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Darrin
2010-04-06, 04:38 PM
Shax's Indispensable Haversack, AKA: How To Obliterate A Dungeon On Less Than 100 GP Per Day

This project grew (mutated?) out of a few different ideas merging together: a previous attempt to catalog all of the various alchemical items that are tucked away in the hidden corners of various sourcebooks, my own take on Caelic's Bunko's Bargain Basement (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=350.0) and dark_samuari’s Utility Belt (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=4400.0), and assorted "Help, I need gear for my character!" threads that pop up frequently.

There are certain items that I repeatedly recommend with a low cost but high payoff. Rather than rewrite the same posts over and over again, I started compiling some of that advice, and it occurred to me, well, if I could fit everything into a single Handy Haversack, then I could post it that equipment list as a handbook-ish type thing and be done with it.

Why a Handy Haversack? Why not a Belt of Hidden Pouches, as with the Utility Belt? Well, although the Belt has a bit higher maximum capacity (150 lbs vs. the Haversack's 120 lbs), I have a couple issues with the Belt. First, it has a size/length limitation, so that every item you put into it needs to be 6 inches or smaller, and a lot of the items I want to put into it are longer than that or don't specify a length. And second, it costs more than double the Haversack, so if you're talking about raw storage capacity, two haversacks offer 240 lbs of storage. The various Bags of Holding have the best storage capacity, but they don't have the "draw an item as a move action" feature. Ideally, a well-prepared encumbrance-minded adventurer would have a Haversack for easy access to anything he needs to get hold of quickly, and a Bag of Holding for bulky/heavy items or loot that he doesn't need in a hurry.

For only 2000 GP, the Handy Haversack offers 120 lbs of storage capacity. Unfortunately, when you're talking about an adventurer's addiction to equipment, 120 lbs isn't nearly enough capacity. And while I love to focus on low-cost items, prices get out of hand extremely quickly. So rather than compile one massive "Grand List of Everything You Could Possibly Need", I broke things up into four "types" with different price brackets that may or may not correspond to a "Wealth By Level" table or various definitions of Low/Mid/High-level campaigns.

On top of those four lists, I've got a list of Honorable Mention items that may or should have been included, a list of items that may have rules issues that may need to be cleared with the DM (beyond whatever rules depravity I may have perpetrated in any of the other lists), and a list of inferior or less effective items that you might want to avoid.

After that, a separate post for the Fabulous Four items you should never leave home without, and another post for the Top 10 Alchemical Items you can make yourself. Finally, I've added a post about all the various drugs, which ones are worth (ab)using, and how to avoid/cancel/negate side effects/addiction/drawbacks.


Haversack Type I
Total Price: 5908 GP (includes 2000 GP for Haversack)
Weight: 113 lbs

The basic Type I equipment layout consists entirely of non-magical alchemical items and special substances. To save space, I've left out various kits (Climber's Kit, Hunter's Kit, etc.) and some very narrow-purpose items that are only effective against one type of creature, such as Alchemical Vampire Repellent or Slimebane. I've also left out trail rations or any kind of food, based on the assumption that an average adventurer has roughly a 50% chance of feeding himself for one day by making a Survival check DC 10. There's about 5 pounds of wiggle-room in the pack if you want to add any of that. If you need more space, reduce the number of Acidic Fire flasks or Tanglefoot Bags.

Type I Complete Contents:

Aboleth Mucus
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 1#
(Savage Species p. 46)
This is one of the cheapest and deadliest poisons in the game, although not actually a poison so there's no check to see if you accidentally poison yourself. Thrown as a grenade-like weapon, so make a ranged touch attack to hit (no splash effect). If the creature fails a Fort save DC 19, it loses the ability to breathe air for 3 hours. A creature can hold it's breath for a number of rounds equal to twice its Constitution score, so it essentially has that many rounds to find someone who can cast water breathing or air breathing. Delay poison and neutralize poison won't help (it's not a poison), dispel magic won't help (it's non-magical), deep breath (Spell Compendium) won't work (it fills your lungs with air you still can't breathe), sticking your head in a bucket of water won't help (the mucus doesn't confer the ability to breathe water), and there may be a good argument that a heal spell won't work, either (unable to breathe isn't one of the conditions listed in the spell description). After failing a Con check, the creature starts to suffocate and falls unconscious, and two rounds later it dies. So while it may take a little longer than poison (2-3 minutes), getting hit with this is pretty much a death sentence for most creatures.

Acidic Fire (x5, 30 GP ea.)
Price: 150 GP
Weight: 5#
(Eberron Campaign Setting p. 120)
What's better than burning things with acid? Burning things with flaming acid! Rather than carry separate flasks of Acid and Alchemist's Fire, it saves space to combine them into the same bottle. Although combining the two substances drops the damage die to 1d4, if you hit a creature that is still vulnerable to both acid and fire (I'm looking at you, Mr. Troll), you actually come out slightly ahead on the average damage (7.5 damage for Acidic Fire, 7 damage for Alchemist's Fire, and 3.5 damage for just plain ol' acid). The 2 points of splash damage isn't too shabby, either. Give a sack full of 19 flasks of Acidic Fire to an unseen servant and it can drop it in a square for 38 splash damage, no save.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Alchemical Flare Stake (x3, 15 GP ea.)
Price: 45 GP
Weight: 0.3#
(Expedition to Castle Ravenloft p. 208)
One-shot item, treated as a dagger, does 1d6 fire damage against corporeal undead. It also lodges into the undead's body and does an additional 1d6 fire damage every round (the undead creature, assuming it isn't mindless, can remove all stakes with a standard action). There's no duration listed, so it apparently continues to burn until the creature is dead or the stake is removed. There are also alchemical flare bolts for the same price, but they don't do additional damage on subsequent rounds. Although the description says treat the stakes like daggers for proficiency purposes, I'm not clear on whether they can be thrown Buffy-style like daggers... but it would be pure awesomesauce if they could.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Alchemical Sun Flash
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 1#
(Expedition to Castle Ravenloft p. 208)
Works just like alchemist's fire, but also explodes with a burst of daylight that dazzles creatures that are light sensitive, no save. Vampires are also staggered for one round, no save.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Angel Radiance
Price: 20 GP
Weight: --
(Book of Exalted Deeds p. 37)
Bunko's Bargain Basement recommends Liquid Sunlight (Complete Scoundrel p. 110) as a cheap everburning torch, but this item is even better: same price, shines like a torch, but as a spell component it can be drawn as a free action.

Animal Call
Price: 20 GP
Weight: --
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 21)
+1 circumstance bonus on Survival checks to find food, stacks with Fowler's Snare (+1 circumstance, Arms & Equipment Guide) and Hunter's Kit (+2 circumstance, Secrets of Xendrik). Also can be used as a signal device.

Antitoxin (x4, 50 GP ea.)
Price: 200 GP
Weight: --
(PHB)
Where else are you going to find a +5 alchemical bonus on saves for only 50 GP? Chug one of these vials when you know you're up against a creature using poison, and you've got a good chance to save yourself the cost of a neutralize poison potion or scroll. Lasts 1 hour.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Atramen Oil
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 1#
(Planar Handbook p. 75)
Throw as a grenade-like splash weapon, ranged touch attack with a 10' range increment, direct hit on a target takes -4 penalty on Fort saves for 1 minute. Any creature in the 5' splash gets a similar -1 penalty on Fort saves. Great way to soften up a target for poison or some other Fort-based attack.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Auran Mask
Price: 60 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Mage p. 134)
Provides a +5 circumstance bonus against inhaled toxins (which stacks with Antitoxin), but this is easily overshadowed by 10 minutes of water breathing. Requires less upkeep than Air Plants. For longer durations, consider a potion of water breathing for 750 GP, which lasts for 10 hours.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Bitterleaf Oil
Price: 25 GP
Weight: --
(Races of the Dragon p. 122)
Although created and used by kobolds to prevent shedding, there's nothing in the description that says it can't be used by non-kobolds. Boosts natural healing, gain 1 HP per character level (up to a maximum of 5 HP) after a full night's rest. Each bottle contains 10 applications. Combine with a Magic Bedroll (Magic Item Compendium) for even more natural healing.

Bloodspike, Spatter
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Magic of Eberron p. 140)
Adds 1 acid damage to bite attack for 1 hour, or end effect with a free action to spit 1d6 acid damage as a ranged touch attack.

Bloodspike, Tempo
Price: 150 GP
Weight: --
(Magic of Eberron p. 140)
Within one hour, expend to take an additional move action on your turn.

Bloodspike, Thickener
Price: 100 GP
Weight: --
(Magic of Eberron p. 140)
For one hour, weapon damage reduced by 1 point (minimum 1).

Cablespool
Price: 175 GP
Weight: 6#
(Savage Species p. 46)
100' winch that pulls with a Strength of 16 (lift 230 lbs, drag 1150 lbs). While the cable is too thin to climb up for anybody except a Desmodu, you can use it to descend up to 100' without taking any falling damage.

Candle, Focusing
Price: 100 GP
Weight: 1#
(Complete Adventurer p. 118)
+1 circumstance bonus on Appraise, Decipher Script, Forgery, and Search checks. Note: if you think you'll need this for longer than an hour, you can increase the duration to 15 days (365 days / 24 hours = 15.21 days) with a little Unguent of Timelessness (19 GP per dose, DMG).
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Candle, Insectbane (x10, 1 SP ea.)
Price: 1 GP
Weight: --
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 21)
Keeps nonmonstrous vermin away, 5' radius, burns for 1 hour. Vermin Ointment (Secrets of Xendrik p. 139, included below) does the same thing and costs 20 GP, but it also affects monstrous vermin if they fail a Fortitude save DC 15. If you're surrounded by inexhaustible number of insect swarms, 10 hours should be long enough to allow all your spellcasters to rest and regain spells.

Chaos Flask (x2, 100 GP ea.)
Price: 200 GP
Weight: 1#
(Planar Handbook p. 76)
Make a Wisdom check DC 13 as a free action to shape this material into almost any non-magical object of the same volume or smaller (depending on the material or density). Similar to a one-shot Marvelous Pigments, but no price limit. Most alchemical items are small and non-magical, so this is a great wild card to have up your sleeve. Know what else is small and non-magical? Vials of poison. For only 100 GP, you can whip up a vial of Black Lotus Extract at a 4400 GP discount. (The nastiest poison in print is Megapede Poison, DC 44, primary/secondary 2d6 Con damage + 1d4 Dex penalty, 24000 GP, Dungeonscape p. 129.) Lasts a number of rounds equal to your Wisdom score, but as long as your Wis is 11+, that should be long enough for the poison's secondary effect to kick in. Another good use would be expensive material components for spells. Need 5,000 GP diamond for a raise dead? (Sadly, this won't work for resurrection's 10 minute casting time unless your Wis is 100+.) Also, check out Flux Slime (Epic Level Handbook p. 107): 10' antimagic field, permanently disjunct magic items (no save), or 2d6 Con damage (no save) against any creature with (Su) or SLA abilities. If destroyed by cold, fire, or sunlight, it explodes and every creature within 50' may get a permanent random mutation.

Clearwater Tablet
Price: 1 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Scoundrel p. 110)
Removes any disease, poison, or other toxins from 1 gallon of water. Doesn't work on magical potions, oils, or alcohol-based liquids, and clean water ceases to be much of an issue once you get hold of a Travel Cloak, but you never know where it might come in handy.

Defoliator
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 1#
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 33)
Grenade-like weapon that does 2d4 damage to plant creatures and auto-kills any non-creature plant that is size medium or smaller in a 5' radius burst, AKA a "Get Out of Entangle Free Card". Since all slimes, molds, and fungi are treated as plants (and are not considered creatures), this item also instantly kills Green Slime, Yellow Mold, Brown Mold (DMG), Snowflake Lichen (Frostburn), Grey Slime, and Bone Fungus (Dungeonscape) in a 5' radius. It also does 2d4 damage to wooden objects, dissolving them like acid, although hardness still applies.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Earplugs
Price: 3 SP
Weight: --
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 22)
+1 circumstance bonus on saves against deafness and sonic attacks.

Eggshell Grenade, Dust (x10, 10 GP ea.)
Price: 100 GP
Weight: --
(Oriental Adventures p. 78)
Thrown as a grenade-like weapon, so make a ranged touch attack with a range increment of 5'. A dust grenade that hits its target directly blinds the target for 1d4 rounds *NO SAVE*. Anyone else within the 5' radius splash must make a Fort save DC 10 or be blinded for 1 round. This is an amazingly effective weapon that works on a wide variety of opponents, but don't overuse this one or your DM will come down on you with a banhammer like a ton of bricks.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Expandable Pole
Price: 5 GP
Weight: 1#
(Song & Silence p. 53)
Every adventurer needs the obligatory 10' pole, but this one "goes to 11". It can be adjusted to 5', 7', 9', or 11' lengths, or collapsed down to 1'. Another version, called a Mobile Brace, can be found in Races of Faerun, which has more detailed rules on how much weight it can support and for using it to secure a rope for climbing, but it weights 3 lbs. Dungeonscape has a similar "Collapsable Pole" that goes out to 12', but it weighs 8 lbs. I chose this version to conserve weight.

Explosive Pack
Price: 200 GP
Weight: 2#
(Secrets of Sarlona p. 138)
An alchemical explosive that can be set to go off after a predetermined time, usually 1 to 10 rounds. 1d6 bludgeoning and slashing damage in a 5' radius burst. Full-round action that provokes AoOs to activate. For another 200 GP, you can add 2 lbs of explosives and increase the damage by 1d6, and for each 3d6 damage, the blast radius increases by 5', up to a maximum of 10d6 and 20'. A Profession (Siege Engineer) check DC 20 causes double damage to objects, and a DC 30 check does triple. Note: the DMG has slightly cheaper bombs (150 GP for 2d6 fire damage) if you're just looking for something you can light and throw.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 26

Fast Torch (x3, 5 GP ea.)
Price: 15 GP
Weight: 1.5#
(Complete Mage p. 134)
When you absolutely, positively must light something on fire with only a swift action.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Firestone
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 0.5#
(Dragon Compendium p. 117)
Thrown as a grenade-like weapon, it does 1d6 fire damage, but unlike a splash weapon, it has an area effect that damages everything in the 5' square without a Ref save. Ranged touch attacks are pretty easy to begin with, but targeting a stationary square rather than a creature makes them even ridiculously more so. This might allow you to throw a whole bag full of these into a square for Xd6 fire damage, X = however many firestones fit in the bag. Another interesting tactic might be to give this bag to an unseen servant, and have it drop or empty the bag into a square from above (doesn't require an attack roll). No weight was given in the Dragon Compendium or the original Dragon article, so I'm assuming a firestone weighs the same as a sling bullet (1/2 lb). Thus, an unseen servant could put 39 into a sack (20 lbs total) and drop it in a square for 39d6 fire damage, no save.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Flint & Steel
Price: 1 GP
Weight: --
(PHB)
If your sparker burns out and your magnifying glass won't work, best to have this as a fallback.

Flour Pouch (x4, 1 SP ea.)
Price: 4 SP
Weight: --
(Dungeonscape p. 32)
Thrown as splash weapon, 5' burst. Locates invisible creatures, reduces their concealment to 20%, and reduces their hide bonus. To completely negate concealment, see Torch Bug Paste (25 GP, Complete Scoundrel).

Forger's Paper (x10, 10 GP ea.)
Price: 100 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Scoundrel p. 110)
+2 alchemical bonus on Forgery checks, so it stacks with a Forgery Kit (see below). In many ways, Forgery is more powerful than Bluff, Diplomacy, Disguise, or Intimidate put together. Why? Because it's resisted by Forgery, a skill no one ever takes. Stacks with Forgery Kit and Focusing Candle.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Forgery Kit
Price: 40 GP
Weight: 5#
(Complete Adventurer p. 122)
+2 circumstance bonus on Forgery checks. This kit includes a variety of inks, papers, pens, and seals. Unfortunately, there was a price and weight increase from where it was first printed in the Arms & Equipment Guide, and any mention of waxes, guides and magnifying glasses was removed. Still, this is probably worth it just to avoid the fuss and bother of buying all the included items separately. Each kit lasts for 10 uses, and it stacks with Forger's Paper and a Focusing Candle.

Garlic (x10, 1 CP ea.)
Price: 1 SP
Weight: --
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 31)
Mash a few cloves up into a paste and smear it on yourself, your equipment, or various openings/furniture to drive away vampires. Unlike wasting 150 GP on Alchemical Vampire Repellent (Expedition to Castle Ravenloft p. 209), garlic doesn't have a specific duration. The rules in the Monster Manual are pretty vague on mechanics, so you may want to work out with your DM how close vampires can approach and how long it lasts.

Ghostblight
Price: 100 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Adventurer p. 122)
Can be used with a Weapon Capsule Retainer (100 GP, Complete Adventurer) or applied as an oil with a standard action. Used against incorporeal creatures to ignore the 50% miss chance, lasts for 3 rounds. There's a similar substance in Libris Mortis called Ghostoil, but it takes a full round action to apply and only lasts for 2 rounds.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 35

Ghostwall Shellac
Price: 150 GP
Weight: 1#
(Dungeonscape p. 35)
This item requires at least 1 hour prep time and a gallon of water, so it won't help while you're being attacked by an incorporeal creature, but if you have time to paint your armor and weapons with this stuff (up to a 100 square feet), they'll work like Ghost Touch weapons/armor for 4d6 hours.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 30

Healing Salve
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Tome & Blood p. 72)
A potion of cure light wounds costs the same and cures one more HP, but a Healing Salve is non-magical and thus can be used in an anti-magic field or created by marvelous pigments. It's also not a conjuration (healing) effect, so it works normally on Warforged. There's also a Healing Salve in the Magic Item Compendium, but it's a magic item, and it's a lot more expensive (2250 GP) than 10 applications of this alchemical item.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Hearthfire
Price: 10 GP
Weight: 2#
(Races of Stone p. 160)
This is Jello... that glows like a torch. Angel Radiance may be a better light source, but I'm sorry, this is just too cool not to include. While the dowdy ol' torch may still be the most economical light source at only 1 CP apiece, they're very bulky (each torch weighs a pound). Two pounds of Hearthfire includes 12 cubes, and each cube lasts 24 hours. While an equivalent number of torches would only cost 2.88 GP, they would weigh 288 pounds. Hearthfire doesn't produce any heat and thus can't be used to light anything on fire or as an improvised weapon, but... Glowing Jello!
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Hearthfire Lantern
Price: 7 GP
Weight: 2#
(Races of Stone p. 160)
Needed to carry hearthfire, but is otherwise identical to a normal hooded lantern.

Holy Water
Price: 25 GP
Weight: 1#
(PHB)
Thrown as a splash weapon, 2d4 damage to undead and evil outsiders. There are equivalents for each major alignment (Unholy Water in the PHB, Axiomatic and Anarchic Water in the Planar Handbook), but undead and evil outsiders are much more common than any other alignment type. You can also douse incorporeal undead for 2d4 damage, but unfortunately they still get their 50% miss chance against this attack. In that case, load the Holy Water into a Sprayer (Arms & Equipment Guide p. 25) to turn it into an area effect which ignores concealment.

Icewild Lichen Paste
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Secrets of Sarlona p. 138)
Reduces fatigue or exhaustion by a step for 2d4 hours. At the end of that duration, character is fatigued for 2d4 minutes. Multiple doses taken within 24 hours cause 1d4 Constitution damage.

Ipecac
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Expedition to Castle Ravenloft p. 209)
If you ever get swallowed by a creature, empty this into its stomach. The creature is forced to regurgitate you, and is nauseated for 1d4 rounds, no save. It can also be used to induce vomiting after ingesting a poison, giving a +5 untyped bonus to the secondary effect. Each vial contains 10 doses.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Jeweler's Loupe
Price: 20 GP
Weight: --
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 24)
+1 circumstance bonus on Appraise checks with art/gems/jewelry. Combine with a magnifying glass for another +2 circumstance bonus. Make either of them masterwork for 50 GP and get another +2 circumstance bonus.

Liquid Ice
Price: 30 GP
Weight: 1#
(Dragon Compendium p. 118)
Empty your waterskin on the ground and you can use this to create a non-magical 10' x 10' ice sheet, or extinguish a 10' x 10' section of fire. As per the DMG p. 91, slippery ice counts as difficult terrain, costing 2 squares of movement. It also has the same effect as a grease spell, as described in the PHB under the Balance skill: targets without 5 ranks in Balance that are attacked on a slippery surface are considered flat-footed. From there, you can add Razor Ice Powder to create a 10' x 10' section of Razor Ice (1d4 slashing damage and 1d6 cold damage for each square entered, no save). Liquid Ice can also be thrown as a splash weapon, doing 1d6 cold damage on a direct hit and 1 splash damage. If your DM doesn't allow Dragon Compendium material, you can use Freeze Powder (100 GP, Frostburn p. 79) instead, although this can't be thrown as a splash weapon. If you need an alternative for splash damage, use Alchemist's Frost (25 GP, Eberron Campaign Setting p. 120). Note: Neither Dragon Compendium nor the original Dragon Magazine article listed a weight, so I had to guess. Alchemist's Frost, Freeze Powder, and Frostfire all weighed 1 lb., so I figured Liquid Ice would most likely weigh the same.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Liquid Smoke
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 1#
(Oriental Adventures p. 78)
Same price as a smokestick, but reacts with air and thus does not need to be lit. Provides concealment, blocks LOS, or a cheap theatrical effect.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Magnet
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 2#
(Dungeonscape p. 32)
Attach to candle wick or pole to pick up ferrous objects, up to 2 lbs. Also useful for attaching notes or art projects to your shield or breastplate.

Magnifying Glass
Price: 100 GP
Weight: --
(PHB)
+2 circumstance bonus on Appraise checks on small objects. Combine with Jeweler's Loupe for another +1. Make it masterwork for another 50 GP and another +2 circumstance bonus. Also, start a fire without flint & steel, or incinerate a few anthills for some easy XP.

Manacles, Masterwork
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 2#
(PHB)
Requires a Strength check DC 28 or Escape Artist check DC 35 to get out of. Useful for keeping hostages/prisoners (particularly spellcasters) out of trouble.

Marbles (x4, 2 SP ea.)
Price: 8 SP
Weight: 8#
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 24)
These are deployed much like caltrops, so it takes a standard action to spread. Basically a 5' x 5' square of non-magical grease. Dump them under an opponent without 5 ranks of Balance to deny his Dex bonus and make the party rogue happy.

Mordrei'in
Price: 25 GP
Weight: --
(Faiths of Eberron p. 153)
+2 alchemical bonus to Concentration and Spot checks for 10 minutes. For fluff reasons, may only be available to elves from Aerenal.

Needle (x2, 5 SP ea.)
Price: 1 GP
Weight: --
(PHB)
Mend clothing, sew a sack closed, or hide it in a haystack. You can also magnetize it and use it as a compass, or bend it into a fishhook.

Net
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 6#
(PHB)
Although this is an exotic weapon, ranged touch attacks are usually easy enough to hit even with the non-proficiency penalty. A hit with a net entangles a creature (-2 attack penalty, -4 Dex penalty, restricts movement), which can be a cheap and easy debuff or delaying tactic. If you're running into larger creatures, use a lasso instead. Check with your DM if the Dex penalty from multiple sources stack (lasso, tanglefoot, etc.). There's also a Razor Net version (50 GP, Dragon Compendium) that does 1d6 damage if the target fails their check to get out of the net (Escape Artist check DC 20 or Strength check DC 25), but it's a little too easy to escape and the razors cut up the net, preventing it from being used again.

Noxious Smokestick
Price: 80 GP
Weight: 0.5#
(Eberron Campaign Setting p. 121)
Creates 10' cube of smoke and anyone inside has to make a Fort save DC 15 or become nauseated for 1 round. While this makes it a little tricky to light, you can fix that by having an unseen servant light it and carry it around.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Oil
Price: 1 SP
Weight: 1#
(PHB)
There are rules for turning these things into splash weapons, but it takes a full-round action to prep and with a 50% failure rate, it's probably not worth the bother. Spreading it on the ground and lighting it on fire may be a bit more promising if you have enough time to prep for it.

Panther Tears (x2, 30 GP ea.)
Price: 60 GP
Weight: 0.2#
(Secrets of Xendrik p. 139)
Eye drops that give you low-light vision for 1 hour. This also gives you light sensitivity, but for only 10 GP Sundark Goggles will fix that for you.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Piton (x10, 1 SP ea.)
Price: 1 GP
Weight: 5#
(PHB)
Attach ropes, spike doors, trepanize your friends and neighbors.

Periscope, Hand
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 2#
(Dungeonscape p. 32)
Peek around corners (with a +7 Hide bonus).

Potion Belt, Masterwork
Price: 60 GP
Weight: 1#
(Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting p. 97)
Once per round, you can retrieve a potion as a free action. Holds up to 10 potions. While this item should really be worn rather than kept in the haversack, I'm mentioning it here just in case you weren't aware of it before.

Quicksilver
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Adventurer p. 122)
Can be used with a Weapon Capsule Retainer (100 GP, Complete Adventurer) or applied as an oil with a standard action. Allows weapon to deal damage as if coated with silver (including -1 damage), lasts for 3 rounds. If you can afford it, consider upgrading to Silversheen (250 GP, DMG) which lasts an hour.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 30

Quickspark
Price: 25 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Adventurer p. 122)
Of all the various alchemical items that do energy damage, Quickspark is the easiest to use and you're less likely to run into electricity resistance than fire or cold. It can be applied to a weapon as on oil with a standard action, or as a swift action when used with a Weapon Capsule Retainer (100 GP, Complete Adventurer). It can't be thrown on its own and does no splash damage, but you can apply it to any grenade-like weapon just like any other weapon. A Quickspark + Acidic Fire, for example, does an average of 11 energy damage over 2 rounds. Alchemist's Spark (Eberron Campaign Setting) is easier to throw, does a little more damage (1d8) and also splashes for 1 damage, but can't be applied to a weapon. A Sparkstone (Arms & Equipment Guide) can be thrown as a grenade-like weapon for 1d6 electricity damage and it will arc to one adjacent opponent (but only one) for half damage.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Razor Ice Powder
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 1#
(Frostburn p. 79)
When combined with the contents of a waterskin and Liquid Ice (Dragon Compendium p. 118) or Freeze Powder (Frostburn p. 79), you can create a 10' x 10' square of slippery Razor Ice, which does 1d4 slashing damage and 1d6 cold damage for each square entered, no save.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Rope Climber
Price: 15 GP
Weight: 3#
(Races of Faerun p. 160)
+5 circumstance bonus on Climb checks to ascend a rope, although it halves the rate of ascent. Full-round action to thread or remove the Rope Climber from a rope.

Rope, Silk (50')
Price: 10 GP
Weight: 5#
(PHB)
When you can afford it, most of your rope needs should be met with Troll Gut Rope, but if you need to tie something up for longer than 12 hours, it's good to have some normal rope handy. Keep in mind that the Cablespool can be used for descent, and Shapesand can be used to make temporary equipment (ropes, ladders) that retains its shape within 100' of you.

Rust Monster Wand
Price: 160 GP
Weight: 2#
(Complete Scoundrel p. 120)
Destroys metal objects. Requires fresh air and 5 coins per day as food. Upgrade to a +1 rusting weapon (8300 GP, Shining South) when available.

Sack (x3, 1 SP ea.)
Price: 3 SP
Weight: 1.5#
(PHB)
Loot redistribution device.

