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So, in my Ironfang Invasion game, we just completed book 1, and found a Cloak of Woodland Creatures.
CLOAK OF WOODLAND CREATURES
PRICE 3,500 GP
SLOT shoulders CL 5th WEIGHT 1 lb.
AURA faint abjuration and conjuration
This forest-green wool cloak is thick and warm. Its hem and the edge of its hood are embroidered with small figures of forest creatures (rabbits, squirrels, and the like) in white thread.
When worn, this cloak bestows a +1 resistance bonus on all saving throws. The wearer can remove the cloak at any time and lay it on the ground outdoors. This ends the resistance bonus but summons a number of animals from the cloak. The animals serve the character who summoned them for 10 minutes (or until slain or returned to the cloak’s folds). A summoned creature can follow any of the commands described in the Handle Animal skill. Use the following tables to determine what animals can be called forth.
The cloak summons creatures only when laid down outdoors on naturally occurring ground (not, for example, on a wooden deck or stone pathway). The cloak can be used to summon animals up to three times per day.
d% Animal
01–30 1 owl
31–60 1d3 rats
61–75 1 weasel
76–90 1d6 squirrels
91–100 1d4 rabbits
CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS COST 2,250 GP
Craft Wondrous Item, resistance, summon nature’s ally I
So..... what's up with this thing? It's just a cloak of resistance +1 that, three times per day, can summon a random creature of CR 1/2 or less. You don't even get to choose which one. In return, you lose your save bonus for... some length of time. It could be the standard action (is it even a standard action?) where you put the cloak on the ground, or it could be for the full ten minutes you have your animals... doesn't specify. The way it's worded, though, suggests that you lose the bonus whenever you have animals summoned.
Now, that's great, I suppose. It'll likely never be used by most people, but that's fine. It's still an option, if a subpar one. Maybe worth an extra couple hundred gold. But the cloak costs 3,500 gp. What about this really weak ability makes it worth 2,500 extra? How is this thing comparable to a cloak of resistance +2, at only 500 gp cheaper?
Under what circumstances would this be comparable or better than buying 3 +1 cloaks with 500 gp left over, or spending an extra 500 gp to get a +2? Heck, if you're crafting these things, it's actually cheaper to craft a +2 cloak than this, as the crafting cost is 2/3rds the price, not 1/2. (Again, why is this?)
So.... yeah. Thoughts? What am I missing? Or is this thing just really as bad as it looks?
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I wouldn't look at how bad it is in relation to cost.
Look at it as extra cash when you sell it. :-)
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Well, you could use the animals to gather food (nuts and berries). The owl and weasel could hunt for you. Send the animals to scout out the surrounding area, then use speak with animal to find out what they saw.
Not a great ability, but it does have some use. It is cheaper than the cheapest bag of tricks. The cloak can potentially summon multiple creatures per day, and can be used more often. The bag has a limit on the number of animals summoned both per day and per week, but can be used anywhere.
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I want this for my druid so much. Heck, I want this for the entire party so much.
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*sends her rabbits into the minefield to the tune of Ride of the Valkyries*
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1d4 rabbits? with nasty pig pointy teeth and a vicious streak a mile wide?
Talk about your overpowered items.
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You do realize the reason the resistance bonus ends is because when you take it off to put it on the ground... you aren't wearing the cloak?
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But can the ground see the sun.
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You do realize the reason the resistance bonus ends is because when you take it off to put it on the ground... you aren't wearing the cloak?I wonder what the ground's total saves are?
Incredible, due to the number of HD it has.
However, it gains no benefit from the cloak, since it lacks a neck slot.
/cevah
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Now, that's great, I suppose. It'll likely never be used by most people, but that's fine.
Neat flavour, but I'm not sure when it will see use.
I would use this cloak all the damn time. Or three times a day. Whichever comes first.
