Prizrak's page

Hey, I visited the forums again and saw your message! Glad to see this is getting an update.

I'm looking forward to the "easy to play" version, since I don't have much interest in tracking acceleration and diagonals and so on.

To make the Steering Tricks more parse-able and let you make some cool ones, what about handing them out like rogue talents and dividing them into Simple and Advanced Steering Tricks?

A fair point.

Thanks for the critique of cyclone flags. I don't think it's overpriced considering it gives a fly speed. (It gives a fly speed?!? Oh yeah, I hid half the mechanics inside a universal monster ability no one would look up.)

Cyclone Flags

Thank you for the review. Perhaps I should have spelled out my own whirlwind ability or summarized the universal monster ability. It seemed strange to reinvent the wheel, but most of the voters probably had no idea this gave a fly speed and creates clouds of debris (e.g.).

While I am proud to have submitted the Quill of the Tengu Sage last year, I had only 20 hours notice to design it and there were many issues that would not have survived the editing process.

So this entry is my first "real" effort, albeit following a year without tabletop gaming. I got top notch feedback in design from Michael Pruess (2013 top 8) and Anthony Adams (no introduction needed), but alas, did not hit the top 100.

I changed this many many times but my only certain regret is the last minute change from wrapping the flags around yourself to reciting a prayer. I think the neat visual is more important than hammering in that they're Tibetan prayer flags.

Hold no punches:

Cyclone Flags
Aura moderate transmutation; CL 9th
Slot none; Price 10,000 gp; Weight —
Description
Alternating blue and white cloth squares dance along a silk rope as though always caught by a breeze. Prayers to the sky and wind are inked onto each cloth in beautiful calligraphy.

Once per day, the bearer may spend a standard action to recite one of the prayers and transform into a whirlwind of cloth and air. This grants the whirlwind universal monster ability for 1 minute or until dismissed (10-30 ft. high, 1d6 + Strength modifier damage, DC 10 + 1/2 class level + Strength modifier).

While holding one end of the string or in whirlwind form, strong wind (21+ mph) causes the bearer to be blown away, except she chooses the direction she moves and is neither damaged nor knocked prone. Any creatures trapped in the whirlwind take an additional 2d6 nonlethal damage from the buffeting winds.

A worshipper of the Air or Weather domain may use the cyclone flags as a holy symbol.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, control winds; Cost 5,000 gp

You're all making ridiculous assumptions. My item received more upvotes than could be expressed in 128 bits and looped around back to the bottom of the rankings.

Thank you! :)

I never saw your tooth item but I have a fondness for those. Mind posting or PMing it?

Honorable Mention

Cyclone Flags

Thankee kindly, sir, thankee kindly.

Can't win, can you? :P

Thanks for the list while it was up, Eric.

Locals who have braved the ancient ruins tell tales of booming footfalls, and trails of a strange white sand that melts into water. And who but giants could have built tombs so large?

In truth, the monumental architecture was built by the men of long-fallen empires, and the few frost giants hidden within are the descendants of refugees, hunting in the chill of the desert night and terrified into secrecy by legends of the Steel Church and its bloody purges.

I challenge you now to the letter V!

Vanward versifier vamoosing, virgin vocalists vie valiantly. Vocalization-verging vocabulary: variable. Veil vigilantly.

I've only played 1 day of pathfinder in the last 365, but I have more than 20 hours' notice on the contest, so I think it's a net improvement. :)

Come on, I know you better than that, where's

chocolates check. ?

Templating is almost right but there should be a non-italicized comma after chocolates.

You can still make it in your first year! I found out about this last year with only 20 hours to make my item, and.. and... TWO PEOPLE said fairly nice things about it!

Fortunately I have now participated in the Blazing 9 Minutes so I should be all set, right?

Hard to say how successful gloves have been without knowing how many gloves were submitted.

I'm taking a guess though that a lot of the winners we are seeing now are the 'guys' from (the 80s-90s roleplaying communities).

Do we have some stats about when the current crops of 'top 8's' started playing, and their general demographics?

You can take a look at past entrants' profiles. Last year's top 8 list their ages as 22, 25, 31, 33, 36, 37, "north of 40", and (unmentioned but played back in the 80s), and the two youngest have been playing since they were kids. It's possible that it might take a while for the demographic shift to percolate from the gaming population at large to entrants of design competitions.

