Gallery of Regrettably Overpriced Items


Advice

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Quote:

Coin of the Untrodden Road

Source Ultimate Equipment pg. 289
Aura moderate transmutation; CL 6th
Slot none; Price 6,000 gp; Weight —

When tossed into the air, this tarnished copper coin brings forth potential lost by life’s decisions. If a human, half-elf, or half-orc flips the coin and catches it, she takes a –2 penalty to the ability score modified by her +2 racial ability score bonus, but gains a +2 inherent bonus to a random other ability score. The bonus and penalty last for 1 hour. Negating the penalty automatically negates the bonus as well. The coin can be used three times per day.

What a fantastic, RP-flavorful item with just the wee, tiny problem that nobody in their right mind will ever buy one. Even in your wrong mind you'll find better uses for your money.

The coin doesn't appear to lend itself to combat, and I'm scratching my head trying to figure out why it's saddled with so many limitations, or what concept could "break" it. Three times a day, a human-blooded PC can become worse in their (probably) primary stat to become better in a random other attribute. I'm guessing it's a standard-action to toss and catch (and the conditions would have to permit you to do that, so...can't do it underwater?).

6,000gp? ...it's such a bad deal at this price that, as far I can tell, no player has ever purchased one. In the almost five years since Ultimate Equipment was released, there are no discussions regarding it in the messagebase.

Silver Crusade

No player may ever purchase them, but they’d make a wonderful item for GMs to put in loot.

As for pricing it doesn’t that seem that bad for what it does. +2 stat boosters are 4K and take up a slot, whereas this is slotless. This is also adds a penalty, but it’s versatile and you can use it 3 times per day.


Say a wizard tossed the coin, they would likely take the hit to int, the most likely stat choice, but if travelling, there is that possibility that the random stat ends up more of use, say +2 con, and get a snake bite, that +1 save may make a difference, or a +2 dex for AC and initiative. The GM may even toss in a passing caravan if the stat boost ended up as a +2 Cha for the character to have a chance to try a new, if temporary aspect of their character and try bargaining or trading gossip. Heck, a +2 Str for an hour would even be a boon to an often over burdened wizard carrying that hoard of books and spell components LOL!
It's a very situational item, but as Rysky pointed out, also Slotless. Perfect for those times when you know your primary stat isn't the best choice for the situation but other options could use the stat raise.

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You... missed the fact that its effect is random, right? If found in random loot, any player in their right mind would sell it.


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Still a hard sell, though. An ioun stone is 8k, gives no negatives, is effectively permanent, and you get to pick your attribute.

A grab bag of 20 mixed Potions of <Animal>'s <Attribute> also costs 6k, offers +4 to each attribute, and gives no negative, but only lasts half the time.

The one advantage I can see that the coin has is that it gives an inherent bonus instead of an enhancement bonus, but I'm not sure how often that would come up.


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I wonder how this would work with a dual talented human? I'm guessing it only applies the penalty to one score of the player's choice and may wind up giving the bonus to the other ability score. The inherent bonus should stack with the other racial bonus. I doubt that's great, but it might be something.


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Trick from my old GM: give items like this in loot, but make the selling price 1/10 of the price instead of 1/2 the price. Thus, he could give out interesting overpriced items without us immediately defaulting to "yeah, we're selling that."

Dark Archive

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Well i hope he only counted it for nothing on wbl then.


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RumpinRufus wrote:
Trick from my old GM: give items like this in loot, but make the selling price 1/10 of the price instead of 1/2 the price. Thus, he could give out interesting overpriced items without us immediately defaulting to "yeah, we're selling that."

I feel like if the treasure the party slogged through the dungeon to get to includes a frost giant's magical underwear, and the GM insists that the magical underwear won't sell for anything, the party is probably going to just leave the magical underwear behind or still sell it at a pittance instead of force themselves to carry around a useless novelty item.

