Rosy Rod of Wonder

Lucent Armor - Special Material

2008-07-14T12:00:00.000-04:00

Lucent Armor: Armor made from sclerotic material (partially real, solidified emotional, or solidified probabalistic materials) can give a bonus to armor class with a lower armor check penalty and less of a chance of spell failure.

ASFC is an acronym for Arcane Spell Failure Chance.

Stigwiv cloak: Light armor, +1 bonus, +10 max Dex, Armor Check 0, ASFC 0%, 150 gp
Stivish (Red Armor): Light armor, +2 Bonus, +7 Max Dex, Armor Check 0, ASFC 0%, 225 gp
Red Shield: +1, AC 0, ASFC 0%, 40 gp
Stirrol (Blue Armor): Light armor, +3 Bonus, +6 Max Dex, Armor Check 0, ASFC 0%, 500 gp
Blue Shield: +2, -1 AC, 300 gp
Stikel (Violet Armor): Medium armor, +4 Bonus, +5 Max Dex, Armor Check -1, ASFC 5%, 1625 gp

Math: When calculating the value of sclerotic armor, multiply the cost of the armor by the difference between the final ASFC and original, then add 125 gp. Armor retains other qualities as if it were masterwork, including light, medium or heavy type, and gains a +1 bonus to max dex. The minimum ASFC for medium armor is 5%, for heavy is 10%

Pantasmal Items and Touchstones - item types

2008-07-07T12:00:00.000-04:00

Phantasmal Items: Are ghost touch items, either mundane or magical. They are 500 gp more expensive because they can only be damaged or removed by incorporeal or magic creatures or items. They are always the last item to be damaged if a save is failed critically, or the first if the damage is from a source that affects incorporeal creatures.

Phantasmal items can be made entirely by using XP instead of gold, at an exchange rate of 1 xp per 10 gp that would normally be spent.

Touchstones: Touchstones are phantasmal items that carry spells. They are placed against a soul spot on the body, and will adhere, appearing as jewelry made out of precious stones or glass. They are activated by touching them with a free hand and concentrating momentarily. This is a standard action, and does not draw an attack of opportunity. The body part that they are worn on must be bare for them to be activated. Although they do not take up a space like a cap, if worn on the brow a helmet will have to be removed before they can be activated.

The cost of a touchstone is the spell level multiplied by the caster level multipled by 75 if the spell contained is third level or under, or 150 if over 3rd level.

2008-07-02T20:17:00.000-04:00

I just posted some opinions on actual 4.0 play experience over on the Electric Well.

Stokaster - Weapon Type

2008-06-30T12:00:00.000-04:00

Stokaster: A stokaster appears as a small glass pot or length of hollow horn, the rim of which is emblazoned with tiny numbers in Enochian or Anark, which move and change all the time.

A stokaster stores unstable energy plasms like emotions or probability, allowing the bearer to use them as grenade like weapons. Pouring an unstable energy plasm into the bearer’s hand and throwing it is a standard action that draws an attack of opportunity. The range increment for thrown unstable energy plasms effects is ten feet. Emotion plasms resemble viscous, glowing liquid. Probability plasms resemble strange colored flames. A stokaster can hold five charges of an unstable energy plasm. Unstable energy plasms ruin if mixed with each other or anything else.

DC 30 Craft Alchemy check to build; Cost 100 gp.

Stokanon: This large missile weapon can be fueled with up to 16 charges of an unstable energy plasm. Unstable energy plasms ruin if mixed. It can fire 4 charges at once to affect all creatures in a ten by ten square, or 16 charges to affect all creatures in a twenty by twenty square. The team firing the stokanon decides which setting to use. A stokanon has a range increment of 150 ft.

It is a full round action to fuel and fire. If a stokanon contains between 5 and 15 charges, only four will be used at a time.

DC 35 Craft Alchemy check to build; Cost 6,400 gp.

Stoki: A Stoki looks like a baroque metal divining rod, its length twisted into angles and curves. When a Stoki is anointed with an unstable energy plasm from a Stokaster, it allows the bearer to fire that effect as a ray, with a range increment of 75 feet. Anointing a stoki with unstable energy plasm from a stokaster is a standard action.

DC 25 Craft Alchemy check to build; Cost 200 gp.

Unstable Probability Effects: In some extra planar environments, normally ephemeral energies such as raw psychic emotions, or probability, can be distilled into immediately usable forms called unstable energy plasms by the use of Craft Alchemy checks. Unstable energy plasm must be spun or distilled into a Stokaster. They are crafted like other objects, spending half the gold piece cost of the item in materials. In some places, experience points can be spent instead, at an exchange of 1 xp per 10 gp value of the item.

DC 25 Craft Alchemy check for one dose.

Chaos bombs: When a chaos bomb hits a target, that target is affected by one of the following effects, determined by the roll of 1d10:

1 Target is turned to stone for one round.
2 Target suffers as if they are within a swarm for one round.
3 Target targets nearest ally with same action that they took last round. If this is impossible, target is stunned for 1 round.
4 Target performs exact same action as they did last turn, targeting same target. If this is impossible, target is stunned for 1 round.
5 Target gains +5 on all rolls for next round.
6 Next time target goes below 0 hit points, they automatically stabilize.
7 Target gains one mirror image, as per spell effect.
8 Target automatically fails next save.
9 Target automatically has next crit rolled against them confirmed.
10 Target gain a -2 penalty to all rolls for next 3 rounds.

A creature can only have one chaos effect active upon them at any time. So, for instance, if the target gains number effect 6, they will not be subject to additional effects from chaos bombs until they go below 0 hit points and stabilize.

Cost: 120 gp each dose, 600 gp 5 charge batch.

Discord Bomb: When a discord bomb hits a target, that target is affected by lesser confusion.

Cost: 50 gp each dose, 250 gp 5 charge batch.

Misrule Pulse: When a misrule pulse hits a target, that target is affected takes a luck penalty to all their rolls for 1d3 rounds.

Cost: 200 gp (-2 penalty); 800 gp (-4 penalty); 1,600 gp (-6 penalty)

Unstable emotional effects:

Fear Bomb: A hit with a fear bomb causes the target to become shaken. If hit with a fear bomb while shaken, the target becomes frightened. If hit with a fear bomb while frightened, the target become panicked.

Cost: 100 gp.

Paxplasm: A hit with paxplasm suppresses (but does not dispel) morale bonuses granted by spells such as good hope, and rage, as well as negating a bard’s ability to inspire courage or a barbarian’s rage ability. It also suppresses any fear effects and removes the confused condition from all targets. Paxplasm lasts for 1-3 rounds, during which a suppressed spell or effect has no effect. When paxplasm ends, the original spell or effect takes hold of the creature again, provided that its duration has not expired in the meantime.

Cost: 300 gp.

Angerplasm: A concentrated form of anger, a hit with angerplasm corrodes a target’s psyche, doing 1-3 wisdom damage.

Cost: 100 gp.

Fearplasm: A concentrated form of fear, a hit with fearplasm corrodes a target’s psyche, doing 1-3 intelligence damage.

Cost: 100 gp.

Griefplasm: A concentrated form of grief, a hit with griefplasm corrodes a target’s psyche, doing 1-3 charisma damage.

Cost: 100 gp.

Face of the Cosmos - Minor Wondrous Item

2008-06-23T12:00:00.001-04:00

Face of the Cosmos: This mask, made of a beaten copper-mithril alloy and set with a constellation of seven variegated semi-previous stones, is made to cover the right half on an individual's face. A set of three chains circle round the back of the head and fasten the mask by resting over the cheekbone, the bridge of the nose, and the chin.

Any creature wearing the mask feels a sleight tingling sensation in the skin it touches, and has the sensation that he sees sharper, more precise details with the eye looking through the eye hole.

Once per day, the wearer of the mask may reroll any one Intelligence based skill roll.

Minor divination; CL 3rd; Craft Wondrous Item, true strike; Cost 1,000 gp

NPC Gear: 3rd
Treasure Value: 4th

Math:

At some point I determined that a re-roll was worth as much as a weapon bonus. A properly used mulligan, after all, can change the course of a game. I decided to price combat re-rolls (to hit rolls or saving throws) as if they were a weapon bonus (a +1 enhancement for each re-roll allowed in a day) and a non-combat re-roll as if it were an armor bonus (as they had less effect in the overall flow of the game). The number of re-rolls would be squared and then multiplied by 2,000 gp (for combat re-rolls) or 1,000 for non-combat re-rolls.

This item is 1*1*1,000 gp.

Coda

2008-06-18T20:13:00.000-04:00

June 13th, my birthday and the birthday of Rosy Rod, was the two year mark of this project. I completed my goal of publishing two magic items per week (numerically, if not always chronologically). Including this week, I have some additional articles primed to run once a week. They feature some of my odder forays into d20 MI.

I think I posted every scrap of stuff that I put together for my game, and most of the stray thoughts I've had, so I'm kind of tapped out.

Keep me in your RSS feed, however. The possibilities for Rosy Rod are endless.

I will be playing and running 4.0 for awhile. I am hoping to start a blog with crunchy bits from my 4.0 games, more general and relaxed than this one. The new GSR looks kind of scary, though. So, we'll see. I will post and link from here if this happens.

If I start running 3.5 or a cousin again, I will post all the items I create.

I may put together some of the odder creature stat blocks from my old campaign, and or other rules bits, and post them here after the summer.

I will probably move the material from Celestial Wastelands over here to consolidate.

As per the results of the poll I posted, Rosy Rod will remain up in it's current form. My druthers would have been to consolidate Rosy Rod with a new blog. But I won't be trying it any time soon for a couple of reasons, mostly being that I'm lazy and the new GSR looks like it might frown on hijinks like that.

Anyways, thanks for reading.

Scerotic Weapons - Weapon Quality

2008-06-16T13:06:00.000-04:00

Scerotic Weapons: Scerotic weapons are a class of semi-intangible weapons. They are often made to look just like martial or exotic weapons, with all the same qualities, except on passing into a material or ethereal being they do ability damage instead of hit point damage.

For instance, a scerotic dagger has the same size and threat range as a normal dagger. A scerotic spear affords reach. The only difference is that a scerotic dagger does 1 point of ability damage each strike. A scerotic spear does 1-6 points. A scerotic arrow does 1-8 points.

Creating a scerotic weapon based on a normal one requires only a change in the die type of damage, as determined by the top of its original die type.

Weapons that do up to 3 points of hit point damage do 1 point of ability damage.

Weapons that do up to 6 points of hit point damage do 1d3 ability damage.

Weapons that over 6 points maximum do 1d6 ability damage.

Missile weapons do 1-3, 1-6, and 1-8 respectively.

Because scerotic weapons are made from more volatile and rarefied matter, such as raw emotion plasms, they are more expensive than mundane weapons.

Red weapons are twice as expensive as mundane and do intelligence damage.
Blue are three times as expensive and do charisma damage.
Violet are four times as expensive and do wisdom damage.
Green and Yellow are five times as expensive and do strength or dexterity damage.
Black are ten times as expensive and do Con damage.

Scerotic weapons are not intangible, and have the same miss chance against ethereal opponents that regular weapons do.

Example Weapons:

Medium Blue Scerotic Dagger: Cost 6 gp; 1d3 Cha; Crit 19-20/x2

Medium Red Scerotic Spiked Chain: Cost 50 gp; Dmg 1d6 Int; Crit 20/x2 (Reach Weapon)

Medium Green Scerotic Scythe: Cost 72 gp; Dmg 1d6 Str; Crit 20/x4

Medium Violet Scerotic Longsword: Cost 60 gp; Dmg 1d6 Wis; Crit 19-20/x2

Medium Yellow Scerotic Trident: Cost75 gp; Dmg 1d6 Dex; Crit 20/x2; Range Increment 10 ft.

Medium Black Scerotic Bastard Sword: Cost 350 gp; Dmg 1d6 Con; Critical 19-20/x2

Medium Shadow Short Sword: Cost 40 gp; Dmg 1d3 Str; Critical 19-20/x2

Medium Scerotic Arrow (10): Dmg 1d8 ability; Critical 19-20; Cost Red 2sp, Blue 3 sp, Violet 4 sp, Green or Yellow 5 sp, Black 1 gp.

Shardbow: A shardbow is a firing device designed to propel splinters of sclerotic matter, in the form of arrows or bolts, like a crossbow. Because of its tracked design, it could not accommodate a crossbow bolt, but could probably fire a sling bullet or stone for the same amount of damage they would normally do. Shardbows are built with as many as five tracks, meaning they can fire as many missiles as they have tracks. A shardbow with two tracks fires each shot with a -1 penalty, with three tracks fires them all at -2, four fires them at -3, and five at -4.Otherwise, a wielder can fire one track at a time at no penalty, with no need to reload as long as they have a full track. Reloading a single track is a move equivalent action that draws an attack of opportunity.Cocking an firing a track (or all of them at once), is a standard action.

A single track shardbow costs 60 gp and is a light weapon, a two track 500 gp, and each additional track adds 250 gp to the value. Shardbows with multiple tracks are heavy weapons.

Shardbow Engine: This large war machine, 5 ft. by 10 ft., can be loaded with 8 sclerotic missiles at a time and targeted at a 10 ft. area. It has a range increment of 200 ft. Everyone in the area takes 1d8 of whatever kind of sclerotic weapon it is loaded with. A reflex save (DC 15) means that they take half damage. Cost: 1000 gp.

Demon Bone Dice - Minor Wondrous Item

2008-06-13T16:20:00.000-04:00

Demon Bone Dice: This amulet is a cube carved from some short of yellowing, red flecked bone. Each side has a different letter in the language of demons carved upon it. A hole drilled through the middle of the cube allows it to be worn on a string around the neck.

If one die is owned, and worn, all of the wearer's natural or melee attacks will do +1d6 chaos damage if an odd number is rolled to hit with that attack.

If two dice are owned and worn on the same thong, all of the wearer's natural or melee attacks will do +1d6 damage.

Additional dice have no other effect.

Weak evocation; CL 3rd; Craft Wondrous Item, any spell with a chaos descriptor; Cost 2,000 gp per die.

NPC Gear: Full set of dice,
Treasure Value: Full set of dice,

Math

As a +1 weapon bonus, doubled for breadth of effectiveness.

Fist of Corruption - Medium Wondrous Item

2008-06-09T16:20:00.000-04:00

Fist of Corruption: This pitted, rust stained iron gauntlet looks like it is about to fall apart. When worn over the hand, however it feels solid and comfortable and well oiled. The back of the gauntlets is decorated with a raised image of a harpy with a wizened, aged face.

On the plates above the wrist are three command words.

The first allows you to launch an acid arrow, as if cast by a 3rd level caster, three times per day.

The second allows you to use rusting grasp once per day, as if cast by a 7th level caster.

The third allows you to cast acid splash as a standard action.

Moderate evocation; CL 7th; Craft Wondrous Item, acid arrow, acid splash, rusting grasp; Cost 15,410

NPC Gear:
Treasure Value:

Math:

acid splash = (.5*1*1800)=900*.5 for multiple similar = 450
acid arrow = (2*3*1800)/(5/3) = 6,506 *.75 for multiple similar = 4,879.5
rusting grasp = (4*7*1800)/5 = 10,080

Amulet of the Cunning Evasion - minor and medium wondrous item

2008-06-06T16:19:00.000-04:00

Amulet of the Cunning Evasion: This heavy brass amulet is in the shape of a head with two faces in profile, one facing left and one facing right. Each face has a different jewel set where an eye should be. These amulets are often taken off dopplegangers, whose natural affinity for changing shape can be truly confounding coupled with illusion.

The wearer of an amulet can touch it and use a command word to summon one duplicate as if a mirror image spell had been cast. This is a free action, and can be done with quick repetitions up to three times per rounds, as with other free actions.

Each amulet has a certain number of images that can be used per day, from 1-8.

Weak to Moderate illusion; CL 3rd; Craft Wondrous Item, mirror image; Cost 1,100 gp per image.

NPC Gear: Amulet with 3 images per day, 7th
Treasure Value: Amulet with 3 images per day, 8th

Math:

2*3*2000 for 3.5 images = 12,000/5 for once per day = 2,400/3.5 = 685 per image per day
2*6*2000 for 4.5 images = 24,000/5 = 4,800/4.5 = 1066 per image per day
2*9*2000 for 5.5 images = 36,000/5 = 7,200 = 1,309 per image per day
2*12*2000 for 6.5 images = 48,000/5 = 9,600 = 1477 per image per day

average image value 1134

Round to 1100. I don't think this value is too high, even for an amulet with a low number of images. Each image effectively negates one strike, which is a pretty good benefit and automatically scales accoring to level (a low level character probably benefits more than a high level from missing a single attack, actually). Also, staged deployement of the images makes it sleightly less efficienct than a normal amulet.

Mirror arrows - Specific Weapon

2008-06-02T16:19:00.000-04:00

Mirror Arrows: Once thought to be faery arrows, found in ancient troves and used by heroes, it has since been found that these arrows are something altogether stranger.

Looking almost like twisted spines of mirrored glass, they are pointed though they have to head. Their fletching consists of three barely raised flanges at the base. Even with their unnatural shape, they fly true when shot from a bow.

They are incredibly hard, as hard to damage as adamantine. When shot, they will not break, like a normal magical arrow.

Some believe them to be lost weapon of the angels. Others have said that they come from some far future place or some other reality altogether.

It all ways, they act act as adamantine keen wounding arrows, bypassing adamantine damage reduction. They have an masterwork bonus of +1 to hit, but no inherent damage to bonus.

Strong evocation; CL 9th; Craft Wondrous Arms and Armor, contact other plane, major creation; Cost 7,000 gp

NPC Gear: 10th
Treasure Value: 11th

Math:

Keen Wounding arrows are a +3 value, 18,000 gp. Acting as adamantium +3,000.

These arrows are permanent, but come singly. In many ways this means they aren't as useful as your average magic weapon. It is likely that they will be used only once per combat.

I cut the value of a permanent item by three to reflect those limitations.

Opal Flamebrother - Medium Wondrous Item

2008-05-30T16:19:00.000-04:00

Opal Flamebrother: This bead, about the size of a large man's thumbnail, is carved from brilliant orange opal with sparkling yellow flaws inside. It looks like a stylized flame or sunburst on casual examination. Upon close examination, it is revealed to be a flamebrother salamander rolled up in a fiery ball.

Once per day, the bead can be held between thumb and forefinger, and a command word used to activate the bead. It vanishes, leaving soot on it's invoker's fingertips. A flamebrother appears as if it had been summoned by summon monster 4, and obeys the users verbal commands regardless of which language is used. The flamebrother follows orders for seven rounds, the vanishes in a puff of smoke and the opal flamebrother bead reappears in the hand of the individual who invoked it.

If the invoker is a spellcaster, they can cast a spell on the bead, as if the bead were a target creature, in the round before they call the flamebrother. The spell remains on the flamebrother.

If the invoker of the bead has the feat Augment Summoning, the flamebrother is affected by that feat.

Moderate conjuration; CL 7th; Craft Wondrous Item, summon monster 4; Cost 10,000.

NPC Gear: 12th
Treasure Value: 13th

Math:

4*7*1800/5 for summon monster 4 once per day.

Staff of the Donjon - Staff

2008-05-26T16:18:00.000-04:00

Staff of the Donjon: This heavy staff is made of cold iron, bound with adamant strips. Soldered to the length of the staff are keys and locks. Attached to the head of the staff is the skull of a devil, it's massive horns plated with adamant. The foot is shod with the hoof of a gorgon.

It is said that there is only one Staff of the Donjon, created by the God of Prisons and handed down to his heroes to protect the lands from terrible forces by locking them away. Legend has it that this staff regenerates one charge per year, and that if its wielder dies fighting a great evil, the staff will consume their soul to replace one charge.

This Staff of the Donjon can cast the following spells:

Maze, for 1 charge.
Elemental Swarm, for 1 charge.
Imprisonment, for 2 charges.
Earth Quake, for 2 charges.

Strong Conjuration, Evocation; CL 17th; Craft Staff, earth quake, elemental swarm, maze, imprisonment; Cost 100,000 gp

NPC Gear: 20th
Treasure Value: 21st

Math:
Maze (8th level)8*15*187.5 = 22,500
Earth Quake (8th)8*15*187.5 one quarter cost for 3 charges to use =5,625
Elemental Swarm (9th)9*17*281.25 = 43031.31
Imprisonment (9th) 9*17*375 Half cost for 2 charges to use = 28,687.5

= 99,843.81, rounded up for simplicity

Tongue of Storms - Specific Weapon

2008-05-23T20:47:00.000-04:00

The Tongue of Storms: This morning star has a half made of charred bone bound with gold plated steel. The head is the skull of a shock lizard, filled with lead that has has the heads of ancient spears and daggers implanted so as to serve as wicked looking spikes. When any creature with the reptilian subtype touches it, bolts of lightning spark and arc between the points of the morning star.

