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alexthemad
2009-11-29, 08:55 AM
I apologize if there is another thread like this. But the threads I found were about magic items, I'm looking for mundane items.

So, I'm making a Factotum, and while I think I have a solid build, I would like to have a literal bag of tricks. I want to fill it with things like marbles, pouch of chalk dust, a few scarfs, some bouncy balls, a lead ball, and whatever else that could come in handy.

So playgrounders, lets start making a list of items and some creative uses for them. Thanks.

Harperfan7
2009-11-29, 09:27 AM
bag of flour to sling around to hit invisible people.

pouch of sand to put a tiny thin line across a corridor to see if anything moved through (a walking creature might not disrupt it, but anything sliding or being dragged will).

Dragon Elite
2009-11-29, 10:02 AM
11-foot pole. Too many things have a 10-foot blast radius.
If you have extra space in your bag of holding, planks and nails.
"What's that, a pit? No worries."
Acid, alchemists fire, silver arrows, garlic, silver, etc. Go trough the MM and look for things with weaknesses that are otherwise very powerful.

deuxhero
2009-11-29, 10:08 AM
Marbles (A&E) make your foe flat footed for your hax ijutsu-focus strikes.

The Dark Fiddler
2009-11-29, 10:19 AM
That scarf could be pretty useful if you ever need to impersonate the Doctor. :smalltongue:

Temet Nosce
2009-11-29, 10:29 AM
From what I recall...


1. Marbles

2. Marbles

3. Hm... Marbles?

4. What was... oh yes, Marbles

5. Caltrops

6. Acid (hide one in a smugglers pouch with a hacksaw and some lockpicks)

7. Alchemists fire

8. Alchemist's Spark

9. Alchemist's Ice

10. Oil (and lots - even more than the things above this)

11. Rope

12. Grappling hooks

13. Tindertwigs

14. Blessed Bandages

15. Chalk

16. Crowbar

17. Tools (one for every skill you use)

18. Ink

19. Inkpen

20. Paper

21. Mirror

22. Ram

23. One of those door blasting charges

24. Sealing wax

25. Signet

26. Soap

27. Torch

28. Waterskin

29. Tanglefoot bag

30. Sunrod

31. Smokestick

32. Hourglass

33. Flour

34. Magnet

35. Bolt cutter

36. Metal tongs

Sliver
2009-11-29, 10:57 AM
I had a plan for resting in this solo adventure that I didn't use yet.. Pitons, hammer, thread and bells. I hammer the pitons into the wall and tie a bell to the so that if anyone opens the door, the thread will snap and the bell will drop. hopefully waking me up.. Didn't try it yet, as I was making mainly warforged characters...

A listening cone is good to reduce the listen penalty for listening through objects, a periscope.. Why get an 11ft pole when a collapsible pole is already 12ft? A rubber ball can be nice if you got the listen check..

Djibriel
2009-11-29, 11:46 AM
Adventure requires towel.

Sstoopidtallkid
2009-11-29, 11:51 AM
Soap. Lots of Soap. And a Decanter of Endless Water. You're spending your time in the wilderness, running and sweating with one guy in massive robes and one in 50 lbs of steel. Soap is vital.

Dixieboy
2009-11-29, 02:26 PM
Soap. Lots of Soap. And a Decanter of Endless Water. You're spending your time in the wilderness, running and sweating with one guy in massive robes and one in 50 lbs of steel. Soap is vital.
Seeing as stench confers a mechanical bonus, nay.

Randel
2009-11-29, 06:08 PM
Soap - keep everyone clean and provide a possible stealth bonus against creatures smelling you from a mile away. Also, can probably mix it with water to make a slippery concoction to trip up enemies.

String - useful for creating traps or alarms and measuring things. Also a lifesaver if you are a low-level wizard or commoner who runs across a cat.

Bell - use in accord with the string to make alarms or distract cats. Have some cloth stuffed into it to keep it from ringing when you move.

Marbles - trip up enemies, determine if a surface is level, play a game to pass the time while someone is performing a lengthy spell or skill check, get various colors and see about trading them to goblin tribes that like marbles. If someone has to make a sanity check, give them a bag of marbles and tell them not to loose it. Fill a bag of holding with marbles and dump it on enemies to trip them up royaly.

Magnets - use it to test for metal. Get a bunch of them and make some high-level arcana and engineering checks to create an electric generator... then invent something that uses electricity.

Magnifying glass - burn the legs off of CR 0 ants, start fires, search for clues.

Telescope - Look at things from far away.

Paper - write stuff down in case you get hit with something that alters your memory. Draw up a map of the dungeon so that you can sell it to someone after you clean out the monsters and traps. Write up a mundane copy of a scroll so that you can learn it later after you use it up. Use chalk to quickly copy writing on a wall (like what Indy did in The Last Crusade). Create a paper airplane for some reason. Prepare Explosive Runes.

