Special abilities for magic weapons question

[w01fe01]

ok, so im unsure how this works. take transformative. says you add 10,000gold.

I assumed this means if you had a +4 or +5 weapno you could add this ability for 10000g.

however my friend says you need a +4 weapon, and the effect adds +4, making it +8, and thus costing a rediculous amount of gold.

that seems very unintuitive to me.

[blahpers]

Your friend is incorrect, and I'm not sure how he or she came to that conclusion. The effect costs 10,000 gp, simple as that.

[w01fe01]

we just came to that conclusion while talking about it, apparently something about the placement of vorpal on the chart was tripping him up.

mmmm swiss army polearm. swisspolearmy

[VRMH]

Your friend is incorrect, as Transformative is valued as a flat number: +10 000 gp. The base weapon needs to be (at least) +1 as a general rule for weapons with special abilities, but that's all.

A property like "Dancing", which is valued as a +4 equivalent, still only requires a +1 base weapon, but would indeed add +4 for the purpose of determining the final value.

[w01fe01]

hmm thats interesting then VRMH cuz according to the special ability chart transformative is listed under the +4/+5 area...are you saying i could do this as early as a +1 weapon?

[VRMH]

w01fe01 wrote:

according to the special ability chart transformative is listed under the +4/+5 area...are you saying i could do this as early as a +1 weapon?

I am. That chart is just for randomly generated weapons. Although it does indicate the writers had intended the property specifically for high-level magic weapons - something you may want to keep in mind.

But there's nothing in the rules that would disallow a +1 Transformative Quarterstaff, at 12 300gp.

[w01fe01]

hmm, only thing im uncertain on it is it says on command, but gives no timeframe on how long that takes...assume free action?

[VRMH]

Activating a command word magic item is a standard action and does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

[w01fe01]

ok thanks!