I really like the idea here: an item that redirects hostility. However, I think that the way in which it is implemented creates some almost insurmountable mechanical problems: you're essentially hijacking a character's decision-making process for an indefinite period of time (until he leaves the radius, which he will only do if his new target leaves), and forcing him to...
Ok, strange place to end a quote, but ok.
I like the idea for the Amulet of discord as well, basically giving the wearer an aura ability. I'm not sure that turning into a 'per attack' roll helps though, as this could slow down a combat to a crawl.
A possible fix is to move from the focused mindset to attack the nearest person and turn it into a paranoiad 'everyone is an enemy' approach. Let the players determine what their actions will be, who their threats are, and how to deal with them.
And like an aura, if the person succeeds at the save, he cannot be affected for another 24 hours.
Check the spoiler if you want feedback** spoiler omitted **
I definately want feedback. Thanks Darkjoy. And yes, you are probably very right about a book not being Superstar, but hey you gotta try and this will help me in the next season of Superstar.
What would you think the CL should be?
I disagree. Almost any mundain item could be made into a superstar quality item. The problem here is that you limited your self to much. Certainly, a book item should in some way be related to reading, writing, knowledge or secerts, but you treated the book like it was 'just a book.' Try to shape your ideas to make them bigger then just a skill bonus.
For examples:-
The book of wolves: This simple book appears to contain a childrens story about a man who is attacked and eaten in his own home by wolves no one else can see. When read allowed, with the name of the character replaced with that of some one the character knows, the target finds them selves unable to sleep as troubling shadows move within there room and the sounds of loud scratching, sniffing and growling can be heard from within the walls of the house. (Yay for Neil Gaiman, i really must read wolves in the walls!)
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Sorry for the delay, RL's been mighty busy this week (though I would have created time for Round 2 if I had made it).
Clark, would you please tell me what you thought of my item?
Thank you!
Orb of Possessions
Aura faint universal; CL 1st
Slot ---; Price 4,000 gp; Weight ---
DESCRIPTION
This obsidian orb has a short gold chain with a hook-clasp on the opposite end. When attached to a container smaller than a cart, a list of the container's contents appears on the surface of the orb, usually in Common. The orb can be used on crates, barrels, backpacks, scroll tubes, and so forth as long as the hook-clasp can be hooked onto the container. It will not identify magic items or their properties, but will note the base item (e.g., a sword, a rod, a ring) and a notable feature (e.g., a gem hilt or made of ivory).
Originally designed to allow merchant's to verify the contents of crates and barrels without needing to open them, the Orb quickly found other uses. When attached to a handy haversack, the contents are displayed, allowing theft of otherwise safe items. A bag of holding can be identified if the volume or weight of the contents is larger than the bag. Pathfinders in Osirion find it useful to determine if sarcophagi are empty or not.
CONSTRUCTION
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, prestidigitation; Cost 2,000 gp
because no other teleport spell has anything other than 'instantaneous' and because of the line under the magic item costing chart that says (If a continuous item has an effect based on a spell with a duration measured in rounds, multiply the cost by 4. If the duration of the spell is 1 minute/level, multiply the cost by 2, and if the duration is 10 minutes/level, multiply the cost by 1.5. If the spell has a 24-hour duration or greater, divide the cost in half.) In that line it does not mention a spell with an instantaneous duration and thus I do not believe a...
Ok. I can see the reasoning. But at the same time, you have limited the number of people that can go through the portal at a time to 1 when you could get up to 4 people in a teleportation circle per round (5' radius) and created a limitation in that both entry and exit have to be drawn.
Just my thoughts. It would be an item I would use in the game I'm running if I did not remove teleportation spells from my game (which does make it difficult for the bad guys to get away). ;)
Clark, other judges, and the great folks here, would any of you please provide any feedback/comments about my submitted item? Thanks so much for doing this for so many!
Bard’s Army Sack
Moderate Transmutation, Illusion CL 11
Price: 19,000gp Weight: varies
This colorful, cloth sack is tightly cinched with a braided, leather cord. Jumbled inside are 2d4 (holds 10) beautiful, wooden marionettes (Tiny) with carved, sharp points for hands. Once/day when dumped out en masse they clatter upright and perform their master’s bidding (11 rounds). They follow one, specific verbal instruction at a time. Serving (any Class) like a “massed” Familiar, they stay together. No Intelligence. Improved Evasion. Share Spells (affects all puppets). Touch. Range: 210 feet. HD = master’s level. HP = ½ master’s divided among the puppets (5 hardness each). AC 16 +1/every 2 master’s levels (a Hit throws it 10 feet away). Attacks (+1) and Saving Throws = master’s base bonus (one roll/2 puppets). Damage: 1d4/2 puppets +1/2 master levels. Movement: 30ft. When the master wishes, his voice can eerily emanate from the opening mouths of all puppets. If out of range or “killed” it falls limp. Placed in the Sack, puppets are “mended” over 24 hours (irreparable if below -10). New puppets can be created (new characteristics?) with appropriate Craft Skill.
Requirements: Craft Wondrous Item, Animate Objects, Haste, Ventriloquism, Mend, Craft 10,
Cost 9,500
Bard’s Army Sack
Banjo lives! Love the idea, but the mechanics look very sloppy to me. Statting the puppets as animated objects would have been far simpler, leaving you words to describe what the puppets can actually do (in actual sentences). As presented, the rules for the puppets are just confusing, and would put me off using this item.
Requirements-wise, I'm not sure why haste is required - command seems a better fit - and you didn't specify a Craft.
Despite these problems, what I can't get out of my mind is the bag full of little puppets, wreaking havoc around the kingdom. These fellas should promote clever problem-solving, and memorable role-playing. A little polish, and these guys are ready to rock!
I disagree. Almost any mundain item could be made into a superstar quality item. The problem here is that you limited your self to much.
