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Rixx
2009-09-30, 06:09 PM
Resource management and clever uses of mundane objects has always been one of my favorite parts of D&D / Pathfinder. I'm playing a rogue currently, and I wanted to bring a bit more of that aspect into her character - someone who uses their wits and whatever they can find on hand, rather than pure strength or magic.

Some things I have currently:

Rope (of course)
A book that narrates itself when opened
Three vials of "Worst beets", some pickled beets so spoiled they're a radiant green color
Caltrops
Darts

And whatever else I can pick up while we're in the dungeon.

What are some interesting uses for these items? And since we're in town right now, what should I pick up before setting off on my next adventure?

deuxhero
2009-09-30, 06:35 PM
Anything preventing you from gaining utlitly items like a decanter of endless water?

PinkysBrain
2009-09-30, 07:21 PM
MacGyver doesn't MacGyver for the hell of it ... he does it because deus ex machina keeps dropping him into situations where he has to as well as providing the "accidental" presence of ingredients. Also he has the full spectrum of physical laws to work with ... which allow him to improvise things like gun powder, dust explosions and termite. These are powerful effects, you lack the physics (ie. rules) to do the same, and even if your DM is willing to come up with all kinds of on the fly DCs to create items if he lets you make something as effective as termite out of cheap items in very small amounts of time it would completely break game balance if you just made batches of it in a town with readily available ingredients.

IMO you have unreasonable expectations of what D&D should be suited for ... this kind of stuff works better in a more cinematic rules light game. Get a nice selection of scrolls, it's what someone who relies on their wits does in D&D. Unless you hate magic in character it's pure metagaming to spurn it. If MacGyver lived in a world which used D&D rules he would have UMD maxed.

All that said, the beets can be used to give someone food poisoning ... throw in plenty of spices to cover up the taste.

JeminiZero
2009-09-30, 07:40 PM
Rope (of course)
A book that narrates itself when opened
Three vials of "Worst beets", some pickled beets so spoiled they're a radiant green color
Caltrops
Darts


Well you could try throwing the Worst Beets into the mouth of that T-Rex which is about to swallow you, and hope that the taste is horrible enough that he spits you out.

The best use of the book I can think of, might be a poor man's ghost sound where you use it to make noises from somewhere to distract your enemy.



And since we're in town right now, what should I pick up before setting off on my next adventure?


If you are bent on Macguyvering with Mundane gear, a bag of holding might come in handly to hold a huge amount of common goods. Throw in some Marvelous Pigments so you can conjure up vital extra ingredients on the fly.

Animefunkmaster
2009-09-30, 08:58 PM
Rope (or fishing line) + bells = a reasonable perimeter to help the person on watch notice when someone is sneaking into camp.

Realistically though, Macgyver wouldn't limit himself. If there is something of use, take advantage of it. Magic is 9 times out of 10 everywhere for PCs, take advantage of it.

taltamir
2009-09-30, 09:02 PM
its THERMITE not Termite. termite is an animal that looks like an ant and eats wood. Thermite is a class of chemical reactions that burn REALLY REALLY HOT (or explode if the particles are a fine powder... but everything flammable does that, even milk or sugar or wood... many factories are destroyed that way every year).

Anyways, to be mcguyver you have to be a high level alchemist, engineer, etc and your DM needs to let you create modern concoctions like home made guns, gunpowder, etc... so its not gonna be fantasy anymore.

PinkysBrain
2009-09-30, 09:05 PM
Heh, noted.

BTW Rixx, get a hand of the mage ... it's magical, but it's dirt cheap and has a million uses.

EnnPeeCee
2009-09-30, 09:14 PM
In the last campaign I played, I had permanent invisibility cast on one of the ropes I was carrying around. I only ever used it once, but I can see it being very useful.

Temet Nosce
2009-09-30, 11:24 PM
Marbles. Always, always, always carry marbles.

Also - Alchemist's Fire/Frost/Spark, Oil, Bag of Holding, a catapult (yes, seriously), wand of eternal shrink item, rope (lots and lots of rope), grappling hook, acid (should have listed this earlier - all my characters have this hidden on them in special smuggling pouches), chalk, an hourglass, crowbar, ink, ram, mirror, paper, fishing tackle, needles, wax, magnet, bolt cutters, hacksaw (superior), tongs (metal), tangle foot bag, signet rings (collect them from useful people through theft), tindertwigs...

This is all off the top of my head, so add to this as you go.

Godskook
2009-09-30, 11:35 PM
There's a periscope in Arms and Equipment.

Jergmo
2009-09-30, 11:42 PM
Collect dirt in jars. Yes, I'm serious. I had an elven wizard who was a crazy pack rat of odd mundane things, and he threw a jar of dirt in an ogre's face, blinding it with shattered glass and, of course, dirt.

ericgrau
2009-09-30, 11:43 PM
Pitons! A metal shaft that you can hammer into random structures has infinite uses. A DM I once had made us afraid to travel without pitons. The ghouls are coming, close the door, close the door! Hold the door! They're banging on it harder, wedge some pitons under it!

