Break
2009-08-17, 03:42 AM
For those who aren't aware, the Throne of Dominion (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4ex/20090803) is a lair item in Adventurer's Vault 2, and is previewed on WotC's site. It's quite powerful.
What you have is a stun item that works without an attack roll (thought it is a save ends effect), with range limited only by sight, and with loose conditions with which you can apply that stunning. I'm not even sure if the following cheese works by RAW, partially because of how poorly worded the item is, but I'll present it here, if only for the amusing mental image it would provide.
Have a ritualist cast Tenser's Floating Disk, and place the throne on it - weight shouldn't be an issue if your Arcana check is high enough. A 40+ result lets the disk carry a literal ton of items, which should be sufficient; however, since not many can consistently manage an Arcana check that high, a 25+ for 1000 pounds of lift should do the trick.
Have someone else - that is, not the ritualist - sit on the throne. This "king" will basically yell out silly or nonsensical orders for the enemy to disobey, thus opening the way for a stun. The ritualist, meanwhile, pretty much acts as a rickshaw driver for the king.
So, you've got a 100% accurate stun with absurd range at your disposal - the last step is to duck as your DM throws his books at you.
Where this gets truly terrible is that you can use this on the rest of the party, too. Give your orders, stun them if they disobey, give them a quick punishment that preferably doesn't involve leaving your throne, and repeat until they comply. Now duck under the game table as the players throw books at you.
The above isn't foolproof - among other things, the king has to leave the throne sometime, and it basically only works on enemies the king is aware of. There's also the problems of no action or area of effect the stun has, so you don't know exactly when or how many you can stun at once for disobeying, so some ranged attackers might still be able to get at the king. Also, the king can't really control the party in dangerous situations, as stunning them for disobeying would be too dangerous.
Past that, though, the above was mostly using the most amusing interpretation of the throne's abilities - after all, the thought of some wizard carting around a bossy gnome on a throne is just too funny to pass up. Here's to hoping the item is worded better in the final release, or errata'd to make its limitations clearer.
What you have is a stun item that works without an attack roll (thought it is a save ends effect), with range limited only by sight, and with loose conditions with which you can apply that stunning. I'm not even sure if the following cheese works by RAW, partially because of how poorly worded the item is, but I'll present it here, if only for the amusing mental image it would provide.
Have a ritualist cast Tenser's Floating Disk, and place the throne on it - weight shouldn't be an issue if your Arcana check is high enough. A 40+ result lets the disk carry a literal ton of items, which should be sufficient; however, since not many can consistently manage an Arcana check that high, a 25+ for 1000 pounds of lift should do the trick.
Have someone else - that is, not the ritualist - sit on the throne. This "king" will basically yell out silly or nonsensical orders for the enemy to disobey, thus opening the way for a stun. The ritualist, meanwhile, pretty much acts as a rickshaw driver for the king.
So, you've got a 100% accurate stun with absurd range at your disposal - the last step is to duck as your DM throws his books at you.
Where this gets truly terrible is that you can use this on the rest of the party, too. Give your orders, stun them if they disobey, give them a quick punishment that preferably doesn't involve leaving your throne, and repeat until they comply. Now duck under the game table as the players throw books at you.
The above isn't foolproof - among other things, the king has to leave the throne sometime, and it basically only works on enemies the king is aware of. There's also the problems of no action or area of effect the stun has, so you don't know exactly when or how many you can stun at once for disobeying, so some ranged attackers might still be able to get at the king. Also, the king can't really control the party in dangerous situations, as stunning them for disobeying would be too dangerous.
Past that, though, the above was mostly using the most amusing interpretation of the throne's abilities - after all, the thought of some wizard carting around a bossy gnome on a throne is just too funny to pass up. Here's to hoping the item is worded better in the final release, or errata'd to make its limitations clearer.