Papasteve08 wrote:

Better Part of Valor Boots

*name needs work, valor boots would be enough of the phrase to get the point across, (admittedly it does lack the oomph necessary to hook a reader)

Booter Part of Valor >__>

*are the pluses in the final paragraph to the DC or to the save. It reads as DC, but when an ally dies it should be easier to resist, not harder.
**if weather affects movement is it ignored mechanically (five foot square being five feet) or is it ignored mind-affectingly (hmmm... I made it to the end of the room, but it took me two rounds instead of one).
***something of a plot device (or maybe a cursed item) as the only PC who would use these is one unaware of the abilities.

I have seen a lot of rose-colored lenses, but affecting weather and movement is new. Nice job. :)

* Those increase the DC, but that DOES make it easier to resist. I was sloppy not revamping this: be forewarned, submitters, having a DC the player sometimes wants to fail is completely unintuitive. (Also, can you voluntarily fail a Will save? I have no idea.)

Weather or not an item is considered cliche is something that worries me after my (first) item last year got some quill-hate (also some way-bigger-problems-than-that hate), so it's good to hear "what's been done".

My buddy and I spitballed your rose colored glasses idea. Just a couple of random brainstorm ideas we came up with. (that admittedly completely change your item) For what its worth, we both loved the idea, and even though we have no 'street cred' we thought it was a superstar quality idea. We are both bummed you submitted it here.
(...)
You could take it a million directions. Which is why it is fun, and why we liked it.

Thank you very much! Nerve-wracking to hear you chose the wrong item to reveal, but while I do think it's a fun concept with a lot of potential, I don't think it's the best choice for this contest.

How I could improve it:
* Replace the "Will save to disbelieve reality" with a more intuitive mechanic, or remove the drawback for succeeding on a save.
* Add more "shiny" as Anthony said. Even without the drawback most people aren't wowed by the idea of dealing with mundane problems.

Problems that would still remain:
* Using real world idioms and concepts like "rose colored glasses" and "inaccurate weatherman" might rub people the wrong way. It's difficult to achieve the right amount of subtlety so it's a funny reference but still a reasonable in-world item.
* The added "shiny" would have to stay true to the theme of avoiding weather inconveniences and still wow people. This is achievable but it seems a big hurdle to set in front of myself when I could start with a more contest-appropriate concept in the first place.

Removing the weatherman theme and building it from the ground up as an optimism item neatly avoids some of these issues, and I'd love to see more of your ideas for that item. :)

=====
Oh, I missed the "anthracite" in Anthony's item. Personally I like the word but anthracite is jagged, not smooth and flat.

Thanks for the feedback, guys! Good point about night. At one stage the roses did distort your vision and continue the "weatherman" joke by making you even more an optimist (Perception penalties to spot threats, enemies gain concealment against you). But I have a weakness for story items (ones that lead to memorable moments, like the one Papasteve posted) and went with the bigger, funnier drawback instead.

I'm aware that most adventurers don't agree with my great purchase decisions (expensive items that will kill me), & will keep it in mind for my actual submission. :)

Was going to limit myself to 45 minutes, ending up spending 115. Had a lot of fun though!

Weatherman's Goggles
Aura moderate illusion; CL 9th
Slot eyes; Price 10,000 gp; Weight —
Description
In lieu of lenses, these goggles place two massive glass roses over the wearer's eyes, their elaborate petals always revealing a beautiful sunny day regardless of the actual weather. Fog, dust storms, and precipitation never affect the wearer's sight, who can even see objects completely buried in snow.

Whenever the wearer would be adversely affected by weather, he must make a Will save (see charts below). If he succeeds, he refuses to believe in its existence and ignores all weather-related movement penalties for the next ten minutes. The goggles offer no protection from extremes of temperature or other dangers, and until the wearer fails a save he will take no actions to avoid or mitigate any of these that result from weather (including removing the goggles).

Weather type and DC to disbelieve (see Table: Random Weather):
* Normal weather: DC 0
* Abnormal weather: DC 15
* Inclement weather: DC 20
* Storm: DC 25
* Powerful storm: DC 30

DC Modifiers:
* Wearer took damage from weather since disbelief began: +5, increasing by +5 each save as long as damage continues
* An ally falls unconscious or dies from weather: immediate new save against +15 DC

Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, misdirection, persistent image, read weather Cost 5,000 gp;

Hello everyone! I don't think I've been on these forums since last year's contest, so it's time to butter up the voters dive back into wondrous items.

Anthony - You made an escalator work in Pathfinder! I like it.

