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I have what is hopefully a fairly straightforward question. If a paladin, magus, or some other class uses their special class ability (divine bond for paladin, arcane pool for magus) to add an energy enhancement such as flaming to their weapon, do they then need to take an additional standard action to activate this property? Or, does the property activate when the character uses their special ability to bestow that property upon the weapon?
Thanks in advance for any insight you can offer! Forgive me if this has already been answered in an FAQ or other forum post. I looked around but couldn't find the answer.
I think it would already be activated. Otherwise, it's kind of lame. That's just from memory and/or thinking it through.
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Arcane Pool (Su)
At 1st level, the magus gains a reservoir of mystical arcane energy that he can draw upon to fuel his powers and enhance his weapon. This arcane pool has a number of points equal to 1/2 his magus level (minimum 1) + his Intelligence modifier. The pool refreshes once per day when the magus prepares his spells.
At 1st level, a magus can expend 1 point from his arcane pool as a swift action to grant any weapon he is holding a +1 enhancement bonus for 1 minute.
Divine Bond (Sp)
Upon reaching 5th level, a paladin forms a divine bond with her god. This bond can take one of two forms. Once the form is chosen, it cannot be changed.
The first type of bond allows the paladin to enhance her weapon as a standard action by calling upon the aid of a celestial spirit for 1 minute per paladin level.
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Arcane Pool (Su)
At 1st level, the magus gains a reservoir of mystical arcane energy that he can draw upon to fuel his powers and enhance his weapon. This arcane pool has a number of points equal to 1/2 his magus level (minimum 1) + his Intelligence modifier. The pool refreshes once per day when the magus prepares his spells.At 1st level, a magus can expend 1 point from his arcane pool as a swift action to grant any weapon he is holding a +1 enhancement bonus for 1 minute.
Divine Bond (Sp)
Upon reaching 5th level, a paladin forms a divine bond with her god. This bond can take one of two forms. Once the form is chosen, it cannot be changed.The first type of bond allows the paladin to enhance her weapon as a standard action by calling upon the aid of a celestial spirit for 1 minute per paladin level.
Unfortunately this post does not answer my question. Thanks anyway. The actions you quote from the rules are used to add the magical properties to the weapon, yes. One might argue, however, that since a flaming weapon is not active by default, you still need an action to "turn it on" even after you make your normal longsword into a +1 flaming longsword using divine bond or your arcane pool. I do not personally believe this, but another member of my playing group does. I am attempting to find an answer. I agree with Cheapy that it would be "kind of lame" if they needed an additional action. But, my friend does have a point: just because a weapon has the flaming property does not mean it's on fire all the time, and if you were wielding a normal flaming longsword, you would be expected to spend the action to activate the flaming property.
Or you could just sheath the flaming blade, while it is still on fire.
... or not, based on re-reading it again. It just doesn't hurt you, not your stuff.
Well, anyways. Based on the fact that are asking for a celestial spirit to imbue your weapon with the might of the heavens, I think they can make it come already activated.
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Well, anyways. Based on the fact that are asking for a celestial spirit to imbue your weapon with the might of the heavens, I think they can make it come already activated.
I agree! But, like I said, others in my group are not so sure.
This is mainly an issue for the magus, who only gets 10 rounds of enhancement per use of the ability, so spending an extra standard action is more of a big deal than it is for the paladin, who gets more like 10 minutes I believe.
If you haven't already, I think people should hit the FAQ button.
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Flaming
Aura Moderate evocation; CL 10th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor and flame blade, flame strike, or fireball; Price +1 bonus.
Description
Upon command, a flaming weapon is sheathed in fire that deals an extra 1d6 points of fire damage on a successful hit. The fire does not harm the wielder. The effect remains until another command is given.
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Command Word: If no activation method is suggested either in the magic item description or by the nature of the item, assume that a command word is needed to activate it. Command word activation means that a character speaks the word and the item activates. No other special knowledge is needed.
A command word can be a real word, but when this is the case, the holder of the item runs the risk of activating the item accidentally by speaking the word in normal conversation. More often, the command word is some seemingly nonsensical word, or a word or phrase from an ancient language no longer in common use. Activating a command word magic item is a standard action and does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
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Based on these two sections, I guess technically, the Flaming part of the sword requires a Command word and Command word activated magic items require a standard action.
As I GM, I would never require an action to activate a Flaming sword, but then I don't follow the rules if they don't make a lot of sense.
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Per James Jacobs:
"Yup; flaming arrows stay activated. You can activate them on day 1 when you identify them and then stash them in a quiver, and then on day 24 when you finally use them, they're still burning. They only deal fire damage when they hit.
The rules for activating and unactivating a weapon's energy damage is not in the game to force users of those weapons to spend an extra action to get ready above the action of drawing a weapon. The rules are mostly there for the cases where you want to turn OFF the effect, such as if you're entering an encounter where having visibly magic weapons might be a disadvantage.
Otherwise, the game assumes that the energy damage effect is left on all the time. It's not like those weapons will run out of power if they're left on all the time, after all."
Found that earlier on another thread in the forums, sorry I don't have a link to it at the moment. Anyway, I think this basically answers my question - an extra action is not required to turn it on unless it is explicitly turned off.
Found that earlier on another thread in the forums, sorry I don't have a link to it at the moment.
Linked (and awesome!)
Because magus.