Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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Dragon Annual 1 had some way overpowered Witch items, one of which was the Hornet Cape (or something), that allowed the wearer to fly, turn invisible and shoot 'stingers' (little energy blasts). It was like a superhero item!
But yeah, for adventuring, the Handy Haversack is always number one on the list. For the real world, a Mirror of Mental Prowess sounds pretty cool.
And don't forget hill seeds, that you would throw and they would turn into ACTUAL hills.
Don't ask for game mechanics; this was early 1st Ed - there weren't any!
Hill seeds were great! We used to drop those off enemies from flying carpets. That and the tree feather token.
Helm of brilliance. No questions asked.Amusingly, same here.
Not that I've ever actually SEEN one used in a campaign, though I did place one as a treasure in an adventure I wrote when I was like 12 or so (but never actually ran). One also appears in Tiamat's hoard at the end of H4 Throne of Bloodstone, though it has a rather large chance of being destroyed before you ever get it, and even if you do it's literally the last encounter of the campaign, so it's not like you even get to use it.
I think that's where our campaigns are different. We have never ended any of our campaigns....I have way to many characters from lvl 1-34 who are all in the same 10 year campaign..LOL it will never end until we all die at once so there isn't anyone left to take the bodies back to the church for a rez, and even if we do all die, we have contingency's to plop our dead corpses on the church's doorstep heh.
...and we do die ALOT.
My favorite is now, and likely will always be, the immovable rod. Just having two of those puppies on hand has saved my adventuring hide more times than I can count.
Scale the unscalable wall? check!
Brace the easily opened door that has no lock shut? check!
Cross the bridgeless chasm when the wizard didn't prepare fly? check!
Keep from being thrown into east jabip by a tornado by tying yourself down? check!!
Give an ancient red dragon a really bad day after he swallowed me whole? double check!!
As for every wizard character I played, I insisted on getting a Bacaab's Blessed Book in a Heward's handy haversack. Now that's perfection!
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
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Star Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7, Star Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka JoelF847
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Helm of brilliance. No questions asked.Amusingly, same here.
Not that I've ever actually SEEN one used in a campaign, though I did place one as a treasure in an adventure I wrote when I was like 12 or so (but never actually ran). One also appears in Tiamat's hoard at the end of H4 Throne of Bloodstone, though it has a rather large chance of being destroyed before you ever get it, and even if you do it's literally the last encounter of the campaign, so it's not like you even get to use it.
I've always been a helm of brilliance fan also. I'm also happy to say that when I did pass one out as treasure back in 2E, right before an adventure with a large tribe of trolls, halfway through a large fight, the PC using the helm managed to fail both saves vs. fire when he caught himself in a fireball, which caused the entire helm to detonante the remaining charges. I had to try really hard not to laugh for the next 10 minutes. Needless to say, the player had to make a new character after that.
My favorite is now, and likely will always be, the immovable rod. Just having two of those puppies on hand has saved my adventuring hide more times than I can count.
Immovable rod is my favorite too.
Never had one in 20+ years of play - until recently. The party encountered what we believed to be a portcullis trap, even though the rogue's searches turned up nada. My dwarf propped the rod up against the open portcullis, just to be safe. Sure enough, when we entered the room, the portcullis came down and got jammed on the rod.
Incidentally, mage hand is a great spell to pair with an immovable rod. Helps to place it and retrieve it from hard to reach places!
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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Star Voter Season 6
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I've always been a helm of brilliance fan also. I'm also happy to say that when I did pass one out as treasure back in 2E, right before an adventure with a large tribe of trolls, halfway through a large fight, the PC using the helm managed to fail both saves vs. fire when he caught himself in a fireball, which caused the entire helm to detonante the remaining charges. I had to try really hard not to laugh for the next 10 minutes. Needless to say, the player had to make a new character after that.Helm of brilliance. No questions asked.Amusingly, same here.
Not that I've ever actually SEEN one used in a campaign, though I did place one as a treasure in an adventure I wrote when I was like 12 or so (but never actually ran). One also appears in Tiamat's hoard at the end of H4 Throne of Bloodstone, though it has a rather large chance of being destroyed before you ever get it, and even if you do it's literally the last encounter of the campaign, so it's not like you even get to use it.
I can one up that. We had a cleric who died because of Flame Strike
Cast in MeleeOn himself. "I'll toast the bad guys and take carely any damage! What are the odds of roling two ones in a row?"
Hehe, yep... feather tokens were mentioned in the OP, and my first reaction was "TREE!"
One of my friends has actually banned it from his games.
