PFS Items that can save you in 2016

[Azothath]

PFS Items that can save you in 2015

We all know death is an expensive and unfortunate experience, but there are some items you can buy that can help keep you alive and survive a scenario...
Rather than a general gear list, let's keep it focused on real "game changers" and things that will keep you up in a scenario, and under $5000(GP).
format - item name, price($ or GP), "("slot")", source, description(short).

=== staying alive & active ===

Potion Sponge $2 (none) ARG container that works underwater but Full r actn to drink [1 use]. Suitable for potions of Monkey Fish 1 ACG, Touch of the Sea 1 APG, Air Bubble 1 UC {lets you drink other potions and cast}, Cure Lgt Wnd 1 CRB (or you could use a waterskin(sm)[/b] $1 and argue about it).

Hex Nail $20 (none) ReignWinterPlyrGuide +2 rst all sv hexs, spels, SLA, SU of fey, hags, witches [1 use]. Circumstantial before you get a Cloak +2[/b] $3000 (shoulders) CRB.

Smelling Salts $25 (none) APG [dozens uses as Full actn (stoppered)] low level compromise to consciousness and for a save vs staggered or unconsciousness. Useful to question people who are below 0 Hps. It's better to cure your friends, but consciousness is better than unconsciousness...

Potion of Cure Light Wounds 1@1 $50 (none) CRB heal 1d8+1 HPs. Always have one on your person as sometimes the person giving it to you cannot use a wand or read a scroll. Usually a move actn to get out and a standard to drink, or a Full actn to give to someone else.

Wand of Cure Light Wounds/Infernal Healing 1@1 $750 or 2 Prestige (none) CRB heal 1d8+1/10(over 10r) HPs. Don't be a mooch, buy one and get cured.

Potion of Remove Blindness 3@5 $750 (none) CRB std to drink and remove condition. Expensive but can beat waiting for the cure.

Tourmaline Sphere Ioun stone $1000 (none) PS Primer +2 CON for HP limit on dying. So 2 extra rounds and a nice buffer. Wayfinder: +1 Con chks to stabilize SoS. The cracked is okay but overly specific.

Scroll: Breath of Life 5@9 $1125 (none) CRB cures 5d8+9 HPs & brings back from dead within 1r with 1 neg lvl (see spell). Need some action economy with this to make it work effectively. Cheaper than a Raise Dead and keeps you in play. A Scroll of Restoration might be handy.

Ageis of Recovery $1500 (neck) Ult Equip +2 rst bonus on "second" saves, if less than 0HP heal 2d8+3 HPs [1 use {then expended}]. Action ecenomy as it auto activates. This will save your butt if you are not killed outright by a critical or awesome damage! Combine with Talismans for A(disintegrates) then T action.

First Aid Gloves $4500 (hands) PFS Primer {Breath of Life [5 of 10 chgs] so $2250 per}. For 5+ level characters. Handles that action economy but the owner of the gloves bears the cost of your Breath of Life, buy a set and give one to your healer.

cracked Pearly White Spindle Ioun stone $3400 (none) PS Primer Regenerate (as spell) 1 HP/hour, immune to bleed damage, regrow body parts (slowly). Long term survivability and beauty maintainer(lol).

Talisimans(various) Occlt Adv. May wear up to 3. Activation condition is listed after the benefit. I'd suggest the last 3 after your Ageis as if your aegis crumbles to dust you must be in deep doo-doo. The permanent ones exceed the cost ceiling.
. . Beneficial Winds: fall 5'+ -> Feather Fall 1@1 $50.
. . Freedom: grppld, entngld, paralyzd -> 3r Freedom of Movement 4@7 $900.
. . Healing: less than 50%HP-> Cure Crit 4@7 4d8+7 $2400.
. . Life's Breath: dead -> Breath of Life 5@9 $3500.

Clear Spindle Ioun stone $4000 (none) PS Primer sustains crtr w/o food or water. Wayfinder: Protection from possession and mental control (as Protection from Evil so only from bona fide Evil sources/casters). Anti-Dominate Person for low Will PCs.

Boots of the Earth $5000 (feet) InrSeaGods "As a move action, the wearer can plant her feet and draw strength from the earth, gaining fast healing 1 and a +4 bonus to CMD to resist bull rush, reposition, and trip combat maneuver attempts. These effects end if the wearer moves or is moved, knocked prone, or rendered unconscious." {my conservative reading: on earth or unworked stone permanently affixed to the ground, see Soften Earth}. Not bad, but not cheap either, best for a fighter/barbarian type on guard duty on land. See Rules thread for more chat on this item.

for casters a [wand] with an escape/defence spell as wands do not provoke AoO!

The Pathfinder Tales Chronicle (Boon) for owning the book Queen of Thorns real$10 $0GP (none) as an immediate action, gain temporary HP and the Confused Condition for 3 rounds...

=== Helpful ===

Unseen Servant/Familiar/etc to hand it to you for Action Economy.

Spring loaded wrist sheath $5 pop wands, potions, and usually scrolls as a swift action (Action Economy), double check with your GM. Get TWO.

Bandolier $5 UltEquip. Holds 8 items with mov actn to recover, same as backpack. If your hands are free (with GM agreement) you could pull 2 as a mov actn for a little action economy, if GM says no then don't buy it. If you are using this you should not be next to an opponent due to provoking AoO. Replaced by HH at higher levels (next item).

