Ultimate Equipment: What's Missing?

I'll add a Gary Gygax piece,
A few recipe books.

More spell trigger items for low level wizards would be awesome.

I love the new staves in the Beginner Box (the Staff of Scorching is a must-have at 5th level), so anything that gives the low-level arcanist some extra magic is good.

More will come as I am typing from my phone,

What about a powder that can be placed into any food or drink (making it taste marvelous) while also granting a bonus to diplomacy checks? After all, good food amongst enemies and friends can rouse a pleasant evening of conversation.

More on the way, but any thoughts?

I'd love a subsystem separate from crafting that allows minor item modifications. Things like switching out a hilt to make the item resistant to grease attacks, for example. Things like sword really are just slotted together with a few fasteners to keep everything sturdy. Making a craft check in this case just feels too much to me. It almost feels like I'm reforging the weapon in a completely 'not really but it's *craft* so I'm remaking SOMETHING' kind of way. Such a system would be a good addition to a book like 'Ultimate Equipment.'

I hope this request is already in there somewhere, but:

Please rework treasure generation and placement. The current CRB+GMG system is kludgey to the point of unusable. Percentage tables take up an incredible amount of space in the Core Rulebook and GMG, and yet I have never successfully generated treasure in a way that was easy or satisfying.

If the designers would have us pick treasure and place it in a semi-random way, let the rules call that out.

Include slots for "Reroll or roll from a book of the GM's choice" or some other way we can expand this table to subsequent books.

Include treasure hoard "templates" instead of 100% random — just a list of all the item types you ought to include, and a quick roll to randomize that (double potions, no scrolls, etc). Then some guidelines on places to stash treasure in the adventure (how much NPC gear? How much hidden cache? How much in monster bellies?)

Do everything you can to eliminate the frustrating process of generating invalid results and going back to the beginning.

Make sure these results work correctly with things like the settlement statblocks — I ran into problems with that the last time I tried the CRB+GMG method. I can't remember the specifics, I banished them with self-inflicted head trauma.

I do understand that these are legacy issues that stretch back even beyond 3.0... but it would be a shame to have this book released and miss the opportunity to fix it. Think of the effort you'll save on behalf of all those GMs! They'll run more games, which means more people will play, which means more sales! It's totally worth it!

(I apologize for my inappropriately strong feelings on this issue)

Homemade poison rules, Alchemical items, something to reduce price burdens on monk unarmed strikes, more weapon properties

more wondrous items for the following slots:

wrists
hands
headband

Also, the "slot affinity" table that has been referenced during RPG Superstar but never officially codified in a PFRPG Rulebook.

In magic items, Boots/Shoes/Sandals is severely lacking.

Also, with the proliferation of animal companions/steeds/familiars, there really needs to be more magic items geared toward such creatures.

A legendary weapon system that work or at least a good system that allow you to customize/personalize your weapons/armor/gear that can give you from small to big benefits

If not already included a section on intelligent items would be fantastic.

Add a pants slot. It's been missing for far too long.

It'd be great if the book had every mundane item from the PHB (i.e., a full weapons table and armor table). That would avoid having to reference multiple books for equipment.

I'd like to see a better table for alchemical items, similar to what weapons receive - the current format, which buries the effects in the text, makes those items hard to identify quickly and easily.

Finally, the carrying capacity for the various containers would help satisfy my OCD issues relating to equipment.

One of the things I loved about Ultimate Magic was the Spellbooks, I would like to see these expanded with a bunch a Preparation Rituals that can be added to them, and rules behind how to create your own and how to add them to the Spellbooks.

Before anyone says this is not an Item things, I see it like Special Abilities added to Weapons/Armor.

I would also like to see rules on how to handle changing or upgrading Specific Magic Weapons and Armor, which I think this book would be a perfect location for that.

Also there is a Major shortage of Slashing Simple Weapons...

I would like to see More Guns added and Magic Special Abilities for them.