This weapon was forged for a high priest of Bahamut by the rebel blue dragon priestess Skyclaw. It was used by the high priests of the lawful troglodytes who served her until her fall at the hands of a chaotic evil kobold cult.

Tongue of Storms is a +1 shocking morning star. Three times per day, as an instant action evoked when the wielder realizes he is about to fail in combat, the wielder can re roll a combat roll to hit.

Strong evocation and divination; CL 9th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, shocking grasp, true strike; Cost 35,315 gp.

NPC Gear:
Treasure Value:

Math:

+2 weapon enchantment 8,315
3 combat rerolls per day: 3*3*2000 = 18,000
half again for multiple similar

If you are using the Tome of Magic, the item cost should be 26,815

2008-05-23T12:00:00.000-04:00

So, I've been looking at how magic items are built in 4.0, trying to reverse engineer the process on limited info.

I built a spreadsheet with the properties of all the items I've seen so far laid out:

Lvl, title, enchancement, Crit, Property, Daily Power, Encounter Power, @ will power.

It looks like a simple stacking mechanism. Wizards has given us some clues as to how it's done already. Ferinstance, items up to fifth level have a +1 bonus. Up to tenth a +2 bonus. And so on.

But it looks like the other powers are kind of laid on in stages. For instance, a second level item seems to have a bonus associated with it, and something else: a crit bonus or a daily power for instance. A third level item has a bonus and two powers, or one power that's more powerful. I hope there is a simple way of gauging level appropriate powers.

Will I make magic items for 4.0? Almost definitely. I'm already itching to provide a lower level Holy Avenger:

Holy Avenger
Level 25+
The most prized weapon of any paladin.
Lvl 25 +5 625,000 gp Lvl 30 +6 3,125,000 gp
Weapon: Axe, Hammer, Heavy Blade
Enhancement: Attack rolls and damage rolls
Critical: +1d6 radiant damage per plus, and you can spend a healing surge
Property: A holy avenger deals an extra 1d10 radiant damage when the power you use to make the attack has the radiant keyword.
Power (Daily): Minor Action. You and each ally within 10 squares of you gain a +5 power bonus to Fortitude, Reflex, and Will defenses until the end of your next turn.
Special: A holy avenger can be used as a holy symbol. It adds its enhancement bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls and the extra damage granted by its property (if applicable) when used in this manner. You do not gain your weapon proficiency bonus to an attack roll when using a holy avenger as an implement.

Why should high level characters have all the fun?

Here's what I'm thinking:

Radiant Avenger
Level 5+
The most prized weapon of any paladin.
Lvl 5 +1 1,000 gp Lvl 15 +3 25,000 gp
Lvl 10 +2 5,000 gp Lvl 20 +4 125,000 gp
Weapon: Axe, Hammer, Heavy Blade
Enhancement: Attack rolls and damage rolls
Critical: +1d6 radiant damage per plus, and you can spend a healing surge
Property: A holy avenger deals an extra 1 radiant damage when the power you use to make the attack has the radiant keyword.
Level 15 or 20: extra 1d6 radiant damage.
Power (Daily): Minor Action. You and each ally within 10 squares of you gain a +1 power bonus to Fortitude, Reflex, and Will defenses until the end of your next turn.
Special: A holy avenger can be used as a holy symbol. It adds its enhancement bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls and the extra damage granted by its property (if applicable) when used in this manner. You do not gain your weapon proficiency bonus to an attack roll when using a holy avenger as an implement.

There. That seemed easy enough.

This stacking mechanism makes me think it will be very easy to level up magic items. For instance, when your PC's fighter turns 15th level (or sixteenth, or whatever), you say: the dragon's blood coat's your blade and causes the flames to burn brighter.

For instance, when your fighter reaches

Hacking 4.0 Monsters

2008-05-20T12:00:00.000-04:00

So about a month ago, 4.0 published an article about how to hack monsters.

The same day, they published a cool new monster called the Phane. It's right up my ally: it's creepy and weird looking, it has time manipulating powers. But it's a 25th level creature!

I'm not going to be running at that level any time soon.

The monster hacking guidelines say that: "This process works best for adjusting a monster’s level up to five higher or lower. Beyond that, the monster changes so much that you’d do better to start with another creature of the desired role and level range."

But frankly, 4.0 is so stripped down that it looks very easy to skin and reverse engineer. So I used the decreasing level method anyway.

"Decreasing a monster’s level works like increasing it, but in reverse. For each level down, reduce the creature’s attack rolls, defenses, and AC by 1 and drop its hit points based on its role. For every two levels, also reduce its damage by 1."

This is what I came up with:

Low Phane
Level 5 Elite Controller (-21 levels)
Large immortal magical beast
XP 18,000

Initiative +2 Senses Perception +4; darkvision
HP 72; Bloodied 37
AC 20; Fortitude 17, Reflex 20, Will 17
Resist insubstantial
Saving Throws +2
Speed 10, fly 10
Action Points 1

Temporal Touch (standard; at-will)
Reach 2; +8 vs. Reflex; 1d8 + 5 damage, and the target is slowed until the end of the phane’s next turn. The phane shifts 4 squares before or after making this attack.

Wizening Ray (standard; at-will)
Ranged 10; +8 vs. Fortitude; 1d4 + 4 damage, and the target is dazed and weakened (save ends both). Aftereffect: The target is weakened (save ends). The target appears elderly until the effects of the wizening ray end.

Wizening Tempest (standard, usable only while bloodied; at-will)
Close burst 1; phanes are immune; +8 vs. Fortitude; 1d4 + 5 damage, and the target is stunned (save ends). Aftereffect: The target is dazed and weakened (save ends both). The target appears elderly until the effects of the wizening tempest end.

Temporal Fugue (minor; at-will)
By moving backward and forward in time, a phane can remove one effect afflicting it.

Alignment Unaligned Languages Supernal
Str ?? (+0) Dex ?? (+2) Wis ?? (+0)
Con ?? (+0) Int ?? (+1) Cha ?? (+0)

I took the hit points from a fifth level wizard ("controller") and doubled them because a phane is "elite."

I haven't thought much about the ability scores.

The caveat is this:

If you apply the guidelines straight, you get some ridiculous things when it comes to damage, like a fifth level phane that does 2d8 - 10 damage with an attack, or -8 to 6 points.

The solution is this:

Lowering the size of damage dice by one "step" is roughly equal to lowering the damage by one point on average. So, you divide the amount you need to lower the damage by 2. In this case, a twenty level reduction requires a ten point damage reduction. Then you give the creature a -5 penalty to damage, and lower the die type by five steps.

Wallah.

Is it right?

I dunno. It looks right compared to many of the monsters I've seen. I won't know if it is right until I use it in a playtest against my halpless players sometime in July or so.

Treacherous Kukri - Specific Weapon

2008-05-19T20:43:00.000-04:00

Treacherous Kukri: This compact, easy to hide Kukri has an oily looking, blackened steely blade that flashed indigo rainbows. The inner edge is wickedly serrated. The pommel is made of oiled ebonwood, and usually carved to resemble a snake with amythyst eyes. It is often used by mid level cultists of darkness.

The Treacherous Kukri has a couple of tricks. First, once per day, you can re-roll a single charisma or dexterity based skill check. You can do this with an instant mental command, as you realize you are about to fail an action you are taking. You must take the second roll as final.

Second, once per day, a command adds +1d6 sneak attack damage, as appropriate for a sneak attack bonus. This stacks with other sneak attack damage, and lasts for one minute.

Weak enchantment and divination; CL 3rd; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, True Strike; Cost: 1,600 gp

Treasure Value:
NPC Gear:

Math:

One reroll per day: 1*1*1000 = 1,000. +1d6 sneak attack damage is a +1 bonus, /5 for once per day, or 400 gp *1.5 for multiple different.

If you are using Tome of magic, cost is 200 gp less

4.0 Giddies

2008-05-16T13:13:00.000-04:00

I was following the 4.0 news kind of dispassionately until I saw this 4.0 excerpt about treasure on the 14th. Now I've got a case of the "hurry up alreadys."

This may be because I have finished by big 3.5 game, and am looking for something else to capture my attention.

But...

3.5 Broke for me at higher levels. I don't know if I mentioned this before, but it specifically broke around equipping NPCs.

I loved creating complex magic items for my games, and or the blog. I hated the endless process of equipping NPCs.

The above article breaks the process of awarding treasure into simples steps. One treasure per of a certain value per encounter. I could have done that in 3e. In fact I did for awhile. But when you threw in NPC gear, it got hella messy. Too much to keep track of.

In 4.0, it looks like NPCs/monsters aren't really supposed to have big fun treasure. I'll have to wait to see what the articles on creatures with PC classes as opponents looks like, but this article seems to indicate that if you give a monster a magic item, it may boost it's challenge a little depending on how strong the MI is. But that's it.

I like this. Include a treasure, change the creature's abilities and boost the challenge and XP awarded some what, and because treasure is not awarded by value per encounter, no fidgety math!

Can I hear Yee! Can I get a Ha-ah!

All right. I'll settle down.

Also: 4 items for the four higher levels plus a set gp amount per level of adventuring. Not per encounter. Per level of adventuring. I don't have to balance different levels of treasure for higher or lower level encounters. I can keep a straightforward log of treasure awarded.

Man, it looks smooth. Like dat.

And easy to hack. The article gives suggestions for hacking your economy: no magic stores? That's easy: Strip off the extra charges for enchanting items. There's a rule set for taking the magic off unwanted items and turning it into new magic items. I've been fiddling with that forever.

I'm thinking of hacking it by removing one of the magic items given as treasure and replacing it with gold, in addition to removing magic vendors. This will give it a more low magicky feel.

So, of course, in my excitement, I've started trying to deconstruct how magic items are made.

Robe of the Petimagi - Minor Wondrous Item

2008-05-14T13:21:00.000-04:00

Robe of the Petimagi: This normal-appearing garment can be white (01-45 on d%, good alignment), gray (46-75, neither good nor evil alignment), or black (76-100, evil alignment). Its wearer, if an arcane spellcaster, gains the following powers.

+1 armor bonus to AC.
+1 resistance bonus on all saving throws.
+1 damage to all damage dealing spells cast.

Weak varied; CL 3rd; Craft Wondrous Item, Spell Focus, mage armor or shield of faith; Price 4,000 gp; Weight 1 lb.

NPC Gear: 8th Treasure Value: 9th

Math:

Armor bonus: 1*1*1000
+1 resistance bonus: 1*1*1000 plus %50 multiple different
+1 damage to all spells that deal direct damage: 300*2, as masterwork bonus doubled for breadth of utility, +50% for multiple different

2,600 gp if using prices as per Magic Item Compendium

Star Glass Weapon - Weapon Quality

2008-05-12T10:13:00.000-04:00

Star Glass Weapon: The artisans of Novanomopolis have so perfected the art of glass making that they can make tools from glass that are both baroque and lovely and deadly functions. Anything from walls to armor, scalpels to weapons can be made.

When powdered star crystal is added to the mix, the inherant magic sometimes does wierd things to the resultant device. One of the most common effects is to store up energy and release it in a burst of enchantment that causes the glass to turn into raw starlight.

Starglass is often used to make scimitars and falchions, curved weapons that hold a sharp edge. The glass can be clear or tinted in colors ranging from black to smoke, from solid jewel tones to rainbow gradients.

A starglass weapon has a one in six chance, each time it is used to make an attack, to become a brilliant energy weapon. The player whose character is using it throws a d6 along with the d20 to hit. If it comes up a one, the weapon shimmers and bursts into radiant light, functioning as a brilliant weapon for that strike.

An exceptionally pure varient of weapons grade star glass called pure glass will has a 1 in 4 chance to ignite into brilliance for a strike.

Star glass weapons are often masterwork, but don't need to be.

Craft Arms and Armor DC 30, Craft Alchemy DC 30; Cost + 5,300 gp, +8,000 gp (pureglass)

NPC Gear: Masterwork Starglass Falchion

Treausre Value: Masterwork Starglass Falchion

Math:

+4 bonus, 32,000 gp.
/6 for one in six chance of functioning = 5,333
/4 for clean glass

Game 5

2008-05-11T15:38:00.001-04:00

Yay! My fledgling game system's first TPK!

Sniff, I'm so proud!

Our heroes follow the canyon to a valley. At the front of the valley are two abandoned towers. The one nearest them has a great crack in it.

The far end of the valley is a field of glittering rubble and bizzare mist that has killed all the vegetation. Strange, luminescent blobs can be seen moving in the mist.

As the characters head towards the cracked tower, the come under fire. Great blobs of energy rain from the cracked tower, blasting the ground around them. Most of the characters take cover, but Cheeze bravely forges on towards the tower. Running up the stairs carved into the face of the tower, Cheez encounters ogres with strange sineals.

Cheez gets destroyed by the ogres while the rest of the party pretty much gets obliterated by the sineal cannon fire from the tower. Putkin survives by virtue of his player not being there.

So ends the first iteration of the Celestial Wastelands. La. Life is intervening with continuing before we start playing 4.0, so I hope to pick this up later. I have decided, however, that I don't like writing a blow by blow of my game. Never have been able to get into it. So I need to do something different with Celestial Wastelands when I start it again. I will probably scrape these entries into the Rosy Rod blog and close this down in the future.

Thank you for reading.

The Platinum Medallion - Minor Univeral Item

2008-05-09T12:00:00.000-04:00

The Platinum Medallion: The Platinum Medallion is a fifty year old piece of technological marvelosity that came out of black ops in the 1950s. It is a cybernetic hand that transfers mental impulses into electrical impulses.

The medallion must be implanted on the stump of the wrist, requiring surgery, 10 or more ranks in Knowledge Earth and Life Science, and a Treat Injury check of 30.

The medallion grants the following abilities to a psionic it is attached to: +2 to Computer Use, Craft (Electronics and Mechanics), and Repair skill checks.

The user can expend 2 power points to provide power to an electrical or mechanical device that does not have a power source but is otherwise functional. This effect lasts for 10 minutes. The device functions exactly as it normally would if it had conventional power.

The medallion can affect any household or handheld device, scratch-built robot, or general-purpose vehicle. Larger devices cannot be powered with this spell.

The user can power a energy weapon by expending two power points per die of damage the weapon does per shot.

These powers can only be used if the medallion touches the item it is powering, but the item is otherwise used normally.

This item eliminates the glove and ring item slots of the hand it replaces. The metal cannot interact with the user's aura in order to connect to magic or psionic items.

Minor Psychokinesis; ML 3rd; Craft Universal Item, +7 ranks in computer use and Knowledge (Earth and Life Science); Price 1,200 gp.

Modern Stat Block

Type: Wondrous Item (psionic); Manifester Level: 2nd; Purchase DC: 30; Weight: -.

Treasure Value: 4th
NPC Gear: 3rd

Math:

3 +2 skill bonuses: 2*2*100=400, *3 = 1,200
Power Device: A first level d20 modern spell = 1*1*2,000, but requires power points to use *.5 = 1,000
replacing one magic item slot: -1,000

Masterwork Sextant - Special Equipment

2008-05-05T12:00:00.000-04:00

Masterwork Sextant - This masterwork piece of equipment. A curved metal contraption with a tiny telescope attached, it is designed to allow the user to determine the precise location of the stars. They can be used in navigation and astrology.

If used to determine the precise location of the Brass Star while casting conjuration spells, it adds a +1 bonus to the caster level and turns casting into a full round action.

Craft DC 30; Cost 500 gp
NPC Gear: 1st
Treasure Value: 2nd

Math: The limited +1 caster level is equivalent to a +1 weapon bonus. Turning spellcasting is a huge drawback, ad hoc 75% reduction in item price.

Game 4

2008-05-04T15:40:00.001-04:00

Our heroes travel with PonPon, the kobold merchant, to Glassfang, the kobold capital. On the way there, they are attacked by a large feral mutant, and manage to slay him and take his hide and arcane infused skull and spine.

There are fully 500 residents in the seething metropolis of Glassfang. Our heroes turn in the heads of the bandits for bounty, buy new gear with the booty they have amassed, and Doc gets a large glass claw implanted on one of his hands.

They are summoned to an audience with the leader of glassfang, an eccentric kobold wearing a lensed hamlet, whose fingers have been replaced by surgical tools. He tells them that he had heard that they want to find asterial crystal, and gives them a guide who can take them to the starfall. He also tells them that if they can liberate the starfall from the Pasha who guards it, he will enrich them greatly.

They head into the Baelatian Peaks. Along the way, they come across glowing oozy energy creatures that shock them with lightning and fatigue them.

In the mountains, they come across a giant with a massive spike of crystal sticking out of his skull. He blocks the passage that leads to the pasha. Noting that he looks ill, with spongy flesh, bones that creak under his own weight, and loose skin, they also see that he is slowly wandering down the passage. They climb the cliff walls and look for loose boulders to pelt him with.

Eli uses stomp to dislodge a boulder on the giant as he passes below them, hitting him squarely. Enraged, seething with strange magical energies, the giant blasts them even as they rain death down on the. BC loses her footing, and swings with her ax while swinging on the end of her rope. Eli stomps the side of the mountain, bringing down more boulders. The giant tries to climb the side of the canyon, bashing at them with his club, but missing them.

They finally slay the giant, whereupon he dissolves into a puddle of black sludge.

Shard Mutated Giant: CR 4; Huge Giant; hp 35; Init -1; Spd 50 ft.; AC 13 (-1 Dex, -2 size, +5 Natural); BAB +7; Grapple ; Full Atk +4 melee (2d6-1, huge club); Face 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft.; SA Vomitous Discharge; SQ DR 3/Stone sonic/cold/electricity/acid resistance 5, regeneration 1; AL CN; SV Fort +6, Ref +2, Will +3; REP (Class+ Cha); Str 9, Dex 9, Con 9, Int 3, Wis 10, Cha 12.

Skills – Alertness (+3), Athletics +7 (-1), Sneak (-9), Survival +6. Feats – Skill Focus (Alertness).

SA- Vomitous Discharge: Each round, the shard mutated giant has a fifty fifty chance of letting off a 3d6, 50 ft. line of force damage at a random creature in reach and any creature directly behind the initial target. Reflex save for half (DC 14). The blast erupts from his eyes, and looks painful and uncontrolled.

Possessions – Giant star shard in forehead, Huge Club.

Totally kludged. The discharge happened too often. I might change his discharge power to read:

SA- Vomitous Discharge: The first round he is in combat, the shard mutated giant lets off a 3d6, 50 ft. line of force damage at a random creature in reach and any creature directly behind the initial target. Reflex save for half (DC 14). The blast erupts from his eyes, and looks painful and uncontrolled. Each round after the first, he has a 1 in 4 chance of letting off another blast.
Or you could change it to 3d4 damage.

Feral Mutant: CR 3; magical beast [augmented animal (# ft. tall or long); HD 3d8+6; hp 19; Init +4; Spd 40 ft (8 squares), climb 20 ft.; AC 15 (+4 Dex, +1 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 11; BAB +2; Grapple +5; Full Atk Bite +6 melee (1d6+3) and 2 claws +1 melee (1d3+1); Atk Bite +6 melee (1d6+3); Face 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.; SA Improved grab, pounce, rake 1d3+1; SQ Low-light vision, scent; SR 13; AL N; SV Fort +5, Ref +7, Will +3; Str 16, Dex 19, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 14, Cha 10.

Skills Balance +12, Climb +11, Hide +8*, Jump +11, Listen +7, Move Silently +8, Spot +7. Feats Alertness, Weapon Finesse.

Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a feral mutant must hit with its bite attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can rake.

Pounce (Ex): If a feral mutant charges a foe, it can make a full attack, including two rake attacks.

3/day—defensive precognition, empty mind, mind thrust; 1/day—force screen.

Naturally Psionic: A feral mutant gains 1 bonus power point.

Rake (Ex): Attack bonus +6 melee, damage 1d3+1.

Skills: Feral Mutants have a +8 racial bonus on Jump checks and a +4 racial bonus on Hide and Move Silently checks. Feral mutants have a +8 racial bonus on Balance and Climb checks. A feral mutant can always choose to take 10 on a Climb check, even if rushed or threatened.

The Feral mutant is a leopard with the phrenic template attached.

Hag Loogeys - Alchemical Device

2008-05-02T21:59:00.000-04:00

Hag Loogeys: Made by sea hags, the Hag Loogey is potentially the most disgusting magical aid known to the prime material plane. Unfortunately, in a pinch, they are the cheapest way to adventure underwater.