Silver Crusade

Blackwaltzomega wrote:
RumpinRufus wrote:
Trick from my old GM: give items like this in loot, but make the selling price 1/10 of the price instead of 1/2 the price. Thus, he could give out interesting overpriced items without us immediately defaulting to "yeah, we're selling that."
I feel like if the treasure the party slogged through the dungeon to get to includes a frost giant's magical underwear, and the GM insists that the magical underwear won't sell for anything, the party is probably going to just leave the magical underwear behind or still sell it at a pittance instead of force themselves to carry around a useless novelty item.

Well, yeah. Who buys used underwear?

A magical knickknack (that isn’t gross) that switches your stats around? Fun.

Which novelty items tend to be, and much more memorable.


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It is obviously not combat oriented (since you usually put the +2 into something you use, and this has no guarantee that it goes into a different score you need). A melee oriented cleric would be an example.

Their +2 is in str. They have wis, but not as much as they might want for vaious purposes. So they keep on trying until they get it into wis.

I am really familiar with a lot of spells, but I am sure that there are at least some that involve a stat check, and it can help with DCs.

This would be for out of combat, problem solving uses. Such as the spell 'create soul gem' (a "and stay dead" method against major villains; if someone wants to resurrect him has to overcome the spell's DC). Or maybe a curse you place on a prisoner, which is also DC based.

Some conjuring and mind control stuff works off of Charisma, so taht could also be something you aim for.

Obviously, this item kinds of sucks- a +1 to that stuff. But maybe it could be used in a 'just in case' manner by higher level characters that can spare the 6k.


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Kurald Galain wrote:
You... missed the fact that its effect is random, right? If found in random loot, any player in their right mind would sell it.

Exactly. It's basically a slotless, uncontrollable ioun stone that is powered by sucking down your primary stat.

"Only a tenth trade-in, huh? Um. Sure. I'll take the 600gp. Hmm. Eh, maybe not. Can't decide. You know, 600gp seems to be about exactly what this is worth to me. Makes me wonder if they typo'ed. I'll flip a coin to see if I keep/sell."

If the dev was worried about PCs buying a whole pile of them to repeatedly flip until getting the result he wanted, a limitation precluding multiple coins usage is better than setting a prohibitive price.


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Quote:

Challenging Shield

Source Armor Master's Handbook pg. 31
Aura faint abjuration CL 1st
Slot shield; Price 5,170 gp; Weight 15 lbs.

This +1 heavy steel shield bears the symbol of Gorum, the Lord in Iron, on its face. In the hands of a character with the challengeAPG class feature, this shield grants additional abilities. By spending one use of her challenge class feature as an immediate action, the wearer of a challenging shield can apply her Charisma bonus to her shield bonus to AC against a target of her challenge for 1 minute.

Aside from those who've managed to roll 16s in every stat, I'm trying to think who would want this in character.

- Most cavaliers who aren't Order of the Cockatrice have little use for charisma.
- Order of the Cockatrice might not have dumped it (and there are various ways of intimidating without using charisma), but they probably hasn't super jacked it either when they can gain a +10 Intimidate for one hour with a 250gp Elixir of the Thundering Voice.
- If you're high enough level martial to be spending money on tertiary items to advance tertiary attributes, you might have a use for it, but you probably already have a shield that's much, much better than this thing by then. (It's also a named magic item, so you can't upgrade it PFS.)

This leaves multiclasses:

- A number of classes exploit charisma in combat, but few of them have proficiency in heavy shields, or are precluding from holding things in their off-hand.
- Paladins exploit charisma, but aren't going to proudly bear a CN deity's likeness.

If you multiclass, you have fewer levels of cavalier, and the Challenging Shield is powered by sacrificing your very precious challenge. It costs 3000 more than an ordinary +2 shield, so your CHA has to be at least 14 to gain a benefit. For 1 minute.

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

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All right...

Nimble Shot bow. Sure, as a ranged character you need a way to deal with opportunity attacks, or possibly a backup melee weapon. It's not really a big deal to have such an option available at low level. But this bow enchantment counts as a plus four... that's way overpriced.

