I don't know if Sean's list includes this, but we got some of these each of the prior years and each was generally considered an uninspired item and an autoreject: items that bring something from computer gaming (MMO or otherwise) into tabletop D&D.
You know them when you see them: the "automapper," the "automatic magical quest organizer journal," the thing that lets you see how tough a monster is by putting a colored circle around them showing their level or that shows the monster name in blue, purple, orange, etc., to show "challenge level" relative to your level floating above the monster. You get the idea. And so do the judges. And, in past years, the judges never liked any of these. Why? Because YOU didnt come up with it. Your favorite computer game did. YOU just decided to import it into tabletop gaming. Not the same as creating the item from scratch. Inspiration is one thing, lifting and importing is another. This is the latter.
Hehe. Sorry! (though I have a funny feeling you didn't actually submit that).
Yeah, HUD Helmet would have issues.
So would the "stone and scroll of returning" that lets you set a "stone" in your "home" and then when you read the "scroll" it teleports you back to your home.
Or the "Helm of TeamSpeak" that lets all members of the party speak with each other remotely, like online headsets for MMOs.
Or "goggles of challenge" that let you see the world around you and every creature's name is displayed in a color that shows its challenge to you by a set color scheme, particularly when that color scheme (coincidentally, of course) matches the scheme from WoW.
Those probably won't make the cut.
Clark
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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The game-master in me is boggling. An item that lets you see combat stats for all the NPCs? Here you go, so long as it also shuts down the wearer's Sense Motive abilities.
It's like asking the players to roll initiative every time they walk into a tavern, come across a group of (CR 1/3) children playing, or meet a (CR 1/2) farmer bringing his (CR 1 and 2) pigs to market.
"Coming down the path is a human male, unarmored but carrying a staff of some kind. He is currounded by a dozen man-sized beasts, each with a mouth full of vicious teeth, and a sinister intelligence behind their beady eyes. He glances at the party, and then urges the creatures towards you. Roll for initiative."
Has the Pathfinder crew ever considered rezzing set items?
Like the Regalia of Evil, etc....
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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I don't know if this is one of the auto-rejects but in general if you have seen an item in some other setting and thought it was really cool there it's likely not a great item.
That said, look at last years 7000 Blossoms, it's a very cool item that is essentially an extend-able plank. He turned a wimpy, fairly generic effect into a cool item with good prose.
I don't see folks turning an automapper something as cool sounding as 7000 blossoms but you never know. :D
Like a Dooverquarter?
I always wanted an item to put a coin into when your character died and it instantly took them back to the beginning of last successful level. :)
Oh and something that made dead bodies melt into the ground in 1d3 seconds. Or one that limited line of fire to the edge of the screen. Or one that was like a mini-me who followed me around and flashed until I got hit then it takes all the damage flashes faster and faster and eventually disappears...
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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Like a Dooverquarter?
I always wanted an item to put a coin into when your character died and it instantly took them back to the beginning of last successful level. :)
Oh and something that made dead bodies melt into the ground in 1d3 seconds. Or one that limited line of fire to the edge of the screen. Or one that was like a mini-me who followed me around and flashed until I got hit then it takes all the damage flashes faster and faster and eventually disappears...
Yeah... devices that let you travel back in time are their own kind of pain in the *
Chief Technical Officer
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...And, in past years, the judges never liked any of these. Why? Because YOU didnt come up with it. Your favorite computer game did.
That, and that almost all of them are also metagaming items.
Awwww, snap.
This does not bode well for my Greater Bowtie of Lag Projection.
That, and that almost all of them are also metagaming items.
So true, Vic, so true.