Sea hags are a magical and magically adept race. Some, who practice alchemy, develop a way to control their metabolisms so that they can distill their own magical abilities into a portable form. For instance, the ability to breath water. Most people first see a hag loogey fresh from a hag's throat, and become painfully aware of the arcane series of snorts, grunts, hawking coughs, high pitched musical hums, and other grotesque noises the hags make before depositing the loogey in their own hand. If someone had really angered the hag, she will often tell them that she has to deposit the loogey directly into their mouth for the magic to work.

Hag Loogeys can actually be stored in a sealed glass container.

They appear rather lovely. About half an inch long and a quarter inch in diameter, a hag loogey has the appearence of a shivering bolus made of clear gelatin. They can be lightly squeezed and still maintain their magic. If crushed, they dissolve into grey ooze with the consistency of snail slime. On the tongue, they have the same gelatinous texture, and sometimes causes imbibers to choke. You may impose a Fort save or Con check with a DC of ten or higher to swallow

Once a creature has choked down a hag loogey, they have the ability to breath underwater for ten hours.

Craft Alchemy DC 20, Sea hag race; Cost 200 gp

NPC Gear: 1st
Treasure Value: 1st

Math:

3*5*1000 = 15,000/40 for single use item = 375 ½, *.5 for reduced utility (only usable on one individual) = 187.5

Robe of Nondetection - Major Wondrous Item

2008-04-28T12:00:00.000-04:00

Robe of Nondetection: This robe, woven from threads glamorweave, feel like silk, but looks to be embroidered with a pattern that changes. Usually, the pattern on the robe is a hunt scene or a court scene.

Wearing it protects the wearer from scrying and magical location just as a nondetection spell does. If a divination spell is attempted against the wearer, the caster of the divination must succeed on a caster level check (1d20 + caster level) against a DC of 20 (as if the caster had cast nondetection on herself).

The glamour weave pattern adds a +2 circumstance bonus to all bluff checks made by someone wearing the robes.

Major Abjuration; CL 5th; Craft Wondrous Item, nondetection; Cost 40,600

NPC Gear: 17th
Treasure Value: 18th

Math:

3*5*2,000 = 30,000
Multiply by 1.25 (ad hoc, less that 10 min duration, less than 24 hour duration)
+600 for glamorweave bonus
+50*50 for expensive material component

(+2 to bluff, 35,600 K)

Game 3

2008-04-27T15:52:00.000-04:00

This was the first real Celestial Wastelands game. We sat down, and they started walking across the wastelands. In the distance, they saw a thin plume of smoke from a fire.

Sending Doc closer to reconnoiter, he found a group of the human barbarians with the black arrow tattoos squatting in a ring of old mudbrick huts. Thinking there were only three, he reported back to his group.

They attacked the huts, only to find out that there were 7 barbarians, one a spell caster who blessed his tribesmen and summoned astral constructs to bolster their numbers.

With cover on their side, the barbarians defeated our heroes and dragged them into a mudbrick hut. They wanted to store the kobolds alive to keep them fresh, and figured they could sell the remaining interlopers as slaves somewhere. Every body was unconscious except BC, who realized they were sharing the hut with a kobold merchant, also being saved as supplies.

Over the next two days, the adventurers came conscious. Cheez snuck out one night to search for their equipment, but only found a healing spell scribed on a tablet in the the rubble of a hut.

Then Doc awoke, and used his arcane prowess to heal everybody. Sure that the tribesmen weren't going to wait any longer to start making dinner out of the kobolds, they snuck out of the hut and attacked the sleeping barbarians. After a titanic battle, culminating in one of the tribesmen running away and the spellcaster being charged in his hut, our heroes triumphed and took all their stuff back, as well as the tribesmens. Good times!

Cowboy Po's Wagon - Minor Wondrous Item, Artifact

2008-04-25T12:00:00.000-04:00

Cowboy Po's Wagon: This tall, large wheeled, roofed wagon was owned by the famous traveling showman and alchemist Cowboy Po, who often told his audiences that he had imported it from Transylvania, where it had previously been owned by gypsies. The sides of the wagon are covered with carved scenes of fabulous creatures: unicorns, men with no heads, Chinese dragons, Nordic trolls, men with one arm and leg, and giant birds carrying off elephants. Prominent on one side is a large bas-relief carving of a moon shining upon a circle of women dancing naked. The scroll work above the moon is painted with the logo Cowboy Po's Traveling Good Luck Miracle Show. It looks some kind of carving underneath might have been sanded off.

Inside, the wagon is comfortably appointed, with a long cabinet that mattresses could be placed on, and lots of cabinets and drawers built into every surface and corner. Although not magical in and of themselves, there are so many secret compartments and hidden crannies here that all sorts of curios can be found. Every time a thorough search is made, the characters searching may find something left behind by one of the previous owners. The DC check for this is 30 the first time, and 2 points higher each additional time.

The wagon can comfortably sleep four people.

Once per month, under the light of the full moon, the wagon and anyone inside or touching it up to about 2000 pounds can Greater Teleport.

This trip takes 1d3 minutes to accomplish no matter how far the distance traveled, and puts any creature in or touching the wagon into a fugue state wherein they feel as if they are gazing upon an infinite silver plane. Rarely, they glance a shadowy movement in the distance.

Traveling through moonlight, and gazing upon the infinite, can be hazardous to mental health. Each mortal character doing so must make a will save (DC 15) or take 1d3 temporary wisdom damage. A critical failure results in an extra point of permanent damage (perhaps after witnessing something particularly huge shifting in the distance).

Major conjuration; CL 13th; Craft Wondrous Item, Greater Teleport; Cost 1,613 gp.

D20 Statblock

Type: Wondrous Item (magic); Caster Level: 40th; Prerequisites: Create Wondrous Item, teleport without error; Purchase Difficulty Check 36; Weight: 600 lbs.

NPC Gear: 4th
Treasure Value: 5th

Things that can be found in Cowboy Po's Wagon:

Corroded silver sickle.
Wax paper packet of dried rose petals.
Clove of dried garlic.
Bottle of castor oil.
Magnifying glass.
Polaroids of yeti.
Crystal phial with one dose of Cowboy Po's Miracle Moonlight Tincture (see below).
Piece of petrified wood carved in the shape of a buffalo.
Scroll with a protection from evil spell written in Chinese.
8 silver bullets enchanted to fit any gun.
Snake casting.
Sprig of dried wolvesbane.
Small brown glass bottle of mustard seed.
7 ash wood stakes.

Cowboy Po's Miracle Moonlight Tincture: A viscous elixir stored in a hand blown glass bottles. The lable, yellowed and age burnt, has the title Cowboy Po's Miracle Moonlight Tincture printed in absurd block letter. In smaller, unreadable text is a list of conditions that the Tincture will supposedly cure. A snake oil mixture, it includes castor oil, ginseng, nightshade, radium, cocaine, psilocibin, tobacco, opium, and distilled moonlight, with an alcohol base. It was often stored in bottles lined with a thin layer of lead to keep out daylight. Folktales have it that Cowboy Po made a moonlight still with the help of an elemental spirit of the moon he met while chasing werepumas on the high desert.

Each dose of Moonlight Tincture does one point of temporary wisdom damage to the user.

In addition, each dose incurs one of the following effects, in the order listed, under the circumstances given:

1. If ingested and the character is diseased, it will remove disease.
2. If ingested, it will allow an additional save for a character infected with lycanthropy to throw off the curse.
3. If this save fails, a dose will allow a character to be cured of lycanthropy by a remove curse or break enchantment as if it were cast during a full moon. Regular distilled moonlight also has this effect.
4. If the character has taken ability damage, he will be cured of all temporary or permanent ability score damage to his most damaged score.
3. If the character has taken hit point damage, the character is healed of all hit point damage.
4. The character gains DR 10/slashing until touched by daylight..

If rubbed onto a shirt that has been worn by the character sometime within 24 hours, wearing the shirt again gives the character a DR 10/slashing until it is touched by daylight.

If rubbed on a weapon that has been touched sometime during the day, the weapon gains a +2 enhancement until touched by daylight.

Each sealed bottle will have five doses. If unsealed, the doses inside will evaporate at the rate of one per year.

Nonmagical; Alchemy DC 30; Cost 1,000 gp/dose.

D20 Statblock

Type: Wondrous Item (magic); Caster Level: 11th; Prerequisites: Create Wondrous Item, Alchemy 14+; Purchase Difficulty Check 33 per dose, 39 for a full bottle; Weight: 1/2 lbs.

NPC Gear: 2nd
Treasure Value: 4th

Math:

The wagon

Greater Teleport once per month: (7*13*2000)/5 for once per day, further divided by 30 for once per month = 1,200

plus 400 gp for the value of the masterwork cart

I suppose there is some associated cost for horses.

Frankly, the wagon is so limited in it's scope of use, it probably wouldn't be worth all that much to the average player in the average game.

This is especially if they are playing in a fantasy game. At that value, every group of halflings would own one.

It makes a nice set piece, though, so by GM fiat one would probably declare that there is only one Cowboy Po's wagon. That almost makes it an artifact.

Longtime readers might notice the similarity of Cowboy Po's Miracle Moonlight Tinture to Distilled Moonlight. The math is pretty much the same.

The Future of Rosy Rod -

2008-04-22T14:06:00.000-04:00

Hey,

I don't know who is still reading Rosy Rod. I'm getting ready to pack it in, for the most part, on June 13th, 2008. I had hoped to average 2 magic items a week for 2 years, and I'm pretty sure that I will make it. I have some articles about weird experiments that I tried in 3.5 ready to post after 6/13. I never posted them because I was always half sure I'd have the time to do a sourcebook of some kind. Oops.

I loved making magic items in 3.5 because there was a sort of puzzle to it: How can you give a PC a neat effect for cheap, without making them crazy powerful? How do you price unusual effects? I even made math games out of this: for instance duel items, where both sides of an enchantment had to do radically different things but equal each other in value.

However, having just finished a high level (APL 18th) 3.5 game, I know how much work the system is over the long haul. I'm okay to move on to 4.0 (mostly).

I am hoping to run a mini campaign: a rules light 3.5 variant game that I am fooling with, called the Celestial Wastelands. Something futuristic. And a 4.0 game. Celestial Wastelands is an equipment light game, but some of the items I create for that would be suitable for this blog. Maybe the futuristic game, too, depending on what rule set I use.

So I've posted a poll in the corner, with some ideas about what to do with this blog. Please take the time to answer if you have any interest in what goes on with the material here.

I'll leave the poll up until 6/13, and figure out what to do about it later.

2008-04-21T16:03:00.000-04:00

Hey, I blogged my impressions of a 4e demo I went to on Sunday here.

Deck of Many Things, Lesser - Artifact

2008-04-21T14:10:00.000-04:00

Whenever I hear people talk about using a Deck of Many Things in a Dungeons and Dragons game, they are either playfully gleeful about, or morbidly fearful of, the destruction that can be unleashed. Players are often unwilling to use a Deck of Many Things because their character could be greatly hindered instead of, or in addition to, being helped. So I came up with a table that takes some of the sting out of a Deck while leaving the pure random fun of drawing cards for boon or bane. This is my Lesser Deck of Many Things.

Deck of Many Things: A deck of many things (both beneficial and baneful) is usually found in a box or leather pouch. Each deck contains a number of cards or plaques made of ivory or vellum. Each is engraved with glyphs, characters, and sigils. As soon as one of these cards is drawn from the pack, its magic is bestowed upon the person who drew it, for better or worse.

A character with a deck of many things who wishes to draw a card must announce how many cards he will draw before he begins. Cards must be drawn within 1 hour of each other, and a character can never again draw from this deck any more cards than he has announced. If the character does not willingly draw her allotted number (or if she is somehow prevented from doing so), the cards flip out of the deck on their own.

Exception: If the jester is drawn, the possessor of the deck may elect to draw two additional cards.

Each time a card is taken from the deck, it is replaced (making it possible to draw the same card twice) unless the draw is the jester or the fool, in which case the card is discarded from the pack. A deck of many things contains 22 cards. To simulate the magic cards, you may want to use tarot cards, as indicated in the second column of the accompanying table. If no tarot deck is available, substitute ordinary playing cards instead, as indicated in the third column. The effects of each card, summarized on the table, are fully described below.

Plaque: Summary of Effect

Balance: You are geased to aid your next intelligent opponent.
Comet: You gain a permanent, inherent +1 bonus to hit.
Donjon: You automatically fail the next roll to resist any creature or effect that would restrain you.
Euryale: –1 penalty on all saving throws henceforth.
The Fates: Avoid any situation you choose . . . once.
Flames: The next creature you try to befriend attacks you as soon as they have the advantage.
Fool: Lose 10% of any experience points gained so far this level.
Gem: Gain knowledge of a great treasure (up to 50,000 gp, and it must have a EL 18th guardian).
Idiot: -2 to a random ability score.
Jester: You may cast a random effect from a wand of wonder as a supernatural ability, once per day.
Key: You receive the inspiration and resources to create a magic item worth up to 25,000 gp.
Knight: Gain the service of a CR 4 Outsider.
Moon: You are granted 1 limited wish.
Rogue: Allies refuse to aid you for the duration of one combat.
Ruin: An organization started by you, led by you, or that you belong to loses 25,000 gp worth of resources. Alternately, you take a permanent, inherent, -1 modifier to your leadership score.
Skull: You gain -10 penalty to all attacks against the next foe you face. That foe gains a +10 bonus to all attacks against you.
Star: Immediately gain a +2 inherent bonus to a random ability score.
Sun: The next time you make a request of an NPC, it is granted.
Talons: Next time you are affected by an area spell, you fail your save and so does one of your magic items.
Throne: An organization started by you, led by you, or that you belong to gains 25,000 gp worth of resources. Alternately, you take a permanent, inherent, +1 modifier to your leadership score.
Vizier : The next time you cast or consult a spellcaster for a divination, it automatically succeeds and you gain the maximum effect.
The Void: You suffer the effect of a maze the next time you are in combat, sharing your imprisonment with a succubus.

Strong, all schools; CL 20th

This version of the Deck of Many Things can probably put into a game at any level. Any effect that has a gp total attached to it can be adjusted up or down if the GM worries about in game effects. Use a treasure value equal to average party level +3 to determine the maximum value of an award, or your own judgment, whichever you trust more. Effects that change the nature of encounters with NPCs should probably be applied quickly, or they will be forgotten.

Bracelet of the Unseen Strike - Major Wondrous Item

2008-04-18T13:18:00.000-04:00

Bracelet of the Unseen Strike: This golden, translucent bracelet is made of a lightweight, silky material that resembled warm amber. In fact, small creatures can be seen trapped within. If watched closely, they seem to move.

Once per day, the wearer of a bracelet of the unseen strike gains a +20 insight bonus bonus with a single attack roll. For that attack, they do not suffer the miss chance that applies to attackers trying to strike a concealed target.

Major divination; CL 9th; Craft Wondrous Item, Quicken Spell, True Strike; Cost 18,000 gp.

NPC Gear: 14th
Treasure Value: 15th

Math:

Quickened True Strike = 5*9*2000= 90,000/5 = 18,000

Glaucus’ Glory™ Honey Mead - Minor Wondrous Item

2008-04-14T12:00:00.000-04:00

Glaucus’ Glory™ Honey Mead: Made by a troll from a stolen dwarvish recipe that was more benign but less potent, Glaucus’ Glory is a magical microbrew mead. One of the ingredients added by the Troll was the corpse of an immature human or fey, which probably makes drinking Glaucus’ Glory™ Honey Mead an alignment violation for some.

When the first bottle of Glaucus’ Glory™ is drunk, the drinker must make a check on a d20, with no modifiers. If they roll over their current charisma, they gain a permanent +1 inherent bonus to their charisma. Every bottle they drink thereafter allows them to make a similar check, until they are successful.

Thereafter, the number of bottles required to gain another inherent bonus is usually equal to the square of the bonus. One is needed to gain the +1 inherent bonus. 4 for +2. 9 for +3. 16 for +4. 25 for +5. If the required number of bottles is drunk, a check against the character’s current score must be made to raise the inherent bonus gained by one. If the check is not made, the required number of bottles must be drunk again.

As a consolation prize, every bottle drunk reduces a character’s physical age by 1 year to a minimum of the lowest year of the age category below the character’s current age category. For instance, a man of 60 pounding back Glaucus’ Glory can reduce his physical age to 35.

If a character drinks more than 3 bottles in a hour, they are considered drunk and suffer 1d4 constitution, dexterity, charisma, and wisdom drain. If their Con reaches 0 they die. If any other stat reaches 0, they throw up and pass out, and have to start over again later. Woo Hoo.

Weak transmutation; CL 5th; Brew potion, eagle's grace; Cost 1,000 gp.

d20 Modern stat block

Type: Weapon (magic); Caster Level: 9th; Prerequisites: Create Magic Weapon, Polymorph; Purchase Difficulty Check 36; Weight: 2 lbs.

NPC Gear: 3rd
Treasure Value: 4th

Math: A +1 bonus is worth 1*1*1,000. An "inherent" bonus is supposed to be more, but there is a chance that the bonus won't take, so I figure that evens everything out. The fact that you need to make a higher roll to gain a higher inherent bonus, and the cost progression for the number of bottles needed to gain a bonus multiple times, will cover the cost of higher inherent bonus.

Magnificent hybrid

2008-04-12T12:20:00.000-04:00

These is a stat block from my current mega campaign, which should be ending shortly.

I wanted a giant commander that had a little more pizaz than your average big guy with an ax, someone I could add some class levels to, and after thinking about it, decided to average the statistics of a fire giant and a storm giant.

I think it came out well, and the creature, with a few levels of sorcerer thrown in, was a highly mobile encounter that challenged my party. He probably works better as artillery, throwing rocks and lightning bolts from behind a phalanx of hill giants and then wading in with his massive greatsword damage.

Half Fire/Half Storm Giant: CR 12; Huge Giant; HD 17d8+85; hp 246; Init +0; Spd 50 ft.; AC 25 (-2 size, +12 natural, +5 +1 chain shirt), touch 8, flat 25; BAB +12; Grapple +32; Atk +22 melee (1d6+12, slam) or +23/+18/+13 (4d6+18, greatsword) or +10 ranged (2d6+12, rock throwing); Face 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft.; SA rock hurling, spell like abilities; SQ fire and electricity resistance 20, freedom of movement, low light vision; AL CN; SV Fort +20, Ref +5, Will +6; Str 34, Dex 10, Con 30, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 14.

Skills- Alertness +20 (+1), Craft +20 (+1), Intimidate +20 (+2). Feats - Awesome Blow, Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Sunder, Power Attack.

SA-Rock Throwing (Ex): The range increment is 120 feet for a half fire/half storm giant giant’s thrown rocks.

SA- Spell like abilities: 2/day –Levitate, 1/day - Call lightning. The save DCs are Charisma-based.

SQ- Rock Catching (Ex): A half fire/half storm giant gains no bonus on its Reflex save when attempting to catch a thrown rock.

SQ- Freedom of Movement(Su): Half fire/half storm giants have a continuous freedom of movement ability as the spell (caster level 20th). The effect can be dispelled, but the half fire/ half storm giant can create it again on its next turn as a free action.

Possessions (9,800 gp): +1 Huge Chain Shirt (1,550 gp), Masterwork Huge Greatsword (500 gp).

Great Ax of Biting - Specific Weapon

2008-04-11T12:09:00.000-04:00

Great Ax of Biting: These stout masterwork great axes are used by the lumberjacks of the Umberwood and the Brambles on their lightning raids into the often dangerous forests where they ply their trade.

With a haft of mellow golden sunring lumber, there is usually some adamantium in the ax blade.

A great ax of biting ignores one point of hardness, making it handy for harvesting lumber and disarming foes.

Weak transmutation; CL 5th; CraftMagic Arms and Armor, greater magic weapon; Cost 820 gp.

Treasure Value: 3rd
NPC Gear: 2nd

Math: I treat the minor bonus bestowed by an ax of biting as a 500 gp mulitplier. So, 1*1*500, plus the value of a masterwork version of the weapon.

Rattlesnake Whip - Specific Weapon

2008-04-07T20:00:00.000-04:00

Rattlesnake Whip: This fifteen foot long bullwhip has black and dust colored rattlesnake skins interwoven with the leather strands of the whip, and is tipped with a silver plated fang. The handle ends in a dried rattlesnake head with turquoise set in its eye sockets.

The rattlesnake whip is a +1 weapon. Once per day for each point of it's bearer's constitution modifier, as a free action, it can be willed to turn into a fifteen foot rattlesnake for one full round, with its tip turning into its head and its handle becoming the snake's rattle.

