Sun Blade

[The Iron Mark]

The Sun Blade presented in the DMG acts like a short sword, but has bastard sword stats. If you made a bigger one so it acted like a longsword, it would have fullblade stats right? Could someone get me stats when you make a fullblade bigger by three categories? Would a bigger Sun Blade cost more? How much more? What is the total enhancment bonus on a Sun Blade(wondering if I could put Flaming, Keen, and Sure Strike on one)?
Whew, that's it I think.

 

[Roland Delacroix]

You know I was thinking the same thing a few days ago but it just hit me that this is perfect for one fo my players. He wants to do the Final Fantasy thing wielding a sword the size of many small nations. I'll have to tell him this is the way to do it.

 

[Chris Nagle]

If you make it bigger go up 1 size so it looks like a Greatsword but can be weilded like a longsword.
Does Greatsword damage one handed.

The magic to cost is 50,000 GP and the sword is 335 GP.

Costs the same magic 50,000 GP but the mastercrafted Greatsword is 350 GP. Total 50,350 GP Cost 25,350 GP and 2,000 XP.

 

[Ma'varkith]

Hornblades are another way to go. You can find info on them in 2e books (don't know which, of-hand - sorry). They're in a 3e book currently in playtest, as well.

 

[Dr. Zoom]

The Sun Blade presented in the DMG acts like a short sword, but has bastard sword stats. If you made a bigger one so it acted like a longsword, it would have fullblade stats right?

No. Greatsword.

Could someone get me stats when you make a fullblade bigger by three categories?

Sure. Fullblades are Large and do 1d12 damage. One step up makes it a Huge fullblade that does 2d8 damage. One more step makes it Gargantuan doing 2d10 damage. And the third step up makes it Colossal and it does 2d12 damage. Coincidentally, a greatsword will have these damage ratings too for the corresponding size.

Would a bigger Sun Blade cost more? How much more?

Yes. I am not sure.

What is the total enhancment bonus on a Sun Blade(wondering if I could put Flaming, Keen, and Sure Strike on one)?

Sun blade is worth 50,000gp. This is +5 on the chart. Therefore, a sun blade could still hold +5 in abilities. Flaming, Keen, and Sure Strike are all +1 abilities, so you could have a sun blade with all three of these with +2 to spare.

 

[CRGreathouse]

Sure. Fullblades are Large and do 1d12 damage. One step up makes it a Huge fullblade that does 2d8 damage. One more step makes it Gargantuan doing 2d10 damage. And the third step up makes it Colossal and it does 2d12 damage. Coincidentally, a greatsword will have these damage ratings too for the corresponding size.

Check the errata. It's a Huge weapon dealing 2d8 damage.

A Gargantuan fullblade would deal 4d6 damage; a Colossal fullblade would deal 4d8 damage.

A weapon that deals 1d12 damage is advanced as follows:
1d12 -> 2d8 -> 4d6 -> 4d8, not 1d12 -> 2d8 -> 2d10 -> 2d12. Check PH page 246, DMG page 162, and MM page 14.

 

[The Iron Mark]

What would you guys think of making Sun Blade equivilents for axes and clubs/maces?

 

[Dr. Zoom]

CRGreathouse wrote:

Check the errata. It's a Huge weapon dealing 2d8 damage.

A Gargantuan fullblade would deal 4d6 damage; a Colossal fullblade would deal 4d8 damage.

A weapon that deals 1d12 damage is advanced as follows:
1d12 -> 2d8 -> 4d6 -> 4d8, not 1d12 -> 2d8 -> 2d10 -> 2d12. Check PH page 246, DMG page 162, and MM page 14.

I thought I made all of the errata changes to my copy of S&F but I see I did not. I just downloaded them from WotC and did the job right. Thanks CRG.

But how did you get from Huge 2d8 to Gargantuan 4d6? I checked all your references, and they say to change the dX to the next higher, not the multiplier. So by my calculation, it should go to 2d10 and then to 2d12. Am I missing something?


The Iron Mark wrote:

What would you guys think of making Sun Blade equivilents for axes and clubs/maces?

Sure, why not?

 

[CRGreathouse]

But how did you get from Huge 2d8 to Gargantuan 4d6? I checked all your references, and they say to change the dX to the next higher, not the multiplier. So by my calculation, it should go to 2d10 and then to 2d12. Am I missing something?

According to the charts, 1d8 -> 2d6. The charts also explain that if you have more than one die, you apply the change to each die. Thus, 2d8 -> 4d6.

 

[Chun-tzu]

You know I was thinking the same thing a few days ago but it just hit me that this is perfect for one fo my players. He wants to do the Final Fantasy thing wielding a sword the size of many small nations. I'll have to tell him this is the way to do it.

Although I do see a certain coolness factor in carrying around a massive sword, it should carry certain disadvantages.

First, it marks the character as extremely distinctive, which many gamers like, but really works against the character whenever he wants any measure of discretion or anonymity. "Have you seen a guy with a huge sword?" "Yup, couldn't possibly miss him."

A sword like that also marks the character as a trouble maker, in the eyes of any peacekeepers. Imagine you're pulling watch duty for some city and the guy coming up has a gigantic sword strapped across his back. Do you let him into the city? I sure wouldn't (or at least, he'd have to leave the sword with the guards).

A sword that's too big is extremely unwieldy, aside from the weight factor. It's an encumbrance issue. In the Rurouni Kenshin anime series, there was a character (Sanosuke) who used one of those giant swords. The hero, Kenshin, found it incredibly easy to anticipate how the other guy was going to strike, because with a sword that size (wielded by a human size character), there are only two ways to attack: either a horizontal strike, parallel to the ground, or a vertical strike, swinging downward at the target. So even if the weapon had the stats of a large weapon, I'd still give it attack penalties when used by a medium size character.

A really big sword is also going to be impossible to use in confined spaces, including many dungeons and other indoor areas.

On the plus side, a really big sword should give a circumstantial bonus to Intimidation checks.

But hey, you're the DM, and if a sword like that is cool with you, it's up to you whether or not the character faces any consequences of his weapon of choice. I'm all for making PCs unique, but I also prefer a degree of realism.