Screaming Flask
Price: 40 GP
Weight: 1#
(Complete Mage p. 135)
1d8 sonic damage in a 15' cone, Fort save DC 15 vs. deafness.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Shapesand (jug)
Price: 100 GP
Weight: 12#
(Sandstorm p. 102)
Through the exertion of your will (Wisdom check DC 16), you can create any mundane non-magical object out of sand that supposedly "serves as a normal item of the same sort". (So... does that mean I can turn it into 12 lbs of acid or alchemist's fire? How about explosives or poisons? How about a masterwork gatling gun? Hmm...) It retains that shape as long as it stays within 100' of you, but you can also reshape it whenever you like by making another Wisdom check. While the question of acid/explosives/poisons will have to be settled by your DM, you have any tool you can possibly imagine at your fingertips. Need a hammer? Done. Don't need the hammer anymore, need a shovel? Done. It's particularly useful for tools that wear out after a certain number of uses, such as hacksaws and drills. How about exotic weapons or armor (Shapesand Fullplate = 500 GP, shapesand Mechanus Gear = 700 GP)? It can do that, too, although be aware, if an enemy recognizes you're using shapesand, he could try to reshape it under his control with a Wisdom check of his own.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Slippery Oil
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Dragon Compendium p. 119)
+5 untyped bonus to Escape Artist checks, so it stacks with Spelunker's Oil (+2 alchemical, 15 GP, Drow of the Underdark). Lasts 1 hour.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Sparker
Price: 2 GP
Weight: --
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 25)
Works similar to a tindertwig (standard action to light a torch), but cheaper. 10 uses for only 2 GP.

Sprayer
Price: 15 GP
Weight: 4#
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 25)
Spray a 10' long cloud of oil, holy water, an inhaled poison, or our new favorite special substance: aboleth mucus. It's an area effect, essentially a 5' x 10' line, but it doesn't require an attack roll and can be given to an unseen servant. The description says acid won't work, but doesn't mention alchemist's fire (which should work if the storage drum is airtight, but I'm not sure it is). Quickflame, Quickfrost, or Quickspark (Complete Adventurer) might also work, as well as Alchemist's Frost (Eberron Campaign Setting), but Alchemist's Spark requires two liquids in separate containers to be mixed. Atramen Oil, Liquid Smoke, or Stonebreaker Acid could also be interesting options when delivered by a sprayer.

Stonebreaker Acid
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 1#
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 35)
Thrown as grenade-like weapon. Against stone objects/creatures, 5d10 damage over 2 rounds that ignores hardness. While Delver Slime (150 GP, Savage Species) may deal more damage per application, Stonebreaker Acid is a lot cheaper.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Sundark Goggles
Price: 10 GP
Weight: --
(Races of the Dragon p. 123)
Never take the Daylight Adaptation feat ever again. These handy little shades negate the dazed penalty for creatures with Light Sensitivity, and also provide a +2 circumstance bonus on saves against gaze attacks. Creatures without low-light or darkvision take a -2 penalty on spot and search checks.

Suregrip
Price: 20 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Adventurer p. 119)
+1 alchemical bonus on Climb checks, stacks with Climber's Kit (+2 circumstance, PHB), Rope Climber (+5 circumstance, Races of Faerun), and Spider Kit (+2 circumstance, Drow of the Underdark).
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Tarpaulin, Honey Leather (big)
Price: 40 GP
Weight: 1#
(Races of the Wild p. 170)
An upgrade from a winter blanket, wearing a honey leather tarpaulin gives a +1 circumstance bonus on Survival checks to resist the effects of severe weather, or +2 bonus if you're stationary. The big tarpaulin is waterproof, 6' square, and could be used to wrap your equipment to prevent it from getting wet, collect rainwater, cover a 5' pit trap, smother a small fire, or convert it into a float bladder.

Tanglefoot Bag (x3, 50 GP ea.)
Price: 150 GP
Weight: 12#
(PHB)
Ranged touch attack that entangles (-2 attack penalty, -4 Dex penalty, restricts movement), a chance to immobilize, and makes life difficult for flying creatures. Check with your DM if the Dex penalty from multiple sources stack (net, lasso, etc.).
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Torch Bug Paste (x4, 25 GP ea.)
Price: 100 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Scoundrel p. 120)
Thrown as a splash weapon, non-magical faerie fire effect, which pinpoints invisible creatures and completely negates concealment.

Trollbane
Price: 90 GP
Weight: --
(Dungeonscape p. 37)
Running into a regenerating creature when the party isn't ready for it can quickly turn into a TPK. While one dose of Alchemist's Fire, Bladefire, or Quickflame might be cheaper, trollbane allows all of a weapon's damage (not just fire/acid) to ignore regeneration. Save this for high-damage single-hit attacks, such as two-handed power-attack leap-attack ubercharger combos.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Vermin Ointment
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 1#
(Secrets of Xendrik p. 139)
Vermin of diminuative size or smaller (including swarms) can't get within 5' of you unless magically compelled (and with most vermin being mindless, good luck with that). Larger vermin must make a Fortitude save DC 15 or become sickened.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Waterskin
Price: 1 GP
Weight: 4#
Dihydrogen oxide dispensation device, unless you're a dwarf, in which case just spend another silver piece for a half-gallon of ale.

Wick, Candle (x5, 2 SP ea.)
Price: 1 GP
Weight: --
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 27)
Can be used anywhere you would use Twine (Dungeonscape p. 33), such as tripwires, improvised alarm systems, fishing lines, signal kites, or hang from the ceiling to detect invisible flying creatures. In addition, you can use it as a timing device: it takes 30 seconds (5 rounds) to burn 1 inch. Comes in 50' rolls.

Wine, Bottle
Price: 10 GP
Weight: 1.5#
(PHB)
There are several alchemical substances and adhesives that can be washed off or dissolved with an alcoholic liquid, so it's best to have a little bit of "liquid courage" on tap.


Who is Shax?

In my college D&D campaign, Shax was an NPC hireling from the Desert Pathfinder's Guild. Our DM played him as manic, over-eager infophile who claimed to be an exhaustive expert on whatever subject you bothered to ask him about. He also moonlighted as an opportunistic pickpocket, and after he led a party of hearty adventurers out to an obscure ruin, he wasn't above "lightening their load" by stuffing a few shiny knick-knacks into his pack. In addition to some of the party's valuables, the pack contained absolutely anything the DM could think of that might be useful. This was under 2nd edition rules, but wasn't explicitly written up as a bag of holding (I can't recall if Heward's Handy Haversack existed in 2nd Ed.), just whatever the DM thought might be interesting or appropriate if the mood struck him.

After looting the ruins, we were heading back towards civilization but very low on HPs. We ran into a party of mutant gnolls (our DM was really big on Warpstone) led by a regenerating recurring villain named Krom, who was looking to settle a score (we'd "killed" him earlier in the campaign). Since we weren't in a condition to fight, we tried parley, but Krom was insisting we hand over the party thief that had tried to backstab him from our previous encounter, presumably to execute him. In the process of negotiating/debating this, one of the players suggested we hand over a "piece" of the thief as compensation, and at some point we asked Shax if he had a severed hand in his pack.

Our DM shrugged, considering it extremely unlikely, but rolled some dice behind his screen anyway, and then announced with surprise, "Holy crap, he does!" After about 10 minutes, the laughter around the table started to subside, and I believe we were able to finish the negotiations. We mimicked chopping off the thief's "hand", and handed it over to Krom along with some camels. Either that or the thief tried to backstab Krom again, I can't recall exactly.

What amazed me most was not that Shax was carrying around a severed hand in his pack, but that afterwards the DM came up with a reasonable rationale for why he had it. Shax claimed that it was a gnoll's hand, and as roving bands of mutant gnolls were a frequent problem in the area, the ruler of the nearest city-state had declared a bounty awarded to anyone who killed a gnoll and brought back proof. Shax had apparently picked up a few gnoll body parts after a battle and was hoping to collect a bounty on them upon returning to the city.

So when I set out to create a backpack that contained absolutely everything an adventurer might need, I was reminded about our intrepid hireling from the Desert Pathfinder's Guild, trying to keep a party of thick-headed PC adventurers with way more WBL than they had a right to alive long enough to collect his guild fees, armed with only his wits and whatever he can fit in his pack.

Darrin
2010-04-06, 04:40 PM
Haversack Type II
Upgrade Cost: 5527 GP (replaces items worth 128 GP)
Total Price: 11435 GP (includes 2000 GP for Haversack)
Weight: 115 lbs

The Type II upgrade adds mostly one-shot/utility magic items under 500 GP. The one exception is the Travel Cloak for 1200 GP. Simply put, this one item is just too darned useful to delay getting your hands on it. Since it provides food, water, and shelter, it also frees up some considerable space. If money is tight and you're debating what to get next, get the Travel Cloak first, then worry about the Feather Tokens or Magic Bedroll later. Like the Travel Cloak, some upgrades replace items in the Type I package to conserve space or because the upgrade makes the previous item unnecessary. Replaced items are noted after the item description in the Upgrade section.

Upgrades:

Black Fan Talisman
Price: 150 GP
Weight: --
(Oriental Adventures p. 136)
This wonderful little one-shot item provides a +10 circumstance bonus on Diplomacy checks, and it lasts an *HOUR*. A Diplomancer can do a lot of damage in an hour.

Blessed Bandage
Price: 10 GP
Weight: --
(Magic Item Compendium p. 152)
Immediately stabilize a dying creature. While there are dozens of ways to stabilize or heal someone below 0 HPs, the main advantage of this item is it can be used untrained without a Heal check, so it can be applied by an unseen servant, wood wose, etc.

Drow House Insignia
Price: 360/2160/5400 GP
Weight: 1#
(Races of Faerun p. 173)
These unique necklaces are used to identify which noble house a drow belongs to, but they also have one low-level spell that can be activated 1/day. The level of the spell determines the price (1st = 360 GP, 2nd = 2160 GP, 3rd = 5400 GP). The available spells include: blur, cat's grace, cloak of dark power, comprehend languages, feather fall, jump, levitate, read magic, scatterspray, shield, spider climb, unseen servant, and water breathing. The one we're most interested in is unseen servant. See the entry for Collar of Perpetual Attendance below if you're not sure why. Upgrade to the Collar as soon as finances permit.

Everfull Mug
Price: 200 GP
Weight: --
(Magic Item Compendium p. 160)
While I'm offended by the rather suspicious definition of "everfull", this mug can provide up to 36 ounces (half a six pack? That's "everfull"?) per day of alcoholic beverage, and is less weight than a bottle of wine.
Replaces: Bottle of wine

Feather Fall Talisman
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Sharn City of Towers p. 170)
One-shot item, activate feather fall as a free action. While there are a variety of similar items to prevent falling damage, this is the cheapest.

Feather Token, Fan
Price: 200 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
One-shot item to get rid of smoke, obscuring mist, pyrotechnics, fog cloud, stinking cloud, cloudkill, solid fog, acid fog, etc. If you can afford it, consider upgrading to a Wind Fan (5500 GP, DMG).

Feather Token, Swan Boat
Price: 450 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
Aside from the utility of having a boat when you really need one, the ability to create a large wooden structure at a moment's notice has plenty of other applications. Unfortunately, we're not given a size or weight, but given that it can accommodate 8 horses, we know it's at least 20' x 40' or 10' x 80'. The boat can be used to block a passage, divide a battlefield, provide hard cover, an enclosed place to sleep, raw materials for a large bonfire or giant wooden badger, or squish something nasty, e.g., what I like to call the Swan Boat of Death: give your feather token to an Unseen Servant or someone who can fly over whatever it is you want to flatten. At a height of 10', falling object damage caps at 20d6. If we assume the swan boat weighs at least 4000 lbs (pretty safe bet for a 20' x 40' boat), anything underneath it when the token is activated takes 20d6 falling object damage, no save (yes, it's in the falling object rules, no Ref save to avoiding falling objects). When you can afford it, upgrade to a Folding Boat (7200 GP) so you can use it over and over again.

Feather Token, Tree
Price: 400 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
Much like the swan boat, the tree token offers a variety of battlefield control possibilities. Block off a narrow passage, provide hard cover, put an easily-climbable object next to a shear wall, chop it down to cross a chasm/create a 60' wall 5' high, or just piss off a druid. The description goes out of its way to mention it's an instantaneous effect, so you could try the "drop it on somebody from above" trick.

Feather Token, Whip
Price: 500 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
This is a great low-level item to have around if you can't afford a +1 weapon yet and suddenly stumble into something that has DR/magic. It attacks as a magic weapon on its own, 15' reach, lasts an hour, and it gets a free grapple with a pretty hefty bonus, denying the target its Dex bonus and making the party rogue very happy. The only real downside is if your DM decides it gets all of the disadvantages of an ordinary whip: nonlethal damage, and no damage if the target has an armor bonus of +1 or a natural armor bonus of +3. The item description doesn't specify, but I'd like to think it does lethal damage even against armored targets.

Goodberry Wine
Price: 250 GP
Weight: 0.5#
(Five Nations p. 82)
Each jug contains 5 doses, so for 50 GP you get the equivalent of a maximized potion of cure light wounds (each dose heals 8 HP). This is a much better deal than the CLW potion or the Healing Salve from Tome & Blood. The only drawback is you're limited to one dose every 8 hours. Other benefits include it counts as a full meal for a medium creature, it works in the Mournland, and it uses transmutation magic so it should have full effect on a Warforged.
Replaces: Healing Salve

Ioun Stone, Dull Grey
Price: 135 GP
Weight: --
(DMG 3.0)
A burned-out ioun stone (25 GP) no longer confers any magical effects, but it does still float around your head. Get your friendly neighborhood cleric to cast continual flame on it (which may cost 50 to 110 GP), and you can create a slotless light source that keeps your hands free.
Replaces: Hearthfire/Hearthfire Lantern

Kyo Crystals
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Expedition to Undermountain p. 217)
One-shot items similar to potions, but unlike potions activating them with a standard action does not provoke an AoO. They cost the same as potions (I've listed a cost above for a 1st level spell because I thought they were the most useful), but the spell must be chosen from a limited list: burning hands, cure light wounds, cure moderate wounds (150 GP), cure serious wounds wounds (250 GP), light (25 GP), mage armor, magic missle, magic weapon, mirror image (150 GP), or ray of frost (25 GP). Oddly enough, you don't have to have these spells on your spell list to create these items, so wizards can create cure crystals. Of the available spells, magic missle (autohit force damage) and magic weapon (easier than applying an oil) look like the most useful.

Magic Bedroll
Price: 500 GP
Weight: 6#
(Magic Item Compendium p. 163)
Not to be confused with Heward's Fortifying Bedroll (Complete Mage). This bedroll provides the benefits of endure elements and restores 1 HP per character level after 8 hours of rest. Combine with Bitterleaf Oil to gain more natural healing, although unlike the oil, the bedroll doesn't have a 5 HP maximum limit.
Replaces: Tanglefoot Bag

Talisman of the Disk
Price: 500 GP
Weight: --
(Magic Item Compendium p. 188)
Tenser's floating disk at will, lasts up to 3 hours. Aside from just carrying around loot, use it to glide allies over rough/dangerous terrain, or give it to one of the frontline meatshields to create a "side-car", allowing a second melee fighter to move alongside and full-attack without having to use his own move action.

Travel Cloak
Price: 1200 GP
Weight: 1#
(Magic of Faerun p. 166)
Provides trail rations 3/day, a flask that produces up to 2 gallons of cool water or sugared hot tea per day, endure elements against cold, and can be transformed into a one-person tent 1/day.
Replaces: Waterskin

Troll Gut Rope
Price: 500 GP
Weight: 7#
(Magic Item Compendium p. 190)
50' rope, 1/day provides an extra 300' of rope that lasts for 12 hours. If you need to tie up something longer than that, stick with normal non-magical rope. Since you may need to tie something up for longer than 12 hours, keep at least one coil of normal silk rope handy.

Unguent of Timelessness
Price: 150 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
Used primarily to extend the duration of some alchemical items by 365 times. It can be applied to any item that was once alive, which basically means it has to consist primarily of organic materials. Candles and torches burn for 15 days (365 hours = 15.21 days). Lamp oil (created from whale fat or crude oil) burns for 91.25 days. Certain alchemical items could also be considered organic, such as a Focusing Candle (Complete Adventurer), Icewild Lichen Paste (Secrets of Sarlona), Fire Beetle Lamp (Races of Dragon) or Torch Bug Paste (Complete Scoundrel). There's no restriction to non-magical items, so you could add this to a section of Troll Gut Rope and it would last 182.5 days instead of 12 hours. It can also be used to keep a corpse fresh for raise dead. Each flask contains 8 doses (19 GP per dose).

Universal Solvent
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
Gets you out of sticky situations. In addition to countering Sovereign Glue, it can dissolve tanglefoot bags, kuo-toa shields, and other adhesives.


Type II Complete Contents:

Aboleth Mucus
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 1#
(Savage Species p. 46)
This is one of the cheapest and deadliest poisons in the game, although not actually a poison so there's no check to see if you accidentally poison yourself. Thrown as a grenade-like weapon, so make a ranged touch attack to hit (no splash effect). If the creature fails a Fort save DC 19, it loses the ability to breathe air for 3 hours. A creature can hold it's breath for a number of rounds equal to twice its Constitution score, so it essentially has that many rounds to find someone who can cast water breathing or air breathing. Delay poison and neutralize poison won't help (it's not a poison), dispel magic won't help (it's non-magical), deep breath (Spell Compendium) won't work (it fills your lungs with air you still can't breathe), sticking your head in a bucket of water won't help (the mucus doesn't confer the ability to breathe water), and there may be a good argument that a heal spell won't work, either (unable to breathe isn't one of the conditions listed in the spell description). After failing a Con check, the creature starts to suffocate and falls unconscious, and two rounds later it dies. So while it may take a little longer than poison (2-3 minutes), getting hit with this is pretty much a death sentence for most creatures.

Acidic Fire (x5, 30 GP ea.)
Price: 150 GP
Weight: 5#
(Eberron Campaign Setting p. 120)
What's better than burning things with acid? Burning things with flaming acid! Rather than carry separate flasks of Acid and Alchemist's Fire, it saves space to combine them into the same bottle. Although combining the two substances drops the damage die to 1d4, if you hit a creature that is still vulnerable to both acid and fire (I'm looking at you, Mr. Troll), you actually come out slightly ahead on the average damage (7.5 damage for Acidic Fire, 7 damage for Alchemist's Fire, and 3.5 damage for just plain ol' acid). The 2 points of splash damage isn't too shabby, either. Give a sack full of 19 flasks of Acidic Fire to an unseen servant and it can drop it in a square for 38 splash damage, no save.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Alchemical Flare Stake (x3, 15 GP ea.)
Price: 45 GP
Weight: 0.3#
(Expedition to Castle Ravenloft p. 208)
One-shot item, treated as a dagger, does 1d6 fire damage against corporeal undead. It also lodges into the undead's body and does an additional 1d6 fire damage every round (the undead creature, assuming it isn't mindless, can remove all stakes with a standard action). There's no duration listed, so it apparently continues to burn until the creature is dead or the stake is removed. There are also alchemical flare bolts for the same price, but they don't do additional damage on subsequent rounds. Although the description says treat the stakes like daggers for proficiency purposes, I'm not clear on whether they can be thrown Buffy-style like daggers... but it would be pure awesomesauce if they could.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Alchemical Sun Flash
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 1#
(Expedition to Castle Ravenloft p. 208)
Works just like alchemist's fire, but also explodes with a burst of daylight that dazzles creatures that are light sensitive, no save. Vampires are also staggered for one round, no save.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Angel Radiance
Price: 20 GP
Weight: --
(Book of Exalted Deeds p. 37)
Bunko's Bargain Basement recommends Liquid Sunlight (Complete Scoundrel p. 110) as a cheap everburning torch, but this item is even better: same price, shines like a torch, but as a spell component it can be drawn as a free action.

Animal Call
Price: 20 GP
Weight: --
(A&EG p. 21)
+1 circumstance bonus on Survival checks to find food, stacks with Fowler's Snare (+1 circumstance, A&EG) and Hunter's Kit (+2 circumstance, Secrets of Xendrik). Also can be used as a signal device.

Antitoxin (x4, 50 GP ea.)
Price: 200 GP
Weight: --
(PHB)
Where else are you going to find a +5 alchemical bonus on saves for only 50 GP? Chug one of these vials when you know you're up against a creature using poison, and you've got a good chance to save yourself the cost of a neutralize poison potion or scroll. Lasts 1 hour.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Atramen Oil
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 1#
(Planar Handbook p. 75)
Throw as a grenade-like splash weapon, ranged touch attack with a 10' range increment, direct hit on a target takes -4 penalty on Fort saves for 1 minute. Any creature in the 5' splash gets a similar -1 penalty on Fort saves. Great way to soften up a target for poison or some other Fort-based attack.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Auran Mask
Price: 60 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Mage p. 134)
Provides a +5 circumstance bonus against inhaled toxins (which stacks with Antitoxin), but this is easily overshadowed by 10 minutes of water breathing. Requires less upkeep than Air Plants. For longer durations, consider a potion of water breathing for 750 GP, which lasts for 10 hours.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Bitterleaf Oil
Price: 25 GP
Weight: --
(Races of the Dragon p. 122)
Although created and used by kobolds to prevent shedding, there's nothing in the description that says it can't be used by non-kobolds. Boosts natural healing, gain 1 HP per character level (up to a maximum of 5 HP) after a full night's rest. Each bottle contains 10 applications. Combine with a Magic Bedroll (Magic Item Compendium) for even more natural healing.

Black Fan Talisman
Price: 150 GP
Weight: --
(Oriental Adventures p. 136)
This wonderful little one-shot item provides a +10 circumstance bonus on Diplomacy checks, and it lasts an *HOUR*. A Diplomancer can do a lot of damage in an hour.

Blessed Bandage
Price: 10 GP
Weight: --
(Magic Item Compendium p. 152)
Immediately stabilize a dying creature. While there are dozens of ways to stabilize or heal someone below 0 HPs, the main advantage of this item is it can be used untrained without a Heal check, so it can be applied by an unseen servant, wood wose, etc.

Bloodspike, Spatter
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Magic of Eberron p. 140)
Adds 1 acid damage to bite attack for 1 hour, or end effect with a free action to spit 1d6 acid damage as a ranged touch attack.

Bloodspike, Tempo
Price: 150 GP
Weight: --
(Magic of Eberron p. 140)
Within one hour, expend to take an additional move action on your turn.

Bloodspike, Thickener
Price: 100 GP
Weight: --
(Magic of Eberron p. 140)
For one hour, weapon damage reduced by 1 point (minimum 1).

Cablespool
Price: 175 GP
Weight: 6#
(Savage Species p. 46)
100' winch that pulls with a Strength of 16 (lift 230 lbs, drag 1150 lbs). While the cable is too thin to climb up for anybody except a Desmodu, you can use it to descend up to 100' without taking any falling damage.

Candle, Focusing
Price: 100 GP
Weight: 1#
(Complete Adventurer p. 118)
+1 circumstance bonus on Appraise, Decipher Script, Forgery, and Search checks. Note: if you think you'll need this for longer than an hour, you can increase the duration to 15 days (365 days / 24 hours = 15.21 days) with a little Unguent of Timelessness (19 GP per dose, DMG).
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Candle, Insectbane (x10, 1 SP ea.)
Price: 1 GP
Weight: --
(A&EG p. 21)
Keeps nonmonstrous vermin away, 5' radius, burns for 1 hour. Vermin Ointment (Secrets of Xendrik p. 139, included below) does the same thing and costs 20 GP, but it also affects monstrous vermin if they fail a Fortitude save DC 15. If you're surrounded by inexhaustible number of insect swarms, 10 hours should be long enough to allow all your spellcasters to rest and regain spells.

Chaos Flask (x2, 100 GP ea.)
Price: 200 GP
Weight: 1#
(Planar Handbook p. 76)
Make a Wisdom check DC 13 as a free action to shape this material into almost any non-magical object of the same volume or smaller (depending on the material or density). Similar to a one-shot Marvelous Pigments, but no price limit. Most alchemical items are small and non-magical, so this is a great wild card to have up your sleeve. Know what else is small and non-magical? Vials of poison. For only 100 GP, you can whip up a vial of Black Lotus Extract at a 4400 GP discount. (The nastiest poison in print is Megapede Poison, DC 44, primary/secondary 2d6 Con damage + 1d4 Dex penalty, 24000 GP, Dungeonscape p. 129.) Lasts a number of rounds equal to your Wisdom score, but as long as your Wis is 11+, that should be long enough for the poison's secondary effect to kick in. Another good use would be expensive material components for spells. Need 5,000 GP diamond for a raise dead? (Sadly, this won't work for resurrection's 10 minute casting time unless your Wis is 100+.) Also, check out Flux Slime (Epic Level Handbook p. 107): 10' antimagic field, permanently disjunct magic items (no save), or 2d6 Con damage (no save) against any creature with (Su) or SLA abilities. If destroyed by cold, fire, or sunlight, it explodes and every creature within 50' may get a permanent random mutation.

Clearwater Tablet
Price: 1 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Scoundrel p. 110)
Removes any disease, poison, or other toxins from 1 gallon of water. Doesn't work on magical potions, oils, or alcohol-based liquids, and clean water ceases to be much of an issue once you get hold of a Travel Cloak, but you never know where it might come in handy.

Defoliator
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 1#
(A&EG p. 33)
Grenade-like weapon that does 2d4 damage to plant creatures and auto-kills any non-creature plant that is size medium or smaller in a 5' radius burst, AKA a "Get Out of Entangle Free Card". Since all slimes, molds, and fungi are treated as plants (and are not considered creatures), this item also instantly kills Green Slime, Yellow Mold, Brown Mold (DMG), Snowflake Lichen (Frostburn), Grey Slime, and Bone Fungus (Dungeonscape) in a 5' radius. It also does 2d4 damage to wooden objects, dissolving them like acid, although hardness still applies.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Drow House Insignia
Price: 360/2160/5400 GP
Weight: 1#
(Races of Faerun p. 173)
These unique necklaces are used to identify which noble house a drow belongs to, but they also have one low-level spell that can be activated 1/day. The level of the spell determines the price (1st = 360 GP, 2nd = 2160 GP, 3rd = 5400 GP). The available spells include: blur, cat's grace, cloak of dark power, comprehend languages, feather fall, jump, levitate, read magic, scatterspray, shield, spider climb, unseen servant, and water breathing. The one we're most interested in is unseen servant. See the entry for Collar of Perpetual Attendance below if you're not sure why. Upgrade to the Collar as soon as finances permit.

Earplugs
Price: 3 SP
Weight: --
(A&EG p. 22)
+1 circumstance bonus on saves against deafness and sonic attacks.

Eggshell Grenade, Dust (x10, 10 GP ea.)
Price: 100 GP
Weight: --
(Oriental Adventures p. 78)
Thrown as a grenade-like weapon, so make a ranged touch attack with a range increment of 5'. A dust grenade that hits its target directly blinds the target for 1d4 rounds *NO SAVE*. Anyone else within the 5' radius splash must make a Fort save DC 10 or be blinded for 1 round. This is an amazingly effective weapon that works on a wide variety of opponents, but don't overuse this one or your DM will come down on you with a banhammer like a ton of bricks.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Expandable Pole
Price: 5 GP
Weight: 1#
(Song & Silence p. 53)
Every adventurer needs the obligatory 10' pole, but this one "goes to 11". It can be adjusted to 5', 7', 9', or 11' lengths, or collapsed down to 1'. Another version, called a Mobile Brace, can be found in Races of Faerun, which has more detailed rules on how much weight it can support and for using it to secure a rope for climbing, but it weights 3 lbs. Dungeonscape has a similar "Collapsable Pole" that goes out to 12', but it weighs 8 lbs. I chose this version to conserve weight.

Everfull Mug
Price: 200 GP
Weight: --
(Magic Item Compendium p. 160)
While I'm offended by the rather suspicious definition of "everfull", this mug can provide up to 36 ounces (half a six pack? That's "everfull"?) per day of alcoholic beverage, and is less weight than a bottle of wine.