Handy Haversack $2000 UltEquip. 80lb/8cuft, 2@20lb/2cuft. Pulling items from a HH is a MOV actn that does not provoke an AoO. Caster's might consider an Unseen Servant to pull and hold items for you.

Alchemist's Fire $20. buy 4 and 6 $0.1 plain lamp oils, throw when it looks dead or if you just want to burn it. Throw in order; AF(ignites)(1d6 then 1d6), oil(1d3 then 1d3), oil, oil... catching on fire Reflex DC15 to avoid otherwise 1d6(fire)/r, success puts fire out.

Continual Flame w/Heighten $50 + your ioun torch or dull gray ioun stone($25) {note that you can only have ONE such item}. You'll need a party caster of 7+ CL with the spell to do it for you.

the usual potion assortment, Antiplague, Antitoxin, Twitch Tonic.

Blood boiling pill $75 +2 alch INIT, +2 save vs cold efcts, RndUp(1.5*dmg from bleed efcts) for 8hrs.

cracked Vibrant Purple Prism Ioun stone $2000 (none) PS Primer stores 1 spell level as Ring of Spell Storing minor(Std actn, Spl @ minimum level) (so you can cast it)! Rcc'd; Cure Light Wnd, Air Bubble, Expd Rtrt, Grease, Ill Calm, Obs Mist, Phan Blood, Prot Evil, Shield, True Strike, Vanish.

Caster's Shield (to 3rd level) $3153 UltEquip.

Mnemonic Vestment $5000 UltEquip (spontaneous caster-Oracle) use your slot to cast item's spell.

Vanishing Sheath $5000 AdvClsGd (again, some GM leeway required but more likely than mundane item).

Sipping Jacket $5000 (chest) UltEquip - use Dur:(Inst or N*r) potions round by round as swift actn.

Rod Metamagic Reach $11000 (range Close means you don't have to move and spell must be cast (not on a scroll), but above the[/b] $5000 limit).

=== Combat ===

Smoke Stick $20 or Wand Obscuring Mist(for casters) 2PP CRB. The wand is more effective and usually can hinder ranged attacks, usefull in Darkness to balance out advantages.

Jingasa of the Fortunate Soldier $5000 (head) UltEquip +1 luck AC; negate critical or sneak Atk extra damage as immd actn [1/d]. Good for most martial types. Circlets are in this same slot (but not Headbands).

Swarmbane Clasp $3000 (neck) Ult Equip - Deal full weapon damage to swarms, automatically succeed on saves vs. swarms distraction. A backup item to wear (as non-active) and swap your neck slot items around if you need it.

[TimD]

FYI - Boots of the Earth was nerfed in the PFS House Rules Document (aka Campaign Clarifications) - in PFS it can only be activated 1x/day.

[Lamontius]

snapleaf
elixir of spirit sight
potion of touch of the sea
potion of feather step
boots of the cat
smoke pellet: smog
smelling salts

now and forever

[Azothath]

so Boots of the Earth go down in usefulness which makes the standard Wands CLW/IH and cracked Pearly White Spindle Ioun stone better choices.

I still like Potion Sponge with Air Bubble. That allows you to take the Air Bubble underwater and then the rest of your potions normally (and cast verbal components). It also prevents drowning. CLW was the other obvious choice as you may be incapacitated underwater.

Smelling salts is already on the list. While it's not directly said I'd consider using the smelling salts a full round action AFTER you have them in hand.

Vial of Efficacious Medicine $700 (none) AlchMan fell off the list as it's price went to $7000 for PFS.

[andreww]

Stephen Ross wrote:

I still like Potion Sponge with Air Bubble. That allows you to take the Air Bubble underwater and then the rest of your potions normally (and cast verbal components).

You don't need air bubble to cast spells underwater, just a DC15+spell level concentration check.

Quote:

It also prevents drowning. CLW was the other obvious choice as you may be incapacitated underwater.

On the other hand they are handy for this.

[RealAlchemy]

Potion of darkvision : because not being able to see sucks.
Elixir of Darksight : in case above fails due to deeper darkness.
Bottled Scream : Being silenced also sucks if you're a caster.
Books of Escape : So does getting grappled if you're a caster.

[Ferious Thune]

Touch of the Sea is the spell I commonly put into a Potion Sponge. Or, if you're willing to go with a 2nd level spell, Alter Self can get you Water Breathing and a Swim Speed if you turn into a Gillman or Merfolk (Merfolk also gets you low-light, but no legs, if you're planning to leave the water).

Occult Adventures has some great new items in it. The tokens are good. Lots of good options there, and you can wear up to three at once.

Four Leaf Clover or Lucky Horshoe can get you slotless luck bonuses to saves.

[Ferious Thune]

Here's one I don't see mentioned too often. That's probably because they're fairly expensive for an expendable item.

Metamagic Gems

For the most part, the cost doesn't really make them worth it. I do like the Silent Spell gem for 1,000 gold, though, as that gives you options in a bad situation. Though I do admit to carrying one around on my Sorcerer for 4 or 5 levels and never using it.

At 8,000 gold, the Quicken Spell gem is tempting, but probably not practical at PFS levels. Keep in mind, though, that the gems are not Lesser versions. They should at least work like a normal Metamagic Rod on up to 6th level spells. So improves the value some.

[Gwen Smith]

RealAlchemy wrote:

Potion of darkvision : because not being able to see sucks.

Elixir of Darksight : in case above fails due to deeper darkness.
Bottled Scream : Being silenced also sucks if you're a caster.
Books of Escape : So does getting grappled if you're a caster.

Wand of Grease is decent for grappled casters.

