Are they worth it? They don't seem to be on first and second reading. At least not for the massive looking price. Even making it, 21,000gp for something that only requires a 16 Will save to negate seems like a lot.
Is it worth it for that price? Are there reasonable ways to increase the DC save for it? Have you had any experience in using a crystal ball as a PC?
The telepathy one seems like it could be useful, if just to speak with people really far away... I guess. Still doesn't seem worth 35-70k gold.
I sort of agree with you. I think they're way too expensive for what they do. That said, what they do is certainly cool and useful. I likely wouldn't buy one, or even craft one if I could, but if I were to find one during the course of my adventuring career I probably wouldn't sell it either.
Well... while the description of the Scrying spell (which the Crystal Balls are based on) suggests otherwise, there's no actual requirement to scry on a creature. So you could use it to check in on a specific place, and no-one will be getting any saves.
Given that there are several other spells to hide places or objects from scrying attempts, it seems to be the RAI.
You can observe a creature at any distance. If the subject succeeds on a Will save, the spell fails. The difficulty of the save depends on how well your knowledge of the subject and what sort of physical connection (if any) you have to that creature. Furthermore, if the subject is on another plane, it gets a +5 bonus on its Will save.
The description seems pretty plain to me; viewing a creature is your only option when using Scrying. A Will save will always be involved, unless you've arranged it with the subject of your scrying, and he is a willing target of the Scrying spell.
HOWEVER, remember that the DC of Scrying can get some pretty crazy modifiers, based on how well you know the subject and having certain objects handy. If I'm scrying on a creature who I know well and have a picture of them, that creature needs to meet a DC 16 Will save at a -7 penalty. And even if they roll well and succeed, I'm allowed to spam the scrying effect on them at a -1 penalty to the DC each additional time per day. With them effectively saving against a DC 23 Will save after modifiers the first time, the odds of them succeeding five more times in a row for DC 17-22 is most likely still stacked against them. And a picture of them yields the smallest penalty. If I had a couple of their hairs, their penalty shoots to a -15 for an effective Will save DC of 31. I say that makes a Crystal Ball's price more than worth it.
I can see how it'd be useful, but there are better things to spend that much gold on. I guess if you're not a caster, need to scry, and have money burning a hole in your pocket it could be worth it. However, I've rarely seen non-casters need to scry.
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You can observe a creature at any distance. If the subject succeeds on a Will save, the spell fails. The difficulty of the save depends on how well your knowledge of the subject and what sort of physical connection (if any) you have to that creature. Furthermore, if the subject is on another plane, it gets a +5 bonus on its Will save.The description seems pretty plain to me; viewing a creature is your only option when using Scrying. A Will save will always be involved, unless you've arranged it with the subject of your scrying, and he is a willing target of the Scrying spell.
HOWEVER, remember that the DC of Scrying can get some pretty crazy modifiers, based on how well you know the subject and having certain objects handy. If I'm scrying on a creature who I know well and have a picture of them, that creature needs to meet a DC 16 Will save at a -7 penalty. And even if they roll well and succeed, I'm allowed to spam the scrying effect on them at a -1 penalty to the DC each additional time per day. With them effectively saving against a DC 23 Will save after modifiers the first time, the odds of them succeeding five more times in a row for DC 17-22 is most likely still stacked against them. And a picture of them yields the smallest penalty. If I had a couple of their hairs, their penalty shoots to a -15 for an effective Will save DC of 31. I say that makes a Crystal Ball's price more than worth it.
as with the spell scrying (Will DC 16 negates). a crystal ball can be used multiple times per day, but the DC to resist its power decreases by 1 for each additional use.
The DC decreases with each use, not increase so he has to do DC 16 firs try then a DC 15 second, then 14, etc etc. (other modifiers excluded of course).
Over all their primary benefit is for a group that lacks a caster capable of casting the spell in the first place. Other wise it is much better to just cast the spell yourself or from a scroll.
This is one of many items in the game that has a absurdly high cost for its benefit and as such sees little use in campaigns and in the party dynamic. There are tons and tons of cool and awesome items in the game that the party would like to have for the fun of the item, but the costs are so high that if they do get the item then they have to give up on a combat item that helps them in combat or survival situations.
You can observe a creature at any distance. If the subject succeeds on a Will save, the spell fails. The difficulty of the save depends on how well your knowledge of the subject and what sort of physical connection (if any) you have to that creature. Furthermore, if the subject is on another plane, it gets a +5 bonus on its Will save.The description seems pretty plain to me; viewing a creature is your only option when using Scrying. A Will save will always be involved, unless you've arranged it with the subject of your scrying, and he is a willing target of the Scrying spell.
HOWEVER, remember that the DC of Scrying can get some pretty crazy modifiers, based on how well you know the subject and having certain objects handy. If I'm scrying on a creature who I know well and have a picture of them, that creature needs to meet a DC 16 Will save at a -7 penalty. And even if they roll well and succeed, I'm allowed to spam the scrying effect on them at a -1 penalty to the DC each additional time per day. With them effectively saving against a DC 23 Will save after modifiers the first time, the odds of them succeeding five more times in a row for DC 17-22 is most likely still stacked against them. And a picture of them yields the smallest penalty. If I had a couple of their hairs, their penalty shoots to a -15 for an effective Will save DC of 31. I say that makes a Crystal Ball's price more than worth it.
as with the spell scrying (Will DC 16 negates). a crystal ball can be used multiple times per day, but the DC to resist its power decreases by 1 for each additional use.
The DC decreases with each use, not increase so he has to do DC 16 firs try then a DC 15 second, then 14, etc etc. (other modifiers excluded of course).
Over all their primary benefit is for a group that lacks a caster capable of casting the spell in the first place. Other wise it is much better to just cast the spell yourself or from a scroll.
This is one of many items in the game...
The 17-22 bit was AFTER modifiers, and it was counting down from my previously calculated 23, so it would go 22, 21, 20, 19, 18, 17. Sorry for the poor wording.
You can observe a creature at any distance.The description seems pretty plain to me; viewing a creature is your only option when using Scrying.
While that makes sense, it doesn't explain the existance of spells like Obscure Object.
This spell hides an object from location by divination (scrying) effects, such as the scrying spell or a crystal ball.
You can observe a creature at any distance.The description seems pretty plain to me; viewing a creature is your only option when using Scrying.While that makes sense, it doesn't explain the existance of spells like Obscure Object.
This spell hides an object from location by divination (scrying) effects, such as the scrying spell or a crystal ball.
The wording of the spell Scrying doesn't need to explain the existence of other spells; it clearly states its rules and limitations in the Spell Description, and for another spell to alter said specific wording. Spells like Obscure Object can still be used to counter Divination (Scrying) spells that are used to remotely view an area, like Clairaudience/Clairvoyance.