Steve Jackson Games - Site Navigation
Home General Info Follow Us Search Illuminator Store Forums What's New Other Games Ogre GURPS Munchkin Our Games: Home

Go Back   Steve Jackson Games Forums > Roleplaying > Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 01-16-2019, 11:26 AM   #1
Taneli
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Default What counts as a magic weapon?

OK, this came up during Hall of Judgment, Hrogns have DR versus magic weapons, would quarterstaff enchanted with Staff-spell count as a magic weapon?
__________________
[/delurk]
AotA is of course IMHO, YMMV.
vincit qui se vincit
Taneli is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2019, 11:53 AM   #2
MiB1213
 
MiB1213's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Piscataway, NJ
Default Re: What counts as a magic weapon?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Taneli View Post
OK, this came up during Hall of Judgment, Hrogns have DR versus magic weapons, would quarterstaff enchanted with Staff-spell count as a magic weapon?
If it enchanted with a permanent spell than yes. Go to Exploits page 77.
__________________
~~The Illuminati is your friend~~
MiB1213 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2019, 12:09 PM   #3
evileeyore
Banned
 
evileeyore's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: 100 hurricane swamp
Default Re: What counts as a magic weapon?

Most people seem to treat "magical damage"* as any damage from a magical source. So a Flaming sword, Puissance, damaging spells, etc. Accuracy, Staff, and Lighten do not do any damage.




* There is a difference between "vulnerable to magical weapons" and "vulnerable to magical damage".
evileeyore is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2019, 12:18 PM   #4
evileeyore
Banned
 
evileeyore's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: 100 hurricane swamp
Default Re: What counts as a magic weapon?

Quote:
Originally Posted by MiB1213 View Post
If it enchanted with a permanent spell than yes. Go to Exploits page 77.
I'll note, that while this is a perfectly valid opinion, there is some contention over what counts as "magical" for penetrating "magical" defenses.

It means that very inexpensive upgrades (Staff notably*) are an incredibly cheap way to deal with these tougher monsters.



* But Lighten or Deflect on a shield/armor are also fairly inexpensive and become the best 'upgrade' for everyone. Allowing this means delvers on the cheap all start carrying Wizard's Wands to beat down tough monsters early in their careers.
evileeyore is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2019, 01:24 PM   #5
MiB1213
 
MiB1213's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Piscataway, NJ
Default Re: What counts as a magic weapon?

Quote:
Originally Posted by evileeyore View Post
I'll note, that while this is a perfectly valid opinion, there is some contention over what counts as "magical" for penetrating "magical" defenses.

It means that very inexpensive upgrades (Staff notably*) are an incredibly cheap way to deal with these tougher monsters.



* But Lighten or Deflect on a shield/armor are also fairly inexpensive and become the best 'upgrade' for everyone. Allowing this means delvers on the cheap all start carrying Wizard's Wands to beat down tough monsters early in their careers.
Good point. When I read that I was treating the quarterstaff as the object that would inflict the damage, not the actual magical effect the item is capable of producing.
__________________
~~The Illuminati is your friend~~
MiB1213 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2019, 02:00 PM   #6
DouglasCole
Doctor of GURPS Ballistics
 
DouglasCole's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Lakeville, MN
Default Re: What counts as a magic weapon?

My inclination - though each GM is free to interpret it as they like - is that I'd want the actual hurt to come from a magical damage source. Accuracy, Puissance, and Penetrating weapons? Absolutely. Affects Insubstantial/Spirit Weapon? Definitely. Fireball? Lightning? Crispy critter.

The Staff spell allows the weapon to be treated as "caster" for the purposes of conducting magic, if I'm not mistaken (I might be). I'd be loathe to allow that, as it's like "the weapon is a conductor (staff spell), but what are you conducting (another spell cast through it)." The second thing would be "magical damage," to me, while the first, not.

In short: I'd probably adjudicate based on violent intent.

But what about my magical sword that's just mundane except for it shines light when unsheathed as a permanent enchantment? That's clearly an enchanted sword, but it doesn't do magical damage!

Good question. I'd probably, in accordance with the "violence, please" theory, say no, the sword does mundane damage.

Looking at the Hrogn, it also seems that there's errata in the HP (where did 11 come from? Shouldn't it be 6?) and the Control maximum as well, which should look like 1, 2, 4, 6, 7+
__________________
My blog:Gaming Ballistic, LLC
My Store: Gaming Ballistic on Shopify
My Patreon: Gaming Ballistic on Patreon
DouglasCole is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2019, 11:56 PM   #7
MiB1213
 
MiB1213's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Piscataway, NJ
Default Re: What counts as a magic weapon?

After reading this I have a question. On pg 118 of Adventuresrs under Other Items it lists the costs of Wizard’s Staff and Wizard’s Wand as costing $40 and $50 respectfully. But now Expoilts pg 9 in the box Magic Staffs it says “...with respect to clerical, Druidic, or wizardrly magic, at the cost of $30 per realm.”
Why the change in price?
__________________
~~The Illuminati is your friend~~

Last edited by MiB1213; 01-16-2019 at 11:58 PM. Reason: Typo
MiB1213 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-17-2019, 01:37 AM   #8
evileeyore
Banned
 
evileeyore's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: 100 hurricane swamp
Default Re: What counts as a magic weapon?

Quote:
Originally Posted by MiB1213 View Post
After reading this I have a question. On pg 118 of Adventuresrs under Other Items it lists the costs of Wizard’s Staff and Wizard’s Wand as costing $40 and $50 respectfully.
A staff costs $10, a baton costs $20. The enchantment itself costs $30.

So, to buy a Wizard's Staff, your buying a staff ($10) + the enchantment ($30) which costs $40.

Quote:
But now Expoilts pg 9 in the box Magic Staffs it says “...with respect to clerical, Druidic, or wizardrly magic, at the cost of $30 per realm.”
Why the change in price?
Two things:

1 - That's in Spells not Exploits...

2 - "The $30 to make a staff magical ..." The $30 is to make a staff magical. Not to buy a staff.

Last edited by evileeyore; 01-17-2019 at 01:44 AM.
evileeyore is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-17-2019, 05:31 AM   #9
ArchonShiva
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Montréal, Québec
Default Re: What counts as a magic weapon?

Quote:
Originally Posted by DouglasCole View Post
The Staff spell allows the weapon to be treated as "caster" for the purposes of conducting magic, if I'm not mistaken (I might be).
That’d be a great way for clerics to cheat repeat casting of healing spells! It only counts as “part of the wizard’s arm”, basically.

As for the question, by RAW I’d say anything permanent affected by no-mana zones. I would not consider Staff spell because the spellcasting is already mana-dependent, so it’s no less an extension of the caster’s arm in a no mana zone. Permanent light spells turn off, so they count. A shield with Lighten counts as well.

Changing that sounds like a reasonable campaign feature, though. “Any enchantment intended to improve inflicting harm” seems like the right amount. Another campaign might say “anything costing $5k+”. Also, druidic and clerical enchanted weapons would usually count in my campaign.
__________________
Per-based Stealth isn’t remotely as awkward as DX-based Observation.

Last edited by ArchonShiva; 01-17-2019 at 05:42 AM. Reason: Answering the question
ArchonShiva is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
hall of judgement, magic

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Fnords are Off
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 09:05 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.