The snake can still be used as a +1 weapon with 15 ft. reach, and does threaten any area in which it can make an attack. You can use it against foes anywhere within your reach (including adjacent foes) and can make trip attacks with it. If you are tripped during your own trip attempt, you can drop the rattlesnake to avoid being tripped. When using a whip, you get a +2 bonus on opposed attack rolls made to disarm an opponent (including the roll to keep from being disarmed if the attack fails). All attack and damage modifiers you have with a whip can be used with a rattlesnake. The snake deals 1d4+1 lethal damage plus poison (DC 12, 1d6 initial and secondary damage). It can damage any creature regardless of armor bonus.

If an opponent attacks the whip, treat it as a normal whip. If they do enough damage to break it while polymorphed into a rattle snake, the whip becomes a normal +1 whip for the rest of the day. Otherwise, a cut whip can be rebraided with a DC 18 craft check.

Using a rattlesnake as a weapon provokes an attack of opportunity, just as if you had used a ranged weapon. At the beginning of your next action, the rattlesnake become a whip again.

On a critical miss, the snake will attack its bearer instead of it's target, at its bearer's BAB + 2 (for size and dexterity adjustments).

Moderate Transmutation; Caster Level: 9th; Prerequisites: CraftMagic Arms and Armor, Polymorph; Cost 5,301 gpWeight: 2 lbs.

D20 Modern Stat Block

Type: Weapon (magic); Caster Level: 9th; Prerequisites: Create Magic Weapon, Polymorph; Purchase Difficulty Check 36; Weight: 2 lbs.

NPC Gear:

Treasure Value:

Math:

Ad hoc: Similar to the dagger of venom, which is valued as a +2 weapon.

The rattlesnake acts mostly like a whip, with a few added bonuses (more flexible threat range, lethal damage, affects all AC). The poison is weak compared to the dagger of venom, and the short duration of the whip and potential backlash makes it less useful than a full +2 weapon.

so half value half the value of a +2 weapon

8,000 gp value of +2 weapon minus 2,000 gp for +1 weapon = 6,000 gp divided by two for 3,000 gp, re-added to base value of a +1 weapon

Traps and Obstacles - Article

2008-04-05T13:52:00.000-04:00

I decided these don't count at magic items, but I thought they would be fun trap encounters.

Scourge of the Thief: CR 14; magical; location trigger; manual reset; never misses (pass through doorway); trigger disjunction spell (Save DC 23); Search DC 32; Disable Device DC 32.

Abyssal Invective Trap: CR 10; magical; location trigger; never misses; trigger 10d8 damage (half cold, half divine) in a ten foot spread on passing through doorway, reflex save (DC 19) to take half damage.

Chalice room: CR 11; Huge Stone Door, 16 inches thick, hardness 8, Hit Points 240, Break DC 34. When the door is opened, it reveals a pedestal with a glowing ruby chalice on it. The pedestal is surrounded by five trapped arcane rings. Passing over each ring triggers 12d6 of elemental damage, in the following order: Fire, Cold, Electricity, Acid, Sonic, Reflex save DC 12 for half damage. Search and disarm 30 each ring. If the characters bear the brand from area 14, they may walk right over the rings without triggering any of them. Each ring is EL 7 separately. DC 28 to spot and disable the relevant runes in the circles.

Sour Dust (CR 3): This waxy, yellowish looking mold grows on rotted cloth, paper, leather and other dead organic material. If a patch is touched, it explodes in a 10x10’ sour smelling cloud. Any creature within must make a Fortitude save (DC 13 check) or take one point of temporary Con damage.

Any dead organic material caught in the cloud will begin to decompose within an hour, giving off a strong sour smell. Within two hours, non-magical paper will be unreadable. Within three, non-magical cloth will be in tatters and non-magical rope will break if used. Within four hours, non-magical leather will be riddled with holes and hair or fur will be coming out in patches. Within five hours, all such material will be completely unusable, coming apart in one’s hands. Wood items take one point of damage per hour after their initial contact.

Bathing, washing, or soaking affected items in a mild alcohol solution such as beer or wine will halt their rot. That approach has obvious drawbacks for printed material, valuable textiles lose 100 gp of value per hour until they are valueless, and cloth, leather or hide armor will lose one point of armor class per hour.

Magical material saves versus DC 13 to avoid taking damage. When an item has become non-functional, its magic is lost for good.

Characters whose gear and hair are infested will suffer a –3 to Charisma based skill rolls.

Ax of the Imprisoned - Specific Weapon

2008-04-04T12:06:00.000-04:00

Ax of the Imprisoned: This huge great ax was forged and wielded by the fifth great eldritch aurochine chieftan Knakathroes. It was lost in his savage defense of the Fortress of Golden Time and his lover, the Iron Hag, from the Dwarvish Prince Grunhier. Grunhier mowed the aurochine chieftan down with his own ax of star gold and star glass, then handed the Ax of the Imprisoned to his shield bearer, the Ogre Phezzyg. Phezzyg was killed moments later, and Knakathroes' hag daughter, The Grey Hag, is said to have run off with the Ax of the Imprisoned.

The haft of the ax is carved from the femur of a stone giant, and the head is cold forged from an adamant and mithril alloy smelted from the corpse of an ancient Xorn. The Ax of the Imprisoned was gifted to great aurochine chieftans. Then it was picked off the corpse of a rather green young chieftan leading a clan of mixed ogres and aurochine, by a wizard of the Hermetic Order of Knowledge, and has since been used by Hermetic Order bodygaurds to keep their wizard charges safe.

The Axe of the Imprisoned is a Huge +1 Humanbane Greatax. The first time it draws blood in a day, it bestowes 1d10+3 temporary hit points on it's wielder.

Moderate Necromacy; CL 3rd; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, false life, summon monster I; Cost 11,340 gp

NPC Gear: 12th
Treasure Value: 13th

Math: +1 Bane is worth 8,300, Huge Masterwork Great Ax is worth 640, and the false life effect is 2*3*2000/5 = 2,400

Necromatic Nargile - Major Wondrous Item

2008-03-31T13:31:00.000-04:00

The Nercromatic Nargile: This glass hookah was created in 1634 in Turkey by the infamous Ottoman sorcerer Fazl Abdullah. Its cap is made of gold, its hose of tightly woven silk, and its mouth piece is cunningly carved from a piece of amber that contains an entire tiny scorpion. Even when the Nargile is not lit, the interior of its glass body is hazy, as if with smoke.

When lit, and when tobacco or opium is being burned in it, the nargile can trap an incorporeal undead create that is nearby. To activate this ability, a user must smoke from the hookah. Activating the nargile is a standard action that does not draw an attack of opportunity. Lighting the hookah is a full round activity and does draw an attack of opportunity.

The undead creature gets a will save (DC 20) to resist the effect. If the creature fails the save, it is trapped within the glass body of the hookah. The nargile can trap 30 HD of undead.

Releasing an undead from the nargile is a standard action that requires a simple command, such as “release the ghost of Joe from the nargile,” or “release the third shadow.” The Nargile must be burning, and the released undead first appears as a thin wisp of smoke rising from the mouthpiece.

You can control undead from the Nargile indefinately if they are not intelligent. If they are intelligent, they gain another saving throw to release themselves from the control of the Nargile after 17 minutes of control. Non-intelligent undead or undead with animal intelligence can be called and returned to the hookah at will after they are initialy trapped. Additional attempts to return intelligent undead to the hookah require additional saving throws. The undead gain a modifier of +2 to their saving throws for each period they were trapped in the hookah.

If the nargile's owner smokes from it while undead are trapped in the hookah, the smoke is infused with the energy of one the spirits trapped inside. The user can gain the benefit of a death knell spell. Doing this is a standard action that the user can will to happen as he smokes from the nargile. This causes the trapped undead with the least HD to be destroyed without a saving throw.

Strong Necromancy; CL: 15th; Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, control undead, death knell; Cost: 234,000 gp; Weight: 10 lbs.

d20 Modern Stat Block

Caster Level: 15; Prerequisites: Control Undead, Death Knell; Purchase Difficulty Check 43; Weight: 10 lbs.

Treasure Value: 24th
NPC Gear: 23rd

Math: Control Undead and Death Knell (7*15*2,000) + (2*3*2,000)*2 = 210,000+24,000 = 234,000 gp.

Other people's coolness

2008-03-29T18:25:00.000-04:00

One of the things I've always wanted to do with this blog is link to other blogs and sites where I've found great crunch. Well, that has rarely happened, but it's never too late to correct a mistake.

That said, I link to three blogs in the sidebar. Two of them irregularly produce funky d20 material.

Jeff's Gameblog could also be named Jeff's Funky-Ass Gameblog. Although he writes a lot about goofy, small tabletop RPGs, everyone in a while he does some d20 stuff. His approach is attractively Gonzo for me. This article is about some fun magic items he cooked up for a Vikings ruling the New World (with kobolds in it) game.

Neitherworld Stories, is run, I think, by a buddy of Jeff's. It is less exhuberant, but has a purple Beholder in the logo. His Open Game Content includes the Create Spell Grenade feat, and the spell Ground Stew. It, um. Makes the ground into stew.

Wolfgang Baur is a professional, not a rookie. But I link him here for his blog articles about translating material from the New Croubazon works of China Mieville into d20. New Croubazon is sort of like steampunk on acid, and so right up my ally.

From little Genjitsu Games, I've had this on my hardrive for awhile. It has fiendish penguins and half brass dragon catfish. Funky little monsters, often hard to come by.

And, for 4.0, this is a set of links to a guy on Gleemax who is already making new monsters for the new additions. He takes fairly standard concepts and gives them a healthy twist, so as to sidestep the orthodoxy of the Dungeons and Dragons settings. Do they work? Dunno. They look comparable to what wizards is producing. Won't know for sure until the game comes out. But it is heartening.

Greasy Belt - Minor Wondrous Item

2008-03-28T14:08:00.000-04:00

Greasy Belt: This belt, made of seemingly of a strip of uncured boar hide, is covered with patches of bristles. A large hole punched is punched in one end. A polished boar tooth is affixed to the other, and can be pushed through the hole to act as a clasp.

One per day, the wearer of the Greasy Belt can make his clothes slippery with a noxious grease, giving him a +10 bonus on escape artist checks on grapple checks made to resist or escape a grapple or to escape a pin. Unfortunately, once free they must make a DC 10 reflex save to stand or act during that round, falling prone if they fail the check.

Weak conjuration; CL 3rd; Craft Wondrous Item, grease; Cost 200 gp

NPC Gear: 1st
Treasure Value: 1st

Math: 1st level spell 1/day = 1*1*2000/5 = 400. Halved for limited range/execution and limited backfire.

Lantern of Stillness - Moderate Wondrous Item

2008-03-26T14:04:00.000-04:00

Lantern of Stillness: This lantern is made of gold filigree wire that encloses an intense golden flame. The flame doesn't seem to burn, but instead causes any living thing or limb inserted into it seems to feel numb and a tiny bit slower, a feeling that wears off in seconds. Despite the brilliance of the flame, it is small and does not travel far. The lantern sheds light as a standard torch. The flame seems to have no source of fuel, and can be shuttered to block the light.

The flame is actually made of a section of time, folded up until it is the size of a finger joint, glimering with the potential energy compacted into that tiny point.

Each lantern has a command word that will snuff the flame. When the flame goes out, a time stop as if cast by effect is centered on the lantern, as if cast by a 17th level wizard.

One the flame is snuffed, the lantern becomes useless.

Moderate transmutation; CL 17th; Craft Wondrous Item, time stop; Cost 15,300 gp

NPC Gear: 14th
Treasure Value: 14th

Math: Single Use Time stop, 9*17*100

Kamagun - Minor Universal Item

2008-03-24T13:01:00.000-04:00

Kamagun: The Kamagun is a chitinous sheath that resembles the primary manipulative limb of the last creature who wore it. It has a psionic trigger. Only those with psionic ability can cause it to fire, commanding it with a thought.

When it is not being worn, the Kamagun changes its shape to fit the primary manipulative limb of any psionic creature who touches it. This starts as soon as the Kamagun is touched, and takes one round to complete.

When a Kamagun is put on, the protein computer that runs the quasi-organic Kamagun samples the skin and excreted body fluids of it's wearer. It roots around in the junk DNA of the creature for the design of a diminutive flying creature that produces organic toxins and can be used as a weapon. It then begins to manufacture a version of said creature using the user’s body fluids as raw materials. These creatures are the ammunition that the Kamagun uses.

In the case of a terrestrial user, the most efficient flying killer a Kamagun will find is a breed of prehistoric wasp. The Kamagun strips the wasps of all their biological functions but their wings, sensory organs, and stingers, and they are extremely dumb and fast. When the Kamagun is aimed, the wasps are imprinted with a psionic image of their target. If they miss on the first shot, they will generally continue on until they hit a solid object. They are created with just enough energy to fly 100 feet, the outside of the Kamagun’s range, then they die.

The first time a Kamagun is put on, it will do a point of damage to the user each round for five rounds. If this is interrupted, it will continue the next time it is put on until it has done five points of damage. After this, it is ready to be used. This damage can be healed back normally.

Each shot from a Kamagun costs it's user one hit point, which can be healed back normally. A Kamagun has a five shot magazine. It can hold no more shots. Once a shot is fired, the Kamagun can regenerate one charge each round, on it's user's next action, taking a hit point from it's user for each it shot it regenerates. After the magazine is filled the initial time, the Kamagun's user can mentally order the gun not to make more shots. A kamagun will not make new shots if it's wearer has fewer than 1 hit point.

A Kamawasp that hits it's target deals 1 hit point of damage and injects venom (DC 13+ the wearer's con modifier, 1 Con/O Con)

A Kamawasp also has a +12 to hit because the wasp guides its own flight. A Kamawasp can be intercepted by an attack of opportunity if it is hit by an attack that hits an AC of 23 or greater. It has a touch AC of 23, and is never flat footed.

The Kamagun also bestows a +2 armor bonus to its bearer’s armor class.

Minor Universal Item; ML: 10th; Craft Universal Item, prevenom; Cost 440 gp

NPC Gear: 1st
Treasure Value: 2nd

d20 Modern Stat Block

Type: Wondrous Item (psionic); Manifester Level: 3rd; Purchase DC: 28; Weight: 2 lb.

Math:

There is no math for this monstrosity, which is patterned after a weapon in a video game I used to love playing.

This weapon only does one point of damage per shot. That's way lower than any mundane weapon off the rack. The benefit of using it would be the con damage. The greatest benefit would be against fighter opponents. So I figured this item would be appropriate for a level where it was affecting the fighter at least half of the time.

That turns out to be first. I gave the Kamagun a base cost equal to 300 gp, the value of one first level treasure. I bumped the value by 140, the value of a masterwork buckler, for the armor bonus.

In order to give this a little more life, I elasticated the DC save.

Ur-Vat of the Golden Aura - Medium Wondrous Item

2008-03-21T18:31:00.000-04:00

Ur-Vat of the Golden Aura: This highly polished golden basin is carried on the back of two glorious winged serpents. It’s rim is graven with injunctions in enochian, and its basin is inscribed with nested protection circles. A good aligned outsider my willingly give up hit points enough to equal the XP cost of the Ur-Vat’s creating a potion. Any given outsider can only do this once, and generally must be convinced to let his blood be used in such a coarse fashion. Once per day, if left in sunlight for 16 hours, it can brew the blood into a potion of shield of faith.

Moderate abjuration; CL 3rd; Brew Potion, Craft Wondrous Item, shield of faith; Price 7,500 gp.

NPC Gear: 10th
Treasure Value: 11th

Ur-Vat of Rent Oak - Medium Wondrous Item

2008-03-14T12:29:00.000-04:00

Ur-Vat of Rent Oak: This Ur-Vat is hollowed out of a huge wooden stump and is smoothed and stained by years of handling. Its basin is carved with runes in fey, and a knoll in the roots hides a charred, copper lined space where coals can be put to heat the basin. A knowledge nature (DC 20) will reveal the wood as from the tree of an ancient dryad or treant.

The Ur-Vat of Rent Oak can take magic points in the form of blood or sap from any magical beast or intelligent plant with a natural armor bonus greater than +2. Once per day, if the blood or sap is left to simmer for sixteen hours and barkskin is cast on the remaining liquid at dusk, this Ur-Vat produces a potion of barkskin.

Moderate transmutation; CL 5th; Brew Potion, Craft Wondrous Item, barkskin; Price 15,000 gp.

NPC Gear: 13th
Treasure Value: 14th

Ur-Vat of the Bezekira’s Malice - Ur Vat

2008-03-10T12:15:00.000-04:00

Ur-Vat of the Bezekira’s Malice: This Ur-Vat is assembled from the skull of a dire tiger, painted in infernal runes and mounted upside-down on a pedestal of black basalt carved in the shape of an erinyes who holds the basin up. The skull's eye sockets are filled with bloody colored star-sapphires.

The Ur-Vat of the Bezekira's Malice will turn blood taken from a bezekira slain within a fortnight into a potion of cat’s grace. The blood must be steeped for sixteen hours, and cat’s grace must be cast on the basin at midnight in the middle of the steeping.

Moderate transmutation; CL 5th; Brew Potion, Craft Wondrous Item, cat’s grace; Price 15,000 gp.

NPC Gear: 13th
Treasure Value: 14th

Ur-vat - Item Type

2008-03-10T12:13:00.000-04:00

Ur-Vat: In places where the local population has a large supply of a magical resources, local spellcasters sometimes multiply their power by magically automating production of the most broadly useful form of magical power: the potion.

Ur-Vats can be used to produce potions as long as a magical agent is added, and spells are cast over the mixture. A magical agent is bodily fluid from a magical beast, plant, or outsider that the GM deems relevant to the creation of the potion.

A number of points of magical energy must be provided equal to half the gold piece sale value of the potion, plus 1/50th. For instance, a potion of Cat’s Grace requires 156 points of magical energy. The number of points of magical energy that can be derived from a creatue is determined by looking up the XP reward for a creature defeated by a group with an APL equal to the creature's challenge rating, and then dividing that number by 10.

For instance: the Halfling druids of a local forest are troubled by a gate into the nine hells. They have been unable to close it, but kill enough of the hellcats that come through to create an Ur-Vat that manufacture's potions of cat’s grace, the reward for a 7th level party defeating a CR 7 creature is 2,100 XP. For each slain bezikira, the druid's can provide 210 points of magical energy from the bezekira’s blood.

GM’s may decide that extra blood loses potency if not from a live creature, or after 24 hours, or after it is touched by the sun.

GM’s may wish to award less treasure for that encounter, one gp per point of magic energy obtained, as those are resources the PCs would otherwise not have to spend in potion creation.

Ur-Vat’s are large and cumbersome. They usually weigh in the neighborhood of 500 lbs, and cannot be carried like normal treasure. In order to brew a potion, they need to be unmoved for the full day that it takes to create one.

Potions of varying caster levels may be created. For that to happen, the Ur-Vat must be attuned for the day, by having a caster cast the spell into the Ur-Vat at that level. The amount of magical energy required to create the potion is increased accordingly.

Making an Ur-Vat requires both the Brew Potion and Craft Wondrous Item feats, as well as whichever prerequisites are needed to brew the individual potion.The cost of making a Ur-Vat depends on the potion it generates: it costs (the potion’s spell level * 7,500). 1/50th of that value again must be spent in XP. Some Ur-Vats can brew more than one potion. The Ur-Vat must be attuned by a spell caster each day it cast’s a spell. The cost to make such an Ur-Vat is equal to the combined cost of both Vat’s.

As treasure, Ur-Vat's are not meant to be handed out to PCs. Generally, they are the belongings an NPC: a villainous organization, a warlord, local druid, or allied wizard. They are a convenient in story explanation for common treasure. In the posession of PCs, they are mostly furniture. They are hard to move, must be tended to, and the cost of hunting resources to feed them is probably more than the amount saved from regular use by PCs. Turning them into a business should be hard work: hunting Bezikira is not for the faint hearted, and at the very least will probably distract PCs from reaching their goals.

Gorgoi Amulet - Minor Wondrous Item

2008-03-08T14:17:00.000-05:00

Gorgoi Amulet: This amulet is made of ancient stone with a clasp and chain of green bronze. The amulet depicts a face with an abudance of curly hair. The features have been worn away by the closeness of many people's skin, but the feature's are somehow sinister, as if the face still glares.

The wearer of a Gorgoi amulet gains a +1 bonus to their natural armor.

Once per day, they may hold the amulet and speak their own name, invoking a +4 enhancement bonus to their charisma that lasts for three minutes.

Weak transmutation; CL 3rd; Craft Wondrous Item, Barkskin, Eagle's Splendor; Cost 5,200 gp.

