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I am running a fairly high powered campaign for seven players.
They have most bases covered and don't really lack in any area in a glaring way.
I am creating a special item for each character based on their connection to a specific god.
Here's the issue:
I need an item (slotless: I'm thinking a book), for a monk of Irori who is hands down the most min maxed and powerful character on the field.
I need this item to have some cool bells and whistles, special powers and whatnot, but it cannot increase his fighting prowess too much and cannot realistically raise his AC at all or I will lose CR balance.
Any thoughts? I've been stuck nearly a week now. :(
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I think it would be beneficial for those trying to assist for you to perhaps post some of the other items you've set up for the others so that there is a solid baseline for what you'd consider to be “cool bells and whistles.” Beyond that, it would also be useful for you to describe the monk a bit. Obviously he's a strong combatant and such and you want to avoid adding to that, but where does he stand in regards to social skills (and does that realm even matter the him or the player), and/or general utility?
My friend made this one up, it would be perfect for you if your monk is small-sized. Since you are running a high powered campaign, you need the "Greater" version.
Trenchcoat of the Bigguns, Greater
Aura moderate illusion; CL 7th
Slot —; Price 24,000 gp; Weight 6 lbs (shared between characters).
DESCRIPTION
Like a hat of disguise, this garment allows two small-sized wearers to alter their appearance. When the first small creature stands on the shoulders of the second small creature and wears the trenchcoat, they both appear to be one moderate or large size creature of the same type, and the upper creatures voice becomes deeper. This functions as an alter self spell (as opposed to disguise self). Moreover, the stilted movement of both creatures create a comical effect that functions as a spell of Hideous Laughter, centered on the trenchcoat, in a 10 foot radius.
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Hat of additional Hats.
It just seems to attract more hats.
When the wearer of this fancy hat might find randomly-rolled treasure, if the first result of the roll is not a head slot item, it is rerolled once.
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I think it would be beneficial for those trying to assist for you to perhaps post some of the other items you've set up for the others so that there is a solid baseline for what you'd consider to be “cool bells and whistles.” Beyond that, it would also be useful for you to describe the monk a bit. Obviously he's a strong combatant and such and you want to avoid adding to that, but where does he stand in regards to social skills (and does that realm even matter the him or the player), and/or general utility?
Here's one example and is wielded by a medium creature:
Gorum's Blade
+1 Keen Greatsword (Large)
3/day Magic Vestment
Free Sunder attempt on a confirmed critical hit.
If the wielder suffers a critical hit, she must make a will save equal to the damage dealt or go berserk (gaining all the benefits and drawbacks of the barbarian's rage ability) She attacks the nearest creature and continues to fight until unconscious or dead or until no living thing remains within 30 feet.
An avatar of Gorum suffers no penalty for size when wielding this weapon.
The monk played the first half of what we've played of the campaign so far as a mute (Monk vow) so his social isn't great. However, other characters have that down. His knowledges are OK. He is a grappler and does not need more help there. His saves and AC are so high that I can only hit him like 20% of the time and Ive already bumped the CRs about as much as I can.
Does that help?
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How about an intelligent levitating Book of Infinite Spells, but because it's sentient and animate, it can turn it's own pages, but doesn't run out of pages.
Basically it allows the monk the opportunity to cast a randomly rolled spell, and decides when to change the spell on offer. Given the vast catalogue of spells, most times it probably won't be all that effective, but it adds fun possibilities. Also it could be amusing to have a sassy book to make a cutting remark every so often.
Stones of Transposition
The stones take 24 hours to attune to an individual, once attuned they need only be carried somewhere on their body to work. Once per day, the bearer of a stone need only focus on it as a standard action and they will swap places with the bearer of the other stone. The other stone needs to be on the same plane of existence and within 800 feet.
The monk takes one stone and gives the other to someone else who doesn't want to be grappled, like the wizard. If the wizard gets caught, the monk just trades places with him.
Could also give him an item that gives access to a few Qinggong abilities, so he has a broader range of options to spend his Ki points. It doesn't increase the number of times he can use his abilities, just a few more options. It's not slotless, but something that looks like this would be pretty thematically appropriate. Or you could even make it like a wizard's staff. It has 10 charges, but the monk can refill it with ki.