Smuggler's Collapsible Robe. What this lets you do is escape from combat... but only into the robe. Anything that's actually a threat to you is likely to either take the robe with them or destroy it, either of which puts you right back in the same predicament. It's not a bad ability per se but it really isn't great either (compared to e.g. a scroll of dimdoor), what's shocking about it is the price. How many smugglers do you think have 48000 gold just lying around for a haphazard pseudo-escape?

Deep Brown Sphere Ioun Stone. This uber powerful magical item, for the bargain price of ten thousand gold, lets you know how many feet you are below sea level. Impress your friends!


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I think a lot of single use wondrous items fall into the category of regrettably overpriced. This is particularly the case with items that allow a saving throw as by the time you can afford them the DCs are too low.

To be honest WBL, much like alignments is something best ignored. Actually on second thoughts it's probably more like CR; it's a very rough guide/suggestion for a new GM/party but once you develop some sense of judgement for what your players can handle then you just throw it out the window.


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Slim Jim wrote:
Quote:

Challenging Shield

Source Armor Master's Handbook pg. 31
Aura faint abjuration CL 1st
Slot shield; Price 5,170 gp; Weight 15 lbs.

This +1 heavy steel shield bears the symbol of Gorum, the Lord in Iron, on its face. In the hands of a character with the challengeAPG class feature, this shield grants additional abilities. By spending one use of her challenge class feature as an immediate action, the wearer of a challenging shield can apply her Charisma bonus to her shield bonus to AC against a target of her challenge for 1 minute.

Aside from those who've managed to roll 16s in every stat, I'm trying to think who would want this in character.

- Most cavaliers who aren't Order of the Cockatrice have little use for charisma.

There are at least 3 other orders which reward charisma quite a bit. Lion, star, blossom. Order of the flame isn't as bothered by spending their precious challenges as some. A battle herald needs charisma and may be too busy to jump into melee themselves.

No, it's not great, but there are reasonable cavalier builds with a great deal of charisma.

Silver Crusade

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Nimble Shot Bow, a +3 price would have worked better, since you are skipping 2 feat prerequisites and 4 levels in Fighter in order to get the effect of Point Black Master.

Smuggler's Collapsible Robe, it also... lets you be smuggled into places in an undetectable manner. Which was the point, not trying to escape from combat.

DBSIS, useful if your spelunking but that price is high, I'm thinking it's becasue it uses an 8th level spell in it's creation.

Silver Crusade

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avr wrote:
Slim Jim wrote:
Quote:

Challenging Shield

Source Armor Master's Handbook pg. 31
Aura faint abjuration CL 1st
Slot shield; Price 5,170 gp; Weight 15 lbs.

This +1 heavy steel shield bears the symbol of Gorum, the Lord in Iron, on its face. In the hands of a character with the challengeAPG class feature, this shield grants additional abilities. By spending one use of her challenge class feature as an immediate action, the wearer of a challenging shield can apply her Charisma bonus to her shield bonus to AC against a target of her challenge for 1 minute.

Aside from those who've managed to roll 16s in every stat, I'm trying to think who would want this in character.

- Most cavaliers who aren't Order of the Cockatrice have little use for charisma.

There are at least 3 other orders which reward charisma quite a bit. Lion, star, blossom. Order of the flame isn't as bothered by spending their precious challenges as some. A battle herald needs charisma and may be too busy to jump into melee themselves.

No, it's not great, but there are reasonable cavalier builds with a great deal of charisma.

Order of the Hero LOVES Charisma.


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Decimus Drake wrote:

I think a lot of single use wondrous items fall into the category of regrettably overpriced. This is particularly the case with items that allow a saving throw as by the time you can afford them the DCs are too low.

To be honest WBL, much like alignments is something best ignored. Actually on second thoughts it's probably more like CR; it's a very rough guide/suggestion for a new GM/party but once you develop some sense of judgement for what your players can handle then you just throw it out the window.

