Silversheen reads "applied to a weapon as a standard action" and also states "one vial coats a single melee weapon or 20 units of ammunition." So a question came up at the table:
Is applying Silversheen to each unit of ammunition a standard action (per arrow or bolt)? Or does a take a standard action to coat all 20?
So, we're looking at roughly 6 seconds or 2 minutes. One argument was that you would need to take a few seconds to polish it into each arrow or bolt head, while the other side argued you could grab all of 20 arrows in a bundle and just dip them all in the Silversheen at once.
Then there was the argument of just pouring Silversheen into the quiver so it would pool at the bottom and the arrowheads would be sitting in it.
I know which position I supported, but what do the rest of you think?
This shimmering paste-like substance can be applied to a weapon as a standard action. It gives the weapon the properties of alchemical silver for 1 hour, replacing the properties of any other special material it might have. One vial coats a single melee weapon or 20 units of ammunition.
I would say its a standard action to apply it to 20 units of ammo (as crazy as that sounds). Simply because silversheen is obsolete for ammunition when compared to weapon blanch.
These alchemical powders have a gritty consistency. When poured on a weapon and placed over a hot flame for a full round, they melt and form a temporary coating on the weapon. The blanching gives the weapon the ability to bypass one kind of material-based damage reduction, such as adamantine, cold iron, or silver. The blanching remains effective until the weapon makes a successful attack. Each dose of blanching can coat one weapon or up to 10 pieces of ammunition. Only one kind of weapon blanch can be on a weapon at one time, though a weapon made of one special material (such as adamantine) can have a different material blanch (such as silver), and counts as both materials for the first successful hit.
250gp for silversheen or 10gp (2 doses) for silver weapon blanch.
Since ammunition have only a single successful hit anyway, weapon blanch is a must have for ammo.
This shimmering paste-like substance can be applied to a weapon as a standard action. It gives the weapon the properties of alchemical silver for 1 hour, replacing the properties of any other special material it might have. One vial coats a single melee weapon or 20 units of ammunition.I would say its a standard action to apply it to 20 units of ammo (as crazy as that sounds). Simply because silversheen is obsolete for ammunition when compared to weapon blanch.
These alchemical powders have a gritty consistency. When poured on a weapon and placed over a hot flame for a full round, they melt and form a temporary coating on the weapon. The blanching gives the weapon the ability to bypass one kind of material-based damage reduction, such as adamantine, cold iron, or silver. The blanching remains effective until the weapon makes a successful attack. Each dose of blanching can coat one weapon or up to 10 pieces of ammunition. Only one kind of weapon blanch can be on a weapon at one time, though a weapon made of one special material (such as adamantine) can have a different material blanch (such as silver), and counts as both materials for the first successful hit.250gp for silversheen or 10gp (2 doses) for silver weapon blanch.
Since ammunition have only a single successful hit anyway, weapon blanch is a must have for ammo.
I agree. That was the stance I took with it. The description for Silversheen clearly associates one standard action with applying the substance to "a" weapon. While it doesn't give a time for applying it to ammunition, the later sentence "one vial coats a single melee weapon or 20 units of ammunition" implies that they are effectively the same for the purposes of application; i.e. "a weapon" is either a single melee weapon or a single ranged weapon [i.e. its ammunition].
It does sound crazy, but combat is abstract in the game, and from a game play perspective, that makes the most sense. Weapon Blanch is pretty cool. I like the fact that it stays on until the weapon is used. Silversheen only lasts an hour, and it affects your damage to boot.