FWIW: the link provided specifically mentions 'wondrous items' (notice the lack of a rings slot). Magic Items on the Body includes armor and shields.
The next Wayfinder is Ustalav...
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Hi all
Just a bit of shameless self promotion - I am converting my huge unwieldy RPG Superstar guide into a nice clean set of index linked blog posts to bring everything to an on-line accessible level for all during the competitions and for use when actively freelancing.
The base site and functionality are now operating with the first two posts up. Please feel free to have a look see and PM me any suggestions you may have.
Thanks all.
<snip> ... index linked blog ... </snip>
The blog now has a resources directory and a games publisher directory in addition to the blog posts. I have also added a contact page so you don't have to fiddle with PM's to send me feedback ( Thanks! to everyone who did though :) ).
The base structure of the blog site is just about done now, so back to blogging proper useful item design articles... :)
Probably about 2 months to go before the next round of Superstar gets underway!
Yeah! Template Fu is awake and raring to review ;)
Not that we are counting. We have the wonderful monsters contest to keep us occupied. :)
And probably a Monarch of the Monsters (or is it Spell writers) before then too.
Marathon Voter Season 8, Marathon Voter Season 9
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I know in my heart that this idea could use a little more "oomph". But this is a good start, I feel.
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Notes from the Plagiarist Muse
Aura moderate illusion; CL 8th
Slot none; Price 7,000 gp Weight 1 lb.
Description
This pocket-sized, hidebound tome has the disarming looks of a young girl’s diary. A leather cord wraps around the book to keep it tightly closed when not in use. Although the pages within appear blank, bards and charlatans alike search high and low for the power a book such as this provides.
Twice per day, with help from the notes, a bard may use her Bluff in place of any Perform skill. If this ability is used for a bardic performance, treat the bard’s level as one level higher for every 5 by which the check exceeded 15.
Twice per day, a rogue using the notes may use Perform (act, dance, or sing) in place of her CMB for any steal or dirty trick combat maneuver. The character’s bonuses to these combat maneuvers (via feats, class skills, etc.) are applied to this check as normal.
Both of these abilities may be used twice per day by a character with levels in both bard and rogue.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, innocence; Cost 3,500 gp
RPG Superstar 2014 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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Although the pages within appear blank, bards and charlatans alike search high and low for the power a book such as this provides.
Just a quick comment: Background info and "lore" about the item are best left out--focus on the perceptible facts when describing your item. (RPGSS judges have commented on this many times in the past.)
The conversion of my pdf into a reference-able blog has now entered the round one stage of designing an item per 2013 round rules. The blog is taking my old pdf and fully updating it to take into account public voting.
The first two posts being how to read the round rules and what they mean, and the second post begins with selecting your base item for your design.
The example being used is a snail shell! ;)
Hope you find it useful.
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Dedicated Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
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May I suggest: a separate thread for your blog. That way it'll be easier to notice when there are updates because they don't get buried here. (And the Blazing 9 stays on topic ;) )
I know in my heart that this idea could use a little more "oomph". But this is a good start, I feel.
Notes from the Plagiarist Muse
Template use looks good. I had to look up the spell. I'm not sure if people like less common spells or not for Superstar. Anyone else have any thoughts? I'm not sure how much it matters. I'll look 'em up when there's one I don't recognize, but I don't know if others bother to do that or not.
The name's interesting. I think I like it, but I could see mileage varying on that. It reminds me a bit of Neil's famed leaves of the last autumn dryad in that I think it works but probably isn't what I would recommend (I tend very strongly to favor two-word names, but that's my own bias and I don't know how much of an effect it has, though I do think naming is very important).
I agree with Mikko's comments about back story. One of the tough things to do is having an item that looks mundane, as this obviously is meant to. It means you lose the opportunity to describe it. Still you do get some good usage out of the description -- I like "hidebound" as a word, and the leather cord is a nice detail.
Interesting idea to have a Bluff instead of Perform. I'm not sure how useful that will be -- I think most bards probably maximize their Perform skill. I might not limit it to bards, since I think it'd probably be more useful for almost any other class, no?