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RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
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Star Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7, Star Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka JoelF847
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My favorite is now, and likely will always be, the immovable rod. Just having two of those puppies on hand has saved my adventuring hide more times than I can count.Immovable rod is my favorite too.
Never had one in 20+ years of play - until recently. The party encountered what we believed to be a portcullis trap, even though the rogue's searches turned up nada. My dwarf propped the rod up against the open portcullis, just to be safe. Sure enough, when we entered the room, the portcullis came down and got jammed on the rod.
Incidentally, mage hand is a great spell to pair with an immovable rod. Helps to place it and retrieve it from hard to reach places!
Mage hand won't work on it though, since mage hand doesn't affect magic items. Unseen servant on the other hand would be a good substitute for that tactic.
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Name your favorite wondrous item, from anywhere. If it isn't in the Pathfinder Core book, cite what book it's in and give a brief description of what it does.
Hook of Dissolution is a time honored fave of mine when playing LE Monks (from Book of Vile Darkness)
Horizon Goggles from Complete Mage was nice for one of my chars too
I really like the Folding Boat. One character I had found many uses for this item, one of the uses being as a ranged weapon. He had some cool feats and would launch the folded box at an enemy while yelling the command word; soon enough, enemies were being smashed with a boat. From time to time, smaller enemies would get stuck under the boat and my character would use the second command word to turn it into the larger vessel. I recall taking out a team of drow in a small cave with great ease.
I also remember hiding a special dagger in the box form. The enemies could not find it on us (they were interrogating the group for some reason) and had to eventually let us go.
Oh and you can use it for sailing too.
I really like the Folding Boat. One character I had found many uses for this item, one of the uses being as a ranged weapon. He had some cool feats and would launch the folded box at an enemy while yelling the command word; soon enough, enemies were being smashed with a boat. From time to time, smaller enemies would get stuck under the boat and my character would use the second command word to turn it into the larger vessel. I recall taking out a team of drow in a small cave with great ease.
Dude. You're like my hero. Seriously.
I know it's not a great item, but nearly every one of my characters has owned a pair of winged boots at one point or another...
Oh, and +1 for the handy haversack. It's too good and too cheap not to be loved.
I really like the Folding Boat. One character I had found many uses for this item, one of the uses being as a ranged weapon. He had some cool feats and would launch the folded box at an enemy while yelling the command word; soon enough, enemies were being smashed with a boat. From time to time, smaller enemies would get stuck under the boat and my character would use the second command word to turn it into the larger vessel. I recall taking out a team of drow in a small cave with great ease.Dude. You're like my hero. Seriously.
Haha. Thank you!
My fondest memories come from the Helm of Brilliance; it might as well have been an artifact to my paladin.
Otherwise, I have to go Bag of Holding for its usefulness, its being a staple for every character, and for all the memories of the game it conjures up when I simply recite the name.
...who doesn't call their dice bag a bag of holding? :)
Mage hand won't work on it though, since mage hand doesn't affect magic items. Unseen servant on the other hand would be a good substitute for that tactic.
How right you are! I didn't read the spell description carefully enough. Guess I've been cheating!
I have to add that the Migrus Locker, from the first RPG superstar has quickly become one of my favorite items of all time. I even wrote 4e rules for it, so that I can drop it into my current campaign!
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Dedicated Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7
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Can't argue with the portable hole and the bags and haversack. I think its good we don't have the haversack around, you know how the women can fill up their purse....imagine the mess that would be inside the haversack!!!
Thing is, it'd NEVER be a mess—you can summon stuff as needed, without digging around. That's one of the best features of the haversack, which actually makes it better than a bag of holding, IMO.
And, as far as my favorites... I used to love a bracers of brachiation and ring of jumping combo back in my 2nd Edition days.
These days, give me some slippers of spider climbing.
Or, for those pesky Underdark campaigns where finding food and potable water is an issue... Get a decanter of endless water and Murlynd's spoon.
War Paint: from AD&D 2nd edition complete barbarian's handbook.
+3 - +9 natural armor bonus to AC (depending on color/combo of colors worn) that lasts for 1d4 - 2d4 weeks reguardless of weather conditions.
only drawback was you had to be practically naked for it to be effective, which was fine with my 18 strength, 6 intelligence barbarian at the time.
honorable mention: since most of my pc's have been human: the Everburning Torch is a staple gear selection for them. can't beat a hands-free constant light source.
I have committed so many DM-weeping acts with Decanters of Endless Water... Water blades come to mind... Get a mithral nozzle made to fit the decanter and SO many things become easy.. "Door's trapped and I can't get it open..." No worries with Mordane's Water Blade!!! *slices the entire wall holding the door away* Muhahahahaha!!!! *ahem*
Yes my favorite Wondrous item.... After the Decanter?