NPC Gear: 9th
Treasure Value: 10th

Math:

+1 natural armor bonus: 1*1*2000
+4 bonus to ability: 4*4*1000 = 16,000/5 for 1/day = 3,200
standard math would add 50% of the armor bonus, for 5,200
post MI compendium would not, for 6,200 of natural armor +1 (plus +4 to charisma once per day, 6,200 total)

Salamander's Monocle - Minor Wondrous Item

2008-03-03T14:12:00.000-05:00

Salamander's Monocle: This brass ring, set with rubies and engraved with fire runes, holds a lense of orangeish red crystal that has a magic circle lightly etched in the glass. They are often found in the ruins of the old culture, but ancient texts say that the spirit of a larval salamander is trapped within. If such a spirit could be manufactured today, more of the Salamander's Monocles could be created. Worn over the eye by holding them between the brow and cheekbone, or surgically implanted in the skin of the same area, they boost a magic user's ability to cast fire spells.

Once per day, the caster level of a spell cast by the wearer is granted a +1 enhancement bonus if the spell does fire damage.

The Salamander's Monocle can also be affixed to a wand that casts a damaging spell, from magic missile to lightning bolt. In this role, it will add +1d6 fire damage each casting the wand is used for. However, there is a one in 20 chance that the energies of the wand will over load the monocle and burst it, draining a charge as normal, destroying the monocle, and doing 3d6 fire damage to the wand wielder and anyone within 5 feet of them.

Weak evocation; CL 3rd; Craft Wondrous Item, burning hands; Cost: 575 gp.

Math: Rather Ad hoc'ed

Once per day bonus to caster level fire spells. +1 caster level bonus to a spell is worth approximately 2*2*1000 gp. /5 for once per day = 400 gp

the benefit to the wand is always active and worth five times more (2,000 gp). It will self destruct at some point, meaning that it is probably worth about half as much (1,000 gp). The fact that it will self destruct messily and do so in battle is worth maybe a 25% reduction. Hit points aren't all that important a resource, and fire damage is pretty easy to circumvent. That's 750 gp. The abilities are mutually exclusive, so I averaged them for a final value of 575 gp

Salamander's Monocle (Celestial Wastelands): This brass ring, set with rubies and engraved with fire runes, holds a lense of orangeish red crystal that has a magic circle lightly etched in the glass. They are often found in the ruins of the old culture, but ancient texts say that the spirit of a larval salamander is trapped within. If such a spirit could be manufactured today, more of the Salamander's Monocles could be created. Worn over the eye by holding them between the brow and cheekbone, or surgically implanted in the skin of the same area, they boost a magic user's ability to cast fire spells.

The wearer gains a +1 enhancement bonus to their caster level when casting fire spells. This bonus stacks with other caster level bonuse. They must pay the additional spell point cost to cast their spell at a higher level.

The Salamander's Monocle can also be affixed to Sineal. In this role, it will add +1d6 fire damage shot. However, there is a one in 20 chance that the energies of the Sineal will over load and burst, doing 3d6 fire damage to the weapon, the weapon's user, and anyone within five feet of them.

Weak evocation; CL 3rd; Craft Wondrous Item, burning hands; Cost: 625 gp.

Math: This is a version for a homebrew game I am hoping to run in the near future. It uses a spell point varient from Unearthed Arcana.

I am valuing a caster level bonus that must be paid for with spell points at bonus squared*500. Although it grants a permanent bonus, it still requires spell point to operate.

the benefit to the sineal, a kind of arcane energy weapon. It worth much more, at least as much as a +1 enhancement to a weapon (2,000 gp). It will self destruct at some point, meaning that it is probably worth about half as much (1,000 gp). The fact that it will self destruct messily and do so in battle is worth maybe a 25% reduction. Hit points aren't all that important a resource, and fire damage is pretty easy to circumvent. That's 750 gp. The abilities are mutually exclusive, so I averaged them for a final value of 625 gp

Game 2

2008-03-02T15:53:00.001-05:00

We were missing a player, and so put off the end game again.

Doc, Cheez, and BC, with Putkin dragging along behind (his player was absent, so he was too heatstroked to be involved in combat), continued towards the Baelatian peaks, hoping to find shards of fallen star.

They run into a group of kobolds leading armor plated pack camels. The kobolds immediately brandish their weapons and tell the strange humans and the human loving "toads" (kobolds who live with humans) to head in the other direction. They refuse to let humans proceed unimpeded through their lands. The tribe with the black arrow tattoos having been wreaking too much havoc with kobold trade routes and communities.

Out heroes do not take kindly to threats. After a few rounds of trying to cook down the hostile kobolds, they engage them in a fire fight, to their lament. The wiley kobolds make good use of the armored camels for cover. The kobolds leave them to die, sending a runner back to warn the kobold communities about these interlopers in case they survive.

They do survive, with the help of an otherwise incapacitated Putkin, who heals them with his magic.

Continuing into hostile kobold lands, they are attacked by an invisible fungus at a watering hole and hunker down to let an burning ash-storm pass by. BC is nearly blind from the stinging ash.

Then they are ambushed by human tribesmen bearing black arrow tattoos. The tribesmen demand that our heroes give them everything they own. It is a long fight, especially with BC being near blinded, but they manage to defeat the bandits, handily turning the tables on them by looting the corpses.

I treated the ash storm as a low level hazard:

Ash Storm: CR 1. A cloud or reddish black dust that seemed to be on the horizon sweeps down and engulfs you. A Survival Check, DC 15, allows you to find shelter inside the storm. It passes in 1d8 hours. Does 1d3 if fail a DC 13 reflex save, blinds if does damage three times. When it finally settles, see humans holed up half a mile ahead.

2008-02-29T13:05:00.000-05:00

Last week, wizards published a preview of the 4.0 rogue class (you have to sign in to their website to get a look there; it's also up at Enworld and other places around the web). I looked at it, and didn't like what I saw. It hearkened back to my previous worries about using a Tome of 9 Swords model for the 4.0 fighter.

The number of options that a 4.0 rogue has available made them look hard to build and use. Rogues used two stats to modify their combat abilities, which is twice the number crunching. I know they want to create options for PC, but I still think too many options is a barrier for new players, and I don't want that many options as a GM. It makes it that much more difficult to create encounters.

Today, gamers have posted six character sheets from the D and D experience. This is what the characters look like in action (no rogue yet).

At first glance, although characters look harder to build, they look easier to use. Wizards look a hell of a lot simpler to use. There's some kind of trade off there, but I'm not sure what it is.
I'm betting my players will like this.

Looking at the characters, and I truly don't know if this is a bonus or a negative, it seems to me that combat looks like it will become kind of formulaic. Using the warlock PC as an example, he would open most combats with his per encounter ability, and then follow up for the rest of the encounter with random combinations of at will powers.

Some of the at will would be favored in some combats. He would probably hold his per day until the climactic encounter of a game.

This is actually an improvement for the warlock: he has three at will blasts instead of one boring old arcane blast.

Every other character will play kind of the same. Fighter? Use your per encounter power as soon as possible, then other. Rogue? Use your per encounter power.... A given character build will give you a simple strategy that you follow all the time.

I bet this will be the first common complaint about how the game plays, as opposed to the aesthetics of the system.

The last things I need to know, are how easy it is to build an encounter. And, of course, how it runs at the table.

As of this writing, there is a kobold posted on the ENworld homepage. It looks interesting. He has 27 hit points! It just looks weird to see a kobold with 27 hit points, but it looks like it's in line with the rest of the game that we've seen. He has 3 abilities to use in combat. That's more flavorful than your average humanoid.

The stat block is clean, and doesn't have a lot of clutter. That's great for DMs!

I want to see a kobold warlock at first level.

Here's what I'm betting: all the players will have about 4-5 combat options to keep track of, maybe a few more at higher levels. Options will increase in power as you level up, replacing old ones.

GMs will probably have 2-5 options to keep track of per monster. That would be okay by me.

This guy is at DND experience and has some interesting things to say about how it ran around a table.

Scarapede - Major Universal/Wondrous Item

2008-02-29T11:58:00.000-05:00

Scarapedes: One of a family of biointegrative psi-tools of unknown origin and manufacture call the scarabites, the scarapede often appears as a six inch segmented ball of a glassy brown substance when not attached to a user. When an unattached scarapede is touched by an individual that can manifest psionic powers, the ball rapidly unfolds to become a three foot long centipede-like creature made of the same brown glass. This is the scarapede's active form.

In the next round, the scarapede will make a touch attack on the psionic who touched it at +4 to hit. The psionic who activates the scarapede may choose not to avoid the attack, allowing it to succeed automatically. If it succeeds, it will graft itself to the psionic's body. A DC 17 Fort save will resist this effect, but the save can be forgone. The scarapede will appear to enter psionic's body by merging directly with the skin. If the graft is successful, it results in a permanent loss of one constitution point. This is not constitution damage, and can't be healed.

If the scarapede fails at a graft attack, it will then roll back up into its dormant form.

The next time a psionic with a scarapede grafted to it uses a weapon of medium size or smaller, the scarapede will surface through the skin near the weapon and wrap around it, performing another graft on the weapon. A DC 17 Fort save will resist this second graft, but the save may likewise be forgone.

If the weapon is successfully grafted into the psionic's body, they gain a +1 to all attack and damage rolls while using it. They cannot be disarmed.

Depending on how many psi points they have left at any given moment, the weapon will also gain an enhancement bonus of +1 to +3. 1 power point gives the weapon a +1 enhancement bonus. 4 power points give it a +2 bonus. 6 power points give it a +3 enhancement bonus.

When a grafted weapon is released, the scarapede will pull the weapon back into the psionic's body, where it will be hidden until a mental command brings it out again.

Releasing and calling the weapon are move equivalent actions.

A DC 20 psicraft check will allow the current weapon to be swapped out with a new one.

A weapon stored inside the scarapede's user gives a +20 bonus to Sleight of Hand checks to hide it.

This doesn't apply to metal detectors, although it does allow a the scarapede's user to substitute his Bluff bonus for his Sleight of Hand bonus, as most people won't really understand what they are seeing when they see an object inside the body.

Grafted weapons and the scarapede still count against the user's weight limits.

A scarapede is a fine object in either form, with a hardness of 4 and 4 hit points, but when grafted to a psionic it cannot be attacked separately.

When a scarapede user dies, its scarapede will flee the body and roll into its dormant state in an adjacent five foot square. It will leave any weapon it is grafted to behind, either in its user's hand, or inside their body, which sometimes makes retrieval problematical.

StrongTransmutation/Psychometabolism; CL 5th; Purchase DC: 37; Craft Wondrous/Universal Item, Polymorph Any Object or Graft Weapon; Cost 29,000 gp; Weight: 2 lb.

Treasure Value: 16th
NPC Gear: 15th

Math:

3*5*2000 = 30,000

Loss of one con = 1*1*1000, -1,000

Compares well with a +4 weapon, small bonuses are offset by needing resources to be fully active

Activated Giant Blood - Alchemical Substance

2008-02-25T12:00:00.000-05:00

Activated Fire Giant Blood: This thick red liquid, often kept in large stone jars, looks like ink, but smells and tastes like sulpher and rust. 3 oz. is a dose, but jars usually have up to ten doses.

A spell using character who drinks activated giant blood may add +3d6 fire damage to the effect of any succesfully cast spell. For instance, a 6th level wizard who drinks a vial of activated giant blood can increase the damage of a fireball to 9d6. Or a wizard who cast hold person will do 3d6 fire damage in addition to paralyzing his targe, if the target fails their saving throw.

Weak evocation; CL 4th; Brew potion; 4th level burning hands; 225 gp

Math: 3*3*1000/50 for single use

I use one thousand as a multiplier because this kind of damage bonus is used case by case, not each attack, so will come in to play less often that an applicable weapon bonus.

Scarascorpion - Minor Wondrous/Universal Item

2008-02-23T00:09:00.000-05:00

Scarascorpion: One of a family of biointegrative psi-tools of unknown origin and manufacture called scarabites, the scarascorpion often appears as a six inch segmented ball of a glassy black substance when not attached to a user.

When touched by a psionic capable of manifesting telekinesis or any psionic power that manipulates energy, the dormant scarascorpion will unroll into a fine sized obsidian scorpion. The scorpion will not move.

If pressed against the activating psionic's palm, breast, forehead, or eye, the scarascorpion will dig a socket for itself over two rounds, doing 1d6 hit point of damage per round. At the end of that time, it will have been permanently implanted in the character, looking much like a glossy black stone in the socket it dug for itself.

An implanted scarascorpion results in a permanent loss of one dexterity point. This is not dexterity damage, and can't be healed.

A scarascorpion user may convert psionic energy to a ranged touch energy attack. There are five types of scarascorpions: pyro- (which converts to fire damage), cryo- (cold), electro- (electrical), sono- (sonic) and entropo - (acid). The ray has a range increment of 10 feet, a range of 10 feet per psionic point spent to generate it, and does 1d4 points of damage per psionic point spent to generate it.

A psionic may have more than one scarascorpion implanted. Only one ray can be manifested at a time.

A scarascorpion given an eye socket duplicates the sight of the lost eye, and its user gains a +2 bonus to attack rolls made with that scarascorpion's ray, but suffers a -2 bonus to Bluff and Disguise checks.

A scarascorpion is a fine object in either form, with a hardness of 4 and 4 hit points, but when grafted to a psionic it cannot be attacked separately.

When a scarascorpion user dies, its scarascorpion will flee the body and roll into its dormant state in an adjacent five foot square. It cannot be removed without surgery (Heal/Treat Injury DC 15).

Each scarascorpion takes up a glove, hat, or necklace item slot depending where it is implanted.

Weak evocation/psychokinesis; CL 2nd; Craft Wondrous/Universal Item, energy ray or ray of frost; Purchase DC: 29; Cost 1,260 gp; Weight: -.

NPC Gear: 4th
Treasure Value: 5th

Math:

1st level ability: 1*1*2,000 = 2,000
perm loss of dex = 1*1*1,000 = -1,000
+2 limited attack to hit with ray = 2*2*300 = 1,200
-2 to two skills 2*2*100 = 400*2 = -800
requires resources to use = -10%

1,260 gp total

Silver Band of Thought Catching - Ring

2008-02-18T03:30:00.000-05:00

Silver Band of Thought Catching - This ring of silver green mithril is engraved with runes from the enchantment school of magic. Though plain looking, the edges of the band are decorated with a intricate design of miniaturized knotwork.

This ring allows it's wearer to detect thoughts for ten rounds each day. This effect can be switched on and off as a free action, and required concentration to maintain. One or two rounds of use does not give any more information than a normal detect thoughts spell.

Weak divination; CL 3rd; Craft ring, detect thoughts; Cost 800 gp.

NPC Gear: 2nd
Treasure Value: 3rd

Math:

Detect Thoughts 2*3*2000 = 6,0000, /5 for once per day, 2,400 gp, prorated for limited duration, divide by 3

(Detect thoughts for one minute 1/day 1*2*2000/5= 800)

Todd's Lancet - Specific Weapon

2008-02-15T14:47:00.000-05:00

Todd's Lancet: This tiny knife pops out of a palm sized silver case engraved with a picture of a pelican. Todd only made one of these knives, enchanting it to better find veins for bleeding his patients.

The tiny blade and its innocuous looking case give the wielder a +2 circumstance bonus to Sleight of Hand checks made to conceal it or to Bluff attempts made while attacking with it.

It is a +1 magical, keen wounding weapon, and has the following properties: Damage: 1d3, Critical: 17-20/x2, Type: Slashing. It is a tiny weapon.

Moderate evocation; CL 10th; Purchase DC 30; Cost 16,702 gp; Weight: 1/2 lb

NPC Gear: 13th
Treasure Value: 14th

Math: Priced per the DMG, this weapon is worth 32,702 gp. However, I've always suspected that small or tiny enchanted weapons aren't worth much to PCs. The base damage they, no matter what you pile on it, just doesn't add up to a real value. Sure, you can do some neat tricks with a weapon this easy to hide weapon. It will probably give you an excellent first round in some combats. but would a high level thief rather have this than a longsword with the exact same enchantments on it? Probably not.

However, I give the "natural" price of the item above in case you want to use it instead. This makes it a treasure for 17th level encoutners, and NPC gear for 16th level NPCs.

So, I halved the value of the bonuses.

The base value of the item includes a +2 bonus to sleight of hand checks with it (2*2*100=400)

Blessing of the Tooth - Medium Wondrous Item

2008-02-11T19:36:00.000-05:00

Blessing of the tooth: The blessing of the tooth is a rune scrawled into the enamle of a piercing tooth, then dusted with a quick setting enamle of iron oxide clay, mithril dust, and manticore bone.

Although the blessing of the tooth can be used by anybody, it is most often used by dragons and their scaleykin allies. It cannot be removed from the mouth of a creature once it is scribed.

Once per day, the bearer of a blessing of the tooth can gnash his teeth together and declare the command word as a move equivalent action. This has a 75% chance of invoking a greater magic fang +4 effect. If the effect is not evoked, the use for that day is wasted.

Moderate transmutation; CL 16th; Craft Wondrous Item, greater magic fang; Cost 12,960 gp

Treasure Value: -
NPC Gear: 12th

Math:

3*16 (third level spell, 16th caster level effect)/5 for once per day, prorated for 75% chance of taking effect

Game 1

2008-02-10T16:01:00.000-05:00

Taking a small break from our current campaign, so that I could create stats for the massive, epic, climactic battle next week, we rolled up characters for the Celestial Wastelands campaign I've been hungering to run.

I had copies of the rulebook made up at Office Max and spiral bound. Too expensive, especially given how little copy editing I did before hand. But we had copies to pass around the table.

The characters my group "rolled up" using a 28 point buy method were:

Doc, a Kobold sniper who uses magical energy weapons to hit his targets from afar.

B.C., a Giant Blood warrior who smashes things. Hard.

Cheezeweasle, a Dwarvish spellcaster who concentrates of using spells that alter or enhance his body for combat.

Putkin, a Kobold spellcaster who models his magic of psionics.

After explaining the changes from d20 Rules As Written (RAW), I set up the milieu for them:

Giantblood aggressors to the south, Fire fountain to the south east, fey and construct haunted ruins to the North East, slave hunter chasing fey out of the Darkwode to the North. Oh, and a freshly fallen star surrounded by mutated monsters in the Baelatian mountains to the west.

The PCs were members of the Starjumper tribe, a mixed race group who send their youths out to find pieces of fallen stars in order to prove their adulthood, or gain their citizenship, or whatever. The PCs have yet to do so, and so they decided to head for the fresh starfall.

At the end of their first day, they were ambushed by Asterial Moas... duhn, duhn, duhn! These are giant, predatory birds whose ancestors had been mutated by exposure to a falling star. Three of these fearsome birds came over the foothills, shooting energy rays with their eyes. Cheezweasle sent her pony to the attack, while BC and Cheez charged and Doc and Putkin hung back and fired with Sineals. A round later, two more burrowed out of the hill. The moas were a tough fight, zotzing eveybody with eye rays and attacking anybody within reach with their huge, cleaver like beaks.

Out heroes managed to prevail. Heavily wounded, they carved up the Moas and dried the meat (worth 360 trade), and took four of their intact skulls, still faintly glowing . I awarded XP, and we broke up.

These were the stats that I used for the Asterial Moas:

STATS
Asterial Moa: CR 1; Medium Animal; hp 5; Init +2; Spd 40 ft.; AC 13 (+2 Dex, +1 Nat), touch 12, flat 11; BAB +0; Grapple +2; Atk +2 melee (bite, 1d8+3), or +2 ranged (1d6, fire/sonic/electrical/cold ray); Face 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.; SA energy shot; AL N; SV Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +1; REP 0; Str 15, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 4.

Skills Alertness +1, Althletics +1, Sneak +1, Survival +1. Feats - Improved Natural Attack.

I took baboon stats, replace it's feat with Improved Natural attack, and stuck on the Extraterrestrial template from d20 Future.

+2 Gourd of Alchemist Fire - Specific weapon

2008-02-08T16:12:00.000-05:00

+2 Gourds of Alchemist Fire: The kobolds of the Baelatian peaks have learned to magically engrave the shells of gourds and large nuts that they steal from the gardens of their dwarven and giant blooded neighbors. Drying the gourds and coating them with inflammable rubbery sealant and wet clay, powerful kobold shamans then use mildly magical inks to enchant the gourds for accuracy and fill them with alchemists fire.

A +2 gourd of alchemists fire has a +2 enhancement bonus to hit, and a +2 enhancement bonus to damage on the first round. Neither splash damage nor the second round of alchemist fire damage is enhanced.

