Animated Weapon (3.5e Template)

Author: Sulacu (talk) Date Created: January 23, 2012 Status: Relatively complete Editing: Clarity edits only please

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Animated Weapon

This template turns an ordinary weapon into a menacing foe.

Animated weapons are mundane or magical weapons that have been animated through spells.

Creating an Animated Weapon

Animated Weapon is unique in that it is a template that must be applied to a melee weapon instead of a creature. The template is acquired through any of various magical effects.

Size and Type

Base weapon becomes a creature of the ConstructConstruct type.

An animated weapon gains base attack and base save bonuses as a construct, and has a racial bonus to saving throws equal to its magical enhancement bonus.

Animated weapons have no skill points, unless they are intelligent.

A one-handed weapon is two size categories smaller than any creature it is intended for. For a particular size creature, a light weapon is one size category smaller than a one-handed weapon, and a two-handed weapon is one size category larger than a one-handed weapon. For example, for a Medium creature, a light weapon is Diminutive, a one-handed weapon is Tiny, and a two-handed weapon is Small.

Hit Dice

An animated weapon has a number of Hit Dice depending on its quality and the magical enhancement bonus it has (if any), as per Table: Animated Weapon Statistics.

Speed

An animated weapon has a fly speed (in feet) of 40 + ten times its magical enhancement bonus, with perfect maneuverability.

Armor Class

An animated weapon has a natural armor bonus to AC equal to the hardness of its base material - 5 (minimum +0), as well as a shield bonus and a deflection bonus, both equal to its magical enhancement bonus (if any). It also gains a size bonus or penalty to AC (if any), depending on its effective size.

Attack

An animated weapon performs attacks like a weapon of its type does in the hands of a creature proficient in its use. The base damage of an attack by an animated weapon is equal to the base damage of the base weapon.

The attacks of an animated weapon are treated as attacks made with a manufactured weapon. Attacks by an animated weapon are considered magical (if the base weapon has an enhancement bonus of at least +1) or epic (if the base weapon has an enhancement bonus of +6). If the base weapon is made out of a material with special properties that bypass specific forms of damage reduction, such as adamantine, alchemical silver or cold iron, the animated weapon is also considered to have that quality.

If the base weapon has any sort of special enhancement that changes the effect of its attacks, the animated weapon has this quality as well. Examples are special enhancements that increase its damage (such as flaming, shock, collision, etc.) and effects that bypass certain types of defenses (such as holy or brilliant energy).

An animated weapon has the same space and reach that an appropriately sized creature would have when wielding the weapon. For example, an animated longsword occupies a 5-foot square, and has a 5-foot reach, even though it is effectively Tiny.

Full Attack

An animated weapon may make iterative attacks on a full attack action, provided it has a high enough base attack bonus. If the base weapon has a special enhancement that influences its behaviour on a full attack, such as speed, the animated weapon has this quality on a full action as well.

Special Attacks

An animated weapon has no extraordinary or supernatural abilities, except for those the base weapon has gained from special weapon enhancements or weapon crystals^MIC.

Special Qualities

An animated weapon has the usual construct traits, and furthermore gains the following:

• Blindsight out to 30 feet, plus an additional 30 feet for every 2 points of magical enhancement bonus the base weapon has.
• Damage reduction/- equal to twice its magical enhancement bonus plus half the hardness of its base material.
• Freedom of Movement: As the spell.
• Spell resistance equal to 10 + its Hit Dice. Animated weapons that are mundane have no spell resistance. Animated weapons with an enhancement bonus of +6 or higher are instead immune to spells that allow spell resistance.
• Resistance to all energy types equal to 5 plus 5 times its magical enhancement bonus (5 if mundane or masterwork, 10 at +1, 15 at +2, etc.). Animated weapons with an enhancement bonus of +6 or higher instead have complete immunity to all energy types.

Abilities

Strength and Dexterity equal to the value in Table: Animated Weapon Statistics, modified by the weapon's effective size. A mithral weapon has an additional +4 Dexterity, and an adamantine weapon has an additional +6 Strength.

Being a construct, an animated weapon has no Constitution or Intelligence score.

An animated weapon has a Wisdom score equal to 10 + twice its magical enhancement bonus, and a Charisma of 1.

Animated weapons that are intelligent items retain the mental ability scores of the base weapon.

Skills

An animated weapon has a +8 racial bonus to Tumble checks.

Feats

An animated weapon has Weapon Finesse if light.