Explosive Pack
Price: 200 GP
Weight: 2#
(Secrets of Sarlona p. 138)
An alchemical explosive that can be set to go off after a predetermined time, usually 1 to 10 rounds. 1d6 bludgeoning and slashing damage in a 5' radius burst. Full-round action that provokes AoOs to activate. For another 200 GP, you can add 2 lbs of explosives and increase the damage by 1d6, and for each 3d6 damage, the blast radius increases by 5', up to a maximum of 10d6 and 20'. A Profession (Siege Engineer) check DC 20 causes double damage to objects, and a DC 30 check does triple. Note: the DMG has slightly cheaper bombs (150 GP for 2d6 fire damage) if you're just looking for something you can light and throw.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 26

Fast Torch (x3, 5 GP ea.)
Price: 15 GP
Weight: 1.5#
(Complete Mage p. 134)
When you absolutely, positively must light something on fire with only a swift action.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Feather Fall Talisman
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Sharn City of Towers p. 170)
One-shot item, activate feather fall as a free action. While there are a variety of similar items to prevent falling damage, this is the cheapest.

Feather Token, Fan
Price: 200 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
One-shot item to get rid of smoke, obscuring mist, pyrotechnics, fog cloud, stinking cloud, cloudkill, solid fog, acid fog, etc. If you can afford it, consider upgrading to a Wind Fan (5500 GP, DMG).

Feather Token, Swan Boat
Price: 450 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
Aside from the utility of having a boat when you really need one, the ability to create a large wooden structure at a moment's notice has plenty of other applications. Unfortunately, we're not given a size or weight, but given that it can accommodate 8 horses, we know it's at least 20' x 40' or 10' x 80'. The boat can be used to block a passage, divide a battlefield, provide hard cover, an enclosed place to sleep, raw materials for a large bonfire or giant wooden badger, or squish something nasty, e.g., what I like to call the Swan Boat of Death: give your feather token to an unseen servant or someone who can fly over whatever it is you want to flatten. At a height of 10', falling object damage caps at 20d6. If we assume the swan boat weighs at least 4000 lbs (pretty safe bet for a 20' x 40' boat), anything underneath it when the token is activated takes 20d6 falling object damage, no save (yes, it's in the falling object rules, no Ref save to avoiding falling objects). When you can afford it, upgrade to a Folding Boat (7200 GP) so you can use it over and over again.

Feather Token, Tree
Price: 400 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
Much like the swan boat, the tree token offers a variety of battlefield control possibilities. Block off a narrow passage, provide hard cover, put an easily-climbable object next to a shear wall, chop it down to cross a chasm/create a 60' wall 5' high, or just piss off a druid. The description goes out of its way to mention it's an instantaneous effect, so you could try the "drop it on somebody from above" trick.

Feather Token, Whip
Price: 500 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
This is a great low-level item to have around if you can't afford a +1 weapon yet and suddenly stumble into something that has DR/magic. It attacks as a magic weapon on its own, 15' reach, lasts an hour, and it gets a free grapple with a pretty hefty bonus, denying the target its Dex bonus and making the party rogue very happy. The only real downside is if your DM decides it gets all of the disadvantages of an ordinary whip: nonlethal damage, and no damage if the target has an armor bonus of +1 or a natural armor bonus of +3. The item description doesn't specify, but I'd like to think it does lethal damage even against armored targets.

Firestone
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 0.5#
(Dragon Compendium p. 117)
Thrown as a grenade-like weapon, it does 1d6 fire damage, but unlike a splash weapon, it has an area effect that damages everything in the 5' square without a Ref save. Ranged touch attacks are pretty easy to begin with, but targeting a stationary square rather than a creature makes them even ridiculously more so. This might allow you to throw a whole bag full of these into a square for Xd6 fire damage, X = however many firestones fit in the bag. Another interesting tactic might be to give this bag to an unseen servant, and have it drop or empty the bag into a square from above (doesn't require an attack roll). No weight was given in the Dragon Compendium or the original Dragon article, so I'm assuming a firestone weighs the same as a sling bullet (1/2 lb). Thus, an unseen servant could put 39 into a sack (20 lbs total) and drop it in a square for 39d6 fire damage, no save.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Flint & Steel
Price: 1 GP
Weight: --
(PHB)
If your sparker burns out and your magnifying glass won't work, best to have this as a fallback.

Flour Pouch (x4, 1 SP ea.)
Price: 4 SP
Weight: --
(Dungeonscape p. 32)
Thrown as splash weapon, 5' burst. Locates invisible creatures, reduces their concealment to 20%, and reduces their hide bonus. To completely negate concealment, see Torch Bug Paste (25 GP, Complete Scoundrel).

Forger's Paper (x10, 10 GP ea.)
Price: 100 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Scoundrel p. 110)
+2 alchemical bonus on Forgery checks, so it stacks with a Forgery Kit (see below). In many ways, Forgery is more powerful than Bluff, Diplomacy, Disguise, or Intimidate put together. Why? Because it's resisted by Forgery, a skill no one ever takes. Stacks with Forgery Kit and Focusing Candle.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Forgery Kit
Price: 40 GP
Weight: 5#
(Complete Adventurer p. 122)
+2 circumstance bonus on Forgery checks. This kit includes a variety of inks, papers, pens, and seals. Unfortunately, there was a price and weight increase from where it was first printed in the Arms & Equipment Guide, and any mention of waxes, guides and magnifying glasses was removed. Still, this is probably worth it just to avoid the fuss and bother of buying all the included items separately. Each kit lasts for 10 uses, and it stacks with Forger's Paper and a Focusing Candle.

Garlic (x10, 1 CP ea.)
Price: 1 SP
Weight: --
(A&EG p. 31)
Mash a few cloves up into a paste and smear it on yourself, your equipment, or various openings/furniture to drive away vampires. Unlike wasting 150 GP on Alchemical Vampire Repellent (Expedition to Castle Ravenloft p. 209), garlic doesn't have a specific duration. The rules in the Monster Manual are pretty vague on mechanics, so you may want to work out with your DM how close vampires can approach and how long it lasts.

Ghostblight
Price: 100 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Adventurer p. 122)
Can be used with a Weapon Capsule Retainer (100 GP, Complete Adventurer) or applied as an oil with a standard action. Used against incorporeal creatures to ignore the 50% miss chance, lasts for 3 rounds. There's a similar substance in Libris Mortis called Ghostoil, but it takes a full round action to apply and only lasts for 2 rounds.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 35

Ghostwall Shellac
Price: 150 GP
Weight: 1#
(Dungeonscape p. 35)
This item requires at least 1 hour prep time and a gallon of water, so it won't help while you're being attacked by an incorporeal creature, but if you have time to paint your armor and weapons with this stuff (up to a 100 square feet), they'll work like Ghost Touch weapons/armor for 4d6 hours.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 30

Goodberry Wine
Price: 250 GP
Weight: 0.5#
(Five Nations p. 82)
Each jug contains 5 doses, so for 50 GP you get the equivalent of a maximized potion of cure light wounds (each dose heals 8 HP). This is a much better deal than the CLW potion or the Healing Salve from Tome & Blood. The only drawback is you're limited to one dose every 8 hours. Other benefits include it counts as a full meal for a medium creature, it works in the Mournland, and it uses transmutation magic so it should have full effect on a Warforged.

Holy Water
Price: 25 GP
Weight: 1#
(PHB)
Thrown as a splash weapon, 2d4 damage to undead and evil outsiders. There are equivalents for each major alignment (Unholy Water in the PHB, Axiomatic and Anarchic Water in the Planar Handbook), but undead and evil outsiders are much more common than any other alignment type. You can also douse incorporeal undead for 2d4 damage, but unfortunately they still get their 50% miss chance against this attack. In that case, load the Holy Water into a Sprayer (A&EG p. 25) to turn it into an area effect which ignores concealment.

Icewild Lichen Paste
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Secrets of Sarlona p. 138)
Reduces fatigue or exhaustion by a step for 2d4 hours. At the end of that duration, character is fatigued for 2d4 minutes. Multiple doses taken within 24 hours cause 1d4 Constitution damage.

Ioun Stone, Dull Grey
Price: 135 GP
Weight: --
(DMG 3.0)
A burned-out ioun stone (25 GP) no longer confers any magical effects, but it does still float around your head. Get your friendly neighborhood cleric to cast continual flame on it (which may cost 50 to 110 GP), and you can create a slotless light source that keeps your hands free.

Ipecac
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Expedition to Castle Ravenloft p. 209)
If you ever get swallowed by a creature, empty this into its stomach. The creature is forced to regurgitate you, and is nauseated for 1d4 rounds, no save. It can also be used to induce vomiting after ingesting a poison, giving a +5 untyped bonus to the secondary effect. Each vial contains 10 doses.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Jeweler's Loupe
Price: 20 GP
Weight: --
(A&EG p. 24)
+1 circumstance bonus on Appraise checks with art/gems/jewelry. Combine with a magnifying glass for another +2 circumstance bonus. Make either of them masterwork for 50 GP and get another +2 circumstance bonus.

Kyo Crystals
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Expedition to Undermountain p. 217)
One-shot items similar to potions, but unlike potions activating them with a standard action does not provoke an AoO. They cost the same as potions (I've listed a cost above for a 1st level spell because I thought they were the most useful), but the spell must be chosen from a limited list: burning hands, cure light wounds, cure moderate wounds (150 GP), cure serious wounds (250 GP), light (25 GP), mage armor, magic missle, magic weapon, mirror image (150 GP), or ray of frost (25 GP). Oddly enough, you don't have to have these spells on your spell list to create these items, so wizards can create cure crystals. Of the available spells, magic missle (autohit force damage) and magic weapon (easier than applying an oil) look like the most useful.

Liquid Ice
Price: 30 GP
Weight: 1#
(Dragon Compendium p. 118)
Empty your waterskin on the ground and you can use this to create a non-magical 10' x 10' ice sheet, or extinguish a 10' x 10' section of fire. As per the DMG p. 91, slippery ice counts as difficult terrain, costing 2 squares of movement. It also has the same effect as a grease spell, as described in the PHB under the Balance skill: targets without 5 ranks in Balance that are attacked on a slippery surface are considered flat-footed. From there, you can add Razor Ice Powder to create a 10' x 10' section of Razor Ice (1d4 slashing damage and 1d6 cold damage for each square entered, no save). Liquid Ice can also be thrown as a splash weapon, doing 1d6 cold damage on a direct hit and 1 splash damage. If your DM doesn't allow Dragon Compendium material, you can use Freeze Powder (100 GP, Frostburn p. 79) instead, although this can't be thrown as a splash weapon. If you need an alternative for splash damage, use Alchemist's Frost (25 GP, Eberron Campaign Setting p. 120). Note: Neither Dragon Compendium nor the original Dragon Magazine article listed a weight, so I had to guess. Alchemist's Frost, Freeze Powder, and Frostfire all weighed 1 lb., so I figured Liquid Ice would most likely weigh the same.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Liquid Smoke
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 1#
(Oriental Adventures p. 78)
Same price as a smokestick, but reacts with air and thus does not need to be lit. Provides concealment, blocks LOS, or a cheap theatrical effect.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Magic Bedroll
Price: 500 GP
Weight: 6#
(Magic Item Compendium p. 163)
Not to be confused with Heward's Fortifying Bedroll (Complete Mage). This bedroll provides the benefits of endure elements and restores 1 HP per character level after 8 hours of rest. Combine with Bitterleaf Oil to gain more natural healing, although unlike the oil, the bedroll doesn't have a 5 HP maximum limit.

Magnet
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 2#
(Dungeonscape p. 32)
Attach to candle wick or pole to pick up ferrous objects, up to 2 lbs. Also useful for attaching notes or art projects to your shield or breastplate.

Magnifying Glass
Price: 100 GP
Weight: --
(PHB)
+2 circumstance bonus on Appraise checks on small objects. Combine with Jeweler's Loupe for another +1. Make it masterwork for another 50 GP and another +2 circumstance bonus. Also, start a fire without flint & steel, or incinerate a few anthills for some easy XP.

Manacles, Masterwork
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 2#
(PHB)
Requires a Strength check DC 28 or Escape Artist check DC 35 to get out of. Useful for keeping hostages/prisoners (particularly spellcasters) out of trouble.

Marbles (x4, 2 SP ea.)
Price: 8 SP
Weight: 8#
(A&EG p. 24)
These are deployed much like caltrops, so it takes a standard action to spread. Basically a 5' x 5' square of non-magical grease. Dump them under an opponent without 5 ranks of Balance to deny his Dex bonus and make the party rogue happy.

Mordrei'in
Price: 25 GP
Weight: --
(Faiths of Eberron p. 153)
+2 alchemical bonus to Concentration and Spot checks for 10 minutes. For fluff reasons, may only be available to elves from Aerenal.

Needle (x2, 5 SP ea.)
Price: 1 GP
Weight: --
(PHB)
Mend clothing, sew a sack closed, or hide it in a haystack. You can also magnetize it and use it as a compass, or bend it into a fishhook.

Net
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 6#
(PHB)
Although this is an exotic weapon, ranged touch attacks are usually easy enough to hit even with the non-proficiency penalty. A hit with a net entangles a creature (-2 attack penalty, -4 Dex penalty, restricts movement), which can be a cheap and easy debuff or delaying tactic. If you're running into larger creatures, use a lasso instead. Check with your DM if the Dex penalty from multiple sources stack (lasso, tanglefoot, etc.). There's also a Razor Net version (50 GP, Dragon Compendium) that does 1d6 damage if the target fails their check to get out of the net (Escape Artist check DC 20 or Strength check DC 25), but it's a little too easy to escape and the razors cut up the net, preventing it from being used again.

Noxious Smokestick
Price: 80 GP
Weight: 0.5#
(Eberron Campaign Setting p. 121)
Creates 10' cube of smoke and anyone inside has to make a Fort save DC 15 or become nauseated for 1 round. While this makes it a little tricky to light, you can fix that by having an unseen servant light it and carry it around.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Oil
Price: 1 SP
Weight: 1#
(PHB)
There are rules for turning these things into splash weapons, but it takes a full-round action to prep and with a 50% failure rate, it's probably not worth the bother. Spreading it on the ground and lighting it on fire may be a bit more promising if you have enough time to prep for it.

Panther Tears (x2, 30 GP ea.)
Price: 60 GP
Weight: 0.2#
(Secrets of Xendrik p. 139)
Eye drops that give you low-light vision for 1 hour. This also gives you light sensitivity, but for only 10 GP Sundark Goggles will fix that for you.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Piton (x10, 1 SP ea.)
Price: 1 GP
Weight: 5#
(PHB)
Attach ropes, spike doors, trepanize your friends and neighbors.

Periscope, Hand
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 2#
(Dungeonscape p. 32)
Peek around corners (with a +7 Hide bonus).

Potion Belt, Masterwork
Price: 60 GP
Weight: 1#
(Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting p. 97)
Once per round, you can retrieve a potion as a free action. Holds up to 10 potions. While this item should really be worn rather than kept in the haversack, I'm mentioning it here just in case you weren't aware of it before.

Quicksilver
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Adventurer p. 122)
Can be used with a Weapon Capsule Retainer (100 GP, Complete Adventurer) or applied as an oil with a standard action. Allows weapon to deal damage as if coated with silver (including -1 damage), lasts for 3 rounds. If you can afford it, consider upgrading to Silversheen (250 GP, DMG) which lasts an hour.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 30

Quickspark
Price: 25 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Adventurer p. 122)
Of all the various alchemical items that do energy damage, Quickspark is the easiest to use and you're less likely to run into electricity resistance than fire or cold. It can be applied to a weapon as on oil with a standard action, or as a swift action when used with a Weapon Capsule Retainer (100 GP, Complete Adventurer). It can't be thrown on its own and does no splash damage, but you can apply it to any grenade-like weapon just like any other weapon. A Quickspark + Acidic Fire, for example, does an average of 11 energy damage over 2 rounds. Alchemist's Spark (Eberron Campaign Setting) is easier to throw, does a little more damage (1d8) and also splashes for 1 damage, but can't be applied to a weapon. A Sparkstone (Arms & Equipment Guide) can be thrown as a grenade-like weapon for 1d6 electricity damage and it will arc to one adjacent opponent (but only one) for half damage.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Razor Ice Powder
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 1#
(Frostburn p. 79)
When combined with the contents of a waterskin and Liquid Ice (Dragon Compendium p. 118) or Freeze Powder (Frostburn p. 79), you can create a 10' x 10' square of slippery Razor Ice, which does 1d4 slashing damage and 1d6 cold damage for each square entered, no save.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Rope Climber
Price: 15 GP
Weight: 3#
(Races of Faerun p. 160)
+5 circumstance bonus on Climb checks to ascend a rope, although it halves the rate of ascent. Full-round action to thread or remove the Rope Climber from a rope.

Rope, Silk (50')
Price: 10 GP
Weight: 5#
(PHB)
When you can afford it, most of your rope needs should be met with Troll Gut Rope, but if you need to tie something up for longer than 12 hours, it's good to have some normal rope handy. Keep in mind that the Cablespool can be used for descent, and Shapesand can be used to make temporary equipment (ropes, ladders) that retains its shape within 100' of you.

Rust Monster Wand
Price: 160 GP
Weight: 2#
(Complete Scoundrel p. 120)
Destroys metal objects. Requires fresh air and 5 coins per day as food. Upgrade to a +1 rusting weapon (8300 GP, Shining South) when available.

Sack (x3, 1 SP ea.)
Price: 3 SP
Weight: 1.5#
(PHB)
Loot redistribution device.

Screaming Flask
Price: 40 GP
Weight: 1#
(Complete Mage p. 135)
1d8 sonic damage in a 15' cone, Fort save DC 15 vs. deafness.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Shapesand (jug)
Price: 100 GP
Weight: 12#
(Sandstorm p. 102)
Through the exertion of your will (Wisdom check DC 16), you can create any mundane non-magical object out of sand that supposedly "serves as a normal item of the same sort". (So... does that mean I can turn it into 12 lbs of acid or alchemist's fire? How about explosives or poisons? How about a masterwork gatling gun? Hmm...) It retains that shape as long as it stays within 100' of you, but you can also reshape it whenever you like by making another Wisdom check. While the question of acid/explosives/poisons will have to be settled by your DM, you have any tool you can possibly imagine at your fingertips. Need a hammer? Done. Don't need the hammer anymore, need a shovel? Done. It's particularly useful for tools that wear out after a certain number of uses, such as hacksaws and drills. How about exotic weapons or armor (Shapesand Fullplate = 500 GP, shapesand Mechanus Gear = 700 GP)? It can do that, too, although be aware, if an enemy recognizes you're using shapesand, he could try to reshape it under his control with a Wisdom check of his own.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Slippery Oil
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Dragon Compendium p. 119)
+5 untyped bonus to Escape Artist checks, so it stacks with Spelunker's Oil (+2 alchemical, 15 GP, Drow of the Underdark). Lasts 1 hour.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Sparker
Price: 2 GP
Weight: --
(A&EG p. 25)
Works similar to a tindertwig (standard action to light a torch), but cheaper. 10 uses for only 2 GP.

Sprayer
Price: 15 GP
Weight: 4#
(A&EG p. 25)
Spray a 10' long cloud of oil, holy water, an inhaled poison, or our new favorite special substance: aboleth mucus. It's an area effect, essentially a 5' x 10' line, but it doesn't require an attack roll and can be given to an unseen servant. The description says acid won't work, but doesn't mention alchemist's fire (which should work if the storage drum is airtight, but I'm not sure it is). Quickflame, Quickfrost, or Quickspark (Complete Adventurer) might also work, as well as Alchemist's Frost (Eberron Campaign Setting), but Alchemist's Spark requires two liquids in separate containers to be mixed. Atramen Oil, Liquid Smoke, or Stonebreaker Acid could also be interesting options when delivered by a sprayer.

Stonebreaker Acid
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 1#
(A&EG p. 35)
Thrown as grenade-like weapon. Against stone objects/creatures, 5d10 damage over 2 rounds that ignores hardness. While Delver Slime (150 GP, Savage Species) may deal more damage per application, Stonebreaker Acid is a lot cheaper.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Sundark Goggles
Price: 10 GP
Weight: --
(Races of the Dragon p. 123)
Never take the Daylight Adaptation feat ever again. These handy little shades negate the dazed penalty for creatures with Light Sensitivity, and also provide a +2 circumstance bonus on saves against gaze attacks. Creatures without low-light or darkvision take a -2 penalty on spot and search checks.

Suregrip
Price: 20 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Adventurer p. 119)
+1 alchemical bonus on Climb checks, stacks with Climber's Kit (+2 circumstance, PHB), Rope Climber (+5 circumstance, Races of Faerun), and Spider Kit (+2 circumstance, Drow of the Underdark).
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Talisman of the Disk
Price: 500 GP
Weight: --
(Magic Item Compendium p. 188)
Tenser's floating disk at will, lasts up to 3 hours. Aside from just carrying around loot, use it to glide allies over rough/dangerous terrain, or give it to one of the frontline meatshields to create a "side-car", allowing a second melee fighter to move alongside and full-attack without having to use his own move action.

Tarpaulin, Honey Leather (big)
Price: 40 GP
Weight: 1#
(Races of the Wild p. 170)
An upgrade from a winter blanket, wearing a honey leather tarpaulin gives a +1 circumstance bonus on Survival checks to resist the effects of severe weather, or +2 bonus if you're stationary. The big tarpaulin is waterproof, 6' square, and could be used to wrap your equipment to prevent it from getting wet, collect rainwater, cover a 5' pit trap, smother a small fire, or convert it into a float bladder.

Tanglefoot Bag (x2, 50 GP ea.)
Price: 100 GP
Weight: 8#
(PHB)
Ranged touch attack that entangles (-2 attack penalty, -4 Dex penalty, restricts movement), a chance to immobilize, and makes life difficult for flying creatures. Check with your DM if the Dex penalty from multiple sources stack (net, lasso, etc.).
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Torch Bug Paste (x4, 25 GP ea.)
Price: 100 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Scoundrel p. 120)
Thrown as a splash weapon, non-magical faerie fire effect, which pinpoints invisible creatures and completely negates concealment.

Travel Cloak
Price: 1200 GP
Weight: 1#
(Magic of Faerun p. 166)
Provides trail rations 3/day, a flask that produces up to 2 gallons of cool water or sugared hot tea per day, endure elements against cold, and can be transformed into a one-person tent 1/day.

Trollbane
Price: 90 GP
Weight: --
(Dungeonscape p. 37)
Running into a regenerating creature when the party isn't ready for it can quickly turn into a TPK. While one dose of Alchemist's Fire, Bladefire, or Quickflame might be cheaper, trollbane allows all of a weapon's damage (not just fire/acid) to ignore regeneration. Save this for high-damage single-hit attacks, such as two-handed power-attack leap-attack ubercharger combos.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Troll Gut Rope
Price: 500 GP
Weight: 7#
(Magic Item Compendium p. 190)
50' rope, 1/day provides an extra 300' of rope that lasts for 12 hours. If you need to tie up something longer than that, stick with normal non-magical rope. Since you may need to tie something up for longer than 12 hours, keep at least one coil of normal silk rope handy.

Unguent of Timelessness
Price: 150 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
Used primarily to extend the duration of some alchemical items by 365 times. It can be applied to any item that was once alive, which basically means it has to consist primarily of organic materials. Candles and torches burn for 15 days (365 hours = 15.21 days). Lamp oil (created from whale fat or crude oil) burns for 91.25 days. Certain alchemical items could also be considered organic, such as a Focusing Candle (Complete Adventurer), Icewild Lichen Paste (Secrets of Sarlona), Fire Beetle Lamp (Races of Dragon) or Torch Bug Paste (Complete Scoundrel). There's no restriction to non-magical items, so you could add this to a section of Troll Gut Rope and it would last 182.5 days instead of 12 hours. It can also be used to keep a corpse fresh for raise dead. Each flask contains 8 doses (19 GP per dose).

Universal Solvent
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
Gets you out of sticky situations. In addition to countering Sovereign Glue, it can dissolve tanglefoot bags, kuo-toa shields, and other adhesives.

Vermin Ointment
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 1#
(Secrets of Xendrik p. 139)
Vermin of diminuative size or smaller (including swarms) can't get within 5' of you unless magically compelled (and with most vermin being mindless, good luck with that). Larger vermin must make a Fortitude save DC 15 or become sickened.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Wick, Candle (x5, 2 SP ea.)
Price: 1 GP
Weight: --
(A&EG p. 27)
Can be used anywhere you would use Twine (Dungeonscape p. 33), such as tripwires, improvised alarm systems, fishing lines, signal kites, or hang from the ceiling to detect invisible flying creatures. In addition, you can use it as a timing device: it takes 30 seconds (5 rounds) to burn 1 inch. Comes in 50' rolls.

Darrin
2010-04-06, 04:41 PM
Haversack Type III
Upgrade Cost: 16052 GP (replaces items worth 160 GP)
Total Price: 27327 GP (includes 2000 GP for Haversack)
Weight: 117 lbs

The Type III upgrade adds more utility magic items in the 750 to 2000 GP range, plus the Survival Pouch for 3300 GP. Like the Travel Cloak, this is another item that is too useful to delay getting your hands on it.

Upgrades:

Amber Amulet of Vermin: Giant Wasp
Price: 800 GP
Weight: --
(Magic Item Compendium p. 68)
Flying mount you can summon 1/day for up to 1 minute. It can also fight if need be, provide flanking, block hallways, test for traps, take out the garbage, etc.

Bead of Beckoning
Price: 2000 GP
Weight: --
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 135)
This one-shot item lets you cast summon nature's ally IV, which has a lot of utility: elemental (whirlwind, earthglide), unicorn (CLW x3, CMW, neutralize poison), 1d3 thoqqua (dig permanent tunnels through solid rock), or 1d4+1 badgers (dig through softer earth). Lasts 10 rounds.

Camouflage Paint
Price: 1500 GP
Weight: 0.5#
(Magic Item Compendium p. 153)
+5 circumstance bonus to Hide checks, stacks with Blend Cream (+1 alchemical, Complete Adventurer) and Camouflage Kit (+2 circumstance, Complete Adventurer). Lasts for five applications.

Dagger, Riverine
Price: 2002 GP
Weight: 1#
(Stormwrack p. 128)
Wall of force in the shape of a dagger. Backup weapon for dealing with ethereal and incorporeal creatures. Note: add Rusting as a +1 enhancement (Shining South) to destroy any ferrous metal object with the equivalent of rusting grasp at will.
Replaces: Acidic Fire

Hammersphere
Price: 1500 GP
Weight: 0.5#
(Magic Item Compendium p. 161)
An excellent fire-and-forget weapon that's effective against incorporeal/ethereal creatures and anything with DR.

Hand of the Mage
Price: 900 GP
Weight: 2#
(DMG)
A handy ("{groan}" "What?!") item to have around. Lift and manipulate any object up to 5 lbs within 35'. When you can afford to upgrade, pick up a Collar of Perpetual Attendance for unseen servant at will.
Replaces: Magnet

Panic Button, Escaping
Price: 750 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Scoundrel p. 115)
One-shot dimension door, up to 30'.

