weapon as well. What differencedoes it make? A Fighter recreating his trust family sword seems a whole lot better RPwise tan just buying another. Also doing it himself seems more personal than saying 'Is there a caster in town? I want to hire his services to make my mundane weapon masterwork'.
I upgraded my pick axe. All it needed was a new handle and a new head and some fixings. Same pick axe tho