I think I like the second ability more, though again, I don't like it being limited to rogues. Especially for Superstar, I think it's bad design to limit it to one class. It's not an auto DQ, obviously, but you're likely turning off those players who don't like to play those classes. Letting any class use Perform in place of CMB for those maneuvers doesn't hurt anything and makes the item more useful.
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I know in my heart that this idea could use a little more "oomph". But this is a good start, I feel.
Notes from the Plagiarist Muse
I had to look up the spell as well, which is a bit of a double-edged sword. Using more obscure sources gives you some versatility with your effects, but for RPGSS you may run the risk of voters being turned off by "extra homework."
If it's "pocket-sized," does it really weight 1 lb.?
I'm not a fan of long names. They strike me as clunky and tend to turn me off. This name in particular seems better suited as a book title than an item name. Perhaps something like "Plagiarist's Journal"?
Jacob hit my main points. A couple other language things that may help tighten it up (in order of appearance in the description):
1) "appearance" sounds a bit more professional than "looks."
2) "tightly" is a bit of an extraneous adverb.
3) I would phrase the first ability "Twice per day, a bard may use the notes to replace any Perform skill with a Bluff check."
4) You say the abilities are usable twice per day three times - one should be sufficient, with proper phrasing.
5) I would say the "user's" bonuses, not the "character's."
I also have my long-overdue revision of the the mirror:
Mirror of Arcing Spells
Aura strong illusion; CL 13th
Slot none; Price 9,000 gp; Weight 2 lbs.
Description
This 2-foot long, diamond-shaped mirror always stands on one point when resting on a surface, and rotates to follow moving figures. Three times per day, the user can launch the mirror in any direction up to 50 ft. The mirror spins in the air for 1d3 rounds, allowing the user to see the area surrounding it as if she was standing in the mirror’s space.
Furthermore, the user can reflect spells with a range greater than touch off the mirror, acting as if she were casting from the mirror’s space for the purpose of determining line of effect. The distance between the caster and the mirror is subtracted from the spell’s range. The mirror cannot reflect cone or spread effects originating from the caster’s square.
The mirror has AC 12, hardness 5, and 20 hp; if broken, it loses all magical properties.
Construction Requirements
Craft Wondrous Item, project image; Cost 4,500 gp.
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One of the things that Sean taught me on his course is:
...if you are using a spell/feat/etc. that is not in the Core books, then you add a reference to it, something like "..., noncorespell (Ultimate Magic), ...".
I can't remember if the whole thing is italic or not as I don't have my notes with me, but a reference to a non core book is okay, and it should offset some of the issues with having to look it up. :)
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Marathon Voter Season 8, Marathon Voter Season 9
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Mirror of Arcing Spells
I REALLY LIKE THIS ITEM! I WANT ONE!!
Everything seems really sound about this. However, something is poking at me to recommend that the text for the spell-reflecting ability be specifically attuned to single-target spells in order to avoid confusion.
The mirror's owner can cast any single-target spell with a range greater than touch as if she were occupying the mirror's space. The mirror must have line of sight to both its owner and the target of the spell. The distance between the mirror and its owner is subtracted from the range of the spell.
Or something like this. This eliminates the need for the last sentence in that paragraph.
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And here's Revision 1 for my latest Blazing 9 piece:
Plagiarist’s Journal
Aura moderate illusion; CL 8th
Slot none; Price 7,000 gp Weight 1/2 lb.
Description
This pocket-sized, hidebound tome has the disarming appearance of a young girl’s diary. A leather cord wraps around the book to keep it closed when not in use. Although the pages within it appear mostly blank, they have strange runic symbols littered randomly throughout. Looking upon the symbols bestows the reader with great creative insight.
Three times per day, as a swift action, a character using the journal replaces any Perform skill check with a Bluff check and adds a +2 circumstance bonus to the roll.
