Cost of Vampiric weapon property?

[SteelDraco]

What bonus would you call this as a weapon property? I'm thinking it's +3 but I'm not sure. There's only one other +3 bonus, speed, and it's quite powerful. It feels worse to me than Brilliant Energy (most attacks are touch attacks, some foes are immune to the weapon) and better than the various Burst weapons. It's far better for a PC than an NPC, who will be getting fairly limited healing from it.

Compare also to the Vampiric Weapon psychic warrior power from 3.5 and the better healing in PF in general with Channel Energy.

Vampiric
Aura: Moderate necromancy, CL 5th, Craft Magic Arms and Armor, vampiric touch, price +3 bonus (???)

This ability may only be added to a melee weapon.

This weapon crackles with black energy. When a vampiric weapon strikes a living creature, the target takes 1d6 points of negative energy damage. The wielder of the weapon heals hit points equal to the negative energy damage taken by the target.

 

[Salthorae]

I'd probably peg it at +2 for a game I was running.

Only reason for that is as a PC I wouldn't ever buy or upgrade to a weapon that was +1 Vampiric if the total cost was as a +4 weapon (32,000 gp) when I could get a +3 Flaming or something weapon for the same price.

I as a PC might be willing to do 18,000 gp OTOH for a +1 Weapon that was going to heal me as I hit...

And I think that "might be willing" is the sweet spot for weapon enhancements. You don't want to make it too appealing (i.e. cheap) and not too unappealing for the price either.

my 2 cp...

 

[Crothian]

Do the hit points gained just heal the character up to the max? Or do the count as temporary hit points? What is the limit of additional HP a character can have and how long do they last?

Depending on how it actually works will help determine what it's plus should be.

 

[SteelDraco]

Do the hit points gained just heal the character up to the max? Or do the count as temporary hit points? What is the limit of additional HP a character can have and how long do they last?

Depending on how it actually works will help determine what it's plus should be.

Gah! It's intended to be "heals", not "gains". Dumb error on my part. It doesn't take you above your normal maximum. I'll edit that.

 

[N'raac]

I'd agree with +2. It's clearly more powerful than, say, Flaming or Frost, but not hugely so. Less targets with resistance, and the healing is nice.

Now, what happens if he hits an Undead? Does the circuit reverse?

 

[Salthorae]

if it's based on Negative Energy, I'd say yes.

If it's based on the type-less damage/energy from Vampiric Touch, then I'd say no and it still heals you regardless of what creature type you're hitting.

 

[SteelDraco]

I'd agree with +2. It's clearly more powerful than, say, Flaming or Frost, but not hugely so. Less targets with resistance, and the healing is nice.

Now, what happens if he hits an Undead? Does the circuit reverse?

Aha! I thought about that!

Undead are healed by negative energy, so you gain nothing - you get the negative energy damage they take, and undead don't take any damage. This also means you don't get healed if the target is under a Death Ward, because they're immune to negative energy damage.

 

[frankthedm]

Would a weapon that healed 1d6 you every hit only be a +1 mod?

Because that plus the fact this deals an energy type that is hard for most creatures to resist and actually heals damage rather than granting temp HP make me feel+3 is the lowest it ought to be.

Getting ANY healing without dipping into the action economy is a HUGE thing, look at the high price of the ring of regeneration.

Here was the one d20 weapon I remember doing anything like this, and that only showed up in the psionics rules.

Bodyfeeder
All feeder weapons have a special ability that functions only upon scoring a successful critical hit. A bodyfeeder weapon grants its wielder temporary hit points equal to the total damage dealt by a successful critical hit. These temporary hit points last for 10 minutes. Thus, if the wielder of a bodyfeeder weapon successfully scores a critical hit while the wielder still enjoys temporary hit points from a previous critical hit, the wielder gains only the better of the two values: either his current number of temporary hit points, or the new influx of temporary hit points, whichever is higher.

Strong psychometabolism; ML 12th; Craft Psionic Arms and Armor, claws of the vampire; Price +3 bonus.

 

[N'raac]

Undead are healed by negative energy, so you gain nothing - you get the negative energy damage they take, and undead don't take any damage. This also means you don't get healed if the target is under a Death Ward, because they're immune to negative energy damage.

Given the undead is healed, is the weapon wielder harmed?

 

[N'raac]

While I see the value of the Ring of Regeneration, it heals 1 point every round - that's huge - 10 points a minute; 600 points an hour. He's also immune to bleeding damage (so he always stabilizes) and can regrow limbs and organs.

That seems a lot more powerful, and valuable, than healing 1d6 for each successful hit on a target who is still alive to take the damage and is not immune to negative energy damage. Still, I can see a case for +3 rather than +2. Most of the +2 abilities are pretty situational, working only on a critical or only against certain alignments, creatures, etc.

I still lean to +2, but I'm not sure I'd pay for the Speed weapon either.