It's not just WBL, it's the trade in magic items in general. If it's an underperformer for the price, sell it and buy something that isn't. Do that even if you aren't bound by a WBL guideline because it'll still just sit and clutter your character sheet and never be used.

Shifting a bonus for an hour 3x/day sounds like a kind of cool ability, and for 6000 gp, that might not be bad. But the random nature of it significantly hampers its utility even though tossing the coin is a cool bit of flavor. Ultimately, it isn't worth a plug nickel.


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Rysky wrote:
Order of the Hero LOVES Charisma.

They might 'love' it in lower-case letters (I doubt it's their primary stat, and it's probably not higher than constitution either). But even then, if you're a "hero", what are you doing bearing the likeness of Gorum, the "Lord in Iron", a "god of battle above all other pursuits" and "considered brash and impulsive; he takes what he wants, by force if necessary, and answers any direct opposition to his will with violence", who is worshipped by barbarians and mercenaries?

You might be strong, and probably enjoy activities (hunting monsters) that the cavalier Order of the Hero is tasked with, but you're probably not a "hero to the people", who run away upon sight of your shield.

As stated, the in-character practicality of this item is off.

Silver Crusade

Uh, the edicts for the Order of the Hero is that you kill the s&!@ out of monsters. It doesn’t have anything to do with heroics. Order of the Hero and Gorum gel really well.


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Rysky wrote:
Blackwaltzomega wrote:
RumpinRufus wrote:
Trick from my old GM: give items like this in loot, but make the selling price 1/10 of the price instead of 1/2 the price. Thus, he could give out interesting overpriced items without us immediately defaulting to "yeah, we're selling that."
I feel like if the treasure the party slogged through the dungeon to get to includes a frost giant's magical underwear, and the GM insists that the magical underwear won't sell for anything, the party is probably going to just leave the magical underwear behind or still sell it at a pittance instead of force themselves to carry around a useless novelty item.

Well, yeah. Who buys used underwear?

A magical knickknack (that isn’t gross) that switches your stats around? Fun.

Which novelty items tend to be, and much more memorable.

It doesn’t really look all that fun, to be honest.


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I can't imagine anyone ever brought a Vril staff.


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Staves in general are woefully overpriced (and overleveled).


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Chromantic Durgon <3 wrote:
I can't imagine anyone ever brought a Vril staff.

Well, maybe if you were a kineticist... who only took physical blasts... at level 17...

I nominate the various Rings of Wizardry. Pearls of Power are a significantly better investment for the standard wizard, since the ring will only ever give 4 spells/day. The ring allows different spells to be memorized rather than recalling already-cast spells, but that's really not worth the price difference by the time you get the ring. I have to wonder if the original writer expected this to be crafted (at half price) by the person using it, rather than purchased.

Silver Crusade

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shaventalz wrote:


I nominate the various Rings of Wizardry..

With a few quite notable exceptions, most rings are overpriced for what you get.


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The Shatterspike: a +1 longsword that gets an extra +3 when used to Sunder by someone who has Improved Sunder. 4315gp.

Not bad, I guess, but not as good as a nonmagical Adamantine Longsword: 3015gp, +1 to Attack, and bypasses the first 20 points of an object's Hardness. Which do you thing is better? +4 Damage or +20 Damage? And the +20 option is more than 1000gp less!

And why would any self-respecting Pathfinder Wizard or Dwarf put the Maul of the Titans enchantments on a Masterwork Greatclub when they could put it on an Adamantine Earthbreaker?


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The coin in OP should be considered a cursed item. It removes your racial +2 (which is presumably in your most important stat) to replace it with a +2 to some other random stat. Maybe you'll luck out and get CON, or you'll get a +2 to your dump stat, and Murphy's Law says it'll usually be the latter. In other words, it either makes your character a little worse or a lot worse, and the dice pick your poison.

As for the shield, the Order of the Star makes good use of Charisma as well. Still not a good thematic fit for Gorum, and the ability itself is rarely worth it. Decent for obvious boss fights in which you still have 2 or more uses of Challenge remaining.

