Divine Ally (Blade) on a Bow

[Watery Soup]

Does an archer champion get property rune effects on their bow?

Con: All listed runes stipulate melee weapons.
Pro: Divine Ally says the champion gets the effect, not the rune.

[HumbleGamer]

The effect part seems not to be a typo

Radiant Blade Spirit

Quote:

Your divine ally radiates power, enhancing your chosen weapon. When you choose the weapon for your blade ally during your daily preparations, add the following property runes to the list of effects you can choose from: flaming and any aligned properties (anarchic, axiomatic, holy, or unholy) that match your cause’s alignment.

Radiant Blade Master

Quote:

Your divine ally turns your chosen weapon into a paragon of its type. When you choose the weapon for your blade divine ally during your preparations, add the following property runes to the list of effects you can choose from: dancing, greater disrupting, and keen.

I am pretty sure it's intended that you can use those runes even on a ranged weapon which couldn't use those.

Looking at it closely, we can see that:

- Returning isn't going to work anyway
- Shifting weapon would be great with a crossbow but... let's be honest there, nobody would use a crossbow as a champion ( unless rare situations ). And a bow is a 1+ hands, meaning it would not transform into anything but another bow.
- Disrupting ( only works against undeads )
- Ghost touch ( only works against incorporeal creatures, mostly undeads )

All of this just to say that even if it offers possibilities that normally a ranged weapon doesn't have, it seems not "broken".

Though obviously it gives a unique approach when it comes to Ghost Touch and ranged weapon.

[Gortle]

Its an interesting reading of it. I do believe you are correct. I mean Blade Ally says A spirit of battle dwells within your armaments. Select one weapon or handwraps of mighty blows Clearly a Returning Hand Wraps of Mighty Blows is not going to be useful but it is explicitly enabled by this rule.

So yes I agree you can definitely use Blade Ally to place rune effects on ranged weapons that don't normally allow them.

Its up the the GM to work it out if there are any issues. If you have a GM how likes to intepret rules liberally you could get some interesting options.

[Taja the Barbarian]

HumbleGamer wrote:

The effect part seems not to be a typo

Radiant Blade Spirit

Quote:

Your divine ally radiates power, enhancing your chosen weapon. When you choose the weapon for your blade ally during your daily preparations, add the following property runes to the list of effects you can choose from: flaming and any aligned properties (anarchic, axiomatic, holy, or unholy) that match your cause’s alignment.

Radiant Blade Master

Quote:

Your divine ally turns your chosen weapon into a paragon of its type. When you choose the weapon for your blade divine ally during your preparations, add the following property runes to the list of effects you can choose from: dancing, greater disrupting, and keen.

I am pretty sure it's intended that you can use those runes even on a ranged weapon which couldn't use those.

Looking at it closely, we can see that:

- Returning isn't going to work anyway
- Shifting weapon would be great with a crossbow but... let's be honest there, nobody would use a crossbow as a champion ( unless rare situations ). And a bow is a 1+ hands, meaning it would not transform into anything but another bow.
- Disrupting ( only works against undeads )
- Ghost touch ( only works against incorporeal creatures, mostly undeads )

All of this just to say that even if it offers possibilities that normally a ranged weapon doesn't have, it seems not "broken".

Though obviously it gives a unique approach when it comes to Ghost Touch and ranged weapon.

Shifting only works on melee weapons because it's effect text reads: "The weapon takes the shape of another melee weapon that requires the same number of hands to wield."