Agreed; there's no reason there can't be a book with Superstar quality. I'm actually rather fond of magic books, personally, and have created quite a few custom types for my home campaign that have unique effects. Don't know if they'd be Superstar effects, necessarily, but a book doesn't have to be boring. (In the Ravenloft setting, there's a magic book of folktales--the Tome of Terror--that draws the reader in as a character in the tales; if he survives the tale he gets out of the book, but if he dies in the tale he's stuck there forever. Obviously, this item would be completely inappropriate for the RPG Superstar contest for a number of reasons--it's a plot device rather than an item a PC would want to have; it's really a minor artifact rather than a wondrous item; and it would be very hard, if not impossible, to describe it adequately in under 200 words... but I bring it up to show that magic books don't have to be bland.)
I don't know if the main problem I have with the Trainer's Manual is that it's too limited, though. There is some truth in that--just giving a skill bonus isn't all that interesting--but what bothers me more is the duration of that bonus. The item description never mentions how long the bonus lasts... is it permanent? If so... um. Hm. That doesn't sit well with me. I don't know of any items or spells that give a character permanent bonuses to a skill. One could, I suppose, argue that this means your item fills an unexplored niche, but I'm more inclined to say that there's a reason there are no items or spells that do this.
For instance: stacking issues. You say it's a competence bonus. Competence bonuses don't stack. So that means that any time an effect would give a competence bonus, you have to worry about this one character with the weird permanent competence bonus who doesn't get it. This could be gotten around by making it an inherent bonus (though I think that generally applies only to attributes) or an unnamed bonus, but I think the whole matter of granting permanent bonuses to skills should just be avoided in the first place. (Come to think of it, it definitely shouldn't be an unnamed bonus, because those do stack, and you wouldn't want a character to be able to use multiple copies of the book to raise his skill arbitrarily high.)
There are spells and items that give permanent (inherent) bonuses to attributes, but bonuses to skills... okay, for another thing, there are a lot more skills than there are attributes. Suppose different items existed that gave permanent bonuses to different skills (and if an item existed that gave a permanent bonus to one skill, there doesn't seem to be any reason it couldn't happen for other skills, too). If a character gets and uses multiple such items, now he can end up with permanent bonuses in lots of different skills, for each of which he's got to keep track (for stacking purposes) of how much of his skill is due to the items... this could be a logistical nightmare. So... yeah. Like I said, I think there's a reason there are no existing items or spells that give permanent bonuses to a skill...
Orb of Possessions
This is a nicely written item, but I'm afraid I just can't imagine anyone wanting to pay 4,000 gp for it. Even merchants. They'd just get their minions to open the box, and it would only cost them 1 sp a day!
Also, why prestidigitation, and not identify? And why no weight? If the orb is big enough to show a list of the contents of a bag of holding, it's going to be pretty heavy.
What is impressive is the number of uses you have thought of for this item. Have you been play-testing this at home?
Bard’s Army Sack
Nice item conceptually, but I'm inclined to agree with Whitman--the layout and mechanics are kind of a mess. Listing the puppets' stats inline like that makes them a pain to try to decipher. Listing them in standard monster format would make it more readable... but like Whitman said, you'd have been better off just saying they worked like animated objects (with maybe an extra special ability (like the emanating voice) or another tweak or two) and avoided listing the stats altogether.
Everyone
Sorry to be away. I'm doing my villain reviews right now. So that is taking my time.
I'll be back soon and work through them methodically (generally in the order they were posted, though I reserve the executive discretion to pick a few out of order if I want).
Clark
Trainer’s Manual
Lot of discussion about this item - bet you didn't think it'd be so controversial! For me, this item just doesn't show much imagination. It's almost a cut and paste of the manuals and tomes that give inherent bonuses to ability scores.
Mechanics-wise, this item seems to make it too easy to gain a permanent massive bonus to a particular skill check. Any 3rd level druid could make this, and then train every animal he comes across.
For me, this would have been better as a collar, that you put on the animal in question (requiring a Handle Animal check). The collar could then give you a bonus to any Handle Animal checks with that animal.
Blood Leech Choker
The boards ate my post! Or was it your choker???
Visually, this is a cool item, but I'm a little confused by the mechanics. Here's how I think it works:
Step #1: Mr Barbarian puts on his choker, and siphons up to 3d12 of his hit points into it.
Step #2: Presumably, he gets healed.
Step #3: Some time later, Mr Barbarian takes a roundhouse kick from Chuck Norris, instantly reducing Mr Barbarian to -10 hit points.
Step #4: The hit points stored in the choker flow back into Mr Barbarian.
Step #5: Mr Barbarian apologises to Chuck Norris, and cleans his blood off Norris' boots.
Which raises a few questions. How long do the hit points stay in the choker? Can Mr Wizard wear the choker after Mr Barbarian, and gain the benefits of his friend's superior hit dice? If so, is there any chance of disease transmission?
Ultimately, I'm wondering why not just buy a nice wand of cure critical wounds? They're cheaper, don't take up a neck slot, don't look gross and don't hurt!
Arbitrator's Lamp
Another cool idea. I played with a DM once who didn't know the Diplomacy rules. He hated diplomacy! "Parlay? Parlay???"
Crunch-wise, I'm curious about your pricing rationale. You can buy some pretty cool stuff with 80,000 gp. And I think it's a bit broken that all intelligent creatures within the radius of effect become at least indifferent to the PCs, if not friendly.
The other thing is, any PCs walking around with this thing turned on should surely become at least indifferent to the bad guys. If not friendly!
Overall, I think the auto-diplomacy needs to be significantly re-worked before this becomes usable. Perhaps a simple bonus to Diplomacy checks would be better (certainly less book-keeping).
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DISTORTION HARNESS
This might be much simpler to write up / use if it just allowed the wearer to 'squeeze' as if he was one size class smaller.