Hat of Disguise... a must for quick clean getaways after slicing the back wall out of the local bank... or kings treasury.... And a bag of holding, several...
My favorite Wondrous Item of all time has to be the original Robe of Blending (agitater) and Robe of Blending II (3-speed). I don't remember where I saw them first but the Encyclopedia Magica lists them being from Polyhedron Magazine vol. 35 and 156 respectively. I've never seen it used in a game and I certainly wouldn't want any of my characters to be wearing it mistakenly but after all these years it still makes me snicker madly at the idea of "Chop", "Mix", and "Liquefy".
For utility though... I'd have to go with Sovereign Glue and Universal Solvent. I have found so many uses for those two things both in combat and just in general RP situations. They're Always my first picks when it comes time for equipment.
Its really hard to nail down a favorite item.
I picked the mirror of mental prowess because I always enjoyed the high level kick ass flavor, even from when I was a little kid.
But I can't argue with the handy haversack being a much high priority in one's adventuring career.
I think to really understand the responses to this question, you also have to ask the follow up question, "why is this your favorite item?"
The utility? Because it's just completey cool? Or does it just spare you from an entire rule-set that is a pain to track (i.e. lighting, or encumbrance?).
I have committed so many DM-weeping acts with Decanters of Endless Water... Water blades come to mind... Get a mithral nozzle made to fit the decanter and SO many things become easy.. "Door's trapped and I can't get it open..." No worries with Mordane's Water Blade!!! *slices the entire wall holding the door away* Muhahahahaha!!!! *ahem*
Clearly I'm not as creative as you because I'm missing the trick here. I'm imagining a decanter with a mithril squirt nozzle on it, but I don't see how you could use that to cut through a wall. (I'd be far more likely to have a cleric bless the contents and use it as a watergun on undead.) Care to elaborate?
I'm imagining a decanter with a mithril squirt nozzle on it, but I don't see how you could use that to cut through a wall.
Geyser-force/quantity water going through a tiny nozzle (to increase the force per area dramatically --> same force, smaller area --> higher force per area) should act pretty much just like the water saws frequently used in industrial settings.
'Course, I'd probably rule the bindings with the nozzle and decanter can't handle the forces, so it pops off, hits the door, ricochets back into your eye, and then you have to make up some story to your mom about how an icicle fell and broke your glasses. It totally wasn't your Red Rid... errr, your decanter of endless water.
I'm imagining a decanter with a mithril squirt nozzle on it, but I don't see how you could use that to cut through a wall.Geyser-force/quantity water going through a tiny nozzle (to increase the force per area dramatically --> same force, smaller area --> higher force per area) should act pretty much just like the water saws frequently used in industrial settings.
Repeat after me:
"Physics is a house rule!"
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Not meaning to be snide, nor directing this at anyone in particular, but applying real world physics breaks the game in about a billion different places. It's generally best to let sleeping dogs lie. Decanters of endless water are not intended to be used as essentially unstoppable weapons.
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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I have committed so many DM-weeping acts with Decanters of Endless Water... Water blades come to mind... Get a mithral nozzle made to fit the decanter and SO many things become easy.. "Door's trapped and I can't get it open..." No worries with Mordane's Water Blade!!! *slices the entire wall holding the door away* Muhahahahaha!!!! *ahem*Clearly I'm not as creative as you because I'm missing the trick here. I'm imagining a decanter with a mithril squirt nozzle on it, but I don't see how you could use that to cut through a wall. (I'd be far more likely to have a cleric bless the contents and use it as a watergun on undead.) Care to elaborate?
The idea is to convert it into a high-powered pressure washer essentially, using the nozzle plus, if I'm recalling my high school physics, Bernoulli's principle, to increase the speed of the water's flow by constricting the space it's passing through, just like putting a constricting spray nozzle on a garden hose, or even putting your thumb over the end of it - you narrow the spray, you get a harder stream than if you just let the water flow out of the hose unimpeded.
Now, as to whether the decanter is actually capable of pushing out enough liquid to make a spray capable of cutting through brick or stone is up to the DM. You could just as well rule that you blast all of the moss, dirt, and cobwebs off the wall but don't hurt the door itself. Or you could blast the mortar out between the bricks. Or it could work but just take a really long time.
Evidently in the OP's campaign, it was ruled to work pretty quickly.
