Magic Weapons, GMW spell, and Imbue Weapon questions.

[thflame]

Firstly, I want to preface that I understand that Enhancement Bonuses don't stack. (A +3 longsword that has a 20th level caster cast Greater Magic Weapon on it doesn't become a +8 longsword, as the bonuses overlap. It instead becomes a +5 longsword.)

Next, I'd like to let it be known that I also understand that you can't put the same special ability on a weapon twice. (No 2x Flaming for 2d6 fire damage.)

Now for my questions.

If I have a +1, vorpal, holy, flaming burst longsword, and I have a 20th level caster cast Greater Magic Weapon on it, does it become a +5, vorpal, holy, flaming burst longsword, or is the weapon capped at an effective +10?

Next, if the character with this weapon is a Magus, can the Magus expend arcane pool points to add Speed, Keen, etc. to this weapon?

I was under the impression that GMW "stacked" and I assumed that Imbue Weapon would to, but someone told me that in Pathfinder, all weapons are capped at a +10 equivalent bonus and can't be improved further by any means. If this is the case, then many players would have class features effectively robbed from them by just paying for a better weapon.

[Bob Bob Bob]

Thanks to Gisher in a different thread, here's the FAQ. Short answer, you can never exceed +10 total. Period.

Left unanswered (and I have no clue) is whether Greater Magic Weapon counts for that purpose (probably?), whether Bane/Furious counts for that purpose (probably not?). The only absolutely explicit part is that you can't add +X equivalent abilities to a +10 weapon, no matter what your source.

[Claxon]

Bonuses granted from things like Bane of Furious probably shouldn't apply against the +10 limit, or else you stop benefiting from the special ability (at least partially). It rarely comes up because hardly anyone reaches levels high enough to afford to spend that much on a weapon.

As for Greater Magic weapon and what happens to a weapon...
I think appling greater magic weapon (CL 20) to a +10 equivalent weapon (say a +1 weapon with +9 worth of special abilities) what happens is that you still can't have more than a +10 equivalent. So the weapon becomes a +5 weapon with +5 worth of special abilities, and I would let the player decide which ones stop working.

[Yorien]

Claxon wrote:

As for Greater Magic weapon and what happens to a weapon...

I think appling greater magic weapon (CL 20) to a +10 equivalent weapon (say a +1 weapon with +9 worth of special abilities) what happens is that you still can't have more than a +10 equivalent. So the weapon becomes a +5 weapon with +5 worth of special abilities, and I would let the player decide which ones stop working.

The +10 is confirmed as a hard cap, so no temporary buff an pass that.

As for applying GMW, I'd say ot doesn't work that way. The weapon is already magical and has it's special abilities, and I see nowhere in GMW text that it states existing weapon abilities are temporarily dispelled to "make room" for the spell enhancement.

I'd say that the weapon retains all it's abilities then GMW increases the enhancement bonus up to +5 or to the weapon's hard-cap (+10 enh. worth), whatever comes first; all excess "enhancement" from the spell is lost.