Author Topic: Metaphysical Claw, magical weapon? [D&D 3.5]  (Read 2152 times)

Offline Necrosnoop110

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Metaphysical Claw, magical weapon? [D&D 3.5]
« on: January 14, 2018, 03:11:36 PM »
(1) Does using the psionic power Metaphysical Claw actually make a natural attack count as if it was a magical weapon? Especially in regards to Damage Reduction (Magic).

(1a) Are all enhancement bonuses magical?

(1b) When I look at Damage Reduction I see "Some monsters are vulnerable to magic weapons. Any weapon with at least a +1 magical enhancement bonus on attack and damage rolls overcomes the damage reduction of these monsters."

Then I look at Metaphysical Claw and it says "you can use this power to provide one of your natural weapons a +1 enhancement bonus on attack rolls and damage rolls" but it does not say you can use this power to provide one of your natural weapons a +1 magical enhancement bonus on attack rolls and damage rolls. Does the the omission of the word word magical matter?

Thanks,
Necro

Offline Skyrock

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Re: Metaphysical Claw, magical weapon? [D&D 3.5]
« Reply #1 on: January 14, 2018, 04:26:28 PM »
1a. As per the definition of Enhancement Bonus:
Quote
An enhancement bonus represents an increase in the sturdiness and/or effectiveness of armor or natural armor, or the effectiveness of a weapon, or a general bonus to an ability score. Multiple enhancement bonuses on the same object (in the case of armor and weapons), creature (in the case of natural armor), or ability score do not stack. Only the highest enhancement bonus applies. Since enhancement bonuses to armor or natural armor effectively increase the armor or natural armor's bonus to AC, they don't apply against touch attacks.
So no, by strict RAW it isn't automatically magical.

Comparing the wording of Metaphysical Claw to the wording of its closest counterparts in spells (Magic Fang, Magic Weapon and their Greater counterparts), they also only speak of enhancement bonuses, not of magical enhancement bonuses. Neither do they specify that the weapon counts as magical.

By RAI, I think the "magical" in the description of Damage Resistance is superfluous, and that all kinds of enhancement bonus are intended to make the weapon magical for the purpose of overcoming DR, including the one from Metaphysical Claw.
« Last Edit: January 14, 2018, 04:28:05 PM by Skyrock »

Offline phaedrusxy

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Re: Metaphysical Claw, magical weapon? [D&D 3.5]
« Reply #2 on: January 14, 2018, 04:36:46 PM »
It's an enhancement bonus granted by a spell-like ability (which all psionic powers are), which means by definition its effects are "Magical" (unless they are an instantaneous conjuration, etc). So yes, it's a magical enhancement bonus.

As the previous poster noted, the very similar spells Magic Weapon and Magic Fang also do not specifically say that they produce a "magical" enhancement bonus, because to do so would be redundant.
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Offline Necrosnoop110

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Re: Metaphysical Claw, magical weapon? [D&D 3.5]
« Reply #3 on: January 14, 2018, 04:48:49 PM »
Thanks all.

Follow up: "which means by definition its effects are "Magical" (unless they are an instantaneous conjuration, etc)." does that mean Claws of the Beast would already count as "magical" in regards to DR since they are not instantaneous?