Chalk - draw arrows on the walls of the dungeon to keep from getting lost.

Empty Bottles - fill them with potion, water, fairies, bugs, fish, or some part of your allies corpse in order to cast Raise Dead. Use high arcana and engineering checks and some tugsten to invent the light bulb. Invent soda pop and sell it.

erikun
2009-11-29, 06:18 PM
I really need to make a list to just copy-paste for new characters, but here you go.

Backpack
Bedroll
Blanket/Towel
Caltrops
Rope
Grappling Hook
Flint and Steel
Small Steel Mirror
Dagger
Torch
Rations
Waterskin
Whetstone
Beltpouch
10' Pole
Marbles
Ink & Paper

If we're getting into the wonderous/alchemical department:
Acid
Alchemist’s Fire
Everburning Torch
Sunrod
Thunderstone

Temotei
2009-11-29, 06:21 PM
bag of flour to sling around to hit invisible people.

And to cover up Crenshinibon!

arguskos
2009-11-29, 06:29 PM
You aren't looking hard enough for items! Here, have a list of great stuff:
-Alchemist's Mercy: banishes hangovers
-Courier's Ink: it's invisible ink
-Firestone: it's a thunderstone that does fire damage and lights stuff on fire, rather than deafening people
-Flash Powder: it's a ninja smoke pellet
-Flashstone: it's a flashbang grenade
-Holdfast: it's basically a small amount of tanglefoot bag goo on the end of a rope, so you can throw it at walls and it'll stick. Quieter than a grappling hook, faster too. Doesn't last super long though.
-Ice Crystal: alchemical ice cube
-Liquid Ice: freezes ****
-Powdered Water: it turns a drop into a gallon
-Soupstone: turns up to 10 gallons of water into a hot nourishing soup
-Spy Button: ever watched a spy flick? It's a button that does cool stuff, like make smoke clouds, flashbangs, or acts as a thunderstone
-Tangle Wire: it's barbed wire coated in tanglefoot bag substance
-Truth Wine: read the label
-Vapors of Sleep: it's chloroform

All of these come to you from the Dragon Compendium. :smallamused:

Edit! The Arms and Equipment Guide's Best Hits!

A&EG Mundane Equipment:
-Ascender/Slider: prevents movement up and down ropes, helps climb, ideal for city rogues
-Barbed Wire
-Book, False
-Crane, Portable
-Finger Blades: very small knives you slip over your fingers, great for rogues again
-Glass Cutter
-Hacksaw
-Housebreakers Harness: another rogue classic
-Ice Axe
-Lantern, Fog-Cutter: a special bullseye lantern that shines through fog clear and bright
-Magnet, Small
-Marbles
-Percolator: makes drinks, also, can be used as a weapon!
-Quiver Scabbard: hides a single small weapon, such as a dagger
-Shriek Rock: makes a loud damn noise
-Spider Poles: set of articulated poles that can be positioned in various poses, they're pretty sweet
-Springwall: ball of fine wire that springs up into a wall of thin, hard to see wires. Anyone running into those wires is entangled.
-Tongs, Metal
-Tree Tent, Elven: one-man tent that is suspendable from trees
-Winch

A&EG Alchemical Equipment:
-Bullet, Acid/Flame/Priest's: special glass bullets filled with fun ingredients (acid, alchemist's fire, holy water, respectively)
-Candle, Restful: get double effects from sleeping/resting under this candle's light; heal 2x overnight, etc
-Darkvision Powder: can't be seen with normal vision from more than 10 feet, but glows green under darkvision
-Dwarfblind: temporarily negates darkvision when thrown
-Ghostoil: when applied to a weapon, that weapon affects incorporeal creatures for 2 rounds
-Gravebane: makes a cloud of undead-repelling smoke
-Instant Rope: a liquid that turns into a 30-ft long cord for 1 hour
-Motelight: distracts mages
-Signal Torch: read the tin
-Stonebreaker Acid: it's special acid that only burns through stone

Bam! If you can't solve everything ever with all that crap, you aren't trying hard enough!

alexthemad
2009-11-30, 07:09 AM
Alot of good lists here, thanks alot. I really need to get some of these books mentioned. My book collection is pretty weak. Thanks again.

Guinea Anubis
2009-11-30, 07:31 AM
don't forget a sewing kit, notonly can it help keep your outfitts nice but it can also keep them noisy prisoners quiet.

clockworkmonk
2009-11-30, 09:32 AM
That instant rope gives me an idea. Namely, Spider-man! all I need is spiderwalk, that rope, and the holdfast to make my instant rope sticky! its gonna be awesome.