EDIT: double-ninja'd! (and both much funnier than my response)
The idea is to convert it into a high-powered pressure washer essentially, using the nozzle plus, if I'm recalling my high school physics, Bernoulli's principle, to increase the speed of the water's flow by constricting the space it's passing through, just like putting a constricting spray nozzle on a garden hose, or even putting your thumb over the end of it - you narrow the spray, you get a harder stream than if you just let the water flow out of the hose unimpeded.
Ooooohh. Okay. Yeah, I would never let my players do that.
But I'm glad the OP's GM did so we had something to talk about. :)
I supply the addendum that this was attempted and achieved in 1983 or 1984 when I was a mere teenager as was the DM and the rule of Cool was the first rule we lived by as gamers. :) Now? He'd never let me but then it was fun. Though I did notice I never ever got a Decanter of Endless Water again.
I moved on to far greater torments, and bannings from ever gaining again... Barrels of Pickles, Marbles and Lye Soap just to name a few. But in 30 years of playing D&D you're bound to get mad genius ideas that confound the DM.
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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I supply the addendum that this was attempted and achieved in 1983 or 1984 when I was a mere teenager as was the DM and the rule of Cool was the first rule we lived by as gamers. :) Now? He'd never let me but then it was fun. Though I did notice I never ever got a Decanter of Endless Water again.
I moved on to far greater torments, and bannings from ever gaining again... Barrels of Pickles, Marbles and Lye Soap just to name a few. But in 30 years of playing D&D you're bound to get mad genius ideas that confound the DM.
Hey, the Rule of Cool is a perfectly reasonable way to game. Heck, that is probably why and how "Avinash and the Catspaw Marauders" got plopped into Michael's campaign right after I had posted him up as a villain, in spite of some... shortcomings of that particular entry. He liked the idea of it, and let it rock and roll. And was it cool? I think it was.
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I'm imagining a decanter with a mithril squirt nozzle on it, but I don't see how you could use that to cut through a wall.Geyser-force/quantity water going through a tiny nozzle (to increase the force per area dramatically --> same force, smaller area --> higher force per area) should act pretty much just like the water saws frequently used in industrial settings.
Industrial water saws use an abrasive grit that occasionally includes fragments of diamond (pre 1970, they didn't, and were considered unviable). Fast moving water by itself (particularly limited to Decanter pressure, which I'm not sure could generate the up to 90,000 PSI of industrial water jet cutters) wouldn't be enough to cut through stone.
Additionally, mithral isn't all that tough. An adamantine nozzle would be more useful for this application, but you'd probably want an adamantine Decanter of Endless Water to place said choke valve upon, as the backpressure might just rupture the Decanter from within.
Finally, I throw dice at people who try to meta-game with advanced scientific knowledge in a fantasy game.
Decanters of Endless Water are already freakishly useful. Trying to turn one into a lightsaber is just asking for trouble.
Additionally, mithral isn't all that tough. An adamantine nozzle would be more useful for this application, but you'd probably want an adamantine Decanter of Endless Water to place said choke valve upon, as the backpressure might just rupture the Decanter from within.
Bolded for emphasis. And precisely how I would react if one of my players tried this.
Hey, the Rule of Cool is a perfectly reasonable way to game. Heck, that is probably why and how "Avinash and the Catspaw Marauders" got plopped into Michael's campaign right after I had posted him up as a villain, in spite of some... shortcomings of that particular entry. He liked the idea of it, and let it rock and roll. And was it cool? I think it was.
I never did give you a follow up on this did I? Avinash went through three different riders while fighting the party in the north of Brython. He ended up joining forces with the Worg Queen, a half-fiend worg who may or may not have been a sibling of Avinash. They sent a horde of Goblins and Dire Wolves against the battered town a Digger's Delve which the party alone fought off. They faced Avinash with his new rider a Hogboblin who worshiped Dispater and the Worg-Queen in their lair. Major fight, two player characters died, so did the worg queen. Avinash was killed by the Paladin who speared him and the Hobgoblin with her holy lance. I'd planned maybe to make Avinash a death knight but the party broke up (this was an online game) and never got back to it.
...Barrels of Pickles, Marbles and Lye Soap...>_<
Is that one item or three similar ones?(Wait. Do I really want to know? Hrm... Yes. Yes, I do.)
On the first the DM made the most fatal of statements to me at character creation "Oh go ahead and buy what you want as long as it isn't magical." My thief (was 2nd edition mind you) decked himself out like a traveling merchant complete with wagon and a 250 gallon barrel of pickles. Anyway he wasn't that good of a thief and got caught stealing the payroll from the city guards. Well in an attempt to escape he's driving the wagon hard down a steep street that turned abruptly at the edge of a 300 foot cliff. With Charioteering he was able to make the turn but I had a brilliant idea. I stopped and dumped the pickles over the area of the turn. The guards (plus the captain of the guards himself) were on horseback and with the slick brine on the cobblestones ended up taking a header off the cliff... The last time I was allowed to buy that many pickles.
