What happens when you cast Enhance Weapon on Grenades?

[DemonicDem]

Enhance Weapon says:

Quote:

...
Targets 1 weapon that is unattended or wielded by a willing creature
...
You infuse the weapon with magic allowing it to safely operate beyond its normal parameters. If the target is a commercial or tactical weapon, it becomes an advanced weapon, gaining a +1 item bonus to attack rolls and increasing the number of weapon damage dice to two.

The Grenades rules state:

Quote:

Grenades are simple thrown weapons that are expended when used.

So we know we can cast Enhance Weapon on Grenades, and we know it becomes an Advanced version of that Grenade, and that it has two damage die and gains the tracking trait.

However, a damaging Advanced Grenade will have three damage die and no tracking trait, so it's a bit confusing what is supposed to happen.

In Pathfinder 2e, this wasn't a problem with Alchemical Bombs and Runic Weapon because the Etched usage says:

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Runes must be etched onto permanent items...

Enhance Weapon doesn't give Runes, so it's not the same situation here, and there doesn't seem to be an equivalent section, but I might be missing it.

[Christopher#2411504]

PF2 actually has a more specific rule for that:

Quote:

As consumables, bombs can't have runes etched onto them, have talismans attached to them, or benefit from runes granted in other ways (such as from spells or from items that replicate runes from other items). Spells and magic items that give you a bonus to all your attacks (or to all thrown weapons, for example) can still apply to them.

RAW those spells work on Grenades.

But that limit in PF2 was added for very good reasons, so RAI they probably should not work. Of course PF2 did have a lot more rune sharing - especially the Throwers Bandolier - before that clarificaiton was added in the Remaster. So it might not be a problem for the moment.

[Finoan]

Runic Weapon doesn't Etch a rune or duplicate an existing rune. So I don't think the RAW actually prevents it in PF2.

It is a bad idea to do or allow that, for a variety of reasons.

The player doesn't generally want to spend a spell slot enhancing a 1-use consumable. That is very inefficient for a spell slot. There are other ways of adding enhancements to attacks or damage from that bomb that are not also consumed along with the bomb.

And the GM is going to have a tough time trying to reconcile a Striking rune on a Bomb that specifies its total amount of damage dice rather than only specifying a base amount like non-consumable weapons do. Acid Flask gets a special mention for only dealing one point of direct damage from the Strike no matter which tier you use.

So I would use the same line of reasoning to dissuade people from allowing Enhance Weapon to be used on Grenades or other consumable weapons.

[DemonicDem]

Finoan wrote:

Runic Weapon doesn't Etch a rune or duplicate an existing rune. So I don't think the RAW actually prevents it in PF2.

It is a bad idea to do or allow that, for a variety of reasons.

The player doesn't generally want to spend a spell slot enhancing a 1-use consumable. That is very inefficient for a spell slot. There are other ways of adding enhancements to attacks or damage from that bomb that are not also consumed along with the bomb.

And the GM is going to have a tough time trying to reconcile a Striking rune on a Bomb that specifies its total amount of damage dice rather than only specifying a base amount like non-consumable weapons do. Acid Flask gets a special mention for only dealing one point of direct damage from the Strike no matter which tier you use.

So I would use the same line of reasoning to dissuade people from allowing Enhance Weapon to be used on Grenades or other consumable weapons.

If you could turn a Grenade into an Advanced Grenade, it'd be a pretty strong option for 1st level casters. A lot stronger than AoE spells.

[Driftbourne]

Finoan wrote:

Runic Weapon doesn't Etch a rune or duplicate an existing rune. So I don't think the RAW actually prevents it in PF2.

It is a bad idea to do or allow that, for a variety of reasons.

The player doesn't generally want to spend a spell slot enhancing a 1-use consumable. That is very inefficient for a spell slot. There are other ways of adding enhancements to attacks or damage from that bomb that are not also consumed along with the bomb.

And the GM is going to have a tough time trying to reconcile a Striking rune on a Bomb that specifies its total amount of damage dice rather than only specifying a base amount like non-consumable weapons do. Acid Flask gets a special mention for only dealing one point of direct damage from the Strike no matter which tier you use.

So I would use the same line of reasoning to dissuade people from allowing Enhance Weapon to be used on Grenades or other consumable weapons.

Enhance Weapon on a grenade comes in handy when no one has a weapon or attack that can hit a swarm. But that's very situational.