Tiller's Gum...what is the benefit?

[Skarm]

Hi all,
I don't understand:

The Tiller's Gum from Adventurer's Guide seems to be even PFS legal, but I really don't understand why someone would use it...can you help me to understand?

"This gum has alchemical properties that allow it to soak up magical energy and release it when the gum is chewed. As a standard action, a stick of tiller’s gum can be imbued with a spell of up to 3rd level with a casting time of less than 1 minute and that targets one or more creatures, as if the gum were the target of the spell. The gum holds the spell’s charge for 1 hour, during which time a creature capable of casting the stored spell can chew the gum as a standard action to gain the spell’s effects, expending the stored spell and destroying the gum. The stored spell uses the original caster’s level to determine its effects. If the spell-imbued gum isn’t used before an hour passes, it is ruined. Crafting a stick of tiller’s gum requires a successful DC 20 Craft (alchemy) check."

The "as if the gum were the target of the spell" seems extremely strange to me...what is supposed to mean?

That only area of effect spells can work with it? But wasn't individually targeted?

Could it be used with spells like True Strike and Mirror Strike (while being Personal, the caster is still a target)?

But the gum is inanimate...how it could be the target of the spell??

So, apparently, no cool hand-less instant-buff spells...

The fact that it needs to be chewed might allow to avoid hand usage to activate it...but I am right in assuming so?

However..."a creature capable of casting the stored spell" makes this alchemical item incredibly useless:

It seemed a spell-storage one-shot item, but if the creature can already cast the stored spell...what's the point???

I have also the doubt that scrolls or wands cannot be used to store a spell in it...am I wrong?

So...why someone would waste 100 gp on such a silly alchemical item?

I have the impression that is an item that has been nerfed into uselessness...or I am missing something??

Thanks,
Skarm

[blahpers]

"as if the gum were the target of the spell" simply (and a bit clumsily) stresses that the magic is being imbued into the item rather than actually cast at one or more creatures. It can store any 3rd-level spell with a casting time of 1 minute or less and that targets one or more creatures. I don't see a restriction against personal spells, so true strike should work, but remember that the chewer must be able to cast the spell, so no handing the gum to Fitz the Fighter.

I can't see any reason a wand or scroll couldn't be used to store the spell in the gum, but I'm struggling to come up with a reason to do so.

It's a niche item that probably has some clever interaction somewhere, but otherwise it's kind of silly. Know any 1 minute casting time spells that you'd like to be able to pull off as a standard action on yourself some time in the next hour?

Maybe the AP it appears in has some context in which the item makes sense...?

[River of Sticks]

Lesser Restoration when you are about to storm a cave of shadows could be handy.

"Tiller's" is likely a reference to the halfling freedom fighters. Probably used for sneaking into somewhere and breaking slaves out, fluff wise.

[Avoron]

blahpers wrote:

It can store any 3rd-level spell with a casting time of 1 minute or less and that targets one or more creatures... Know any 1 minute casting time spells that you'd like to be able to pull off as a standard action on yourself some time in the next hour?

Unfortunately, it looks like it only works on spells with a casting time of less than one minute, just like with potions, which rules out a whole bunch of useful options. Within the remaining constraints the spell that comes most immediately to mind is lesser restoration, which could be a nice way to pack a three round condition removal into a single standard action when you think it might come in handy.

I think the real benefit, though, is that releasing a spell from the gum allows you to avoid almost all of the restrictions that normally get in the way of spellcasting. You don't need to worry about verbal, somatic, or material components. You don't need to concentrate, you don't provoke, and if you just keep the gum in your mouth until chewed you don't even need a free hand. The triggered effect can't be counterspelled, and the gum itself isn't even a magic item, so it doesn't detect as magic if you're searched and it can't be turned off with a dispel.

So I could easily imagine a mid- to high-level caster investing in, say, a summoner-crafted wand of dimension door, then casting it into a piece of gum and tucking it next to their teeth before they go into a dangerous situation. Then it doesn't matter if they get grappled, pinned, tied up, swallowed whole, surrounded in melee, submerged in lava, stuck in an area of silence, or slapped with a mage's disjunction - as long as they can spend a standard action to move their mouth they can teleport to safety.