The Marbles... I bought 3000 of them and kept them in a back pack... A powerful Half-Ogre chieftain died because I tossed them to the ground and he couldn't get back up after they spread over the area. I stood back with a heavy crossbow and shot him till he stopped twitching.
Lastly the lye soap. The Dm made a point of saying "This is a frontier environment you can't buy things like plate armor and stuff" yet there were dragons in the area so I thought for a while and then bought five pounds of lye soap and methodically ground it into a powder which I kept in sacks. I knew that soap especially lye soap is beyond painful when you get it in the eye. That purchase of 5 pounds of soap let the party take out, an arctic owlbear, two cave bears a Frost giant AND oh yes the Dragon. That was the last use of my soap, nearly killed my character but he managed to get on the back of the dragon and slam handfuls of the powder into its eyes. The dragon flew headlong into a cliff. I dove off and the ring of feather fall that no one else wanted saved my character's butt. That was the last time my character was allowed to buy lye soap in any amount :)
Mirror of Mental Prowess without hesitation.
Another vote for this.
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On the first the DM made the most fatal of statements to me at character creation "Oh go ahead and buy what you want as long as it isn't magical." My thief (was 2nd edition mind you) decked himself out like a traveling merchant complete with wagon and a 250 gallon barrel of pickles. <snip>The Marbles... <snip>
Lastly the lye soap... <snip>
Brilliant! I especially like the thief-disguised-as-a-merchant idea with actual merchandise (although 250 gallons of pickles is a freakishly large barrel).
Thanks for sharing!
On the first the DM made the most fatal of statements to me at character creation "Oh go ahead and buy what you want as long as it isn't magical." My thief (was 2nd edition mind you) decked himself out like a traveling merchant complete with wagon and a 250 gallon barrel of pickles. <snip>The Marbles... <snip>
Lastly the lye soap... <snip>
Brilliant! I especially like the thief-disguised-as-a-merchant idea with actual merchandise (although 250 gallons of pickles is a freakishly large barrel).
Thanks for sharing!
Anytime! And for the sake of tidbits of information (Useless or otherwise) A 250 gallon barrel is called a tun, really big nasty kill you size barrels. They were normally used to hold wine. I spent a rather long time once searching down information on various sized barrels in a vain attempt to create a trade goods table rather than a straight treasure (Gold gems and jeweled items) table.... after they let me out of the insane asylum I am MUCH better now. :)
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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Hey, the Rule of Cool is a perfectly reasonable way to game. Heck, that is probably why and how "Avinash and the Catspaw Marauders" got plopped into Michael's campaign right after I had posted him up as a villain, in spite of some... shortcomings of that particular entry. He liked the idea of it, and let it rock and roll. And was it cool? I think it was.I never did give you a follow up on this did I? Avinash went through three different riders while fighting the party in the north of Brython. He ended up joining forces with the Worg Queen, a half-fiend worg who may or may not have been a sibling of Avinash. They sent a horde of Goblins and Dire Wolves against the battered town a Digger's Delve which the party alone fought off. They faced Avinash with his new rider a Hogboblin who worshiped Dispater and the Worg-Queen in their lair. Major fight, two player characters died, so did the worg queen. Avinash was killed by the Paladin who speared him and the Hobgoblin with her holy lance. I'd planned maybe to make Avinash a death knight but the party broke up (this was an online game) and never got back to it.
You just told me about the first time they ran into him. Sounds like he worked out great, and a perfect death scene; just the way a bad pony like him should go out.
ring of feather fall that no one else wanted
Okay, I was believing the whole story until this. Just too far-fetched!
ring of feather fall that no one else wantedOkay, I was believing the whole story until this. Just too far-fetched!
By chance a notary public was there and the stenographer gave him the minutes of the game and he stamped them! :) I even have Pictures!!! And well paid witnesses who will attest.... Ned Beaty was there! Honest!!!!
Dood, far-fetched in a D&D game? You could accept me leaping on the back of a dragon, crawling up to its head but the ring of feather falling? Okay :)
I have a track record with both ends of the spectrum when it comes to fighting dragons, I have had characters smeared ALL over the countryside by them or did some truly bizarre things to beat them. Had a warlock that stuck his hands up the nostrils of a blue dragon and kept firing EBs till it died.. Had a paladin get smacked half a mile by forgetting to actually saying I let go of the rope which said dragon used to make me a human paddle ball. But that's the fun part of D&D Strange things happen. :)
