Ultimate Equipment Preview: Oh, For a Muse of Fire!
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
The massive burning blade of the fire giant whipped through the air in a horizontal stroke, just inches above Merisiel’s head. She deftly lunged to the side to avoid the deadly strike, but singed one of her long graceful ears in the process.
“Your assistance would be greatly appreciated,” she shouted at Valeros, who was busy fending off a pack of flaming hounds across the room. Her lunge transformed into a roll past the giant’s right knee, the blade of her dagger finding purchase in a seam of his ensorcelled armor. Roaring with pain, the giant pulled back and raised his sword overhead.
Avoiding the flaming maws of the hell hounds, Valeros brought his blade down on the head of one of the snapping beasts, dousing its fires for good before turning to take on a pair of the hounds coming up from behind. “I’m beginning to think the diadem of the giant lord might not be worth this price!”
Valeros might be unsure, but you are definitely going to want to get your hands on all the valuable items packed in the pages of Ultimate Equipment, due out in just 3 weeks. This preview includes more treasure from this mighty tome—specifically, the loot from a CR 11 encounter with a fire giant and a pack of hell hounds.
Fire Giants are humanoids that can possess a number of different treasure types, but for this encounter we are going to be focusing on Type E: Armor and Weapons with a splash of Type B: Coins and Gems. With 10,500 gp worth of loot to give out, we are sure to have some great items.
Treasure Type E: Armor and Weapons
8,000 gp Reward (total value 8,000 gp) +1 defiant full plate (humanoid [elf]), +1 greatsword
Treasure Type B: Coins and Gems
2,500 gp Reward (total value 2,450 gp)
600 gp, opal (worth 450 gp), unworked topaz gemstone (worth 300 gp), diadem set with a single flawless black pearl (worth 1,100 gp)
Looks like Merisiel is going to have a difficult time hurting that fire giant. One of the great things about this system is the ability to customize the treasure to suit the needs of the encounter. Even if you feel like rolling randomly on the many tables throughout the book, you can still pick and choose specific pieces to enhance your encounters. This week, I made sure that the most valuable gemstone was actually a piece of jewelry (the rules for creating and pricing jewelry can be found in the preview spread from last week looking at art objects); that way it would fit the story I was trying to tell.
Well, that wraps up this week. Next week, our brave heroes will be going for some big treasure, while trying to plunder the lair of an ancient white dragon!
...does anyone else think that the brawling enchantment is a kick squarely in the pants of monks? It's not even an enhancement bonus, so it stacks with amulets of mighty fists...
...does anyone else think that the brawling enchantment is a kick squarely in the pants of monks? It's not even an enhancement bonus, so it stacks with amulets of mighty fists...
+7 Brawling Bracers of Armor. Must-have equipment now for every 20th level Monk. It essentially gives them a +20 BAB with Flurry of Blows.
Unless... do you suppose that bracers of armor count as light armor for the purposes of adding enchantments to them that are restricted to certain armor types?
Could you even put Brawler on bracers of armor? The enhancement says light armor only. I suppose BoA are fairly light, but I'm guessing they meant the armor classification.
...Delving is going to be fun :D
Right now, I'm in Table-Overload, so can't really say much else.
...does anyone else think that the brawling enchantment is a kick squarely in the pants of monks? It's not even an enhancement bonus, so it stacks with amulets of mighty fists...
+7 Brawling Bracers of Armor. Must-have equipment now for every 20th level Monk. It essentially gives them a +20 BAB with Flurry of Blows.
Jason Bulmahn wrote:
Bracers of armor do not count as light armor I am afraid.
Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer
Paizo Publishing
Yeah, so not so much. I was right the first time. It's a kick in the pants. :P
So then what's the bloody point of the enchantment at all? Ninjas who favor unarmed strikes? Barbarians can't get a decent unarmed strike die unless they both have the Brawler rage power and get the Improved Unarmed Strike feat... so, what kind of character is this meant for, exactly?
Yea, I like the brawling enchantment. Not everything that involves unarmed strikes needs to be for monks, and this will give ninjas who want to use unarmed strikes a nice boost.
