I was reading up on magical items the other night and kept finding cool stuff I had always overlooked before.
And it got me thinking...
Top 10 list. Encompassing the most useful, powerful, or just plain nifty items/weapons/etc...
My favorite item so far is the "Ring of Sustenance." After one week of wearing the ring, you no longer need to eat or drink and you only need two hours of sleep a night. ( so long as you keep wearing it, as most rings )
Anyone else have ideas?
-Kurocyn
As a DM, I've found that NOTHING brings more exitement and terror to the table as the fabled Deck of Many Things.
Ultradan
I agree with Ultradan; some foolish character will pull a card; my decks are always made by my efreeti brethern and while can be advantageous; are always full of trouble. hehe like the 4th level fighter and a small keep; sure you get the title to the keep; but the old owner doesnt want to leave; or maybe they all got displaced 200 miles away and are marching back, maybe that 4th level fighter who is so loyal is wanted for some crime or just left his wife to follow you and they are looking for him and he is looking to the pc for protection.
hehe the deck is a thing of terror; no matter what happens it will be good adventuring fun though.
Wings of flying. For those PC's that just want that extra bit of drama while flying.
My Top Ten:
* Alchemical Capsules - Much niftier than a flask
* Belt of Many Pockets - Can you /have/ too many pockets?
* Casting Glove - Like a glove of storing, but you can use the item stored inside (like a wand, potion, rod, etc) without taking it out.
* Dragon Marks - Very nifty concept, IMO.
* Dragon Shards - Excellent idea for a consistent, ubiquitous magic component.
* Garrote - Touch attack of DOOM. I love these things for eviltry.
* Constructs - Come on, what's /not/ to like?!
* Heward's Handy Haversack - It's so handy, Handy is its middle name!
* Hammer of Thunderbolts - Alright you primitive screw-heads, this is my BOOM STICK!
* Magebred Animals - Making trained critters more useful, one eugenics program at a time.
Silver Bane Sword of Were-ninny destruction!
Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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I was going to say that I've always thought the Rod of Lordly Might was cool (in the first-time-reading-the-DMG-as-a-kid-way), but I'm afraid to say that considering that Mike McArtor has a dirty mind.
The decanter of endless water (is that right?) deserves an honorable mention as the most abused magic item in existence. Does any gaming group out there not have a story about how they used the decanter to fight off a mob/flood out a goblin den/save the cheerleader?
Definitely Heward's Handy Haversack. My all-time favorite :)
Let me see. Hewards Haversack, ring of Sustinace, ring of warmth (?), amulet of +3 natural armor, decanter of endless water, boots of striding & leaping, and a few potions of healing. There! Now I am ready to hike the Appalachian trail!
The decanter of endless water (is that right?) deserves an honorable mention as the most abused magic item in existence. Does any gaming group out there not have a story about how they used the decanter to fight off a mob/flood out a goblin den/save the cheerleader?
LOL! Yes, I have a story. Planescape. Somehow managed to get to Dark Sun. Player subsequently treated as a king.
Favorite items...sheesh, so many to choose from...
1.) Heward's handy haversack/bag(s) of holding. Never, ever gets old.
2.) Gauntlets of rust. Too useful to pass up.
3.) Glove of storing.
4.) Cloak of elvenkind. Oldie, but goodie.
5.) Boots of feather falling. Never take your boots off again.
6.) Hand & Eye of Vecna. The backstory on this is just too cool to pass up.
7.) Holy Avenger. A sword that would make a paladin drool and crave - what's not to like? :D
8.) Rod of Severed Tongues. The ick factor in this one is well worth describing it, in lurid detail, to your players.
9.) Staff of the Magi. When you absolutely, positively have to blow something up - accept no substitutes.
10.) Apparatus of Kwalish. This always struck me as inherently cool, but I have yet to actually use it in an adventure.
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Contributor
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I was going to say that I've always thought the Rod of Lordly Might was cool (in the first-time-reading-the-DMG-as-a-kid-way), but I'm afraid to say that considering that Mike McArtor has a dirty mind.
More blind than dirty-minded (I really did think I saw what I said). ;P
But yeah, the rod of lordly might is super awesome. One of my favorite items. I wrote a variant for Complete Scoundrel but I had to change it. You can still see the very heavy RoLM influence in the final product, though. :)
There are other items that are also fun to use or to hand out. A ring of invisibility is just fun. As are all the Quaal's feather tokens (but most especially the tree).