Wording critique:
* "multi-hued coil of an imperial sky dragons snake like torso" should be replaced by something snappy.
* Name is also awkward.
* You say "another solid surface" but as written the pebble only requires a solid surface at the target, not the point of origin.
* It took me a couple rereads to figure out that the last sentence referred to the creature's base speed and not their 20 ft movement rate atop the coils (but maybe I'm thick). Could it be replaced by "...along at speed 20 feet, in addition to regular movement."?

Mechanics critique:
* How wide are the coils?
* How do I retrieve my 10,000 gold pebble at the end of the effect?

====
I'll try to make an item or few today, someone else say something so I don't feel irrationally guilty for doubleposting later.

And now blackwood drakes are "real" creatures, and they have pollen. :)

I was objecting to the idea that spores had more biological precedence than pollen. Each of them requires a stretch of reasoning, and pollen is the more appropriate fit for a plant-themed monster.

The "spores" suggestion has been made many times in this thread and it baffles me. Neither pollen nor spores are used by any real animal. Spores grow on their own, while pollen fertilizes the other gamete on plants -- perhaps the flowers on the tree-statues, in order to produce more pollen. :)

Thanks for the critique of Doombreaker. I agree it's tailored to a campaign with a specific type of plot, and thus not something I would be happy submitting in this contest, but I still find people's opinions on it interesting and valuable. :)

True, it doesn't use the pollen for /its/ reproduction. But actual nature has created stranger symbiotic relationships than this: a drake that gathers pollen to use as poison, and a plant that deposits its pollen on an animal to spread it further.

Thanks for the review of doombreaker oracle, Garrick. I have mixed feelings about it: I think it's too campaign-dependent to be publishable, but I have a soft spot for it as a homebrew for a DM and player that want to spin that particular story together. As written, the player chooses an enemy during character creation, but it's completely unclear whether the DM or player chooses who the next enemy is... good job, me. :P

The doombreaker is awkwardly halfway between a new curse and an archetype, in my opinion), but a straightforward paranoia curse would be easy to write up and wouldn't mesh with the cooperative abilities the doombreaker gets. So I think that would be something entirely separate, only sharing a little flavor.

I agree, the mind-affecting descriptor is a better fit – thanks! (And yes, the original wizard limitation was awful.)

Guess I'm the first Oracle then. It's simple but fun; I doubt this would be what I'd submit if I were in the top 32, but I'm glad I made it.

Doombreaker (Oracle)
A doombreaker is thrown onto the divine path when she is marked for death, discovering a new source of power in her efforts to avoid fate. Regardless of the mystery she draws upon, a doombreaker appears haggard and desperate, quick to lend her powers to anyone who can help her stay one step ahead of her own death. Although oracles tend not to gather in large numbers, Daggermark doombreakers hunted by the same infamous Assassins' Guild often join forces to share their chosen methods of defying a bloody end.
Decreed to Die (Ex): At first level, a doombreaker chooses one person or group actively seeking to slay her. If that enemy ever cease the attempt for any reason, the doombreaker loses access to her revelations and bonus spells until a new enemy (or the same one) begins to pursue her (in which case they become the only enemy affected by this ability). The doombreaker is always awake and aware when one of her chosen enemies is within 60 feet, and suffers from the frightened condition in that circumstance. At 5th level, the penalty is reduced to shaken and the doombreaker may spend a standard action once per day to grant a willing touched target the benefits of one of her revelations as long as he is fighting or evading her chosen enemy (for a maximum duration of 5 rounds or 1 use within the next 5 rounds). At 10th level, the doombreaker gains an additional spell per day which she can only use to cast one of her bonus spells while fighting or evading a chosen assassin. At 15th level, the doombreaker no longer needs to touch a target to convey her revelation, and the benefits are imparted to any number of willing targets she chooses within 30 feet. This ability replaces oracle's curse.

Thanks for the critique.

1) The original version limited it to spells with the [language-dependent] descriptor, which is more related to language-loving tengu and more balanced. I was told repeatedly that the item was "too niche" so I experimented with this change to see if it would be better received. Considering balance implications especially, I still prefer the original limitation (and I would knock the price back down to 4,000 gp or thereabouts).

2) Since tengu have feathers, it makes a lot more sense to me that they would use quills. And I like the ambiguity -- is this a quill used by a tengu sage, or plucked from a tengu sage?

3) The limitation by spell slots was actually the feature I was complimented on most, since it balances the item with the very straightforward currency exchange of 1 spell slot = 1 spell.