I had an alchemical solution used by Kobold alchemists to do much the same thing, loosen up their limbs and allow them to squeeze as if they were Tiny creatures, at the cost of a chance of nonlethal damage / fatigue if they fail a Con check. It allowed me to have the little critters zip around a honeycombed lair through tunnels that even the party halflings and gnomes wouldn't be able to follow them through...
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Apocrypha Scarab
I like the idea, but I could see some quailing at the idea of a Cleric zombifying an ally so that he can walk him home for ressurection (and might even say that the zombification makes the corpse unraisable).
Can the scarab be cut out *before* the ressurection, 'killing' the zombie once it's back home, but preserving the item for later use?
I love the name, but the item itself doesn't really 'do it' for me.
Nobody at all going to comment? I understand Clark is backlogged, that's cool.
I think maybe the reason nobody's commented is because you've already pretty much covered it:
I know they're a spell in a can and not very inspired. What else can you tell me I didn't do to advance?
What else does there need to be? I don't see any serious flaws there, but if it's just a spell-in-a-can without some serious flavor or style to make up for it (and the sentence about clerics with the War domain isn't nearly enough, IMO), that's enough for it not to make the top 32.
Okay, I figured that was it. Oh well.....
If it's any consolation, I think this is definitely one of those entries that could have made it into a book of items, even if it didn't get picked for the contest. Like I said, there's nothing seriously wrong with it. There's just nothing about it that really stands out. But it's a perfectly decent magic item.
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Trainer’s ManualLot of discussion about this item - bet you didn't think it'd be so controversial! For me, this item just doesn't show much imagination. It's almost a cut and paste of the manuals and tomes that give inherent bonuses to ability scores.
Mechanics-wise, this item seems to make it too easy to gain a permanent massive bonus to a particular skill check. Any 3rd level druid could make this, and then train every animal he comes across.
For me, this would have been better as a collar, that you put on the animal in question (requiring a Handle Animal check). The collar could then give you a bonus to any Handle Animal checks with that animal.
No I didn't think it would be this controversial. But I like the fact that people are discussing it. Yes, it's a permanent bonus to your Handle Animal skill, anything else wouldn't really require a book. What you learn from a book should give you permanent knowledge about how to do stuff so that it becomes second nature.
Please keep those comments coming. It's not written with a lot of imagination, that's true (being based on those manuals and tomes). Does make me want to have this item as a mounted knight, ranger or druid though. Or to a villain that uses his animals to kill for instance.
Blood Leech ChokerThe boards ate my post! Or was it your choker???
Visually, this is a cool item, but I'm a little confused by the mechanics. Here's how I think it works:
Step #1: Mr Barbarian puts on his choker, and siphons up to 3d12 of his hit points into it.
Step #2: Presumably, he gets healed.
Step #3: Some time later, Mr Barbarian takes a roundhouse kick from Chuck Norris, instantly reducing Mr Barbarian to -10 hit points.
Step #4: The hit points stored in the choker flow back into Mr Barbarian.
Step #5: Mr Barbarian apologises to Chuck Norris, and cleans his blood off Norris' boots.Which raises a few questions. How long do the hit points stay in the choker? Can Mr Wizard wear the choker after Mr Barbarian, and gain the benefits of his friend's superior hit dice? If so, is there any chance of disease transmission?
Ultimately, I'm wondering why not just buy a nice wand of cure critical wounds? They're cheaper, don't take up a neck slot, don't look gross and don't hurt!
Thanks for the feedback.
You have the steps pretty much how I figured (minus the Chuck Norris reference), also “Mr. Barbarian” wouldn’t actually drop to –10 hit points. The choker would, in essence, heal the wearer at the same time the damage was being dealt. I guess that’s not very clear.Also to answer your questions, I did contradict myself as far as the time and conditions of the stored hit points. I would have been better off saying something like: “Once stored, these hit points remain in the crystals until the choker is activated, or removed.” So the hit points remain indefinitely unless the wearer drops below o hit points or takes off the choker, and because of this “Mr. Wizard” and “Mr. Barbarian” cannot share hit points. As far as better healing items this was not meant to be a replacement for a wand of cure critical wound but to instead be a contingency item. Something that saves its wear from the brink of death. I pictured it being worn by a evil Necromancer who picks himself off the ground, after what should have been the final blow, only to start the battle anew.
Thanks again, and I’d love to hear anyone else’s opinion on my entry.
Well, you do give a +5 bonus, so someone who creates it should at least have 5 ranks = 2nd level. But even then, I feel as if this should be higher.
Check the spoiler if you want feedback** spoiler omitted **
I definately want feedback. Thanks Darkjoy. And yes, you are probably very right about a book not being Superstar, but hey you gotta try and this will help me in the next season of Superstar.
What would you think the CL should be?
I am so wrong here!
Under the new pathfinder rules 5 ranks equals level 5. So that is your caster level.
Clark, other judges, and the great folks here, would any of you please provide any feedback/comments about my submitted item? Thanks so much for doing this for so many!
Bard’s Army Sack
Moderate Transmutation, Illusion CL 11
Price: 19,000gp Weight: variesThis colorful, cloth sack is tightly cinched with a braided, leather cord. Jumbled inside are 2d4 (holds 10) beautiful, wooden marionettes (Tiny) with carved, sharp points for hands. Once/day when dumped out en masse they clatter upright and perform their master’s bidding (11 rounds). They follow one, specific verbal instruction at a time. Serving (any Class) like a “massed” Familiar, they stay together. No Intelligence. Improved Evasion. Share Spells (affects all puppets). Touch. Range: 210 feet. HD = master’s level. HP = ½ master’s divided among the puppets (5 hardness each). AC 16 +1/every 2 master’s levels (a Hit throws it 10 feet away). Attacks (+1) and Saving Throws = master’s base bonus (one roll/2 puppets). Damage: 1d4/2 puppets +1/2 master levels. Movement: 30ft. When the master wishes, his voice can eerily emanate from the opening mouths of all puppets. If out of range or “killed” it falls limp. Placed in the Sack, puppets are “mended” over 24 hours (irreparable if below -10). New puppets can be created (new characteristics?) with appropriate Craft Skill.