An animated weapon gains the following bonus feats when it meets the prerequisite base attack bonus (in parentheses): Weapon Focus (+1), Weapon Specialization (+4), Greater Weapon Focus (+8), Greater Weapon Specialization (+12). These feats are with respect to the base weapon.

Environment

Any.

Organization

Any.

Challenge Rating

1 (mundane), 2 (masterwork), enhancement bonus×3 (magical).

Mithral: ×2 or +2, whichever is lower.

Adamantine: ×3 or +3, whichever is lower.

Special Weapon Quality: + half the cumulative enhancement bonus of all special weapon qualities, rounded up.

Treasure

The base weapon.

Alignment

Always neutral.

Animated Weapon Table

Table: Animated Weapon Statistics

Quality	Hit Dice1 (hit points2)	Base Str/Dex3
Mundane, normal	1d10 (5 hp)	10
Mundane, mwk	3d10 (16 hp)	12
Magical, +1	5d10+5 (32 hp)	14
Magical, +2	8d10+16 (60 hp)	16
Magical, +3	11d10+33 (93 hp)	18
Magical, +4	14d10+56 (133 hp)	20
Magical, +5	17d10+85 (178 hp)	22
Magical, +6	20d10+120 (230 hp)	24
Does not include bonus hit points due to size, if any. A magic weapon gains additional hit points per HD equal to its enhancement bonus. Add a +4 size bonus to Strength and a -2 size penalty to Dexterity for every size category the animated weapon has above Tiny, or a -2 size penalty to Strength and a +2 size bonus to Dexterity for every size category below Tiny.

Example Monster: Animated Longsword

	Animated Longsword	Masterwork Animated Longsword
Size/Type:	Tiny Construct	Tiny Construct
Hit Dice:	1d10 (5 hp)	3d10 (16 hp)
Initiative:	+0	+1
Speed:	Fly 40 ft. (perfect)	Fly 40 ft. (perfect)
Armor Class:	17 (+2 size, +5 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 15	18 (+2 size, +1 Dex, +5 natural), touch 13, flat-footed 15
Base Attack/Grapple:	+0/-8 (freedom)	+2/-5 (freedom)
Attack:	Longsword +2 melee (1d8/19-20)	Longsword +7 melee (1d8+1/19-20)
Full Attack:	Longsword +2 melee (1d8/19-20)	Longsword +7 melee (1d8+1/19-20)
Space/Reach:	5 ft./5 ft.	5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks:	—	—
Special Qualities:	Construct traits, blindsight 30 ft., damage reduction 5/-, freedom of movement, resistance to energy 5	Construct traits, blindsight 30 ft., damage reduction 5/-, freedom of movement, resistance to energy 5
Saves:	Fort +0, Ref +0, Will +0	Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +1
Abilities:	Str 10, Dex 10, Con —, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 1	Str 12, Dex 12, Con —, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 1
Skills:	Tumble +8	Tumble +9
Feats:	—	Weapon Focus (longsword)
Environment:	Any	Any
Organization:	Solitary	Solitary
Challenge Rating:	1	2
Treasure:	One longsword	One masterwork longsword
Alignment:	Always neutral	Always neutral
Advancement:	—	—
Level Adjustment:	—	—