4) I don't share your objection to items that make (specific) items, or items that "make writing weird", but I understand the desire to keep things simple.

5) Interesting idea to make this an archetype or class. Given the hugely varied reactions I got (from Epic Meepo's personal top 16 to GM_S.'s "lower-middling", and almost every review giving me a new critique), you're probably correct that this is too ambitious to be a widely appealing wondrous item.

Made it usable by all spellcasters instead of just wizards, removed the "language-dependent descriptor" condition, raised the price from 4,000gp to 6,000gp, replaced the magic mouth requirement with imbue with spell ability and made accompanying aura and CL changes, partially reworded.

Quill of the Tengu Sage
Aura moderate evocation and divination; CL 7th
Slot none Price 6,000 gp; Weight –
Description
This long, black feather is capped with a silver pen nib in the shape of a bird's tongue. In the hands of a writer who does not know its purpose, its ink writhes across the page, altering the handwriting and sometimes the meaning of the writer. Someone trained in Linguistics may take advantage of this to forge a document in a language they cannot read.

A spellcaster may use the quill to conceal a spell with a single target within an ordinary text. The process of writing the text takes one hour (or the spell's casting time if longer), during which the creator makes all the decisions normally made at the time of casting. The completed text must be at least one page long and emits a magical aura of the same strength and school as the spell stored.

A spell stored in this away permanently uses up a spell slot (for a prepared spellcaster) or a spell per day (for a spontaneous spellcaster) until the text is read, upon which the text becomes nonmagical. The creator chooses whether to maintain the effect each day when receiving spells.

When the text is read in full, the spell is cast upon the reader at the creator's caster level. The creator is aware that the spell was triggered but does not know the nature of the target nor whether the spell had the desired effect.

Any attempt to store additional magical writing in the same text triggers both the original spell and (if applicable) the new glyph or rune, destroying the text.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, imbue with spell ability, tongues; Cost 3,000 gp

Chris didn't sink, he has a skiff! But my commiserations, I would have liked to see you in the next round.

And James, take heart. It may not be a displayable title, but you have my favorite avatar of all the contestants.

I know, but nothing stood out enough for my 7th and 8th. Or maybe I'm just indecisive. :)

You are one of the 6 contestants I'm enthusiastic enough to vote for this round... but to be completely honest, your archetype is significantly less interesting to me than the other 5, both in mechanics and flavor. I unabashedly admit that I want to see the creator of the Quicksand Cloak come up with another amazing idea like the first one.

Like the Everbloom Monk, this archetype achieves perfect River Kingdoms feel through mechanics instead of forced flavor fluff.

Like the Skinchanger, this archetype provides a balanced mechanical identity for a figure that already exists in popular imagination -- an archetype!

Like the Scallywag, this is a charming idea that I would love to play.

My absolute top-favorite of the 32.

Usually the position of judging a friend against strangers is awkward, full of worry about whether you're unreasonably biased.

I have no such reservation in this case. Your archetype is a remarkable achievement in marrying balance, mechanics, and flavor, and I wholeheartedly give you one of my 6 votes.

You might have already had my vote if the only ability was Ring the Temple Bell <3. More seriously, this shows exactly the kind of creative thinking that results in an memorable, unique archetype that still fits perfectly within the design constraints.

I've limited myself to 6 votes because beyond that too many of the RK-appropriate, mechanically balanced archetypes blur in a many-way tie of blah blah blah river freedoms and oaths. Your more oblique approach rockets you above them and earns you one of those 6.

I didn't expect to be impressed by this one, but you overcame my reservations. The name of the archetype and abilities are uninspired, the idea has been done to death, the river kingdoms tie in is weak... yet of all the countless variations on shapeshifting I've ever seen in an RPG, this one might be my favorite. The feral witch with a literal connection to the shapes she takes blows the sissy druid out of the water, and your deft hand in laying out clean, useful mechanics won me over despite my foolish desire for more ridiculous ideas.

You have one of my 6 votes.

Replacing a cavalier's mount with a boat is inspired, and shows the same delightful creativity as your Cloudwrangler's Gloves and your unsubmitted Kettle item. Reading further, I found the other abilities not too mechanically interesting, but they do an adequate job fleshing out the archetype, and considering both items and archetypes I think you're easily one of the most interesting contestants to follow.

You have one of my 6 votes.

And here's the second requested review for nate lange:

Woodengolem has taken me up on my offer:

But seriously, I hope you found the review useful, Woodengolem.