Sphere of Awakening
Price: 1800 GP
Weight: 1#
(Magic Item Compendium p. 186)
A must-have for anyone on watch. 1/day, instantly wakes up all of your allies as a swift action. In addition, you and all allies are immune to fatigue, exhaustion, and sleep effects for 10 minutes. If you've got any barbarian, frenzied berserker, or dervish in the party that has to deal with fatigue, this will immediately get rid of it.
Replaces: Acidic Fire

Survival Pouch
Price: 3300 GP
Weight: 5#
(Magic Item Compendium p. 187)
5/day, you can pull out one of the following: trail rations, 2 gallons of water in a waterskin, tent plus two bedrolls, 50' rope, shovel, campfire/8 torches, composite shortbow with 20 arrows in a quiver, or a mule with bit/bridle/saddle/saddlebags. While this duplicates some items we have already, what we're really after are the 5 mules/day. Mules are large sturdy creatures that can be used as mounts, pack bearers, trapfinders, or 10' x 10' blocks of meat you can use to block corridors, distract opponents, delay pursuers, etc. The description says they won't fight but treat them as summoned creatures, which means they respond to verbal commands (almost all summoned creatures understand Common as their default language) to the best of their abilities without having to muck around with tricks and Handle Animal checks.
Replaces: Tanglefoot Bag

Whiteshiver Elixir
Price: 1500 GP
Weight: 1#
(Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk p. 222)
Gain all of the benefits and immunities of the plant subtype for 10 minutes: low-light vision, immunity to crits, mind-affects, paralysis, polymorph, poison, sleep, and stunning.
Replaces: Acidic Fire


Type III Complete Contents:

Aboleth Mucus
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 1#
(Savage Species p. 46)
This is one of the cheapest and deadliest poisons in the game, although not actually a poison so there's no check to see if you accidentally poison yourself. Thrown as a grenade-like weapon, so make a ranged touch attack to hit (no splash effect). If the creature fails a Fort save DC 19, it loses the ability to breathe air for 3 hours. A creature can hold it's breath for a number of rounds equal to twice its Constitution score, so it essentially has that many rounds to find someone who can cast water breathing or air breathing. Delay poison and neutralize poison won't help (it's not a poison), dispel magic won't help (it's non-magical), deep breath (Spell Compendium) won't work (it fills your lungs with air you still can't breathe), sticking your head in a bucket of water won't help (the mucus doesn't confer the ability to breathe water), and there may be a good argument that a heal spell won't work, either (unable to breathe isn't one of the conditions listed in the spell description). After failing a Con check, the creature starts to suffocate and falls unconscious, and two rounds later it dies. So while it may take a little longer than poison (2-3 minutes), getting hit with this is pretty much a death sentence for most creatures.

Acidic Fire (x2, 30 GP ea.)
Price: 60 GP
Weight: 2#
(Eberron Campaign Setting p. 120)
What's better than burning things with acid? Burning things with flaming acid! Rather than carry separate flasks of Acid and Alchemist's Fire, it saves space to combine them into the same bottle. Although combining the two substances drops the damage die to 1d4, if you hit a creature that is still vulnerable to both acid and fire (I'm looking at you, Mr. Troll), you actually come out slightly ahead on the average damage (7.5 damage for Acidic Fire, 7 damage for Alchemist's Fire, and 3.5 damage for just plain ol' acid). The 2 points of splash damage isn't too shabby, either. Give a sack full of 19 flasks of Acidic Fire to an unseen servant and it can drop it in a square for 38 splash damage, no save.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Alchemical Flare Stake (x3, 15 GP ea.)
Price: 45 GP
Weight: 0.3#
(Expedition to Castle Ravenloft p. 208)
One-shot item, treated as a dagger, does 1d6 fire damage against corporeal undead. It also lodges into the undead's body and does an additional 1d6 fire damage every round (the undead creature, assuming it isn't mindless, can remove all stakes with a standard action). There's no duration listed, so it apparently continues to burn until the creature is dead or the stake is removed. There are also alchemical flare bolts for the same price, but they don't do additional damage on subsequent rounds. Although the description says treat the stakes like daggers for proficiency purposes, I'm not clear on whether they can be thrown Buffy-style like daggers... but it would be pure awesomesauce if they could.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Alchemical Sun Flash
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 1#
(Expedition to Castle Ravenloft p. 208)
Works just like alchemist's fire, but also explodes with a burst of daylight that dazzles creatures that are light sensitive, no save. Vampires are also staggered for one round, no save.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Amber Amulet of Vermin: Giant Wasp
Price: 800 GP
Weight: --
(Magic Item Compendium p. 68)
Flying mount you can summon 1/day for up to 1 minute. It can also fight if need be, provide flanking, block hallways, test for traps, take out the garbage, etc.

Angel Radiance
Price: 20 GP
Weight: --
(Book of Exalted Deeds p. 37)
Bunko's Bargain Basement recommends Liquid Sunlight (Complete Scoundrel p. 110) as a cheap everburning torch, but this item is even better: same price, shines like a torch, but as a spell component it can be drawn as a free action.

Animal Call
Price: 20 GP
Weight: --
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 21)
+1 circumstance bonus on Survival checks to find food, stacks with Fowler's Snare (+1 circumstance, Arms & Equipment Guide) and Hunter's Kit (+2 circumstance, Secrets of Xendrik). Also can be used as a signal device.

Antitoxin (x4, 50 GP ea.)
Price: 200 GP
Weight: --
(PHB)
Where else are you going to find a +5 alchemical bonus on saves for only 50 GP? Chug one of these vials when you know you're up against a creature using poison, and you've got a good chance to save yourself the cost of a neutralize poison potion or scroll. Lasts 1 hour.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Atramen Oil
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 1#
(Planar Handbook p. 75)
Throw as a grenade-like splash weapon, ranged touch attack with a 10' range increment, direct hit on a target takes -4 penalty on Fort saves for 1 minute. Any creature in the 5' splash gets a similar -1 penalty on Fort saves. Great way to soften up a target for poison or some other Fort-based attack.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Auran Mask
Price: 60 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Mage p. 134)
Provides a +5 circumstance bonus against inhaled toxins (which stacks with Antitoxin), but this is easily overshadowed by 10 minutes of water breathing. Requires less upkeep than Air Plants. For longer durations, consider a potion of water breathing for 750 GP, which lasts for 10 hours.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Bead of Beckoning
Price: 2000 GP
Weight: --
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 135)
This one-shot item lets you cast summon nature's ally IV, which has a lot of utility: elemental (whirlwind, earthglide), unicorn (CLW x3, CMW, neutralize poison), 1d3 thoqqua (dig permanent tunnels through solid rock), or 1d4+1 badgers (dig through softer earth). Lasts 10 rounds.

Bitterleaf Oil
Price: 25 GP
Weight: --
(Races of the Dragon p. 122)
Although created and used by kobolds to prevent shedding, there's nothing in the description that says it can't be used by non-kobolds. Boosts natural healing, gain 1 HP per character level (up to a maximum of 5 HP) after a full night's rest. Each bottle contains 10 applications. Combine with a Magic Bedroll (Magic Item Compendium) for even more natural healing.

Black Fan Talisman
Price: 150 GP
Weight: --
(Oriental Adventures p. 136)
This wonderful little one-shot item provides a +10 circumstance bonus on Diplomacy checks, and it lasts an *HOUR*. A Diplomancer can do a lot of damage in an hour.

Blessed Bandage
Price: 10 GP
Weight: --
(Magic Item Compendium p. 152)
Immediately stabilize a dying creature. While there are dozens of ways to stabilize or heal someone below 0 HPs, the main advantage of this item is it can be used untrained without a Heal check, so it can be applied by an unseen servant, wood wose, etc.

Bloodspike, Spatter
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Magic of Eberron p. 140)
Adds 1 acid damage to bite attack for 1 hour, or end effect with a free action to spit 1d6 acid damage as a ranged touch attack.

Bloodspike, Tempo
Price: 150 GP
Weight: --
(Magic of Eberron p. 140)
Within one hour, expend to take an additional move action on your turn.

Bloodspike, Thickener
Price: 100 GP
Weight: --
(Magic of Eberron p. 140)
For one hour, weapon damage reduced by 1 point (minimum 1).

Cablespool
Price: 175 GP
Weight: 6#
(Savage Species p. 46)
100' winch that pulls with a Strength of 16 (lift 230 lbs, drag 1150 lbs). While the cable is too thin to climb up for anybody except a Desmodu, you can use it to descend up to 100' without taking any falling damage.

Camouflage Paint
Price: 1500 GP
Weight: 0.5#
(Magic Item Compendium p. 153)
+5 circumstance bonus to Hide checks, stacks with Blend Cream (+1 alchemical, Complete Adventurer) and Camouflage Kit (+2 circumstance, Complete Adventurer). Lasts for five applications.

Candle, Focusing
Price: 100 GP
Weight: 1#
(Complete Adventurer p. 118)
+1 circumstance bonus on Appraise, Decipher Script, Forgery, and Search checks. Note: if you think you'll need this for longer than an hour, you can increase the duration to 15 days (365 days / 24 hours = 15.21 days) with a little Unguent of Timelessness (19 GP per dose, DMG).
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Candle, Insectbane (x10, 1 SP ea.)
Price: 1 GP
Weight: --
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 21)
Keeps nonmonstrous vermin away, 5' radius, burns for 1 hour. Vermin Ointment (Secrets of Xendrik p. 139, included below) does the same thing and costs 20 GP, but it also affects monstrous vermin if they fail a Fortitude save DC 15. If you're surrounded by inexhaustible number of insect swarms, 10 hours should be long enough to allow all your spellcasters to rest and regain spells.

Chaos Flask (x2, 100 GP ea.)
Price: 200 GP
Weight: 1#
(Planar Handbook p. 76)
Make a Wisdom check DC 13 as a free action to shape this material into almost any non-magical object of the same volume or smaller (depending on the material or density). Similar to a one-shot Marvelous Pigments, but no price limit. Most alchemical items are small and non-magical, so this is a great wild card to have up your sleeve. Know what else is small and non-magical? Vials of poison. For only 100 GP, you can whip up a vial of Black Lotus Extract at a 4400 GP discount. (The nastiest poison in print is Megapede Poison, DC 44, primary/secondary 2d6 Con damage + 1d4 Dex penalty, 24000 GP, Dungeonscape p. 129.) Lasts a number of rounds equal to your Wisdom score, but as long as your Wis is 11+, that should be long enough for the poison's secondary effect to kick in. Another good use would be expensive material components for spells. Need 5,000 GP diamond for a raise dead? (Sadly, this won't work for resurrection's 10 minute casting time unless your Wis is 100+.) Also, check out Flux Slime (Epic Level Handbook p. 107): 10' antimagic field, permanently disjunct magic items (no save), or 2d6 Con damage (no save) against any creature with (Su) or SLA abilities. If destroyed by cold, fire, or sunlight, it explodes and every creature within 50' may get a permanent random mutation.

Clearwater Tablet
Price: 1 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Scoundrel p. 110)
Removes any disease, poison, or other toxins from 1 gallon of water. Doesn't work on magical potions, oils, or alcohol-based liquids, and clean water ceases to be much of an issue once you get hold of a Travel Cloak, but you never know where it might come in handy.

Dagger, Riverine
Price: 2002 GP
Weight: 1#
(Stormwrack p. 128)
Wall of force in the shape of a dagger. Backup weapon for dealing with ethereal and incorporeal creatures. Note: add Rusting as a +1 enhancement (Shining South) to destroy any ferrous metal object with the equivalent of rusting grasp at will.

Defoliator
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 1#
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 33)
Grenade-like weapon that does 2d4 damage to plant creatures and auto-kills any non-creature plant that is size medium or smaller in a 5' radius burst, AKA a "Get Out of Entangle Free Card". Since all slimes, molds, and fungi are treated as plants (and are not considered creatures), this item also instantly kills Green Slime, Yellow Mold, Brown Mold (DMG), Snowflake Lichen (Frostburn), Grey Slime, and Bone Fungus (Dungeonscape) in a 5' radius. It also does 2d4 damage to wooden objects, dissolving them like acid, although hardness still applies.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Drow House Insignia
Price: 360/2160/5400 GP
Weight: 1#
(Races of Faerun p. 173)
These unique necklaces are used to identify which noble house a drow belongs to, but they also have one low-level spell that can be activated 1/day. The level of the spell determines the price (1st = 360 GP, 2nd = 2160 GP, 3rd = 5400 GP). The available spells include: blur, cat's grace, cloak of dark power, comprehend languages, feather fall, jump, levitate, read magic, scatterspray, shield, spider climb, unseen servant, and water breathing. The one we're most interested in is unseen servant. See the entry for Collar of Perpetual Attendance below if you're not sure why. Upgrade to the Collar as soon as finances permit.

Earplugs
Price: 3 SP
Weight: --
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 22)
+1 circumstance bonus on saves against deafness and sonic attacks.

Eggshell Grenade, Dust (x10, 10 GP ea.)
Price: 100 GP
Weight: --
(Oriental Adventures p. 78)
Thrown as a grenade-like weapon, so make a ranged touch attack with a range increment of 5'. A dust grenade that hits its target directly blinds the target for 1d4 rounds *NO SAVE*. Anyone else within the 5' radius splash must make a Fort save DC 10 or be blinded for 1 round. This is an amazingly effective weapon that works on a wide variety of opponents, but don't overuse this one or your DM will come down on you with a banhammer like a ton of bricks.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Expandable Pole
Price: 5 GP
Weight: 1#
(Song & Silence p. 53)
Every adventurer needs the obligatory 10' pole, but this one "goes to 11". It can be adjusted to 5', 7', 9', or 11' lengths, or collapsed down to 1'. Another version, called a Mobile Brace, can be found in Races of Faerun, which has more detailed rules on how much weight it can support and for using it to secure a rope for climbing, but it weights 3 lbs. Dungeonscape has a similar "Collapsable Pole" that goes out to 12', but it weighs 8 lbs. I chose this version to conserve weight.

Everfull Mug
Price: 200 GP
Weight: --
(Magic Item Compendium p. 160)
While I'm offended by the rather suspicious definition of "everfull", this mug can provide up to 36 ounces (half a six pack? That's "everfull"?) per day of alcoholic beverage, and is less weight than a bottle of wine.

Explosive Pack
Price: 200 GP
Weight: 2#
(Secrets of Sarlona p. 138)
An alchemical explosive that can be set to go off after a predetermined time, usually 1 to 10 rounds. 1d6 bludgeoning and slashing damage in a 5' radius burst. Full-round action that provokes AoOs to activate. For another 200 GP, you can add 2 lbs of explosives and increase the damage by 1d6, and for each 3d6 damage, the blast radius increases by 5', up to a maximum of 10d6 and 20'. A Profession (Siege Engineer) check DC 20 causes double damage to objects, and a DC 30 check does triple. Note: the DMG has slightly cheaper bombs (150 GP for 2d6 fire damage) if you're just looking for something you can light and throw.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 26

Fast Torch (x3, 5 GP ea.)
Price: 15 GP
Weight: 1.5#
(Complete Mage p. 134)
When you absolutely, positively must light something on fire with only a swift action.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Feather Fall Talisman
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Sharn City of Towers p. 170)
One-shot item, activate feather fall as a free action. While there are a variety of similar items to prevent falling damage, this is the cheapest.

Feather Token, Fan
Price: 200 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
One-shot item to get rid of smoke, obscuring mist, pyrotechnics, fog cloud, stinking cloud, cloudkill, solid fog, acid fog, etc. If you can afford it, consider upgrading to a Wind Fan (5500 GP, DMG).

Feather Token, Swan Boat
Price: 450 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
Aside from the utility of having a boat when you really need one, the ability to create a large wooden structure at a moment's notice has plenty of other applications. Unfortunately, we're not given a size or weight, but given that it can accommodate 8 horses, we know it's at least 20' x 40' or 10' x 80'. The boat can be used to block a passage, divide a battlefield, provide hard cover, an enclosed place to sleep, raw materials for a large bonfire or giant wooden badger, or squish something nasty, e.g., what I like to call the Swan Boat of Death: give your feather token to an unseen servant or someone who can fly over whatever it is you want to flatten. At a height of 10', falling object damage caps at 20d6. If we assume the swan boat weighs at least 4000 lbs (pretty safe bet for a 20' x 40' boat), anything underneath it when the token is activated takes 20d6 falling object damage, no save (yes, it's in the falling object rules, no Ref save to avoiding falling objects). When you can afford it, upgrade to a Folding Boat (7200 GP) so you can use it over and over again.

Feather Token, Tree
Price: 400 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
Much like the swan boat, the tree token offers a variety of battlefield control possibilities. Block off a narrow passage, provide hard cover, put an easily-climbable object next to a shear wall, chop it down to cross a chasm/create a 60' wall 5' high, or just piss off a druid. The description goes out of its way to mention it's an instantaneous effect, so you could try the "drop it on somebody from above" trick.

Feather Token, Whip
Price: 500 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
This is a great low-level item to have around if you can't afford a +1 weapon yet and suddenly stumble into something that has DR/magic. It attacks as a magic weapon on its own, 15' reach, lasts an hour, and it gets a free grapple with a pretty hefty bonus, denying the target its Dex bonus and making the party rogue very happy. The only real downside is if your DM decides it gets all of the disadvantages of an ordinary whip: nonlethal damage, and no damage if the target has an armor bonus of +1 or a natural armor bonus of +3. The item description doesn't specify, but I'd like to think it does lethal damage even against armored targets.

Firestone
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 0.5#
(Dragon Compendium p. 117)
Thrown as a grenade-like weapon, it does 1d6 fire damage, but unlike a splash weapon, it has an area effect that damages everything in the 5' square without a Ref save. Ranged touch attacks are pretty easy to begin with, but targeting a stationary square rather than a creature makes them even ridiculously more so. This might allow you to throw a whole bag full of these into a square for Xd6 fire damage, X = however many firestones fit in the bag. Another interesting tactic might be to give this bag to an unseen servant, and have it drop or empty the bag into a square from above (doesn't require an attack roll). No weight was given in the Dragon Compendium or the original Dragon article, so I'm assuming a firestone weighs the same as a sling bullet (1/2 lb). Thus, an unseen servant could put 39 into a sack (20 lbs total) and drop it in a square for 39d6 fire damage, no save.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Flint & Steel
Price: 1 GP
Weight: --
(PHB)
If your sparker burns out and your magnifying glass won't work, best to have this as a fallback.

Flour Pouch (x4, 1 SP ea.)
Price: 4 SP
Weight: --
(Dungeonscape p. 32)
Thrown as splash weapon, 5' burst. Locates invisible creatures, reduces their concealment to 20%, and reduces their hide bonus. To completely negate concealment, see Torch Bug Paste (25 GP, Complete Scoundrel).

Forger's Paper (x10, 10 GP ea.)
Price: 100 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Scoundrel p. 110)
+2 alchemical bonus on Forgery checks, so it stacks with a Forgery Kit (see below). In many ways, Forgery is more powerful than Bluff, Diplomacy, Disguise, or Intimidate put together. Why? Because it's resisted by Forgery, a skill no one ever takes. Stacks with Forgery Kit and Focusing Candle.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Forgery Kit
Price: 40 GP
Weight: 5#
(Complete Adventurer p. 122)
+2 circumstance bonus on Forgery checks. This kit includes a variety of inks, papers, pens, and seals. Unfortunately, there was a price and weight increase from where it was first printed in the Arms & Equipment Guide, and any mention of waxes, guides and magnifying glasses was removed. Still, this is probably worth it just to avoid the fuss and bother of buying all the included items separately. Each kit lasts for 10 uses, and it stacks with Forger's Paper and a Focusing Candle.

Garlic (x10, 1 CP ea.)
Price: 1 SP
Weight: --
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 31)
Mash a few cloves up into a paste and smear it on yourself, your equipment, or various openings/furniture to drive away vampires. Unlike wasting 150 GP on Alchemical Vampire Repellent (Expedition to Castle Ravenloft p. 209), garlic doesn't have a specific duration. The rules in the Monster Manual are pretty vague on mechanics, so you may want to work out with your DM how close vampires can approach and how long it lasts.

Ghostblight
Price: 100 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Adventurer p. 122)
Can be used with a Weapon Capsule Retainer (100 GP, Complete Adventurer) or applied as an oil with a standard action. Used against incorporeal creatures to ignore the 50% miss chance, lasts for 3 rounds. There's a similar substance in Libris Mortis called Ghostoil, but it takes a full round action to apply and only lasts for 2 rounds.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 35

Ghostwall Shellac
Price: 150 GP
Weight: 1#
(Dungeonscape p. 35)
This item requires at least 1 hour prep time and a gallon of water, so it won't help while you're being attacked by an incorporeal creature, but if you have time to paint your armor and weapons with this stuff (up to a 100 square feet), they'll work like Ghost Touch weapons/armor for 4d6 hours.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 30

Goodberry Wine
Price: 250 GP
Weight: 0.5#
(Five Nations p. 82)
Each jug contains 5 doses, so for 50 GP you get the equivalent of a maximized potion of cure light wounds (each dose heals 8 HP). This is a much better deal than the CLW potion or the Healing Salve from Tome & Blood. The only drawback is you're limited to one dose every 8 hours. Other benefits include it counts as a full meal for a medium creature, it works in the Mournland, and it uses transmutation magic so it should have full effect on a Warforged.

Hammersphere
Price: 1500 GP
Weight: 0.5#
(Magic Item Compendium p. 161)
An excellent fire-and-forget weapon that's effective against incorporeal/ethereal creatures and anything with DR.

Hand of the Mage
Price: 900 GP
Weight: 2#
(DMG)
A handy ("{groan}" "What?!") item to have around. Lift and manipulate any object up to 5 lbs within 35'. When you can afford to upgrade, pick up a Collar of Perpetual Attendance for unseen servant at will.

Holy Water
Price: 25 GP
Weight: 1#
(PHB)
Thrown as a splash weapon, 2d4 damage to undead and evil outsiders. There are equivalents for each major alignment (Unholy Water in the PHB, Axiomatic and Anarchic Water in the Planar Handbook), but undead and evil outsiders are much more common than any other alignment type. You can also douse incorporeal undead for 2d4 damage, but unfortunately they still get their 50% miss chance against this attack. In that case, load the Holy Water into a Sprayer (Arms & Equipment Guide p. 25) to turn it into an area effect which ignores concealment.

Icewild Lichen Paste
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Secrets of Sarlona p. 138)
Reduces fatigue or exhaustion by a step for 2d4 hours. At the end of that duration, character is fatigued for 2d4 minutes. Multiple doses taken within 24 hours cause 1d4 Constitution damage.

Ioun Stone, Dull Grey
Price: 135 GP
Weight: --
(DMG 3.0)
A burned-out ioun stone (25 GP) no longer confers any magical effects, but it does still float around your head. Get your friendly neighborhood cleric to cast continual flame on it (which may cost 50 to 110 GP), and you can create a slotless light source that keeps your hands free.

Ipecac
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Expedition to Castle Ravenloft p. 209)
If you ever get swallowed by a creature, empty this into its stomach. The creature is forced to regurgitate you, and is nauseated for 1d4 rounds, no save. It can also be used to induce vomiting after ingesting a poison, giving a +5 untyped bonus to the secondary effect. Each vial contains 10 doses.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Jeweler's Loupe
Price: 20 GP
Weight: --
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 24)
+1 circumstance bonus on Appraise checks with art/gems/jewelry. Combine with a magnifying glass for another +2 circumstance bonus. Make either of them masterwork for 50 GP and get another +2 circumstance bonus.

Kyo Crystals
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Expedition to Undermountain p. 217)
One-shot items similar to potions, but unlike potions activating them with a standard action does not provoke an AoO. They cost the same as potions (I've listed a cost above for a 1st level spell because I thought they were the most useful), but the spell must be chosen from a limited list: burning hands, cure light wounds, cure moderate wounds (150 GP), cure serious wounds (250 GP), light (25 GP), mage armor, magic missle, magic weapon, mirror image (150 GP), or ray of frost (25 GP). Oddly enough, you don't have to have these spells on your spell list to create these items, so wizards can create cure crystals. Of the available spells, magic missle (autohit force damage) and magic weapon (easier than applying an oil) look like the most useful.

Liquid Ice
Price: 30 GP
Weight: 1#
(Dragon Compendium p. 118)
Empty your waterskin on the ground and you can use this to create a non-magical 10' x 10' ice sheet, or extinguish a 10' x 10' section of fire. As per the DMG p. 91, slippery ice counts as difficult terrain, costing 2 squares of movement. It also has the same effect as a grease spell, as described in the PHB under the Balance skill: targets without 5 ranks in Balance that are attacked on a slippery surface are considered flat-footed. From there, you can add Razor Ice Powder to create a 10' x 10' section of Razor Ice (1d4 slashing damage and 1d6 cold damage for each square entered, no save). Liquid Ice can also be thrown as a splash weapon, doing 1d6 cold damage on a direct hit and 1 splash damage. If your DM doesn't allow Dragon Compendium material, you can use Freeze Powder (100 GP, Frostburn p. 79) instead, although this can't be thrown as a splash weapon. If you need an alternative for splash damage, use Alchemist's Frost (25 GP, Eberron Campaign Setting p. 120). Note: Neither Dragon Compendium nor the original Dragon Magazine article listed a weight, so I had to guess. Alchemist's Frost, Freeze Powder, and Frostfire all weighed 1 lb., so I figured Liquid Ice would most likely weigh the same.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Liquid Smoke
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 1#
(Oriental Adventures p. 78)
Same price as a smokestick, but reacts with air and thus does not need to be lit. Provides concealment, blocks LOS, or a cheap theatrical effect.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Magic Bedroll
Price: 500 GP
Weight: 6#
(Magic Item Compendium p. 163)
Not to be confused with Heward's Fortifying Bedroll (Complete Mage). This bedroll provides the benefits of endure elements and restores 1 HP per character level after 8 hours of rest. Combine with Bitterleaf Oil to gain more natural healing, although unlike the oil, the bedroll doesn't have a 5 HP maximum limit.

Magnifying Glass
Price: 100 GP
Weight: --
(PHB)
+2 circumstance bonus on Appraise checks on small objects. Combine with Jeweler's Loupe for another +1. Make it masterwork for another 50 GP and another +2 circumstance bonus. Also, start a fire without flint & steel, or incinerate a few anthills for some easy XP.

Manacles, Masterwork
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 2#
(PHB)
Requires a Strength check DC 28 or Escape Artist check DC 35 to get out of. Useful for keeping hostages/prisoners (particularly spellcasters) out of trouble.

Marbles (x4, 2 SP ea.)
Price: 8 SP
Weight: 8#
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 24)
These are deployed much like caltrops, so it takes a standard action to spread. Basically a 5' x 5' square of non-magical grease. Dump them under an opponent without 5 ranks of Balance to deny his Dex bonus and make the party rogue happy.

Mordrei'in
Price: 25 GP
Weight: --
(Faiths of Eberron p. 153)
+2 alchemical bonus to Concentration and Spot checks for 10 minutes. For fluff reasons, may only be available to elves from Aerenal.

Needle (x2, 5 SP ea.)
Price: 1 GP
Weight: --
(PHB)
Mend clothing, sew a sack closed, or hide it in a haystack. You can also magnetize it and use it as a compass, or bend it into a fishhook.

Net
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 6#
(PHB)
Although this is an exotic weapon, ranged touch attacks are usually easy enough to hit even with the non-proficiency penalty. A hit with a net entangles a creature (-2 attack penalty, -4 Dex penalty, restricts movement), which can be a cheap and easy debuff or delaying tactic. If you're running into larger creatures, use a lasso instead. Check with your DM if the Dex penalty from multiple sources stack (lasso, tanglefoot, etc.). There's also a Razor Net version (50 GP, Dragon Compendium) that does 1d6 damage if the target fails their check to get out of the net (Escape Artist check DC 20 or Strength check DC 25), but it's a little too easy to escape and the razors cut up the net, preventing it from being used again.

Noxious Smokestick
Price: 80 GP
Weight: 0.5#
(Eberron Campaign Setting p. 121)
Creates 10' cube of smoke and anyone inside has to make a Fort save DC 15 or become nauseated for 1 round. While this makes it a little tricky to light, you can fix that by having an unseen servant light it and carry it around.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Oil
Price: 1 SP
Weight: 1#
(PHB)
There are rules for turning these things into splash weapons, but it takes a full-round action to prep and with a 50% failure rate, it's probably not worth the bother. Spreading it on the ground and lighting it on fire may be a bit more promising if you have enough time to prep for it.

Panic Button, Escaping
Price: 750 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Scoundrel p. 115)
One-shot dimension door, up to 30'.

