Bala's Axe (Unfinished Business)

[Feral]

Does anyone know whether Bala's Axe strikes as a magical weapon? I thought that it would penetrate PfMW, but it didn't seem to. Thanks.

[Gangrell]

I don't think it does, not from what the weapon itself says anyway. It doesn't penetrate PfMW, it affects the opponent with Miscast Magic on each successful hit.

[Feral]

That's what I'm trying to figure out. Its damage is 1D8 - no +. So, it should penetrate PfMW. If it doesn't, then the other enchantments must make it a magical weapon.

[Gangrell]

Wait, I don't understand what you're saying. Are you asking if it has a plus to hit/damage or are you asking if it has magical properties? Just because a weapon is magical doesn't mean it will give you a boon to hit or damage.

[ 05-03-2004, 10:36 AM: Message edited by: Gangrell ]

[Feral]

Sorry - what I mean is this: I know the Axe inflicts only 1D8 damage (plus miscast magic on the target). The fact that it deals out only 1D8 of damage (without any +'s or elemental damage) should make the Axe capable of getting past PfMW. It should hit as a normal weapon. But, in my experience, it doesn't and I don't know why. I wanted to use the Axe on a magewho had cast PfMW on himself, but I couldn't inflict any damage on him.

Hope this makes sense.

[bjorn]

I belive that any weapon that has ANY magical properties (no matter if it only inflicts normal damage) is considerd a magical weapon, therefore inable to hit a mage with PfMW cast on himself.

[Gangrell]

Originally posted by Feral: Sorry - what I mean is this: I know the Axe inflicts only 1D8 damage (plus miscast magic on the target). The fact that it deals out only 1D8 of damage (without any +'s or elemental damage) should make the Axe capable of getting past PfMW. It should hit as a normal weapon. But, in my experience, it doesn't and I don't know why. I wanted to use the Axe on a magewho had cast PfMW on himself, but I couldn't inflict any damage on him. Hope this makes sense.

Ohh, ok, my mistake, I thought you meant if it dispelled PfMW. Well, I'll go with bjorn on this, if it has no + to hit but is magical, then it proabably can't get past PfMW.

[ 05-03-2004, 02:17 PM: Message edited by: Gangrell ]

[bjorn]

... when i think about it, there must be a check in the code after a succesfull hit roll whether or not the weapon is a + X. This might be what the PfMW checks for.

Can anyone look up (somehow) what the PfMW spell actually count as "magical weapons"?

[ 05-03-2004, 03:18 PM: Message edited by: bjorn ]

[SixOfSpades]

Originally posted by bjorn: Can anyone look up (somehow) what the PfMW spell actually count as "magical weapons"?

No need. PfMW stops absolutely everything, except Normal weapons--those basic swords and hammers and staves and crrossbow bolts that are the cheapest of the cheap, available for sale just about everywhere, and do nothing fancy except skewer rabbits for supper.

If it has a bonus to THAC0, it's magical.
If it has a bonus to damage, it's magical. (Don't be confused by weapons like Flails, which have a base damage of 1D6+1.)
If it has any funky enchantments, such as "Miscast Magic on hit", it's magical.
If it has a name (whether unique or something like "Arrow+1"), it's magical.

But the most important (indeed, only important) criterion of whether or not a weapon is magical is what it can hit. If it can do damage against a Flesh Golem, the weapon is magical. If it cannot, it is Normal.

[ADD:] The above rules are true for all weapons in the original game, but of course mod content can do pretty much anything. For example, I myself designed a weapon called "Moradin's Firebrand," which was an unshaped lump of iron (proficiency: Club) that was stolen right out of Moradin's forge before the Dwarven god had a chance to work it into the helm he was making. Since Moradin never placed any actual enchantments on the iron, it strikes as a Normal weapon, but for some reason the heat of the astral forges has never left it, so it glows red-hot, burning both the wielder and the victim with Magical Fire. Even more curiously, all Dwarves are immune to the effects of this Magic Fire damage. [/ADD]

[ 05-03-2004, 04:00 PM: Message edited by: SixOfSpades ]

[Feral]

Aye, 'tis as I suspected then.

Bala's Axe is probably more useful striking as a magical weapon, anyway. But it would have been handy in the specific circumstance in which I was testing it out.

Thanks for all the replies. I like the image of a dwarf charging at an enemy brandishing an unshaped lump of iron (kind of a Rock +2 Fire Damage).