Aura moderate transmutation; CL 10th

Slot head; Price 26,000 gp; Weight 3 lbs.

This oily bronze helm is fashioned in the shape of a frog's head. Three times per day, as a swift action, the helm fires an unerring tongue of force at a visible target within 20 feet.
If the target is an unattended object weighing 250 pounds or less, it is pulled 20 feet towards the wearer. If the target is a creature of the wearer's size or smaller, it is pulled 20 feet towards the wearer with a successful combat maneuver check. If the target is a creature larger than the wearer or an unattended object weighing more than 250 pounds (including structures such as walls), the wearer is pulled 20 feet towards the target.
A pulled target or wearer stops if the pull would move them into a solid object or creature, and creatures(including the wearer) pulled in this way do not provoke attacks of opportunity.

Construction

Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, telekinesis; Cost 13,000 gp

Nice! A frog helm with a tongue attack!

I dont like the name. I get it, but I dont like it.

Normally I am against wondrous items that just give a monster attack to a PC but I like this.

Tongue attack!

Hehe.

This is pure hotness. This is, without question, one of my top 5.

I actually like it, too! It's only 20 feet, it uses a new universal monster ability, and if you're smart you can use it to yank yourself over a pit, up to a balcony, and so on.

THIS is the sort of hasn't-been-done-before-because-the-rules-are-new insight I've been hoping for!

Keep!

I am totally with you, Sean. The more I go back to it the better it is for the reasons you state.

Keep.

Cute. Maybe a little rules light - I'm surprised there's no Strength check involved in this - but still cool.

This is rad. Rad, I tell you!

Cute. Simple. Uses the "pull" special ability from the universal monster rules. I'd be more inclined to take a page from some of the description of a boggard's sticky tongue attack and how it stops a creature's movement and penalizes its AC while the tongue remains attached to a target. There also doesn't appear to be any way to sever the connection. Is it a force effect? Can the pull be resisted with an opposed Strength check? I think the item needs to answer these questions to close off some loose ends in the design.

But, despite that, I like the creativity that went into the concept. You've applied the mechanics pretty well by relying on the established description of an existing ability. And, because of the ability for the user to treat the tongue kind of like a grappling hook, it grants a bit more than a single monster's ability. I also really like that you knocked this out with only 169 words, which means you resisted the urge to play around with those extra 131 words to give us unneeded backstory or glom on a bunch of poorly-related "extra" effects and gonzo description.

Like Clark, I'm not that crazy about the name. I understand the name. It just doesn't "pop" enough to grab the reader and encourage them to really look into what this item can do before skipping over it to look at the next one on the list. So, you might want to raise your creativity level when it comes to names and such.

Regardless, welcome to the ranks of RPG Superstar! You've earned your way in, now make the most of it! In the next round, you might find it useful to hit us with something that carries a lot more flavor text to showcase your ability in that area...and also something that's fully thought out mechanically, so we can see your rules-fu mastery, too. Best of luck!

In the right hands, this item is all kinds of fun. Good for movement, good for yanking allies out of harm's way, good for retrieving things from hard-to-reach or dangerous places...

This is exactly what a wondrous item should do. It should inspire its user to be creative and try things.

I don't love the name, but you've heard that already. I don't love that it's a swift action to activate or that denies all attacks of opportunity. But you are using the pull rules correctly as written, and I won't fault the item for that.

An item's got to have solid mojo for me to want to wear a frog on my head. This item does so. Nicely done, it's one of my top 5!

Congrats on making it to RPG Superstar 2010! I asked myself the same three questions for each of the top 32 items. Here are my responses to your item:

Would this wondrous item unbalance or over-complicate my game if my PCs were to find it and use it?
I see this as more of a utility/maneuvering item and in that regard, I think this it's solidly balanced. Your caveat that the pulled object must be "unattended" saves this item from a lot of potential abuse; good call on adding that line.

Would my PCs be happy with this item if they were to find it during an adventure?
It's definitely practical and it could be a lot of fun. A warrior could really use this to close the gap into melee range or augment a charge. My PCs would probably keep this around and use it occasionally to move things around on the battle mat or pull some crazy maneuver, like grappling across a chasm, which I sense was exactly the items’ intent.

Do I like the mojo? Does the item spark other ideas for my campaign?
I don't know if I can picture a heroic paladin, gazing stoically out across a war torn battlefield... through a frog shaped helm--it's more silly than epic--but I don't think this is a big deal as it's largely a flavor thing. I can change what an item looks like with ease… shield of tentacles or something like that. Solid work. All in all, this is a really fun item.

Easily one of my top 3 items from this round. Good work!

This one is great! I immediately thought of tons of uses for this thing.

Dave Arenson would be pleased...

Congrats on top 32.
I don't get the name, but otherwise this item immediately got me thinking of all sorts of wonky tactical applications for it's use.
It's only the 2nd of the top 32 so far that have made me go "damn i should've thought of that".
Good job, and good luck.