Scott Wilhelm wrote:

The Shatterspike: a +1 longsword that gets an extra +3 when used to Sunder by someone who has Improved Sunder. 4315gp.

Not bad, I guess, but not as good as a nonmagical Adamantine Longsword: 3015gp, +1 to Attack, and bypasses the first 20 points of an object's Hardness. Which do you thing is better? +4 Damage or +20 Damage? And the +20 option is more than 1000gp less!

And why would any self-respecting Pathfinder Wizard or Dwarf put the Maul of the Titans enchantments on a Masterwork Greatclub when they could put it on an Adamantine Earthbreaker?

IIRC Maul of the Titans was around before there was ever a proper two-handed hammer in Pathfinder. Using core-only content I'd have put it on a Large Adamantine Warhammer.


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Athaleon wrote:
Scott Wilhelm wrote:

The Shatterspike: a +1 longsword that gets an extra +3 when used to Sunder by someone who has Improved Sunder. 4315gp.

Not bad, I guess, but not as good as a nonmagical Adamantine Longsword: 3015gp, +1 to Attack, and bypasses the first 20 points of an object's Hardness. Which do you thing is better? +4 Damage or +20 Damage? And the +20 option is more than 1000gp less!

And why would any self-respecting Pathfinder Wizard or Dwarf put the Maul of the Titans enchantments on a Masterwork Greatclub when they could put it on an Adamantine Earthbreaker?

IIRC Maul of the Titans was around before there was ever a proper two-handed hammer in Pathfinder. Using core-only content I'd have put it on a Large Adamantine Warhammer.

YRC. The Maul of the Titans was in the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide. As it happens the Mattock of the Titans is an Adamantine Warhammer, only size Huge instead of size large.


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Rysky wrote:
Uh, the edicts for the Order of the Hero is that you kill the s**% out of monsters. It doesn’t have anything to do with heroics.
The name of the order does. The edict you swear to uphold also reins in your antics:
Quote:
Edicts: The cavalier must choose an area, whether it’s a settlement or nation, and vows to slay any monster threatening that area. He must fulfill any pledge he makes to slay a beast, tracking it to its lair if necessary, and forsaking any new quarry until his current target is slain. The cavalier must attempt to ensure that no lasting damage is dealt to his domain in the pursuit of his prey.

The last sentence is the key: you're a hero, not Ares' Annihilator. Your vow is to protect the area, not subject it to glowing-red-eyed Gorum's dream of ceaseless carnage.

- As a build mechanic, the shield can certainly be made to work. In-character rationales for purchasing (as opposed to finding) it are harder to come by.

Liberty's Edge

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Rysky wrote:
No player may ever purchase them, but they’d make a wonderful item for GMs to put in loot.

In as much as it's a weightless way to carry about 3,000 gp, because a player would probably get more use out of 3k than out of this item. Like you said, its 3/4 of the way to the price of a reliable +2 stat boosting item.

Liberty's Edge

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Blackwaltzomega wrote:
I feel like if the treasure the party slogged through the dungeon to get to includes a frost giant's magical underwear, and the GM insists that the magical underwear won't sell for anything, the party is probably going to just leave the magical underwear behind or still sell it at a pittance instead of force themselves to carry around a useless novelty item.

I don't think that the coin is useless, just not worth NEARLY as much as the 3k you can get by selling it. If it were priced reasonably it would be a cool item.


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Oh! The Cloak of Woodland Creatures is my submission. It's an almost double-cost Cloak of Resistance that lets you summon a couple of animals three times a day.... by removing the cloak. Yeah.

Silver Crusade

Slim Jim wrote:
Rysky wrote:
Uh, the edicts for the Order of the Hero is that you kill the s**% out of monsters. It doesn’t have anything to do with heroics.
The name of the order does. The edict you swear to uphold also reins in your antics:
Quote:
Edicts: The cavalier must choose an area, whether it’s a settlement or nation, and vows to slay any monster threatening that area. He must fulfill any pledge he makes to slay a beast, tracking it to its lair if necessary, and forsaking any new quarry until his current target is slain. The cavalier must attempt to ensure that no lasting damage is dealt to his domain in the pursuit of his prey.

