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TempesT
2009-03-23, 01:33 AM
hey everyone ,

Ive just finished reading the discworld book "The Color of Magic" and i was wondering if anyone could think up stats for Twoflowers chest? For those of you who havent read the book, it is and echanted chest that folows its owner where ever they are (regardless of distance) sprouting hundreds of tiny legs that propell it forward at a steady pace, it can swim, is resistant to magic, and has the ability the "bite" and "swallow" things or people that get in the way of its owner. I would think it would be about medium sized.

And if anyone has any links for stats or pictures, they would be much apreciated.

Ryuuk
2009-03-23, 02:06 AM
The Luggage? Well, a Mimic (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/mimic.htm) is a good place to start. Some way to mis it with Secret Chest and a bag of holding would help too.

Waspinator
2009-03-23, 02:25 AM
The Packmate (page 152 of "Magic of Eberron") is pretty close to the Luggage. Any decent Artificer or Wizard can make them, too.

Townopolis
2009-03-23, 03:14 AM
Paragon Packmate of Legend?

I'm not too good with templates, but we should be able to make a pretty good The Luggage if we stack enough one. Who knows a good template for intimidating stuff?

JellyPooga
2009-03-23, 03:24 AM
it is and echanted chest that folows its owner where ever they are (regardless of distance) sprouting hundreds of tiny legs that propell it forward at a steady pace, it can swim, is resistant to magic, and has the ability the "bite" and "swallow" things or people that get in the way of its owner. I would think it would be about medium sized.

It also needs to be able to do your laundry (leaving it smelling faintly of lavender) and follow its owner across time and/or space with a disturbing degree of accuracy. It's also immune to pretty much any magical effect.

BlueWizard
2009-03-23, 03:46 AM
Definitely a little more than just a 'simple' mimic. I think it would be an Epic monster/item.

Waspinator
2009-03-23, 03:49 AM
A true recreation of the luggage would probably be an artifact-level item. The thing is stupidly strong in the books.

However, a Packmate (maybe with some extra HD, templates, or spells cast on it) could make a decent imitation. Maybe stick a bunch of magic traps on the thing. And some extra bags of holding, of course. And some form of Prestidigitation to clean your laundry?

Edit:

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/2527/91497.jpg

The one on the right is the Packmate.


Out of curiousity, can constructs use magic items like a humanoid would? Because then you could make some for this thing to use to emulate some of the Luggage's abilities. An item that allows unlimited use of Prestidigitation would be good, for starters. Plus then it could itself access the bags of holding.

BlueWizard
2009-03-23, 03:58 AM
The unlimited cantrips would be the easiest part. :smallwink:

Waspinator
2009-03-23, 04:03 AM
Yeah, assuming the thing CAN activate those items, I would load it up with "Hand of the Mage" equivalents of all of the cantrips that would be remotely useful for a butler-y magical suitcase.

BlueWizard
2009-03-23, 04:06 AM
It has to be part juggernaut too.

Waspinator
2009-03-23, 04:12 AM
Well, I know I remember reading that for constructs like that you can pay extra money and XP to give it extra HD beyond the default. Are you required to have it take them as "Construct" levels or could you have it take Fighter and that Dungeoncrasher variant? It would seem appropriate.

Avilan the Grey
2009-03-23, 04:29 AM
I have thought about this myself and I have no good answer that does not require "Break system, overpowered item ahoy!".

In theory though, what the Luggage really is is probably a Wood Golem / Construct, with a built in bag (box) of holding and plane-crossing abilities.

Of course in the books, at least 50% of it's capabilities is due to the fact that it is constructed of a wood that is already sentient.

Think about it; you are constructing a construct out of something that is already sentient. No wonder it gives the construct special abilities.

(On the other hand, the idea of shopping down the trees required to build the thing is probably close to nightmare fuel, if the trees are anything like the Luggage to begin with)

Sebastian
2009-03-23, 05:06 AM
The Luggage is almost entirily made of plotdevicium, with the remaining parts made of pure awesomiun. :smallbiggrin:

huttj509
2009-03-23, 05:10 AM
I think it would be some sort of intelligent magical item (artifact, to accommodate all the abilities, maybe, wrapping in construct stuff).

First, let's remove the movement.

Take an intelligent bag of holding in chest form, add prestidigitation at will (its will) to clean the clothes. This basically covers the powers it would need as an item.

The issue comes when we add the fact that it's animate. It's basically both a construct AND a magic item.

In fact, I'd actually argue it would be better built as a homebrewed construct monster thing than a magic item. It's just that the construct has a need to be 'owned.'

This construct could then have the prestidigitation at will, teleport without error sort of thing to the location of the owner, a strength score, etc. Only unusual thing for a monster would be the built in bag of holding type ability, at least, I've not seen anything like it before in a writeup.

jcsw
2009-03-23, 05:12 AM
The Luggage is almost entirily made of plotdevicium

It's called Narrativitum.

Ascension
2009-03-23, 09:05 AM
Think about it; you are constructing a construct out of something that is already sentient. No wonder it gives the construct special abilities.

Uhh... flesh golem? I don't see how using sentient materials is supposed to lead to specialness.

Toliudar
2009-03-23, 09:50 AM
Let's break down some of the properties:

Resistant to magic
Hard to damage
Strong
Slowly mobile (I don't think it swam so much as walked at the bottom of the ocean)
Kept lots of things inside itself clean and neat.

So...an intelligent wood golem, immune to most magic, with the option of a slam or bite attack, a bag of holding inside with permanent prestidigitation effects.

