The Tooth of Ahazu (spoilers)

[Dag Hammarskjold]

Malcanthet went through an awful lot of trouble to get the Tooth of Ahazu into the PC's hands. Will this minor aftifact have any specific affect on the game later, or is it just part of a general plan to "beef-up" the PCs so they can succeed?

All it seems to do is to grant a bonus on grapple checks. My group's grappler just bought the farm fighting Slipknot Pete, and the player brought in a new character. I don't think any of my other players will want to use it.

If it is important, I can rig the game a bit to encourage its use. If it is not important, I will just leave it to the PCs, who will probably put it on the next ship back and sell it in Sasserine.

Any advice?

[ikki]

heh, compl warrior has this assassin-grappler... with tooth, jotunbrud feat (large) and 6-armed obah blessed you can hav eone hell of a wrestler making hulk hogan, ludvig borga and the undertker run for their lives :D

[James Jacobs]

If the PCS have the tooth available when they reach adventure #10, "Wells of Darkness," it will be VERY useful. As in, it'll probably save the PCs a lot of money and time and effort. You can still complete "Wells of Darkness" without the Tooth of Ahazu, of course, but it'll be tougher.

In any case, the tooth doesn't take up an item slot and it grants an untyped bonus to grapple, so unless everyone in the group gets permanent freedom of movement effects, there's a pretty good reason to keep it in the group just for the grapple bonus. Because an AWFUL lot of monsters in Savage Tide are grabby.

[ikki]

oh yeah and seems that ahazu can be summoned from the pits, along with shamu.

What a sight..., a party with TWO Demonlords! :D

[Dag Hammarskjold]

James Jacobs wrote:

If the PCS have the tooth available when they reach adventure #10, "Wells of Darkness," it will be VERY useful. As in, it'll probably save the PCs a lot of money and time and effort. You can still complete "Wells of Darkness" without the Tooth of Ahazu, of course, but it'll be tougher.

That's just what I needed. Thanks.

[ikki]

..ah yes.. it was his layer.. right?

[Joseph Jolly]

In the group I DM, the goliath crusader took the tooth...and has developed a nasty habit as a pickpocket ever since. Still, he's making a tidy living in the down time between adventures.

[ikki]

lol.. yeah i imagine a goliath barbarian 16 to be quite a bit better pickpocket than maybe a halfling rogue 17. As in, hey give it back t... what, how do you dare insinuate i tried to steal something!?! I demand a trial by combat -screaming his large lungs out at the commoner :D

[Stannis]

Here's a question...if it's an artifact? How does one go about figuring out what it is other than some magical tooth, since identify doesn't work on artifacts?

[Matthew Vincent]

Stannis wrote:

Here's a question...if it's an artifact? How does one go about figuring out what it is other than some magical tooth, since identify doesn't work on artifacts?

The fact that it is an artifact (obviously, because identify doesn't work) will likely prompt players to want to use it. A little research or trial/error should probably give them a good idea of what it does (mechanically). This sort of stuff is sometimes what makes D&D fun.

[Stannis]

Matthew Vincent wrote:

Stannis wrote:

Here's a question...if it's an artifact? How does one go about figuring out what it is other than some magical tooth, since identify doesn't work on artifacts?

The fact that it is an artifact (obviously, because identify doesn't work) will likely prompt players to want to use it. A little research or trial/error should probably give them a good idea of what it does (mechanically). This sort of stuff is sometimes what makes D&D fun.

I agree, I'm looking for suggestions on how to approach this...story wise. I'm thinking that maybe some divinations spells or perhaps even bardic knowledge might do the trick.

I was also wondering if there were any game mechanics out there that people might be able to point me to.

Thanks

BTW: I'm the DM not a player so please don't think I'm trying to weasel some forbidden knowledge out of this board.

[Matthew Vincent]

Stannis wrote:

I'm looking for suggestions on how to approach this...story wise. I'm thinking that maybe some divinations spells or perhaps even bardic knowledge might do the trick.

Bardic knowledge, or Knowledge religion, arcana or the planes would be my first pick. Give them a bonus if they research it (usually books or libraries can provide at least a +2 circumstance bonus as 'masterwork tools'). They can also employ someone with those skills.

After that, the Legend Lore spell is probably the best option.

In my own campaign the players took no notice of the tooth, so Urol took an interest in it (after realize it was likely an artifact) and studied it. He was able to figure out that it was a tooth of Dalver Nar, and even discovered that it belong to the vestige of Ahazu. But it wasn't until little Tavey (who was missing some baby teeth anyway) had an urge to mischievously try it out that he learned what it did.

[P.H. Dungeon]

The legend lore spell would be a big help

Stannis wrote:

Matthew Vincent wrote:

Stannis wrote:

Here's a question...if it's an artifact? How does one go about figuring out what it is other than some magical tooth, since identify doesn't work on artifacts?

The fact that it is an artifact (obviously, because identify doesn't work) will likely prompt players to want to use it. A little research or trial/error should probably give them a good idea of what it does (mechanically). This sort of stuff is sometimes what makes D&D fun.

I agree, I'm looking for suggestions on how to approach this...story wise. I'm thinking that maybe some divinations spells or perhaps even bardic knowledge might do the trick.

I was also wondering if there were any game mechanics out there that people might be able to point me to.

Thanks

BTW: I'm the DM not a player so please don't think I'm trying to weasel some forbidden knowledge out of this board.