This is a really tough one. How do you talk about your +1 Longsword in character? How can you take your +1 Longsword to a smith and ask for a better one (a +2)?
"Hello, I want to sell this minor enchanted sword, and buy a medium enchanted sword", or what?
This really bugs me.
"You have a sword with a stronger enchantment than this?"
But what if he answers: "Yes I have this one" (+3 Longsword)?
It would be a stronger enchantment but how would you talk about the difference in +1/+2/+3 etc.?
And how would the Smith know what enchantment you had on your weapon?
But what if he answers: "Yes I have this one" (+3 Longsword)?
It would be a stronger enchantment but how would you talk about the difference in +1/+2/+3 etc.?
And how would the Smith know what enchantment you had on your weapon?
If the smith is able to craft magical swords, presumably he has detect magic and spellcraft. If he just sells them regularly, he probably has ACCESS to someone with detect magic and spellcraft.
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But what if he answers: "Yes I have this one" (+3 Longsword)?
It would be a stronger enchantment but how would you talk about the difference in +1/+2/+3 etc.?
And how would the Smith know what enchantment you had on your weapon?
Someone who deals in 18,000 gold items is not a f%&!ing village dirtfarmer.
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If you do a lot of talking in character in your game, then make up some jargon for it. +1 could be a "level one enchantment". A +5 vorpal sword could be a "level five enchantment with the vorpal quality". The smith would understand that this actually makes the weapon have a "level ten enchantment" overall since +5 is the equivalent of vorpal in that way.
I'm totally with you OP. Unfortunately, there's just really no way to distinguish it without sounding "mechanical."
Best way I've found to deal with it is simply not offer players the option of buying magical weapons/armor with a greater than +1 enhancement. Besides, finding your gear is always a better feeling than buying it at ye olde magick shoppe.
Thank you DrDew. We will try that :-)
For starters you don't go to the local blacksmith. That poor smuck wouldn't know an enchanted sword if he was hit with one. You go to the wizard, who can actually cast the spells required for making the sword magical. The wizard whips out a detect magic, knows exactly what the sword is, and offers you a price to upgrade it for you. Done.
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When in doubt, give the sword a name and a three paragraph story that you repeat without fail. Not only will it sound awesome, no one will ever ask you about your sword ever again.
I learned this from anime
Try and sunder it
If you can hurt the blade it is not better than your current one
Even works with pathfinder rules....
Not true anymore. The only thing greater magical items get is more HP and hardness. You can break/destroy a +5 weapon with a mundane hammer if you have enough static damage to bypass the hardness.
Not true anymore. The only thing greater magical items get is more HP and hardness. You can break/destroy a +5 weapon with a mundane hammer if you have enough static damage to bypass the hardness.I learned this from anime
Try and sunder it
If you can hurt the blade it is not better than your current one
Even works with pathfinder rules....
I had trouble finding it online in the PRD, but on page 468 under damaging magic weapons it does say that an attacker cannot damage a magic sword unless he has a bonus at least as high.
@Solusek : what printing of the CRB do you have ?
Because it has changed into :
Hardness and Hit Points: Each +1 of a magic weapon's enhancement bonus adds +2 to its hardness and +10 to its hit points.
The Errata can be downloaded here : Paizo.com
Page 468—In the Weapons Section, delete the Damaging Magic Weapons paragraph. Add the following paragraph in its place:
Hardness and Hit Points: Each +1 of a magic weapon’s enhancement bonus adds +2 to its hardness and +10 to its hit points. See also Table 7–12 on page 175.
I learned this from anime
Try and sunder it
If you can hurt the blade it is not better than your current one
Even works with pathfinder rules....
Sword Art Online? Great episode xD
I don't see any reason why if there's a way (detect magic) to quantify the exact mechanical abilities that those who possess that ability wouldn't talk about it in prosaic, mechanical terms. If you're talking about cars, you don't say "This vehicle could travel the distance from here to the next town in the span of an hour," we say "It'll do 140." There is a set mechanical benefit to the items and there's nothing wrong with addressing it as such. If it doesn't fit your campaign world, don't do it, but I see too many people assume that doing this somehow makes your world limp and lame. It is what you make it. It's the rarity or power of the item that makes it impressive, not the cool way in which you describe it. You can just call a Ferrari a Ferrari, it doesn't make it any less amazing.
I agree that in heavily magical worlds like Golarion with a Magic Mart assumption, in which purchasing and upgrading magical equipment is pretty routine, that those who do so for a living would have their own technical jargon for describing it. So while saying "Upgrade this to +2" is probably not realistic, saying something like "Upgrade this to a second order enhancement" probably is.
Right. Why not a "+2"? I mean, *we* have terms for power levels, why shouldn't a magical society? Why shouldn't the terms be "+2" or "second level spells", etc?
Right. Why not a "+2"? I mean, *we* have terms for power levels, why shouldn't a magical society? Why shouldn't the terms be "+2" or "second level spells", etc?
Purely flavor and immersion. The +2 gets into the math that is an underpinning of the game, but that I find kind of jarring to bring out in character. I see the societies of fantasy RPGs to be magical rather than scientific and mathematical. In fact you can make a reasoned argument that the existence of magic provided a shortcut that actually stunted the growth of the sciences, because all the smart folks became wizards rather than engineers and doctors. Highly subjective, though. If saying +2 in character doesn't hurt immersion for you, go for it.
Lab_Rat, why couldnt you go to the local Master blacksmith? After all, Master Craftsman was made for such characters. I can easily see a master blacksmith making the magic weapons and armor in the community.
- Gauss