Arrow of Silence (5' Radius)

Incredibly useful in battling spellcasters, even if it misses the target but comes to rest near them.

BTW, best idea among the last three or four sourcebooks. The Mongoose Ultimate Equipment Guides were great resources for d20.

Various Cursed Items

Various parts of clothing

Include treasure hoard "templates" instead of 100% random — just a list of all the item types you ought to include, and a quick roll to randomize that (double potions, no scrolls, etc). Then some guidelines on places to stash treasure in the adventure (how much NPC gear? How much hidden cache? How much in monster bellies?)

This would be super-sweet!

Thanks for asking!

There really needs to be a cheaper 'magic weapon' option for monks. Amulet of Mighty fists is too expensive because it has to take into account that it works on all natural attacks in addition to unarmed strikes.

I think there also should be an option to create 'weapon sets' for two-weapon fighters so they don't have to spend as much money. I mean, they do less damage than a two-handed fighter, but have to spend more money and use more feats.

Finally, I'd love for there to be some cheaper way of dealing with magical thrown weapons such as shuriken. Maybe gloves that temporarily enchant any thrown weapon, like an Amulet of Mighty fists does with natural attacks?

More items that work with class features like bloodlines, domains, school powers and the alike.

Spell staffs that allow players to swap spells aka rune staffs from the Magic Item Compendium

Spells items for our mounts and familiars, collars and saddles

A healing kit that allows mundane healing using the heal skill

These two might be cheesy
The stargate staffs
Phoenix Down

The weapon/armor crystal mechanics in Magic Item Compendium was a fresh breath. I recognize you can't/shouldn't just clone the idea, but the core concept is a good one:

Reasonably low-power and price modifications to the two "most important" categories of items in the game.

So much adds a +1 worth of cost to items that they become prohibitive very quickly, without really being worth the cost. A flat-price bump is a cool solution for abilities that aren't terribly flashy.

I'd love a subsystem separate from crafting that allows minor item modifications. Things like switching out a hilt to make the item resistant to grease attacks, for example. Things like sword really are just slotted together with a few fasteners to keep everything sturdy.

I just wanted to make a clarification here. When you say hilt you are talking about the crossguard, not the inclusive hilt, handle, and pommel? Reason being, while the crossguard would be somewhat easy to switch out, depending on the type of sword, the hilt (and sometimes the pommel) are in one piece with the blade of the sword. So, while you might change the wrapping on the handle, and the crossguard or handguard, you would not change the handle/pommel of a sword without some type of a reforging process.

Categories and an organizational structure for mundane equipment, creatures, and services. Spell out what items/services are Alchemical, what are under the writing/books category, what are animals, etc. Doing this will help open up another design target and make finding things much easier.

I think I speak for many when I say I would love to see an optional system to scale up or down the amount of magical gear a party requires in order to deal with CR appropriate enemies. Possibly added to that a system for more complex item creation, where the components for a magic item would be something that had to be sought out, and the creation process difficult or requiring secret knowledge/formulae.

I would appreciate seeing alchemist equivalents for classically arcane items such as metamagic rods (catalyst rods), pearls of power, and rings of wizardry.

More than any one type of item I would be happy with an improved crafting system.

More mundane and magical vehicles. Ship/boat types from history and myth etc
Do Castles Keeps etc count as equipment? More info on them... and maybe even simple rules for running your castle/demesne :-)

It would be cool to see more low-level items. Super Genius Games has tonnes of great ideas in their Loot for Less line, but it would be nice to have that type of thing integrated to official rules. Then we could use it in Pathfinder Society Play!

