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Magic Weapons

Magic weapons have enhancement bonuses ranging from +1 to +5. They apply these bonuses to both attack and damage rolls when used in combat. All magic weapons are also masterwork weapons, but their masterwork bonus on attack rolls does not stack with their enhancement bonus on attack rolls.

Weapons come in two basic categories: melee and ranged. Some of the weapons listed as melee weapons can also be used as ranged weapons. In this case, their enhancement bonus applies to either type of attack.

In addition to an enhancement bonus, weapons may have special abilities. Special abilities count as additional bonuses for determining the market value of the item, but do not modify attack or damage bonuses (except where specifically noted). A single weapon cannot have a modified bonus (enhancement bonus plus special ability bonus equivalents) higher than +10. A weapon with a special ability must have at least a +1 enhancement bonus.

A weapon or a kind of ammunition may be made of an unusual material. Roll d%: 01–95 indicates that the item is of a standard sort, and 96–100 indicates that it is made of a special material.

Caster Level for Weapons: The caster level of a weapon with a special ability is given in the item description. For an item with only an enhancement bonus and no other abilities, the caster level is three times the enhancement bonus. If an item has both an enhancement bonus and a special ability, the higher of the two caster level requirements must be met.

Additional Damage Dice: Some magic weapons deal additional dice of damage. Unlike other modifiers to damage, additional dice of damage are not multiplied when the attacker scores a critical hit.

Ranged Weapons and Ammunition: The enhancement bonus from a ranged weapon does not stack with the enhancement bonus from ammunition. Only the higher of the two enhancement bonuses applies.

Ammunition fired from a projectile weapon with an enhancement bonus of +1 or higher is treated as a magic weapon for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. Similarly, ammunition fired from a projectile weapon with an alignment gains the alignment of that projectile weapon (in addition to any alignment it may already have).

Magic Ammunition and Breakage: When a magic arrow, crossbow bolt, or sling bullet misses its target, there is a 50% chance it breaks or otherwise is rendered useless. A magic arrow, bolt, or bullet that hits is destroyed.

Light Generation: Fully 30% of magic weapons shed light equivalent to a light spell (bright light in a 20-foot radius, shadowy light in a 40-foot radius). These glowing weapons are quite obviously magical. Such a weapon can’t be concealed when drawn, nor can its light be shut off. Some of the specific weapons detailed below always or never glow, as defined in their descriptions.

Hardness and Hit Points: Each +1 of enhancement bonus adds 2 to a weapon’s or shield’s hardness and +10 to its hit points.

Activation: Usually a character benefits from a magic weapon in the same way a character benefits from a mundane weapon—by attacking with it. If a weapon has a special ability that the user needs to activate then the user usually needs to utter a command word (a standard action).

Magic Weapons and Critical Hits: Some weapon qualities and some specific weapons have an extra effect on a critical hit. This special effect functions against creatures not subject to critical hits, such as undead, elementals, and constructs. When fighting against such creatures, roll for critical hits as you would against humanoids or any other creature subject to critical hits. On a successful critical roll, apply the special effect, but do not multiply the weapon’s regular damage.

Table: Magic Weapons
Minor Medium Major Weapon Bonus Base Price1
01–70 01–10 — +1 2,000 gp
71–85 11–29 — +2 8,000 gp
— 30–58 01–20 +3 18,000 gp
— 59–62 21–38 +4 32,000 gp
— — 39–49 +5 50,000 gp
— — — +62 72,000 gp
— — — +72 98,000 gp
— — — +82 128,000 gp
— — — +92 162,000 gp
— — — +102 200,000 gp
86–90 63–68 50–63 Specific weapon3 —
91–100 69–100 64–100 Special ability and roll again4 —
1 This price is for 50 arrows, crossbow bolts, or sling bullets.
2 A weapon can’t actually have a bonus higher than +5. Use these lines to determine price when special abilities are added in.
3 See Table: Specific Weapons.
4 See Table: Melee Weapon Special Abilities for melee weapons or Table: Ranged Weapon Special Abilities for ranged weapons.

