Basically it is a +500 gp enchantment that makes a weapon into the equivalent of an everburning torch that you can will on or off. Does anyone know of anything similar in an official Pathfinder supplement?
Obviously, it is a super simple house rule to allow it in my game, but my group comes from a long 3.5 background and I'm trying really hard to enforce a "Pathfinder Only" policy in my current campaign. The last campaign I ran ended up being a sort of mish-mash between 3.5 and PF rules and it was a tremendous pain by the end of it, so this time around I am trying to draw a line in the sand from level 1.
Thanks all.
You don't even need to charge for it:
Light Generation: Fully 30% of magic weapons shed light equivalent to a light spell. These glowing weapons are quite obviously magical. Such a weapon can't be concealed when drawn, nor can its light be shut off. Some of the specific weapons detailed below always or never glow, as defined in their descriptions.
So 30% of them already do this for no extra cost (no cost is listed for this "light generation"). Of course, turning it off is harder, but sheathing it should work (of course, it's hard to sheath a greataxe).
To my knowledge, Pathfinder doesn't have a toggling illumination property for magic weapons.
You could just have a sorcerer or wizard cast Continual Flame on your weapon for 350gp. If they pick a small feature, like a gemstone (masterwork weapons often have gemstones, right?) or some fine detail, you can easily cover it with your hand. Mostly. Not quite the same, but close enough.
Well, about 30% of magical weapons glow like a Light spell, but they can't be turned off at will.
True - I definitely considered that, but since it's a flat 30% chance, it is not really something that the PC's can choose to have or not. And to be honest, we've never really enforced that 30% chance before.
Is there any particular reason it needs to be a weapon?
Mostly trying to keep PC's hands free, or at least holding something useful in a fight instead of an everburning torch. :-)
We're using a VTT in place of a battlemat, and things like vision and light that we'd always just handwaved become WAY more obvious and important when the computer is handling those sorts of things.
Thanks to all for confirming what I had already sort of figured out. I will probably work up a house rule to include something like the Illuminating quality as an option.
EDIT: Clarity
Heightened continual flame on a locket. On the inside of the locket.
Open or close the locket as a move action, and you conceal or reveal the light.
Well, about 30% of magical weapons glow like a Light spell, but they can't be turned off at will.True - I definitely considered that, but since it's a flat 30% chance, it is not really something that the PC's can choose to have or not. And to be honest, we've never really enforced that 30% chance before.
The 30% chance is for magic weapons found as loot. According to Creating Magic Weapons, the creator gets to decide:
At the time of creation, the creator must decide if the weapon glows or not as a side-effect of the magic imbued within it. This decision does not affect the price or the creation time, but once the item is finished, the decision is binding.
So, if the PCs are making or commisioning the weapon, all is well. If they're buying on the open market, well, presumably 30% of the weapons available glow and they can pick which they want.