The last sentence is the key: you're a hero, not Ares' Annihilator. Your vow is to protect the area, not subject it to glowing-red-eyed Gorum's dream of ceaseless carnage.

- As a build mechanic, the shield can certainly be made to work. In-character rationales for purchasing (as opposed to finding) it are harder to come by.

You’re a “hero” in that you slay monsters and don’t cause a lot of collateral damage. That’s it. Nothing in it is incompatible with Gorum. The Order doesn’t have an alignment restriction and Gorum is CN, not Evil.


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Not so much overpriced as utterly useless: the Fire Lance. For 25gp plus the cost of two black powder charges, it provides a two-handed method of hurling a javelin TEN FEET. With the sole exception of an x4 crit multiplier, it is in every way inferior to just throwing the javelin yourself.


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An unbelievably bad item: the Viper Tattoo.
This magic tattoo:

  • Costs 18000 gp (Why???)
  • Lets you summon a viper once per day, as a standard action, for only 5 rounds.
  • The Viper uses the bestiary statistics (ie. 20ft move speed, 18 AC, 3 HP, tiny size), but has your BAB and has an enhanced DC on its 1d2 CON damage poison.
  • If it's killed, you lose the tattoo. Since it has to move into an opponent's square to bite them, it triggers AoOs... did I mention it only has 3 HP?


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    I nominate the Grim Lantern.

    It costs 5k and casts a CL 5 burning hands. Except the save DC is 11... We picked this up in a level 1 PFS adventure, and I was pretty exited about being able to use it as an off hand item. However, the only time in said adventure that I could fire it off, my target turned out to be a monk. With evasion :(

    Half of 5d4 is 6. Which is pretty sad when a warrior with 16 strength and a knife deals 1d4+3.


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    Slim Jim wrote:
    Quote:

    Challenging Shield

    Source Armor Master's Handbook pg. 31
    Aura faint abjuration CL 1st
    Slot shield; Price 5,170 gp; Weight 15 lbs.

    This +1 heavy steel shield bears the symbol of Gorum, the Lord in Iron, on its face. In the hands of a character with the challengeAPG class feature, this shield grants additional abilities. By spending one use of her challenge class feature as an immediate action, the wearer of a challenging shield can apply her Charisma bonus to her shield bonus to AC against a target of her challenge for 1 minute.

    Aside from those who've managed to roll 16s in every stat, I'm trying to think who would want this in character.

    - Most cavaliers who aren't Order of the Cockatrice have little use for charisma.
    - Order of the Cockatrice might not have dumped it (and there are various ways of intimidating without using charisma), but they probably hasn't super jacked it either when they can gain a +10 Intimidate for one hour with a 250gp Elixir of the Thundering Voice.
    - If you're high enough level martial to be spending money on tertiary items to advance tertiary attributes, you might have a use for it, but you probably already have a shield that's much, much better than this thing by then. (It's also a named magic item, so you can't upgrade it PFS.)

    This leaves multiclasses:

    - A number of classes exploit charisma in combat, but few of them have proficiency in heavy shields, or are precluding from holding things in their off-hand.
    - Paladins exploit charisma, but aren't going to proudly bear a CN deity's likeness.

    If you multiclass, you have fewer levels of cavalier, and the Challenging Shield is powered by sacrificing your very precious challenge. It costs 3000 more than an ordinary +2 shield, so your CHA has to be at least 14 to gain a benefit. For 1 minute.

    VMC Paladin with Cavalier?

    Let's say that the paladin does the following with a 20pt buy

    Str (17+1 at lvl4) Dex (12) Con (14) Int (7) Wis (10) Cha (16)

    Lvl 1: Power Attack (human bonus feat: shield focus)
    Lvl 3: VMC (challenge feature)
    Lvl 5: Shield Brace

    The paladin thus power attacks with a halberd, two handed. He wears full plate, and has this shield. He uses his challenge ability, and activates this shield.