Alternatively, she may expend one daily use of the journal to replace her CMB with a Perform (act, dance, or sing) when performing a steal or dirty trick combat maneuver. The user’s bonuses to these combat maneuvers (via feats, class skills, etc.) are applied to this check as normal.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, eagle’s splendor; Cost 3,500 gp
Mirror of Arcing Spells
Yeah, this is a killer item Nick. You probably should have held onto it for Superstar. But alas, it can go in the same bathwater as my stonescaling grasps
Mirror of Arcing Spells
Nice Nick, I have no real suggestions for improvement.
Two niggling questions. (& by niggling I think these are the sort of things that catch my eye while sitting at the computer, but in a game they would be less important than playing.Maybe it is because you called it out (rightfully so) now I am seeing the reflected spell damaging the mirror. EDIT: mirror is the starting point.... Is the mirror 'held' by the user (in case it needs to make a Reflex save from the fireball it just reflected or the one the goblin cast?
Also, activating the mirror and rolling a 1 on the die, is there time to cast a spell? I've seen GMs go different ways (start of your turn, end of your turn, end of opponent's turn). This is probably a larger rules question (has it been standardized since 3.5?)
What happens to the mirror 1d3 rounds later? Even if the goblin successfully grappled/disarmed it?
I lament the loss of making lightning bolts bend, but that is an option for a later item. This one doesn't need any more :)
Plagiarist’s Journal
hmmm... I liked note and muse in the original title, though I agree it might be a bit long. Not long enough to turn me off as a voter though. :)
- eagle's splendor is a transmutation spell.
- "Although... appears... " Sounds a little like hedging to me (or maybe it implies a reader who just made the perception DC)
- I think 'check' or 'ranks' are needed after 'perform' in the second ability. I can connect with the dirty trick maneuvers, but I suffer a disconnect that crooning about the girl who got away would let me grab the sword from the fighter's belt.
Meh item for me, but the writing is fairly solid. You practice is paying off Brigg! :)
One way you could get around the fireball problem it to make it only affect spells that have a direct target, so all the area of effect spells function normally, but a ray spell for example, gets reflected.
I think this might even be more in-keeping with reflection as an area of effect doesn't just hit the front of the mirror, it completely encompasses it, front, back, sides, top and bottom, the person holding it and everything around.
Wicked item though.
Is it too late to join the party and do rewrites of my previous submissions here? (I started working on this year's submission today and got all pumped up)
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Marathon Voter Season 8, Marathon Voter Season 9
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Meh item for me, but the writing is fairly solid. You practice is paying off Brigg! :)
Thank you. I'm trying to not only get the kinks out of my ability to design items, but to also wring out any nuances in my writing style that could turn people away.
Also, thanks for pointing out I forgot to change the aura of the item. THAT right there is one of the details I would more really overlook.
And Giorgios, I jumped in just a month or so ago. It appears all are welcome to flex their game design muscles here. ^.^ It's fun!
Is it too late to join the party and do rewrites of my previous submissions here? (I started working on this year's submission today and got all pumped up)
Gio! Welcome back. Please do join us the thread might only have a few months to live.
Just remember to not post your actual entry :)
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Marathon Voter Season 8, Marathon Voter Season 9
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Here's revision 2:
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Plagiarist’s Journal
Aura moderate transmutation; CL 8th
Slot none; Price 7,000 gp Weight 1/2 lb.
Description
This pocket-sized, hidebound tome has the disarming appearance of a young girl’s diary. A leather cord wraps around the book to keep it closed when not in use. The pages within it are mostly blank, but have strange runic symbols littered randomly throughout. Looking upon the symbols bestows the reader with great creative insight.
Three times per day, as a swift action, a character using the journal replaces any Perform skill check with a Bluff check and adds a +2 circumstance bonus to the roll.
Alternatively, she may expend one daily use of the journal to replace her CMB bonus with her Perform (act or dance) bonus when performing a steal or dirty trick (dazzle, entangle, or sicken) combat maneuver. The user’s bonuses to these combat maneuvers (via feats, class skills, etc.) are applied to this check as normal.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, eagle’s splendor; Cost 3,500 gp
Long time no seen Curaigh, hope you are fine ;)
Thanks for the warm welcome guys ~ I will abuse it without the slightest hint of shame, hope you don’t mind ~
I will start with my previous year's entry,
aaaaand here I go.
