Author Topic: Ironfell weapon: Free damage for Str/Cha-based paladin/Star Pact warlocks in FR?  (Read 1753 times)

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Adslahnit

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There's something rather interesting in the latest FR preview article, the one showcasing the Warlock Knights of Vaasa:


As users of arcane power, many Warlock Knights are also ritual casters. They perform unique rituals involving ironfell, including those they use to raise shardsouls. The Pact of the Iron Ring (page 59) is the best known of these.

Take note of the second paragraph. Now, the article has 3 elite monsters in it, all of which have ironfell weapons, and one of which has ironfell armor. True enough, they all add their Charisma bonus as extra radiant damage to their weapon damage rolls (and the Radiant keyword is added to all their weapon attacks too), and the one with ironfell armor has radiant resistance equal to his Charisma bonus.

The kicker is that their loot includes their armor and weapons, all of which are nonmagical and ready to be enchanted, so if a PC with a Star Pact dedicated to Telos in FR were to equip an ironfell weapon, he'd add his Charisma bonus as radiant damage to all his weapon damage rolls and get the Radiant keyword on his weapon powers!

This is a great thing for Strength/Charisma-based paladin/Star Pact warlocks. I say only Strength/Charisma-based paladins because Wisdom/Charisma-based paladins rely on mostly implement powers, and only weapon powers can benefit from the ironfell thing. There's also this one great paladin utility for even more Charisma synergy:

Quote from: Player's Handbook, page 94
Wrath of the Gods (Paladin Utility 6)
A halo of divine light emanates from you, enabling you and nearby allies to strike down your enemies with greater determination.
Daily ? Divine
Minor Action Close burst 1
Targets: You and each ally in burst
Effect: The targets add your Charisma modifier to damage rolls until the end of the encounter.


However, there are two arguments that might make this not work at all:

Argument #1: Only characters with the warlock base class get to add their Charisma bonus as radiant damage to weapon damage rolls, not characters multiclassed into warlock with the Star Pact. If this is the case, then Strength/Charisma-based paladin/Star Pact warlocks won't get any use out of ironfell weapons at all.
Argument #2: The radiant damage that certain Star Pacters get from ironfell weapons is not an inherent property of the weapon, but an inherent property of the specific monsters (the Warlock Knights of Vaasa) meant to wield them. If this is the case, then the radiant damage property will not function for PCs due to the following rule in the Monster Manual:

Quote from: Monster Manual, page 283

If this actually does work for PCs, and even for characters multiclassed into Star Pact warlock at that, then I foresee the Witch Knights of Vaasa becoming a rather popular organization and Telos being THE entity to forge a Star Pact with, in FR, at least.

EDIT: Ironfell weapons add the Radiant keyword to your weapon attacks and also work on all weapon attacks, not just melee attacks.
« Last Edit: July 29, 2008, 02:55:45 PM by Adslahnit »

AlienFromBeyond

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Nice catch, I was hoping for a little crunch when I read the blurb on the site.