    AC25 (+1 fullplate, shield focus, this shield). He smites evil, giving him his Cha as a deflection bonus. He now has AC28. He also
    activates the shield, pushing him up to AC31. He also has order of the guard, so he has AC32.

    And through it all, he still gets 1.5 strength bonus to his attacks and the two handed power attack bonus.

    I mean...that isn't bad. And the paladin will be pushing for higher Cha as he gains levels.

    This shield helps him specialize as someone who picks a single target, and says "You. You and me are going to fight, and I am going to beat you into the ground. There is nothing you can do about it."

    Sure, that's a specialized character. But it really does make the most out of Cha. All with a 20pt buy human.

    And RP wise, the deity may be CN, but there's no reason that a paladin can't bear the symbol of the god of war. Or, he could always cover it up...I guess. :P


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    Slim Jim wrote:
    Rysky wrote:
    Uh, the edicts for the Order of the Hero is that you kill the s**% out of monsters. It doesn’t have anything to do with heroics.
    The name of the order does. The edict you swear to uphold also reins in your antics:
    Quote:
    Edicts: The cavalier must choose an area, whether it’s a settlement or nation, and vows to slay any monster threatening that area. He must fulfill any pledge he makes to slay a beast, tracking it to its lair if necessary, and forsaking any new quarry until his current target is slain. The cavalier must attempt to ensure that no lasting damage is dealt to his domain in the pursuit of his prey.

    The last sentence is the key: you're a hero, not Ares' Annihilator. Your vow is to protect the area, not subject it to glowing-red-eyed Gorum's dream of ceaseless carnage.

    - As a build mechanic, the shield can certainly be made to work. In-character rationales for purchasing (as opposed to finding) it are harder to come by.

    I see nothing preventing anyone from repainting the shield, just saying.


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    For RP...

    Half-Orc Enlightened Paladin of Gorum

    "Enlightened paladins meditate on self-perfection and train relentlessly, knowing that their example can inspire others to excel. Enlightened paladins follow no universal paladin code—each paladin in his service creates his own code as part of his spiritual journey, seeing the adherence to such a self-formulated creed as one of the many tests one must face to reach perfection."

    "The Lord in Iron is commonly worshiped by half-orcs, who believe that he is one of them, and that his encasement in iron is the deity’s successful effort to hide his true nature from human worshipers who would be unable to handle his true nature."

    "The church of Gorum proclaims faith in strength and power over spirituality or intellect. High priests are great warriors who attain their position through battle. Priests wear heavy spiked armor and forsake non-metallic weapons. They believe that the spirit of Gorum resides in all metal weapons and armor, and therefore take care to keep them polished and in good working order. The services conducted by the church consist primarily of actual and improvised percussion, to include clanging weapons against shields."

    Using my above build...it gets pushed back to lvl 7. But assuming you make it that far...

    Str (18) Dex (12) Con (14) Int (7) Wis (10) Cha (16)

    You are a half-orc, who seeks to perfect yourself. As an enlightened paladin you make your own code. And for you it is to perfect yourself in battle. For only when your life is on the line can you push yourself to your utmost limit. Only in battle can you cut out all weakness. Only through conflict can you reach perfection. And when you reach it, you believe that you will inspire others to follow in your footsteps.

    You proudly worship Gorum, for he is a half-orc like yourself. And through his teachings you know that you will find the self-perfection that you seek. You also appreciate the knowledge that he will not help you. For he is a god of war, and he supports all sides. This means that you *will* be tested to your full. As you want to perfect yourself, this is an essential requirement.

    However, you are still lawful good. Despite appearances, you are a man of honor. You protect the weak, and turn your ire upon those who deserve it. You believe that it is your duty to use your strength for good, and to seek out those who would harm others.