Weak transmutation; CL 7th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, greater magic weapon; Cost: 180 gp each

NPC Gear: 1st
Treasure Value: 1st

Math:

Alchemist Fire 20 gp+
2*2*2000 = 8000, /50 for single use = 160 gp

+1 gourd = 60 gp
+3 gourd = 380 gp
+4 gourd = 66o gp
+5 gourd = 1,000 gp

Snowflake Obsidian Fang - Medium Wondrous Item

2008-02-06T13:35:00.000-05:00

Snowflake Obsidian Fang: This piece of obsidian, carved to resemble a carnivore tooth longer than a large man's hand, may look like a ceremonial knife without a handle to a casual observer. The glassy black surface has delicate looking lacy white spots in the grain of it.

Usually crafted and used by dragons, any large size creature can extract a tooth and replace that tooth with a snowflake obsidian fang.

A snowflake obsidian fang grants a +2d6 bonus to the damage of its bearer's breath weapon.

Moderate Evocation; CL 6th; Craft Wondrous Item, any third level evocation spell that does energy damage; Cost 8,000 gp

Treasure Value: 12th
NPC Gear Value: 10th

Math: I treat a +2d6 bonus as a +2 weapon bonus.

Todd's Blister Cups - Medium Wondrous Item

2008-02-04T15:43:00.000-05:00

Todd's Blister Cups: Usually kept in a velvet lined box fitted with special forms, these three glass cups are heated by dropping burning material into them. The hot cup is then pressed against skin to draw up large blisters, supposedly drawing out infections along with the humors in the blood. Todd's cups were enchanted to better facilitate this process.

When the blister cups are used on a character suffering from any natural or magical disease, they allow the character to make another save versus any one disease they are affected by (including lycanthropy). If the save is successful, the disease is cured and no longer affects them. Either way, the character takes 1d3 points of temporary Constitution damage each time the cups are applied.

Strong; CL 5th; Craft Wondrous Item, remove disease; Purchase Difficulty Check 32; Cost 15,000; Weight: 5 lbs.

Treasure Value: 14th
NPC Gear: 13th

Math: 3*5*2000 = 30,000

Divide by half because of limit: doesn't cure disease, only allows additional save. Causes damage each time it is used.

Smoke Masks - Special Equipment, Minor Wondrous Item

2008-01-28T14:10:00.000-05:00

Smoke Masks: A mask of smoked glass cut into a half shell that obscures the wearer's features. While a smoke mask is worn by a humanoid creature with a gaze attack, that attack is rendered useless. In addition a smoke mask, gives a +2 equipment bonus to Hide checks because the dark glass obscures the wearer's skin and eyes.

Cost: 400 gp. Weight: 3 lbs.

NPC Gear: 1st
Treausre Value: 2nd

Smoke Mask of Messages: A mask of smoked glass cut into a half shell that obscures the wearer's features. While a smoke mask is worn by a humanoid creature with a gaze attack, that attack is rendered useless. In addition a smoke mask, gives a +2 equipment bonus to Hide checks because the dark glass obscures the wearer's skin and eyes.

The wearer can cast message at will, sending whispered replies to any one creature within 110 ft. Another creature in range who is wearing a smoke mask of messages can also be designated to hear a sent message.

Weak transmutation; CL 3rd; Craft Wondrous Item, message; Cost 1,400 gp

Treasure Value: 5th
NPC Gear: 4th

Math:

+2 bonus to skill 2*2*100
message at will = 1*1*2000/.5= 1,000
Everything else is fluff

New Types of Items

2008-01-25T16:10:00.000-05:00

I'm going to be adding some new types of items in the next couple of weeks: Some that I call weird items, some that are just more modern in nature. Todd's Bleeding Bowl below is an example. I created it for a Arcane style modern game, but I think it would fit well into any steampunk or new weird style fantasy game.

Each of these items have a Purchase Diffculty check (PDC) for use with d20 Modern games, which is what I originally created most of them for, and a gp value, because I think many of them could see use in New Weird or Pulp style fantasy games.

Todd's Bleeding Bowl - Minor Wondrous Item

2008-01-25T15:32:00.000-05:00

Todd's Bleeding Bowl: This white porcelain bowl, painted with a cornflower blue pattern, is missing a half moon section of its rim. It has a 1554 stamp on the bottom, and the mark of the Mieville China makers. Todd was fond of rigorously bleeding his patients, and employed bowls like this that could reverse the effects of a too-heroic bleeding.

When a character's blood is emptied into the bowl, it disappears within one round, seeming to be absorbed by the porcelain. That person can will his blood to come back to him at a later date.

In game terms, this means that when a person has "charged" a bowl by bleeding into it, they can heal themselves by calling the blood back to them. This is a free action that must be done on the character's turn.

The character using the bowl must charge it by sacrificing 5 hit points through a self inflicted wound. These hit points may be healed back normally. When the character recalls their blood, they recall those five hit points. The bowl can actually absorb up to fifteen hit points, but only five can be recalled at any time.

Only a person who has bled into the bowl can call blood from it. A bowl not filled by someone else's blood can be filled the rest of the way by a different user. Both users can then call blood from the bowl. However, if one calls the blood of someone else, they must make a fort save (DC 12) or take 1d6 points of temporary constitution damage (the GM can rule that two creatures with the same blood type don't run this risk). In addition, they must make a Fort save or contract any diseases carried by the other user. A bowl with blood from a previous user still in it can be cleansed by having a cause light wounds spell cast on it, which purges 5 hp of the previous user's blood.

Weak Evocation; Caster Level: 3rd; Craft Wondrous Item, cure light wounds; Cost 1,200 gp; Purchase Difficulty Check 30; Weight: 5 lbs.

NPC Gear: 3rd
Treasure value: 4th

Math:

1*1*2000 for unlimited use 1st level item. Divide by 1.66 for 3 uses per day.

Although technically this item can be used 3 times per day, and as a free action, it must be charged by the user. So any character using it to regain 5-15 hit points a second time that day would have to give them up first. The bowl is most useful when charged, and it is a minor liability to charge it. So it should all even out.

Masterwork Steel Umbrella - Special Equipment

2008-01-21T15:18:00.000-05:00

Masterwork Steel Umbrella: These items often resemble rods with a handle on one end and a heavy sheath composed of interwoven strips of flexible steel covering the other. A small winch near the handle causes the strips to expand until they form a concave disk at the end of a thin but strong metal rod.

These steel umbrellas were created to ward off the caustic rains common near the acid volcanoes of Vombria. They are so sturdy, however, that they have found common use in combat, especially among Vombrian rogues.

A Masterwork Steel Umbrella can be used as a masterwork small steel shield in battle. Their long handle makes it easy to turn the protective steel surface to face in any direction, so in addition they add a +2 equipment bonus to reflex saves.

Craft DC 22; Cost 1,360 gp.

Math:

Masterwork light steel shield = 159 (rounded up)
Narrow save bonus = 2*2*300 = 1,200

Urblood - Potion

2008-01-18T12:44:00.000-05:00

Ur blood: This rich, iridescent, pearly syrup smells and tastes of copper, salt and iron. It coats the throat as it goes down, burning like whiskey and suffusing limbs with warm energy. It is known to cause hallucinations in large doses. It is made by reducing the blood of giants, men, gorgons and dragons into a near elemental form.

After downing a dose, the drinker gains a +4 enhancement bonus to any ability score they wish. The bonus lasts for four minutes.

Alternately, they can use the energy in the Urblood to recast any spell of up to third level, as if using a pearl of power.

If the drinker chooses neither possibility after four minutes, the energy dissipates and can no longer be used for either effect.

Weak transmutation; CL 5th; Brew Potion, three spells that boost stats, ability to cast third level spells; Cost 450 gp each dose.

NPC Gear: 1st
Treasure Value: 2nd

Math:

+50% value of a 2nd level potion for the flexibility of enhancing any stat

450 gp also happens to be the value of a dose of spell ichor that duplicates a one shot 3rd level pearl of power.
The effects are exclusive no concurrent, and so their values do not stack.

2008-01-15T18:20:00.000-05:00

Whoops! Forgot to post a second time last week.

Vargouille Bile - Poison

2008-01-15T18:18:00.000-05:00

Vargouille Bile: This runny yellow liquid smells sour and acidic. Milked from the poison glands of vargouille summoned by goblin shamens, it is sometimes sold to poor thieves guilds and the desperately vengeful.

A weak but corrupting poison, those who fail a DC 12 save take 1d4 hit points damage that can't be healed naturally or by magic. A neutralize poison or heal spell removes the effect, while delay poison allows magical healing.

Cost: 80 gp per dose

Treasure Value: 1st
NPC Gear: 1st

Math:

Not sure. I think I did something like (save DC -10*maximum dice of damage)*10

Axorious' Flask - Major Wondrous Item

2008-01-14T18:58:00.000-05:00

Axorious' Flask: This flask is large enough that a small giant could swig from it comfortably. It is a canteen for a smaller mortal. Made of metal that resembles a light gold with a curious dark iridescence tinting it's luster, Acorious' Flask is cast with a face on four sides, each bearing a different expression. Their eyes glow with a bloody purple light.

Axorious' Flask seems by all tests to be full of some kind of liquid. Shaking it brings liquid noises, and causes it's weight to shift as if the the contents were washing about the inside. However, nothing runs out if the flask is upended.

If the neck of the flask is placed to the lips of a living or undead creature and upended, the flask never fails to dispense a cool, light, effervescent liquid that tastes of sweetened wine and air fragrant with jungle flowers. The liquid is magical, and its effects immediate. The first person who drinks from the flask each day feels energized, his thoughts racing and connecting in new and inspirational ways.

The first time that Axorious' Flask is drunk from each day, the drinker gains a +5 inherent bonus to intelligence that lasts for five minutes.

The second and every other time that day, if the drinker is not divine in nature, they take 1d10 points of intelligence damage. A divine drinker always gains the intelligence bonus, although it only last five rounds each additional time per day the flask is drunk from.

If Axorious' Flask spends more than an hour within thirty feet of intelligent extra-planar outsiders after the first time it is drunk from in a day, the flask can be used for a second time that day by a mortal.

Strong transmutation; CL 17th; Craft Wondrous Item, miracle or wish; Cost 27,500

NPC Gear: 15th
Treasure Value: 17th

Math: As Tome of Clear Thought/5 for one use per day. I have no idea how they did the calculations for that item, so I won't even try to explain it past that. All the other aspects of the flask are window dressing unless your PCs are all intelligent exptraplanar outsiders or divine, in which case the item could be broken. In the first case, you could increase the item's value to 41,250 gp to represent a conditional extra use per day.

Glass Flask - Minor Wondrous Item

2008-01-07T11:57:00.000-05:00

Glass Flask: These flasks, made of thick colored glass, have been molded with magical runes in relief upon the surface. From the cork depends a thread with a tiny scroll tied up to it. This scroll contains further runes written in oddly tinted dried blood.

Some of them are found with a roiling mist trapped within. These cannot be uncorked by any means short of shattering the flask.

When the user speaks a command word found amongst the runes on the glass flask's surface, he can force any creature from another plane into the container, provided that creature fails a DC 19 Will save. The range of this effect is 60 feet. Only one creature at a time can be so contained. Breaking the flask frees the captured creature, and the flash cannot be used a second time.

If the individual freeing the captured creature speaks the command word, the creature can be forced to serve for 1 hour. If freed without the command word, the creature acts according to its natural inclinations. It usually attacks the user, unless it perceives a good reason not to.

A glass flask with an outside in it can be thrown as a grenade like weapon, releasing the creature where it lands and breaks. The command word cannot be used to control the trapped creature if this is the case.

Some flasks can only be used to trap creatures of less than a certain number of hit dice. The DCs to resist being trapped in such flasks are 13 (3 HD maximum), 15 (6 HD maximum) and 17 (12 HD maximum). A flask simply will not work if used to trap a creature beyond its capacity.

Weak evocation; CL 15th; Craft wondrous item, trap the soul; Cost 580 (3 HD maximum), 1,130 (6HD maximum), 2,360 (12 HD maximum), 3,400 gp (no maximum)

NPC Gear: 2nd (3 HD maximum)
Treasure Value: 2nd (3 HD Maximum)

Math: As Iron Flask divided by 50 for one use item, prorated for hit die limits.

Black Hectohedron - Minor Wondrous Item

2008-01-04T19:20:00.000-05:00

Black Hectohedron: These fist sized objects are made of an opaque, glassy, inky black gemstone. Their hundred sides give them a roughly roundish appearence. Crafted by the application of pure will on mysterious ethers, a hectohedron acts to focus magical ability.

When carried in one hand, the DC of any spell or spell-like ability cast, or supernatural ability used, by the wielder gains a +1 quintessence bonus.

Weak Divination; CL: 3rd; Craft Wondrous Item, Spell Focus feat in at least two schools; Cost 2000 gp.

NPC Gear: 5th
Treasure Value: 6th

Math: bonuse squared

Note: This item is meant to stack, but not in an unlimited fashion. It isn't unbalanced for most spellcasting, but is too valuable for what it is at higher pluses. The "quintessence bonus" is sort of a shaggy dog of a bonus, a broad but weak bonus. It doesn't appear anywhere else because 1) I made it up and 2) it's not meant to scale in an unlimited fashion. My rule of thumb would be "no quintessence bonus adds more than +1 to anything" so that it doesn't scale endlessly. Otherwise, change it to a bonus type you find more practical.

Tuff Snuff - Potion

2007-12-31T12:16:00.000-05:00

Tuff Snuff: Unlike a regular potion, this magical enhancer is a leathery leaf that is soaked in a mixture of drowish earth whisky, the blood of trolls, condensed unicorn breath, and shambling mound juice. When left in a mithril bowl under the light of a three night full moon, the leaves can be dried with alchemical salts and powdered in order to bring out their natural magic.

Tough snuff is usually kept in a small box and inhaled in pinches. Several pinches are often found together. A pinch of tough snuff takes a standard action to apply. One pich gives the user 3 temporary hit points, which are usually immediately removed in combat, but otherwise go away after the user next sleeps. Multiple pinches stack.

Also known as troll tobacco or blood snuff, a quadrupal dose of the raw red leaf (which costs 12 gp an ounce) can be chewed by trolls to increase their rate of regeneration by one. This effect takes at least a full minute of chewing to activate.

Weak necromancy; CL 1st; Brew Potion, vitality; Cost 25 gp

NPC Gear: Box of 3 pinches of tough snuff, 1st
Treasure Value: Box of 3 pinches of tough snuff, 1st

Math:

I treated this as a potion of a 0 level spell. One extra hit point probably isn't worth spending 25 gp on, so I modeled the effects on the cheap and often useless toughness feat.

Miscibility Flask - Minor Wondrous Item

2007-12-28T12:10:00.000-05:00

Miscibility Flask: This flask of a silver mithril alloy uses a prism as a stop. It is covered with concentric circles enraved with astrological symbols, representing the influence of the stars. It can fit about 6 ounces of liquid, or two potions worth.

When two magical potions are poured into the flask, they can be drunk as one standard action. Both potions take effect on the drinker.

There is a 15% chance that one of the potions will be ruined by combining them, so that only one of the potions takes effect.

Weak transmutation; CL 5th; Craft Wondrous Item, Brew Potion, must know 3 transmutation spells; Cost 6,400 gp

NPC Gear Value: 10th
Treasure Value: 11th

Math:

Drinking two potions at once would count as multiple similar abilities, I would think. So the weaker of two potions in such a combo should increase in value by 50% in such a concoction. The average value of such and increase would be 183 gp.

50+300+750 (usual price for first, second and third level potion) = 1,100 half again for multiple similar abilities = 1,650, difference (or increase) is = 550 gp. Averaged (/3) = 183 gp. *50 for unlimited = 9,150.

minus ((percentage of failure(.15))*(average value of a potion (1,100/3 = 366)))*50 = 2,745 to represent potential value of potions lost due to miscability failure.

= 6,400

Glowering Armor - Specific Armor

2007-12-24T21:27:00.000-05:00

Glowering Armor: This suit of +1 full plate armor is beaten in designs of highly stylized faces inlaid with gold to highlight their expressions. Each half of the breastplate is usually a glowering, howling demonic face while the plate the protects the guts is a bas relief of a beatific man or woman. The shoulders, helmet, and other pieces of armor are like wise decorated.

When a character puts on the armor, they feel and hear barely audible whispers, as if the faces on the armor speaks to them. The feeling is encouraging and uplifting.

Glowering armor gives the wearer a +2 enhancement bonus to charisma. Once per day as a standard action, the wearer can command the faces to shout. This creates an effect equivalent to a shout spell cast by a 7th level sorcerer, directed by whichever direction the right hand gauntlet of the armor is pointing.

Moderate transmutation and evocationi; CL 7th; Craft Wondrous Arms and Armor, eagle's splendor, shout; Cost 19,150

Treasure Value: 14th
NPC Gear: 13th

Math:

Shout 1/day = 4*7*1,800/5 = 10,080
+2 cha bonus = 2*2*1000 = 4000
+1 full plate = 2,650

16,650

armor bonus and cha bonus half again for multiple similar +2,500

Goggles of Ruination - Minor Wondrous Item

2007-12-21T12:42:00.000-05:00

Goggles of Ruination: These goggles are made of leather that has an unwholesome oily sheen and fitted with lenses ground from a transparent crystal that makes objects refract and shimmer slightly when the wearer looks through them.

When the wearer is looking through the goggles, objects and sometimes creatures are illuminated with a shimmering line of blue light where their weakest point currently is.

The wearer of the goggles gains a +2 bonus to Disable Device skill checks.

Once per day, the wearer of the goggles can make an attack of opportunity when someone within their threat range makes a melee attack and misses.

Weak divination; CL 3rd; Craft Wondrous Item, true strike; Cost: 1,150 gp.

Treasure Value: 4th
NPC Gear: 3rd

Math:
Once per day, limited use attack of opportunity? 500 gp.

Jotun's Fist - Major Wondrous Item

2007-12-17T12:50:00.000-05:00

Jotun’s Fist: This metal gauntlet is plated on the back and fingers with blue black adamantine. Of the first joint of each finger is an inset of polished metoric rock.

The first of these gauntlet’s was made by the Dwarf Hugli Skycracker,and his was unlimited in power. Over time, more were made by Dwarvish wizards to help them combat the giants with whom they competed for territory. They allowed Dwarves to use rocky elements of the terrain and even the giant’s own ammunition against them at a distance, where Dwarves did not have cannon, and were often more accurate than the giant’s own thrown rocks.

Three times per day, the glove allows the wearer to use a limited telekinesis effect as per the 5th level spell. There are three things the wearer can do with this effect, each costing a daily use of the gauntlet:

You can hurl one non-living object within range of 90 feet other toward any target within 90 feet. The object can weigh up to 225 lbs. You must succeed on an attack roll to hit the target with the object, using your caster level + Int modifier. Objects do damage as if they had been thrown by the telekinesis spell using a violent thrust (PH pg. 292).

You can perform a bull rush, disarm, grapple (including pin), or trip on a creature within 760 ft. Resolve this attempts as normal, except that they don’t provoke attacks of opportunity, your BAB is your caster level plus your Intelligence modifier, and a failed attempt doesn’t allow a reactive attempt by the target (such as for disarm or trip). No save is allowed, but spell resistance applies normally.

Last, a character that is not flat footed can can make a Reflex save to catch a thrown item of up to 225 lbs. as a free action. The DC is 15 for a Small rock, 20 for a Medium one, and 25 for a Large one. If the projectile provides a magical bonus on attack rolls, the DC increases by that amount. When a boulder is caught like this, it can either be immediately dropped within ten feet of the glove’s user, doing damage as a falling object (DMG pg 303) if it lands on something (use the missing with a thrown weapon table, PH 158, to determine where it falls), or it may be held in the air until the character’s next action and hurled back as noted above. Dropping the object does not take one of the gauntlet’s daily uses. Throwing it back does.

Heavy transmutation; CL 9th; Craft wondrous item, telekinesis; Price 28,000 gp

Treasure Value: 16th
NPC Gear: 15th

An abbreviated version of this was a losing Paizo Next Superstar of Gaming entry.

Math:
5th level spell
5*9*2000 = 90,000

Average: 90,000/(5/3) for three uses per day
With 90,000/3 (spell prorated by possible duration of a telekinesis spell divided by limited uses allowed by this item)

Divided by 3 for limited scope of spell: cannot be used for sustained force, cannot move creatures)

At 28,000 gp, price might look to low. But this item is a 16th level treasure, and wizards will be doing 9d6 to multiple for three rounds (maximum damage for the spell) long before that. This should be a fun tactical item for a high level foe to use against PCs, or for PCs to use a couple of times in high level battles.