Original Item and Feedback Analysis
Boots of Spellwalking(Original)
Aura moderate abjuration and transmutation; CL 7th
Slot feet; Price 21,000 gp; Weight 1 lb.
Description
These garnet-colored boots are made of fine silk elegantly embroidered with ornate symbols, glyphs, and sigils of thin silver thread.
Three times per day, as a full-round action, the wearer of these boots can move both before and after casting a spell, but he must move at least 10 feet before casting the spell and the total distance that he moves cannot be greater than his speed. When using the boots in this manner, the wearer ignores the adverse effects of difficult terrain and the square he starts out is not considered threatened by any enemies (therefore he never provokes an attack of opportunity when moving out of that square).
A spellcaster who stomps the ground with these boots to fulfill any somatic components for casting a spell with a duration greater than instantaneous that affects an area, must make a concentration check (DC 15 + double the level of the spell) or lose the spell. Success means the point where the spell originates moves up to 30 feet per round as long as the caster actively directs it (a move action for the caster). A spell that moves in this manner winks out if it exceeds the spell’s range. Failure by 5 or more causes the spell to automatically move up to 30 feet per round towards the boots and renders them useless for 24 hours. The concentration DC increases by +5 for each time this ability has been successfully activated.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, freedom of movement, mage hand; Cost 10,500 gp
Positive Feedback
-Spring Attack for Spells is pretty cool and kinda neat
-Second power could be interesting
-Interesting idea
-Good seed for an idea
Negative Feedback
-Ignoring Difficult Terrain is a bit of an overkill
-Concentration DC does not specify whether it resets or not
-Forcing a concentration check with the stomp leaves a lot of unanswered questions
-Concentration or blow in your face mechanic destroys the item, should be balanced x times / day
-Way too powerful / unbalanced for casters
-Second ability is too complicated
-Second ability is really too complicated
-Second ability is really really too complicated
-Wording is awkward in places
-Looks like a first draft, needed more editing passes
Analysis
-Spring Attack for spells is indeed cool, but I should show more restriction and carefully balance the ability.
-The concentration check part is badly written, badly balanced, and way too confusing, the best option here is to probably get rid of it and replace it with something simpler that fits the flavor.
-The overall power level of the item should be tone down quite a bit, the power of these boots did bother a lot of people
-Wording should be vastly improved
Boots of Spellwalking (Revision 1)
Aura moderate transmutation; CL 7th
Slot feet; Price 22,400 gp; Weight 1 lb.
Description
These garnet-colored boots are made of fine silk elegantly embroidered with ornate symbols, glyphs, and sigils of thin silver thread.
Twice per day, as a full-round action, the wearer of these boots can move both before and after casting a spell, but he must move at least 10 feet before casting the spell and the total distance that he moves cannot be greater than his speed.
Once per day, the wearer of these boots can attempt to bull rush an ongoing spell or spell-like ability that affects an area. If the wearer of these boots succeeds at a combat maneuver check against a CMD equal to the spell’s DC (using the wearer’s CMB), the spell is pushed back as a creature would, but it can be bull rushed into a square occupied by a solid object or obstacle. A spell that was successfully bull rushed by this effect, moves 30 feet per round towards its original caster for the remainder of its duration.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, freedom of movement, mage hand; Cost 11,200 gp
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Marathon Voter Season 8, Marathon Voter Season 9
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Boots of Spellwalking
This is a really neat item. Being able to Bull Rush non-creature things seems like a really great utility.
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Making the CMD equal to the spell's DC would make it way too easy to pass. Generally, CMD has an automatic 10 tacked onto it. The first couple of sentences in the paragraph both say "Wearer of the boots".
Rewording suggestion for the first few sentences, if I may:
Once per day, the wearer of the boots can attempt a bull rush combat maneuver against the area of effect of an ongoing spell or spell-like ability. The CMD against the bull rush attempt is equal to 10 + the spell's save DC. A successful bull rush pushes the area of effect in the same manner a creature would be. (Then the rest, which seems fine)
Additionally, It may not hurt, if you have the space, to add that bull rush bonuses from feats, class skills, charging, etc., are applied normally. Just in case anyone would question it.