For the Elixir of Darksight, remember that you have to have darkvision before this will work (it "doubles the range of your darkvision"--it doesn't actually give you darkvision).

[Azothath]

while some of these are helpful the thread should be focused on survival in a scenario, then on cost effectiveness.

While I like Darkvision (dur:CstrLvl hr), Cont. Flame/Daylight lets everyone see (daylight dur:10*CstrLvl min) and alerts those that can see the light. Most combats end in under 5 rounds. So I'd access Darkvision via scroll(1/2 potion cost) and your party caster (he might be able to cast it for free) in advance of the situation or pull out the latter in a pinch. If you're being stealthy then Darkvision is a better choice.

Silence isn't an impediment to combat so it's mainly used for stealth or anti-caster. Silence is not that hard to escape/end, just move. If it's on an obvious object then sunder the object (so many forget this) or bag it(cut LoE). At worst if the character makes his Spellcraft check & identifies the spell, put the point of emanation in a bag(cut LoE).
SU abilities such as channelling negative energy isn't affected by Silence.
Too often characters push forward when a strategic retreat or reposition for 5-10 rounds might be better.

Bottled Scream $900 (none) ACG. one use thrown weapon (no damage) end bardic performances (includes YOUR bard), ends Silence in 20 Rad AoE, spellcasting/ongoing concentration check 15+Spl Lvl.

Rod of Metamagic Lesser Silent $3000 (in hand) CRB. uses 3/day, club/light mace (with GM approval). I think this is a better choice than the one time use bottle. You'll get off 3 spells and the rod pays for itself on the second day you use it.

Boots(typo=Books) of Escape $8000 (feet) UltEquip. use 1/d as Dim Door(30 or 400ft). Can you grapple yourself? overpriced and not cost effective.

Casting underwater IS an issue, particularly at lower levels. Concentration checks give the caster a decent fail percentage and you don't want your glass cannon jamming. Bonus's to Conc checks are hard to come by. I'd rather use a feat to do something consistently than get a bonus rarely. Air Bubble, Water breathing, and Alter Self/various polymorphs can abate the issue when the situation calls for it and usually the character knows before he enters the hazardous environment so you have time to prepare.

Personally I think Grease is a last resort when escaping a grapple but you want that spell on a wand as you don't want to provoke an AoO. Prevention via Blink, Mirror Image, etc are better. Liberating Command gives someone a second attempt which is great. I will note that mechanically it's better to let go (free) then attack for monsters with multiple attacks and then regrapple when the attack sequence ends. So you want to get free AND move away or become hard to attack so you don't jump start the release-attack-regrapple sequence.

[andreww]

Some of my common early 2pp purchases after a healing wand include:

Oil of Daylight: Deeper Darkness is just a pain and having a way to get rid of it is important.

Potion of Gaseous Form: The low level caster answer to being grappled. Later on I would start picking up the Lesser Talisman of Freedom but you cannot buy them with PP.

Scroll of five level two spells: Stand outs include, Mirror Image (as good as actually casting it until level 6), Invisibility (3 minutes is enough to get in or out of somewhere), Lesser Restoration (lots of things do ability damage), Alter Self (various options including a swim speed, darkvision or scent), Suppress Charms and Compulsions (you only get 1 target but auto suppressing confusion is great, arcane only, divine should grab Unbreakable Heart), Command Undead (mindless undead get no save, it lasts 3 days!), See Invisibility (when you need it you really need it), Remove Paralysis (caster level has little impact), Aram Zeys Focus (who needs rogues)

Scroll of two level three spells: Stand outs include Beast Shape 1 (great get away and utility, fly, climb, swim, darkvision, scent), Haste (having more is never bad), Invisibility Purge (seeing the enemy is important), Stone Shape (great for opening doors and other things), Fly (just generally useful and you can drop it on the BSF)

Scroll of one fourth level spell: Dimension Door (get out of jail card), Elemental Body 1 (fly, climb, swim and earth glide! And you can still casts spells), Freedom of Movement (70min duration is pretty good), Wall of Fire criminally underrated spell, 4d6+14 automatic damage against undead, push them back into it for more, blocks line of sight)

Note you cannot buy Restoration scrolls with PP as the material cost pushes it above the 750gp limit.

[Ragoz]

andreww wrote:

Note you cannot buy Restoration with PP as the material cost pushes it above the 750gp limit.

The guide lists Restoration as 2pp unless you are removing negative levels. It is 4pp if doing so.

[andreww]

Ragoz wrote:

andreww wrote:

Note you cannot buy Restoration with PP as the material cost pushes it above the 750gp limit.

The guide lists Restoration as 2pp unless you are removing negative levels. It is 4pp if doing so.

I am talking about buying a scroll, not a spellcasting service.

Edited my post for clarity.

[Lab_Rat]

Durable Adamantine Arrows (61gp each) - Adamantine arrows that never break and can always be recovered. If your an archer grabs a stack of 20 and never have an issue with hardness. If your not an archer grab at least 1. It is by far the cheapest adamantine melee weapon in the game and a damn fine lock pick.

Tribal War Paints (900 gp / 1800 gp) - depends on color but the effects are nice and last 24 hrs. Green (+1 to inspire courage) and Black (Blur) are nice.

[Hilton]

5 gp - Vermin Repellent

My group is playing Kingmaker, and at 1st level we found a spider swarm...
My sorcerer was the only one that could do something against it (burning hands), and thanks to this awesome 5 gp repellent the swarm couldn't touch me (lost every single saving throw).

