Warpriest sacred weapon, magic?

[Draknafiend]

Quick question... Does a lvl 1 warpriest sacred weapon count as magical? The description sounds like it, but it doesn't say it... I know no bonuses till 4th level but is it magic, can it hit an allip for half damage?

At 1st level, weapons wielded by a warpriest are charged with the power of his faith

Sounds like magic

A dagger that normally does 1d4 points of damage now does 1d6 points of damage

Acts like magic

[Tarik Blackhands]

While sacred weapon is a SU ability, it bears no reference to being treated as a magic weapon for the purposes of DR or hitting incorporeals. Best buff with magic weapon or similar.

[Weables]

no, if it was magic it would say so. look at the monks ki fist for an example of the language needed

[lemeres]

Weables wrote:

no, if it was magic it would say so. look at the monks ki fist for an example of the language needed

I will go the opposite direction for the same reason.

The ability gives you an enhancement bonus to your weapon. So it should carry the same usual implications of a weapon with an enhancement bonus.

If they didnt want it to do magic weapon things, then they would have included language for that. Otherwise, it seems like a weird departure from the way normal weapon enhancements work.

[James Risner]

Monk Unarmed Attack is Ex.
Kk makes the Ex magic.
War priest is Su right?
So it should count as a magic weapon.

[Azten]

Until it gives the weapon a +1 it isn't a magic weapon. Sacred Weapon causes you to deal more damage with a dagger.

[Draknafiend]

I'm just going off the first line of Supernatural Abilities

Supernatural Abilities (Su)

Supernatural abilities are magical but not spell-like.

Monks unarmed strike specifies that it counts as magic because it is not inherently magic so it has to to be considered magic

Extraordinary Abilities (Ex)

Extraordinary abilities are non-magical.

[Draknafiend]

ok how about middle ground yes for Incorporeal

An incorporeal creature has no physical body. It can be harmed only by other incorporeal creatures, magic weapons or creatures that strike as magic weapons, and spells, spell-like abilities, or supernatural abilities.

But not for Damage reduction.

Some monsters are vulnerable to magic weapons. Any weapon with at least a +1 magical enhancement bonus on attack and damage rolls overcomes the damage reduction of these monsters.

[James Risner]

I think that's right.
Magic for incorporeal.
Not-Magic for DR as it isn't consider "magic for DR" like Monk Ki ability makes Monk Unarmed.

[Chess Pwn]

it's not magical unless you use the ability to add +1 to the weapon.
Your SU ability isn't damaging the incorporeal, so it doesn't fall into that category, and the weapon isn't magical so that doesn't work either.

[Draknafiend]

so sounds like if it doesn't have a +1 enhancement bonus its not magic?

[dragonhunterq]

Draknafiend wrote:

so sounds like if it doesn't have a +1 enhancement bonus its not magic?

That is how I would rule it.

[Draknafiend]

does casting magic weapon on a weapon make it magic?

[Tarik Blackhands]

Yes it does. Magic weapon gives it a +1 enhancement bonus which is the basic benchmark of "is a weapon considered magical" excluding specific language like a monk's ki strike.

Similarly, a paladin triggering his divine bond on a mundane weapon would work as would a warpriest using the actual enhancement bonus of sacred weapon (not the passive dice increase).

[Draknafiend]

it is magic it just does not qualify for DR or incorporeal?

[CraziFuzzy]

Sacred weapon, until using the 4th level boost, does nothing to the weapon itself, just the way the warpriest wields it "with the power of his faith". After 4th level, he can "enhance one of his sacred weapons with divine power", granting it a +1 enhancement bonus, and thereby making it magical.

[Tarik Blackhands]

That's how I read it anyway. The passive dice boost is a supernatural effect (ergo magical in nature) but it doesn't qualify for any of the shiny bonuses that actual magic weapons (aka +1 enhancement bonus or better) when it comes to overcoming DR or incorporealness. Precident has it that the devs would have explicitely mentioned if non-enhanced sacred weapons would qualify for overcoming DR (which by extension would mean affects incorporeal).

[Metheadras]

The last sentence is pretty clear. "The weapon must have at least a +1 enhancement bonus before any special abilities can be added."

So if you're 4th level and it's a non-magical weapon to start with your only option is to make it a normal +1 weapon.

[Tim Emrick]

In the paragraph before the 4th level boost, Sacred Weapon states, "This increase in damage does not affect any other aspect of the weapon," which I interpret as affirming that the weapon is not magical unless and until given an enhancement bonus.

This is a slight tangent, but I'd like to point out that the Weapon of the Chosen feat is an excellent way to always have a weapon that will overcome DR and strike incorporeal as if magic at very low level, without expending spells or gold. Plus that whole feat tree seems very on-brand for most warpriests.

[Java Man]

Do we think folks were waiting four years for an answer to this?

[Ryze Kuja]

Hey Necroers, the only reason to revive old threads like this is in case there has been some Errata or FAQ published since the question has been asked. Necroing a thread to point out these Errata/FAQ changes does indeed help future Googlers who are looking for answers to ensure they don't receive an "old answer". But in the case of this thread, you're not doing that, you're providing an answer to a question that has already been resolved.

These people don't wait around 4 years for answers, so there is no reason to necro a thread with a response that they won't see to a question that has already been answered/resolved.

[MrCharisma]

Java Man wrote:

Do we think folks were waiting four years for an answer to this?

Maaaaaaaybe¿

;D

[Tim Emrick]

Apologies. I didn't notice the dates on the older posts when I replied to the necro-post.