I still like the item! ^.^
Sorry for taking so long to answer, really tough week ~
Thanks a lot for the review Brigg! I really appreciate it!
I am glad you like the item!
I was afraid it was too easy to sucessfully bullrush the spell as well, but I wanted to avoid adding 10 twice (DC is 10+SpellLv+CastingStat), so I will probably change it to the CMD formula used for Spell Sunder instead.
Thanks for catching the repetitive text in my description! :), I really hadn't notice, it was really careless of me :p
Once I get back home, I'll write "Revision 2" based on your feedback :)
Long time no seen Curaigh, hope you are fine ;)
Boots of Spellwalking (Revision 1)
I have nothing to complain about Gio. :)
These were on my my favorites list, though didn't get auto upvote.- spring attack, flyby attack, shot-on-the-run... Finally something for casters! To be honest though most spells have a range so the utility is not that strong. Obviously 'creature touched' spells benefit most from these, though short range spells could be cast and staying out of charge range. Sniping effects can as well. Every other range though makes this superfluous.
- bullrushing an AoE will be difficult to adjudicate. bull-rush moves something 5 feet, maybe more if you have a good CMB. This effectively moves things 30 ft. on one edge, 30 ft on the other. Or rather moves 6 things five feet. Is the whole area cleared, or just the five feet the wearer moves into. I can see a line of cloud sticking out of a cloud because it got pushed, but not the rest of the cloud. The continuous bull rush is also a lot more powerful than a single bull rush. I can see it if the AoE is one of those that rolls (like cloudkill) but if it is a stationary effect (like obscuring mist). Hmmm... what if the spell is permanent? could you move reverse gravity outside of the wizard's tower?
- spell on the run, bull rushing AoE are both nice ideas. This goes into SAK and might be be better as two items instead.
In year 09 or 10 we had the spellshaper gloves, which altered an AoE's ongoing effect.
Either area would be fun to explore, but I would split them up to get my upvotes. :)
Plagiarist’s Journal
Much tighter, and the format is looks spot on. 'Tis still unclear what it means to be 'using the journal' means. Is it spell prep, is it standard-full-round 1 hours per page, does it mean someone needs to put an entry in the journal? Personally a young girl's diary is not disarming, but not all readers grow up with six sisters.
The rest of my issues have been addressed though. Nice work Brigg :)
Assuming a December opening there is just
7 Weeks (maybe 8)
- that's all the practice time you have left!
Good point.
I wonder how many of my 9 I have completed?
I also wonder how many have I not yet commented on? That is the real trick of course; giving more than you get. :)
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Marathon Voter Season 8, Marathon Voter Season 9
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I think this feels much cleaner, and I'm sure it answers the rest of your questions, Curaigh.
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Plagiarist’s Journal
Aura moderate transmutation; CL 8th
Slot none; Price 7,000 gp Weight 1/2 lb.
Description
This pocket-sized, hidebound tome has the disarming appearance of a young girl’s diary. A leather cord wraps around the book to keep it closed when not in use. The pages within it are mostly blank, but have strange runic symbols littered randomly throughout. Looking upon the symbols bestows the reader with great creative insight.
Three times per day, as a standard action, a character glances through the journal. Within ten minutes of reading, she may spend a swift action to replace her next Perform skill check with a Bluff check; or replace her CMB bonus with her Perform (act or dance) bonus when performing her next steal or dirty trick (dazzle, entangle, or sicken) combat maneuver. Her bonuses to these combat maneuvers (via feats, class skills, etc.) are applied to this check as normal. Use of either of these effects gains a +4 insight bonus.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, eagle’s splendor; Cost 3,500 gp
The more I look at that item, the more I want to write a similar themed item that uses the name, the effects of which are...
"Upon hearing performances by any artiste, the blank pages fill with the scripts, musical notations and essence of the songs and stories being performed."
I.e. the book is the plagiarist itself.
So the only thing I find with this item is that the name doesn't seem quite right for the effects being described. The name implies some sort of purloining of someone else's work rather than being a buffing effect of your own skills.