I even saved the disabled and dying bard, just by entering the same square he was in (the fighter repositioned him just before, of course - if I entered a swarm's square I would be dead in a few seconds).

[BigNorseWolf]

Running away.

Cost 0 gp

Highly effective against swarms.

[Barton "Bart" Oliver]

Lab_Rat wrote:

Durable Adamantine Arrows (61gp each) - Adamantine arrows that never break and can always be recovered. If your an archer grabs a stack of 20 and never have an issue with hardness. If your not an archer grab at least 1. It is by far the cheapest adamantine melee weapon in the game and a damn fine lock pick.

Yes and no, they don't break on a hit or a miss, but they can still go missing like a normal arrow. Since there is no break up of the destroyed or lost clause in recovering arrows in to separate percentages it's definitely a YMMV situation. Personally, I leave the miss recovery chance at 50% as there is no defined way of saying it's lower (though it probably should be, I also don't think 0% is correct). Unless there's a compelling reason I only shoot the durable arrows with my High BAB attacks, the rest are CI arrows.

[Azothath]

Stephen Ross wrote:

We all know death is an expensive and unfortunate experience, but there are some items you can buy that can help keep you alive and survive a scenario...

Rather than a general gear list, let's keep it focused on real "game changers" and things that will keep you up in a scenario, and under $5000(GP).
format - item name, price($ or GP), "("slot")", source, description(short).

[Montgomery "Scotty" Scott]

Stephen Ross wrote:

We all know death is an expensive and unfortunate experience, but there are some items you can buy that can help keep you alive and survive a scenario...

Rather than a general gear list, let's keep it focused on real "game changers" and things that will keep you up in a scenario, and under $5000(GP).
format - item name, price($ or GP), "("slot")", source, description(short).

Really, I mean come on.

[Azothath]

Gaseous Form is a trap and a quick way to get killed. I advise to NEVER use it in combat against a spellcaster, Mr AC 10(no armor), Dex only, DR10/magic, movement 10ft, no spells with verbal, somatic, material, or focus components, no SU abilities ... I wanted to use it on opponents via the Poisoner's Gloves but the potion description prevents that usage.

[andreww]

Stephen Ross wrote:

Gaseous Form is a trap and a quick way to get killed. I advise to NEVER use it in combat against a spellcaster, Mr AC 10(no armor), Dex only, DR10/magic, movement 10ft, no spells with verbal, somatic, material, or focus components, no SU abilities ... I wanted to use it on opponents via the Poisoner's Gloves but the potion description prevents that usage.

When you are grappled its a life saver.

Spoiler:

Amusingly it recently saved a wizard in my core Waking Rune game. They had been tentacled so he went gaseous to get out just before Krune dropped empowered maximised cloudkill. Gaseous form makes you immune to poison, as well as criticals and sneak attack.

[Anonymous Visitor 163 576]

Gaseous Form I find useful for dealing with the environment. You can bypass locked doors, portcullises, or fly (slowly). It's a nice plan B, and even better with a brooch of shielding.

[Lab_Rat]

Barton "Bart" Oliver wrote:

Lab_Rat wrote:

Durable Adamantine Arrows (61gp each) - Adamantine arrows that never break and can always be recovered. If your an archer grabs a stack of 20 and never have an issue with hardness. If your not an archer grab at least 1. It is by far the cheapest adamantine melee weapon in the game and a damn fine lock pick.

Yes and no, they don't break on a hit or a miss, but they can still go missing like a normal arrow. Since there is no break up of the destroyed or lost clause in recovering arrows in to separate percentages it's definitely a YMMV situation. Personally, I leave the miss recovery chance at 50% as there is no defined way of saying it's lower (though it probably should be, I also don't think 0% is correct). Unless there's a compelling reason I only shoot the durable arrows with my High BAB attacks, the rest are CI arrows.

Your right. I just meant in regards to the arrows being recovered from corpses. As a GM I would probably rule that in a closed space (room / hallway) that all missed arrows could be found but in the open / long range I would agree on a recovery percent.

[Ferious Thune]

Stephen Ross wrote:

Rod of Metamagic Lesser Silent $3000 (in hand) CRB. uses 3/day, club/light mace (with GM approval). I think this is a better choice than the one time use bottle. You'll get off 3 spells and the rod pays for itself on the second day you use it.

Ultimately the Rod is most cost-effective, but the Metamagic gem does have a couple of advantages.

First, there's action economy. The Metamagic Gems are just considered an additional spell component. In otherwords, you don't have to take a Move action to take them out like a Rod, and you only need one free hand (instead of one to hold the rod, one to cast). That matters for a spontaneous caster who needs a full round action to cast a metamagiced spell. For an emergency situation, needing an extra round to get the spell off could be the difference in survival.

Second, as mentioned, the gem will work on up to a 6th level spell. So Dimension Door, for example, if caught in a crowded/small space where there isn't enough room to move or run away. Or even Great Dispel Magic, if you don't know what the Silence is cast on. By the time you're casting 4th level spells, the cost is negligible.

Unnamed actual scenario situation:

I can think of one scenario where you could easily be trapped in a small room with several Harpies. So someone casting Silence is a real possibility. You'd recover from or avoid being charmed, but be left fighting some high CR Harpies potentially without any of the martial characters around. It's a nasty setup for the encounter. Of course, the better solution for this is a Clear Spindle Ioun Stone in a wayfinder, but it's been about 50/50 for me with GMs believing that works against a harpy. So I keep backup plans ready.