Panther Tears (x2, 30 GP ea.)
Price: 60 GP
Weight: 0.2#
(Secrets of Xendrik p. 139)
Eye drops that give you low-light vision for 1 hour. This also gives you light sensitivity, but for only 10 GP Sundark Goggles will fix that for you.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Piton (x10, 1 SP ea.)
Price: 1 GP
Weight: 5#
(PHB)
Attach ropes, spike doors, trepanize your friends and neighbors.

Periscope, Hand
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 2#
(Dungeonscape p. 32)
Peek around corners (with a +7 Hide bonus).

Potion Belt, Masterwork
Price: 60 GP
Weight: 1#
(Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting p. 97)
Once per round, you can retrieve a potion as a free action. Holds up to 10 potions. While this item should really be worn rather than kept in the haversack, I'm mentioning it here just in case you weren't aware of it before.

Quicksilver
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Adventurer p. 122)
Can be used with a Weapon Capsule Retainer (100 GP, Complete Adventurer) or applied as an oil with a standard action. Allows weapon to deal damage as if coated with silver (including -1 damage), lasts for 3 rounds. If you can afford it, consider upgrading to Silversheen (250 GP, DMG) which lasts an hour.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 30

Quickspark
Price: 25 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Adventurer p. 122)
Of all the various alchemical items that do energy damage, Quickspark is the easiest to use and you're less likely to run into electricity resistance than fire or cold. It can be applied to a weapon as on oil with a standard action, or as a swift action when used with a Weapon Capsule Retainer (100 GP, Complete Adventurer). It can't be thrown on its own and does no splash damage, but you can apply it to any grenade-like weapon just like any other weapon. A Quickspark + Acidic Fire, for example, does an average of 11 energy damage over 2 rounds. Alchemist's Spark (Eberron Campaign Setting) is easier to throw, does a little more damage (1d8) and also splashes for 1 damage, but can't be applied to a weapon. A Sparkstone (Arms & Equipment Guide) can be thrown as a grenade-like weapon for 1d6 electricity damage and it will arc to one adjacent opponent (but only one) for half damage.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Razor Ice Powder
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 1#
(Frostburn p. 79)
When combined with the contents of a waterskin and Liquid Ice (Dragon Compendium p. 118) or Freeze Powder (Frostburn p. 79), you can create a 10' x 10' square of slippery Razor Ice, which does 1d4 slashing damage and 1d6 cold damage for each square entered, no save.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Rope Climber
Price: 15 GP
Weight: 3#
(Races of Faerun p. 160)
+5 circumstance bonus on Climb checks to ascend a rope, although it halves the rate of ascent. Full-round action to thread or remove the Rope Climber from a rope.

Rope, Silk (50')
Price: 10 GP
Weight: 5#
(PHB)
When you can afford it, most of your rope needs should be met with Troll Gut Rope, but if you need to tie something up for longer than 12 hours, it's good to have some normal rope handy. Keep in mind that the Cablespool can be used for descent, and Shapesand can be used to make temporary equipment (ropes, ladders) that retains its shape within 100' of you.

Rust Monster Wand
Price: 160 GP
Weight: 2#
(Complete Scoundrel p. 120)
Destroys metal objects. Requires fresh air and 5 coins per day as food. Upgrade to a +1 rusting weapon (8300 GP, Shining South) when available.

Sack (x3, 1 SP ea.)
Price: 3 SP
Weight: 1.5#
(PHB)
Loot redistribution device.

Screaming Flask
Price: 40 GP
Weight: 1#
(Complete Mage p. 135)
1d8 sonic damage in a 15' cone, Fort save DC 15 vs. deafness.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Shapesand (jug)
Price: 100 GP
Weight: 12#
(Sandstorm p. 102)
Through the exertion of your will (Wisdom check DC 16), you can create any mundane non-magical object out of sand that supposedly "serves as a normal item of the same sort". (So... does that mean I can turn it into 12 lbs of acid or alchemist's fire? How about explosives or poisons? How about a masterwork gatling gun? Hmm...) It retains that shape as long as it stays within 100' of you, but you can also reshape it whenever you like by making another Wisdom check. While the question of acid/explosives/poisons will have to be settled by your DM, you have any tool you can possibly imagine at your fingertips. Need a hammer? Done. Don't need the hammer anymore, need a shovel? Done. It's particularly useful for tools that wear out after a certain number of uses, such as hacksaws and drills. How about exotic weapons or armor (Shapesand Fullplate = 500 GP, shapesand Mechanus Gear = 700 GP)? It can do that, too, although be aware, if an enemy recognizes you're using shapesand, he could try to reshape it under his control with a Wisdom check of his own.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Slippery Oil
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Dragon Compendium p. 119)
+5 untyped bonus to Escape Artist checks, so it stacks with Spelunker's Oil (+2 alchemical, 15 GP, Drow of the Underdark). Lasts 1 hour.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Sparker
Price: 2 GP
Weight: --
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 25)
Works similar to a tindertwig (standard action to light a torch), but cheaper. 10 uses for only 2 GP.

Sphere of Awakening
Price: 1800 GP
Weight: 1#
(Magic Item Compendium p. 186)
A must-have for anyone on watch. 1/day, instantly wakes up all of your allies as a swift action. In addition, you and all allies are immune to fatigue, exhaustion, and sleep effects for 10 minutes. If you've got any barbarian, frenzied berserker, or dervish in the party that has to deal with fatigue, this will immediately get rid of it.

Sprayer
Price: 15 GP
Weight: 4#
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 25)
Spray a 10' long cloud of oil, holy water, an inhaled poison, or our new favorite special substance: aboleth mucus. It's an area effect, essentially a 5' x 10' line, but it doesn't require an attack roll and can be given to an unseen servant. The description says acid won't work, but doesn't mention alchemist's fire (which should work if the storage drum is airtight, but I'm not sure it is). Quickflame, Quickfrost, or Quickspark (Complete Adventurer) might also work, as well as Alchemist's Frost (Eberron Campaign Setting), but Alchemist's Spark requires two liquids in separate containers to be mixed. Atramen Oil, Liquid Smoke, or Stonebreaker Acid could also be interesting options when delivered by a sprayer.

Stonebreaker Acid
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 1#
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 35)
Thrown as grenade-like weapon. Against stone objects/creatures, 5d10 damage over 2 rounds that ignores hardness. While Delver Slime (150 GP, Savage Species) may deal more damage per application, Stonebreaker Acid is a lot cheaper.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Sundark Goggles
Price: 10 GP
Weight: --
(Races of the Dragon p. 123)
Never take the Daylight Adaptation feat ever again. These handy little shades negate the dazed penalty for creatures with Light Sensitivity, and also provide a +2 circumstance bonus on saves against gaze attacks. Creatures without low-light or darkvision take a -2 penalty on spot and search checks.

Suregrip
Price: 20 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Adventurer p. 119)
+1 alchemical bonus on Climb checks, stacks with Climber's Kit (+2 circumstance, PHB), Rope Climber (+5 circumstance, Races of Faerun), and Spider Kit (+2 circumstance, Drow of the Underdark).
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Survival Pouch
Price: 3300 GP
Weight: 5#
(Magic Item Compendium p. 187)
5/day, you can pull out one of the following: trail rations, 2 gallons of water in a waterskin, tent plus two bedrolls, 50' rope, shovel, campfire/8 torches, composite shortbow with 20 arrows in a quiver, or a mule with bit/bridle/saddle/saddlebags. While this duplicates some items we have already, what we're really after are the 5 mules/day. Mules are large sturdy creatures that can be used as mounts, pack bearers, trapfinders, or 10' x 10' blocks of meat you can use to block corridors, distract opponents, delay pursuers, etc. The description says they won't fight but treat them as summoned creatures, which means they respond to verbal commands (almost all summoned creatures understand Common as their default language) to the best of their abilities without having to muck around with tricks and Handle Animal checks.

Talisman of the Disk
Price: 500 GP
Weight: --
(Magic Item Compendium p. 188)
Tenser's floating disk at will, lasts up to 3 hours. Aside from just carrying around loot, use it to glide allies over rough/dangerous terrain, or give it to one of the frontline meatshields to create a "side-car", allowing a second melee fighter to move alongside and full-attack without having to use his own move action.

Tarpaulin, Honey Leather (big)
Price: 40 GP
Weight: 1#
(Races of the Wild p. 170)
An upgrade from a winter blanket, wearing a honey leather tarpaulin gives a +1 circumstance bonus on Survival checks to resist the effects of severe weather, or +2 bonus if you're stationary. The big tarpaulin is waterproof, 6' square, and could be used to wrap your equipment to prevent it from getting wet, collect rainwater, cover a 5' pit trap, smother a small fire, or convert it into a float bladder.

Tanglefoot Bag
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 4#
(PHB)
Ranged touch attack that entangles (-2 attack penalty, -4 Dex penalty, restricts movement), a chance to immobilize, and makes life difficult for flying creatures. Check with your DM if the Dex penalty from multiple sources stack (net, lasso, etc.).
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Torch Bug Paste (x4, 25 GP ea.)
Price: 100 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Scoundrel p. 120)
Thrown as a splash weapon, non-magical faerie fire effect, which pinpoints invisible creatures and completely negates concealment.

Travel Cloak
Price: 1200 GP
Weight: 1#
(Magic of Faerun p. 166)
Provides trail rations 3/day, a flask that produces up to 2 gallons of cool water or sugared hot tea per day, endure elements against cold, and can be transformed into a one-person tent 1/day.

Trollbane
Price: 90 GP
Weight: --
(Dungeonscape p. 37)
Running into a regenerating creature when the party isn't ready for it can quickly turn into a TPK. While one dose of Alchemist's Fire, Bladefire, or Quickflame might be cheaper, trollbane allows all of a weapon's damage (not just fire/acid) to ignore regeneration. Save this for high-damage single-hit attacks, such as two-handed power-attack leap-attack ubercharger combos.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Troll Gut Rope
Price: 500 GP
Weight: 7#
(Magic Item Compendium p. 190)
50' rope, 1/day provides an extra 300' of rope that lasts for 12 hours. If you need to tie up something longer than that, stick with normal non-magical rope. Since you may need to tie something up for longer than 12 hours, keep at least one coil of normal silk rope handy.

Unguent of Timelessness
Price: 150 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
Used primarily to extend the duration of some alchemical items by 365 times. It can be applied to any item that was once alive, which basically means it has to consist primarily of organic materials. Candles and torches burn for 15 days (365 hours = 15.21 days). Lamp oil (created from whale fat or crude oil) burns for 91.25 days. Certain alchemical items could also be considered organic, such as a Focusing Candle (Complete Adventurer), Icewild Lichen Paste (Secrets of Sarlona), Fire Beetle Lamp (Races of Dragon) or Torch Bug Paste (Complete Scoundrel). There's no restriction to non-magical items, so you could add this to a section of Troll Gut Rope and it would last 182.5 days instead of 12 hours. It can also be used to keep a corpse fresh for raise dead. Each flask contains 8 doses (19 GP per dose).

Universal Solvent
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
Gets you out of sticky situations. In addition to countering Sovereign Glue, it can dissolve tanglefoot bags, kuo-toa shields, and other adhesives.

Vermin Ointment
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 1#
(Secrets of Xendrik p. 139)
Vermin of diminuative size or smaller (including swarms) can't get within 5' of you unless magically compelled (and with most vermin being mindless, good luck with that). Larger vermin must make a Fortitude save DC 15 or become sickened.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Whiteshiver Elixir
Price: 1500 GP
Weight: 1#
(Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk p. 222)
Gain all of the benefits and immunities of the plant subtype for 10 minutes: low-light vision, immunity to crits, mind-affects, paralysis, polymorph, poison, sleep, and stunning.

Wick, Candle (x5, 2 SP ea.)
Price: 1 GP
Weight: --
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 27)
Can be used anywhere you would use Twine (Dungeonscape p. 33), such as tripwires, improvised alarm systems, fishing lines, signal kites, or hang from the ceiling to detect invisible flying creatures. In addition, you can use it as a timing device: it takes 30 seconds (5 rounds) to burn 1 inch. Comes in 50' rolls.

Darrin
2010-04-06, 04:43 PM
Haversack Type IV
Upgrade Cost: 42500 GP (replaces items worth 640 GP)
Total Market Price: 69187 GP (includes 2000 GP for Haversack)
Weight: 115 lbs

Type IV adds some items in the 2500 to 9000 GP range, although not too many, because at this point 69K GP is probably a good chunk of your Wealth By Level getting sunk into stuff that isn't immediately making you more dangerous or harder to kill.

Upgrades:

Bag of Tricks, Tan
Price: 6300 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
One of my favorite items. All of these animals are decent scrappers and can be used as a mount by a medium-sized rider in a pinch (to control in combat, Ride check DC 20 as a move action, or Ride check DC 10 as a free action for the Warhorse). The brown bear, lion, and tiger are all excellent grapplers with improved grab (great way to shut down or distract spellcasters), and who doesn't love tossing a charging rhino at their enemies? Test for pressure plates/pit traps, block passageways, throw behind enemies to break up formations, provide flanking, or push/pull heavy objects.

Bottle of Air
Price: 7250 GP
Weight: 2#
(DMG)
Not quite a continuous water breathing item, but pretty close.
Replaces: Rust Monster Wand

Chardalyn
Price: 1000/3500/8000 GP
Weight: 1#/2#/3#
(Silver Marches Web Enhancement p. 3 and Lords of Darkness p. 181)
This one-shot "spell-storing" item may only useful for spellcasters, but I'm including it anyway because it was so frickin' hard to find. A spellcaster can cast a single spell into this brittle rock, and it will store this spell indefinitely, or until it's thrown against a hard surface. Lords of Darkness gives the stats for throwing: ranged touch attack up to 100', 20' range increment. The Silver Marches Web Enhancement gives the prices based on size: 1000 GP for up to a 3rd level spell, 3500 GP up to a 6th level spell, or 8000 GP up to a 9th level spell. However, no weight is given, so I assumed the weight is similar to other thrown weapons with a 20' range increment. 1-3 lbs seemed appropriate.
Replaces: Explosive Pack

Decanter of Endless Water
Price: 9000 GP
Weight: 2#
(DMG)
You've got to love any item that can provide a refreshing drink to you and any friendly army in the neighborhood, blast a kobold off his feet, destroy the economy of a desert nation, and turn badgers into projectile weapons (http://rustyandco.com/comic/level-5-5/).
Replaces: Hand Periscope

Folding Boat
Price: 7200 GP
Weight: 4#
(DMG)
Same as the Feather Token: Swan Boat, but you can use it over and over again: battlefield control, hard cover, safe place to sleep, or drop it on something you want to squish from above. Unfortunately, an unseen servant can't speak the command words, but a Raven familiar could have loads of fun with this thing.
Replaces: Tanglefoot Bag

Moonfire Salve
Price: 2500 GP
Weight: 0.5#
(Magic of Faerun p. 163)
One-shot item with multiple effects, depending on how you use it. Apply to forehead for dispel magic, apply to feet for fly, apply to eyes for darkvision, apply to hand for greater mage hand, or eat it for cure serious wounds.
Replaces: Fast Torch

Rod of Ropes
Price: 4000 GP
Weight: 4#
(Complete Scoundrel p. 116)
This doesn't exactly replace the cablespool, but it does oh so much more: ascend/descend 60' per round, autograbbing grappling hook up to 300', bull rush opponents within 30', and a double-grapple 600' zipline slider. Even better, activation is a move action, leaving you with a standard action for all those "I'm Batman!" stunts.
Replaces: Cablespool

Scarab, Golembane
Price: 2500 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
Until you can afford a Greater Demolition Crystal (and a +3 weapon to put it on), this little bit of bling is a great way to ruin a golem's day.

Stamp of the Messenger, Gold
Price: 2750 GP
Weight: 1#
(City of Splendors: Waterdeep p. 151)
This stamp produces a magical wax seal that you can attach to any object up to 0.5 lbs. The wax will animate as a fine-sized construct and then deliver the object to anyone within two miles (40' fly speed). In addition to being an ideal delivery device for explosive runes, you can use this to pinpoint hidden/invisible opponents.


Type IV Complete Contents:

Aboleth Mucus
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 1#
(Savage Species p. 46)
This is one of the cheapest and deadliest poisons in the game, although not actually a poison so there's no check to see if you accidentally poison yourself. Thrown as a grenade-like weapon, so make a ranged touch attack to hit (no splash effect). If the creature fails a Fort save DC 19, it loses the ability to breathe air for 3 hours. A creature can hold it's breath for a number of rounds equal to twice its Constitution score, so it essentially has that many rounds to find someone who can cast water breathing or air breathing. Delay poison and neutralize poison won't help (it's not a poison), dispel magic won't help (it's non-magical), deep breath (Spell Compendium) won't work (it fills your lungs with air you still can't breathe), sticking your head in a bucket of water won't help (the mucus doesn't confer the ability to breathe water), and there may be a good argument that a heal spell won't work, either (unable to breathe isn't one of the conditions listed in the spell description). After failing a Con check, the creature starts to suffocate and falls unconscious, and two rounds later it dies. So while it may take a little longer than poison (2-3 minutes), getting hit with this is pretty much a death sentence for most creatures.

Acidic Fire (x2, 30 GP ea.)
Price: 60 GP
Weight: 2#
(Eberron Campaign Setting p. 120)
What's better than burning things with acid? Burning things with flaming acid! Rather than carry separate flasks of Acid and Alchemist's Fire, it saves space to combine them into the same bottle. Although combining the two substances drops the damage die to 1d4, if you hit a creature that is still vulnerable to both acid and fire (I'm looking at you, Mr. Troll), you actually come out slightly ahead on the average damage (7.5 damage for Acidic Fire, 7 damage for Alchemist's Fire, and 3.5 damage for just plain ol' acid). The 2 points of splash damage isn't too shabby, either. Give a sack full of 19 flasks of Acidic Fire to an unseen servant and it can drop it in a square for 38 splash damage, no save.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Alchemical Flare Stake (x3, 15 GP ea.)
Price: 45 GP
Weight: 0.3#
(Expedition to Castle Ravenloft p. 208)
One-shot item, treated as a dagger, does 1d6 fire damage against corporeal undead. It also lodges into the undead's body and does an additional 1d6 fire damage every round (the undead creature, assuming it isn't mindless, can remove all stakes with a standard action). There's no duration listed, so it apparently continues to burn until the creature is dead or the stake is removed. There are also alchemical flare bolts for the same price, but they don't do additional damage on subsequent rounds. Although the description says treat the stakes like daggers for proficiency purposes, I'm not clear on whether they can be thrown Buffy-style like daggers... but it would be pure awesomesauce if they could.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Alchemical Sun Flash
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 1#
(Expedition to Castle Ravenloft p. 208)
Works just like alchemist's fire, but also explodes with a burst of daylight that dazzles creatures that are light sensitive, no save. Vampires are also staggered for one round, no save.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Amber Amulet of Vermin: Giant Wasp
Price: 800 GP
Weight: --
(Magic Item Compendium p. 68)
Flying mount you can summon 1/day for up to 1 minute. It can also fight if need be, provide flanking, block hallways, test for traps, take out the garbage, etc.

Angel Radiance
Price: 20 GP
Weight: --
(Book of Exalted Deeds p. 37)
Bunko's Bargain Basement recommends Liquid Sunlight (Complete Scoundrel p. 110) as a cheap everburning torch, but this item is even better: same price, shines like a torch, but as a spell component it can be drawn as a free action.

Animal Call
Price: 20 GP
Weight: --
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 21)
+1 circumstance bonus on Survival checks to find food, stacks with Fowler's Snare (+1 circumstance, Arms & Equipment Guide) and Hunter's Kit (+2 circumstance, Secrets of Xendrik). Also can be used as a signal device.

Antitoxin (x4, 50 GP ea.)
Price: 200 GP
Weight: --
(PHB)
Where else are you going to find a +5 alchemical bonus on saves for only 50 GP? Chug one of these vials when you know you're up against a creature using poison, and you've got a good chance to save yourself the cost of a neutralize poison potion or scroll. Lasts 1 hour.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Atramen Oil
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 1#
(Planar Handbook p. 75)
Throw as a grenade-like splash weapon, ranged touch attack with a 10' range increment, direct hit on a target takes -4 penalty on Fort saves for 1 minute. Any creature in the 5' splash gets a similar -1 penalty on Fort saves. Great way to soften up a target for poison or some other Fort-based attack.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Auran Mask
Price: 60 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Mage p. 134)
Provides a +5 circumstance bonus against inhaled toxins (which stacks with Antitoxin), but this is easily overshadowed by 10 minutes of water breathing. Requires less upkeep than Air Plants. For longer durations, consider a potion of water breathing for 750 GP, which lasts for 10 hours.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Bag of Tricks, Tan
Price: 6300 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
One of my favorite items. All of these animals are decent scrappers and can be used as a mount by a medium-sized rider in a pinch (to control in combat, Ride check DC 20 as a move action, or Ride check DC 10 as a free action for the Warhorse). The brown bear, lion, and tiger are all excellent grapplers with improved grab (great way to shut down or distract spellcasters), and who doesn't love tossing a charging rhino at their enemies? Test for pressure plates/pit traps, block passageways, throw behind enemies to break up formations, provide flanking, or push/pull heavy objects.

Bead of Beckoning
Price: 2000 GP
Weight: --
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 135)
This one-shot item lets you cast summon nature's ally IV, which has a lot of utility: elemental (whirlwind, earthglide), unicorn (CLW x3, CMW, neutralize poison), 1d3 thoqqua (dig permanent tunnels through solid rock), or 1d4+1 badgers (dig through softer earth). Lasts 10 rounds.

Bitterleaf Oil
Price: 25 GP
Weight: --
(Races of the Dragon p. 122)
Although created and used by kobolds to prevent shedding, there's nothing in the description that says it can't be used by non-kobolds. Boosts natural healing, gain 1 HP per character level (up to a maximum of 5 HP) after a full night's rest. Each bottle contains 10 applications. Combine with a Magic Bedroll (Magic Item Compendium) for even more natural healing.

Black Fan Talisman
Price: 150 GP
Weight: --
(Oriental Adventures p. 136)
This wonderful little one-shot item provides a +10 circumstance bonus on Diplomacy checks, and it lasts an *HOUR*. A Diplomancer can do a lot of damage in an hour.

Blessed Bandage
Price: 10 GP
Weight: --
(Magic Item Compendium p. 152)
Immediately stabilize a dying creature. While there are dozens of ways to stabilize or heal someone below 0 HPs, the main advantage of this item is it can be used untrained without a Heal check, so it can be applied by an unseen servant, wood wose, etc.

Bloodspike, Spatter
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Magic of Eberron p. 140)
Adds 1 acid damage to bite attack for 1 hour, or end effect with a free action to spit 1d6 acid damage as a ranged touch attack.

Bloodspike, Tempo
Price: 150 GP
Weight: --
(Magic of Eberron p. 140)
Within one hour, expend to take an additional move action on your turn.

Bloodspike, Thickener
Price: 100 GP
Weight: --
(Magic of Eberron p. 140)
For one hour, weapon damage reduced by 1 point (minimum 1).

Bottle of Air
Price: 7250 GP
Weight: 2#
(DMG)
Not quite a continuous water breathing item, but pretty close.

Camouflage Paint
Price: 1500 GP
Weight: 0.5#
(Magic Item Compendium p. 153)
+5 circumstance bonus to Hide checks, stacks with Blend Cream (+1 alchemical, Complete Adventurer) and Camouflage Kit (+2 circumstance, Complete Adventurer). Lasts for five applications.

Candle, Focusing
Price: 100 GP
Weight: 1#
(Complete Adventurer p. 118)
+1 circumstance bonus on Appraise, Decipher Script, Forgery, and Search checks. Note: if you think you'll need this for longer than an hour, you can increase the duration to 15 days (365 days / 24 hours = 15.21 days) with a little Unguent of Timelessness (19 GP per dose, DMG).
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Candle, Insectbane (x10, 1 SP ea.)
Price: 1 GP
Weight: --
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 21)
Keeps nonmonstrous vermin away, 5' radius, burns for 1 hour. Vermin Ointment (Secrets of Xendrik p. 139, included below) does the same thing and costs 20 GP, but it also affects monstrous vermin if they fail a Fortitude save DC 15. If you're surrounded by inexhaustible number of insect swarms, 10 hours should be long enough to allow all your spellcasters to rest and regain spells.

Chaos Flask (x2, 100 GP ea.)
Price: 200 GP
Weight: 1#
(Planar Handbook p. 76)
Make a Wisdom check DC 13 as a free action to shape this material into almost any non-magical object of the same volume or smaller (depending on the material or density). Similar to a one-shot Marvelous Pigments, but no price limit. Most alchemical items are small and non-magical, so this is a great wild card to have up your sleeve. Know what else is small and non-magical? Vials of poison. For only 100 GP, you can whip up a vial of Black Lotus Extract at a 4400 GP discount. (The nastiest poison in print is Megapede Poison, DC 44, primary/secondary 2d6 Con damage + 1d4 Dex penalty, 24000 GP, Dungeonscape p. 129.) Lasts a number of rounds equal to your Wisdom score, but as long as your Wis is 11+, that should be long enough for the poison's secondary effect to kick in. Another good use would be expensive material components for spells. Need 5,000 GP diamond for a raise dead? (Sadly, this won't work for resurrection's 10 minute casting time unless your Wis is 100+.) Also, check out Flux Slime (Epic Level Handbook p. 107): 10' antimagic field, permanently disjunct magic items (no save), or 2d6 Con damage (no save) against any creature with (Su) or SLA abilities. If destroyed by cold, fire, or sunlight, it explodes and every creature within 50' may get a permanent random mutation.

Chardalyn
Price: 1000/3500/8000 GP
Weight: 1#/2#/3#
(Silver Marches Web Enhancement p. 3 and Lords of Darkness p. 181)
This one-shot "spell-storing" item may only useful for spellcasters, but I'm including it anyway because it was so frickin' hard to find. A spellcaster can cast a single spell into this brittle rock, and it will store this spell indefinitely, or until it's thrown against a hard surface. Lords of Darkness gives the stats for throwing: ranged touch attack up to 100', 20' range increment. The Silver Marches Web Enhancement gives the prices based on size: 1000 GP for up to a 3rd level spell, 3500 GP up to a 6th level spell, or 8000 GP up to a 9th level spell. However, no weight is given, so I assumed the weight is similar to other thrown weapons with a 20' range increment. 1-3 lbs seemed appropriate.

Clearwater Tablet
Price: 1 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Scoundrel p. 110)
Removes any disease, poison, or other toxins from 1 gallon of water. Doesn't work on magical potions, oils, or alcohol-based liquids, and clean water ceases to be much of an issue once you get hold of a Travel Cloak, but you never know where it might come in handy.

Dagger, Riverine
Price: 2002 GP
Weight: 1#
(Stormwrack p. 128)
Wall of force in the shape of a dagger. Backup weapon for dealing with ethereal and incorporeal creatures. Note: add Rusting as a +1 enhancement (Shining South) to destroy any ferrous metal object with the equivalent of rusting grasp at will.

Decanter of Endless Water
Price: 9000 GP
Weight: 2#
(DMG)
You've got to love any item that can provide a refreshing drink to you and any friendly army in the neighborhood, blast a kobold off his feet, destroy the economy of a desert nation, and and turn badgers into projectile weapons (http://rustyandco.com/comic/level-5-5/).