Oh, and you can hammer them into walls to climb walls too, if you want to be boring :smalltongue:.

Jergmo
2009-09-30, 11:46 PM
Pitons! A shaft that you can hammer into random structures has infinite uses. A DM I once had made us afraid to travel without pitons. The ghouls are coming, close the door, close the door! Hold the door! They're banging on it harder, wedge some pitons under it!

I make certain to carry locks with some of my characters, so that the door can be quickly padlocked after we close it.

ericgrau
2009-09-30, 11:48 PM
All the doors you go through have metal rings for padlocks in them? :smallconfused: Pitons are cheaper and more versatile anyway. You can't climb a wall with padlocks.

Jergmo
2009-10-01, 12:04 AM
All the doors you go through have metal rings for padlocks in them? :smallconfused: Pitons are cheaper and more versatile anyway. You can't climb a wall with padlocks.

Well, I'm always prepared for when there aren't. :smallfrown:

Kosjsjach
2009-10-01, 12:25 AM
Marbles. Always, always, always carry marbles.

Also - Alchemist's Fire/Frost/Spark, Oil, Bag of Holding, a catapult (yes, seriously), wand of eternal shrink item, rope (lots and lots of rope), grappling hook, acid (should have listed this earlier - all my characters have this hidden on them in special smuggling pouches), chalk, an hourglass, crowbar, ink, ram, mirror, paper, fishing tackle, needles, wax, magnet, bolt cutters, hacksaw (superior), tongs (metal), tangle foot bag, signet rings (collect them from useful people through theft), tindertwigs...

This is all off the top of my head, so add to this as you go.

*points frantically* This.

For a few more ideas, take a look at the Arms and Equipment Guide [3.0]. Good stuff. (Shriek rock, spring wall...)
(Plus I get a kick out of knowing how much an ounce of juniper should cost. Heck, I don't even rightly know what juniper is.)

(Note: Don't actually tell me what juniper is. I'll google it after posting this.)

Rixx
2009-10-01, 12:28 AM
All right, I haven't read all of the replies yet, but I'm going to say that this is a low-magic game. Wondrous items and magical items are super rare. You can't buy them, and the DM isn't giving us any.

The rest of you, those are very good suggestions! I'll have to make a shopping list.

gdiddy
2009-10-01, 12:47 AM
What about sovereign glue?

Sovereign glue is giver of good days and bad.

It:

Prevents disarm attempts when you put it on a weapon handle.

Can stick a door in its jam, and chains around the door and jam.

Can be used to murder a kender when you smear it on a ten foot pole, slap it on the kender, and throw him down 20 flights of stairs.

Can be used to glue an enemy's eyelids or any orifice (mouth, urethra, etc) shut.

Can glue a gp to the ground to get sneak attacks on a passersby.

Can glue a wizard's hands over his own mouth. No more spells.

Sovereign Glue, like hand of the mage or a bag of tricks, rewards creativity.



Best line ever in regard to improv stuff:

DM: Your character has darkvision. Why does he have a handy haversack with 10 pints of lantern oil?

Later: Enemies make balance checks, then die screaming on fire.

Jalor
2009-10-01, 12:49 AM
Bolt cutters and garlic. Also tons of rope, a hacksaw, several pints of oil, a couple bottles of acid, a signal whistle, a shovel, marbles...

If you can think of a situation where an object might be useful, buy it.

taltamir
2009-10-01, 12:56 AM
sovereign glue is made out of magic. it requires a spell called "mending" to create.

Jergmo
2009-10-01, 12:57 AM
A ten-foot pole, obviously!

taltamir
2009-10-01, 01:05 AM
a twelve foot pole (collapse able)
Many traps are designed to still hurt someone who springs them with a 10 foot pole.

Jergmo
2009-10-01, 01:08 AM
a twelve foot pole (collapse able)
Many traps are designed to still hurt someone who springs them with a 10 foot pole.

A thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole, courtesy of Dr. Seuss?

Crafty Cultist
2009-10-01, 01:12 AM
song and silence has longsoon theives tools, grapple firing crossbows and automated footpads

gdiddy
2009-10-01, 01:31 AM
Song and Silence is also 3.0.

And Sovereign glue isn't magic. It's the holy grail of anyone with a mullet and a dream.

Kosjsjach
2009-10-01, 02:07 AM
song and silence has longsoon theives tools, grapple firing crossbows and automated footpads

Longspoon thieves' tools are also found in Complete Adventurer, and Dungeonscape has the grasping hook (which is a leettle magical).
Don't know what to do 'bout the footpads, though.

Edit: there's a thought; there are more mundane goodies hiding in Dungeonscape. Flour pouch, finder's chalk...