Arcane bond and non-wizards / casters


Rules Questions

Scarab Sages

Example weapon master (fighter) burns two feats to get skill focus knowledge (any, I'd pick one) and Eldrich heritage (arcane bloodline). He's got to be charisma 13 too.

Now, as a non-wizard/caster, what benefits of the arcane bond are applied to the arcane bond that my Weapon Master has acquire?

As I read it, the benefits are as follows:
-Free masterwork amulet, ring, staff, wand, or weapon.
-Ability to cast extra spell, though this doesn't affect my fighter.
-Automatic restoring of HP for weapon when I prepare my spells...
-Ability to replace weapon via a ritual, rather than buying a fresh one from the storm.
-Ability to improve weapon via enchantments.

So for a pure fighter, official advantage is two of the above:
-Free masterwork amulet, ring, staff, wand, or weapon.
-Ability to replace weapon via a ritual, rather than buying a fresh one from the storm.

Neither are particularly potent unless your DM is the type to make exotic weapons hard to replace, due to not many stores selling them. Even then, doubtfully worth two feats.

So, for the question:

How do non-wizards resolve the automatic restoration of the hit points for a bonded item?

I can't even find a note regarding how the sorcerer uses this aspect of trait.

As a weapon master, I can very much consider a weapon that restores it's HP every day and can be replaced without going to the store as worth 2 feats. This is purely because the entire class is nerfed when I lose my specific weapon.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Since you don't refresh spells the HP does not reset.

Make friends with a spellcaster who has make whole.

Scarab Sages

Annoying result. Thanks for answering the question I asked.


Familiar is the better choice.

Grand Lodge

I have to say, familiar seems like a better option in 9 of every 10 cases. The only thing the bond does give you, is the effect of being able to enchant your blade for half the price other fighters get.

(btw, the sorcerer's bonded item would reset each day after 8 full hours of rest)

Scarab Sages

Dafydd wrote:
(btw, the sorcerer's bonded item would reset each day after 8 full hours of rest)

Page reference/source?

Dafydd wrote:
I have to say, familiar seems like a better option in 9 of every 10 cases. The only thing the bond does give you, is the effect of being able to enchant your blade for half the price other fighters get.

Familiar is limited too, though depends on the use/function.

As for benefits, being able to heal the weapon for free would be huge.

Being able to replace a destroyed/lost weapon would also be very useful for a fighter which specializes in a single weapon. Some DMs are very keen on making exotic weapons hard to acquire. It does make sense, I mean weapons that don't sell very well because less people can use them, are less likely to be found in an armory or weapon shop. If using the random magic loot tables, exotic weapons are really uncommon drops.

I do agree, much better uses of feats for a fighter.


I'm not sure you can replace a bonded object from the ether. I think the ability is to bond to a new object you legitimately acquire.

Scarab Sages

CraziFuzzy wrote:
I'm not sure you can replace a bonded object from the ether. I think the ability is to bond to a new object you legitimately acquire.

Hmmm...you might be right. Well, makes this even more useless to the fighter.


You can replace it fine. It's just like the wizard ability. Do ritual, pay gps, get new item. (Yay!)

As for HP, get a spell you have to prepare and then you can have an automatically healing item. Otherwise, mundane repair options are all you got.


I guess if you have a good spell craft skill you May be able to enchant your weapon. But that is the only benefit i see.exept you need to have caster level minimum 3 to do that.

It s a bad deal. Get impovd initiative and improved sunder and break them before they break you.


Uwotm8 wrote:

You can replace it fine. It's just like the wizard ability. Do ritual, pay gps, get new item. (Yay!)

As for HP, get a spell you have to prepare and then you can have an automatically healing item. Otherwise, mundane repair options are all you got.

Yes, pay and replace it. the cost, as written, though is to purchase the item + the cost for the bonding ritual. That is why it is written as "a special ritual that costs 200 gp per wizard level plus the cost of the masterwork item". The assumption in the rule books is that you can pretty much buy whatever you want, so they wrote it as such, but I thing the intention is that you have to actually HAVE the item before you can bond with it. If, for some reason, you are away from civilization for an extended period of time, I don't think you can make said item just pop into your hand by making some gp disappear from it.

Compare this rule to that of replacing a familiar, "a specialized ritual that costs 200 gp per wizard level". The cost for the item is, of course, not there, as the familiar is sort of called to you. I don't think that as a GM I'd allow you to just summon a familiar if you are stuck in an ecology that is simply not appropriate for said beasty, any more than I'd allow you to poof a masterwork ring out of nothing.

Of course, if you had some crafting skills, I'd let you create your own item at usual crafting cost, and then pay the 200gp and spend a week to bond with it.


Ah, you said ether. I mangled that in my head as to imply they couldn't replace it at all. You're right.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Murdock Mudeater wrote:
CraziFuzzy wrote:
I'm not sure you can replace a bonded object from the ether. I think the ability is to bond to a new object you legitimately acquire.
Hmmm...you might be right. Well, makes this even more useless to the fighter.

It's not really meant to be useful to a noncaster. If you're that paranoid about weapon breakage, and unwilling to trust to your comrades, then do the obvious thing...

Get or have a spare made.

Scarab Sages

LazarX wrote:

It's not really meant to be useful to a noncaster. If you're that paranoid about weapon breakage, and unwilling to trust to your comrades, then do the obvious thing...

Get or have a spare made.

It was just a passing thought. The more I look into it, the 13 charisma is really "expensive" for my fighter. Even if it worked where I could summon the weapon (mind, that's after a week of not having it as per arcane bond) and it would heal lost HP daily - just too expensive for so little gain.

Anyway, thanks for the help.

Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder First Edition / Rules Questions / Arcane bond and non-wizards / casters All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.
Recent threads in Rules Questions