Defoliator
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 1#
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 33)
Grenade-like weapon that does 2d4 damage to plant creatures and auto-kills any non-creature plant that is size medium or smaller in a 5' radius burst, AKA a "Get Out of Entangle Free Card". Since all slimes, molds, and fungi are treated as plants (and are not considered creatures), this item also instantly kills Green Slime, Yellow Mold, Brown Mold (DMG), Snowflake Lichen (Frostburn), Grey Slime, and Bone Fungus (Dungeonscape) in a 5' radius. It also does 2d4 damage to wooden objects, dissolving them like acid, although hardness still applies.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Drow House Insignia
Price: 360/2160/5400 GP
Weight: 1#
(Races of Faerun p. 173)
These unique necklaces are used to identify which noble house a drow belongs to, but they also have one low-level spell that can be activated 1/day. The level of the spell determines the price (1st = 360 GP, 2nd = 2160 GP, 3rd = 5400 GP). The available spells include: blur, cat's grace, cloak of dark power, comprehend languages, feather fall, jump, levitate, read magic, scatterspray, shield, spider climb, unseen servant, and water breathing. The one we're most interested in is unseen servant. See the entry for Collar of Perpetual Attendance below if you're not sure why. Upgrade to the Collar as soon as finances permit.

Earplugs
Price: 3 SP
Weight: --
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 22)
+1 circumstance bonus on saves against deafness and sonic attacks.

Eggshell Grenade, Dust (x10, 10 GP ea.)
Price: 100 GP
Weight: --
(Oriental Adventures p. 78)
Thrown as a grenade-like weapon, so make a ranged touch attack with a range increment of 5'. A dust grenade that hits its target directly blinds the target for 1d4 rounds *NO SAVE*. Anyone else within the 5' radius splash must make a Fort save DC 10 or be blinded for 1 round. This is an amazingly effective weapon that works on a wide variety of opponents, but don't overuse this one or your DM will come down on you with a banhammer like a ton of bricks.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Expandable Pole
Price: 5 GP
Weight: 1#
(Song & Silence p. 53)
Every adventurer needs the obligatory 10' pole, but this one "goes to 11". It can be adjusted to 5', 7', 9', or 11' lengths, or collapsed down to 1'. Another version, called a Mobile Brace, can be found in Races of Faerun, which has more detailed rules on how much weight it can support and for using it to secure a rope for climbing, but it weights 3 lbs. Dungeonscape has a similar "Collapsable Pole" that goes out to 12', but it weighs 8 lbs. I chose this version to conserve weight.

Everfull Mug
Price: 200 GP
Weight: --
(Magic Item Compendium p. 160)
While I'm offended by the rather suspicious definition of "everfull", this mug can provide up to 36 ounces (half a six pack? That's "everfull"?) per day of alcoholic beverage, and is less weight than a bottle of wine.

Fast Torch (x2, 5 GP ea.)
Price: 10 GP
Weight: 1#
(Complete Mage p. 134)
When you absolutely, positively must light something on fire with only a swift action.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Feather Fall Talisman
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Sharn City of Towers p. 170)
One-shot item, activate feather fall as a free action. While there are a variety of similar items to prevent falling damage, this is the cheapest.

Feather Token, Fan
Price: 200 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
One-shot item to get rid of smoke, obscuring mist, , [I]fog cloud, stinking cloud, cloudkill, solid fog, acid fog, etc. If you can afford it, consider upgrading to a Wind Fan (5500 GP, DMG).

Feather Token, Swan Boat
Price: 450 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
Aside from the utility of having a boat when you really need one, the ability to create a large wooden structure at a moment's notice has plenty of other applications. Unfortunately, we're not given a size or weight, but given that it can accommodate 8 horses, we know it's at least 20' x 40' or 10' x 80'. The boat can be used to block a passage, divide a battlefield, provide hard cover, an enclosed place to sleep, raw materials for a large bonfire or giant wooden badger, or squish something nasty, e.g., what I like to call the Swan Boat of Death: give your feather token to an unseen servant or someone who can fly over whatever it is you want to flatten. At a height of 10', falling object damage caps at 20d6. If we assume the swan boat weighs at least 4000 lbs (pretty safe bet for a 20' x 40' boat), anything underneath it when the token is activated takes 20d6 falling object damage, no save (yes, it's in the falling object rules, no Ref save to avoiding falling objects). When you can afford it, upgrade to a Folding Boat (7200 GP) so you can use it over and over again.

Feather Token, Tree
Price: 400 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
Much like the swan boat, the tree token offers a variety of battlefield control possibilities. Block off a narrow passage, provide hard cover, put an easily-climbable object next to a shear wall, chop it down to cross a chasm/create a 60' wall 5' high, or just piss off a druid. The description goes out of its way to mention it's an instantaneous effect, so you could try the "drop it on somebody from above" trick.

Feather Token, Whip
Price: 500 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
This is a great low-level item to have around if you can't afford a +1 weapon yet and suddenly stumble into something that has DR/magic. It attacks as a magic weapon on its own, 15' reach, lasts an hour, and it gets a free grapple with a pretty hefty bonus, denying the target its Dex bonus and making the party rogue very happy. The only real downside is if your DM decides it gets all of the disadvantages of an ordinary whip: nonlethal damage, and no damage if the target has an armor bonus of +1 or a natural armor bonus of +3. The item description doesn't specify, but I'd like to think it does lethal damage even against armored targets.

Firestone
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 0.5#
(Dragon Compendium p. 117)
Thrown as a grenade-like weapon, it does 1d6 fire damage, but unlike a splash weapon, it has an area effect that damages everything in the 5' square without a Ref save. Ranged touch attacks are pretty easy to begin with, but targeting a stationary square rather than a creature makes them even ridiculously more so. This might allow you to throw a whole bag full of these into a square for Xd6 fire damage, X = however many firestones fit in the bag. Another interesting tactic might be to give this bag to an unseen servant, and have it drop or empty the bag into a square from above (doesn't require an attack roll). No weight was given in the Dragon Compendium or the original Dragon article, so I'm assuming a firestone weighs the same as a sling bullet (1/2 lb). Thus, an unseen servant could put 39 into a sack (20 lbs total) and drop it in a square for 39d6 fire damage, no save.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Flint & Steel
Price: 1 GP
Weight: --
(PHB)
If your sparker burns out and your magnifying glass won't work, best to have this as a fallback.

Flour Pouch (x4, 1 SP ea.)
Price: 4 SP
Weight: --
(Dungeonscape p. 32)
Thrown as splash weapon, 5' burst. Locates invisible creatures, reduces their concealment to 20%, and reduces their hide bonus. To completely negate concealment, see Torch Bug Paste (25 GP, Complete Scoundrel).

Folding Boat
Price: 7200 GP
Weight: 4#
(DMG)
Same as the Feather Token: Swan Boat, but you can use it over and over again: battlefield control, hard cover, safe place to sleep, or drop it on something you want to squish from above. Unfortunately, an unseen servant can't speak the command words, but a Raven familiar could have loads of fun with this thing.

Forger's Paper (x10, 10 GP ea.)
Price: 100 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Scoundrel p. 110)
+2 alchemical bonus on Forgery checks, so it stacks with a Forgery Kit (see below). In many ways, Forgery is more powerful than Bluff, Diplomacy, Disguise, or Intimidate put together. Why? Because it's resisted by Forgery, a skill no one ever takes. Stacks with Forgery Kit and Focusing Candle.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Forgery Kit
Price: 40 GP
Weight: 5#
(Complete Adventurer p. 122)
+2 circumstance bonus on Forgery checks. This kit includes a variety of inks, papers, pens, and seals. Unfortunately, there was a price and weight increase from where it was first printed in the Arms & Equipment Guide, and any mention of waxes, guides and magnifying glasses was removed. Still, this is probably worth it just to avoid the fuss and bother of buying all the included items separately. Each kit lasts for 10 uses, and it stacks with Forger's Paper and a Focusing Candle.

Garlic (x10, 1 CP ea.)
Price: 1 SP
Weight: --
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 31)
Mash a few cloves up into a paste and smear it on yourself, your equipment, or various openings/furniture to drive away vampires. Unlike wasting 150 GP on Alchemical Vampire Repellent (Expedition to Castle Ravenloft p. 209), garlic doesn't have a specific duration. The rules in the Monster Manual are pretty vague on mechanics, so you may want to work out with your DM how close vampires can approach and how long it lasts.

Ghostblight
Price: 100 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Adventurer p. 122)
Can be used with a Weapon Capsule Retainer (100 GP, Complete Adventurer) or applied as an oil with a standard action. Used against incorporeal creatures to ignore the 50% miss chance, lasts for 3 rounds. There's a similar substance in Libris Mortis called Ghostoil, but it takes a full round action to apply and only lasts for 2 rounds.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 35

Ghostwall Shellac
Price: 150 GP
Weight: 1#
(Dungeonscape p. 35)
This item requires at least 1 hour prep time and a gallon of water, so it won't help while you're being attacked by an incorporeal creature, but if you have time to paint your armor and weapons with this stuff (up to a 100 square feet), they'll work like Ghost Touch weapons/armor for 4d6 hours.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 30

Goodberry Wine
Price: 250 GP
Weight: 0.5#
(Five Nations p. 82)
Each jug contains 5 doses, so for 50 GP you get the equivalent of a maximized potion of cure light wounds (each dose heals 8 HP). This is a much better deal than the CLW potion or the Healing Salve from Tome & Blood. The only drawback is you're limited to one dose every 8 hours. Other benefits include it counts as a full meal for a medium creature, it works in the Mournland, and it uses transmutation magic so it should have full effect on a Warforged.

Hammersphere
Price: 1500 GP
Weight: 0.5#
(Magic Item Compendium p. 161)
An excellent fire-and-forget weapon that's effective against incorporeal/ethereal creatures and anything with DR.

Hand of the Mage
Price: 900 GP
Weight: 2#
(DMG)
A handy ("{groan}" "What?!") item to have around. Lift and manipulate any object up to 5 lbs within 35'. When you can afford to upgrade, pick up a Collar of Perpetual Attendance for unseen servant at will.

Holy Water
Price: 25 GP
Weight: 1#
(PHB)
Thrown as a splash weapon, 2d4 damage to undead and evil outsiders. There are equivalents for each major alignment (Unholy Water in the PHB, Axiomatic and Anarchic Water in the Planar Handbook), but undead and evil outsiders are much more common than any other alignment type. You can also douse incorporeal undead for 2d4 damage, but unfortunately they still get their 50% miss chance against this attack. In that case, load the Holy Water into a Sprayer (Arms & Equipment Guide p. 25) to turn it into an area effect which ignores concealment.

Icewild Lichen Paste
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Secrets of Sarlona p. 138)
Reduces fatigue or exhaustion by a step for 2d4 hours. At the end of that duration, character is fatigued for 2d4 minutes. Multiple doses taken within 24 hours cause 1d4 Constitution damage.

Ioun Stone, Dull Grey
Price: 135 GP
Weight: --
(DMG 3.0)
A burned-out ioun stone (25 GP) no longer confers any magical effects, but it does still float around your head. Get your friendly neighborhood cleric to cast continual flame on it (which may cost 50 to 110 GP), and you can create a slotless light source that keeps your hands free.

Ipecac
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Expedition to Castle Ravenloft p. 209)
If you ever get swallowed by a creature, empty this into its stomach. The creature is forced to regurgitate you, and is nauseated for 1d4 rounds, no save. It can also be used to induce vomiting after ingesting a poison, giving a +5 untyped bonus to the secondary effect. Each vial contains 10 doses.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Jeweler's Loupe
Price: 20 GP
Weight: --
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 24)
+1 circumstance bonus on Appraise checks with art/gems/jewelry. Combine with a magnifying glass for another +2 circumstance bonus. Make either of them masterwork for 50 GP and get another +2 circumstance bonus.

Kyo Crystals
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Expedition to Undermountain p. 217)
One-shot items similar to potions, but unlike potions activating them with a standard action does not provoke an AoO. They cost the same as potions (I've listed a cost above for a 1st level spell because I thought they were the most useful), but the spell must be chosen from a limited list: burning hands, cure light wounds, cure moderate wounds (150 GP), cure serious wounds (250 GP), light (25 GP), mage armor, magic missle, magic weapon, mirror image (150 GP), or ray of frost (25 GP). Oddly enough, you don't have to have these spells on your spell list to create these items, so wizards can create cure crystals. Of the available spells, magic missle (autohit force damage) and magic weapon (easier than applying an oil) look like the most useful.

Liquid Ice
Price: 30 GP
Weight: 1#
(Dragon Compendium p. 118)
Empty your waterskin on the ground and you can use this to create a non-magical 10' x 10' ice sheet, or extinguish a 10' x 10' section of fire. As per the DMG p. 91, slippery ice counts as difficult terrain, costing 2 squares of movement. It also has the same effect as a grease spell, as described in the PHB under the Balance skill: targets without 5 ranks in Balance that are attacked on a slippery surface are considered flat-footed. From there, you can add Razor Ice Powder to create a 10' x 10' section of Razor Ice (1d4 slashing damage and 1d6 cold damage for each square entered, no save). Liquid Ice can also be thrown as a splash weapon, doing 1d6 cold damage on a direct hit and 1 splash damage. If your DM doesn't allow Dragon Compendium material, you can use Freeze Powder (100 GP, Frostburn p. 79) instead, although this can't be thrown as a splash weapon. If you need an alternative for splash damage, use Alchemist's Frost (25 GP, Eberron Campaign Setting p. 120). Note: Neither Dragon Compendium nor the original Dragon Magazine article listed a weight, so I had to guess. Alchemist's Frost, Freeze Powder, and Frostfire all weighed 1 lb., so I figured Liquid Ice would most likely weigh the same.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Liquid Smoke
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 1#
(Oriental Adventures p. 78)
Same price as a smokestick, but reacts with air and thus does not need to be lit. Provides concealment, blocks LOS, or a cheap theatrical effect.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Magic Bedroll
Price: 500 GP
Weight: 6#
(Magic Item Compendium p. 163)
Not to be confused with Heward's Fortifying Bedroll (Complete Mage). This bedroll provides the benefits of endure elements and restores 1 HP per character level after 8 hours of rest. Combine with Bitterleaf Oil to gain more natural healing, although unlike the oil, the bedroll doesn't have a 5 HP maximum limit.

Magnifying Glass
Price: 100 GP
Weight: --
(PHB)
+2 circumstance bonus on Appraise checks on small objects. Combine with Jeweler's Loupe for another +1. Make it masterwork for another 50 GP and another +2 circumstance bonus. Also, start a fire without flint & steel, or incinerate a few anthills for some easy XP.

Manacles, Masterwork
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 2#
(PHB)
Requires a Strength check DC 28 or Escape Artist check DC 35 to get out of. Useful for keeping hostages/prisoners (particularly spellcasters) out of trouble.

Marbles (x4, 2 SP ea.)
Price: 8 SP
Weight: 8#
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 24)
These are deployed much like caltrops, so it takes a standard action to spread. Basically a 5' x 5' square of non-magical grease. Dump them under an opponent without 5 ranks of Balance to deny his Dex bonus and make the party rogue happy.

Moonfire Salve
Price: 2500 GP
Weight: 0.5#
(Magic of Faerun p. 163)
One-shot item with multiple effects, depending on how you use it. Apply to forehead for dispel magic, apply to feet for fly, apply to eyes for darkvision, apply to hand for greater mage hand, or eat it for cure serious wounds.

Mordrei'in
Price: 25 GP
Weight: --
(Faiths of Eberron p. 153)
+2 alchemical bonus to Concentration and Spot checks for 10 minutes. For fluff reasons, may only be available to elves from Aerenal.

Needle (x2, 5 SP ea.)
Price: 1 GP
Weight: --
(PHB)
Mend clothing, sew a sack closed, or hide it in a haystack. You can also magnetize it and use it as a compass, or bend it into a fishhook.

Net
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 6#
(PHB)
Although this is an exotic weapon, ranged touch attacks are usually easy enough to hit even with the non-proficiency penalty. A hit with a net entangles a creature (-2 attack penalty, -4 Dex penalty, restricts movement), which can be a cheap and easy debuff or delaying tactic. If you're running into larger creatures, use a lasso instead. Check with your DM if the Dex penalty from multiple sources stack (lasso, tanglefoot, etc.). There's also a Razor Net version (50 GP, Dragon Compendium) that does 1d6 damage if the target fails their check to get out of the net (Escape Artist check DC 20 or Strength check DC 25), but it's a little too easy to escape and the razors cut up the net, preventing it from being used again.

Noxious Smokestick
Price: 80 GP
Weight: 0.5#
(Eberron Campaign Setting p. 121)
Creates 10' cube of smoke and anyone inside has to make a Fort save DC 15 or become nauseated for 1 round. While this makes it a little tricky to light, you can fix that by having an unseen servant light it and carry it around.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Oil
Price: 1 SP
Weight: 1#
(PHB)
There are rules for turning these things into splash weapons, but it takes a full-round action to prep and with a 50% failure rate, it's probably not worth the bother. Spreading it on the ground and lighting it on fire may be a bit more promising if you have enough time to prep for it.

Panic Button, Escaping
Price: 750 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Scoundrel p. 115)
One-shot dimension door, up to 30'.

Panther Tears (x2, 30 GP ea.)
Price: 60 GP
Weight: 0.2#
(Secrets of Xendrik p. 139)
Eye drops that give you low-light vision for 1 hour. This also gives you light sensitivity, but for only 10 GP Sundark Goggles will fix that for you.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Piton (x10, 1 SP ea.)
Price: 1 GP
Weight: 5#
(PHB)
Attach ropes, spike doors, trepanize your friends and neighbors.

Potion Belt, Masterwork
Price: 60 GP
Weight: 1#
(Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting p. 97)
Once per round, you can retrieve a potion as a free action. Holds up to 10 potions. While this item should really be worn rather than kept in the haversack, I'm mentioning it here just in case you weren't aware of it before.

Quicksilver
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Adventurer p. 122)
Can be used with a Weapon Capsule Retainer (100 GP, Complete Adventurer) or applied as an oil with a standard action. Allows weapon to deal damage as if coated with silver (including -1 damage), lasts for 3 rounds. If you can afford it, consider upgrading to Silversheen (250 GP, DMG) which lasts an hour.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 30

Quickspark
Price: 25 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Adventurer p. 122)
Of all the various alchemical items that do energy damage, Quickspark is the easiest to use and you're less likely to run into electricity resistance than fire or cold. It can be applied to a weapon as on oil with a standard action, or as a swift action when used with a Weapon Capsule Retainer (100 GP, Complete Adventurer). It can't be thrown on its own and does no splash damage, but you can apply it to any grenade-like weapon just like any other weapon. A Quickspark + Acidic Fire, for example, does an average of 11 energy damage over 2 rounds. Alchemist's Spark (Eberron Campaign Setting) is easier to throw, does a little more damage (1d8) and also splashes for 1 damage, but can't be applied to a weapon. A Sparkstone (Arms & Equipment Guide) can be thrown as a grenade-like weapon for 1d6 electricity damage and it will arc to one adjacent opponent (but only one) for half damage.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Razor Ice Powder
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 1#
(Frostburn p. 79)
When combined with the contents of a waterskin and Liquid Ice (Dragon Compendium p. 118) or Freeze Powder (Frostburn p. 79), you can create a 10' x 10' square of slippery Razor Ice, which does 1d4 slashing damage and 1d6 cold damage for each square entered, no save.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Rod of Ropes
Price: 4000 GP
Weight: 4#
(Complete Scoundrel p. 116)
This doesn't exactly replace the cablespool, but it does oh so much more: ascend/descend 60' per round, autograbbing grappling hook up to 300', bull rush opponents within 30', and a double-grapple 600' zipline slider. Even better, activation is a move action, leaving you with a standard action for all those "I'm Batman!" stunts.

Rope Climber
Price: 15 GP
Weight: 3#
(Races of Faerun p. 160)
+5 circumstance bonus on Climb checks to ascend a rope, although it halves the rate of ascent. Full-round action to thread or remove the Rope Climber from a rope.

Rope, Silk (50')
Price: 10 GP
Weight: 5#
(PHB)
When you can afford it, most of your rope needs should be met with Troll Gut Rope, but if you need to tie something up for longer than 12 hours, it's good to have some normal rope handy. Keep in mind that the Cablespool can be used for descent, and Shapesand can be used to make temporary equipment (ropes, ladders) that retains its shape within 100' of you.

Sack (x3, 1 SP ea.)
Price: 3 SP
Weight: 1.5#
(PHB)
Loot redistribution device.

Scarab, Golembane
Price: 2500 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
Until you can afford a Greater Demolition Crystal (and a +3 weapon to put it on), this little bit of bling is a great way to ruin a golem's day.

Screaming Flask
Price: 40 GP
Weight: 1#
(Complete Mage p. 135)
1d8 sonic damage in a 15' cone, Fort save DC 15 vs. deafness.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Shapesand (jug)
Price: 100 GP
Weight: 12#
(Sandstorm p. 102)
Through the exertion of your will (Wisdom check DC 16), you can create any mundane non-magical object out of sand that supposedly "serves as a normal item of the same sort". (So... does that mean I can turn it into 12 lbs of acid or alchemist's fire? How about explosives or poisons? How about a masterwork gatling gun? Hmm...) It retains that shape as long as it stays within 100' of you, but you can also reshape it whenever you like by making another Wisdom check. While the question of acid/explosives/poisons will have to be settled by your DM, you have any tool you can possibly imagine at your fingertips. Need a hammer? Done. Don't need the hammer anymore, need a shovel? Done. It's particularly useful for tools that wear out after a certain number of uses, such as hacksaws and drills. How about exotic weapons or armor (Shapesand Fullplate = 500 GP, shapesand Mechanus Gear = 700 GP)? It can do that, too, although be aware, if an enemy recognizes you're using shapesand, he could try to reshape it under his control with a Wisdom check of his own.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Slippery Oil
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Dragon Compendium p. 119)
+5 untyped bonus to Escape Artist checks, so it stacks with Spelunker's Oil (+2 alchemical, 15 GP, Drow of the Underdark). Lasts 1 hour.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Sparker
Price: 2 GP
Weight: --
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 25)
Works similar to a tindertwig (standard action to light a torch), but cheaper. 10 uses for only 2 GP.

Sphere of Awakening
Price: 1800 GP
Weight: 1#
(Magic Item Compendium p. 186)
A must-have for anyone on watch. 1/day, instantly wakes up all of your allies as a swift action. In addition, you and all allies are immune to fatigue, exhaustion, and sleep effects for 10 minutes. If you've got any barbarian, frenzied berserker, or dervish in the party that has to deal with fatigue, this will immediately get rid of it.

Sprayer
Price: 15 GP
Weight: 4#
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 25)
Spray a 10' long cloud of oil, holy water, an inhaled poison, or our new favorite special substance: aboleth mucus. It's an area effect, essentially a 5' x 10' line, but it doesn't require an attack roll and can be given to an unseen servant. The description says acid won't work, but doesn't mention alchemist's fire (which should work if the storage drum is airtight, but I'm not sure it is). Quickflame, Quickfrost, or Quickspark (Complete Adventurer) might also work, as well as Alchemist's Frost (Eberron Campaign Setting), but Alchemist's Spark requires two liquids in separate containers to be mixed. Atramen Oil, Liquid Smoke, or Stonebreaker Acid could also be interesting options when delivered by a sprayer.

Stamp of the Messenger, Gold
Price: 2750 GP
Weight: 1#
(City of Splendors: Waterdeep p. 151)
This stamp produces a magical wax seal that you can attach to any object up to 0.5 lbs. The wax will animate as a fine-sized construct and then deliver the object to anyone within two miles (40' fly speed). In addition to being an ideal delivery device for explosive runes, you can use this to pinpoint hidden/invisible opponents.

Stonebreaker Acid
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 1#
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 35)
Thrown as grenade-like weapon. Against stone objects/creatures, 5d10 damage over 2 rounds that ignores hardness. While Delver Slime (150 GP, Savage Species) may deal more damage per application, Stonebreaker Acid is a lot cheaper.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Sundark Goggles
Price: 10 GP
Weight: --
(Races of the Dragon p. 123)
Never take the Daylight Adaptation feat ever again. These handy little shades negate the dazed penalty for creatures with Light Sensitivity, and also provide a +2 circumstance bonus on saves against gaze attacks. Creatures without low-light or darkvision take a -2 penalty on spot and search checks.

Suregrip
Price: 20 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Adventurer p. 119)
+1 alchemical bonus on Climb checks, stacks with Climber's Kit (+2 circumstance, PHB), Rope Climber (+5 circumstance, Races of Faerun), and Spider Kit (+2 circumstance, Drow of the Underdark).
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Survival Pouch
Price: 3300 GP
Weight: 5#
(Magic Item Compendium p. 187)
5/day, you can pull out one of the following: trail rations, 2 gallons of water in a waterskin, tent plus two bedrolls, 50' rope, shovel, campfire/8 torches, composite shortbow with 20 arrows in a quiver, or a mule with bit/bridle/saddle/saddlebags. While this duplicates some items we have already, what we're really after are the 5 mules/day. Mules are large sturdy creatures that can be used as mounts, pack bearers, trapfinders, or 10' x 10' blocks of meat you can use to block corridors, distract opponents, delay pursuers, etc. The description says they won't fight but treat them as summoned creatures, which means they respond to verbal commands (almost all summoned creatures understand Common as their default language) to the best of their abilities without having to muck around with tricks and Handle Animal checks.

Talisman of the Disk
Price: 500 GP
Weight: --
(Magic Item Compendium p. 188)
Tenser's floating disk at will, lasts up to 3 hours. Aside from just carrying around loot, use it to glide allies over rough/dangerous terrain, or give it to one of the frontline meatshields to create a "side-car", allowing a second melee fighter to move alongside and full-attack without having to use his own move action.

Tarpaulin, Honey Leather (big)
Price: 40 GP
Weight: 1#
(Races of the Wild p. 170)
An upgrade from a winter blanket, wearing a honey leather tarpaulin gives a +1 circumstance bonus on Survival checks to resist the effects of severe weather, or +2 bonus if you're stationary. The big tarpaulin is waterproof, 6' square, and could be used to wrap your equipment to prevent it from getting wet, collect rainwater, cover a 5' pit trap, smother a small fire, or convert it into a float bladder.

Torch Bug Paste (x4, 25 GP ea.)
Price: 100 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Scoundrel p. 120)
Thrown as a splash weapon, non-magical faerie fire effect, which pinpoints invisible creatures and completely negates concealment.

Travel Cloak
Price: 1200 GP
Weight: 1#
(Magic of Faerun p. 166)
Provides trail rations 3/day, a flask that produces up to 2 gallons of cool water or sugared hot tea per day, endure elements against cold, and can be transformed into a one-person tent 1/day.

Trollbane
Price: 90 GP
Weight: --
(Dungeonscape p. 37)
Running into a regenerating creature when the party isn't ready for it can quickly turn into a TPK. While one dose of Alchemist's Fire, Bladefire, or Quickflame might be cheaper, trollbane allows all of a weapon's damage (not just fire/acid) to ignore regeneration. Save this for high-damage single-hit attacks, such as two-handed power-attack leap-attack ubercharger combos.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Troll Gut Rope
Price: 500 GP
Weight: 7#
(Magic Item Compendium p. 190)
50' rope, 1/day provides an extra 300' of rope that lasts for 12 hours. If you need to tie up something longer than that, stick with normal non-magical rope. Since you may need to tie something up for longer than 12 hours, keep at least one coil of normal silk rope handy.

Unguent of Timelessness
Price: 150 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
Used primarily to extend the duration of some alchemical items by 365 times. It can be applied to any item that was once alive, which basically means it has to consist primarily of organic materials. Candles and torches burn for 15 days (365 hours = 15.21 days). Lamp oil (created from whale fat or crude oil) burns for 91.25 days. Certain alchemical items could also be considered organic, such as a Focusing Candle (Complete Adventurer), Icewild Lichen Paste (Secrets of Sarlona), Fire Beetle Lamp (Races of Dragon) or Torch Bug Paste (Complete Scoundrel). There's no restriction to non-magical items, so you could add this to a section of Troll Gut Rope and it would last 182.5 days instead of 12 hours. It can also be used to keep a corpse fresh for raise dead. Each flask contains 8 doses (19 GP per dose).

