Bonus Damage Dice to Magic Weapons

[Malcadon]

This is a rule that I came up with to deal with the normally protracted combat with high-level characters vs large monsters, and to make the otherwise ubiquitous +1 sword feel like it actually has some real power. This rule basically adds an extra damage die per "+1" of a magic weapon. So a +1 sword would do 2-16 (2d8, 9 avg) points of damage, instead of 2-9 (1d8+1). This would also give a +1 sword: +3 vs Dragons more weight, as that already boosted +1 sword can do 4-32 (4d8, 18 avg) to a dragon in one hit! That would really hurt them!

This could be applied to high Strength, but that would make a strong character insanely powerful. As noted above, a character with a Strength of 18 could do a lot of damage in one hit! On the other hand, one could use the AD&D approach to eighteen plus Strength, by adding a bonus damage die instead of the normal static damage bonus for each point above eighteen. So a character who through magic growth or enhanced super-strength, as become as powerful as a Frost Giant (STR 21) can hit with a +6 bonus to-hit and throw four dice of damage in one hit, on top the ability to chuck big boulders like a Frisbee. Such a thing should be codified.

[kingius]

That will completely unbalance your game. Your example sword will one hit-kill dragons and that will really reduce the big nasty in the campaign when the first action of the first round slays it. Major let down.

[Wizardawn]

Malcadon, you didn't pose a question so I am unsure if you have one or are just trying to cultivate a discussion. If a discussion is what you are going for, then I feel your idea makes for a very powerful weapon indeed. If you feel that these +1 weapons are just "too common" then I would suggest just dressing up the weapons a bit so it is not just a "+1 weapon". A couple of years back I wrote an LL supplement that you can get off of Dragonsfoot that can help one make "unique magical weapons". Then you can generate more colorful weapons like...

Spear of Vines +1 that can cast Entangle once per day .......or....... Enchanted Club of Death Dealing +1, +3 against Undead

...which I (as a player) would love to find and have as my weapon as opposed to the mundane +1 weapon. You still keep the weapons at a more game-friendly bonus on attack and damage...but you can give them a nice ability that they can use once per day or even once per week.

[greyarea]

A couple of years back I wrote an LL supplement that you can get off of Dragonsfoot that can help one make "unique magical weapons".

Wow, that's an awesome resource that I wasn't aware of before. Thanks, wizardawn! I'm now off to battle with my Enchanted Light Pick (+1) of Magical Vanquishing!

[Malcadon]

Malcadon, you didn't pose a question so I am unsure if you have one or are just trying to cultivate a discussion. If a discussion is what you are going for, then I feel your idea makes for a very powerful weapon indeed. If you feel that these +1 weapons are just "too common" then I would suggest just dressing up the weapons a bit so it is not just a "+1 weapon". A couple of years back I wrote an LL supplement that you can get off of Dragonsfoot that can help one make "unique magical weapons". Then you can generate more colorful weapons like...

Spear of Vines +1 that can cast Entangle once per day .......or....... Enchanted Club of Death Dealing +1, +3 against Undead

...which I (as a player) would love to find and have as my weapon as opposed to the mundane +1 weapon. You still keep the weapons at a more game-friendly bonus on attack and damage...but you can give them a nice ability that they can use once per day or even once per week.

Trust me, I like to keep magic items as rare and as strange as possible. You would be lucky to have one useful magic by 5th level! And I like to make them unique (like intelligent items and lesser artifacts), so no bland cookie cutter stuff, and you'll have to deal with weird side-effects (I'm talking about metal blackouts to things/people, makes your gay, etc.).

But the idea of making a magic weapon powerful came form a scene form the 1981 Clash of the Titans film, where "D. Zeus ex Machina" gave Perseus a bunch of magic stuff, and to test out the magic sword, Perseus cut a chunk of marble with it. And the chief motivation to building up the damage like this, is to cut down on the time it takes high-level PCs to dispatch a big and powerful monster, as my players get really board with drawn-out fights. They don't mind a hard-fought battle, but they don't want to spend the majority of the adventure in long fights. If they want to grind, they could play WoW, but at the table, they want to explore and interact with the world in ways you can do in a MMORPG.

Plus, what is the point of a Dragon-slayer Sword (Sword +1, +3 vs Dragons) if it cannot dispatch dragons in short order.

Oh and thanks for the link. That kind of sheet makes my work a little easier. (I might even apply the name prefixes to NPCs who think so highly of themselves )

[Blood axe]

Great piece of work Wizardawn

[kingius]

boosted +1 sword can do 4-32 (4d8, 18 avg) to a dragon in one hit!

Nothing wrong with a +1 sword that is +3 against dragons, but there is plenty wrong with a sword doing this much damage against a dragon PER HIT! At least the wizard runs out of fireballs, unless this sword was charged, this is going to seriously unbalance everything and effectively turn dragons into 1-2 HD monster equivalents.