Requirements: Craft Wondrous Item, Animate Objects, Haste, Ventriloquism, Mend, Craft 10,
Cost 9,500
Oh my god - takes me back to puppet horror! Chuckie, Puppet Master!
First thing - great idea with lots of scope for imagineering and encounter memorability. Also spells etc check out.
I would agree with other comments that perhaps the text in the middle section is not clear or simple enough to encourage use. Also, the title refers to 'Bard' and no reference to why in description. To improve item, I would say it needs to be cheaper, or more powerful
Overall, I think that the premise is cool, and I will be using a variation of this in a module I am writing. Thanks for the template!
DISTORTION HARNESS
Aura faint transmutation; CL 5th
Slot chest; Price 8,000 gp; Weight 1 lb.
Description
This strange vest is decorated with an elaborate geometric pattern, whose impossible twists hurt ones eyes if examined closely. It activates when its wearer attempts to squeeze into a narrow space. The patterns of the garment twist and jerk the wearer’s body into extradimensional folds, compacting them to fit the space. Movement into a narrow space that is at least half as wide as the wearer’s normal space is as normal. Moving into a space less than half the wearer’s width has the normal effects of squeezing, each move is counted as two squares with an attendant -4 to attack rolls and AC. The wearer can squeeze into even smaller spaces, but must use the Escape Artist skill (DC 30) which takes at least one minute (possibly longer and requiring additional checks), during which time the wearer cannot attack, takes a -4 penalty to AC, and loses any Dexterity bonus to AC. This does not allow the wearer to squeeze through spaces their head does not fit through.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, reduce person; blink Cost 4,000 gp
Excellent Jesse - as a rogue myself I love this item, great action opportunities. I would have said that this item would have come close to top32, as you tick all the boxes for me, plus good solid entry - except perhaps the judges were looking for more creative writing and presentation. I notice Winter Walker's comment, and didn't pick up the same vibe, but take the point.
PS Am going to try to convince my DM to include in a campaign we are running, but fear it may be a DC100! challenge
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Mertzer’s Marvelous Minnow
Aura: Moderate Transmutation; CL: 5th (Brass), 8th (Bronze), 10th (Steel)
Slot: -; Price: 4,100gp (Brass), 8,700gp (Bronze), 15,000gp (Steel); Weight: 2lb.DESCRIPTION
Druids obsessed with merfolk cultures crafted the first of these oddities, aides to travelers underwater. Minnows appear as hand-sized (Fine) models of local fish wrought of scaled metal, and remain inert unless taken at least 10ft underwater. Once submerged, the minnow activates, following its controller’s orders. Each breed of minnow has all the powers of the lesser breeds. Minnows communicate with their controllers through an empathic link.
Brass: This minnow can bestow water breathing for 12 hours/day and carry messages underwater as whispering wind. It has 10hp, AC 20 and 30ft swim speed.
Bronze: This minnow can bestow freedom of movement for 8 hours/day, and can translate the speech of water-breathing creatures. 24hp, AC 24 and 50ft swim speed.
Steel: This minnow can bestow freedom of movement and water breathing for 24 hours/day each, and can use a stone tell effect thrice/week to speak to sealife. 40hp, AC 28 and 80ft swim speed.
CONSTRUCTION
Requirements: Craft Wondrous Item, water breathing, animal messenger, Bronze add freedom of movement, Steel add commune with nature; Cost: 2,050gp, 4,350gp, 7,500gp
Open to critique! (Short) flavour section, pretty much a Figurine item, what else? Pricing perhaps (not my strong point)? Should I have further clarified how to order the minnow and it's mechanics while in use? Should I have given it less spell-in-a-can powers?
Apocrypha ScarabI like the idea, but I could see some quailing at the idea of a Cleric zombifying an ally so that he can walk him home for ressurection (and might even say that the zombification makes the corpse unraisable).
Can the scarab be cut out *before* the ressurection, 'killing' the zombie once it's back home, but preserving the item for later use?
I love the name, but the item itself doesn't really 'do it' for me.
I can't speak for my partner (we signed up as a team), but my intent was that it could only be used once. You turned your friend into a zombie, and when you got him home you put a dagger in his brain killing him (can't resurrect an undead, but can resurrect a body that was once an undead). The scarab fuses with the body becoming it's new heart, thereby preventing you from using another scarab on that individual. We were going to go into some detail about how the scarab could be exploited by the BBEG if we made it forward. It was pretty much intended for a horror campaign were good and evil weren't exactly clear cut.
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Marathon Voter Season 7
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It was pretty much intended for a horror campaign were good and evil weren't exactly clear cut.
I can't speak for the judges and I didn't quite make the cut myself, so take this for what its worth, but I think that this right here is a mistake. If your item is primarily useable in a single sort of campaign or to tell a specific story, you are setting yourself up for failure. To me, a superstar wondrous item should be useable in almost any campaign. Now I confess that my gloves of kindling would have had a place on the minions of my villain, but I would like to think that they also would be the sort of tool that a monk or a pyromaniacal pc might have liked to purchase for their own use. That is to say, there is nothing wrong with wanting to tie your item into your future submissions, but I think they should be intended for other uses as well.
Ok here goes.
Aura moderate transmutation; CL 8th
Slot neck; Price 16000 gp; Weight 3 lb.
DESCRIPTION
This grotesque necklace most often appears to be a shrunken goblin head attached to a simple cord of leather. Other types of heads are found, as the type of head must have significance to the item creator.
As a standard action, the rage fetish begins howling, filling the wearer with bloodlust. The character gains a +4 bonus to his Strength and Constitution scores for 10 rounds or until the character ends the rage, a free action.
