This is the description of the Cyclops Helm item.
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This helm is made from the husk of a cyclops’s shrunken head, and grants a limited version of that creature’s flash of insight ability. Once per day as an immediate action, the wearer can choose the result of the die roll instead of rolling her next attack roll, saving throw, skill check, or ability check.
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Is it really possible that an object that costs so little (5.600 mo), can make 20 natural?
Considering certain builds on critical hits, the special ability of weapons, vorpal, and considering the automatic success on saves?
So I asked myself if it was possible that I misunderstood. I went to look for the written rules.
Now. Considering the definition of 20 natural.
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A natural 20 (the d20 comes up 20) is always a hit. A natural 20 is also a Critical Threat—a possible critical hit.
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I would like to know if the 20 is considered "natural" only if the die is actually roll and not if there are abilities with which to decide the result. Such as the item mentioned above.
I ask because the sentence in brackets "(the d20 comes up 20)" makes me think that only in the case of a rolling die and with a consequent result of 20 is to be considered a natural 20.
Concluding, only if the die was physically rolled and the result was 20 then we would talk about a natural 20?
Or even the 20 obtained with the Cyclops Helm item is a natural 20?
I am very sincere, I do not care about the opinions of the players or anyone who is not a developer.
I'm interested in the answer of those who write the rules.
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The authors are: Keith Baker, Richard Baker, Wolfgang Baur, Jason Bulmahn, Ed Greenwood, Tim Hitchcock, James Jacobs, Nicolas Logue, Frank Mentzer, Erik Mona, Chris Pramas, Sean K Reynolds, F. Wesley Schneider, Michael A. Stackpole, Lisa Stevens, and James L. Sutter.
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Just so you know, saying you only care about developer opinions and don't care about other player opinions is a good way to get your post overlooked and doesn't generally make the devs want to answer your question.
You might consider asking in a different way.
Yeah we have a system in place for getting Dev input. This question is unlikely to garner enough hits on the FAQ tab to rise above some of the longer standing questions in the queue. So if only the dev team's answer will do for you.....Good luck!
I am very sincere, I do not care about the opinions of the players or anyone who is not a developer.
I'm interested in the answer of those who write the rules.
The only way to get an official developer response is to get a FAQ. To get a FAQ you have to (1) get a certain number of FAQ clicks from the community to prove it's a controversial or vague rule of importance to the community as a whole and to move it towards the top of the queue (dozens of clicks, at least), (2) the FAQ committee has to be available to consider it (they go months without FAQs when they are busy and the playtest probably means they are really busy for the next year), and (3) the FAQ committee has to agree unanimously on the answer.
With the above attitude you're never going to pass the hurdle of (1), and even if you do (2) and (3) are by no means assured. Your best bet is to politely ask for alternate viewpoints on here and have your group go with whatever the GM or the group as a whole agrees is the best approach in light of the discussion here.
Honestly I did not think anyone took it personally. Thanks to Xenocrat I understand how the FAQ system works. Actually you are right to say that it is not the best way to ask for something from the players and, including the system, not even to the developers.
However, I wanted to understand from who wrote that object if really for 5600 gp created something that allows you to kill someone instantly without escape.
The reasoning I have done, sincerely, is the one that makes the most sense and the best in terms of balancing.
Honestly I did not think anyone took it personally. Thanks to Xenocrat I understand how the FAQ system works. Actually you are right to say that it is not the best way to ask for something from the players and, including the system, not even to the developers.
However, I wanted to understand from who wrote that object if really for 5600 gp created something that allows you to kill someone instantly without escape.
The reasoning I have done, sincerely, is the one that makes the most sense and the best in terms of balancing.
It's really a terribly balanced item. I think the best approach is to not allow it outside of found treasure in the module itself.
If you're the GM you can just decide it's not allowed because it's not a balanced item.
And if you're a player and you feel someone else is abusing it...well you could start doing so to level the playing field or demonstrate how it's broken.
For example, even if you were a caster you could do something like a critical hit with a maximized enervation (it's questionable if it would actually cause double negative levels lost, but you know...). The moment you cause -8 level penalty to a monster, your GM would probably recognize why the item is a problem.
Good luck.
1. Buy scythe (preferably large).
2. Cast summon nature's ally V (cyclops).
3. Hand cyclops scythe. (Proficiency? LOL.)
4. Go, cyclops, go!
(Edit: Wrong spell!)
IOW, no helm required.