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151)Erastil’s Footprints

Ugly: I feel like these can use a Woodland stride mechanic based on what they already do.

Whoops. I don't think I made it explicit enough that the undergrowth springs up immediately after the wearer enters a square.

Erastil's Footprints:

This was in the official Top 89, and was in my personal Top 64, but not my Top 32. I thought this was a clever, flavorful item. I also think it would have been better if its effects were a little more potent. A line of undergrowth or a single square of heavy undergrowth are both relatively insignificant on a battlefield when compared to the effects of even low-level spells like entangle and fog cloud.

Thanks for the feedback Eric.

It's funny most people found them underpowered, because when I made the item I thought they were the opposite. I thought they'd give you many of the benefits of those AOE battlefield control spells--setting up opportunities to hide, hampering movement, blocking charges--without the drawbacks of catching your own party, even in tight spaces.

But the feedback shows that's not right. I guess they're only a single round effect, in that next round the enemy will probably breach your cover. So spending a standard action to hamper your enemy for a single round isn't terribly powerful. Maybe making them a free action to activate instead of a standard would have made them more competitive.

Thanks to everyone who gave feedback by the way. I've found it 100% helpful and 0% nasty or ego-shredding.

Yes I am sad no one has mentioned my Skein Helm but I am not above slyly inserting it into my post ;-)

Hey I dug your Skein Helm, Coridan. You gave it such a strong memorable flavour using very few words.

Erastil’s Footprints
Aura faint transmutation; CL 5th
Slot feet; Price 8,000 gp; Weight 1 lb.
Description
The owner of these boots will never walk on barren ground, no matter how far they venture from the wilderness. Erastil's footprints constantly emit wild growth, causing small grasses to sprout and flower on any ground they stand on.
The boots can release a surge of growth three times per day on activation. This surge can be a gradual or sudden. With a gradual surge, until the end of the turn any square the owner enters on foot erupts with plant life and becomes undergrowth. With a sudden surge, the square they stand in instantly becomes heavy undergrowth.
Growth created by Erastil's footprints lives for a minute before withering. The remains are benign but conspicuous, granting a +5 bonus on attempts to track the owner.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, plant growth; Cost 4,000 gp