Do other groups use this item??
If you have no idea what im talking about the "Healing Vest" is in one of the Dragon mags i think, and it basicly heals you once per round for 1D8+1 if you have been hit.
Dont sound like much well i can tell you that it has changed games/deaths a number of times!!
Lets say you get dropped to -7 for exsample and instead of the nerve racking "crap i gotta roll and 1 or 2 to live!!" this bloody vest goes off in your turn and you get back up!!
And i cant even say how many times a character has died and then he/she says oh my vest went off the other round and i didnt add it on so im really on -3 and stable.
(and im thinking s+!~, i almost had his sword!!)
We have a house rule that if it goes off when your in negitives your stable but dont get back up untill you get a propper heal etc, and dont bother saying just dont buy one because once one person has one we all want one =)
And the fact that they're only just over a grand dont help either!
Any other partys have this problem because at higher levels 1d8 dont do much but when your 3-4 level that can make a big diff.
guess a dispel magic would ruin that guys day; but no, I have never heard of it; sounds cheesy like in champions when someone wouldnt buy regeneration, but instead 2d6 aid bought continuously on to body or maybe stun; cheaper and more effective, but certainly violating the intent of gaming unless your just doing an all out munchkin thing. If I gave out something like this; it would be charge based and be that spell that heals one point a round for so many rounds; forget the name.
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If you have no idea what im talking about the "Healing Vest" is in one of the Dragon mags i think, and it basicly heals you once per round for 1D8+1 if you have been hit.
Any other partys have this problem because at higher levels 1d8 dont do much but when your 3-4 level that can make a big diff.
In which Dragon is it possible to see this magic item ??
never heard of this...I see your point. However, as a DM, I won't allow a magic item I find too powerful for level 3-4 PCs. I prefer to give them one-shot items, like scrolls or potions...
Also, with a potion (since if you're in the negative you can't drink it by yourself...), it's a question of "team spirit" : you risk an attack of opportunity to save your buddy !!!
After all, PCs are "heroes", and being so, they should do heroic deeds !
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You said that the vest "went off" or activated the round after the character has taken damage. And I am assuming that this is a one use item. Wouldn't that mean that it would have been expended well before they reach negatives or deaths door?
Tam
To answer a number of questions --
Armor of Healing can be found in Dragon 302. The item takes up a vest slot, casts cure light wounds at the end of any round in which the wearer takes damage, and has 50 charges. The gp value of this item is 1,250 gp (according to the magazine -- I believe that this was written during 3.0 and not 3.5, but the difference should be fairly minor).
A few things to consider with this item --
There are only 50 charges on a fully charged Armor of Healing. If someone is taking hits often, this should be depleted fairly quickly.
The wearer has no control over when the item casts cure light. If they only take 1 point of damage, a charge is used up. If they took 30 points of damage, they can't use 2 or 3 charges to heal up more.
The "armor" provides NO armor bonus.
The armor can only use ONE charge a round. Even if the wearer takes damage from a number of different sources.
Last thing -- while it doesn't say specifically, since the charge is used up at the END of the round in which damage is done, I think that if a character is at -10 or lower before the cure light, they are still dead.
Still kind of a nice item, considering the cost, but make sure that you are running it correctly.
Thanks man for the clear up, but you should think of it as a D/R kinda thing because thats what its turn into.
And you would think that being hit every round it would run out pretty fast but when a combat might take say 3-5 rounds if that, thats only 5 charges.
And its taken the point out of the Helm of Healing,(cant remember its real name)the one thats 4d8+7 i think once a day.
I use to take that item all the time but now!?
Ive just brought in a second character in AOW and i did'nt buy a vest so well shall see the difference(the fact that he's a knight/pally i probley should have but im gonna be stong!)
And yeah we also have if your at -10 your dead no matter what.
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...but you should think of it as a D/R kinda thing because thats what its turn into.
I like that. That pretty much is what it amounts to -- a random amount of damage reduction every round (2-9/--). Although temporary (50 charges still).
And you would think that being hit every round it would run out pretty fast but when a combat might take say 3-5 rounds if that, thats only 5 charges.
True, but it seems like you would be using it a lot faster that the player would want it used up.
And its taken the point out of the Helm of Healing,(cant remember its real name)the one thats 4d8+7 i think once a day. I use to take that item all the time but now!?
It is called a Helm of Glorious Recovery and it can be found in the Miniatures Handbook. It does give a little more control to the wearer -- but it doesn't function automatically if the player goes negative. On a side note, a similar item is the Healing ability to armor from Shining South. It heals 20 points of damage if the wearer ever goes negative automatically once a day. At +32,000 gp though, it seems a bit expensive.
Ive just brought in a second character in AOW and i did'nt buy a vest so well shall see the difference(the fact that he's a knight/pally i probley should have but im gonna be stong!)
And yeah we also have if your at -10 your dead no matter what.
I like the name the Dragon article gave the "armor of healing" -- Masochist's Armor. Because the wearer keeps taking damage because of the lower AC.
One last thing -- keep in mind that the article was using the 3.0 rules. I would probably rule that the price should be at least 1,500 gp to 2,500 gp. A wand would have 50 charges but it takes an action to use. An item that doesn't require an action on the character's part is pretty powerful. There isn't much in the DMG to price this kind of item. A "charged" vest of healing should cost 1,000 gp that was spell-triggered. Since this isn't spell triggered AND it doesn't even take up an action on the player's part, I would multiply the cost AT LEAST by 1.5 to 2.5. While the downside is that the wearer doesn't have any control of the charges, that is actually rather minor.
What I am saying is that you might consider modifying the cost of the item to match the actual value -- even at 2,500 gp, the item is still rather powerful, but it might cause the player to think twice.
Just a few thoughts.
Director of Narrative
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Wow! I can't believe such an item was ever printed. We had some fun with the item creation rules and made some pretty munchkiny items, but they were ruled out of play because we were TRYING to make broken items.
Years ago I made a belt that could heal 1d8+1 hp at the utterance of a command word. That's 1st lvl spell (1) x caster lvl 1 (1) x command word wonderous item (1800) totaling a whoppin' 1800gp. (less if you make it only usable by *insert class or race here*. Not that rockin of an item, but more like a ghetto version of regeneration. Use the potions and spells during the fight, then rely on the belt for afterward so the cleric still has spells for the next encounter.
I know how you feel man A lvl 18 Ranger in one of my groups has a earring thats an artifact that his futer lvl 100 king self gave him when in another deminsion well this earring gives the wearer +3 hit points at the beginging at his round Pain In the ASS!
You have some very good points there Moff and i will past them on to my DM - thanks dude.
It's funny because it was just one day at smoko during work and my boss(my DM)was reading the mag and came across it and we both thought it was a cool item and VERY well priced so he put it into our games and we have used them ever since.
Now we both agree that it needs to go but since it has been used for so long in our games he fells its to late to get ride of them.
Im having a go at running a few games that hopfully turns into somthing more and i have already said NO VESTS=)so well shall see how its goes.
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You have some very good points there Moff and i will past them on to my DM - thanks dude.
Not a problem.
For what it is worth, I feel that any item that helps the characters live is probably a good thing -- regardless of the cost or the value. I don't think that I would have too much of a problem with the item -- at a little higher cost.