This thread is aggravatingly difficult to follow. :(

If anyone wants more critiques primarily on language use and flavor, or are just desperate for another review, they can message me and I'll post it here.

I'm really looking forward to round 2, constraining it to the river kingdoms should breed a lot of creative ideas. My brainstorming came up with the Doombreaker oracle, the Reclamation Druid, and the Danglosa's Lure bard... hm, maybe I should finish them and check out the homebrew forum.

Quill of the Tengu Sage - Pretty good item. I like the permanently used spell slot until the scroll is read. That balances it nicely. I wonder about the magic mouth requirement. Not a wide appeal item, but it does what it does well.

Thanks for the critique! Considering Magic Mouth doesn't trigger magical effects, I agree it was a poor choice of requirement. Glad you liked the spell slot mechanic, I haven't seen it used before and I thought it was the best currency to use: can't get more balanced than 1 spell slot = 1 spell.

Thanks for the critique of Quill of the Tengu Sage, it was indeed extremely niche. I wish I had had time to expand it to all spellcasters or more spells without being too wordy, but even if I had, it's probably only going to appeal to roleplaying spellcasters in the right campaign. :/

Continuing through the ranks of the unreviewed:

Man, every time I try to do this I get distracted by something happening. More tomorrow!

EDIT: I'm unfamiliar with these forums; apparently I can't edit the list of unreviewed items I posted higher up this page, so, uh, sorry about that. It's going to get inaccurate as I go through it and other people add their own reviews. But people could always use another critiquer, so go for it anyway!

I'm going to attempt to ensure that no one who wants criticism walks away from the thread empty-handed, or at least make progress into the long list of people who currently fall into that category.

I'm rules-rusty so I'll focus more on language and flavor, but I'll certainly talk about any mechanical concerns I have as well.

I took so long doing these that an indomitable reviewer covered all of them and got through every item on the first 2 pages, but that's fine by me. :)

If anyone else wants to give some unreviewed items some love, here's a list:

Here's what I submitted. Please critique however you'd like, but there are also two specific questions I have:

Apparently there was some "quill fatigue" among voters – is this always an overdone item type? Are there any others, apart from maps?

Would it improve if it had additional/optional interaction with a supplement like Words of Power? I wanted to do so but didn't have the time (I had ~20 hours of notice before the deadline). Should I strive for comprehensive or simple, or rather, what should distinguish my approach for either one?

Okay, I have more ideas about what I want to change, but I should leave the tearing apart to you all. :)

Quill of the Tengu Sage
Aura faint divination and illusion; CL 5th
Slot none Price 4,000 gp; Weight –
Description
This long, black feather is capped with a silver pen nib in the shape of a bird's tongue. In the hands of a writer who does not know its purpose, its ink writhes across the page, altering the handwriting and sometimes the meaning of the writer. Someone trained in Linguistics may take advantage of this to forge a document in any language they have seen a written example of, even one they do not know.

A wizard may use the quill to write a text concealing a prepared wizard spell with the language-dependent descriptor and a single target. The process takes one hour (or the spell's casting time if longer), during which the wizard makes all decisions normally made at the time of casting. The completed text must be at least one page long and emits a magical aura of the same strength and school as the spell stored.

A spell stored in this way permanently uses up a spell slot until the text is read or the wizard decides to prepare a new spell in that slot, upon which the text becomes nonmagical.

When the text is read in full, the spell is cast upon the reader at the wizard's caster level. The wizard is aware that the spell was triggered but does not know the nature of the target nor whether the spell had the desired effect.

Any attempt to store additional magical writing in the same text triggers both the original spell and (if applicable) the new glyph or rune, destroying the text.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, magic mouth, tongues, creator must be a wizard; Cost 2,000 gp

Well, I'm all warm and fuzzy inside now. Thanks, all.

I think all my favorites have been mentioned –– both nautilus pack of tangled tentacles and roost of razors wowed me completely, and that halfling wizard cloak earned a huge laugh.

Thanks for the mention, Garrete Guillotte! I made the Quill of the Tengu Sage and never saw it during voting nor thread discussion until now. Glad you liked it. :)

Good lord, am I still on the internet? This has been the most respectful public discussion of women in gaming that I've read in years. I'm sorry not to contribute much of value, but this is really making me want to spend more time on the paizo forums.

Tim the Cabin boy walks the plank. 5d4 rounds later, an enormous Tim arises from the sea to wreak revenge.