Anyway, I'm getting more and more excited about this book. The charts look very useful, and the format makes things easy to read.
On a totally unrelated note love the descriptions of gems included in the book that will help out at the table immensely and keep me from having to google images every time my players ask what a zircon or lapis lazuli looks like.
Oh hey, you can click on the little pages and make them bigger!
I read the little fic-bit about the fight with the fire giant and looked at the two random treasure chunks and was like 'WTF is everybody talking about? What 'brawling enhancement?''
I stopped before reading through the gem listing for errors since I do not get paid to...yet. My earlier offer to help search for errors in unreleased books still stands though. As a bonus, I am willing to work for a modestly low wage.
This book is pretty much a must have. I think it's inevitable though to have items and properties that are a bit much on the power side... For example I don't quite get that much talked brawling-property. Why is it +2 attack and damage for a 1000 gp (if first enchantment), when enchanting a weapon gets +1 for 2000 gp? Must be because you effectively need improved unarmed strike feat to make the best use of it, but still... Giving a weapon property to armor strikes me a bit funny.
But as I said, book this size is bound to have something I don't like, I'm pretty sure I'll love most of it! =)
Thanks for nipping that one in the bud before it became a 1000 post thread on the issue :)
Just wait until the monk lovers notice this and start posting how a fighter specialized in unarmed combat now will outdamage the monk.
I like the Brawling ability. It would be cool building a Rogue, fighter, barbarian or bard that fights unarmed. I can see myself building a Free Hand Fighter or Tactician with high dex specialized in unarmed combat.
Bracers of armor do not count as light armor I am afraid.
Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer
Paizo Publishing
Whyfore make so many a monk a sad panda?
Just out of interest: can a monk wear a +1 brawling t-shirt without violating the no-armor clause? Assuming that he doesn't use armor bracers or anything that would "turn off" the t-shirt.
Paizo Charter Superscriber, Pathfinder Comics Deluxe Subscriber
1 person marked this as FAQ candidate.
LoreKeeper wrote:
Just out of interest: can a monk wear a +1 brawling t-shirt without violating the no-armor clause? Assuming that he doesn't use armor bracers or anything that would "turn off" the t-shirt.
I think you can only put armor enhancement bonuses and armor special abilities on items that are actually... armor. I guess a +1 brawling t-shirt is just as off-limits as, say a +1 light fortification chandelier.
Just out of interest: can a monk wear a +1 brawling t-shirt without violating the no-armor clause? Assuming that he doesn't use armor bracers or anything that would "turn off" the t-shirt.
I think you can only put armor enhancement bonuses and armor special abilities on items that are actually... armor. I guess a +1 brawling t-shirt is just as off-limits as, say a +1 light fortification chandelier.
Which is ultimately no more ridiculous that placing the enhancement on a suit of padded armor, which is nothing more than a quilt-turned-coveralls.
I don't take issue because of monks or fighters, I take issue with the logic that such rulings are derived from. If one of my players wanted to wear a +1 tunic, well, okay! That PC just paid 1000 gold for a +1 armor bonus to AC.
Making the distinction between clothing and armor in this case is splitting one hair too many.
Just out of interest: can a monk wear a +1 brawling t-shirt without violating the no-armor clause? Assuming that he doesn't use armor bracers or anything that would "turn off" the t-shirt.
I think you can only put armor enhancement bonuses and armor special abilities on items that are actually... armor. I guess a +1 brawling t-shirt is just as off-limits as, say a +1 light fortification chandelier.
Which is ultimately no more ridiculous that placing the enhancement on a suit of padded armor, which is nothing more than a quilt-turned-coveralls.
I don't take issue because of monks or fighters, I take issue with the logic that such rulings are derived from. If one of my players wanted to wear a +1 tunic, well, okay! That PC just paid 1000 gold for a +1 armor bonus to AC.
Making the distinction between clothing and armor in this case is splitting one hair too many.
