magic armor / weapon creation

[Velos]

hello everybody, been dming for a bit and have usually just used all of the magical weapons and armor in things like ultimate equip ment the Dungeon Master's guide and so forth, but a few of my players have asked for some custom gear they want to create. the big question around the table is after the weapon is made for enchantment does each special ability count towards the overall bonus to armor and or attack or is it based off of the bonus you have toward the +10 maximum for price or is it just the highest bonus. I can give more specific details if needed any and all help is welcome and appreciated

[Arliss Drakken]

The actual enhancement bonus cannot exceed +5 and all of the bonuses cannot exceed a grand total of +10. Small bonuses that are monetary only (such as shadow for armor) do not apply to this rule as they are not counted as bonuses in the same way.

[Velos]

So if I have a +1 flaming weapon and I want to ad frost to it would it become a +2. Or a vorpal blade add shock be a +2 sword for the cost of a +6?
Also how do things like a +3 shortsword of returning work/cost?

[Arliss Drakken]

If you have a +1 flaming long sword that counts as +2 and is priced at 8,320gp. 8k is for the effective +2, 300 for the masterwork component and 20 for the base sword.

Adding frost to that blade makes it an effective +3, so the price jumps to 18,320gp.

[Velos]

So does that make a vorpal blade a+5 sword or a +1? I know it costs +5 but can you add more
And what is the point of a normal +2 longsword?

[Honorable Goblin]

You have to pay the difference in price to add a new special ability to a magic weapon.

A +1 Flaming Longsword counts as +2 (since the "Base Price Modifier" for Flaming is +1, plus the +1 enhancement bonus) when talking about pricing (market value would be 8,315 gp). If you were to then add Frost to the sword, that would make it count as +3 when talking about pricing (since the "Base Price Modifier" for Frost is +1) you'd have to pay (market value would be 18,315 gp), so to add Frost, you'd have to pay the difference, which would be 10,000 gp.

To add Vorpal ("Base Price Modifier" of +5) to the +1 Flaming Longsword, you'd have to pay the difference between +2 (market value 8,315 gp) and +7 (market value 98,315 gp).

To add special ability to a weapon, be it Flaming or Vorpal, the weapon only needs to already have a +1 enhancement bonus.

Note that only plain Enhancement bonuses grant flat bonuses to attack and damage rolls; a +1 Flaming Vorpal Longsword may count as +7 when determining price, but it still only has a +1 bonus to hit and damage (dealing 1d8 +1 +1d6 fire +STR and chops off their head on a confirmed natural 20).