If the wearer has the rage class feature, activating the item, a standard action, allows the character to instead access the necklace’s rage. The character enters rage (see Barbarian class description) and may use any rage power that he possesses at their usual cost. The rage fetish is treated as storage device with 10 rage points, if all the points are consumed, the rage ends.
Regardless of the wearer, it is the rage fetish that sufferers fatigue and may not be activated again that day.
CONSTRUCTION
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, bear’s endurance, bull’s strength creator must hold deep animosity toward creature type used; Cost 8000 gp.
This was originally 260 words before paring down for submission, perhaps I cut the wrong text?
PS Am going to try to convince my DM to include in a campaign we are running, but fear it may be a DC100! challenge
Perhaps I Could be convinced, if only to see what weird and wonderful situations you get yourself into.
Right, where did I put that book, I need to look up moving wall traps and crushing damage....
Elcian
PS. Also while I like the flavour of the item and can see some cool uses for it (especially by Rogues Rool who has a habit of being unconventional in his choices of action) before it goes in we need to tie down some specifics such as; "how long does it take to squeeze into smaller spots and what additional checks are required or do we just increase the DC on Escape artist?
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Here's my item. What do you think of it? I thought it was alright, just too bland.
Sanative Shroud
Aura faint conjuration; CL 6th
Slot none; Price 18,000 gp; Weight 3 lbs.
Description:
This blanket glows with a faint blue light which emanates from stitched runes lining its edge. When covered by a sanative shroud, a sleeping character’s rate of natural healing increases so that they heal 5 hit points x their Hit Dice after a full night’s sleep. This effect only activates once per day and only when the character under the shroud is asleep. At any other time it simply acts as a normal blanket. The sanative shroud will only work for one character at a time. It does not increase the natural rate of healing of Ability Score damage.
Construction:
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, cure light wounds; Cost 9,000 gp
Here's my item. What do you think of it? I thought it was alright, just too bland.
To be honest, I think part of the problem with the item might be that it wouldn't necessarily be all that useful for PCs. How many times do PCs rely on natural healing during sleep, anyway? They usually just cure themselves into being better. Now, think how many potions of cure light wounds (or even cure moderate wounds) you could get for the price of the sanative shroud. (Answer: 360 (or 60). Or, heck, you could get 24 wands of cure light wounds for the price.) And those work instantaneously and don't require a full night to take effect. Which do you think most PCs would rather buy? Sure, in the long run the sanative shroud is the better bargain, but that's a very long long run, and most PCs would probably prefer the heap of potions (okay, they wouldn't buy 360 potions all at once, but still).
Now, I can definitely see this item having its place. It might be good for hospitals, and maybe even some very high-class inns. There are even many circumstances under which it would be very useful for PCs. But it's not something that it seems to me a lot of PCs would necessarily be thrilled about, and that seems to be one of the criteria for the contest.
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Marathon Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7
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Nobody at all going to comment? I understand Clark is backlogged, that's cool.I know they're a spell in a can and not very inspired. What else can you tell me I didn't do to advance?
BRACERS OF THE IRON LORD
Aura strong transmutation; CL 15th
Slot hands; Price 51,300 gp; Weight 2 lb.DESCRIPTION
These items appear to be crudely wrought iron arm guards. Bracers of the Iron Lord grant the wearer the effects of enlarge person and iron body, at the same time, for a total of 15 minutes each day. The duration need not be consecutive minutes, but duration must be in minute intervals.
Clerics with the War domain appear clad in gore covered spiked plate mail while the Bracers of the Iron Lord are active.CONSTRUCTION
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, enlarge person, iron body; Skill Craft (blacksmithing); Cost 25,650 gp.
Spell in a can, 15 minutes/day broken into rounds is a bit abusive. that's 15 uses of 1 minute. So effectively giving it 15 charges.
Is it activated by command word or by will?
(note, I had a swiss-army spell in a can...so just an observation, not an attack)
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Marathon Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7
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Here's my item. What do you think of it? I thought it was alright, just too bland.
Sanative Shroud
Aura faint conjuration; CL 6th
Slot none; Price 18,000 gp; Weight 3 lbs.
Description:
This blanket glows with a faint blue light which emanates from stitched runes lining its edge. When covered by a sanative shroud, a sleeping character’s rate of natural healing increases so that they heal 5 hit points x their Hit Dice after a full night’s sleep. This effect only activates once per day and only when the character under the shroud is asleep. At any other time it simply acts as a normal blanket. The sanative shroud will only work for one character at a time. It does not increase the natural rate of healing of Ability Score damage.
Construction:
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, cure light wounds; Cost 9,000 gp
Here's what I think of this one, camping item that is a major heal. Every adventurer would want one. Two actually. That's a problem.
I think the pre-req should also be at least cure moderate wounds for pricing. If it just healed 1d8+5 over night, that would make sense for cure light wounds.
Here's what I think of this one, camping item that is a major heal. Every adventurer would want one. Two actually. That's a problem.
Heh. Seems we have opposite opinions of the item... you think every adventurer would want one, I thought no adventurer would want one. Hm... anyone want to chime in as a tiebreaker? ;)
[EDIT: Though, actually, now that I think about it more, I may have been underestimating the desirability of the item. 5 times Hit Dice is a lot of hit points... that would be enough to heal many characters up to full even if they're almost dead--not barbarians or high-Con fighters, sure, but definitely most bards, wizards, and so on. Sure, like I said, most PCs don't rely on natural healing overnight... but then most PCs don't have items like this.]