When it says "A summoned creature can follow any of the commands described in the Handle Animal skill," I'm assuming it means the actions listed under the "Common Tricks" section? Some of those are pretty readily useful: Aid an ally (+ to attack), Deliver, Detect/Seek/Track, Entertain (as a distraction), Fetch (aka, "check for traps"), Flank, and Watch. Sure they're situational, but there's a lot of situations that it can apply to.
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You do realize the reason the resistance bonus ends is because when you take it off to put it on the ground... you aren't wearing the cloak?I wonder what the ground's total saves are?
I would think that the planet is an attended item. The question is, attended by whom?
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Well we know that it will belong to the meek in the future, so who is it now?
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If you see yourself ever casting Summon Nature's Ally more than 150 times, you'll save money over the cost of buying three wands.
Otherwise it's a CoR that you can't upgrade.
That is disingenuous, purely based on duration.
The wand of summon natures ally you are costing at 750 gp only summons for 1 round.You would need to burn 100 charges just to match a single daily use of the cloak.
The cloak provides an effective 300 charges of summon natures ally a day.
Purely for trap finding for example, you can cover much more corridor/doorways/potentially-illusory-bridges/pits-on-the-pathway in ten minutes than you can in six seconds.
People forget summons last rounds per level. This thing gives you an animal buddy for 100 rounds. That is a massive difference.
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It's more cool than practical, but it's probably better in a campaign using automatic bonus progression where it doesn't get compared to a better cloak of resistance. Assuming that the cost/price gets reduced in that situation for losing the +1 resistance, and that the given crafting cost is an error.
I think this could be an awesome item for say a paladin, who has really high saves already.
Could you use it for the summoning and wear a different cloak? It's unusual to have a slotted item with a power that requires you to physically remove it from that slot.
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I would think that the planet is an attended item. The question is, attended by whom?You do realize the reason the resistance bonus ends is because when you take it off to put it on the ground... you aren't wearing the cloak?I wonder what the ground's total saves are?
Well, Rovagug is trapped at the center, does that count?
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Well, Rovagug is trapped at the center, does that count?
"How many licks does it take to get to the center of a planet-pop?
Well, Let's see... one <slurp>, two <slurp>, ROVAGUG!!!"
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If someone let's me out, I'll tell you all about it.
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*tear
I'm a helper!
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This is a useful and intriguing item. Perhaps some think it sub-optimal, but being optimal shouldn't be the point of every magic item. It has some very valid uses with a creative player, many of which were already covered in the above responses.
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Perhaps some think it sub-optimal, but being optimal shouldn't be the point of every magic item.
Limited magic item slots and limited wealth by level seem to disagree with you... The big buzzkill for me on this particular item is that it seems to necessitate a wardrobe change every time you want to use it.
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Limited magic item slots and limited wealth by level seem to disagree with you... The big buzzkill for me on this particular item is that it seems to necessitate a wardrobe change every time you want to use it.
You and I are so different.
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This is a useful and intriguing item. Perhaps some think it sub-optimal, but being optimal shouldn't be the point of every magic item. It has some very valid uses with a creative player, many of which were already covered in the above responses.
Creativity? In my RPG?
...It's more likely than you think!
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I'm sure it's a nice reward to find on a boss but not all magic items are supposed to be a go to or even balanced.
Sell it and buy a cloak of resistance
You do realize the reason the resistance bonus ends is because when you take it off to put it on the ground... you aren't wearing the cloak?I wonder what the ground's total saves are?Incredible, due to the number of HD it has.
However, it gains no benefit from the cloak, since it lacks a neck slot.
/cevah
You have obviously never been in my neck of the woods >_>
It's full of flavour and matches the volume of the AP, which is excellent by the way
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Purely for trap finding for example, you can cover much more corridor/doorways/potentially-illusory-bridges/pits-on-the-pathway in ten minutes than you can in six seconds.
But only when those corridors, doorways, bridges, and pits are near some natural ground, because the cloak doesn't function when placed on floor. That's a pretty big limitation in most games.