Ravens_cry
2009-11-30, 09:48 AM
don't forget a sewing kit, notonly can it help keep your outfitts nice but it can also keep them noisy prisoners quiet.
In the words of Me, "Ew.":smalleek:

ghashxx
2009-11-30, 12:47 PM
don't forget a sewing kit, notonly can it help keep your outfitts nice but it can also keep them noisy prisoners quiet.

...blink blink... that's just so...wrong. And yet now I'm just waiting for the next time we've got a prisoner who won't shut up. Just the threat would be enough I think.

Guinea Anubis
2009-12-01, 12:01 PM
In the words of Me, "Ew.":smalleek:


...blink blink... that's just so...wrong. And yet now I'm just waiting for the next time we've got a prisoner who won't shut up. Just the threat would be enough I think.

Wow, I did not think that it was that bad. I guess I should not go in to how we have used mundane items to MAKE prisoners talk.

The Glyphstone
2009-12-01, 12:08 PM
-Vapors of Sleep: it's chlorophyll



that supposed to be chloroform, I think? The ability to derive energy from sunlight won't be terribly useful in a dungeon methinks.:smallbiggrin:


Wow, I did not think that it was that bad. I guess I should not go in to how we have used mundane items to MAKE prisoners talk.


That's easy, just play a Noodle Implements (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NoodleImplements)game with them.

Deth Muncher
2009-12-01, 12:12 PM
that supposed to be chloroform, I think? The ability to derive energy from sunlight won't be terribly useful in a dungeon methinks.:smallbiggrin:


Drat, you beat me to it. :P

Catch
2009-12-01, 12:16 PM
A sack. No, really.

Anything you want to keep -> into the sack.
Anything you want to keep quiet -> into the sack. (Halflings, animal companions, paladins, the solution is always the sack.)

Bring two, if you're not opposed to sacrificing small animals for fun and profit. Nothing like a bag 'o rats to spring traps, and it makes for a decent impromptu weapon. Rat swarm, I choose you!

Jastermereel
2009-12-01, 01:32 PM
Take a look at The Batman Belt (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=4400.0).

Not everything on it is mundane, but it's got a nice all-around collection balancing offense, defense, and generic utility.

TheCountAlucard
2009-12-01, 09:14 PM
Empty Bottles - fill them with potion, water, fairies, bugs, fish, or some part of your allies corpse in order to cast Raise Dead.Any time the party encounters something small and sufficiently interesting, they've bottled it, including aboleth slime (that later got chugged by a party member :smallyuk:), magical transmutive spring water (that was fun :smalltongue:), and even leaves from a vampiric tree.

FirebirdFlying
2009-12-01, 09:37 PM
Flour also explodes. There aren't any game mechanics for it, but if you can convince your DM…it's definitely more subtle to bring along some flour ("What? I like my pancakes!") than alchemist's fire or whatnot. I suspect it would work better as a distraction than anything, but it can't hurt.

Ire
2009-12-01, 09:47 PM
Wow, I did not think that it was that bad. I guess I should not go in to how we have used mundane items to MAKE prisoners talk.

Its called a barbarian who breaks of fingers and toes. Nothing more mundane than good ole hands.

Caltrops are pretty useful at lower levels.

Temet Nosce
2009-12-01, 10:52 PM
Flour also explodes. There aren't any game mechanics for it, but if you can convince your DM…it's definitely more subtle to bring along some flour ("What? I like my pancakes!") than alchemist's fire or whatnot. I suspect it would work better as a distraction than anything, but it can't hurt.

Are you kidding? Flour was the original fuel air explosive... aka the poor mans nuke. I've used it in games to blow up good sized portions of cities.

Saintheart
2009-12-01, 10:54 PM
Thunderstones. They aren't magical, and they deafen spellcasters.

arguskos
2009-12-01, 11:00 PM
that supposed to be chloroform, I think? The ability to derive energy from sunlight won't be terribly useful in a dungeon methinks.:smallbiggrin:
/facepalm :smallsigh: Thanks for catching it man.

Shardan
2009-12-02, 12:57 AM
Chalk: mark the walls to find your way through mazes.

dog pepper: get rid of creatures that track by scent

smoke bombs: for Ninja Vanish

rope and tarp of course

Drenn
2009-12-02, 01:56 AM
Soap. Lots of Soap. And a Decanter of Endless Water. You're spending your time in the wilderness, running and sweating with one guy in massive robes and one in 50 lbs of steel. Soap is vital.

And if there is no soap, it should probably do some kind of damage to their sneak ability. :smallsmile:

Drenn
2009-12-02, 02:00 AM
Additionally, coal dust is actually quite explosive in its own right, without the addition of any magic or what-have you. Might be a good way to clear a mine. The GM might hate you for trashing his/her carefully crafted dungeon though. :smallsmile: