What use is a glass window in a pinch?

[NewEmpire]

The Robe of Useful Items has as one of its possible patches a window (2 ft. by 4 ft., up to 2 ft. deep). From what I understand, the robe is meant to be used in sticky situations that might require use of the items that make up its patches. However, I'm confused as to what use a window would be in any kind of situation that didn't involve building a house. What situation would it be useful for?

[Deadmoon]

If you ever make a bar bet with a window as the stakes, you'll be ready to pay up if you lose.

[Lincoln Hills]

Yeah, the odds of finding a 2-foot-by-4-foot hole in some random dungeon wall are pretty limited. And this isn't an old-school portable hole: you can't just slap it on a wall and "create" a window... unless I'm missing a footnote or something. Well, it does list a "depth" that would be nonsensical if it didn't have the power to create a hole in a wall. If so, you could use it to collapse a building by creating a window right through the middle of a load-bearing beam.

This does give me the idea of updating the old "cursed" gag item, the robe of useless items, with stuff like "A yo-yo with no string", "A mousetrap with no spring," and "a bag of rotting turnips."

[donato]

I've used it for infiltration. We found a local mob leader and were trying to get the jump on him. From the windows, we could see he had some muscle guarding the interior of his home. The one room that had no window was obviously his room. I made a window in the wall and moved in. We caught him in his sleep. A very proud moment for me.

[Kobold Catgirl]

Does depth indicate thickness? If so, that's a pretty solid barrier. Otherwise, I'm not sure. :P

[Zhayne]

Pull it out during a bar brawl. It's not a bar brawl unless someone gets thrown through a window.

[NewEmpire]

donato wrote:

I've used it for infiltration. We had found a local mob leader and were trying to get the jump on him. From the windows, we could see he had some muscle guarding the interior of his home. The one room that had no window was obviously his room. I made a window in the wall and moved in. We caught him in his sleep. A very proud moment for me.

If you knew where he was, why not just make a hole to go in and get him? There still seems to be no real use for the window.

[Ross Byers]

If the window is listed as being two feet deep, I'm guessing it is supposed to be a way to actually make a hole in a wall.

[Lincoln Hills]

Yeah, caught that and did an edit. Still not sure though.

[NewEmpire]

Ross Byers wrote:

If the window is listed as being two feet deep, I'm guessing it is supposed to be a way to actually make a hole in a wall.

The robe already has a pit and a portable ram. There's no need for another device that can make a hole.

[donato]

NewEmpire wrote:

donato wrote:

I've used it for infiltration. We had found a local mob leader and were trying to get the jump on him. From the windows, we could see he had some muscle guarding the interior of his home. The one room that had no window was obviously his room. I made a window in the wall and moved in. We caught him in his sleep. A very proud moment for me.

If you knew where he was, why not just make a hole to go in and get him? There still seems to be no real use for the window.

Making a hole by any other means would have made too much noise. I was able to put his thugs to sleep while my allies grappled and tied up the leader. It was a silent, bloodless affair.

[Kobold Catgirl]

Isn't it a bit weird how you don't need the spells that would make things like pits and portable holes to make a robe that makes things like pits and portable holes?

[NewEmpire]

donato wrote:

NewEmpire wrote:

donato wrote:

I've used it for infiltration. We had found a local mob leader and were trying to get the jump on him. From the windows, we could see he had some muscle guarding the interior of his home. The one room that had no window was obviously his room. I made a window in the wall and moved in. We caught him in his sleep. A very proud moment for me.

If you knew where he was, why not just make a hole to go in and get him? There still seems to be no real use for the window.

Making a hole by any other means would have made too much noise. I was able to put his thugs to sleep while my allies grappled and tied up the leader. It was a silent, bloodless affair.

Alright, I can see how that would work. Thanks.

[Zhayne]

Kobold Cleaver wrote:

Isn't it a bit weird how you don't need the spells that would make things like pits and portable holes to make a robe that makes things like pits and portable holes?

"It's magic. I ain't gotta explain crap."

[NotMousse]

KC, this is one of those items that came out way before they codified spells as requirements for item creation. As a legacy item it just gets shuffled around from edition to edition without much thought.

[Lincoln Hills]

Though I concede that APG's create pit seems like a great, backwards-compatible prerequisite for things like this and the portable hole.

[LazarX]

Lincoln Hills wrote:

Though I concede that APG's create pit seems like a great, backwards-compatible prerequisite for things like this and the portable hole.

Create Pit doens't make a hole, it makes a bend in space for things to fall into. I make a create pit on the second floor of the inn, the things that fall into it don't go into the first floor common room right underneath.

[Lincoln Hills]

Spells and items often aren't a perfect match for each other. I'm just saying that create pit is thematically closer than any other effect (rope trick, for example) that uses the extradimensional-space theme. Though maybe passwall is closer to this window thing. Not close, just closer.

[LazarX]

Lincoln Hills wrote:

Spells and items often aren't a perfect match for each other. I'm just saying that create pit is thematically closer than any other effect (rope trick, for example) that uses the extradimensional-space theme. Though maybe passwall is closer to this window thing. Not close, just closer.

Passwall would work. However Glass Window from the magic item works also because it's a place where Rule of Cool is not a breakage of versmilitude.

[zefig]

You could use it to block line of effect to a gnome or halfling without blocking line of sight.