It's highly situational, and I definitely wouldn't recommend buying either the gem or the rod as a high priority. A Lesser Rod of Reach Spell or Lesser Rod of Extend Spell are much more valuable for the money, because you can use those almost every scenario, as opposed to maybe once or twice a career. I just brought up the gems, because a lot of players don't know they exist.

[thistledown]

As of two days ago: Add Celestial Healing to the wands list. Same thing as Infernal Healing, but with GOOD instead of evil.

[BartonOliver]

James Anderson wrote:

As of two days ago: Add Celestial Healing to the wands list. Same thing as Infernal Healing, but with GOOD instead of evil.

Not quite the same thing to be fair. It's significantly less powerful. As a wand it will heal 1 hp. A 20th level caster would get the 10 infernal healing gives.

[Montgomery "Scotty" Scott]

Montgomery "Scotty" Scott wrote:

Stephen Ross wrote:

Stephen Ross wrote:

We all know death is an expensive and unfortunate experience, but there are some items you can buy that can help keep you alive and survive a scenario...

Rather than a general gear list, let's keep it focused on real "game changers" and things that will keep you up in a scenario, and under $5000(GP).

format - item name, price($ or GP), "("slot")", source, description(short).

Really, I mean come on.

Should have read that way. Lost an end quote. Sorry, Cap'n.

[godsDMit]

The Queen of Thorns boon is actually more complicated than what is listed:

Desperate Bargain: Presented with a choice between damnation and domination, you chose the latter and might choose it again. As an immediate action when you are reduced to fewer than 0 hit points, you gain a number of temporary hit points equal to 2d10 + your character
level that last for 3 rounds. During these 3 rounds, you are confused as per the confusion spell. Each round, you may attempt a DC 18 Will save to remove the condition. At the end of 3 rounds or when you successfully save against the confusion effect, all remaining temporary hit points are lost and you resume dying if your hit point total remains below 0. Once you have used this boon, cross it off the Chronicle sheet.

If you save and remove the condition, the temp HP goes away.
You've got a 25% chance of being able to act normally and heal yourself (or do something else useful).
You also have a 25% chance of hitting yourself, which will likely make your situation worse since you already went below 0. This could even cause you to kill yourself.

So, yea. It can be helpful, but it could really backfire. :P

[BretI]

Ferious Thune wrote:

Here's one I don't see mentioned too often. That's probably because they're fairly expensive for an expendable item.

Metamagic Gems

For the most part, the cost doesn't really make them worth it. I do like the Silent Spell gem for 1,000 gold, though, as that gives you options in a bad situation. Though I do admit to carrying one around on my Sorcerer for 4 or 5 levels and never using it.

At 8,000 gold, the Quicken Spell gem is tempting, but probably not practical at PFS levels. Keep in mind, though, that the gems are not Lesser versions. They should at least work like a normal Metamagic Rod on up to 6th level spells. So improves the value some.

Very expensive, but I could see a Magus using them.

The Magus needs to keep a hand free, so most of the time MetaMagic rods are not useful. As I read this, they could still use a MetaMagic gem and their Spell Combat.

I wish there were a lesser version of said gems.

[Ferious Thune]

Metamagic Gem derail:

I could see Empower or Maximize being useful to a Magus, though they do have other ways of getting quick access to those feats. Lesser versions would have been great. Versions for more than the core Metamagic feats would have been fantastic. They give instructions for how to create those, but I don't think for PFS that's enough. A Reach Spell Metamagic Gem combined with Breath of Life would be fantastic. But that's getting into too many hypotheticals.

[nosig]

godsDMit wrote:

The Queen of Thorns boon is actually more complicated than what is listed:

Desperate Bargain: Presented with a choice between damnation and domination, you chose the latter and might choose it again. As an immediate action when you are reduced to fewer than 0 hit points, you gain a number of temporary hit points equal to 2d10 + your character
level that last for 3 rounds. During these 3 rounds, you are confused as per the confusion spell. Each round, you may attempt a DC 18 Will save to remove the condition. At the end of 3 rounds or when you successfully save against the confusion effect, all remaining temporary hit points are lost and you resume dying if your hit point total remains below 0. Once you have used this boon, cross it off the Chronicle sheet.

If you save and remove the condition, the temp HP goes away.
You've got a 25% chance of being able to act normally and heal yourself (or do something else useful).
You also have a 25% chance of hitting yourself, which will likely make your situation worse since you already went below 0. This could even cause you to kill yourself.

So, yea. It can be helpful, but it could really backfire. :P

I've actually had it save 2 of my PCs... and seen it save two others.

Getting hit enough to kill a PC (hit for more than HP + CON) means you're dead... or you can add on 2d10+lvl in temp HP. Which could put you above HP+CON, but still under HP...

Also, you are likely to be in a party of other players right? so the statements:
"You've got a 25% chance of being able to act normally and heal yourself (or do something else useful).
You also have a 25% chance of hitting yourself, which will likely make your situation worse since you already went below 0. This could even cause you to kill yourself." is kind of overlooking a couple things.

If you roll to hit yourself and kill yourself - wait, you were already dead without this boon, so... no major difference right?

And there is a ??% chance that your companions will be able to heal you enough (maybe even before you go on your turn) to save you, after all "Each round, you may attempt a DC 18 Will save to remove the condition", so if it goes like this...