Table: Weapon Type Determination
d% Weapon Type
01–70 Common melee weapon
71–80 Uncommon weapon
81–100 Common ranged weapon

Table: Common Melee Weapons
d% Weapon Weapon Cost1
01–04 Dagger +302 gp
05–14 Greataxe +320 gp
15–24 Greatsword +350 gp
25–28 Kama +302 gp
29–41 Longsword +315 gp
42–45 Mace, light +305 gp
46–50 Mace, heavy +312 gp
51–54 Nunchaku +302 gp
55–57 Quarterstaff2 +600 gp
58–61 Rapier +320 gp
62–66 Scimitar +315 gp
67–70 Shortspear +302 gp
71–74 Siangham +303 gp
75–84 Sword, bastard +335 gp
85–89 Sword, short +310 gp
90–100 Waraxe, dwarven +330 gp
1 Add to enhancement bonus on Table: Magic Weapons to determine total market price.
2 Masterwork double weapons incur double the masterwork cost to account for each head (+300 gp masterwork cost per head for a total of +600 gp). Double weapons have separate magical bonuses for their different heads. If randomly determined, the second head of a double weapon has the same enhancement bonus as the main head (01–50 on d%), doubling the cost of the bonus, or its enhancement bonus is one less (51–100 on d%) and it has no special abilities. All magic weapons are masterwork weapons.

Table: Uncommon Weapons
d% Weapon Weapon Cost1
01–03 Axe, orc double2 +660 gp
04–07 Battleaxe +310 gp
08–10 Chain, spiked +325 gp
11–12 Club +300 gp
13–16 Crossbow, hand +400 gp
17–19 Crossbow, repeating +550 gp
20–21 Dagger, punching +302 gp
22–23 Falchion +375 gp
24–26 Flail, dire2 +690 gp
27–31 Flail, heavy +315 gp
32–35 Flail, light +308 gp
36–37 Gauntlet +302 gp
38–39 Gauntlet, spiked +305 gp
40–41 Glaive +308 gp
42–43 Greatclub +305 gp
44–45 Guisarme +309 gp
46–48 Halberd +310 gp
49–51 Spear +301 gp
52–54 Hammer, gnome hooked2 +620 gp
55–56 Hammer, light +301 gp
57–58 Handaxe +306 gp
59–61 Kukri +308 gp
62–64 Lance +310 gp
65–67 Longspear +305 gp
68–70 Morningstar +308 gp
71–72 Net +320 gp
73–74 Pick, heavy +308 gp
75–76 Pick, light +304 gp
77–78 Ranseur +310 gp
79–80 Sap +301 gp
81–82 Scythe +318 gp
83–84 Shuriken +301 gp
85–86 Sickle +306 gp
87–89 Sword, two-bladed2 +700 gp
90–91 Trident +315 gp
92–94 Urgrosh, dwarven2 +650 gp
95–97 Warhammer +312 gp
98–100 Whip +301 gp
1 Add to enhancement bonus on Table: Magic Weapons to determine total market price.
2 Masterwork double weapons incur double the masterwork cost to account for each head (+300 gp masterwork cost per head for a total of +600 gp). Double weapons have separate magical bonuses for their different heads. If randomly determined, the second head of a double weapon has the same enhancement bonus as the main head (01–50 on d%), doubling the cost of the bonus, or its enhancement bonus is one less (51–100) and it has no special abilities. All magic weapons are masterwork weapons.

Table: Common Ranged Weapons
d% Weapon Weapon Cost1
01–10 Ammunition (roll again):  
  01–50 Arrows (50) +350 gp
  51–80 Bolts, crossbow (50) +350 gp
  81–100 Bullets, sling (50) +350 gp
11–15 Axe, throwing +308 gp
16–25 Crossbow, heavy +350 gp
26–35 Crossbow, light +335 gp
36–39 Dart +300 gp 5 sp
40–41 Javelin +301 gp
42–46 Shortbow +330 gp
47–51 Shortbow, composite (+0 Str bonus) +375 gp
52–56 Shortbow, composite (+1 Str bonus) +450 gp
57–61 Shortbow, composite (+2 Str bonus) +525 gp
62–65 Sling +300 gp
66–75 Longbow +375 gp
76–80 Longbow, composite +400 gp
81–85 Longbow, composite (+1 Str bonus) +500 gp
86–90 Longbow, composite (+2 Str bonus) +600 gp
91–95 Longbow, composite (+3 Str bonus) +700 gp
96–100 Longbow, composite (+4 Str bonus) +800 gp
1 Add to enhancement bonus on Table: Magic Weapons to determine total market price.
All magic weapons are masterwork weapons.