I think your item should have a name using "Virtuoso" or similar rather than Plagiarist - but that's just me. I think playing off of musical genius would have greater synergy with the effect of the item and so aide recall of the item benefits during game play.
This whole post is due to my gut reaction to your chosen name, and everyone knows how much I rate my naming skills, so please ignore/rename as you see fit :)
Two questions
1. Up this thread (back in August), there was a discussion about whether or not it is a good idea to require ranks of a skill in addition to one or more spells and Craft Wondrous Item. I'm thinking of entering an item this year that would require a skill. The core rulebook and APG items don't appear to have skills attached, but some in Ultimate Equipment do. For example, if I wanted to enter a loom that can weave 10x faster than normal (useful to non-adventurers), I would want Craft (weaving). What is the RPGSS take here - is this a loser choice? Just skip the craft?
2. What is the RPGSS take on items that are useful, but not useful to adventurers, per se? I assume total losers, but I want to ask. In my thinking, an item that is very handy to some sort of non-adventurers may a) be super cool, b) may come in handy for adventurers at some point, c) be worth money and or some reward for obtaining. Are all RPGSS supposed to be, essentially, gear for PCs to use on the adventure? I assume yes, but...
Two questions
1. Up this thread (back in August), there was a discussion about whether or not it is a good idea to require ranks of a skill in addition to one or more spells and Craft Wondrous Item. I'm thinking of entering an item this year that would require a skill. The core rulebook and APG items don't appear to have skills attached, but some in Ultimate Equipment do. For example, if I wanted to enter a loom that can weave 10x faster than normal (useful to non-adventurers), I would want Craft (weaving). What is the RPGSS take here - is this a loser choice? Just skip the craft?
2. What is the RPGSS take on items that are useful, but not useful to adventurers, per se? I assume total losers, but I want to ask. In my thinking, an item that is very handy to some sort of non-adventurers may a) be super cool, b) may come in handy for adventurers at some point, c) be worth money and or some reward for obtaining. Are all RPGSS supposed to be, essentially, gear for PCs to use on the adventure? I assume yes, but...
Items that require skill ranks to use tend to be favored in RPGSS, so long as the skill is flavorful and logical for the item. My bonedancer bodhrán received praise for requiring a rank in Perform (percussion) to play. That said, I wouldn't go crazy with skill requirements, since they make an item more limiting, not more versatile.
Some items that are not PC-specific do well—James Casey's gossiper's gourd made top 32 last year—but those are exceptions not the rule. Remember, voters consider an item's quality based on how they would use it, both as a player and a GM. Items designed for NPCs lose a lot of the PC voter base unless they have substantial descriptive language and flavor to back them up.
OK, thanks Christopher!
I think I will submit my "useful to normals" stuff online outside the contest, as a way to make sure I am doing things properly.
I agree with Christopher on that I wouldn't do something not intended for adventurers (or to be even more specific, PCs). Other items CAN advance, but I think the odd are against them with the public vote.
Honestly, though, I feel the same way about having a skill in the requirements. I don't think a single skill will turn people off, but I think having anything more than that (or too many requirements) starts to be a disadvantage for an item. My feeling is people are looking for whatever they can to be able to decide a vote quickly (regardless of whether that's a good thought process or not), so they want to find any little thing they can find to give them a reason to reject an item. Having some odd requirements may be all that they need to click for the other item. Personally, I wouldn't downgrade an item for a skill requirement, but if I have two items I think are equal I could definitely see a strange skill -- say Craft (taxidermy) -- that I don't think anyone would normally have would being a decision-changer.
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Plagiarist’s Journal
"Or" should not be italicized, it doesn't match the typical Paizo format.
The first sentence of the second paragraph is confusing to me. I think it would be clearer to say "Three times per day, a creature may read the journal as a standard action. Within ten minutes of reading..."
I think specifying which dirty tricks this effect applies to seems a bit needlessly complicated, which might hurt you with voters.
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I'm not sure if I'll be able to get up to 9 by December, but here's my newest creation nonetheless:
Bullfighter’s Cape
Aura faint enchantment and transmutation; CL 5th
Slot shoulders; Price 14,000 gp; Weight 1 lb.