The problem then is:
- is the t-shirt "light armor" for the purpose of the brawling enchantment
- is the t-shirt "not armor" for the purpose of flurrying, monk AC and fast movement
I'm not speaking on the brawling ability, merely the distinction between clothing and armor.
However, I will humor the question and say that while I would make a ruling that armor enhancements can be applied to normal clothing, that would not make clothing "armor" in the sense that wearing it would disqualify you from abilities that prohibit armor.
Maybe this gets the monk a better AC at lower levels...? Woohoo. Nobody at my table plays monks, and while I'm not a proponent of making all classes equal in combat, I hear very little defense in the "monks are underpowered" department.
No snark directed at anyone. It's a pet peeve, and I'm aware that at my table I run the rules how I see fit.
It's probably easier, from the perspective of rules coherence, to institute a houserule that does allow bracers of armor to count as light armor for the purposes of enchantments that only work on certain armor types. You get almost the same result, and you have to work a lot less hard on drawing a distinction between clothing and armor.
One of the things that I miss about older editions (and believe me I have no illusions on the clunky nature of older editions and the improvements brought on through PF) is that treasure in the table top game has come to the realm of Diablo III's Auction House.
Different, weird, and creative treasure that you must balance is more fun to me than "No, I don't want a sword +1, +3 vs. undead. The statistical projection of my DPS is better if I sell it." Sure it's an exaggeration, but it describes what I'm talking about.
Just out of interest: can a monk wear a +1 brawling t-shirt without violating the no-armor clause? Assuming that he doesn't use armor bracers or anything that would "turn off" the t-shirt.
I think you can only put armor enhancement bonuses and armor special abilities on items that are actually... armor. I guess a +1 brawling t-shirt is just as off-limits as, say a +1 light fortification chandelier.
Which is ultimately no more ridiculous that placing the enhancement on a suit of padded armor, which is nothing more than a quilt-turned-coveralls.
I don't take issue because of monks or fighters, I take issue with the logic that such rulings are derived from. If one of my players wanted to wear a +1 tunic, well, okay! That PC just paid 1000 gold for a +1 armor bonus to AC.
Making the distinction between clothing and armor in this case is splitting one hair too many.
The problem then is:
- is the t-shirt "light armor" for the purpose of the brawling enchantment
- is the t-shirt "not armor" for the purpose of flurrying, monk AC and fast movement
New Light Armor
Cloth - 1gp - +0 AC - -0 ACP - 0% ASF - same speed - 1 lbs
Cloth Armor - Cloth armor counts as light armor for the purposes of spells, feats, special abilities, and armor enchantments. Any character can wear cloth armor without violating their class features, such as a monk. While cloth armor is listed as 1 gp, see equipment chapter for prices on different cloth armors (clothing).
This is what I use. I just imagine this was an entry in the armor table.
Paizo Charter Superscriber, Pathfinder Comics Deluxe Subscriber
Sean K Reynolds wrote:
Zaister wrote:
What is "Arms and Armor"?
It's the stuff you craft with one of the feats on page 120 of the Core Rulebook, conveniently grouped into a single chapter in Ultimate Equipment.
I don't think that was what he meant. :)
Indeed it seems to be an old third party book for D&D v.3.5, and as such irrelevant to my argument. In fact, some third party publishers of the time often had a less than firm grip on the rules.
Love that random gem table, and that there are brief descriptions of each gem! :)
A question: is the 'clangorous' ability really usable every time you're hit, or is it supposed to be x/times per day? What if you don't receive any damage (for example, due to DR)... is such an attack also counted as a "hit"?
I don't see where it says that those are the only possible values for those kinds of gems. You just won't get a more valuable onyx in a treasure pile that was randomly generated by a GM using that chart.
I don't see how it could be construed as anything other than minimum/maximum values. It's a simple fix though, simply errata Animate Dead and similar spells to say "[X]gp worth of [gemstones]."
Okay. They are minimum/maximum values. They are the minimum/maximum values for random onyx found in treasure hordes that are generated from a particular table. So what? Quote me the part where it says that those gems do not exist in any other values.
Shisumo
Kvantum
Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer
doc the grey
Set
Gorbacz