Sample cateogories to help explain what I meant in the post above

Equipment
Goods and Services

• Animals & Animal-Related Gear
  
• Books, Paper, Art & Writing Supplies
  
• Camping, Hunting, Fishing & Wilderness Survival Equipment
  
• Ceramic Materials
  
• Containers
  
• Cosmetics, Jewelry & Wearable Items
  
• Devices, Tools & Kits
  
• Food, Drink & Lodging
  
• Hirelings, Servants, Fees & Services
  
• Illuminations & Lighting Supplies
  
• Musical Instruments & Noise-Makers
  
• Powders, Oils, Greases & Alchemical Supplies
  
• Religious Items
  
• Toys, Games & Entertainment
  

Various traps, alchemical and curse items

-magical carts, wagons, and chariots. You know in a world of magic someone would have enchanted some. In fact, it would make sense for richer merchants to have a couple in their caravan.

-Camp related items. I know you have a good deal of both magical and mundane, but there are still holes. Most of these are flavor, but there are people that buy stuff just for flavor. Check out and research gear for mountain men back in the late 1700s and 1800s. To help, here is a site that has stuff for reenactments. The hand forged ironware has some items that I couldn't find in any book, but players at my table have asked about. Also, this site has good resources.

-Vehicles like vargos (commonly known as gypsy wagons,) and carts sized for dogs or ponies.

-The Wondrous items have slots that have been given little love. The hands slot, for example, would benefit from more items. All of the slots could use some cheaper items.

-Magical instruments that bards would actually use on a daily basis.

-Mount related items both magical and mundane.

-Vehicle related items both magical and mundane.

-Have starting equipment packages for different classes and types of games. Have the items at the top of the list be the most vital.

-Games, toys, and distractions both magical and mundane.

I was a big fan of "Weapons of Legacy" back in the 3.5e era. If you can include mechanics that allow a character's magical weapon to grow as the character levels, that would be great. I've always thought it rather cheap that players acquire that +1 longsword at an early level, but discard it as soon as the next "bright and shinny" shows up. If a way existed for the item to increase in power as the character levels, that makes the character's bond with the weapon that much greater, and adds a deeper sense of RP and ownership within the game.

Enhancements for weapons and armour that add a flat cost rather than a +1 equivalent would add a lot of variety and customization possibilities to items. I would also greatly appreciate the ability for characters to customize their weapons, something more personalized than "Weapons of Legacy" and allowing characters to stick to one weapon throughout their careers.

Another thing I would like to see is weapons like some of those in the later 3.5 books, that counted as a common weapon for purposes of feats, but had a special bonus that could be unlocked by having an Exotic Weapon Proficiency feat for them.

There are also a few wording choices from the core books that could be changed, such as how shields can only be wielded in an off hand by RAW.

I also agree with what everyone else has said so far, especially about cheaper magic items and the need for a refined crafting system, especially for such things as alchemical items where multiple items can be created with each use of the skill.

Homemade poison rules, Alchemical items, something to reduce price burdens on monk unarmed strikes, more weapon properties

This. Also, alternative rules for adventurers with few magic items, to alleviate the whole magic christmas tree and "I must have a X belt and X weapon just to be a real adventurer" effects.

Two things:

1. Items that are suitable to be the "one special item" that a Pathfinder vow of poverty monk can use (and be meaningful at low, mid and high levels) without making the poverty vow itself obsolete

2. Non-item items (i.e. things that aren't items but they still occupy a slot). Example: magical tattoos.

Add a pants slot. It's been missing for far too long.

Indeed, far to many adventurers run around pantsless.

I'd also like to see rules for magical tattoos, provided they haven't been covered in a previous release.

A magical enhancement to automatically reload a ranged weapon, or a wondrous item to store your arrows/bullets into that auto-loads the weapon.

Low level staffs. At least cheaper ones.

Madclaw wrote:

Add a pants slot. It's been missing for far too long.

Indeed, far to many adventurers run around pantsless.

Magical trousers?! I'm all for it.

Just to head off any unreasonable expectations about this book, let me point out that this is a collection of mundane and magical items. We're not creating new rules systems or subsystems (crafting or otherwise), new rules for poisons, or legendary weapons. If it's not an item that you could reasonably expect to find in the Equipment or Magic Items chapter of the Core Rulebook, it probably won't be in Ultimate Equipment.