Universal Solvent
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
Gets you out of sticky situations. In addition to countering Sovereign Glue, it can dissolve tanglefoot bags, kuo-toa shields, and other adhesives.

Vermin Ointment
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 1#
(Secrets of Xendrik p. 139)
Vermin of diminuative size or smaller (including swarms) can't get within 5' of you unless magically compelled (and with most vermin being mindless, good luck with that). Larger vermin must make a Fortitude save DC 15 or become sickened.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Whiteshiver Elixir
Price: 1500 GP
Weight: 1#
(Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk p. 222)
Gain all of the benefits and immunities of the plant subtype for 10 minutes: low-light vision, immunity to crits, mind-affects, paralysis, polymorph, poison, sleep, and stunning.

Wick, Candle (x5, 2 SP ea.)
Price: 1 GP
Weight: --
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 27)
Can be used anywhere you would use Twine (Dungeonscape p. 33), such as tripwires, improvised alarm systems, fishing lines, signal kites, or hang from the ceiling to detect invisible flying creatures. In addition, you can use it as a timing device: it takes 30 seconds (5 rounds) to burn 1 inch. Comes in 50' rolls.

Darrin
2010-04-06, 04:44 PM
Honorable Mentions or Cut Due to Weight



Alchemist's Spark
Price: 25 GP
Weight: 1#
(Eberron Campaign Setting p. 120)
There are at least two other alchemical items that do electricity damage: Quickspark (Complete Adventurer) and Sparkstone (Arms & Equipment Guide). Alchemist's Spark does a little more damage (1d8) and is the only one that does splash damage. Sparkstone can arc to one adjacent target for half damage, but that works out to 1 damage 66% of the time, so you're better off with Alchemist's Spark anyway. Quickspark may be a little more useful since it can be applied to a weapon as an oil or as a swift action with a Weapon Capsule Retainer, but it can't be thrown on its own.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 22

Aspect Mirror
Price: 4000 GP
Weight: 10#
(Complete Scoundrel p. 113)
There are several magic items that allow communication between party members at a distance, but they usually have a limited number of uses per day (Sending Stones, Linked armor/shield property) or a limit on the distance (Rings of Communication). The Aspect Mirror beats them all hands-down, because it allows unlimited visual and verbal communication between linked mirrors anywhere on the same plane.

Babbling Wheel
Price: 2000 GP
Weight: --
(Savage Species p. 55)
While the Will save DC 11 is utterly pathetic, everybody rolls a 1 eventually. If you're going to use this item, you can make sure the entire party makes their save at the beginning of the day, and they won't be affected for the rest of the day. This is an item that can be given to an unseen servant or monk that has nothing else to do during combat.

Bag of Tricks, Rust
Price: 3000 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
Originally I had this in Type III, but the Survival Pouch seemed like a much better deal. Still, nothing wrong with having both. While I recommended against the grey bag, the rust bag has four different medium-sized creatures that are more useful in combat. They may be a little light on HD, they're strong enough to last as a flanker or distraction for a round or two. They can all be used as trap-finders (within the limitations of what you can tell them to do with the tricks listed under Handle Animal), they all have scent, and the wolf has the Trip ability and the Track feat with a decent racial bonus to go with it.

Blend Cream
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 1#
(Complete Adventurer p. 118)
+1 alchemical bonus on Hide checks, stacks with Camouflage Kit and Camouflage Paint.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Blister Oil
Price: 15 GP
Weight: 0.5#
(Races of Stone p. 159)
I originally excluded this item from the Type I Haversack because I considered the Fortitude save DC 15 to be too low to be reliably effective. However, in another thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=168100) Dark_Juggernaut noticed that on a failed save, blister oil does 1d4 damage *per application*, and there is no limit to the number of applications you can put on a single object. Thus, with a little time and effort, you can create a "Blister Oil Bomb" that does Xd4 untyped damage, X = 1d8 applications per 15 GP. 10 vials (150 GP) does an average of 112.5 damage. 78 vials (1170 GP, 877.5 average damage) will take out a Tarrasque (apply to a Lasso + Sovereign Glue, wait 20+ rounds until target fails a Fort save). As impressive as that may be, the save DC is still disappointingly low (Fortitude is the best save for most monsters), you still have to trick/entice/force a creature to touch the object, and I'm a little puzzled why you pay full price for a vial that may not be entirely full. Even so, I thought taking down a Tarrasque was worth at least an Honorable Mention. You might be able to pull this trick off on a DM *once*, but after that I wouldn't press your luck.

Camouflage Kit
Price: 40 GP
Weight: 5#
(Complete Adventurer p. 122)
+2 circumstance bonus on Hide checks, stacks with Blend Cream and Camouflage Paint.

Crampons
Price: 5 GP
Weight: 1#
(Frostburn p. 78)
+2 circumstance bonus on Climb checks and Balance checks on icy surfaces.

Climber's Kit
Price: 80 GP
Weight: 5#
(PHB)
+2 circumstance bonus that stacks with the Spider Kit. In most cases, however, a potion of spiderclimb works much better for only 150 GP

Darklight
Price: 500 GP
Weight: 1#
(Secrets of Sarlona p. 140)
Outside of glowing jello and little crystal stones that float around your head, this is one of the more interesting light sources in the game. Once imbued with 1 PP, it operates for 24 hours (or more, up to 7 days with 7 PP). It affects an 80' radius, and has four modes of illumination that can be changed with a free action: no light, shadowy light, bright light, and beacon. The light given off is supposedly "not magical or psionic in nature" so it gets overridden by any magical light/darkness effects, but when combined with darkvision, blindsense/blindsight, or some other vison/detection enhancement, this can give you continuous all-day concealment. The only drawback is you need at least 1 PP to use it, and so far I haven't found an easy way for a non-psionic user to power it up. The best I could find is a buckler +1 with the Manifesting enhancement (+6000 GP, MIC p. 12): 1/day, draw up to 3 PP from the shield to manifest a psionic power.

Darkweave Silk Pantaloons
Price: 108 GP
Weight: --
(Eberron Campaign Setting p. 122)
+1 circumstance bonus to Hide checks under shadowy or dark conditions. Note: it doesn't have to be silk pantaloons, but there is no "legs" or "pants" item slot, so anything you wear on your legs shouldn't interfere with your existing armor or magic items.

Dust of Sneezing and Choking
Price: 2500 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
Some DMs don't notice this item tucked away in the Cursed Items section, but many DMs who know exactly what it can do frequently ban it outright. If used against a party, it's pretty much a guaranteed Total Party Kill (TPK). Used *by* the party, and it's pretty much guaranteed Total Party Gets To Kill Anything. The reason the dust is so powerful is even if a creature hit by it makes its Fort save to resist the Constitution damage, it's still stunned 5d4 rounds (average 12.5 rounds, minimum 5 rounds). If your DM allows you to get hold of this, then I'd advise only using this item as a last resort "Get Out of Certain Death Free" card. Once the DM sees how powerful it is, odds are good you'll never be able to use it gain.

Earthsilk Jersey
Price: 150 GP
Weight: 2#
(Races of Stone p. 160)
DR 1/slashing or bludgeoning... meh. Given how many different damage types can get past this, and it stops working if you get a crit with a piercing attack (but not a slash crit...?), I don't think it's worth the bother.

Earthsilk Rope
Price: 12 GP
Weight: 7#
(Races of Stone p. 160)
This is a little stronger than a normal silk rope, but I'm not sure ropes breaking comes up often enough to be all that much of a concern, unless you're a dwarf that demands "fine dwarven craftsmanship!" whenever possible.

Faith Token
Price: 300 GP
Weight: --
(Champions of Valor p. 64)
These necklaces are tied to a particular Forgotten Realms deity (which may not be available in your campaign), and may only be activated by a member of that faith (although this is listed as an optional prerequisite... otherwise, try UMD). They allow you to cast one 0-level spell twice per day, or two different 0-level spells once per day each. I won't describe them all here, but I'll mention a few that look the most useful: Corellon Larethian (detect magic, summon instrument), Garl Glittergold (prestidigitation, virtue), or Ilmater (cure minor wounds). Note: you can use summon instrument to summon a handbell up to the maximum weight you can lift in one hand.

Fishing Tackle
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 5#
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 22)
+1 circumstance bonus on Survival checks to gather food near bodies of water containing fish. Includes birch poles, silk line, sinkers, hooks, lures, and tackle box, any of which could be repurposed into something else.

Fowler's Snare
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 5#
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 22)
+1 circumstance bonus on Survival checks to catch birds, stacks with Animal Call and Hunter's Kit.

Frostfire
Price: 40 GP
Weight: 1#
(Savage Species p. 47)
Much like Alchemist's Fire, Frostfire is thrown as a grenade-like weapon and does 1d6 cold damage on the first round and another 1d6 cold damage on the next round if it isn't scraped off (full round action, Ref save DC 15 to remove or automatically wash it off with alcoholic/acidic liquid). No splash damage. More expensive but better damage than Alchemist's Frost or Quickfrost.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Glamerweave Rhinestone Battle Stockings
Price: 101 GP
Weight: --
(Eberron Campaign Setting p. 122)
+1 circumstance bonus on Diplomacy checks. If you're willing to spend 500 GP + double the normal cost of the clothing, you can upgrade to Clebdecher Glamerweave (Sharn: City of Towers p. 158), which increases the circumstance bonus to +2. Note: It doesn't have to be rhinestone battle stockings, but there is no "legs" or "pants" item slot, so anything you wear on your legs shouldn't interfere with your existing armor or magic items.

Glyph Seal
Price: 1000 GP
Weight: --
(Magic Item Compendium p. 161)
This spell-storing item works like a glyph of warding you can use over and over again, but you're not limited to offensive spells. Any spell up to 2nd level can be stored inside, so you can use it for buffs or utility spells. Attach it to a pouch that contains spell components or ammunition (which can be drawn as a free action), and you can trigger it to cast a spell on you as a free action. Attach it to your weapon and when you hit another creature, it "touched" the warded object and gets hit with the spell.

Glyph Seal, Greater
Price: 4000 GP
Weight: --
(Magic Item Compendium p. 161)
Between the lesser and greater Glyph Seal versions, there's an odd "donut hole" where you can't use 3rd or 4th level spells, but the greater version can store any spell 5th level or higher. Check with your DM if metamagic feats can increase the effective spell level, or if you have to use Heighten Spell to get up to 5th. Much cheaper than a ring/weapon of Spell-Storing.

Glove of the Master Strategist
Price: 3600 GP
Weight: --
(Ghostwalk p. 71)
Everything a Glove of Storing can do, plus true strike 1/day, without the horrendous 3.5 price increase. And yes, there was a 3.5 update released for Ghostwalk, and the price stayed the same, so it's official. Allows you to swap out whatever's in your hand as a free action, up to 20 pounds (which would include the haversack, if you were so inclined). Also a nifty way to get your hand free to draw an item from your haversack, throw a grenade-like weapon, or swap a melee weapon for a ranged weapon. Since it stores an item in stasis, it can also be used to store torches or other alchemical items with specific durations, such as a Focusing Candle, Hearthfire, Fire Beetle Lamp, or possibly a Chaos Flask that have been shaped into something else.

Heartstone
Price: 1800 GP
Weight: --
(Monster Manual p. 194)
You may have to kill a Night Hag (CR 9) to get this, but it may be worth tracking down for the ten cheap "Get Out of Disease Free" cards. This periapt gives you a +2 resistance bonus to all saves and automatically cures any disease you may pick up. The only downside is it shatters after ten uses (including saving throws), but you can keep it in your pack until you need a remove disease in a hurry. At 180 GP per use, that's a great bargain compared to a scroll (375 GP), potion (750 GP), or having to deal with the Awful Stupid Paladin in the party. This downside disappears if your Use Magic Device check is +24 or more, in which case you can "emulate a race", pretending to be a Night Hag at will. You can then use all of the heartstone's powers, including etherealness at will, in which case this item is horrendously underpriced. However, you still need to roll UMD every time you use it, and if you roll a natural 1, it will stop working for 24 hours.

Hunter's Kit
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 5#
(Secrets of Xendrik p. 139)
+2 circumstance bonus to Survival checks when hunting or foraging for food, stacks with Animal Call and Fowler's Snare. Lasts for 10 uses.

Hand of the Oak Father
Price: 5000 GP
Weight: 1#
(Magic Item Compendium p. 109)
A bit of an eclectic mix of 1/day spells. If you're looking to upgrade a Goodberry Bracelet, Hand of the Oak Father can cast goodberry once per day for 2d4 berries. It can also cast barkskin (natural armor buff), entangle (battlefield control), plant growth (uh... agribusiness buff?), speak with plants (gardening tips, maybe?), and tree shape (disguise/hide).

Heart of the Beast
Price: 2000 GP
Weight: 1#
(Magic of Faerun p. 160)
Eat your heart out, Mr. Cleric. Divine Powah! as a one-shot, lasts 10 rounds. It doesn't really have any use outside of combat (and may only be of interest to non-melee types), but I thought it was worth mentioning if you weren't aware of it.

Inquisitive's Kit
Price: 300 GP
Weight: 4#
(Eberron Campaign Sourcebook p. 122)
+4 circumstance bonus on Search checks along with some special rules for finding clues with the Search skill. There may be some overlap with other kits (paper, inks, magnifying glass, etc.). If your DM doesn't want to bother with the special Scooby Doo rules and lets you apply the +4 bonus to any Search check, then make some room in you haversack for this ASAP.

Jumping Caltrops
Price: 250 GP
Weight: 2#
(Magic Item Compendium p. 162)
More of an annoyance than a threat, really, but you don't have to spend any actions directing them and they apparently know the difference between enemies and allies.

Liquid Sunlight
Price: 20 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Scoundrel p. 111)
Bunko's Bargain Basement suggested this as a much cheaper everburning torch, but I opted to include the Angel Radiance instead, since as a spell component it can be drawn as a free action. However, liquid sunlight has a unique feature: as alchemical items, they can be crafted cheaply and quickly. Which means if you crafted a whole bunch of them and introduced affordable illumination into a pre-industrial world, you could revolutionize agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, labor practices, literacy, crime prevention and whatnot. Only with, you know, wizards and dragons and stuff still around.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 30

Messenger Arrow
Price: 400 GP
Weight: 0.1#
(Ghostwalk Web Enhancement (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20030607a) p. 8)
This one-shot arrow or bolt can be used to cast helping hand, which can locate *any* target within 100' in 1 round. This can be used to locate invisible or hidden creatures, even those with the Darkstalker feat. Heck, it's also an evocation spell, so it works against obscure object, sequester, and mind blank. For another +160 GP, you can add the Spell Storing property and trigger a faerie fire or glitterdust when the arrow lands (you can also do this by attaching a keyed Glyph Seal to the arrow, 1000 GP, MIC p. 161).

Papyrus of Deception
Price: 2000 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Adventurer p. 134)
When used to forge a document, provides a +5 enhancement bonus that stacks with Forgery Kit and Wondrous Writing Set but not Forger's Paper. While I love using the Forgery skill, my main worry with the Papyrus is there's a good chance you're going to be giving it to an important official who won't give it back, in which case 2000 GP is a bit of a steep investment for a one-shot item that you should be able to use over and over again. Instant summons won't help either, because as soon as you give it to someone else, it's no longer an unattended item. My best advice is after the official has failed his Forgery roll, have the party skill monkey make a Sleight of Hand check to retrieve the Papyrus or switch it with a more disposable copy: use Forger's Paper to create a duplicate, ask for the document back "to check one of the signatures", replace the Papyrus with the disposable copy, and hope the official didn't put a lot of ranks in his Spot skill.

Potion Bladder
Price: 25 GP
Weight: 0.5#
(Drow of the Underdark p. 92)
Allows drinking a potion as a standard action without triggering an attack of opportunity. Also allows drinking a potion underwater.

Portable Fountain
Price: 1800 GP
Weight: --
(Sandstorm p. 134)
Can only be used 1/day but provides 10 gallons of water every day (which should fill about 20 standard waterskins). While a Replenishing Skin (1000 GP, Magic Item Compendium) may be cheaper, you'll get more water out of the fountain. I originally included this item in the Haversack Type III, but with the Travel Cloak and Survival Pouch, it wasn't really necessary.

Powder of the Black Veil
Price: 750 GP
Weight: --
(Magic Item Compendium p. 169)
Although the item description says this powder can be thrown into an area, it also says the 10' burst is centered on the user, so I guess you have to throw it down at your feet. This puts you inside the cloud, but you are immune to the blinding effect. Any other creature inside the cloud is blind, no save. They can move out of the cloud, and the blindness lasts an additional 1d4 rounds if they fail a Will save DC 13. I thought the powder also blocked line-of-sight or provided total concealment, but there's no mention of that in the description. While eggshell grenades are cheaper and easier to use, this powder can affect multiple targets if they're standing close enough together.

Shriek Paste
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 1#
(Dragon Compendium p. 119 or Underdark p. 67)
When exposed to light, this paste screams like a shrieker. This is almost as cool as glowing Jello, and I'd love to come up with more interesting things to do with this, but I can't think of any practical applications other than as a part of an improvised alarm system or anti-theft device.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Sovereign Glue
Price: 2400 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
Expensive and somewhat difficult to handle more than an ounce without Oil of Slipperiness, but this glue can lead to untold wackiness with a little creativity. Permanently seal doors/windows/locks, add it to a doorknob or pour it on a monster's foot to prevent them from moving, never get disarmed again, add handholds to make a shear surface climbable, or dab it on an alchemical flare stake and stab a lich for 1d6 damage every round until it dies.

Spelunker's Kit
Price: 80 GP
Weight: 5#
(Underdark p. 67)
+2 circumstance bonus on Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, and Survival checks when in tough-to-access areas or cramped spaces. This bonus stacks with the Climber's Kit and Spider Kit, although I imagine wearing all three kits at once wouldn't be all that comfortable. This kit includes a headlamp, head protection, protective clothing, gloves, kneepads, and heavy boots.

Spider Kit
Price: 110 GP
Weight: 5#
(Drow of the Underdark p. 92)
+2 circumstance bonus on Climb checks that stacks with the Climber's Kit and Spelunker's Kit. In most cases, however, a potion of spiderclimb works much better for only 150 GP.

Swimmer's Kit
Price: 15 GP
Weight: 5#
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 28)
+2 circumstance bonus on swim checks. Includes snorkel, goggles, and fins. Can't be worn with other clothing or armor, but might be worth it to repurpose the items for something else.

Tarmak War Paint
Price: 500 GP
Weight: ?? (not listed in description)
(Dragonlance Campaign Setting p. 232)
For those of you who want to get on that whole "Braveheart" kink, here you go. This blue body paint provides a +5 natural armor bonus and fast healing 5. Both effects wear off after it heals 20 HP. This makes it difficult to determine just how long it will last, but even at a minimum of four rounds, +5 NA and fast healing 5 from a non-magical source is astounding, if not outright pushing the boundaries of credibility. If you don't take any damage, the +5 NA bonus could last for days/weeks/etc. This is another prime candidate for a Chaos Flask, if you'd rather pay only 100 GP for this item, although this limits the duration to a number of rounds equal to your Wisdom score. It should probably belong in a Type II or Type III Haversack, but I'm including it here as an Honorable Mention because of how obscure the sourcebook is (Dragonlance Campaign Setting was released by a 3rd party publisher but with the official D&D trademark license, not the D20 license) and the price is a lot higher than other alchemical items.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Darrin
2010-04-06, 04:45 PM
Items that Require Clarification or DM Consultation


Breaker Bottle
Price: 150 GP
Weight: 0.1#
(Song & Silence p. 56)
While the ability to shatter this bottle by just uttering a trigger word has some interesting possibilities for setting off traps with various alchemical substances, there are usually much cheaper ways to break a glass bottle. Also, it's not clear how exactly this device is activated. If it's activated by a command word or spell trigger, then that would be a standard action. If it's just speaking a trigger word, that could be a free action (which could be done during an opponent's turn, if you're trying to catch him in a particular square or within a blast radius of some sort).

Dukar Hand Coral
Price: 1600 GP
Weight: --
(Champions of Valor p. 63)
A living colony of coral that you implant under the skin of your palm. It doubles your natural healing rate, allows you to hold your breath longer, and regenerates missing body parts. I left this item out of Type III because it's not really kept in the haversack, and if this regenerative coral was freely available, every adventurer who could afford it would automatically have it growing under his skin. Check with your DM on how available this material might be.

Fog Rock
Price: 5 GP
Weight: --
(Magic of Faerun p. 181)
When this non-magical rock is dropped into fresh water, it creates a 10' cube of fog that dissipates normally. It has to be kept damp with salt water (which does not produce any fog) or it loses this ability, but from the description I can't tell if this item can be used over and over again so long as you keep it wet.

Gremma's Cauldron
Price: 5000 GP
Weight: 5#
(Expedition to Undermountain p. 217)
Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble... this little stewpot has several different ways to brew up abuse. First, if you have the Brew Potion feat, it cuts the time to create a potion from 8 hours down to 4 (you're still limited to one potion per day). Second, anyone without the Brew Potion feat may brew potions as if he had the feat (although the standard 8 hour creation time still applies). It's not clear to me if this allows non-spellcasters to create potions, since you still have to meet the existing requirements, which would include having the spell on your spell-list, but it might allow a non-spellcaster with SLAs to convert them into potions (check with your DM). Third, anyone (and from the context it looks like they do mean anyone, including non-spellcasters) can use the cauldron to convert a scroll into a potion by spending the difference of the creation cost in GP and XP between the scroll and the potion. It's not clear if this allows you to convert a spell on a scroll that normally can't be made into a potion (potion of meteor swarm, anyone?), but by RAW I don't see anything in the item description that explicitly says you can't. In addition to whether personal spells or spells higher than 3rd level can be converted into potions, there doesn't seem to be a daily limit on the number of potions you can create, nor does there seem to be a specific creation time. You pay the GP+XP and BAM you have a potion. And lastly, once per day you can spend 4 hours brewing and 25 GP worth of ingredients to create a potion of cure light wounds. Again, there doesn't appear to be any restriction for non-spellcasters and doesn't appear to count towards the "one potion per day" brewing limit. If you're going to use this item, you'll want to get together with your DM and go over what exactly this thing can do with a fine-toothed comb, particularly that converting scrolls into potions option.

Sleeping Fire
Price: 40 GP
Weight: --
(Oriental Adventures p. 78)
Another really great idea ruined by a poor description. Something that can be set off just by touching or breathing... sounds like a recipe for disaster. Also, how would you adjudicate creatures that don't have higher body temperatures (constructs, undead), or creatures with very low body temperatures (ice beasts, ice elementals, etc.)? On the other hand, if you and your DM can agree on how it triggers, this could be a great way to set off a trap or trigger some other alchemical items.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Wondrous Writing Set
Price: 2060/2900 GP*
Weight: 1#
(Oriental Adventures p. 142)
There may be two versions of this item. When originally printed, this writing set provided a +10 circumstance bonus to Forgery checks for only 2060 GP, which is an amazing bargain. While the official Oriental Adventures Web Errata doesn't mention the Wondrous Writing Set, the 3.5 update that was printed in Dragon Magazine #318 does: it changed the Forgery bonus to a +5 competence bonus, and raised the price to 2900 GP. While not quite as amazing, this is still a great deal for buffing your Forgery rolls. There were a few other items in the Dragon Magazine 3.5 Update that changed prices, notably the Kimono of Storing went up to 20000 GP to bring it in line with two Gloves of Storing. Check with your DM if he wants to use the Web Errata or prefers to use the changes in Dragon Magazine #318.

Darrin
2010-04-06, 04:46 PM
Lesser Alternatives, Items to Avoid, and other Disappointments


Air Plant
Price: 25 GP
Weight: --
(Stormwrack p. 108)
You have to keep it wet and well-lit, but this allows a medium-sized creature to breath underwater for 5 minutes. Best if stored in a Preserving Jar along with a continual flame item. An Auran Mask requires less upkeep and lasts twice as long.

Alchemical Flare Bolt
Price: 15 GP
Weight: 0.1#
(Expedition to Castle Ravenloft p. 208)
Does 1d6 extra fire damage against corporeal undead. However, unlike the Alchemical Flare Stake, does not do damage on subsequent rounds. Don't bother with these, buy the stakes instead.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Alchemical Vampire Repellant
Price: 125 GP
Weight: --
(Expedition to Castle Ravenloft p. 209)
Batman gets a lot of ribbing for inexplicably carrying obscure items for very specific and unlikely situations, and I think vampire repellent would be a good example. Spray on yourself as a standard action, and a vampire can't get within 5', can't make melee attacks on you, can't even touch you for 10 rounds, no save. While I can't deny this would come in quite handy against vampires, you can buy garlic for 1 CP and get pretty much the same effect with no duration (Arms & Equipment Guide p. 31).
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Alchemist's Frost
Price: 25 GP
Weight: 1#
(Eberron Campaign Setting p. 120)
There are several other alchemical items that do cold damage: Liquid Ice (Dragon Compendium), Frostfire (Savage Species), and Quickfrost (Complete Adventurer). Alchemist's Frost can be thrown for 1d8 cold damage and 1 splash damage. Liquid Ice is a bit more expensive, does only 1d6 cold damage and 1 splash damage, but can also be combined with a waterskin and/or Razor Ice Powder to create more difficult terrain. Frostfire does more damage over 2 rounds (1d6 cold damage each round) but does no splash damage. Quickfrost doesn't do splash damage either, but can be applied to a weapon as an oil or as a swift action with a Weapon Capsule Retainer. If I had to pick between them all, Liquid Ice is the most versatile, but Quickfrost can be applied to a weapon with a Weapon Capsule Retainer and thus could be used with multiple attacks in the same round.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 22

Angriz's Chest
Price: 1000 GP
Weight: 50#
(Races of the Dragon p. 124)
Keeps dead flesh fresh and palatable. While there are certain alchemical/special substances that this might work well with (Fire Beetle Lamps, Torch Bug Paste), Unguent of Timelessness is usually cheaper. Also, a bit too heavy to be practical.

Ascender/Slider
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 1#
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 21)
+1 circumstance bonus on Climb checks going up a single rope, or Strength check DC 15 to slide down a rope and ignore falling damage. However, the Rope Climber provides a better bonus on ascent, and the Cablespool can be used to descend without a Strength check.

Bag of Tricks, Grey
Price: 900 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
The bag of tricks is one of my favorite items, but I must recommend against the cheapest version. The badger is the only animal with enough size/reach to threaten the squares around it or provide flanking. The rest of the animals are all tiny, and are unlikely to be any help in or out of combat. All of the animals have scent (except the bat, which gets blindsense 20' instead), which might make them useful for locating invisible creatures, but not enough skill ranks to be all that effective at it.

Blackroot Oil
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 0.5#
(Secrets of Xendrik p. 138)
Negates the effects of light sensitivity for 1 hour. Bottle contains 8 applications. Sorry, but Sundark Goggles do the same thing, cost half as much, and they don't have a duration.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 15

Blast Disk
Price: 900 GP
Weight: 1#
(Magic Item Compendium p. 152)
While I appreciate that this explosive can be set off either by proximity or a timer, a Glyph Seal (Magic Item Compendium p. 161) can do so much more, and be used over and over again.

Blasting Pellets
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 2#
(Races of Stone p. 159)
I love the idea of these things, but the Ref save DC 15 means there's a good chance if you take the time to spread these into a square, they won't do anything. It's not clear if another alchemical item or effect could set them off.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Blight Stone
Price: 300 GP
Weight: 1#
(Magic Item Compendium p. 153)
This item appeared in the Utility Belt, but my only real beef with it is... "Okay, so you killed a plant! WOO-HOO! They're gonna have to build that statue of you in the Adventurer's Guild Hall now, eh?" In most cases, a few flasks of Alchemist's Fire will do the same job for a fraction of the cost.

