So one thing my PCs have started doing that is kind of weird to me is that if they get a magical weapon-- say, a +1 frost striking cold-iron sickle-- that one of the PCs would use if it were, say... a +1 frost striking cold-iron bastard sword... is that they give it to the Champion who has Blade Ally.
They then make it their Blade Ally the next day and put Shifting on it. They then use Shifting to make the Sickle into a Bastard Sword, then rest a day and prepare their regular weapon as their Blade Ally. Shifting doesn't say it ever transforms back... so then they pass the bastard sword on to the fighter.
I'm just curious about the rules here in wanting to know if this is actually possible or if we're just taking crazy pills.
Why does the rune have to say it shifts back?
If it's a sickle, it's a sickle intrinsically, right?
Well, no. Or yes?
The problem with the scenario is we're delving into metaphysics in a game of make-believe. The answer is whatever the builders of the universe say it is.
Did the sickle become a bastard sword "really"? Or was it only a sickle pretending to be a bastard sword and reverting back when it loses its transmutation ability?
That's more a GM question than anything, depending on how you want to categorize magic minutia and/or balance the game.
Personally, my gut reaction was a loophole was being exploited, but in looking up the Shifting Rune, I see that the rune does transmute the weapon into another weapon, seemingly permanently. It feels like a done deal, even if the rune were transferred off, or in this case expires. So it seems Blade Ally Champions have a remarkable ability, albeit likely unexpected.
How are they transferring the rune?
Does someone use a crafting ability to etch it on the 'new' weapon?
No. Champions have a class ability that grants a weapon "in their hands" the Shifting property-- Blade Ally-- which allows the weapon to transform into another weapon that requires the same number of hands. Shifting doesn't say it doesn't transform back when you're done. So the party has been having the Champion change weapons to suit their needs for them.
And if they just passed it on, it'd lose Shifting-- then maybe become what it was before-- but the Champion just uses it for a day, then chooses a different weapon to be their Ally. So it doesn't lose Shifting by being passed over...
It just feels funny with two people with Master Crafting in the same party and they're skipping that step-- arguably one of the only reasons to have a person devoted to being a Master Crafter.