Horn of the Dark Hunt

[Neil Spicer]

Mike Speck wrote:

I love the FX when a big bad is within the cone -- it's the horn's way of saying "It's ON! Boss Fight! Kill it (again)!" I'm not crazy about the blinding/deafening of the user -- seems like it just becomes WAY too risky for my vampire hunter to pursue these critters alone in a mad horn-blowing rush, only to be blind and deaf when he finally encounters Vlad face-to-face. However, the DCs are low enough that anyone that driven will probably make them, so it doesn't much concern me.

I agree that the DCs are low enough that it's probably not an issue. However, I can't help thinking of alternatives. Maybe it would be neater if the big blast of light and sound that happens when you encounter a major undead adversary within the cone's effect would be that it either:

a) risks blinding and deafening both the horn blower and the undead creature, or...
b) creates such a tremendous flash of light and sound that instead of outlining tracks in mere faerie fire, it results in something more powerful but less hampering...say, an immediate daylight spell gets invoked to light up the entire area...and layer on a flare effect (no save) and a sound burst that hits everyone.

After that, it's on like Donkey Kong... ;-D

My two-cents,
--Neil

[magdalena thiriet]

Montalve wrote:

Tarren Dei wrote:

Ravenloft as Christmas Tree? The conditions modifiers for weather and passage of time apply as normal so it wouldn't be soooo bad. Still, Castle Ravenloft would be very pretty.

except for the fact that i don't like how House of Sthrad translated to 3.5... i have just a comment

do you really want to track undeads in Ravenloft? only the very brave and the fool track undeads in there, the smart ones will blow the horn and see where not to go... the cruious and the hunters of the dead would discover the lair and return by day

That would be a nice moment though too, blowing this horn and noting that you are standing in the middle of field of light. "oh dear..."

[Trevor Gulliver]

magdalena thiriet wrote:

Montalve wrote:

Tarren Dei wrote:

Ravenloft as Christmas Tree? The conditions modifiers for weather and passage of time apply as normal so it wouldn't be soooo bad. Still, Castle Ravenloft would be very pretty.

except for the fact that i don't like how House of Sthrad translated to 3.5... i have just a comment

do you really want to track undeads in Ravenloft? only the very brave and the fool track undeads in there, the smart ones will blow the horn and see where not to go... the cruious and the hunters of the dead would discover the lair and return by day

That would be a nice moment though too, blowing this horn and noting that you are standing in the middle of field of light. "oh dear..."

"Oh dear" are not the words I would use. ;-)

[Trevor Gulliver]

NSpicer wrote:

a) risks blinding and deafening both the horn blower and the undead creature, or...

After that, it's on like Donkey Kong... ;-D

My two-cents,
--Neil

That would be great. I like the almost negligable risk of the possible blindness and deafening but might as well spread it out. The big bad evil vampire should make the same save.

[Chris_Johnston]

Definitely one of the cooler items. I love the mental image, even if there are a few mechanics bits to work out. The price does seem too high, definitely. By the time you can afford it, you aren't going to be encountering many undead under 11 HD, which means the horn has very very limitied practicality. Especially since undead scale in HD to CR faster than most other creature types. I'd probably remove the clause about it being useless after finding a 11+HD undead, but that's just me. I do like the hazardousness, though. It's like, "you wanted to find me? HERE I AM!"

Good luck from a fellow Canadian! I can't wait to see what you came up with for round 2!

[Steven Helt]

Yeah...but minotaurs and undead don't exactly go hand to hand. That's what I thought while reading the first time.

I like this item. In an undead-heavy campaign, it's a ranger's best friend. One of these babies and Aragorn goes hunting for Nazgul!

A few issues with execution. The cost was mentioned before. And I think the entire second paragraph should be scrapped in favor of making it a more generic tracking item, that also allows you to track incorporeal undead.

Godd luck in the next round, and congratulations to you and your son.

[Joel Flank]

This is a cool concept, but between the price and the relatively minor effect when you come close to the undead, it's a bit off. Nothing more to add than what's been said. That being said, I'd glad you made it through, since I loved your round 2 entry.