If I use an arrow as a dagger, should it still break, as per ammunition rules? Furthermore, should a magic arrow (with improved hardness and HP) break as easily?
I believe RAW state they do not break; but I also believe magic arrows are too powerful, in that case.
RAW implies that ammunition only breaks when used as ammunition. For example, RAW states that ammunition that misses has a 50% chance of being lost, or destroyed. Losing or destroying an arrow by thrusting it into empty space like a dagger seems silly.
Additionally, we all know that Pathfinder is an evolution of D&D, and 3.5 explicitly stated that improvised weapons broke 50% of the time. This rule is noticeably absent in Pathfinder, and I tend to believe that such an omission was intentional on the part of the developers.
As there are no explicit rules for breaking improvised weapons, I believe introducing a rule, or applying ammunition rules to improvised weapons, implies that similar rules should be applied to ALL fragile improvised weapons. For example, would a glass bottle break, or should one just assume that such items begin with the fragile quality? Introducing the fragile quality to ammunition-improvised weapons would be a house rule solution.
HOWEVER, having unbreakable improvised arrows becomes potentially unbalanced, which is why I pose the question in the first place. Individual arrows are much, MUCH cheaper than actual weapons. The -4 penalty is quite large at low levels, and mostly takes care of the issue. But certain powerful bonuses can counteract this penalty. For example, a +1 arrow with a +1 magical enhancement costs about 160 GP (8K/50), a very reasonable price at level 2, or even level 1 with the right starting trait. Such a weapon will function as a dagger with -3/+1 + enhancement. At such a low price, a player could acquire several different types of Bane arrows, for a wide variety of enemies. This boosts the bonus to -1/+10!! (2d6+3 damage.) This almost negates the penalty and MORE than compensates for damage.
I've crunched some numbers, and I believe that the Bane enhancement is the only one powerful enough to negate the -4 penalty completely at low-level prices. Other enhancers will give the players specific energy bonuses, but are of debatable utility. Of course, it costs only a little extra money to increase the enhancement bonus. a +2 bane arrow, for example, completely negates the improvised weapon penalty.
This all assumes that players purchase these items themselves. I've noticed many campaigns use these low-cost items as common treasure rewards, making the issue more prevalent.
I believe that such arrows would give non-combat builds (or even a considerable edge early in the game. Later on, at levels 3+, I can see these items being much less useful.
Thoughts?
edit: I've come up with a plethora of ways to balance these proposed arrows, in game. However, I would like to know what more experienced gamers feel is the RAW analysis--and if the RAW analysis requires such balancing.