The focus is on items PCs are likely to use while adventuring, so you won't see farm tools, chamber pots, and so on.

In general, I'm all for clarifying information that's already out there--for example, we're dividing the section on alchemical items into alchemical tools, alchemical remedies, and alchemical weapons, so other ideas along those lines are very helpful.

more minor items with a "magic feel" things that do unusual things out of combat
flat cost abilities for weapons and armor to customize things and to add little specials, nothing to poweful but things that make a sword+1 in a treasurte hord memorable and interesting

A healing kit that allows mundane healing using the heal skill

You mean like what you can already do with a healer's kit and the heal skill...

Treat Deadly Wounds*

Note: You must expend two uses from a healer's kit to perform this task.

When treating deadly wounds, you can restore hit points to a damaged creature. Treating deadly wounds restores 1 hit point per level of the creature. If you exceed the DC by 5 or more, add your Wisdom modifier (if positive) to this amount. A creature can only benefit from its deadly wounds being treated within 24 hours of being injured and never more than once per day.

You take a –2 penalty on your Heal skill check for each use from the healer's kit that you lack.

Artifacts and relics. Give us some new ones. And make them inspired. Stuff that'll rival the iconic artifacts from the very roots of AD&D.

I'd also like to see rules for magical tattoos, provided they haven't been covered in a previous release.

Inner Sea Magic has some rules for magical tattoos.

Sample cateogories to help explain what I meant in the post above

Equipment

• Musical Instruments & Noise-Makers
  

Those were a focus of my turnover. I didn't do as much on this project as Jason Nelson and Russ Taylor, but I contributed some musical items. Subject to the Editor's knife of course.

Thanks for asking!

Seconded. And sadly missing from my original response.

Also, Sean! You once said there was going to be a campsite kit added to the kits from the PFS Field Guide, so I expect to see all that and more in there.

The Vanities section of the PFS Field Guide... make sure that's in, and give us more vanities!

I'm just hoping for an item that allows enchantment of unarmed strikes without sacrificing the monk's damage dice.

Just to head off any unreasonable expectations about this book, let me point out that this is a collection of mundane and magical items. We're not creating new rules systems or subsystems (crafting or otherwise), new rules for poisons, or legendary weapons. If it's not an item that you could reasonably expect to find in the Equipment or Magic Items chapter of the Core Rulebook, it probably won't be in Ultimate Equipment.

The focus is on items PCs are likely to use while adventuring, so you won't see farm tools, chamber pots, and so on.

In general, I'm all for clarifying information that's already out there--for example, we're dividing the section on alchemical items into alchemical tools, alchemical remedies, and alchemical weapons, so other ideas along those lines are very helpful.

I'm left wondering if this includes Treasure Generation and Placement or not.

If it does not, then a lot of room is going to be "wasted" in the book on a table format that doesn't do much of anything to help GMs. Although this "by slot" organization has piqued my curiosity.

But I strongly suspect that a book with ALL the equipment in it is going to have something to correct the generation and placement problems I've been experiencing. Given the amount of space chewed up by the status quo system in multiple books, it could make or break this product for me.

This is nice but limited, I understand that a mundane kit can never beat out a good cure spell but just something a little better what I am requesting.

Ian Davison wrote:

I'd also like to see rules for magical tattoos, provided they haven't been covered in a previous release.

Inner Sea Magic has some rules for magical tattoos.

Thanks. I'll check it out.

wow, when i heard there was going to be an ultimate equipment guide i thought 'lord, what a scam'

but there are some great ideas in here.

i particularly liked the thought of magical instruments for bards, and more mundane / flavor type items.

there is easily a books worth of stuff just in this thread i would have thought.

castle stuff would be cool too! always loved all those arcane tables in the BECMI series about managing your lands and so forth. its actually something that pathfinder is really missing IMO, its left up to individual DMs - going by the CRB the PCs never progress past the point of being murderous hobos, hehe.