Does the spell "Reloading Hands" negate the reload time for crossbows?
Reloading Hands Spell description
Level: magus 2, ranger 2, sorcerer/wizard 2
Target: projectile weapon touched
Duration: 1 round/caster level (D)Once per round, phantom hands load a single ranged weapon or firearm with conjured ammunition. This ammunition counts as magical for overcoming damage reduction and attacking incorporeal creatures, but is the standard for its type (a normal bullet or pellets and black powder in the case of firearms). Conjured ammunition ceases to exist 1 round after it is removed from the weapon, or at the end of the duration, whichever comes first.
Weapons section of Ult. Equipment (used a browser search for "Crossbow")
crossbows and slings require an action for reloading (as noted in their descriptions).
I am inclined to say "Yes" because it's a 2nd level spell, and add that while the spell is handling the reloading, there's no Attack of Opportunity provocation for reloading, but firing while threatened still provokes AoOs.
Is that reasonable? Any thing I else I should be taking into consideration?
Thanks for your thoughts!
Looks good to me, but note it only does this once per round. If you're eligible for multiple attacks/round, and want to use them, its usefulness will be hampered.
*nods* Yep. My husband pointed that out, too. He said when he read the spell the first time thru he thought it was intended that you have two ranged weapons and switch between the two - fire, hand to the hands, draw 2nd ranged weapon, next turn fire, swap, rinse & repeat.
And then I was just now looking into the Weapon Special Abilities in UE, and saw ...
ENDLESS AMMUNITION
Price +2 bonus; Aura moderate conjuration; CL 9th; Weight —
Only bows and crossbows can be made into endless ammunition weapons—firearms and other projectile weapons cannot. Each time an endless ammunition weapon is nocked, a single nonmagical arrow or bolt is spontaneously created by the magic, so the weapon's wielder never needs to load the weapon with ammunition.If the wielder attempts to load the weapon with other ammunition, the created arrow or bolt immediately vanishes and the wielder can load the weapon as normal. This ability does not reduce the amount of time required to load or fire the weapon. The created arrow or bolt vanishes if removed from the weapon; it persists only if fired. Unlike normal bow and crossbow ammunition, these arrows and bolts are always destroyed when fired.
Which puts me right back to, "Should I let the spell negate the load time?"
(I'm inclined to it because it's for a limited time, but with a +2 enh. specifically *not* ... eh?)