That certainly adds a lot. So, I have a few different ideas here, but they all relate back to Irori's focus on self-perfection and the Triune self (the synthesis of the body, the spirit, and the mind). With all of that in mind, my most fleshed out suggestion is for an item which reinforces the connection between the Triune. For example, when he utilizes his mind (succeeds a knowledge check, or other mental based skill/ability) he gains bonuses to the other two areas such as an amount of temporary HP (for the body) and either a temporary Ki point(s) or simply restoring a lost Ki point(s) (for the spirit aspect). This synergy can then be reinforced by having the item grant him a bonus to the same checks and temp hp when he spends KI points, and finally, whenever he takes damage (or perhaps when he successfully hits or grapples something, since it sounds like getting hit is a bit of an issue) granting him the bonus to checks and the Ki. Of course this suggestion is intentionally vague and open, since I'm not sure what would equate to being balanced in your game. The durations, exact amounts, and even the number of times per day any given activity can benefit him should be tailored as needed.
I think it would be beneficial for those trying to assist for you to perhaps post some of the other items you've set up for the others so that there is a solid baseline for what you'd consider to be “cool bells and whistles.” Beyond that, it would also be useful for you to describe the monk a bit. Obviously he's a strong combatant and such and you want to avoid adding to that, but where does he stand in regards to social skills (and does that realm even matter the him or the player), and/or general utility?Here's one example and is wielded by a medium creature:
Gorum's Blade
+1 Keen Greatsword (Large)
3/day Magic Vestment
Free Sunder attempt on a confirmed critical hit.
If the wielder suffers a critical hit, she must make a will save equal to the damage dealt or go berserk (gaining all the benefits and drawbacks of the barbarian's rage ability) She attacks the nearest creature and continues to fight until unconscious or dead or until no living thing remains within 30 feet.
An avatar of Gorum suffers no penalty for size when wielding this weapon.The monk played the first half of what we've played of the campaign so far as a mute (Monk vow) so his social isn't great. However, other characters have that down. His knowledges are OK. He is a grappler and does not need more help there. His saves and AC are so high that I can only hit him like 20% of the time and Ive already bumped the CRs about as much as I can.
Does that help?
That helps with the sort of power level we can gauge, though this ultimately depends on how the Monk is built. A full (or estimated) build would greatly help in determining what can and/or should be shored up, as well as determining if you may (or may not) be overreacting to the Monk's general power.
I also noticed that you mentioned a drawback in the Gorum's Blade (that is, if they are critted, they go into an uncontrollable rage on a failed saving throw), which leads me to believe that there should be something similar for every character.
At any rate, here's an idea, based on the Gorum's Blade you posted:
Irori's Gi of Perfect Balance
Body Slot item
Benefits
+5 Bonus to Acrobatics Checks
3/day Negate one Re-Roll or Dual-Roll effect used against you (such as an enemy's Fortification or Misfortune), or reduced effect for an ally, as the Aura of Excellence class feature
Grants the Sense Perfection class feature of the Enlightened Paladin (usable at will)
Drawback
Balance in All Things; Including Yourself: If the wearer succeeds at a combat maneuver, attack roll, saving throw, skill check, or ability check, he suffers a -1 penalty on these rolls or checks he makes in the future. If the wielder fails at a combat maneuver, attack roll, saving throw, skill check, or ability check, he receives a +1 bonus on those same rolls and checks in the future. The penalties and bonuses take effect immediately, are cumulative, and counteract each other (meaning a successful attack roll and a failed saving throw result in no benefit or penalty to the wearer). The bonuses and/or penalties accrued reset to zero at the break of dawn, regardless of whatever bonus or penalty the wearer possessed.
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Indrajit has the right idea insofar as themed abilities based on Mind/Body/Spirit I think, but I'd vary in specifics.
Name TBD
Slotless item
Benefits:
Mind: The user gains telepathy to a range of 30 feet.
Body: The user can Take 20 on a single skill or ability check as a Standard action, 3 times per day. If used on an Acrobatics check to Jump, the DC is halved.
Spirit: Once per day, by spending a minute in meditation, the user gains a single Ki Power he meets the minimum level requirement for, usable as normal for the next 24 hours.