Depending on whether you want this to be a sidekick who is significantly less powerful than the main characters, or (as in the books) a mcguffin that is significantly MORE powerful than the characters but not always helpful, you can scale the hit dice, strength, damage reduction and intelligence up or down.

Sounds like fun!

Waspinator
2009-03-23, 12:37 PM
Something I just checked: the Packmate does have arms, can retrieve and throw items stored within itself, and has an Intelligence of 8. I'd personally say it's smart enough to use magic items that don't require specific knowledge or skills. So give it an item of at-will Prestidigitation, stuff some bags of holding in there, and stack the HD and templates until it is as good in a fight as you want it to be. You could even use some of the feats it gets as it gains HD to pick up some martial maneuvers to boost combat effectiveness.

Admiral Squish
2009-03-23, 01:48 PM
I'd definitely say advanced packmate with Improved Homunculus. Up to about 10-12 HD would be suffice. Add in the Swimmer, Weapon Ability (Merciful, probably, everyone comes out of it alive, if they come out), Strong, and Climber special abilities, Give it Improved Unarmed Strike to get Improved Grapple, Run, and Track, then give it the biggest bag of holding available, or a handy haversack, then an item of at-will prestidigitation, and whatever else seem appropriate.

chiasaur11
2009-03-23, 02:05 PM
It's called Narrativitum.

Well, if we're picking nits, it's sapient pearwood.

Very rare, very valuable.

Chronos
2009-03-23, 06:16 PM
Resistant to magic
Hard to damage
Strong
Slowly mobile (I don't think it swam so much as walked at the bottom of the ocean)
Kept lots of things inside itself clean and neat.I'm reasonably certain that it has Fast Healing, also. Despite its hardness, it has actually taken some damage at times (like when it burst through the troll's teeth), but that damage never seems to accumulate.

It also has the ability to "store" things (or creatures) in compartments that don't exist, rendering them lost forever.

And a spoiler for Interesting Times:It's not actually unique, or all that special. Luggages of that sort are very common on the Counterweight Continent.

Waspinator
2009-03-23, 06:42 PM
More spoilers:
Weren't the others not as good in a fight as the most famous one?

chiasaur11
2009-03-23, 07:08 PM
Not "common" per se.

They were, if I recall, insanely expensive.

Like, the entire economy of Lancre expensive. Not that Lancre i rich, but you get the idea.

NeoVid
2009-03-24, 06:11 AM
The really funny part about this discussion is that the Luggage started out as Pratchett's way of screwing with his players in his AD&D game.

Yes, they had a mobile, unlimited storage device. Problem was, it would walk right off a cliff with their gear if they didn't tell it to stop.

Avilan the Grey
2009-03-24, 06:26 AM
Uhh... flesh golem? I don't see how using sentient materials is supposed to lead to specialness.


The difference, obviously, is that I envision the wood staying sapient while being formed, unlike corpses making a flesh golem.

Farlion
2009-03-24, 06:49 AM
Does it really need stats? If it's to be used as an RP style gimmic, then giving it stats will only lead to abuse. Depending on the DM I'd handle such a box as a bonus and malus for the character. It can swallow people whole, but what if they are swallowed into the dimension you just put your whole magic loot? You'll get a real surprise the next time you want to sell your loot in town :smallbiggrin:

It could be a very nice RP item, but I'd keep it without stats to hinder abuse.


Cheers,
Farlion

Heliomance
2009-03-24, 08:01 AM
A true recreation of the luggage would probably be an artifact-level item. The thing is stupidly strong in the books.
And yet they're common in Agatea, as shown in Interesting Times.


Uhh... flesh golem? I don't see how using sentient materials is supposed to lead to specialness.

Flesh from sentient creatures is not sentient. A flesh golem is made out of bits of dead people. Dead flesh is not intelligent. It may once have belonged to a sentient being, but the material itself is not. Sapient pearwood, on the other hand, is inherently sentient, even if you chop it down and turn it into something. It's in the name. Sapient Pearwood.


Does it really need stats? If it's to be used as an RP style gimmic, then giving it stats will only lead to abuse. Depending on the DM I'd handle such a box as a bonus and malus for the character. It can swallow people whole, but what if they are swallowed into the dimension you just put your whole magic loot? You'll get a real surprise the next time you want to sell your loot in town :smallbiggrin:

Yeah, it never does that. When it wants to eat people it gains a rather disturbing tongue and sometimes teeth. People it eats are never seen from again. There is precisely one instance of someone going inside the Luggage and coming out again, and that's because it liked her, so it let her get into the laundry compartment. Said laundry compartment is different again from where it stores loot. It has a potentially infinite number of storage compartments, and closing and opening the lid is all that is required to switch between them.

Waspinator
2009-03-24, 05:01 PM
Yes, the thing is not unique. However, I don't remember any of the others being anywhere near as battle capable. Or them eating people.

And you know, I suspect whoever designed the Packmate has read some of the Discworld books. While it's less battle-focused than the Discworld one, it is way too similar to be a complete coincidence.

ColdSepp
2009-03-24, 05:04 PM
Don't forget, it met a female luggage, and apparently reproduced. Some of the offspring where just as... distempered as the father, some took after the mother.

Chronos
2009-03-24, 07:28 PM
There is precisely one instance of someone going inside the Luggage and coming out again, and that's because it liked her, so it let her get into the laundry compartment.I'm not sure to whom you're referring (I'm only about halfway through the series), but it also let the sea troll back out (again, because it didn't mean him any ill will to begin with).

Heliomance
2009-03-24, 07:32 PM
Happens in The Last Continent. And yes, I'd forgotten about Tethis. Two instances, then.