Four New Magic Weapon Abilities - Armor Piercing, Biting, Reaching, and Sundering

The four magic weapon abilities presented below are so simple yet so useful that I am surprised they haven't been made yet.  The first two, armor piercing and biting, alter the traditional +1 to hit/+1 to damage formula; armor piercing grants +2 to hit and +0 to damage while biting does the opposite.  It is a pretty basic trade off, but one that adds a greater degree of customization when creating a magic weapon.  After all, sometimes you just don't need that extra boost to damage but you want to be able to hit more often, or vice versa.

The reaching weapon sprouted from d20 despot artist-in-residence Kent Hamilton's head, and it seems to me to be incredibly useful.  The ability to add 5 ft. of reach at a moment's notice adds a lot of versatility to a given weapon.  The sundering ability is inspired by Sauron of The Lord of the Rings and the White Walkers from Game of Thrones, both of whom are supernaturally good at breaking swords.  It basically gives you the Improved Sunder feat plus double damage against objects, which should allow the wielder to hack away armor, shatter swords, and bash down doors with ease.

The following material given in gold text and its accompanying table is available as Open Game Content under the OGL.  Open Game Content is ©2016 Jonah Bomgaars.

ARMOR PIERCING                +1 BONUS

Aura: faint transmutation          CL 8^th

An armor piercing weapon gains a +2 enhancement bonus on attack rolls. 

Construction Requirements

Craft Magic Arms and Armor, true strike

BITING                          +1 BONUS

Aura: faint transmutation          CL 8^th

A biting weapon gains a +2 enhancement bonus on damage rolls.   

Construction Requirements

Craft Magic Arms and Armor, inflict light wounds or magic weapon

REACHING                   +1 BONUS

Aura: moderate transmutation CL 10^th

As a swift action reaching weapon can extend to gain an extra 5 feet of reach.  The weapon can be retracted again as a free action.  Hafted weapons (such as spears, axes, and maces) only threaten the final square of their reach, but weapons with a greater effective portion (such as swords, daggers, and quarterstaves) threaten all squares within their reach.  Reaching can only be applied to melee weapons.  This enhancement can be applied multiple times to the same weapon; each time it increases the weapon’s reach by 5 feet, and the wielder chooses the weapon’s length within that range each time it extends or retracts. 

Construction Requirements

Craft Magic Arms and Armor, enlarge person

SUNDERING                            +2 BONUS

Aura: moderate transmutation CL 10^th

A sundering weapon is particularly effective against inanimate objects.  It grants its wielder a +2 bonus on sunder combat maneuvers and such maneuvers never provoke attacks of opportunity when made with this weapon.  In addition, a sundering weapon deals double damage against objects. 

Construction Requirements

Craft Magic Arms and Armor, break or shatter

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My ideal name for the biting ability would have been wounding, but that has already been taken by an ability that deals 1 point of bleed damage.  Alas.

-your biting d20 despot

Sandbox Campaign Part 4: Backstories and Town Adventures

This is part 4 of my ongoing account of the sandbox campaign I am currently running.  Updates are frequent, if irregular, and at the end of each post I talk about one or more subjects pertaining to the adventure but more broadly applicable to all campaigns.  You can find the previous parts here.

In the previous session, while resting in the tower, Sigurd, Zel, Kat, Daphne, and Rikkit had a discussion of their backstories.  Sigurd, the third child of a Valsc raider who settled down with a Kaldish weaver, had run away from home seeking adventure and the chivalrous life of a knight.  Kat and Daphne, frightened of the prospect of inheriting their father's terrible and unsanitary sandwich shop, fled north to make something of themselves.  Zel, one of many illegitimate offspring of a witch and her various expendable lovers, fled her home along with her eldest brother.  They travelled in opposite directions to minimize the chance of them both getting caught.  Rikkit was cast out of his goblin clan by the terrible chieftain, Blackhide.  He fled to an isolated manor house, where the lord took pity on him and taught him to control his budding sorcerous powers.  Soon, however, Blackhide and his tribe descended on the manor and slaughtered all inside, save Rikkit who escaped with his favourite cat Bartleby.  Ever since, Rikkit has hated goblin kind and vowed to one day kill Blackhide.