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Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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But yeah, the rod of lordly might is super awesome. One of my favorite items. I wrote a variant for Complete Scoundrel but I had to change it. You can still see the very heavy RoLM influence in the final product, though. :)
Those bastards at Wizards!!! How dare they.
There's also an evil variant in the Dragon Compendium (or was it the DMGII?)
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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1.) Heward's handy haversack/Bag(s) of Holding I agree with Lilith and several others here.
2.) Shield of the Praetor I gave this to a 20th-level cleric in a game I ran once. Holy crap.
3.) Ring of Wizardry Every arcane caster should wear two of these, preferably of the highest level possible.
4.) Sovereign Glue Need I say more?
5.) 10-foot pole So many stories behind this one...
6.) Anullus The only psionic item I ever cared for (probably because its main purpose is to destroy psionic stuff).
7.) Wand of Lightning Bolt Every rogue I've ever played has gotten one of these. They're SO useful!
8.) Angelwing Razor From the Book of Vile Darkness. A truly grisly way to fashion a sword. And wickedly powerful to boot!
9.) Ring of Three Wishes The power to simultanously solve the biggest problems... and create them!
10.) The Sword of Kas I have a soft spot for hideously evil swords. This one wins.
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Wand of Wonder - (Yeah, I know it's a Rod now. It's still a WoW.)
Immovable Rod - "So you want to stop a cavalry charge, hmmm? I've got just the thing."
And nearly any of the old Eldritch Wizardry artifact designs (many of the new versions are still pretty interesting, for that matter). - "So you're sure you want to cut your eye out? Make me a Wisdom check, an Intelligence check, and heck, make me a Will save and a Fortitude save, too."
I've always loved Heward's Handy Haversack and Quiver of Ehlonna. Boots of flying always come in handy too. Weird that no one has mentioned portable holes.
One item that I think is absolutely insane is the Retributive Amulet (Book of Exalted Deeds, page 116). Basically, whenever the wearer gets hit with a natural or hand-held weapon, the attacker takes half the damage. If the total is odd, the extra point goes to the attacker. This item basically doubles your HP in melee! Pretty nasty, if you ask me.
I have a question concerning this particular item as well as the other exalted magic items in the book. Do you have to be good aligned to use them? I would say that non-intelligent items don't have an alignment, so they work regardless of the character's alignment, unless stated in the item's description (such as the tomes that give you free XP in the DMG). Can a neutral or evil-aligned character use the non-intelligent magic items described in the BoED such as the Retributive Amulet?
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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The decanter of endless water (is that right?) deserves an honorable mention as the most abused magic item in existence. Does any gaming group out there not have a story about how they used the decanter to fight off a mob/flood out a goblin den/save the cheerleader?
You want the honest truth? A decanter of endless water has never even been seen in any game I've played in or run over the last 12 years. It's true.
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10) Immovable Rod -- "The walls are closing in around us..."
9) Rod of Security -- Many battles were successful because of this one item.
8) Decanter of Endless Water -- I don't need to say more...
7) Portable Hole -- Ok, not as "handy" as the haversack, but it holds a whole lot more...
6) Tome of Books (Underdark) -- From one who has a whole mess of books, this is just cool.
5) Rod of Wonder -- I love random items.
4) Tentacled weapons (Underdark) -- same effect as a vorpal weapon with more of an "Eeeewwwweee" factor.
3) Ranged shield (Expanded Psionics Handbook) -- who wouldn't want Captain America's shield?
2) Ring of Evasion -- probably the most important ring a wizard or fighter can own.
1) ** just for fun ** Murlynd's Spoon with Spice Jar (Magic of Faerun) -- You will never go hungry and it will taste great.
Pie.
But killing that orc to get it can be so tiresome...
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Pie.But killing that orc to get it can be so tiresome...
We should do an online contest here for the most creative version of "The Worlds Smallest Adventure". All the essential elements must be in place. Orc. Pie. 20X20 room. I bet some of the guys here would make versions that actually would be really sweet to play. Any takers? If so we can start another thread for this.
FH (just a thought)
I've always been a fan of the horseshoes of zypher. The mental image of a mounted warrior in full armor charging across a lake or something has always seemed cool to me.
Most prized among my players was the Deck of Many Things. That always brought hoots and hollers of triumph, as well as exclamations of ever higher numbers of cards intended to be drawn.
Rings of Protection got the few rare "targetted missions".
Aside from that, can't really recall.
Wand of Wonder - (Yeah, I know it's a Rod now. It's still a WoW.)
This came up in my game too...
Jeremy the DM: Its a Rod??? screw that I'm giving it charges. Its just not the same if it has unlimited uses IMO. Now has anyone seen my cane, I lost my bifocals...