I actually picture a mother pulling a rampaging toddler back to her with this. Or in the typical tavern layover the fighter pulling his beer to his table because he forgot to bring it from the bar....or quickly snagging one someone doesn't seem to be drinking.

And the cleric pulling the downed melee out of the ogre's reach to heal him up without risking himself would be awsome.

I really love this item. The looks might not fit in some adventurer's 'style' but I know plenty who would roll with it.

What's the CMB to pull a creature? The wearer's, or something else?

That nitpick aside: yeah, this is freakin' awesome. :)

Man, I have trouble telling whether this is my favorite item so far, or if it's the Goblin Skull Bombs. I didn't expect to be conflicted so much.

When I look at this item, it makes me think of the Lost City basic D&D module. There's a Cynadean crouching in one of the pictures, wearing a frog mask, and the Batrachian Helm just makes me think... what if he had one of these things?!

Actually, this makes me think about designing a whole suite of masks for the Cynadeans to further bind them into their delusional world.

Any item that gives me that kind of inspiration is aces in my book.

Also, it makes me think of Frog from Chrono Trigger, which is another cool mental association.

I'm a big fan of this one. I like the look, I like the mechanics, I like the variety of applications. Good job!

Good Job using the new rules. Good luck on the next round.

I like this. Reminds me of Spiderman. It seems really fun and versatile. I also really like that it's a swift action to use; non-spellcasters have a dearth of swift actions they can use, so this gives them something to do besides standard, move, or full-round actions.

Moving 20 feet as a swift action without provoking attacks of opportunity? That's a pretty big deal, but it IS only a few times per day.

This has obvious applications in combat, but at the same time it's another open-ended effect that a clever or creative player would have a lot of fun with. And fun is, after all, the whole point of the thing. :)

Especially if the item you grab onto is a chandelier....

Swing 20 feet on the chandelier, land amidst a bunch of mooks harassing your favorite damsel in distress, then full attack the lot of them.

This is a pretty cool item, perhaps a little open ended but I can see this sort of thing being used and loved by a lot of players and as a GM it doesn't seem too crazy.

Congratulations... nice stuff.

Congrats on making Top 32!

This is neat. It's pretty cool to have an item making use of the CMB mechanic, and I just love the phrase "unerring tongue of force". (Have to work on ways to use that into everyday conversation.)

I had a half-orc barbarian/psychic warrior in an Eberron campaign that also had a tongue whip grafted onto him and this helm brings back the memories of what can be done with it. This is one of my top favorites for R1.

Congrats on making Top 32!

This is neat. It's pretty cool to have an item making use of the CMB mechanic, and I just love the phrase "unerring tongue of force". (Have to work on ways to use that into everyday conversation.)

That's what she said... ;-)

Somewhere there is a half-sunken temple where strange frog-men worship a dark statue of their god, which holds in its hand a helm. And somewhere there is a party of adventurers, just itching to commit rampant acts of frog-genocide. I must get these groups together!

Very good item. Great use, great evocative description. I could easily envision a campaign inspired by this. Boggards, here we come! Congrats!

What PC wouldn't want a little Indiana Jones or Spiderman in their hack and slash? Very cool concept and design.

FYI, this item's appeal for me is the author realized, "hey, there's a new thing in the rules (the pull universal monster ability) that doesn't have any magic items or spells associated with it." Being able to recognize something like that is the mark of a keen designer. It immediately reminded me of last year's competition when someone submitted an item relating to sorcerer bloodlines--not that the two items are in any way similar, but they both saw an opportunity based on a new rule, and jumped for it.

I suspect that next year's competition we'll have some R1 items based on the new stuff presented in the APG, such as challenge feats, eidolons, and so on. At least, I hope we do. :)

Haha! This item is awesome! I really like the flavor and feel of it.

FYI, this item's appeal for me is the author realized, "hey, there's a new thing in the rules (the pull universal monster ability) that doesn't have any magic items or spells associated with it." Being able to recognize something like that is the mark of a keen designer. It immediately reminded me of last year's competition when someone submitted an item relating to sorcerer bloodlines--not that the two items are in any way similar, but they both saw an opportunity based on a new rule, and jumped for it.

I suspect that next year's competition we'll have some R1 items based on the new stuff presented in the APG, such as challenge feats, eidolons, and so on. At least, I hope we do. :)

this.

This is a nice, useful and flavorful item, maybe a bit to tightly flavored, because none of my characters would like o look like a giant Bullfrog while tossing things with his giant tongue. But that is a problem most monster-themed items share.

Well done and good luck in Round 2!

I don't think I'd ever put this item in a game I ran as-is. But my mind is bursting with ways I could use the mechanics to create an item I loved and would put in treasure. And that means I want to use it somehow, and that means it's full of win for me.