    You go into battle ready for anything. You have a halberd, so that you can slash and stab. You can brace for a charge, or charge in yourself, breaking shield walls and shattering formations. You can raise your shield to protect yourself from a barrage of arrows, or deflect the blades of your foes. War comes in all forms, and you will be ready.

    And finally, as an enlightened paladin...you have improved unarmed strike, that scales with your level. And your AC will go up with your Cha. This means that even unarmed and unarmored, you can fight and you can win. This is what it means to seek perfection. This is the path that you take.

    ------------

    There you go. A lawful good paladin of Gorum who can very readily make use of this shield.


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    Quote:

    Repositioning

    Source Ultimate Equipment pg. 147
    Aura moderate enchantment CL 10th
    Slot weapon quality; Price +3 bonus; Weight —

    This special ability can only be placed on melee weapons. A repositioning weapon grants the wielder a +2 enhancement bonus on combat maneuver checks to reposition a foe (Advanced Player’s Guide 322). I f the wielder confirms a critical hit with the weapon, he can attempt to reposition his opponent as a free action. These reposition attempts still provoke attacks of opportunity as normal. A weapon cannot have both the anchoring and repositioning special abilities.

    Know what's a whole lot cheaper and does about the same thing? A Headband of Ninjitsu, which gives a +2 to repositioning and feinting, and grants an extra attempt once per day (so it's more reliable than waiting for a crit). Buy three and switch between combats when one triggers. Not quite as cheap, but even better is the Hooked Massacre, a spiked-chain that extends reach as a free action and grants an attack as an immediate action if used to drag or reposition an opponent adjacent.

    But the really LOLOP alternative to Repositioning is the Dueling property (+1), which screams take a level in a rage class, and then add the Furious property as well (+3 weapon now, or one saved versus +1/Repositioning), resulting in a +3 rage weapon which is +3(enhancement)+(double that as a luck bonus) = +9 to reposition and disarm and trip.

    Shadow Lodge

    6 people marked this as a favorite.

    I nominate the Jingasa of the Regretful Impulse Buyer Fortunate Soldier.

    It cost more than a Ring of Protection +1, doesn't stack with it, and has a once ever ability to turn a critical hit into a normal one(with no rules for how likely you are to find one without that use, or what it's sell price becomes without it). It has no way to upgrade it like a Ring of Protection either.

    For 1,000 less gold a Buffering Cap and Ring of Protection will serve you much better.


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    Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens Subscriber; Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber

    Well the Jingasa got hit with the nerf bat. It used to negate a crit once per day.


    5 people marked this as a favorite.

    And was a luck bonus rather than deflection. I think Paizo wants to avoid ever having to nerf something twice, so errata tends to hit things hard enough to make them useless rather than balanced.

    Shadow Lodge

    3 people marked this as a favorite.

    I am aware of the usefulness the Jingasa once had, which is why I nominate it now. It's just around to fluff word count now. :(


    1 person marked this as a favorite.
    Dragonborn3 wrote:
    I am aware of the usefulness the Jingasa once had, which is why I nominate it now. It's just around to fluff word count now. :(

    it's a very expensive chamber pot now... :P


    2 people marked this as a favorite.
    Robert Jordan wrote:
    Well the Jingasa got hit with the nerf bat.

    More like a nerf tetsubo with metal spikes...


    3 people marked this as a favorite.
    graystone wrote:
    Dragonborn3 wrote:
    I am aware of the usefulness the Jingasa once had, which is why I nominate it now. It's just around to fluff word count now. :(
    it's a very expensive chamber pot now... :P

    And it's terrible even at that job.


    22 people marked this as a favorite.
    Coidzor wrote:
    graystone wrote:
    Dragonborn3 wrote:
    I am aware of the usefulness the Jingasa once had, which is why I nominate it now. It's just around to fluff word count now. :(
    it's a very expensive chamber pot now... :P
    And it's terrible even at that job.

    A deflection bonus is not something you want in a chamber pot.


    1 person marked this as a favorite.
    Pathfinder Maps, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

    Especially since it doesn't even have the ability to stop its contents from stinking.

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