Judge: "you take 38 HP"
Fighter: "as an immediate action I burn this boon! roll 2d10 for an 11 plus 2 for 2nd level nets me 13 points, so I'm at... 5 below zero."
Judge: "Cleric, you're up"
Cleric: "Channel! for ah... 1d6 = 4?"
Judge: "Fighter up?"
Fighter: "rolling to the Will save - ha! I'll pass on the Will save. Rolling to stabilize... nope. Still down."

and so on.

The big thing is, the PC isn't dead - yet... and where there's life there's hope... or so they say.

[UndeadMitch]

nosig wrote:

godsDMit wrote:

The Queen of Thorns boon is actually more complicated than what is listed:

Desperate Bargain: Presented with a choice between damnation and domination, you chose the latter and might choose it again. As an immediate action when you are reduced to fewer than 0 hit points, you gain a number of temporary hit points equal to 2d10 + your character
level that last for 3 rounds. During these 3 rounds, you are confused as per the confusion spell. Each round, you may attempt a DC 18 Will save to remove the condition. At the end of 3 rounds or when you successfully save against the confusion effect, all remaining temporary hit points are lost and you resume dying if your hit point total remains below 0. Once you have used this boon, cross it off the Chronicle sheet.

If you save and remove the condition, the temp HP goes away.
You've got a 25% chance of being able to act normally and heal yourself (or do something else useful).
You also have a 25% chance of hitting yourself, which will likely make your situation worse since you already went below 0. This could even cause you to kill yourself.

So, yea. It can be helpful, but it could really backfire. :P

I've actually had it save 2 of my PCs... and seen it save two others.

Getting hit enough to kill a PC (hit for more than HP + CON) means you're dead... or you can add on 2d10+lvl in temp HP. Which could put you above HP+CON, but still under HP...

Also, you are likely to be in a party of other players right? so the statements:
"You've got a 25% chance of being able to act normally and heal yourself (or do something else useful).
You also have a 25% chance of hitting yourself, which will likely make your situation worse since you already went below 0. This could even cause you to kill yourself." is kind of overlooking a couple things.

If you roll to hit yourself and kill yourself - wait, you were already dead without this boon, so... no major difference right?

And there is a ??% chance that your companions will be able...

Just like the last time this thread came up, you have to be able to act, and unless something changed, this boon saved your at least one of your characters because y'all missed the immediate action . Not to say it can't be useful, but it can be fairly limited.

Since we're having this convo again, I'll go ahead and bring up that the other boon on the QoT chronicle is insanely good as well. Getting two rounds of haste (as a swift action, if memory serves), has gotten me out of some pretty tight scrapes as well. Just like with the first boon, YMMV.

[godsDMit]

I know how it works.

My point is that it very well may backfire.

[nosig]

godsDMit wrote:

I know how it works.

My point is that it very well may backfire.

how? (really not trying to be snarky here, I just don't understand your statement.)

the only "backfire" I see is if the Confused PC were to attack a friend (and potentially kill him).

Otherwise the PC is starting this from "Dead" - if the attempt to prevent this (prevent dying) fails due to bad rolls, it still ends up "dead". Exactly where it would have been if you hadn't used the boon. Are you advising us to re-consider triggering this boon when the PC is about to die, because it could cause the PC to die (1 to 3 rounds later)?

[nosig]

UndeadMitch wrote:

....snipping to save space....

Just like the last time this thread came up, you have to be able to act, and unless something changed, this boon saved your at least one of your characters because y'all missed the immediate action . Not to say it can't be useful, but it can be fairly limited.

Since we're having this convo again, I'll go ahead and bring up that the other boon on the QoT chronicle is insanely good as well. Getting two rounds of haste (as a swift action, if memory serves), has gotten me out of some pretty tight scrapes as well. Just like with the first boon, YMMV.

Yeah, I actually don't count the time it "saved" Auntie anymore. The other two times were when one of my PCs triggered a Trap (outside of Imitative - so do I still get immediate actions? not sure about that one) and sucked up to many HP (rolled a nat "1" on a save), and the other was when the monster got in one final attack (that Crit'ed). In both cases the Cleric at the table (different ones) was able to channel my PC back into positives... and I actually made the DC18 Will saves.

So, yeah, it can be fairly limited (like most things on this list), but it is one I have seen work. Whereas my PC that has used Vermin Repellant from day one (I even use it as a RP reason his CHA is so low, due to a "medical smell") has never encountered a swarm it applied to (no swarms of Vermin).

[Gwen Smith]

Lab_Rat wrote:

Barton "Bart" Oliver wrote:

Lab_Rat wrote:

Durable Adamantine Arrows (61gp each) - Adamantine arrows that never break and can always be recovered. If your an archer grabs a stack of 20 and never have an issue with hardness. If your not an archer grab at least 1. It is by far the cheapest adamantine melee weapon in the game and a damn fine lock pick.

Yes and no, they don't break on a hit or a miss, but they can still go missing like a normal arrow. Since there is no break up of the destroyed or lost clause in recovering arrows in to separate percentages it's definitely a YMMV situation. Personally, I leave the miss recovery chance at 50% as there is no defined way of saying it's lower (though it probably should be, I also don't think 0% is correct). Unless there's a compelling reason I only shoot the durable arrows with my High BAB attacks, the rest are CI arrows.

Your right. I just meant in regards to the arrows being recovered from corpses. As a GM I would probably rule that in a closed space (room / hallway) that all missed arrows could be found but in the open / long range I would agree on a recovery percent.

If the arrow is shot in an area the character can physically get to and the party isn't under a time crunch, you should be able to find your arrows. I used to do long-range target shooting in the woods, and I probably lost 2, maybe 3 arrows between rounds. But after the contest was over and I had time to search (without getting shot by someone else), I found them. If they're brightly painted, it's even easier.