On reflection, this is a top-4 item for me for this round.

Nice idea, but I would have liked some clarity over the combat maneuver check and the value used for it by the Helm wearer.

Congratulations on making the top 32 however.

ba·tra·chi·an (b-trk-n) adj.
Of or relating to vertebrate amphibians without tails, such as frogs and toads.
n. A vertebrate amphibian.

I don't think I'd ever put this item in a game I ran as-is. But my mind is bursting with ways I could use the mechanics to create an item I loved and would put in treasure. And that means I want to use it somehow, and that means it's full of win for me.

On reflection, this is a top-4 item for me for this round.

Yeah, the frog-head is a little silly, but it would make a cool amulet, ring, bracer, weapon special quality, etc.

This is one of my top 3 favorites of this year's items. Great name, great concept, great effect, cool flavor. This is the kind of item I immediately want upon reading it.

This was another of my top 10.

I was also in the crowd that thought "what is its CMB to grapple?"

There is nothing that states it "sticks" to the object or creature fired at, so it is begging me to assume it grapples, and with no CMB, I have way to calculate an attack on a creature.

I am also wondering why no attack of oppotunity is allowed on the user or the target as it is being moved? Perhaps sanctuary in the construction requirements is needed.

Those are my only negative thoughts on the item. I love the idea of it and hope to see more of this author in the coming rounds.

Good luck Matthew, I think this is one of the best.

CC

Frog Tongue Attack!

I like the straight forward description of effects and assume it uses the wearers CMB for any grappling that might go on. Might be nice if it had a bonus.

I can see using this to quick climb to the second floor or swing across a chasm in the right circumstances (along with an acrobatics check). This will be a lot of fun to use.

I... love this item.

Yeah, the frog-head is a little silly, but it would make a cool amulet, ring, bracer, weapon special quality, etc.

IMHO the frog head is the icing on the cake. It's a 99% item and then the frog head just pushes it to 110%. I love it. :-)

I think this ability in a whip would rock soooo much awesomness! A frog tongue lashing whip oooh sign me up! I know it cannot be done for this contest, but sir, thanks for the idea!

What is you all so like about this item. I get it uses a rule that is new and all. But really it just seems silly. Players will use it for silly things, just cause they can and will. A free action also seems a little too much, but I am weak on the rules. The description from James Martin, about the 1/2 sunken temple saves it a bit but as written I'd not use this item. Just doesn't fit my style or feel at all.

But good luck to you, obviously some people like it as the other comments show.

This is a great item, good design. My favourite part is that you’ve continued the grand old D&D tradition of using frogs in odd places. I don’t see anything wrong with the name either.

Good work, and good luck in future rounds.

I like it, I don't have any problem with it being a froghelm, and in fact I like that it is.

There is no grapple involved because it doesn't grapple; it just pulls one creature 20 feet in one direction. No sticking to it, no wrapping around it, just grab and pull.

The reason for no AoOs is to prevent PCs from using it to drag enemies through their allies and get pummeled with AoOs, rather like how bull rushing doesn't provoke until you take the Greater Bull Rush feat.

Nice, simple, fun, more useful the more creative you want to be. I can get why some folks wouldn't dig it, but I dig 'em! (ba dum bum)

P.S. I agree with Sean that it's fun to see people engaging and working with the new rules in their item creations, though it's no magic passport to success; a good item using older rules will still beat a crummy item using new ones.

What is you all so like about this item.

But good luck to you, obviously some people like it as the other comments show.

We like it cuz it's so fly-grabbing.

I love it! Best item of the round, give me all that you have and put 10 on back
order! The imagery is awesome, the abilities are awesome, and it seems to be priced
right. With the tongue made of force magic, I would have used magic missile and tongues in
the spells for the construction but telekinesis works. I would like to see if
the item's pulled movement not provoking attacks of opportunity becomes too
powerful in playtesting. I know this item is going by prexisting rules and that the ability can only be used up to three times per day; so I doubt PCs can abuse this feature to the point
were I would want to remove it. Reguardless this is an
awesome item and i want to put this on twenty kobolds with slippers of spiderclimbing and throw them at my PCs.
Great Work and Welcome to RPG Superstar!

I really, really, like this item, and think that the use of the pull mechanic in an item is ingenious. That said I am not sure why creatures pulled by this item (and the pull mechanic on which it is based) would not provoke attacks of opportunity... but that is more of a 'problem' with the Pull rules then with your item.

Great Job, and Good Luck in the future rounds!

{That said I am not sure why creatures pulled by this item (and the pull mechanic on which it is based) would not provoke attacks of opportunity...}

For the same reason a bull rush doesn't make your target provoke AOOs: you could easily abuse it to get 4 or more AOOs on a target. If you want something like that, you have to pay for it with a feat (like Greater Bull Rush).