	+1 Animated Longsword	+2 Animated Longsword	+3 Animated Longsword
Size/Type:	Tiny Construct	Tiny Construct	Tiny Construct
Hit Dice:	5d10+5 (32 hp)	8d10+16 (60 hp)	11d10+33 (93 hp)
Initiative:	+2	+3	+4
Speed:	Fly 50 ft. (perfect)	Fly 60 ft. (perfect)	Fly 70 ft. (perfect)
Armor Class:	21 (+2 size, +2 Dex, +5 natural, +1 shield, +1 deflection), touch 15, flat-footed 19	24 (+2 size, +3 Dex, +5 natural, +2 shield, +2 deflection), touch 17, flat-footed 21	27 (+2 size, +4 Dex, +5 natural, +3 shield, +3 deflection), touch 19, flat-footed 23
Base Attack/Grapple:	+3/-3 (freedom)	+6/+1 (freedom)	+8/+4 (freedom)
Attack:	Longsword +9 melee (1d8+3/19-20)	Longsword +14 melee (1d8+7/19-20)	Longsword +19 melee (1d8+9/19-20)
Full Attack:	Longsword +9 melee (1d8+3/19-20)	Longsword +14/+9 melee (1d8+7/19-20)	Longsword +19/+14 melee (1d8+9/19-20)
Space/Reach:	5 ft./5 ft.	5 ft./5 ft.	5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks:	—	—	—
Special Qualities:	Construct traits, blindsight 30 ft., damage reduction 7/-, freedom of movement, resistance to energy 10, spell resistance 15	Construct traits, blindsight 60 ft., damage reduction 9/-, freedom of movement, resistance to energy 15, spell resistance 18	Construct traits, blindsight 60 ft., damage reduction 11/-, freedom of movement, resistance to energy 20, spell resistance 21
Saves:	Fort +2, Ref +4, Will +3	Fort +4, Ref +7, Will +6	Fort +6, Ref +10, Will +9
Abilities:	Str 14, Dex 14, Con —, Int —, Wis 12, Cha 1	Str 16, Dex 16, Con —, Int —, Wis 14, Cha 1	Str 18, Dex 18, Con —, Int —, Wis 16, Cha 1
Skills:	Tumble +10	Tumble +11	Tumble +12
Feats:	Weapon Focus (longsword)	Weapon Focus (longsword), Weapon Specialization (longsword)	Greater Weapon Focus (longsword), Weapon Focus (longsword), Weapon Specialization (longsword)
Environment:	Any	Any	Any
Organization:	Solitary	Solitary	Solitary
Challenge Rating:	3	5	7
Treasure:	One +1 longsword	One +2 longsword	One +3 longsword
Alignment:	Always neutral	Always neutral	Always neutral
Advancement:	—	—	—
Level Adjustment:	—	—	—

	+4 Animated Longsword	+5 Animated Longsword	+6 Animated Longsword
Size/Type:	Tiny Construct	Tiny Construct	Tiny Construct
Hit Dice:	14d10+56 (133 hp)	17d10+85 (178 hp)	20d10+120 (230 hp)
Initiative:	+5	+6	+7
Speed:	Fly 80 ft. (perfect)	Fly 90 ft. (perfect)	Fly 100 ft. (perfect)
Armor Class:	30 (+2 size, +5 Dex, +5 natural, +4 shield, +4 deflection), touch 21, flat-footed 25	33 (+2 size, +6 Dex, +5 natural, +5 shield, +5 deflection), touch 23, flat-footed 27	36 (+2 size, +7 Dex, +5 natural, +6 shield, +6 deflection), touch 25, flat-footed 29
Base Attack/Grapple:	+10/+7 (freedom)	+12/+10 (freedom)	+15/+14 (freedom)
Attack:	Longsword +23 melee (1d8+11/19-20)	Longsword +27 melee (1d8+15/19-20)	Longsword +32 melee (1d8+17/19-20)
Full Attack:	Longsword +23/+18 melee (1d8+11/19-20)	Longsword +27/+22/+17 melee (1d8+15/19-20)	Longsword +32/+27/+22 melee (1d8+17/19-20)
Space/Reach:	5 ft./5 ft.	5 ft./5 ft.	5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks:	—	—	—
Special Qualities:	Construct traits, blindsight 90 ft., damage reduction 13/-, freedom of movement, resistance to energy 25, spell resistance 24	Construct traits, blindsight 90 ft., damage reduction 15/-, freedom of movement, resistance to energy 30, spell resistance 27	Construct traits, blindsight 120 ft., damage reduction 17/-, energy immunity, freedom of movement, spell immunity
Saves:	Fort +8, Ref +13, Will +12	Fort +10, Ref +16, Will +15	Fort +12, Ref +19, Will +18
Abilities:	Str 20, Dex 20, Con —, Int —, Wis 18, Cha 1	Str 22, Dex 22, Con —, Int —, Wis 20, Cha 1	Str 24, Dex 24, Con —, Int —, Wis 22, Cha 1
Skills:	Tumble +13	Tumble +14	Tumble +15
Feats:	Greater Weapon Focus (longsword), Weapon Focus (longsword), Weapon Specialization (longsword)	Greater Weapon Focus (longsword), Weapon Focus (longsword), Greater Weapon Specialization (longsword), Weapon Specialization (longsword)	Greater Weapon Focus (longsword), Weapon Focus (longsword), Greater Weapon Specialization (longsword), Weapon Specialization (longsword)
Environment:	Any	Any	Any
Organization:	Solitary	Solitary	Solitary
Challenge Rating:	10	13	16
Treasure:	One +4 longsword	One +5 longsword	One +6 longsword
Alignment:	Always neutral	Always neutral	Always neutral
Advancement:	—	—	—
Level Adjustment:	—	—	—

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