When am I wielding a Weapon?


Rules Questions


OK, let me give you a hypothetical scenario.

I am a half orc fighter, wearing spiked armour, a spiked shield on the off arm and a spiked gauntlet on the primary hand. I have taken the "Toothy" Alternative racial trait, granting me a bite attack.

Each of these weapons is +5 with the Defending quality.

I also have a bodywrap of mighty strikes, again +5 with the defending quality.

At the start of my turn, I have the option of attacking with any of these weapons, or taking a bite, or a combination of these actions, alternatively, as free action at the start of my turn, I can apply the defending option to myself and add the wielded weapon bonus to my AC instead. The description states that the defending option is an untyped bonus which stacks with all others.

What I am intending to do is throw a dagger at my enemy. The dagger is also +5 defending.

Am I wielding 3 weapons and my bite, allowing me to add +20 to my AC?

Am I wielding the Dagger, if it is ready to throw and get an addition +5 to my AC, or would I only be wielding the dagger if it was actually in hand at the start of the turn?


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Yes, you are wielding 3 weapons and your bite, and RAW you're able to use those to crank your AC by 20 points (provided that through iteratives and TWF you can make at least 3 attacks per round). You have spent 324,000+ gp on those items.

The second question is open to some debate. The dagger is another 72,000+ gp. My opinion is that the instant you throw the dagger, it stops being a melee weapon and therefore the defending property ceases to affect you, and you would need to be able to make 4 attacks from iteratives and TWF.


Ugh, I knew this would be about defending.

SKR has gone on record as saying that you have to actually attack with the thing to get the AC bonus. Going by that, you aren't wielding the dagger until you pull it and attack, and you stop wielding it when it leaves your hand (edit: this latter part is not an SKR reference but follows from the fact that (a) the property is for melee weapons and (b) nearly all magic items that grant benefits to the bearer stop granting them if the bearer no longer possesses the item). So, at best, the dagger would only count between drawing and throwing (e.g., during an attack of opportunity you provoked or an enemy's readied action you triggered when you threw). The rest of the weapons would only count if you actually attacked with them.

Note that I disagree vehemently with the "attack" part of the clarification. It should be sufficient to hold the weapon at the ready (in game terms, in such a way that would threaten an attack of opportunity if the weapon allowed them). The rest I have no problem with.

Ultimately, RAW doesn't actually define "wield", so ask your GM.


You are not wielding the dagger at the start of the turn, so you cannot take your free action to activate it's Defending feature.

I'm not sure if the Bodywrap can use the Defending quality because it does not actually have an enhancement bonus - it just grants it to the chosen weapon.

In any case, you can get at least +15 AC from your spiked armor shield and gauntlet. As a GM, I'd probably rule that you have to actually use the weapon to gain its benefit, though - kind of like how you can't get an AC bonus from fighting defensively unless you actually attack. Plus, as is, it's just begging for cheese like stacking as many non-slot weapons as possible, like armor spikes, boot blades, etc., just to pile on stacking Defending.

Sczarni

peterrco wrote:

OK, let me give you a hypothetical scenario.

I am a half orc fighter, wearing spiked armour, a spiked shield on the off arm and a spiked gauntlet on the primary hand. I have taken the "Toothy" Alternative racial trait, granting me a bite attack.

Each of these weapons is +5 with the Defending quality.

I also have a bodywrap of mighty strikes, again +5 with the defending quality.

At the start of my turn, I have the option of attacking with any of these weapons, or taking a bite, or a combination of these actions, alternatively, as free action at the start of my turn, I can apply the defending option to myself and add the wielded weapon bonus to my AC instead. The description states that the defending option is an untyped bonus which stacks with all others.

What I am intending to do is throw a dagger at my enemy. The dagger is also +5 defending.

Am I wielding 3 weapons and my bite, allowing me to add +20 to my AC?

Am I wielding the Dagger, if it is ready to throw and get an addition +5 to my AC, or would I only be wielding the dagger if it was actually in hand at the start of the turn?

You are not Wielding a weapon or item, until you are actually Using it.

Otherwise, it is just considered to be Held.

Grand Lodge

p. 470 wrote:
As a free action, the wielder chooses how to allocate the weapon's enhancement bonus at the start of his turn before using the weapon

You can only allocate the enhancement bonus if you use the weapon in that turn. Wielding it is necessary to use it, but not sufficient to activate defending.

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