I've even had GMs let my pirate character go swimming to collect her adamantine durable arrows that went off the edge of the boat, as long as the boat wasn't moving too fast and the water wasn't too choppy.

[godsDMit]

nosig wrote:

godsDMit wrote:

I know how it works.

My point is that it very well may backfire.

how? (really not trying to be snarky here, I just don't understand your statement.)

the only "backfire" I see is if the Confused PC were to attack a friend (and potentially kill him).

Otherwise the PC is starting this from "Dead" - if the attempt to prevent this (prevent dying) fails due to bad rolls, it still ends up "dead". Exactly where it would have been if you hadn't used the boon. Are you advising us to re-consider triggering this boon when the PC is about to die, because it could cause the PC to die (1 to 3 rounds later)?

Like I said in the original post I made...

godsDMit wrote:

You also have a 25% chance of hitting yourself, which will likely make your situation worse since you already went below 0. This could even cause you to kill yourself.

So for example, if you fire this thing off when you aren't going to die from the last hit and you wind up hitting yourself from the confusion, that hit could then kill you once the three rounds are up or you make the will save.

I know the examples you gave give reasons of how or why that is partially mitigated, but the fact remains that it COULD happen.

[thistledown]

Joe Ducey wrote:

James Anderson wrote:

As of two days ago: Add Celestial Healing to the wands list. Same thing as Infernal Healing, but with GOOD instead of evil.

Not quite the same thing to be fair. It's significantly less powerful. As a wand it will heal 1 hp. A 20th level caster would get the 10 infernal healing gives.

Gah, and a 1 round casting time. How did they manage to mess this spell up so badly?

[nosig]

godsDMit wrote:

nosig wrote:

godsDMit wrote:

I know how it works.

My point is that it very well may backfire.

how? (really not trying to be snarky here, I just don't understand your statement.)

the only "backfire" I see is if the Confused PC were to attack a friend (and potentially kill him).

Otherwise the PC is starting this from "Dead" - if the attempt to prevent this (prevent dying) fails due to bad rolls, it still ends up "dead". Exactly where it would have been if you hadn't used the boon. Are you advising us to re-consider triggering this boon when the PC is about to die, because it could cause the PC to die (1 to 3 rounds later)?

Like I said in the original post I made...

godsDMit wrote:

You also have a 25% chance of hitting yourself, which will likely make your situation worse since you already went below 0. This could even cause you to kill yourself.

So for example, if you fire this thing off when you aren't going to die from the last hit and you wind up hitting yourself from the confusion, that hit could then kill you once the three rounds are up or you make the will save.

I know the examples you gave give reasons of how or why that is partially mitigated, but the fact remains that it COULD happen.

AH! now I see... (bolding mine).

I was seeing this as a way to prevent DYING and have only used it in those instances when my PC was going to be dead if she/he didn't get extra HP from someplace. You are correct in that the player could trigger it ("As an immediate action when you are reduced to fewer than 0 hit points, ...") just for falling below zero HP. I wouldn't normally - I figure the other PCs are going to save my PC - being below zero isn't dead and I save this boon for those times when HP damage is going to kill my character.

It's other big advantage to me is the Cost. In game cost to the PC is zero. And it can be applied to all my PCs (and I have over 30 active ones now). Out of game cost is the price of a novel (that's actually a good read) - one book covers all your PCs, and often this one is given away as Swag at Cons.

[godsDMit]

Totally agree, for the most part, it should definitely not be used unless you are gonna die! :P

I have used it once when I wasn't going to die from the attack that dropped me, and that was in Eyes of the Ten, with the first main fight. We weren't doing well, so I figured any little bit more to keep me going could help, and it did.

[Jayson MF Kip]

James Anderson wrote:

Joe Ducey wrote:

James Anderson wrote:

As of two days ago: Add Celestial Healing to the wands list. Same thing as Infernal Healing, but with GOOD instead of evil.

Not quite the same thing to be fair. It's significantly less powerful. As a wand it will heal 1 hp. A 20th level caster would get the 10 infernal healing gives.

Gah, and a 1 round casting time. How did they manage to mess this spell up so badly?

Good should never be as efficient as evil.

[Ferious Thune]

James Anderson wrote:

Joe Ducey wrote:

James Anderson wrote:

As of two days ago: Add Celestial Healing to the wands list. Same thing as Infernal Healing, but with GOOD instead of evil.

Not quite the same thing to be fair. It's significantly less powerful. As a wand it will heal 1 hp. A 20th level caster would get the 10 infernal healing gives.

Gah, and a 1 round casting time. How did they manage to mess this spell up so badly?

Infernal Healing also has a 1 round casting time, so it's probably based off of that.

Maybe this new one would be good for a Warpriest swift cast buff? Though a handful of hit points over the course of the combat probably aren't worth using the Fervor point. I haven't seen the spell yet, so not sure how useful it is. It certainly doesn't sound like it's going to replace the Wand of CLW.

[BartonOliver]

Ferious Thune wrote:

James Anderson wrote:

Joe Ducey wrote:

James Anderson wrote:

As of two days ago: Add Celestial Healing to the wands list. Same thing as Infernal Healing, but with GOOD instead of evil.

Not quite the same thing to be fair. It's significantly less powerful. As a wand it will heal 1 hp. A 20th level caster would get the 10 infernal healing gives.