Reasoning for mind is that it HAS to be getting boring being unable to communicate by now, this lets him chime in during conversations without breaking his vow. Body seemed neat and lets him jump high or automatically bust a door down a few times a day. Spirit allows for a bit of versatility, but not likely a power increase. It'll let him attack swarms, or use combat maneuvers from a distance, or something like that as long as his Ki Pool holds out.
If a drawback is a must, I'd suggest losing the benefits whenever he loses control of any of the three attributes. Confusion, paralysis, nausea, most negative status effects shut the item down for the duration of the status effect plus an appropriate amount of time afterwards (say 10 minutes in meditation to realign his chakras or some such).
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Unbinding the Fetters
+5 Bonus to Acrobatics Checks
The monk is immune to any effect that would force him to reroll a die against his will or roll twice and take the lower result. Whenever an ally within 10 feet of him would reroll a die against her will, she can roll twice and take the higher result. Whenever an ally within 10 feet would be forced to roll twice and take the lower result, she can instead roll three times and take the second-lowest result.
The monk can detect life forces as if he were using a paladin's detect evil class ability; however, instead of sensing evil creatures, he senses creatures that have a ki pool. Each such creature has an aura like a cleric of an aligned deity, and treats its current number of ki points as its Hit Dice for the purposes of this ability. Moreover, the monk may, as a full round action, suppress any number of ki points to appear less powerful to this ability. Retrieving Ki stored in this way requires a full round action to regain access.
If the monk spends one hour meditating on the teachings of this tome, he may choose one of the following enhancements for the day. This ability requires 8 hours of rest between meditations and cannot be changed inside 24 hours.
+2 untyped enhancement to one ability score
+2 to one save
+50 temporary hit points
+ One Ki power. The monk must meet all the prerequisites to use this power
The Rite of Trial Transposition
Tucked within the pages, a strange parchment pulses with latent energy. Once per day, the monk may focus, as a standard action, to swap places with the target ally. The ally needs to be on the same plane of existence and within 800 feet.
Thoughts?
Define the ability score. I'd choose Intelligence or Charisma, as he likely dumped both, and so his combat ability won't be affected. Intelligence would give him a skill...pick a skill for him (Religion or History, or Sense Motive, whatever is most appropriate).
If not, just give him a bonus on some knowledge checks. It's a book, after all!
Potentially, instead of a stat bonus, pick a martial art style feat he would NEVER choose in normal circumstances, and let him use that. Esoteric martial arts ftw!
Define the save bonus. I'd pick Reflex.
50 temp hp is a LOT of temp hp, and definitely a combat buff. I would make it an out of combat Heal 1/day (reading the mantras inside for one minute...)
lastly, define the ki power he gets. You could even combine this power with the previous one by saying the HP he gains when using Ki to heal himself is doubled.
==Aelryinth
Unbinding the Fetters
+5 Bonus to Acrobatics Checks
The monk is immune to any effect that would force him to reroll a die against his will or roll twice and take the lower result. Whenever an ally within 10 feet of him would reroll a die against her will, she can roll twice and take the higher result. Whenever an ally within 10 feet would be forced to roll twice and take the lower result, she can instead roll three times and take the second-lowest result.
The monk can detect life forces as if he were using a paladin's detect evil class ability; however, instead of sensing evil creatures, he senses creatures that have a ki pool. Each such creature has an aura like a cleric of an aligned deity, and treats its current number of ki points as its Hit Dice for the purposes of this ability. Moreover, the monk may, as a full round action, suppress any number of ki points to appear less powerful to this ability. Retrieving Ki stored in this way requires a full round action to regain access.
If the monk spends one hour meditating on the teachings of this tome, he may choose one of the following enhancements for the day. This ability requires 8 hours of rest between meditations and cannot be changed inside 24 hours.
+2 untyped enhancement to one ability score
+2 to one save
+50 temporary hit points
+ One Ki power. The monk must meet all the prerequisites to use this powerThe Rite of Trial Transposition
Tucked within the pages, a strange parchment pulses with latent energy. Once per day, the monk may focus, as a standard action, to swap places with the target ally. The ally needs to be on the same plane of existence and within 800 feet.Thoughts?
I'd avoid the +50 temporary hit points. That's effectively another round or two of combat, depending.
MOAR FLAVOR!!!