Barbed (3.5e Equipment)

Barbed
Summary::A barbed item is covered in gnarly spikes. It looks like brushing against it would cause vicious bleeding wounds.

The barbed template can be added to any suit of armor, shield, or weapon, and is forged largely by kytons and hamatulas, beings who appreciate the messy and bloody wounds these jagged items create. Barbed items look to be unwieldy with all the spikes and rough hooks and edges, but somehow manages not to catch on itself and get stuck. A barbed armor or weapon has all the base statistics of the normal item except as noted here.

Requirements
The creator of a barbed item must either be a kyton or hamatula, or possess at least 10 ranks in the appropriate Craft or 10 ranks in Heal.

Barbed Armor and Shields
The barbed template can be added to any suit of armor or shield. Items are covered in sharp spikes and hooks in a chaotic haphazard pattern. When in motion, barbs briefly seem slip out of the way of each other to prevent collisions. This does not effect the effectiveness of the armor or shield at all.

Cost: 600 gp

Affinities: AnchoringMIC (normal and greater); Arrow Catching; RetaliationMIC; Spined Shield (specific shield); StypticMIC. Barbed armor and shields give off a terrifying appearance that hurts just to look at it.

Special: Barbed armor and shields are treated as having armor spikes (or shield spikes). If they already possess armor spikes or shield spikes the damage die is increased by 1 step. Creatures which strike you in melee with a natural weapon take +1 damage. Armor and shield damage stack to a maximum of 2 damage per hit (one barbed shield and one barbed armor).

Barbed Weapons
Barbed weapons are covered in gnarly spikes which maximize bleeding and create vicious tearing wounds. Because of this property the weapons have a terrifying, if impractical looking, appearance. Even so, the barbs rarely get the weapon stuck (at least no more than a normal blade of its kind) as it rips and tears flesh.

Cost: 1000 gp

Affinities: FleshgrindingMIC; Keen; MaimingMIC; Vicious; Wounding. Barbed weapons cause massive blood loss to those they strike.

Special: A barbed weapon can be applied even to bludgeoning and slashing surfaces, adding piercing damage to whatever damage type it normally deals. Piercing weapons deal an extra +1 damage instead. For any kind of weapon, the barbs cause massive bleeding to creatures without an armor bonus to AC. It deals an additional +1 damage to creatures without an armor bonus (such as from physical armor or a mage armor spell). This stacks with the +1 damage bonus to barbed piercing weapons.