The decanter of endless water (is that right?) deserves an honorable mention as the most abused magic item in existence. Does any gaming group out there not have a story about how they used the decanter to fight off a mob/flood out a goblin den/save the cheerleader?You want the honest truth? A decanter of endless water has never even been seen in any game I've played in or run over the last 12 years. It's true.
So then I guess your players have never had an opportunity to save the cheerleader?
Eversmoking bottle is one of my favourites.
My players are really big on Skin of Ectoplasmic Armour (p. 110 Complete Psionic). The moment I introduced that book the players went nuts and these things sprouted like mushrooms. A sure sign that the item is unbalanced ... though on two read throughs it just does not strike me as totally out there.
The reason for its popularity are that its armour that is not armour. Nothing about it implies to me that a monk could not wear this or a ranger and still enjoy their full class abilities. No effect on speed (big deal for my players - they are keen on being able to run away) and its virtually weightless. It even comes off quickly (read at will) in case armour check penalties have become more of a problem then not having armour is. All this for a mere 3000 GP.
One thing more powerful and Game wreaking than a deck of many things-
The TAROT deck of many things. There are about 300 differnt thnigs that can happen as each of the cards can be drawn reversed.
They are BRUTAL. You use a real Tarot deck to do this - and have the players draw the cards with much ceromony. We put candles on and I wear a cloak to make it freakyer.
And When your playing with 12 year olds and they go home and tell their parents what they did in D and D at the old witch womans shack...
Well... you better take the phone off the hook.
Sphere of Anihilation- Just cool
Iron Flask- Ask yourself; do ya feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?
Deck of Many Things- The most memorable, exciting moments I've had as a player were in the session when we found a great wyrm red dragon dead with a deck of cards in front of him. We all took turns with this delightfully wicked artifact, except one player who refused to touch it. We had a blast try to convince him to pull out some cards. "Come on, do it!"
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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So then I guess your players have never had an opportunity to save the cheerleader?
How sad is it when I know that this is a reference to the TV show "Heroes" even though I have not watched more than 15 minutes of television in the last year and a half?!? (That's not an exaggeration, either.)
They put these damn ads on the RADIO! It's my only exposure to mainstream media and I get it for about an hour a day (to and from work). Why on earth do they advertise TV shows on the radio?!? Gaaaahhhh!!! (P.S. No, I am not going to start watching TV because of it. Their clever tactic has failed against me.)
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So then I guess your players have never had an opportunity to save the cheerleader?How sad is it when I know that this is a reference to the TV show "Heroes" even though I have not watched more than 15 minutes of television in the last year and a half?!? (That's not an exaggeration, either.)
They put these damn ads on the RADIO! It's my only exposure to mainstream media and I get it for about an hour a day (to and from work). Why on earth do they advertise TV shows on the radio?!? Gaaaahhhh!!! (P.S. No, I am not going to start watching TV because of it. Their clever tactic has failed against me.)
Best show I have seen in years (no lie!). I absolutely love watching it. It is like a dark pre-X-men show. All about these guys slowly finding out that they have super-human abilities. It is wild! You should turn the TV on for this and only this. Or wait until it comes out on DVD and buy it to watch. A must see.
So then I guess your players have never had an opportunity to save the cheerleader?How sad is it when I know that this is a reference to the TV show "Heroes" even though I have not watched more than 15 minutes of television in the last year and a half?!? (That's not an exaggeration, either.)
They put these damn ads on the RADIO! It's my only exposure to mainstream media and I get it for about an hour a day (to and from work). Why on earth do they advertise TV shows on the radio?!? Gaaaahhhh!!! (P.S. No, I am not going to start watching TV because of it. Their clever tactic has failed against me.)
Well you seem to have more info on the reference then me. I had no idea what it referred to though it made me think of the movie But I'm the Cheerleader. Like you, I watch almost no TV and, when I listen to the radio I listen to a station broadcasting out of Strasbourg in France.
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Best show I have seen in years (no lie!). I absolutely love watching it. It is like a dark pre-X-men show. All about these guys slowly finding out that they have super-human abilities. It is wild! You should turn the TV on for this and only this. Or wait until it comes out on DVD and buy it to watch. A must see.
I agree that the show is awesome. I like the way they have these sometimes subtle (sometimes not) background connections between the various heroes (like the mysterious Mr. Linderman), and how they are slowly being drawn together to fight a monstrous evil. My favorite character on the show is a draw between Matt the telepathic cop and Nikki/Jessica, the Jekyl and Hyde chick.