Description
This crimson cape billows dramatically with every motion, always coming to rest between the wearer and the largest creature in sight.
Whenever a creature make a bull rush, charge, or overrun attack against the wearer, he may, as an immediate action, become ethereal just before impact. The attacking creature passes through his space harmlessly, and must continue moving along its initial trajectory as far as its speed allows. If it hits another creature or object, its action resolves as if that creature or object was the original target. If it hits an object, the attacking creature takes damage equal to the damage done to that object before hardness.
The wearer becomes solid immediately after the attacking creature passes through its square. If the wearer readied an attack action against a charge, he may complete that attack without penalty before becoming ethereal. The charging creature is considered flat-footed for that attack.
Three times per day, the wearer can provoke a creature to charge at him (Will DC 14 negates). Creatures with the powerful charge or trample abilities take a -4 penalty on this save.
Construction Requirements
Craft Wondrous Item, blink, suggestion; Cost 7,000 gp.
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Marathon Voter Season 8, Marathon Voter Season 9
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Bullfighter’s Cape
Sweet M-er F-ing cuppin' cakes I WANT one!! And I would upvote this forever!
The ONLY suggestion I have is rewording the last couple of sentences in the initial ability paragraph:
...speed allows. If the charge hits another creature, the action resolves as if that creature was the original target. If it hits a solid object, the charging creature takes damage equal to the damage dealt to the object. Any reduction in damage (via DR, hardness, etc.) are not applied for the charging creature.
If I had more time to think (I'm at work), I would be able to think of something a little more solid, and probably with fewer words. The point was that you would want to separate what happens to creatures and what happens to objects.
What you have happening to new-target creatures is good and fine, but what happens if the target charges into a wall of paper? Or objects that could be shunted out of the way? I can understand the full damage being taken for hitting a solid stone wall, but charging into a mountain of down pillows would probably not deal a whole lot of damage to the charging creature.
Perhaps specifying that the object has to be immovable or hard or something.
Perhaps being at work is just an excuse for me being completely blinded by how freaking awesome this item is!
Two questions
1. Up this thread (back in August), there was a discussion about whether or not it is a good idea to require ranks of a skill in addition to one or more spells and Craft Wondrous Item. I'm thinking of entering an item this year that would require a skill. The core rulebook and APG items don't appear to have skills attached, but some in Ultimate Equipment do. For example, if I wanted to enter a loom that can weave 10x faster than normal (useful to non-adventurers), I would want Craft (weaving). What is the RPGSS take here - is this a loser choice? Just skip the craft?2. What is the RPGSS take on items that are useful, but not useful to adventurers, per se? I assume total losers, but I want to ask. In my thinking, an item that is very handy to some sort of non-adventurers may a) be super cool, b) may come in handy for adventurers at some point, c) be worth money and or some reward for obtaining. Are all RPGSS supposed to be, essentially, gear for PCs to use on the adventure? I assume yes, but...
Read Sean's rule rule #3, in particular the part about rocket launchers. One of the coolest things (ie things I remember 20 years after reading it) in Joel Rosenberg's Guardians of the Flame series is a knife that cut through wood like butter, but couldn't cut a person any more than a spoon could. Would an adventurer want it? Not so much, but wow that is cool flavor. :) If an item was THAT cool I would vote for it, but I am in the minority in this.
Like Christopher said a skill rank IS flavor and where appropriate it will sway my vote. If there is no good spell for what an item does, a skill could help make the best spell fit a little closer. If the spell fits perfectly, then a skill is needed less (exception: activating item uses [X skill]. Oddly I am probably more accepting of this sort of thing in a short entry, the longer it is the more likely I will feel the skill is extraneous. As Jacob said, do not make a skill up. Most skills are specific but Craft and Profession list examples. If it is not on that list, you could be going into home-brew territory.