Table: Melee Weapon Special Abilities
Minor Medium Major Special Ability Base Price Modifier1
01–10 01–06 01–03 Bane +1 bonus
11–17 07–12 — Defending +1 bonus
18–27 13–19 04–06 Flaming +1 bonus
28–37 20–26 07–09 Frost +1 bonus
38–47 27–33 10–12 Shock +1 bonus
48–56 34–38 13–15 Ghost touch weapon +1 bonus
57–67 39–44 — Keen 2 +1 bonus
68–71 45–48 16–19 Ki Focus +1 bonus
72–75 49–50 — Merciful +1 bonus
76–82 51–54 20–21 Mighty cleaving +1 bonus
83–87 55–59 22–24 Spell storing +1 bonus
88–91 60–63 25–28 Throwing +1 bonus
92–95 64–65 29–32 Thundering +1 bonus
96–99 66–69 33–36 Vicious +1 bonus
— 70–72 37–41 Anarchic +2 bonus
— 73–75 42–46 Axiomatic +2 bonus
— 76–78 47–49 Disruption 3 +2 bonus
— 79–81 50–54 Flaming burst +2 bonus
— 82–84 55–59 Icy burst +2 bonus
— 85–87 60–64 Holy +2 bonus
— 88–90 65–69 Shocking burst +2 bonus
— 91–93 70–74 Unholy +2 bonus
— 94–95 75–78 Wounding +2 bonus
— — 79–83 Speed +3 bonus
— — 84–86 Brilliant energy +4 bonus
— — 87–88 Dancing +4 bonus
— — 89–90 Vorpal 2 +5 bonus
100 96–100 91–100 Roll again twice4 —
1 Add to enhancement bonus on Table: Magic Weapons to determine total market price.
2 Slashing weapons only. Reroll if randomly generated for a piercing or bludgeoning weapon.
3 Bludgeoning weapons only. Reroll if randomly generated for a piercing or slashing weapon.
4 Reroll if you get a duplicate special ability, an ability incompatible with an ability that you’ve already rolled, or if the extra ability puts you over the +10 limit. A weapon’s enhancement bonus and special ability bonus equivalents can’t total more than +10.

Table: Ranged Weapon Special Abilities
Minor Medium Major Special Ability Base Price Modifier1
01–12 01–08 01–04 Bane +1 bonus
13–25 09–16 05–08 Distance +1 bonus
26–40 17–28 09–12 Flaming +1 bonus
41–55 29–40 13–16 Frost +1 bonus
56–60 41–42 — Merciful +1 bonus
61–68 43–47 17–21 Returning +1 bonus
69–83 48–59 22–25 Shock +1 bonus
84–93 60–64 26–27 Seeking +1 bonus
94–99 65–68 28–29 Thundering +1 bonus
— 69–71 30–34 Anarchic +2 bonus
— 72–74 35–39 Axiomatic +2 bonus
— 75–79 40–49 Flaming burst +2 bonus
— 80–82 50–54 Holy +2 bonus
— 83–87 55–64 Icy burst +2 bonus
— 88–92 65–74 Shocking burst +2 bonus
— 93–95 75–79 Unholy +2 bonus
— — 80–84 Speed +3 bonus
— — 85–90 Brilliant energy +4 bonus
100 96–100 91–100 Roll again twice2 —
1 Add to enhancement bonus on Table: Magic Weapons to determine total market price.
2 Reroll if you get a duplicate special ability, an ability incompatible with an ability that you’ve already rolled, or if the extra ability puts you over the +10 limit. A weapon’s enhancement bonus and special ability bonus equivalents can’t total more than +10.

Weapons for Unusually Sized Creatures: The cost of weapons for creatures who are neither Small nor Medium varies. The cost of the masterwork quality and any magical enhancement remains the same.

Special Qualities: Roll d%. If the item is a melee weapon, a 01–30 result indicates that the item sheds light, 31–45 indicates that something (a design, inscription, or the like) provides a clue to the weapon’s function, and 46–100 indicates no special qualities.

If the item is a ranged weapon, a 01–15 result indicates that something (a design, inscription, or the like) provides a clue to the weapon’s function, and 16–100 indicates no special qualities.
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