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Here's what I think of this one, camping item that is a major heal. Every adventurer would want one. Two actually. That's a problem.Heh. Seems we have opposite opinions of the item... you think every adventurer would want one, I thought no adventurer would want one. Hm... anyone want to chime in as a tiebreaker? ;)
[EDIT: Though, actually, now that I think about it more, I may have been underestimating the desirability of the item. 5 times Hit Dice is a lot of hit points... that would be enough to heal many characters up to full even if they're almost dead--not barbarians or high-Con fighters, sure, but definitely most bards, wizards, and so on. Sure, like I said, most PCs don't rely on natural healing overnight... but then most PCs don't have items like this.]
what happens if the cleric finished all her spells and she has no more fuel for possitive channeling?
do you use the last potions of cure moderate wounds that youhave reserved to fightversus the evil lord? or do you try to sleep well under a ehaling device?
I will add to the object that a character can't recive the benefit from more than 1 of this items...
high level characters might not need it, but low level would be grateful... actually my cleric might not cure them if she saw there is no more danger and they have a chance to rest and recover much better, giving ehrthe chance to just look after the ones who are really really baddly in jured.
actually my cleric would have one of this to help people heal naturally :D or use it to heal herself while healing everyone else with her spells :P
what happens if the cleric finished all her spells and she has no more fuel for possitive channeling?
do you use the last potions of cure moderate wounds that youhave reserved to fightversus the evil lord? or do you try to sleep well under a ehaling device?
See, I don't think that question works, particularly, because for the money you spent on the blanket, you could have a lot more potions instead. Of course having the blanket would be better than not having the blanket. The question is, is having the blanket better than having other things of comparable cost?
high level characters might not need it, but low level would be grateful...
Except that at the cost of this item, low-level characters wouldn't have it. 18,000 gp. By the standard guidelines for character wealth by level, a character wouldn't be able to afford this item till at least 7th level, and even then it would take up most of his wealth. (And chances are there are other higher priority items he'd rather get.) If you follow the guidelines stated in the Pathfinder RPG of a PC putting typically no more than 25% of his wealth toward magic items other than weapons and armor, you're talking 11th level before he'd be likely to have this.
I don't know. I think I did overstate its uselessness in my initial post, but I'm still not sold on its being something that would really get PCs excited.
Actually, maybe the main problem (other than its being maybe a little bland, as the OP said) is that's overpriced. I could see its being much more desirable if it weren't so expensive. Hm... let's do some rough cost estimating here... Cure light wounds at caster level six, use-activated, one charge per day... that would be 1 x 6 x 2000 / 5 = 2400 gold pieces. (There's also arguably the x2 for no space limitation, but I wouldn't apply that in this case... since you're sleeping while it's working anyway, the space limitation, or lack thereof, isn't all that important.) Granted, what this does isn't really cure light wounds, and at high levels it heals significantly more damage than that, but on the other hand it also takes eight hours to work, so shooting the cost up to 18000 gold pieces seems excessive. Even using cure serious instead of cure light, that's still only 7200 gp. This is only a quick estimate, and may not be the best way to figure out the item's price, but still, I'm curious to know how the 18000 gp cost was arrived at...
Mertzer’s Marvelous Minnow
Aura: Moderate Transmutation; CL: 5th (Brass), 8th (Bronze), 10th (Steel)
Slot: -; Price: 4,100gp (Brass), 8,700gp (Bronze), 15,000gp (Steel); Weight: 2lb.DESCRIPTION
Druids obsessed with merfolk cultures crafted the first of these oddities, aides to travelers underwater. Minnows appear as hand-sized (Fine) models of local fish wrought of scaled metal, and remain inert unless taken at least 10ft underwater. Once submerged, the minnow activates, following its controller’s orders. Each breed of minnow has all the powers of the lesser breeds. Minnows communicate with their controllers through an empathic link.
Brass: This minnow can bestow water breathing for 12 hours/day and carry messages underwater as whispering wind. It has 10hp, AC 20 and 30ft swim speed.
Bronze: This minnow can bestow freedom of movement for 8 hours/day, and can translate the speech of water-breathing creatures. 24hp, AC 24 and 50ft swim speed.
Steel: This minnow can bestow freedom of movement and water breathing for 24 hours/day each, and can use a stone tell effect thrice/week to speak to sealife. 40hp, AC 28 and 80ft swim speed.
CONSTRUCTION
Requirements: Craft Wondrous Item, water breathing, animal messenger, Bronze add freedom of movement, Steel add commune with nature; Cost: 2,050gp, 4,350gp, 7,500gp
Open to critique! (Short) flavour section, pretty much a Figurine item, what else? Pricing perhaps (not my strong point)? Should I have further clarified how to order the minnow and it's mechanics while in use? Should I have given it less spell-in-a-can powers?
First thing I thought when I saw the name was "which one allows me understand all spoken languages?" Then I saw the weight of 2 lbs, and thought of some huge, metal fish sticking out of my ear. ;)
You might have been better off working with only one of the minnows, defining the description a little better (is it a clockwork fish, with the internal gears sealed to keep out water, or a solid metal fish that changes to a real fish when activated). Maybe have the item grant a swim rate.
Just my thoughts.
And into the atmospheric breach goes my entry... comments from all welcome, appreciated, and hopefully not too egotastically violating.
(My many, MANY day personal mental review of it resulted in the following: too meh. Okay as a magic item, but not Superstar. Mechanics lil iffy, pricing probably drove Sean into an apoplectic fit. Plus didn't explain what you needed to do to "uproot", I probably should have thrown in some sort of Str DC.)
FAOLAN’S RESURGENT ACORNS
Aura moderate transmutation; CL 10th
Slot -; Price 2,500 gp; Weight -
DESCRIPTION
These 12 perfect acorns are each encircled by the painted Druidic phrase “Seed-Tree-Flower-Seed-Tree-Flower-”. If one is planted in at least 10 cubic feet of fertile soil, it will immediately sprout and grow steadily at the rate of 4 feet in height and 2 inches in diameter per hour for 8 hours, until it is a Huge oak tree (32 feet tall, 16 inches in diameter) and will thereafter grow at a natural rate.