Oddly the other coolest thing from the series was a mirror (window?) that could be pushed on one end to change the view in that direction. If one put both hands on the mirror and pulled them apart the view zoomed in, push them together it zoomed out. When I first saw a smart-screen I immediately thought of this really cool image from a novel. :)
Bullfighter’s Cape
Do you know how often a person readies against a charge? Once! If the creature doesn't charge it is a wasted action and rarely happens again. I have made several attempts to ready-an-action item so I think this is good design space.
- good design space (as expected from the Wascos at this point :) the suggestion is useful without going SAK and I like the penalty tied to powerful charge and trample (what? no penalty for pounce? :). but I still like where this is going :)
- I like the after-you-miss-me consequences. They are well thought out especially with the damage tied to an object's hardness. I might make it the 'user takes the damage dealt or the object's hardness--whichever is less' if I could get the sentence to flow better.
- two simple fixes: italicized comma, creature makes. The second sentence is a little more problematic. Grammatically accurate, but clunky to read.
Not that it matters but one of the first memes to annoy the judges was billowing cloaks. :)
Nice work Nick!
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Marathon Voter Season 8, Marathon Voter Season 9
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Man, I thought that with (Possibly) less than a month to go before round 1, this thread would be jumping...<.<
Or am I misunderstanding how this thread works...not sure o.o'
Of the two items I was thinking of submitting for the contest, I've finally decided which one I'm going to actually submit. I'm going to present the other one in this thread within the next couple of days.
I'm super-stoked!
I think it will pick up in about a month... just about the time we close it :)
It usually starts out strong, peters off, gains speed after PaizoCon, peters off, someone new finds it, peters off etc.
Also I think a lot of the regulars have gotten more regular work either in blogs or actual freelancing jobs. Keep at it, that could be you next :)
And some of us have awful Egyptian internet vs wonderful poolside sunshine... ;) - I'll be back soon and posting like a maniac again :)
I'm already back to daily lurking, waiting for the annual buzz to begin :)
Last day of the holiday now, wow, it went by so fast!
Last year's Superstar started the second Tuesday of December. That's in three weeks from today...
Who you trying to scare - the Paizo server people or us ? :P
I reckon you got both!
Here are two that I will be sending to Wayfinder for the Ustalov edition. Anyone care to take a look? The total article will be 750 words, but the other items involved are even less polished than these.
Thanks :)
Moonstone
Aura moderate enchantment; CL 8th
Slot none; Price 50,000 gp; Weight 1 lb.
Description
This white marble globe with veins of grey appears pitted with lots of craters. It is completely smooth to the touch however and glows softly when charged.
By channeling positive energy into a moonstone the user creates an area of tranquility for lycanthropes or other creatures plagued by the moon. The forty foot area centered on the moonstone reduces the strength of the full moon from three days a month to as little as one. Charging the moonstone requires a 10 minute ritual that ‘heals’ the moonstone with the channel energy dice. For each hit point gained from the channel the calming effect lasts one hour. Up to three channel energy bursts can be used during the ritual. If the moonstone is moved, the effect also moves, but the duration drops to rounds per hit point.
Channeling negative energy into a moonstone can increase the influence of the full moon using the same methods as above. The moonstone can increase the full moon’s effects up to a week.
It only functions during the week of the full moon and only once per day.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, moonstruck; Cost 25,000 gp
Mercy Mercurial Point
Aura faint conjuration and divination; CL 5th
Slot none; Price 800 gp; Weight --
Description
A small arrow-tip made of steel with a core of silver. A series of runes line the surface making each arrow unique. The design of these single use arrows allows the shaft to fall off on a successful hit. The arrow’s tip remains lodged in the victim and a lycanthrope’s resistance allows the wound to close over it.
For the next three days the user can concentrate on the shaft to discern the direction of the arrow-tip if it is within 500 ft. The user can concentrate for 6 minutes at a time up to 3 times a day. It otherwise functions as the locate object spell.
These +1 arrows of mercy deal non-lethal damage. A creature that changes shape or otherwise heals before removing the arrow-tip has only a 10% chance each day to find it. Removing the arrow tip once lodged requires a Heal check (DC 15) and deals 1d6 points of damage.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, Craft Magic Arms and Armor,cure light wounds, locate object; Cost 400 gp