Stones of Kaaliphaan - Minor Wondrous Items

2007-12-14T12:13:00.000-05:00

Stones of Kaaliphaan: The Pashak’s of Kaaliphaan have always been amongst the most gifted wizards of the Aeonic States. Early in the Twilight Years, they found a way to imprint stones with magical essence, in order to make their clave defenders more powerful warriors. The essences combined to make their wielder’s even more puissant.

The four most common stones were made of red, green, lavender, or yellow marble or precious stone. Each stone must be worn at the throat, on the forehead, or at the wrist, taking up a magic item slot. The Red stone grants a +1 bonus to initiative. The Green a +1 to Reflex saves, the lavender +1 to Fortitude saves, and the Yellow a +1 to Will saves.

Wearing the Red stone with any other stone provides a +2 skill bonus: combining the Red Stone with the Green stone gives a benefit to Hide, with Lavender gives a benefit to Disable Device, and with Yellow gives a benefit to Move Silently.

Combining two the other colored stones provides a +1 to hit with one kind of weapon: Green and Lavender combine to provide a bonus with slashing, Green and Yellow with piercing, and Lavender and Yellow with piercing.

Having a red stone and two other stones provides 2 points of resistance to the kind of weapon the other two stones provide a bonus with.

Having all three stones that grant saving throw bonuses provides a +1 Dodge bonus to AC.

Having all four stones provides their wearer with +1d6 sneak attack damage when used on an opponent who deprived of her dexterity bonus to armor class. This damage stacks with sneak attack damage gained from class abilities or other magic items.

The table below explains various combinations:

Red and Green: Grants a +1 bonus to initiative and a +2 bonus to Hide checks.

Red and Lavender: Grants a +1 bonus to initiative and a +2 bonus to Disable Device checks.

Red and Yellow: Grants a +1 bonus to initiative and a +2 bonus to Move Silently checks.

Green and Lavender: Grants a +1 bonus to Reflex and Fort saves, and +1 bonus to hit with slashing weapons,

Green and Yellow: Grants a +1 bonus Reflex and Will saves, and +1 bonus to hit with piercing.

Lavender and Yellow: Grants a +1 bonus to Fort and Will saves, and +1 bonus to hit with bludgeoning.

Yellow and Lavender and Red: +1 Init, +1 Fort, +1 Will, +1 hit and 2 resistance Bludgeoning, +2 Move Silently and Disable Devices

Yellow and Lavender and Green: +1 Init, +1 Fort, +1 Ref, +1 hit and 2 resistance slashing, +2 Disable Devices and Hide

Yellow and Red and Green: +1 Init, +1 Will, +1 Reflex, +1 hit and 2 resistance piercing, +2 Hide and Move Silently

Lavender and Red and Green: +1 to saves, +1 to hit with weapons, +1 dodge bonus to AC

All stones: +1 Init, +1 all saves, +1 hit with and 2 resistance against all weapon damages, +2 Hide, Move Silently, Disable Devices, +1 dodge bonus to AC, +1d6 sneak attack damage.

Light alteration; CL 3rd; Craft Wondrous Item, bear’s endurance, cat’s grace, or owl’s wisdom; Cost 750 gp each.

Treasure Value: 3rd
NPC Gear: 2nd

Math: pretty much all the bonuses are small, priced at 300 to 500 gp: limited save bonus, small skill bonuses, limited weapon bonuses, very limited damage resistance. The two bonuses that are hefy are the +1 dodge to AC and the sneak attack bonus, worth about 2 K each.

The combined bonuses of four stones are worth much more than 3,000 gp. I figured the fact that this would take up four magic item slots actually lowered their value, which I calculated at roughly (number of item slots taken squared)*2000 gp. It think these work as nifty scaling baubles.

If you use the new MI compendium pricing, which does not assume that stacking abilities scale up in value, then the loss of slots is probably more important. You might price the stones at 500 gp each.

If you don't use slots, they should probably be worth 2,100 or 3,000 gp each, post and pre magic item compendium.

Sneak's Vestments - Minor or Medium Wondrous Item

2007-12-10T14:42:00.000-05:00

Cloak, Sneak’s Vestment: This dark gray cloak makes the wearer a little hard to focus on because they flicker just the tiniest bit in time and space.

It grants a +6 bonus to Sleight of Hand checks, +1d6 sneak attack damage to any wearer that has the sneak attack class ability, and the ability to cast Mage Hand at will, which the wearer can use to make Sleight of Hand checks at a distance.

Moderate Transmutation; CL 3rd; Craft wondrous item, blink, mage hand; Cost 9,100 gp

NPC Gear: 11th
Treasure Value:

Cloak, Sneak’s Vestment, Lesser: This dark gray cloak makes the wearer a little hard to focus on because they flicker just the tiniest bit in time and space.

It grants a +3 bonus to Sleight of Hand checks, +1d6 sneak attack damage to any wearer that has the sneak attack class ability, and the ability to cast Mage Hand three times a day, which the wearer can use to make Sleight of Hand checks at a distance.

Weak Transmutation; CL 3rd; Craft wondrous item, blink, mage hand; Cost 4,300 gp

NPC Gear: 8th
Treasure Value: 9th

Math:

+3 to skill =3*3*100 = 900
+1 d6 sneak attack = 1*1*2000 = 2,000
Mage Hand 3/day = 1*.5*2000/(5/3= 1.6) = 625
Mage hand and skill bonus are multiplied for multiple similar = 4,300 (rounded up) or 3,500 if you prefer post compendium

+6 to skill = 6*6*100 = 3,600
Mage Hand at will = 1*.5*2000 = 1000
Mage hand and sneak attack are half again for multiple similar = 9,100 or 6,600 if you prefer post compendium

I figure the added ability to make sleight of hand checks at a distance is balanced by the near uselessness of the cloak for anyone without levels in rogue.

Shoulders of the Earth - Major Wondrous Item

2007-12-07T08:59:00.000-05:00

Cloak, Shoulders of the Earth: These heavy cold weather cloaks are sewn of leather and wool panels in earth tones (red, ochre, brown, and black) that resemble the strata adventurers often see in in the cliffs and escarpments of desert and mountain-scapes, and in the crevasses the underdark.

Whomever wears the shoulders of the earth feels more solid, as if they have the mass of rock and stone. They gain a +4 bonus to Fort saves, a +4 natural armor class bonus, a +12 bonus to their intimidation checks, and earth mastery +3, which means they get a +3 to hit and damage rolls made against any opponent if both of them are touching the ground. They gain the ability to cast earthquake once per day by bringing their fists together. They also have a -2 modifier to their dexterity score as long as they are wearing the cloak.

Strong transmutation; CL 15; Create wondrous item, bull’s strength, barkskin or stoneskin, earthquake; Cost 105,500 gp

NPC Gear: 21st
Treasure Value: 21st

Math:

+4 natural armor = 4*4*1000 = 16,000
+12 bonus to intimidate = 12*12*100 = 14,400
+4 limited save bonus = 4*4*300 = 4,800
Earth mastery +3: 3*3*1000=9000
earthquake 1/day (as command activated) = 8*15*1,800/5 = 43,200

everything except earthquake half again for multiple different = 109,500

-2 stat modifier = 2*2*1000 = -4,000 = 105,500

using new MI compendium guidelines = 83,500

Domain Rod - Major Wondrous Item

2007-12-03T11:37:00.000-05:00

Domain Rod: A domain rod is a roughly foot and a half long sliver of unnaturally tough crystal. Each has a different color: Blue, Red, Gold, Clear, Yellow, Black, Green or Lavender. Some actually shade into one or more color. Each is illuminated by an interior glow.

Each rod is associated with one of the school based magic user domains. This effectively means that each domain rod knows the power to cast one spell of each level 0-9 from a given school. Other domains can be substituted or invented as the GM wishes.

Once per day, a character can use a domain rod as a spell trigger device to cast any spell it knows. In order to do this, the character must make a Use Magic Device or Spellcraft check equal to 15+twice the spell's level. If this check is failed, the rod may not be used again that day.

Sometimes a given domain rod knows more than one domain. This multiples the cost of a domain rod by the number of domains they know. They may still only be used once per day.

Strong magic of the type it knows; CL 17th; Craft Rod, knowledge of one spell of each level in a given school (or other domain); Cost 133,000

NPG Gear: 21st
Treasure Value: 22nd

Math:

Each Spell as one use per day item.
Every spell after 9th level granduated for multiple similar (8th is 3/4 value, 7 and below are half value).

-10% for the need to use a skill check

Note: Don't let PC's create rods that liberally mix and match combat spells.

Phial of the Tears of Momice - Minor Wondrous Item

2007-11-30T13:09:00.000-05:00

Phial of the Tears of Momice: This small multicolored glass has a bulbous, flattened belly that looks something like a tulip bulb, although it has been described as looking something like a toad or an obese, crippled monkey. It's neck and throat are twisted in a sinuous half turn, and the mouth of the bottle resembles petals or the nose of a mole. Careful observation reveals that the bottle changes over time, although it maintains these general qualities. It is capped by a carefully molded plug of gold and adamantine with the obscene seal of Momice on the underside and an opal fastened to the topside.

Once per day, a Phial of the Tears of Momice may be uncapped and tipped over as a standard action. There is a 34% chance that a single drop of liquid will bead at the lip. The holder of the bottle may use the energy of that bead of liquid to cast a confusion spell as if her were a 7th level sorcerer.

Weak enchantment; CL 4th; Craft Wondrous Item, confusion; Cost 3,700 gp.

NPC Gear: 8th
Treasure Value: 9th

Math:

As a permanent fourth level spell item, divided by one third for lowered chance of succesful use.

Shadow Cloak - Medium Wondrous Item

2007-11-27T12:20:00.000-05:00

Cloak, Shadow: This heavy cloak of black silk and linen seems to trap shadows in its interior, even during broad day light. The wearer seems to be partially submerged in darkness in shadowy light or darker.

The wearer of a shadow cloak gains a +10 circumstance bonus to his Hide checks. Once, as a move equivalent action, he can command the cloak to dissolve into shadows around him, allowing him to shadow walk as if a 13th level caster. The cloak unravels and is destroyed during the shadow walk.

Moderate Evocation; CL 13; Craft Wondrous Item, shadow walk; Price 12,800 gp.

NPC Gear: 12th
Treasure Value: 13th

Math:

Single use 6th level spell = 6*13*100 = 7,800
+10 bonus to skill = 10*10*100 = 10,000 /half for eventual destruction of quality with item

Hammer of the Master and Knife of the Fletcher - Minor Wondrous Items

2007-11-21T13:51:00.000-05:00

Hammer of the Master: This craftsman’s hammer adds +5 to the users craft (armorsmith) check. If used in combat, it acts as a non-magical light warhammer.

Faint divination; CL 3rd; Craft Wondrous Item, craft (armorsmith) 5+ ranks; Price: 2,500 gp.

Knife of the Fletcher: This craftsman’s hammer adds +5 to the users craft (bowmaking) checks. If used in combat, it acts as a non-magical dagger.

Faint divination; CL 3rd; Craft Wondrous Item, craft (bowmaking) 5+ ranks; Price: 2,500 gp.

NPC Gear: 6th
Treasure Value: 7th

Math: Entirely standard

Cloak of the Nightsoul - Minor and MediumWondrous Items

2007-11-19T12:38:00.000-05:00

Cloak of the Nightsoul: This cloak seems to be made of navy colored linen, as fine as silk but with a durable quality to it. It flutters in even the lightest wind, and always billows when its wearer walks. In darkness, the cloak seems to disappear, though its wearer does not. It is embroidered with no patterns, but those who stare at it for long moments see smoky shapes moving in the weave.

Anyone who wears a Cloak of the Nightsoul is granted a +2 enhancement bonus to dexterity. If worn with a silver cloak pin, when the pin is touched the wearer can become ethereal as a move equivalent action, dispelling the effect as a free action. The wearer can be ethereal for 5 rounds a day. A stronger version allows 10 rounds of etherealness.

Weak or moderate transmutation; CL: 13th; Create wondrous item, cat’s grace, ethereal jaunt; Cost: 6,100 gp (5 round), 8,200 gp (10 round).

NPC Gear: 10th (5 round)
Treasure Value: (5 round) 11th

Math:

2*2*1000 = 4000 gp attribute bonus

ethereal 10 r per day (7*13*2000 = 182,000) /5 for once per day then prorate for lesser duration by /26 for rounds or 13 for 10 r = 1400 or 2800, half again for multiple differing

If you do not add the modifier for multiple differing, as per magic item compendium, the item is 5,400 or 6,800

Chalice of Tiamat - Artifact

2007-11-16T18:14:00.000-05:00

The Chalice of Tiamat: This three foot tall chalice is carved in the shape of an open mawed dragon resting on its curled tail, from petrified dragon bone of mottled purple and blood red hues. It is worked with sharp, horny and scaly looking protrusions that one can quite easily cut themselves on.

By drinking their own blood mingled with that of a dragon, a character or NPC aquires the half dragon template, with the type of dragon corresponding to the dragon from which the blood was taken.

Once a character drinks from the Chalice of Tiamat, they lapse into a coma for two days, during which time they slowly change form to that of a half dragonish version of their former self.

A DC 23 Fort save will hold the off coma for one day. Each day, a character that has drunk from the chalice may make a save to hold their transformation off for another day, falling into the transformationl coma once they fail their save. Only a wish can prevent the transformation once the chalice has been drunk from.

Strong transmutation; CL 20th; Craft wondrous item, shapechange, wish; 450,000 gp

Math: I completly ad hoced the price. The item really has no in game value besides bumping the level of the campaign. It's used should be entirely dictated by the GM, so I gave it a price that only epic level characters or nations could afford. Thus, it is an artifact.

Cloak, Nightengale - Minor Wondrous Item

2007-11-12T19:47:00.000-05:00

Cloak, Nightengale: This fine linen cloak is a drab olive grey, with a creamy lining. A scene of a mockingbird singing in a garden is embroidered in black on the back of the cloak, so that the mocking bird faces it’s wearer on the right panel.

When worn, the wearer’s voice becomes more beautiful and resonant.

The wearer gains a +1 bonus to the DC of all spells they cast, and a +5 to perform (sing) checks.

Weak enchantment; CL 3; Create wondrous item, spell focus, charm person; 4,500 gp

Treasure Value: 9th
NPC Gear: 7th

Math:

5*5*100 = 2,500 for +5 bonus to a single perform checks
I price a general bonus to the DC of spells as if it were a combat bonus: 1*1*2,000
I just added the bonuses

Goblet of Thralls - Artifact

2007-11-10T12:24:00.000-05:00

Goblet of Thralls: This goblet is carved from blackened bone or ivory with black adamantium fittings. It is the size of a large brazier, its basin in the shape of a toothed demon face, its base a nest of serpents

The first creature to splash blood into the basin when it is newly discovered is the Goblet’s attuned user. The basin can be re-attuned by not being used for a year and a day, or by being washed with holy or unholy wine.

When blood from two creatures is mixed with blood from the goblet's attuned user in a ritual that takes ten minutes to complete, a monster is created. The resulting creature is a hybrid of the blood types, often the twisted result of opposite natures being bred into humanoid form.

Nature of Creation: One of the creatures used is designated a base and one a secondary creature. The creature with the highest HD or Con score should be the base.

The creature has the creature type of the base creature if it was an outsider, dragon, fey, monstrous humanoid or giant. Otherwise, it is a monstrous humanoid. Whatever type the creature is, it has a humanoid shape.

The creature has the average HD and natural armor of its base and secondary forms, rounded down. Reduce the physical statistics as if they had been changed from large to medium creaturs. Average all stat bonuses and round them down to the nearest whole, even number. Add or subract them from ten.

The creature gains the vision and attack types of its base antecedent and the movement type of its secondary. Its humanoid form gives it two natural attacks if its base type has them, that do damage appropriate to a medium sized creature. It gains the racial skill bonuses and bonus feats of both creatures, the extraordinary abilities of both creatures, and one supernatural or spell like ability from either contributor, chosen by highest DC or caster level.

Saves, skill points, difficulty checks, and feats are determined by base creature type and ability modifiers, with skills and feats being selected from among its base creatures by the GM, excepting knowledge skills. Probably, skills and feats used by both creatures will surface first.

Initial reaction: If the user of the goblet of thralls does not have the leadership skill, the creature that results from use of the goblet has an alignment that uses its secondry's law/chaos axis and its base's good/evil axis. If it shares one axis with the goblet’s user, is begins with an attitude of unfriendly. If it shares two axis, it begins as indifferent. Otherwise it starts as hostile.

Changing the creature’s attitude to friendly or helpful will get its help, but if asked to do something against it’s alignment, it will revert to its former attitude.

If the user has the leadership feat, the creature will have their alignment and react to them as if they were a second cohort as long as the total of its hit dice are less than the user’s cohort level allowed by the user’s Leadership Score. The user of the goblet will not gain additional lesser cohorts from using the goblet. Additional creatures created by the same user will start out with an attitude assigned using the method above.

For instance: Fievrag, an evil high priest of darkness, takes blood from the giant eagle cohort of his good nemesis, which he has captured, and a choker living in the old dungeon that serves as his secret lab, to create a creature that he thinks will be both terrifying and physically imposing.

The GM rules that since the eagle has higher hit dice, it is the base creature.

The giant eagle is a large magical beast with 4 HD, +3 natural armor bonus modified to +1 for being reduced to medium size, +8 Str, +6 Dex, Con +2, Wis +4 bonuses modified to +0, +8, -2 Con for going from large to medium, a fly speed, claw attacks, a low light vision, and neutral good alignment.

The choker is a small aberration with 3 HD, +2 natural armor bonus, +6 Str, +4 Dex, +2 Con, -6 Int, +2 Wis, -2 Cha, modified to +10 Str, +2 Dex, +4 Con for going from small to medium, a climbing speed, tentacle attack, darkvision, and chaotic evil alignment.

The new creature’s type is monstrous humanoid. It has 3 HD, a +2 natural armor bonus, +8 Str, +4 Dex, +2 Con, -2 Int, and +2 Wis bonuses, low light vision and flight, and 2 tentacle attacks. It begins with 3 skill points, and three feats (one bonus) and a neutral evil alignment. It has the evasion, improved grab, and constrict extraordinary abilities.

The GM puts the skill points into Listen +1 (+1), Spot +1 (+5), and Hide +1. He assigns the Flyby Attack, Improved Initiative, and Lightning Reflexes feats.

The new creature has an alignment one step from its maker and so is indifferent to him. With a successful diplomacy check, Fiervag convinces the creature to guard the dungeon exit to his lair from intruders or escapees. If Fiervag asked him to hold off killing an escapee, however, he would return to indifferent and need to be re-convinced. If Fiervag botched his diplomacy check, the creature might very well attack Fiervag.

Strong transmutation; CL 9; Create wondrous item, baleful polymorph; 72,000 gp.

NPC Gear: 19th
Treasure Value: 20th

Math:

I valued this as if it were a magic item version of the Leadership feat. Essentially, the goblet is a baroque was of doubling the leadership feat. Otherwise, its a weird NPC generator. I value feats as 1+any requirements, the five levels required to take leadership being the requirements. So:

6*6*2000 =

Notes: Despite it's high value, you can use this device at any point in a campaign. Nobody will have the gold to buy it. Governments or organizations who might would be inclided to take the item. A generous government would give the PCs a reward equal to a treasure of the party's level. In the posession of either a PC or NPC, the Goblet's value is limited by which creatures that character can defeat, and modified by the fact that they must mollify strong creatures.

In fact, if PCs own the goblet of thralls at low levels, it will probably be more trouble than its worth to protect it from other people.

If PCs make particularly clever use of it (creating and charming muscley thralls). You can also control the Goblet's use by awarding XP to thralls that aren't controlled by the leadership feat.

You can limit the efficacy by insisting that blood used must be fresh, from a living creature.

Cloak of the Manifest World - Minor Wondrous Item

2007-11-05T19:22:00.000-05:00

Cloak of the Manifest World: There are four types of cloaks of the manifest world, one corresponding to each of the elemental types. Each of these cloaks has marvelous patterns embroidered into it: vistas of their natural elements. Each bestows a +1 bonus to a kind of save, a +1 bonus to one skill, and 1 points of resistance to one type of elemental damage.

The type of bonuses gained depend on the type of cloak, and are enumerated in the table below. The cloaks’ most interesting ability, however, is that its owner can increase its power over time. They can use their own life experience in a blood letting ritual to permanently increase the power of the cloak.

The number of experience points required to boost a cloak's power increases each time. To give the cloak a +2 save and skill bonus, and 2 points of resistance, the owner must sacrifice 660 xp. Each increase adds 1 to the save, skill bonus, and resistance.

For a +3 bonus, the sacrifice is 924 xp. For a +4 bonus, it is 1,188 xp For a +5 bonus, it is 1,232.