If planted adjacent to a manufactured structure, the tree will only grow to half its size over the 8 hours, but will cause 1d6 cumulative structural damage per hour to the structure, ignoring any hardness less than 10 (1d6 after 1 hour, 2d6 after 2, etc… to 8d6 after 8 hours).
If uprooted or cut down during its 8 hour growth period, the tree will cease its magical growth rate. Only one acorn will grow in each section of soil.
CONSTRUCTION
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, creator must be a druid, acorns from a healthy oak of at least 20 years age, plant growth; Cost 1,250 gp
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RPG Superstar 2013
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Dedicated Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka Steven T. Helt
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The acorns say "flower", but there's no flower mechanic. Doesn't need to be in the description if it doesn't have a mechanical value. The item is pretty 'meh'...it's only purpose is to grow a tree quickly, also accomplished by plant growth. It's only purpose for a character is to damage a structure. At a caster level of ten, telekinesis, teleport, passwall, fly, mass fly, spider climb, levitate, dimension door, and many more are all ways to bypass a wall, to say nothing of the many spells that could damage the wall, or damage those on it. And you're only one level away from disintegrate.
Don't mention perfect acorns in your construction. All materials for magic items are essentially of the finest quality before they'll hold an enchantment. If you're going to require a character to be a druid to make the item (generally a poor choice), assign a level to it. Usually, just having the spell available during creation is sufficient.
Hope that's helpful criticism.
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See, I don't think that question works, particularly, because for the money you spent on the blanket, you could have a lot more potions instead. Of course having the blanket would be better than not having the blanket. The question is, is having the blanket better than having other things of comparable cost?
mmm understandable, pretty expensive... as you point ebelow maybe we should seethe cost, if it was cheaper it would be a good item for the the full group
I'll let Clark give you actual feedback, but I'll tell you this—as soon as I learned that an 8-year-old entered the contest, I took a peek at what the judges had said.
Clark, can you please give me feedback?
It was fun joining this yearGloves of the Elements
I'm still in shock. 8 years old. I cant even imagine that. Amazing.
Come on, give it up for "the kid"!
GREAT JOB!!!!!!!! Both to The Kid with the vision and the bravery to submit and to the judges for realizing the potential in The Kid. I'm sure it means a lot hearing your encouragement.
Kid, keep it up! Keep dreaming and working toward the goal. You have a gift; don't let it go.
Hi everyone.
We all know that Clark, Sean, and Wolfgang are profoundly busy and despite that we are eager for comments on our items. Heh heh... now I didn't ask for "judges only" feedback... but I also didn't express that anyone provide feedback that wished too. I'd like to open that particular door now... if any of you are so inclined I'd appreciate your thoughts on my item. I'm not going to re-type it though, my Wondrous Item is a Figurine of Wondrous Power, Iron Tiger and can be found on page 4 of this thread (I'm the third one on that page.) I think it's a good item, and like others have said elsewhere, it might be good enough to be in a collected book of Magic Items (I'd buy such a book, it'd be kinda cool, hmm... but then would that disqualify us from next year?) Anyway... if any of you have time and are so inclined, please look my Magic Item over and tell me what you think.
Regards,
Dean; the Minstrel Wyrm
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Orb of PossessionsThis is a nicely written item, but I'm afraid I just can't imagine anyone wanting to pay 4,000 gp for it. Even merchants. They'd just get their minions to open the box, and it would only cost them 1 sp a day!
Also, why prestidigitation, and not identify? And why no weight? If the orb is big enough to show a list of the contents of a bag of holding, it's going to be pretty heavy.
What is impressive is the number of uses you have thought of for this item. Have you been play-testing this at home?
Here are my thoughts while creating the Orb:
If you have a ship full of crates and want them checked quickly, you can hook the orb to the crate, get a read, and unhook about 8-10 times (or more) in the amount of time it would take a hireling to crowbar open one, unpack it, count everything, repack it, and seal it again. Now imagine a customs inspector having to check many ships a day, all while the ship captains and merchants are yammering at you to release their cargo.I went with prestidigitation instead of identify as the orb does not identify magic items at all, it just counts what's inside with minimal description.
Weight may have been appropriate. I was envisioning a flat gem with the inventory scrolling across the surface, especially when the inventory is extensive. In hindsight, a pound or two would probably been better than no weight.
Actually, no, I have not introduced the item yet to my campaign, but it is an item I've always wanted as a player. When I described to a few folks, they were so-so until I explained what you could do with it. THEN their eyes lit up and they immediately wanted one.
I think mentioning the Pathfinder Society and Osirion may have been what tripped me up, but I'm waiting for Clark's feedback to really find out.
Thank you for the kind words on the writing.
The acorns say "flower", but there's no flower mechanic. Doesn't need to be in the description if it doesn't have a mechanical value. The item is pretty 'meh'...it's only purpose is to grow a tree quickly, also accomplished by plant growth. It's only purpose for a character is to damage a structure. At a caster level of ten, telekinesis, teleport, passwall, fly, mass fly, spider climb, levitate, dimension door, and many more are all ways to bypass a wall, to say nothing of the many spells that could damage the wall, or damage those on it. And you're only one level away from disintegrate.
Don't mention perfect acorns in your construction. All materials for magic items are essentially of the finest quality before they'll hold an enchantment. If you're going to require a character to be a druid to make the item (generally a poor choice), assign a level to it. Usually, just having the spell available during creation is sufficient.
Hope that's helpful criticism.
Cool, thanks for your time and words Steven, I really appreciate it! Lotta stuff for me to chew over, too.
Good point on the description, agh, the wasted word count! I threw in the druid requirement since I had just seen the elf requirement for boots of elvenkind. Silly me, any self-respecting plant domain cleric should be interested in nature items, or even rangers with too many item creation feats. (And I can't believe you can't get non-elvish knock-off boots and cloaks reverse-engineered in Chinese factories yet.)
I was trying to add to what plant growth doesn't do, grow a NEW tree quickly (I had a traumatic PC experience in which my lush druidic grove got turned into the "Daywood").