Gah, and a 1 round casting time. How did they manage to mess this spell up so badly?

Infernal Healing also has a 1 round casting time, so it's probably based off of that.

Maybe this new one would be good for a Warpriest swift cast buff? Though a handful of hit points over the course of the combat probably aren't worth using the Fervor point. I haven't seen the spell yet, so not sure how useful it is. It certainly doesn't sound like it's going to replace the Wand of CLW.

It's bad.

[Azothath]

well... you might want to start another thread to grouse about new spells and what not (I know the feeling).

I would like this thread to be useful and to the point.

[Azothath]

I agree the Queen of Thorns boon could just get you more killed (lol) but it could also save your bacon. Note that it's at the bottom of the list even though I listed things by cost. It is also a one shot per character. Like Smelling Salts, being conscious beats being unconscious.

I did not list chronicle buffs from scenarios or APs as I think that's a bit to far and would require spoilers. It's also not something you could buy or an Item (note the thread topic). So please don't post those.

[Muser]

Things I frequently either forget to buy or am too cheap to splurge for:

Grappling hook
Mithral dagger(for swallow whole and dr stuff)
Wooden weapon or bladeguard
potion of invisibility
potion of gas. form
+1 ranged weapon
scroll of restoration
spare diamond dust

[BartonOliver]

My list of 2pp items that go on pretty much every character.

Wand of Cure Light Wounds (occasionally Infernal Healing)
Oil of Daylight Can't read a scroll you can't see
Potion of Remove Blindness/Deafness Doesn't come up often, but when it does it pays to be ready.
Potion of Fly - Martial and don't want to resort to your not very good ranged weapon it's an absolute must.

Honorable mention
Snapleaf I've seen them used to great effect, but I never seem to remember to get one.

Non 2PP items
Antitoxin and Antiplague - 50gp each +5 alchemical bonus vs. poison or disease, respectively
Bead of Newt Protection - 1000gp don't get Baleful Polymorphed
Elixir of Spirit Sight - 1000gp 1 minute of ghost tough for your weapon and armor and see invisibility.
Grapple Arrows/Bolts or a grapple hook and silk rope - 1 gp/grapple device + 10gp for silk rope.
Oil of Unwelcome Halo - 50gp another way to deal with Darkness
Heightened Continual Flame on a Dull Gray Ioun Stone. - 50gp in Ruby Dust, and 25gp for the Ioun stone. Same price as an Ioun Torch and takes care of Deeper Darkness, the catch is finding a player with Heighten Spell and Continual Flame to cast it for you.
Air Crystals - 50 gp - Chew for minute of air.
Cracked Pale Green Prism Ioun Stone - 4000gp The +1 competence bonus to saves is one of very few ways to add to a CoR's bonus.
Four-Leaf Clover - 3750gp 3 times per day +2 luck bonus on an ability check, skill, or save. (Lucky Horseshoe and Stone of Good Luck fall into this category too but are more expensive)
Jingasa of the Fortunate Soldier - 5000gp - Same cost as going from a +2 to a +3 enhancement on armor, but also negates a critical hit 1/day.
Wand Key Ring - 3000gp for a +10 insight bonus to activate spell trigger or completion items of a single spell. Not for every build but if you're highly dependent on something, why depend on others to be able to do it. (Monk & Mage Armor comes to mind). It also let's you invest less skill ranks in UMD if you're looking at a pretty limited list.

[godsDMit]

Joe Ducey wrote:

Ferious Thune wrote:

James Anderson wrote:

Joe Ducey wrote:

James Anderson wrote:

As of two days ago: Add Celestial Healing to the wands list. Same thing as Infernal Healing, but with GOOD instead of evil.

Not quite the same thing to be fair. It's significantly less powerful. As a wand it will heal 1 hp. A 20th level caster would get the 10 infernal healing gives.

Gah, and a 1 round casting time. How did they manage to mess this spell up so badly?

Infernal Healing also has a 1 round casting time, so it's probably based off of that.

Maybe this new one would be good for a Warpriest swift cast buff? Though a handful of hit points over the course of the combat probably aren't worth using the Fervor point. I haven't seen the spell yet, so not sure how useful it is. It certainly doesn't sound like it's going to replace the Wand of CLW.

It's bad.

So what Im reading with this is that a Wand of this spell will grant Fast Healing 1 for 1 round, since the caster level is minimum (unless otherwise found on a chronicle). Or am I missing something?

[Jayson MF Kip]

On any character without Disable Device:

Skeleton Key, Ultimate Equipment, 85 gold

It only works on doors, but it gives you a single attempt (1d20+10) at unlocking, without the effort, noise, show, and time of breaking it down.

[Azothath]

FYI looking up the spell Celestial Healing it is a 1 round casting with a duration of CL/2 which is RoundDown[CstrLvl/2 r (min 1)] and gives Fast Healing 1 and a Good aura for the duration.

Then looking at the

PFSGGuide wrote:

All potions, scrolls, and wands are available only at the minimum caster level unless found at a higher caster level on a Chronicle sheet.

so a Wand of Celestial Healing 1@1 chg[50] $750/2PP is available for purchase in PFS. For the purposes of this thread you have better choices...

Fighters, Clerics, Paladins etc should get a Wand of Cure Light 1@1 [50] as the healing rate is way faster than a Wand of Infernal Healing and the Paladin avoids any hint of breaking his vows.

Wizards, Sorcerers, Bards etc should get the Wand of Infernal Healing 1@1 [50] as it is more cost effective and they can heal out of combat.