Item Enhancements Addendum (3.5e Variant Rule)

Item Enhancements Addendum
Consider that the item (weapon, armor or shield) enhancement is similar to a feat, just for an item. The number of feats a pc may have is limited by his level, the number of enhancements an item may have is limited by the total ehnacement bonus allowed. Some feats require other feats as prerequisites before they may be gained; so it can be extrapolated that some enhancements may also require other enhancements as prerequisites.

Prerequsite Enhancements
Certain item enhancements may require another item enhancement to be enchanted in the item before they may be added. The enhancements involved may be any involved that are logically related; they may modify existing capabilities similar to metamagic effects, or add new ones.

As an example, using elemental energy ehnacements, the dread flame weapon ehnacement requires that flaming, flaming burst or firey blast enhancement already be present on the weapon before it may be added. This would be a representation of a metamagic-like ehnacement.

Another example, adding new abilities based upon an existing enhancement, could be: A weapon that causes damaged targets to save or be slowed and fatigued for one round due to numbing cold might require SRD:Frost or another cold energy enhancement. Another possibility for a cold energy requsite might be a weapon that lowered the target's AC by one with each damaging strike due to brittleness, with each round not damaged restoring one AC.

An example of an epic enhancement requiring multiple prerequsites could be: A hammer that when thrown transforms into a bolt of chain lightning, then returns to its weilder. It would require the SRD:Throwing, SRD:Returning and SRD:Lightning Blast (Epic Weapon Enhancement) enhancements as prerequsites. A good limitation on this enhancement would be a 1d4 round recharge, similar to a dragon's breath weapon.

A final example: A sword with the SRD:Dancing enhancement could meet the prerequsites for a further enhancement that created a dancing clone of itself for 4 rounds. Such a weapon would require 1d4 rounds to recharge, starting once the clone weapon dispersed. The dancing clone would in all ways be an exact duplicate the original sword, save that it could not create more clones. This would alow the weilder to keep his weapon in hand, and receive the benfits of a dancing weapon at the same time.