As for damaging structures, all of the spells you mentioned (save spider climb) are mainly wizard spells, and I was working from the druid side here. But a good point nonetheless, I either should have ramped caster level back down to 6 or upped the effect to have a swarm of plants ripping through structures, which sounds a lot cooler.
Eh, next year? Thanks again!
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Clark, Sean and anyone else inclined to comment, please do so. :)
Any feedback is appreciated, even the brutal kind.
Bracelet of Hand Detachment
Aura faint transmutation; CL 4
Slot hands; Price 1800; Weight -
DESCRIPTION
This unremarkable bracelet of coiled wire belies an interesting ability; it allows the wearer to remove their hand.
A severed hand has stats as the wearer, with the exception of having 2hp per level (which are subtracted from the owners total until the hand is reattached) and the ability to climb at the owners regular movement rate.
The hand may be used to open locks or similar tasks involving no more than 5 pounds, or to deliver touch spells. The range is 100ft + 10ft/level. Spells may be cast normally while the hand is detached. The user must choose between taking actions and guiding the detached hand to take actions. If the hand is killed, the owner is considered one handed until enough hit points are recovered to replace those lost in the severed hand.
This device was originally used by thieves in Korvosa, but was brilliantly limited by Cressida Kroft, who effectively started a rumor that severed hands are able to be controlled by the creator of the Bracelet at will.
CONSTRUCTION
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, Mage Hand, Spectral Hand; Cost 900
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Clark, Sean and anyone else inclined to comment, please do so. :)
Any feedback is appreciated, even the brutal kind.
Bracelet of Hand Detachment
Aura faint transmutation; CL 4
Slot hands; Price 1800; Weight -
DESCRIPTION
This unremarkable bracelet of coiled wire belies an interesting ability; it allows the wearer to remove their hand.
A severed hand has stats as the wearer, with the exception of having 2hp per level (which are subtracted from the owners total until the hand is reattached) and the ability to climb at the owners regular movement rate.
The hand may be used to open locks or similar tasks involving no more than 5 pounds, or to deliver touch spells. The range is 100ft + 10ft/level. Spells may be cast normally while the hand is detached. The user must choose between taking actions and guiding the detached hand to take actions. If the hand is killed, the owner is considered one handed until enough hit points are recovered to replace those lost in the severed hand.
This device was originally used by thieves in Korvosa, but was brilliantly limited by Cressida Kroft, who effectively started a rumor that severed hands are able to be controlled by the creator of the Bracelet at will.
CONSTRUCTION
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, Mage Hand, Spectral Hand; Cost 900
While I don't have a huge problem with it, the backstory, especially when connected to Pathfinder, was listed as a no-no by the judges. I also think it could do with being a bit more clear about "any task involving no more than 5 pounds" and what, if any, penalties the user takes while the hand is detatched, and it could specify the process for ordering the hand (though the "user must choose between taking actions and guiding the detached hand" part does seem to imply that the hand simply takes the users actions, standard for standard, move for move etc.") . The text stating that "If the hand is killed, the owner is considered one handed until enough hit points are recovered." seems to imply that the owner is able to act as though they still had 2 functional hands unless the detatched hand is slain.
The text states that the hand lost regenerates on either regaining a set hit point total or being healed for a certain amount. This is unclear; if I detatch a hand and take 10 points of damage, leaving me on 18, and then take an axe blow for a further 12 points, leaving me on 2, does the hand regenerate after being healed to 12 damage, or back to 28? Also, while it feels like the intent is to be able to reattatch the hand after it scuttles back to you, there are no provisions for this in the rules. And seeing as the 5 lb limit on hand-carrying allows it to use flails, longswords and the like, you'd have to expect some opportunistic rogue to have his hand flank himself at some point, and it's unclear how the hand attacks (bonus/damage wise), let alone if it applies it's owner's bonuses like Sneak Attack.
In short, I LOVE the concept and think it's an imaginative item, but you're hamstrung by the word limit. Good work anyways.
Clark, Sean and anyone else inclined to comment, please do so. :)
Any feedback is appreciated, even the brutal kind.
Bracelet of Hand Detachment
My critical thoughts, without looking at mechanics (trying not to be hurtful, just commenting on what I see that might have hurt your chances): there's a bit of a silliness factor in disembodied parts wandering around, and also there's a major pop culture connection that probably didn't work in your favor.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thing_(The_Addams_Family)
Another consideration is, would a character really use this item? Would you choose to mutilate yourself by parting with a hand, even temporarily? Also, the back story to me feels like a gratuitous Pathfinder nod.
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Anyone besides Clark who would care to give me some feedback on the RIBBON OF DISJUNCTION (p4 about post 35), I'd welcome the feedback!
The entirety of my 'problem' with this item is summed up by this sentence;
Ribbons of Disjunction have many uses, including using them as magical peace-knots, theft protection, to disguise or conceal items of magical nature, or to suppress harmful magical items.
Most of the items that I would consider 'superstars' don't include a line telling me what it's good for, and, in this instance, I think the presence of such a line is indicative of the fact that the item itself is really kind of limited and non-intuitive.
A superstar item, IMO, should be something that a character would willingly pay for, or get excited to own. This, not so much. If I *happened* to have a powerful evil sword that was possessing my fighter and turning him into a bloodthirsty psychopath, then yeah, it might be cool to slip this ribbon on the handle of his sword while he's sleeping to quiet its infernal intelligence, but any character that could do this could just as easily sneak attack the dude with a sap while he's sleeping, take the sword and throw it into the Crack of Doom / Bag of Devouring / Well of Many Worlds / Astral Plane / overboard in the middle of the ocean.
That's just me, 'though. I'm sure there are plenty of players who would pay for such an item and consider it Teh Uber, but it just doesn't really do anything that I'd consider a worthwhile investment of that much gold.