2 Questions about my Inquisitor's Bane ability

[Deylinarr]

Our party was told the area we are traveling to is filled with werewolves, so I want to make sure I'm using Bane correctly...

First the easy one:

pfsrd Inquisitor Description wrote:

At 5th level, an inquisitor can imbue one of her weapons with the bane weapon special ability as a swift action.

pfsrd Bane Special Ability Description wrote:

A bane weapon excels against certain foes. Against a designated foe, the weapon's enhancement bonus is +2 better than its actual bonus. It also deals an extra 2d6 points of damage against such foes

At first I was thinking it was +2 to hit and +2d6 damage, but reading it again Im thinking it should be +2 to hit AND damage, then the extra 2d6?

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Now the harder one:

pfsrd Overcoming DR Description wrote:

Weapons with an enhancement bonus of +3 or greater can ignore some types of damage reduction, regardless of their actual material or alignment.

Weapon Enhancement Bonus Equivalent
Cold iron / silver +3
Adamantine +4
Alignment-based +5

I've got a +1 sword. Im thinking it becomes +3 when bane is active and should overcome the silver DR. But I can also see it as "youre Bane ability is giving you an extra +2, not changing your weapon" meaning I get the bonuses but I do not overcome the DR?

As always, thanks in advance to all!

[PrinceDogWaterIII]

Bane does indeed give the weapon an effective +3 Enchantment bonus, passing Dr cold iron and silver.

[Bizbag]

Deylinarr wrote:

Our party was told the area we are traveling to is filled with werewolves, so I want to make sure I'm using Bane correctly...

First the easy one:

pfsrd Inquisitor Description wrote:

At 5th level, an inquisitor can imbue one of her weapons with the bane weapon special ability as a swift action.

pfsrd Bane Special Ability Description wrote:

A bane weapon excels against certain foes. Against a designated foe, the weapon's enhancement bonus is +2 better than its actual bonus. It also deals an extra 2d6 points of damage against such foes

At first I was thinking it was +2 to hit and +2d6 damage, but reading it again Im thinking it should be +2 to hit AND damage, then the extra 2d6?

------------------------------------------------------------

Now the harder one:

pfsrd Overcoming DR Description wrote:

Weapons with an enhancement bonus of +3 or greater can ignore some types of damage reduction, regardless of their actual material or alignment.

Weapon Enhancement Bonus Equivalent
Cold iron / silver +3
Adamantine +4
Alignment-based +5

I've got a +1 sword. Im thinking it becomes +3 when bane is active and should overcome the silver DR. But I can also see it as "youre Bane ability is giving you an extra +2, not changing your weapon" meaning I get the bonuses but I do not overcome the DR?

As always, thanks in advance to all!

Good news! The answer to both should be in your favor.

1. Bane says the weapon's enhancement bonus is two higher against the foe. A weapon's enhancement bonus adds to attack and damage, so you get the extra +2 to to damage. The 2d6 is separate; they even helpfully say "also deals" in the text. So Bane grants +2 to hit, and 2d6+2 damage against the foe type.

2. This one's less cut and dry, but the text of bane says that your weapon "IS" +2 better. It doesn't use the common "treated as" language or "for purposes of" language, it says it is higher. I see no reason it wouldn't overcome Cold Iron or Silver, being a +3 weapon.

As caution, though, you should note that the text for bane is the same as it was in 3.5, but the ability to bypass special materials with a sufficient +X bonus is new to Pathfinder. Your DM might not be aware of the new rule, or may thing that the new bypass rule kind of defeats the purpose of requiring special materials (which to be fair, is kind of true, to a point.)

[Rynjin]

There was a FAQ recently that explicitly confirmed that a +4 Bane weapon (counting as +6 vs its foe, though actually with the Mythic rules a +3 Bane would do since it'd count as +5 and the Bane ability counts as another +1) overcomes DR/Epic, so there's a bit more evidence to the already fairly clear text. It obviously DOES raise its ability to bypass DR, or that wouldn't be possible.