The ritual can be discovered in the same way that a command word can, and may be performed at any time the owner has enough xp to do so but not lose a level. The ritual causes two points of damage and 1 temporary con damage per save and skill bonus to be achieved.

Element------Save--------Skill------------Resistance
Earth--------Fort--------Concentration----Acid
Air----------Ref---------Jumping----------Electricity
Fire---------Ref---------Tumble-----------Fire
Water--------Will--------Swimming---------Cold

Weak abjuration; CL 3rd; Craft Wondrous Item, resistance, endure elements; Price 1,800 gp (+1), 4,800 (+2), 9000 (+3), 14,400 gp (+4), 21,000 gp (+5).

Treasure Value: 6th (+1)
NPC Gear: 4th (+1)

Math:

1,200 gp per point of elemental resistance = 1,200
1*1*100 for skill bonus = 100 gp (half again for mulitple similar)
1*1*300 for limited save bonus = 300 (half again for mulitple similar)

boost to 2

2400 plus 600 plus 1800 = 4,800 gp or +3000gp value, 660 xp (divide by 5 and divide by 50 and sum)

boost to 3

3600 plus 1350 plus 4050 = 9,000 gp or +4200, 924 xp

boost to 4

4800 plus 2400 plus 7200 = 14,400 or +5,400, 1188 xp

boost to 5

6000 plus 3750 plus 11250 = 21,000 or +5,600, 1232 xp

Math re magic item compendium

1,200 gp per point of elemental resistance = 1,200
1*1*100 for skill bonus = 100 gp
1*1*300 for limited save bonus = 300

boost to 2

2400 plus 400 plus 1200 = 4000 gp or +2400gp value, 528 xp (divide by 5 and divide by 50 and sum)

boost to 3

3600 plus 900 plus 2700 = 7200 gp or +3200, 704 xp

boost to 4

4800 plus 1600 plus 4800 = 11200 or +4000, 880 xp

boost to 5

6000 plus 2500 plus 7500 = 16000 or +4,800, 1056 xp

Alchemical Textiles - Special Material

2007-11-02T16:23:00.000-04:00

Infusing specially woven textiles with elemental energies can give the cloth, and any suit or item of clothing created out of it, quasi magical qualities in addition to making them more attractive. Often, outfits of "courtiers" or "noble" clothing are made of exotic alchemical textiles. Alchemical cloth is usually only made in cultures with a well developed arcanomechanical or alchymical industy.

The price for most items created from alchemical cloth is calculated by adding the cost indicated to an item of clothing. For example, a monk's robe made of shadowcloth will cost 205 gp, a courtiers outfit made from cloth of lighting will cost 330 gp.

Black Mist Boots: These inky black boots, made of leather impregnated with liquid darkness, give the user a +2 to their Move Silently Roll. They are 400 gp for a pair.

Cloth of Dreams: Cloth of dreams is a diaphenous, multicolored cloth that changes color with the mood of thier wearer. They are often worn in layers that change at different rates depending on how much dream impregnates a layer of cloth. Brocade fabric made with dream impregnated thread is becoming popular.

An outfit made of Cloth of Dreams offers a +1 alchemical bonus to Will saves. It adds 300 gp to the cost of any outfit, and costs 320 gp per bolt, which is usually enough to make two outfits.

Cloth of Lightning: Cloth of lightning has a glittery, mineral quality, with sparkles that range from white to blue to indigo. Cloth of lightning makes the skin feel energized. It tends to carry a native static charge.

An outfit made of Cloth of Lightning offers a +1 alchemical bonus to reflex saves. It adds 300 gp to the cost of any outfit, and costs 320 gp per bolt, which is usually enough to make two outfits.

Cloth of Moonlight: Cloth of moonlight has a lustrous pearly grey shine.

An outfit made of Cloth of Moonlight offers a +1 alchemical bonus to Fort saves. It adds 300 gp to the cost of any outfit, and costs 320 gp per bolt, which is usually enough to make two outfits.

Glamorweave: Glamorweave shimmers in different colors, and can be sewn into outfits that create regular displays of color and pattern. When glamor weave thread is used to brocade cloth, the designs often shift minutely, giving the illusion of movement to their designs.

A cloth woven from pure illusion, an outfit made of Glamorweave will add +2 to one Charisma related skill. It adds 400gp to the cost of any outfit, and costs 420 gp per bolt, which is usually enough to make two outfits. Its bonus will stack with masterwork items.

Shadowcloth: Shadowcloth is a deep lusterous black that defies lint or marks, seeming to swallow them up.

An item of clothing made of Shadowcloth offers a +2 alchemical bonus to Hide checks. Multiple items may be worn, but each takes up a body slot on the character wearing them. For instance, a hat takes up the head slot, a jerkin the shirt slot.

A bolt of shadowcloth costs 550 gp, which is enough to make five items. Items made of shadowcloth are extremely vulnerable to flame, and if the wearer takes flame damage he will lose one shadowcloth item for each 10 points, or portion thereof, he takes. Shadowcloth clothing costs +200 gp per item.

Math: As a skill bonus. Shadowcloth is extremely fragile, and so this cost is halved.

Cost of a bolt is number of items created. I add 10 gp per item that can be created from a bolt to cover the materials cost to create most types of clothing. Some expensive clothing might need additional reasources. For instant, an outfit of royal quality would require an additional 90 gp worth worth of materials. To determine how much in the way of extra resources you need to create an outfit, halve the cost of an outfit and subtract 10 gp.

What's the most interesting item I've created?

2007-10-31T13:42:00.001-04:00

I'm thinking of entering a contest.

Blackfire Amulet - Minor Wondrous Item

2007-10-30T12:02:00.000-04:00

Blackfire Amulet: This steel collar has a coin sized medallion of rare, red flecked obsidian at the front of it. The stone is inscribe with a Necromantic rebuke.

A blackfire amulet must be worn by an undead creature to work. Once per day, when the amulet's command word is spoken, the undead creature wearing the amulet is affected as if by a desecration spell. The wearer of the amulet gains a +1 profane bonus on attack rolls, damage rolls, and saving throws, +1 hit points per die, and +3 turn resistance. The command word for a blackfire amulet may be spoken by someone not wearing the amulet, for instance, the undead’s creator instead of the undead itself. Such a command activates every such amulet within 60 ft. of whomever speaks the command word.

If the undead wearing a blackfire amulet is successfully turned, the amulet will shatter.

Weak necromancy; Caster level: 3rd; Craft wondrous item, desecrate or ability to channel negative energy; Cost 1, 350 gp

Math: 2*3*1,800=10,800 for command use item
/5 for once per day = 2,160

-50% for limited spell ability (desecration usually effects multiple undead)
-10% for fragility (shatters if undead wearing it is turned)

Cloak of Fading - Medium Wondrous Item

2007-10-26T12:50:00.000-04:00

Cloak of Fading: This charcoal grey cloak has a curious translucent quality, such that, when picked up, you can almost see your hand through the fabric. It is thought to be a fabrication of the Dark Brothers, who make it out of spun shadow, but examples of them have been found in ancient Gwear duns.

When worn, the cloak and wearer become subtly unreal, so that physical matter doesn’t always effect them, rolling off or through the wearer if the affect caught the edge of them. The wearer seems to glow faintly when standing in the light, as the light it is refracted by the cloak and his skin, and seems to be absorbed into darkness as it fills in their substance.

A cloak of fading grants a +2 circumstance bonus to Move Silently checks, a +8 circumstance bonus to Hide checks, and a +1 spatial bonus to reflex saves.

Weak illusion; CL 7th; Craft Wondrous Item, shadow conjuration; Price 7,100 gp.

NPC Gear: 10th
Treasure Value: 11th

Math:

2*2*100= 400 * 1.5 for multiple similar = 600
8*8*100 = 6,400
1*1*300 (patial save bonus) = 300 * 1.5 for multiple similar = 450

less 350 if you favor the Magic Item Compendium's tendancy not to multiply multiple similar abilities

Prism of Zendl - Medium Wondrous Item

2007-10-25T02:11:00.000-04:00

Prism of Zendl: This transparent glass polyhedron is about the size of a medium humanoid's fist. Light passing through it tends to blend into white, and to magnify, so that when in the open it glows with pure white bubbles of light.

Once per day, a Prism of Zendle can change a casting of cure light wounds into mass cure light wounds. The caster needs to hold the prism in one hand while casting the cure light wounds spell.

If the caster is less than 9th level, the mass cure light wounds effect take affect as if the caster were 9th level.

If a prism of zendle is used during the creation of potions, it can cut the time to make a potion in half, even allowing a single caster to brew up 2,000 gp of potions in a day, to a maximum of two potions in one day. The usual amount of gold and xp must be expended in the creation of the potions. Light passing through a prism of zendle allows the organic materials in potions to bind quicker.

Moderate conjuration; CL 9th; Craft Wondrous Item, Mass Cure Light Wounds; Cost 13,700 gp

NPC Gear: 12th
Treasure Value: 13th

Math:

5*9*1800 (cure light wounds as command word item)/5 for once per day =16,200

minus resource used: cost of casting a cure light wounds at max caster level: (1*5)*10=50 gp, *50 for unlimited use =2,500

Total = 13,700

The potion thing is a freebe. It has no associated cost, except time, which is controlled by the GM anyway.

Slimy Deceiver - Medium Wondrous Item

2007-10-22T12:37:00.000-04:00

Slimy Deceiver: In a jar made of cut crystal that is sealed with a stopper of iron and filled with amber fluid, floats a clot of tissue that undulates and pulses. The Slimy Deceiver is a partially living alchemical construct that has the power to mimic a wide variety of life forms.

Brewed by the lizard cult of the slime god, Slimy Deceivers earned their name for their doppleganger-like effects.

The owner of a slimy deceiver can place their hand upon the deceiver's crystal container and speak the name of a humanoid. If they are within 30 feet of a animal, magical beast, aberration, fey, dragon, or giant of 6 HD or less, they can speak the name of the creature's species.

In either case, the slimy deceiver will begin to transform. As a full round action, it will burst out of its glass casing and take the shape of the humanoid or creature mentioned, as if a simulacrum had been created. The slimy deceiver will have six hit dice maximum.

Slimy deceivers are sometimes used as guardians or combat nuisances, but are more often used to infiltrate communities and spy for the person who activated them. If discovered and destroyed, they dissolve into a semi-liquid mass that then acts as an gray ooze, attacking anything around it without discretion.

Slimy deceivers that are not part of an opponent's gear should have XP awarded as if they were a EL 6 encounter followed by an EL 4.

Moderate Transmutation; CL 11th; Craft Wondrous Item, Polymorph any object; Cost: 6,825 gp.

NPC Gear: 10th
Treasure Value: 11th

Note: You can turn any creature into a slimy deceiver by having its death spawn an ooze of some kind. This is a sort of encounter template. Slimy deceivers, RAW, would be expensive for an organization to use, but would make fun encounters, so you could shim the economics with a bit of plot: the slime god gifts them to his cult, a massive undead plant grows them like seeds, something like that.

Math (long):

This one was so tough to price. I thought it would be when I came up with the idea, but it seemed like such a flavorful magic item I did my best to puzzle it out.

I tried a couple of different options. Using the same guidelines for summoned monsters that I did to create the goblet of bile, I figured that a magic item that summons a 6 HD character (which would be the most powerful simulacrum the deceiver could imitate) and a grey ooze (EL6 + EL 4 = EL7) would be worth about as much as an object that summoned a black pudding (EL 7).

So, a summon monster 7 item.

Being that they were summoned consecutively, and not concurrently, and so would be dealt with as individual threats that cannot aid each other, I thought that meant they should be priced slightly less, so I gave it an ad hoc adjustment of -25%, reasoning that in a standard encounter, consecutive creatures would probably be about half as difficult, or 50% less of a challenge. Reducing the cost by 50% would make this item far to0 cheap (placing a 7th level spell in reach of a 8th level NPC, or a lower level PC). So -25%.

Note that if I cost this item as if it were a simulacrum spell followed by a summon monster spell, the value is something like 20,000 gp, mostly due to the costly gp and Xp components of the simulacrum spell, twice the value of am item that creates a single use summon monster effect that would summon a EL 7 creature. This puts it in reach of an 11th level PC, at which point the component parts of the slimy deceiver would be mostly a nuisance to PCs.

Although it could be said that the semi-permanent nature of a slimy deceiver should increase its value (and I assume that's why simulacrum has such costly components), character gold is largely a measure of combat power. The components of a deceiver make for interesting flavor or tactical elements in an encounter, but add little to the raw combat ability of their user at the levels they come into play. Further, they aren't meant to hang around. Like animated undead, they will be destroyed eventually. Increasing the cost would make them undesirable to a PC or GM.

2007-10-21T09:11:00.000-04:00

Periapt of the Subtle Fist: When held in the fist, this periapt allows the holder to make an unarmed attacks for one minute. Each use drains one charge from the Periapt. The attack does not gain a plus to hit or damage, but allows the user to circumvent damage reduction or attack creatures that he otherwise could not damage. Each such periapt has a maximum of 18 charges.

Moderate evocation; CL 9th; Craft Wondrous Item, Stunning Fist feat or ability or magic fang; Cost: 729 gp

NPC Gear: 2nd
Treaure Value: 3rd

Math:

A item with fifty charges is generally about a third of the cost of a regular spell effect magic item.

A +1 amulet of mighty fists is worth 6,000 gp. A third of that is 2,000 gp.

This item only has a maximum of 18 charges. So the value of it should be 720 gp, or about 40 gp per charge.

When I first created this magic item for temple of elemental evil campaign that I was running, I based it off an item in the Fighter splatbook, but totally ad hoced the price at 6,300 gp.

Jittering Weapon - Weapon Quality

2007-10-19T12:36:00.000-04:00

Jittering Weapon: A weapon with the jittering quality has a pommel designed like sturdy metal cage, in which is imprisoned a tiny fire elemental or will o wisp. The small dancing creature can be easily covered over with a hand or wrapping, but if removed, will destroy the ability of the weapon to jittery.

Once per day as a swift action, a jittering weapon can be released to attack on it's own for one round. The weapon will make one attack during that round round. The next round it will return to the character who released it, if they are still within 5 feet of its current position. A jittering weapon attacks using its wielder's base attack bonus, one handed strength bonus, and any feat modifiers for both its to hit and damage rolls. If it cannot return to its wielder's hand, then it drops to the ground.

Some jittering weapons will work up to 2 or 3 times per day. If a jittering weapon can be used more than once per day, it must be released and re-caught in between uses.

The jittering quality can be added to any mundane, masterwork, or magical weapon.

Weak transmutation; CL 11th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, animate object; Cost +580 per jittering attack per day, up to three uses.

NPC Gear: Jittering falchion, once per day, 655 gp, 2nd
NPC Gear: Jittering falchion, once per day, 655 gp, 3rd

Math:

+4 weapon bonus = 32,000 gp
/5 for once per day = 6,400
-10% for command word = 5760
/10 for extreme truncation of effect (one round of combat, as opposed to being useful all the time. This is the opposite of the standard "unlimited useage *50 modifier," prorated because the weapon price was already reduced for number of days. You could also just divide the whole value of the weapon bonus by 50) = 576
rounded for convenience = 580 gp per extra attack up to five.

Chromaglass Blade - Weapon Bonus

2007-10-15T12:34:00.000-04:00

Chromaglass Blade: The blade of this weapon looks like jagged glass, the facets of which are colored in deep jewel tones of emerald, sapphire, flame, blood, and amythyst. The bearer of the blade can order it to transmute as a move action. Once per day each, the chromaglass blade can become Admantine, or a Brilliant Energy, Frost, or Shocking weapon. Once per day, the bearer can also try to evoke a +2 enhancement bonus to any one ability score. There is a 66% chance that this will succeed. Each transformation, or the ability score bonus, lasts for 2 minutes.

Moderate transmutation; CL 9th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, greater magic weapon, major creation; Price +2 bonus

NPC Gear: see below
Treasure Value: see below

Laughing Death: This +1 chromaglass short sword looks like the blade was chipped from a piece of multicolored glass.

Once per day each, the chromaglass blade can become Admantine, or a Brilliant Energy, Frost, or Shocking weapon. Once per day, the bearer can also try to evoke a +2 bonus to any one ability score. There is a 66% chance that this will succeed. Each transformation, or the ability score bonus, lasts for 2 minutes.

The soul of the blade is that of a lawful good lucent. Once per day, it will cast see invisibility on a lawful owner, as a 3rd level caster.

Laughing death has an intelligence of 12, a wisdom and charisma of 10, and an ego of 5.

Moderate transmutation; CL 7th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, greater magic weapon, major creation; Price 21,710

NPC Gear: 14th
Treasure Value: 15th

Math:

I divided the base value of each bonus or quality by five, for one use per day:

+1 bonus: 2,000/5 = 400 (twice)
+4 bonus: 32,000/5 = 6,400
Adamantine: 3,000 gp/5 = 600

Added them: 7,400.

That's almost the value of a +2 bonus, so I decided to throw in the once per day ability score bonus = 2*2*1000=4000/5 = 800

8,200. A smidge over. Fudged around for the percentile chance for the ability score increase to work.

Laughting Death is how I used the chromaglass bonus in my game, and is a standard +3 short sword with with intelligence.

Arcane Strike Weapon - Weapon Quality

2007-10-12T11:26:00.000-04:00

Arcane Strike: This weapon is usually crafted with a mithril blade or head which had been made partially transparent. It's pommel is usually bare and inscribed with an intricate magic circle where the wielders palm would usually rest. In battle, glowing runes appear and disappear within the transparent metal parts of the weapon.

A character that uses arcane spells can expend a first level spell slot as a swift action while holding an Arcane Strike weapon. After doing so, the weapon glows with a dim blue white light, and glowing runes shine steadily in the transparent parts of the weapon.

The weapon does +1d4 points of force damage when it strikes in combat. The force damage will affect incorporeal creatures as long as the wielder strikes an incorporeal creatures armor class, even if the weapon itself does not hit because it is not magical or because of the incorporeal creatures miss chance. The force glow lasts for one hour.

If the wielder expends a 0 level spell slot, an Arcane Strike weapon will do +1d2 points of force damage.

The Arcane Strike quality can be added to any masterwork or magical weapon.

If the character who expended the spell that fuels an Arcane Strike weapon loses contact with the weapon, the force damage will gutter and fade after three rounds.

Weak evocation; CL 3rd; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Magic Missile, Magic Weapon; Cost +1,000 gp.

NPC Gear: Masterwork Arcane Strike Bastard Sword (1,335 gp), 4th
Treasure Value: Masterwork Arcane Strike Bastard Sword (1,335 gp), 5th

Math: I figured this was not as good as a standard +1 weapon bonus (which would be +1d6 damage), plus it required the use of another resource (a 1st level spell), and is really only useful to a duel classed character.

Like other weapon qualities, the cost is added to the weapon value because it does not truly scale: ie the force damage is independent of the swords normal damage when used against an incorporeal foe, unlike a ghost touch weapon, and it not always active because it is fueled by spellcasting ability.

You could play with the value of this ability:

Once per day = 1,000/5 or 200 gp. Masterwork Arcane Strike Bastard Sword (535 gp)

Greater Arcane strike = maximum spell level converted squared *1,000 gp added to weapon. Weapon gains +1d4 force damage per level of the spell expended to fuel it. Masterwork Greater Arcane Strike Bastard Sword, up to third level (9,335 gp).

Masterwork Greater Arcane Strike Bastard Sword, up to third level, once per day (2,135 gp)

Blessing of Thunder - Weapon Quality

2007-10-10T23:50:00.000-04:00

Blessing of Thunder: The pommel of this steel weapon is made wrapped in scaly yellow shocker skin, and it's wrought iron head is crazed with engraved lightning.

Once per day, the wielder can invoke a shocking grasp effect, as if cast by a third level user. The effect originates from the weapon, and can be delivered with a touch or melee attack. A touch attack gains a +3 bonus to attacks vs. opponents made of, carrying, or wearing a lot of metal. A melee attack does not gain this bonus.

The blessing of thunder can be put on a normal or masterwork weapon in addition to a magical weapon. It can be added to a cold iron weapon without paying double the enchantment cost.

Weak evocation; CL 3rd; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Shocking Grasp; Cost +1,200 gp per use (up to three times per day)

NPC Gear: Single Use Blessing of Thunder Greatclub (1,205 gp), 3rd
Treasure Value: Single Use Blessing of Thunder Greatclub (1,205 gp), 4th

Math:

1*3*2000 = 6,000/3 for once per day = 1,200

You can monkey with the math by making this a command word item: -10% or 1,080.

You can make it a once per day 3rd level magic missile, instead. In this case, I would not suggest allowing the item to circumvent the special costs for enchanting a cold iron weapon.