This could become even more effective with the spell contingent action, which gives you a free readied action in response to a specified trigger. It can't be used to cast a spell or activate a supernatural ability, but there's no restriction on chewing alchemical gum - so with the right preparation you've basically got an instantaneous get-out-of-jail-free card that can save you even from unconsciousness or death. Not bad for 100 gp.

[Meirril]

Sounds like a nasty practical joke between casters. While the above hits the major benefits of this gum it has a few uses that haven't been stressed yet.

For one thing, it suddenly gives you the equivalent of 2 feats for any spell that targets a person. While its very situational I've carried sillier things that were even more situational. (like a bucket of silver bars)

A major benefit is that you can be witnessed not casting spells when it goes off. I'm sure the usual spellcraft check would indicate you're responsible for the spell, but if you are trying to convince a room of non-spell casting types you didn't do it not speaking and not waiving your hands around goes a long way to convincing them that you didn't do it. Even easier if you are the 'victim' of the spell and you can pin it on someone the room is already suspicious of.

Or really, 2 casters with similar spells could prank each other. It would be a way to share spells that are on both caster's lists without standing next to each other. So like a Paladin could get a Prayer from a Cleric if he plans on approaching from a different direction when they are planning an assault.

[Skarm]

Would be possible to use UMD to emulate the ability to cast the spell? :-?

[Avoron]

Skarm wrote:

Would be possible to use UMD to emulate the ability to cast the spell? :-?

I like the thought, but I don't think it works. After all, this isn't actually a magic item, it's alchemical, and that technicality cuts both ways. You couldn't emulate the spells class feature to activate the wax any more than you could emulate the halfling race to use alchemical preserves.

[Zaister]

The restrictions for which spells can be imbued in the gum are exactly the same as for which spells can be made into potions ("It can duplicate the effect of a spell of up to 3rd level that has a casting time of less than 1 minute and targets one or more creatures or objects.", Core Rulebook, p.477). So, no personal spells.

The gum is is basically something that can be turned into a temporary, non-magical equivalent of a potion.

It could be cost-effective in simulating potions where a higher-than-normal caster level could be desired, maybe.

[Ataraxias]

blahpers wrote:

Maybe the AP it appears in has some context in which the item makes sense...?

The Bellflower Network's agents are called Tillers.

These guys maintain the image of being slackjawed yokel slaves whilst going about underground railroad operations.
So basically instead of having suspicious looking vials on their person prime for confiscation, they have what would probably appear to be blocks of chewing tobacco.

[Avoron]

Zaister wrote:

The restrictions for which spells can be imbued in the gum are exactly the same as for which spells can be made into potions ("It can duplicate the effect of a spell of up to 3rd level that has a casting time of less than 1 minute and targets one or more creatures or objects.", Core Rulebook, p.477). So, no personal spells.

That line has nothing to do with why potions don't work with personal spells - personal is just the spell's range, it still targets one or more creatures or objects. The restriction for potions comes from an entirely different line in the magic item creation section that has no parallel in the rules for the wax.

Creating Potions wrote:

Spells with a range of personal cannot be made into potions.

[Zaister]

You're right. I take it back, then.

[Skarm]

Avoron wrote:

Zaister wrote:

The restrictions for which spells can be imbued in the gum are exactly the same as for which spells can be made into potions ("It can duplicate the effect of a spell of up to 3rd level that has a casting time of less than 1 minute and targets one or more creatures or objects.", Core Rulebook, p.477). So, no personal spells.

That line has nothing to do with why potions don't work with personal spells - personal is just the spell's range, it still targets one or more creatures or objects. The restriction for potions comes from an entirely different line in the magic item creation section that has no parallel in the rules for the wax.

Creating Potions wrote:

Spells with a range of personal cannot be made into potions.

I agree that it seems a sort of temporary potion, but the problem I see is the requirement for the user of being able to cast the spell, which seems a bit silly...

Skarm