A bit of a forward before you read ahead:
I GM almost exclusive for 'rookie' groups. People who have virtually no exposure to Pathfinder and generally don't really care too much about how realistic or tactical the game is so long as they have fun. Below are two things where are campaign centric for the current game. I'm looking for feedback on each of them to work out any potential bugs in advance; I will note specifically what my concerns are with each item.
_____________________
Special Weapon Material, 'Toy'
It takes the harvesting of ten Gelatinous Cubes to obtain enough of this unique rubbery material in order to create a 'Toy' weapon. During the forging process the rubber is mixed in with the metal; creating a violent, frothing mass which has injured many an unwary smith. A weapon created in this manner is far lighter and easier to handle than any ordinary weapon of its type. However the new material is not very durable and problematic to deal with once broken.
Toy weapons are treated as being one size category smaller for purposes of wielding, keeping their original damage values. (I.E: A Toy Rapier (M) is treated as a small weapon dealing 1d6 damage.) Toy weapons cannot be repaired once broken and melt into an unusable mush when exposed to 30 points of Fire damage. Damage obtained from Fire sources cannot be mended.
Item Cost Modifier: +100 GP
________________
The purpose behind this material is two fold.
First and foremost; is I'm trying to please a player without being a 'every day is Christmas' GM. I have a halfling Fighter with the 'Cad' archetype; basically he wants to play a 'Three Musketeer' genre of character (with his own spins on it). The first game I accidentally gave him the M sized Rapier instead of the S sized (I'm doing everyone's sheets since they don't want to fiddle with all the number crunching.)
Next game I had fixed and semi-optimized everyone's characters. He noticed his character had a lower damage die and teasingly joked about wanting his old damage die back. We have a Human Ninja in the party who can pretty much throw out 1d8 + 1d6 on her sneaks. So really I see no harm in bending the rules a bit to allow him to have a 1d6 Rapier.
However this is where point two comes into play. I have two main antagonists in this early section of the game. One of them is known only to the players as the 'Toymaker'. I was thinking of using this homebrew weapon quality on a Rapier as a 'gift' to the player as an incentive to become 'friendly' with the Toymaker faction.
So rather than just saying "Here's your old damage back." I'm trying to tie it into the story. Is there anything about the above weapon quality that would be immediately bad long term? Too cheap? Downside too harsh? Ect.
_______________
Sphere of Creation
Aura strong conjuration CL 20th
Slot none Weight -
A sphere of creation is a globe of brilliant green and purple light 2 feet in diameter. Any living creature that willingly comes into contact with it has their very memory and life essence stored away by the sphere. If the creature dies at any point after having touched a sphere of creation, every trace of it is immediately pulled into the sphere so long as the creature died on the same plane the sphere exists on.
One hour after the creature has died, the sphere will attempt to bring it back to life in the exact manner it existed the last time it touched a sphere of creation (including things such as XP). I.E If a Orc Fighter 2, at 3000 XP, touches a sphere of creation and dies as a Orc Fighter 2, at 3100 XP; the Orc will be revived at his 3000 XP state. Optionally, any creature may cast any spell that brings a dead target back to life (so long as they know the name of who they wish to revive); bypassing the prior result and bringing the creature to life exactly as the chosen spell details.
Using a sphere of creation requires a cost of 50 XP, per Character Level, per use.
Depending on how many XP have been invested into the sphere, a number of side effects may happen at the time of resurrection.
When a creature, who has spent 2000 XP using a sphere of creation, is brought back to life by the sphere; a clone of the creature is created at a different sphere in the same plane. The cloned creature is always Evil and has the overwhelming desire to kill and replace the original creature, believing itself to be the original.
When a creature, who has spent 5000 xp using a sphere of creation, is brought back to life by the sphere; a sphere of annhilation is immediately created 1 ft. away from the sphere of creation. The new sphere of annhilation orbits around the sphere of creation and has an additional 10 added to any DC to control it.
______________
Alright, I know exactly what you thought as soon as you read what it does. Yes, it is a 'save point'. Again, this is for 'rookie groups who aren't all ye olden D&D fantasy purists'. No one is playing a designated healer and personally I've never been a big fan of the 'cleric side quest' every time someone dies. As you can see from the side effects the Sphere of Creation is intended to have little 'down sides' happen if relied upon as a crutch without being a complete whack over the head to the party for doing so.
The Sphere of Creation is not really intended to be brought everywhere; I'm thinking of having it pretty much anchored in every Goddess Temple the world has (which won't be as easy to access as it sounds; the Goddess vanished centuries ago and the world is apathetic towards the temples at best; hostile at worst since the Antagonists forbid anyone from entering them).
The questions I have regarding this are as follows:
-Is the XP value for usage too high or too low?
-Is the XP value for the downsides to kick in too high or too low?
-What other side effects can I add onto this thing? I know it will probably be used long-term by the group so I need more than two. Preferably some lower value ones that aren't quite as shocking as a 'clone character' and some a bit harsher than the Sphere of Annhilations.