Bloodflower Salve
Price: 10 GP
Weight: --
(Serpent Kingdoms p. 149)
A very odd item... rub this on someone's body, and then sometime later, as long as you're within 25' you can speak a command word to have it deliver a cure minor wounds effect. But it's supposedly an alchemical substance and not magical... huh.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Bolt Cutters
Price: 6 GP
Weight: 5#
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 21)
A useful tool, but can be replicated with Shapesand until you can get hold of Stone Dragon Belt/Mountain Hammer, which can cut through just about anything.

Box of Brown Mold
Price: 3000 GP
Weight: ???
(DMG p. 71)
I'm not sure how to categorize this one. It's an auto-resetting trap that does 3d6 nonlethal cold damage in a 5' burst whenever the box is opened. If any kind of fire is brought within 5' of the mold, it doubles in size, but any amount of cold damage instantly kills it. Presumably, opening the box and dropping in a lit torch would create a rapidly expanding patch of 3d6 cold damage. Assuming you work out with the DM how exactly this expansion happens, there's no listed size or weight, so I'm not sure this would actually fit in the haversack.

Breathing Mask
Price: 1000 GP
Weight: 5#
(Savage Species p. 46)
If you're looking for 4 hours of water breathing, this item may be cheaper than buying 24 Auran Masks, but a potion of water breathing is even cheaper (750 GP) and lasts 10 hours.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Chime of Opening
Price: 3000 GP
Weight: 1#
(DMG)
Limited to 10 uses. For the same price, you can get a Stone Dragon Belt and completely destroy any doors/locks with an unlimited number of Mountain Hammer strikes.

Darkberry
Price: 5 GP
Weight: --
(Magic of Faerun p. 181)
When a ripe darkberry is broken or crushed, it creates a 5' diameter "circle of blackness" for 2 rounds. From the description, I'm not entirely sure what this blackness is supposed to be, but it sounds like it might be the equivalent of a darkness spell, and thus provide 20% concealment.

Daylight Pellet
Price: 150 GP
Weight: --
(Magic Item Compendium p. 156)
Don't even get me started on a spell called daylight that doesn't actually create daylight. Even if you run into light-sensitive creatures that might be affected by this item, the best you can hope for is they'll be mildly annoyed, and there are much better ways to annoy them that don't involve spending 150 GP.

Delver Slime
Price: 150 GP
Weight: 1#
(Savage Species p. 46)
While 8d10 damage against stone objects or creatures sounds impressive, for roughly the same money you can buy 7 flasks of Stonebreaker Acid and get 35d10 damage against stone objects.

Ditherbomb
Price: 100/300/1000 GP
Weight: 0.5#/0.5#/1#
(Races of the Dragon p. 122)
The random 1d3 round delay makes these difficult to use tactically, but they can be given to an unseen servant that can activate them, carry them around, or drop them as need be. Explosive Packs (Secrets of Sarlona) are more reliable.

Dust of Appearance
Price: 1800 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
Use Torch Bug Paste (Complete Scoundrel p. 120) instead.

Dust of Disturbance
Price: 4500 GP
Weight:
(Races of Eberron p. 173)
If you're trying to eliminate an enemy spellcaster and the best strategy you can come up with is to prevent him from getting a good night's sleep, and you're willing to spend 4500 GP on this... I'm sorry, but you just lost D&D.

Dust of Dryness
Price: 850 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
This was mentioned in the Utility Belt, and while I love the idea, I'm not sure you'd get a geyser effect with only 100 gallons of water. That's only enough water to fill a 5' x 5' pit with 6 inches of water. I also love the idea of using the dust to dry up 100 gallons of holy water and then nailing an undead creature with 1600d4 damage (flask = 1 pint, gallon = 8 pints, damage = 2d4 x 800 pints), but that would cost 20000 GP. Thirsty Sand (Sandstorm p. 135) can store up to 1000 gallons for only 3000 GP, but to get a flashflood effect, you'd need to pay 30000 GP. If that's what you want, then you can get a flashflood 1/week with a Waterskin of Deluge (Sandstorm p. 135) for only 12350 GP.

Dust of Negation
Price: 3300 GP
Weight: --
(Lords of Madness p. 214)
Anti-magic field, cloud released as a 10' spread, lasts for 2 minutes. Rendered somewhat irrelevant in that the target creature can just walk out of the area of effect.

Everburning Torch
Price: 110 GP
Weight: 1#
(PHB)
This would be an excellent choice for a source of illumination if glowing Jello (Hearthfire) wasn't so much infinitely cooler. If the DM permits or if you have a friendly cleric in the party, have continual flame cast on a strip of cloth (wear it as a headband or wrapped around your arm if need be). If you can dig up a burnt-out dull-grey ioun stone, even better.

Everlasting Rations
Price: 350 GP
Weight: 2#
(Magic Item Compendium p. 160)
Great Filling! Less Taste! 1/day feeds one person. While this is much cheaper than a Goodbery Bracelet or a Field Provisions Box, the Travel Cloak provides three times the food, 2 gallons of water, and a variety of other features.

Exploding Spike
Price: 1500 GP
Weight: 0.5#
(Magic Item Compendium p. 160)
Save up for a Greater Glyph Seal (Magic Item Compendium p. 161) instead, which you can use over and over again.

Flash Pellet
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Adventurer p. 118)
If your DM won't allow dust eggshell grenades, this may be a reasonable alternative. Ref save DC 15, 5' radius burst. However, Red Tidewater has a much better duration for half the cost, and a Flashstone has a slightly higher save DC and bigger burst.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Flashstone
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Dragon Compendium p. 117)
As above, another reasonable alternative for dust eggshell grenades. Ref save DC 16 and a 15' diameter burst, so it's a bit more effective than a Flash Pellet. Red Tidewater is cheaper and has a much better duration.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Fire Beetle Lamp
Price: 10 GP
Weight: 1#
(Races of the Dragon p. 123)
While this beats Hearthfire and torches on weight, you don't have a lot of control over the 6-day duration unless you stick it in a Glove of Storing (or possibly a Preserving Jar or Angriz' Chest). Here's an interesting idea, though... add Unguent of Timelessness (19 GP per dose, DMG), and the lamp will last an entire year, although at that price an Everburning Torch is cheaper. Even so... glowing Jello is still way-cooler than a jar full of dead bug bits.

Freeze Powder
Price: 100 GP
Weight: 1#
(Frostburn p. 79)
A more expensive version of Liquid Ice (30 GP, Dragon Compendium p. 118), Freeze Powder can also be combined with a waterskin and/or Razor Ice Powder to create 10' x 10' ice sheets. Unlike Liquid Ice or Alchemist's Frost (25 GP, Eberron Campaign Setting p. 120), it can't be thrown as a splash weapon.
Craft (Alchemcy) DC: 25

Frenzywater
Price: 15 GP
Weight: --
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 30)
Another item that appeared in the Utility Belt, but by RAW only works on characters that can rage.

Frostfire
Price: 40 GP
Weight: 1#
(Savage Species p. 47)
Much like Alchemist's Fire, Frostfire is thrown as a grenade-like weapon and does 1d6 cold damage on the first round and another 1d6 cold damage on the next round if it isn't scraped off (full round action, Ref save DC 15 to remove or automatically wash it off with alcoholic/acidic liquid). It has no splash damage, but if you're looking for that you can use Liquid Ice (30 GP, Dragon Compendium p. 118) or Alchemist's Frost (25 GP, Eberron Campaign Setting p. 120). Frostfire is more expensive but has better damage than Liquid Ice, Alchemist's Frost, or Quickfrost.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Glitterstone
Price: 450 GP
Weight: --
(Magic Item Compendium p. 161)
Use Torch Bug Paste (Complete Scoundrel p. 120) instead.

Gut Mites
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 1#
(Complete Scoundrel p. 118)
Forces creature to regurgitate and the creature has to make a Fort save DC 15. If it fails the save, it can't use swallow whole for 1d4 rounds, otherwise it just causes sickness. Use Ipecac instead: it forces regurgitation and 1d4 rounds of nausea, no save.

Hacksaw
Price: 5/20 GP
Weight: 1#
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 23)
Shapesand = infinite hacksaws.

Lasso
Price: 1 GP
Weight: 3#
(Book of Exalted Deeds p. 34)
I originally had this in the original Haversack Type I, but took it out after I discovered how ridiculously easy it is to cut the rope (2 HP for hemp, 4 HP for silk, no hardness) with a single attack, and thus render this exotic weapon completely useless. If your DM allows entangle penalties (-2 attack, -4 Dex) from multiple sources to stack, then multiple lassos or tanglefoot/net combos might still be used to render an opponent helpless, but on its own you're probably better off with a net, which isn't so easy to destroy. Make the lasso out of Earthsilk Rope, however (Races of Stone p. 160), and then it looks more promising: 10 HP, hardness 1. It still has two advantages over a net: it has no size restriction, and it can be used to make ranged trip attacks up to 30' away.

Metal Tongs
Price: 3 GP
Weight: 4#
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 26)
Easily replaced with Shapesand, Hand of the Mage, or unseen servant.

Night Eyes
Price: 25 GP
Weight: --
(Dragon Compendium p. 118)
Thick greasy substance you can apply to your eyes as a full-round action, grants you low-light vision for 10 minutes. Also gives you light sensitivity, but for only 10 GP Sundark Goggles will fix that. For another 5 GP, however, Panther Tears last for an hour.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Oleum
Price: 30 GP
Weight: 1#
(Sandstorm p. 102)
I can see someone put a lot of effort into the write-up for this... but I'm just not seeing the benefits outweighing the drawbacks. Yes, okay, it's "crude oil", and it has half-a-dozen uses. It can be prepared and thrown as a splash weapon, but even after you waste a full-round action prepping it, there's a 50% chance it won't ignite. It can be burned in a lamp but apparently does not provide any illumination and produces thick smoke instead, which drives away insects, but only in one 5' square, and if anyone stands in that square, they have to make a Fort save to avoid spending the round choking or possibly taking subdual damage. The description says it can be used to lubricate moving parts, but as an example mentions spreading it in a 5' square with a smooth surface (which apparently has a lot of moving parts) as a grease-like effect. Two flasks can be applied to a medium-sized creature to make them slippery and drive away vermin, and although it gives you a +4 to escape from a grapple, it also gives you a -4 penalty on grapple checks if you get any on your hands, as well as a -4 penalty on attacks with hand-held weapons. On top of that, wearing oleum is so unpleasant you take a -2 penalty on saves vs. heat effects, and are extremely flammable. The only reason I can see for touching this stuff would be to get every player at the table singing "The Beverly Hillbillies" theme song.

Possom Pouch
Price: 1800 GP
Weight: 1#
(Complete Adventurer p. 134)
The main problem with this item is it never mentions exactly how much can fit inside the pouch. Assuming 10-12 inches across and 2 inches deep is the maximum volume it can accommodate, well, then your haversack won't fit inside (unless you first place it inside a Glove of Storing/Master Strategist). Also the Search DC 30 is fixed, which may be high enough for lower levels but not so much for mid/high levels. That's assuming detect magic doesn't make the Search DC completely irrelevant. To circumvent this, try casting Nystul's magic aura on the pouch, and either use a lead-lined box or additional castings of Nystul's magic aura on the contents.

Potion Bracer
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 1.5#
(Sharn City of Towers p. 159)
Holds up to three potions, allows you to drink a potion as a standard action without provoking an AoO. However, it can be attacked/sundered, and has a 5% arcane spell failure. While the "no AoO" is nice, I prefer the Masterwork Potion Belt (Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting).

Preserving Jar
Price: 3000 GP
Weight: 2#
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 136)
Prevents organic material from decaying or rotting. This is useful for preserving the potency of various alchemical substances and living plants, but there are a couple alternatives that are much cheaper, such as Unguent of Timelessness or Angriz's Chest.

Quickflame
Price: 25 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Adventurer p. 122)
Can be used with a Weapon Capsule Retainer (100 GP, Complete Adventurer) or applied to a weapon as an oil with a standard action. Does 1d6 fire damage for 1 round. However, resistance/immunity to fire damage is the most common energy resistance in the game. If you need alchemical capsules that do energy damage, try Quickspark first.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Quickfrost
Price: 25 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Adventurer p. 122)
Can be used with a Weapon Capsule Retainer (100 GP, Complete Adventurer) or applied to a weapon as an oil with a standard action. Does 1d6 cold damage for 1 round. Liquid Ice (30 GP, Dragon Compendium p. 118) and Alchemist's Frost (25 GP, Eberron Campaign Setting p. 120) has the same price and does splash damage, but can't be applied to a weapon. Frostfire (Savage Species) doesn't do splash damage, but does 1d6 cold damage for 2 rounds instead of 1. However, resistance to cold is the second most common energy resistance in the game. If you're looking for energy damage, try Quickspark first.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Red Tidewater
Price: 25 GP
Weight: 0.5#
(Planar Handbook p. 77)
If your DM won't allow dust eggshell grenades, this may be a reasonable alternative. While this has the same Ref save DC 15 as a Flash Pellet, it has a much longer duration (2d4 rounds) for only half the cost. Flashstones have a slightly higher Ref save DC 16 and a 15' diameter burst.

Replenishing Skin
Price: 1000 GP
Weight: 4#
(Magic Item Compendium p. 173)
A standard waterskin holds about 1/2 gallon of water, so a replenishing skin can produce an average of 4.5 gallons per day if you're diligent about emptying it. While there's nothing really disappointing about a Replenishing Skin, a Travel Cloak or Survival Pouch provides more water and a variety of other features.

Saw, Folding
Price: 2 GP
Weight: 2#
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 24)
Use Shapesand instead.

Sand Pipe
Price: 65 GP
Weight: 1.5#
(Secrets of Xendrik p. 137)
Exotic weapon, but does not use an attack roll, so no need to take Exotice Weapon Proficiency. Used to deploy blinding, burning, or sunscald sand, although only burning sand might be worth the bother (pipe costs 15 GP, and each packet of sand costs 50 GP). Burning sand does 1d6 fire damage and a -2 penalty on Dexterity checks in a 15' cone, Ref save DC 14 halves the damage and negates the penalty. Both filling the pipe or blowing out the sand is a standard action that provokes an AoO. The sand packets can also be thrown at an adjacent target without the pipe, but this triggers an AoO and only affects one target. The low damage and easy save may make this weapon less than useful, it can still be used to light objects on fire or trigger other alchemical items from 15' away, or could be given to an unseen servant with nothing better to do.

Sculptor's Slime
Price: 750 GP
Weight: 4#
(Savage Species p. 48)
Allows you to sculpt (or more likely get rid of) a 5' cube of stone. However, if you just want to destroy a 5' cube of stone (hardness 10, 225 HP), 10 vials of Stonebreaker Acid (ignores hardness, 50d10 damage = average 225 points) will do the job for only 200 GP. If you really do need to shape the stone into something else, try Shapesand instead.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Silverbark Sap
Price: 20 GP
Weight: --
(Magic of Faerun p. 181)
+2 alchemical bonus on Fort saves vs. Poison, lasts 1 hour. Does not stack with Antitoxin, and while not quite as expensive, not quite as effective, either.

Slashing Sand
Price: 2000 GP
Weight: --
(Magic Item Compendium p. 185)
This item first appeared in Sandstorm and was reprinted in the Magic Item Compendium. However, the reprint cut the area in half (only covers four 5' squares now) and dropped the duration from 10 hours down to 1 hour. Compared to a scroll of spike stones which would cover 2800 square feet and last 7 hours, it's just not worth the 2000 GP price tag. You can get a similar effect with no duration by combining some water, Freeze Powder, and Razor Ice Powder (Frostburn, 100 GP + 50 GP).

Sleeping Spike
Price: 3500 GP
Weight: 0.5#
(Magic Item Compendium p. 185)
Use a Greater Glyph Seal (Magic Item Compendium p. 161) instead, which can be used over and over again, although you'll need some way to increase the spell level of a deep slumber spell up to 5th.

Slimebane
Price: 15 GP
Weight: --
(Dragon Compendium p. 119)
Works similar to Alchemist's Fire, but only for oozes. 1d6 untyped damage on the first round, splash damage of 1, and a Fort save DC 15 to see if it does another 1d6 damage on the following round. However, with the exception of acid (which most oozes are immune to), most other alchemical weapons work just as well on oozes, so I don't see any real need for such a specialized weapon.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Smokestick
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 0.5#
(PHB)
Provides concealment, blocks LOS, or a cheap theatrical effect. Liquid Smoke is the same price but easier to use (it doesn't require an action to light).
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Sparkstone
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 1#
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 35)
Of the three alchemical items that do electricity damage, this might be the least effective. It's thrown as a grenade-like weapon, does 1d6 damage, and can arc to one adjacent target (but only one) for half damage. However 50% of the time this will only do 1 damage, so you're probably better off throwing Alchemist's Spark (Eberron Campaign Setting), which does a little more damage (1d8) and does 1 splash damage. Quickspark can't be thrown and doesn't do splash damage, but it can be applied to a weapon as on oil with a standard action, or as a swift action when used with a Weapon Capsule Retainer (100 GP, Complete Adventurer). Both Alchemist's Spark and Quickspark are half the cost.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Spool of Endless Rope
Price: 1400 GP
Weight: 1#
(Magic Item Compendium p. 186)
Great idea ruined by the fact that any rope you cut off immediately disappears. Get a Troll Gut Rope instead, and you can cut off 300' of rope that will last 12 hours.

Stunning Spike
Price: 9000 GP
Weight: 0.5#
(Magic Item Compendium p. 187)
Greater Glyph Seal (Magic Item Compendium p. 161) is cheaper, and can be used over and over again.

Thunderstone
Price: 30 GP
Weight: 1#
(PHB)
Replaced by the Screaming Flask, which can be used without an attack roll and does 1d8 sonic damage on top of deafness.

Trail Bar
Price: 1 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Scoundrel p. 111)
Completely unnecessary as soon as you get a Travel Cloak, but even before then, a Survival check DC 10 will feed one person for a day, and you can go 3 days without food before you have to make a Constitution check.

Darrin
2010-04-06, 04:47 PM
The Fabulous Four

These four "must have" items should be assumed to be part of any type of haversack as soon as you can afford them because they're just too darned useful.

Collar of Perpetual Attendance
Price: 2000 GP
Weight: 0.25#
(WotC online article, Fabulous Cats! (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fools/20030401c))
Unseen servant at will. How is this so powerful? Well, it may be a mindless, shapeless force, but it can perform any activity that an unskilled human can do. This means it gets the same actions every round that any other creature would get: one move + one standard action, or one full-round action. Although it usually takes a move action to direct a spell, this means you can convert your move action into another standard action or more. It has a speed of 15' (10' if encumbered), so it can move up to 30' a round, and while it doesn't have a fly speed exactly (it has no weight, so it can't "fall"), it can move vertically up or down within the spell's range (up to 30' from the collar).

Unseen servants can also make skill checks so long as the skill is not "trained only" and the DC is 10 or less. This does allow them to "Aid Another" on skill checks (DC 10), although they can't take a 10 on the check. This allows them to Aid Another on:

Balance, Bluff (including feint), Climb, Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Disguise, Forgery, Gather Info, Heal, Hide, Intimidate, Jump, Listen, Move Silently, Perform, Ride, Search, Sense Motive, Spot, Survival, Swim, Use Rope, and maybe a few of the other non-PHB skills out there.

Other things an unseen servant can do:

* retrieve/fold a net
* reload a crossbow or sling
* drop/pick up caltrops
* light/carry a smokestick (mobile concealment) or noxious smokestick (save vs. nausea)
* light an oil slick or web on fire
* drop a sack full of 19 acid flasks in a square (19 splash damage, no save), 19 acidic fire flasks (38 splash damage, no save) or a sack full of 39 firestones (39d6 damage, no save)
* drop a bag of flour or torch bug paste into a square
* spread a bag of marbles into a square (5' x 5' nonmagical grease)
* pump a sprayer full of holy water, oil, aboleth mucus, or poison (area effect, 5' x 10' line, autohit/no save).
* apply an oil/cream to a willing/unconscious target
* apply a blessed bandage/healing salve or forcefeed a goodberry/cure potion to a dying creature
* hold a darkwood feycraft tower shield
* activate a feather token such as a tree or swan boat (20d6 falling object damage, no save)
* blow a horn of fog, play drums of panic, or spin a babbling wheel
* block a charge (if told not to get out of the way, charger has to treat it as an unintentional over-run or bull-rush)
* bull-rush a kobold into oncoming traffic
* open a fire trapped item while holding a piece of parchment inscribed with explosive runes (burning parchment = attempt to erase)
* crush a skull talisman (Frostburn)
* drop/break chardalyn stone (Silver Marches Web Enhancement) or Shalantha's Delicate Disk (Lost Empires of Faerun)
* activate an explosive pack (Secrets of Sarlona)
* activate/carry/drop a ditherbomb (Races of the Dragon)
* open a screaming flask (Complete Mage)
* blow a sand pipe (Secrets of Xendrik), 15' cone of burning sand
* spread powder of the black veil (MIC), 10' cube of no save blindness
* set/trigger a blast disk (Heroes of Battle) or exploding/sleeping/stunning spike (MIC)
* spread/drop slashing sand (MIC) or vial of icy sheets (Frostburn)

Gloves of Object Reading
Price: 3000 GP
Weight: --
(Magic Item Compendium p. 107)
While most people might use this item to handle an object and learn something about the previous owner, it can also be used to drive a DM completely bugf*ck crazy: "Ok, so this gold piece... the previous owner, did he wear nice clothes? What color was his hair? Did he have a spellbook? Can I see what spells were in it? No? Okay, next gold piece..." If you ask the right questions, the key to any locked door, puzzle, or riddle the DM throws at you should be right at your fingertips (the owner or creator had to get through the door/puzzle/riddle at some point, right?). Also, not sure what a magic item does? These gloves should give you the equivalent of a free identify: how was the item created, how it was used, what is the command word to activate it, and so forth. Plenty of "social engineering" possibilities, too... pick apart the weaknesses of any important NPCs or BBEGs from whatever objects they leave behind. Return lost items to their owners (for a small -- or perhaps not too small -- "finder's fee", of course). In only a few minutes, identify forged documents, fake art/gems/jewelry, cursed magic items, or trapped objects. The possibilities are endless.

Nolzur's Marvelous Pigments
Price: 4000 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
The definitive "whatever you can possibly imagine" item. Not only can you create mundane equipment, but any non-magical alchemical item is only 10 minutes away. Don't like how the dungeon is laid out? Paint some doors, walls, tunnels, or a few lava pits. A judicious painter knows how to conserve paint, however. Need to get through a wall? Instead of painting an entire door or tunnel, paint cracks in the wall so it's easier to break down. Or paint a hole and go through with a potion of gaseous form. When you add non-magical items such as Ectoplasm Equipment/Stabilizer (Ghostwalk, non-magical ghost touch weapons) and Chaos Flasks (Planar Handbook, create poisons or diamonds) on top of that, the possibilities are staggering. The only real drawback with the pigments is it's not entirely clear from the description how you track the amount of material you can create. There are two different limitations: by surface area (up to 100' square feet), or by GP cost (up to 2000 GP). However, it's not clear if the 2000 GP limit is per item created or a total per pot of pigments. For example, if the owner paints a 10' x 10' x 10' room, can he fill the entire volume with suits of full plate and vials of poison, or does everything in the room have to total up to 2000 GP or less? If you go by surface area, this works for simple features such as doors, pits, and pools of lava, but not so well for smaller objects with complex shapes, such as weapons/alchemical items/trombones/etc. If you go by GP cost, this works well for smaller items but you may be stuck digging through obscure sourcebooks to find a price for a 5' cube of ice/lava/mozzarella/etc. Work with your DM to determine which method works best.

Stone Dragon Belt, Novice
Price: 3000 GP
Weight: 1#
(Tome of Battle p. 150)
This item is used primarily to get access to the Mountain Hammer maneuver, the ultimate Swiss-Army chainsaw and dungeon redecorating tool, which is a standard action strike that ignores DR, hardness, and does an extra 2d6 damage. This allows you to cut down, break apart, or sunder anything your heart desires, over and over again. There are a few requirements, however. Because it's a Stone Dragon strike, you have to be in contact with the ground. You also need a high enough Initiator Level. For a non-martial adept, this means you need 6 levels/HD. You can only use the maneuver once per encounter, or if you're out of combat, you have to meditate for 5 minutes to re-ready the maneuver. If you already have martial adept levels and a high enough initiator level, then you can use your usual recovery method. If you don't have a high enough level yet, you can pick up either the Charging Minotaur or Stone Bones strike instead. If you have an Initiator Level of 5 or more, you can also get access to the 3rd level strikes Bonecrusher and Stone Dragon's Fury. The item description doesn't specify how you choose a new maneuver, but it stands to reason that if you take the item off and wait 24 hours for it to re-attune, you can select a different maneuver.

Darrin
2010-04-06, 04:49 PM
Top Ten Alchemical Items

#1 - Eggshell Grenade, Dust
Price: 10 GP
Weight: --
(Oriental Adventures p. 78)
Thrown as a grenade-like weapon, so make a ranged touch attack with a range increment of 5'. A dust grenade that hits its target directly blinds the target for 1d4 rounds *NO SAVE*. Anyone else within the 5' radius splash must make a Fort save DC 10 or be blinded for 1 round. This is an amazingly effective weapon that works on a wide variety of opponents, but don't overuse this one or your DM will come down on you with a banhammer like a ton of bricks.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

#2 - Shapesand (jug)
Price: 100 GP
Weight: 12#
(Sandstorm p. 102)
Through the exertion of your will (Wisdom check DC 16), you can create any mundane non-magical object out of sand that supposedly "serves as a normal item of the same sort". (So... does that mean I can turn it into 12 lbs of acid or alchemist's fire? How about explosives or poisons? How about a masterwork gatling gun? Hmm...) It retains that shape as long as it stays within 100' of you, but you can also reshape it whenever you like by making another Wisdom check. While the question of acid/explosives/poisons will have to be settled by your DM, you have any tool you can possibly imagine at your fingertips. Need a hammer? Done. Don't need the hammer anymore, need a shovel? Done. It's particularly useful for tools that wear out after a certain number of uses, such as hacksaws and drills. How about exotic weapons or armor (Shapesand Fullplate = 500 GP, Shapesand Mechanus Gear = 700 GP)? It can do that, too, although be aware, if an enemy recognizes you're using Shapesand, he could try to reshape it under his control with a Wisdom check of his own.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

#3 - Firestone
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 0.5#
(Dragon Compendium p. 117)
Thrown as a grenade-like weapon, it does 1d6 fire damage, but unlike a splash weapon, it has an area effect that damages everything in the 5' square without a Ref save. Ranged touch attacks are pretty easy to begin with, but targeting a stationary square rather than a creature makes them even ridiculously more so. This might allow you to throw a whole bag full of these into a square for Xd6 fire damage, X = however many firestones fit in the bag. Another interesting tactic might be to give this bag to an unseen servant, and have it drop or empty the bag into a square from above (doesn't require an attack roll). No weight was given in the Dragon Compendium or the original Dragon article, so I'm assuming a firestone weighs the same as a sling bullet (1/2 lb). Thus, an unseen servant could put 39 into a sack (20 lbs total) and drop it in a square for 39d6 fire damage, no save.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

#4 - Auran Mask
Price: 60 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Mage p. 134)
Provides a +5 bonus against inhaled toxins (which stacks with antitoxin), but this is easily overshadowed by 10 minutes of water breathing. Requires less upkeep than Air Plants. For longer durations, consider a potion of water breathing for 750 GP, which lasts for 10 hours.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

#5 - Tanglefoot Bag
Price: 50 GP
Weight: 4#
(PHB)
Ranged touch attack that entangles, -2 attack penalty, -4 Dex penalty, restricts movement, chance to immobilize, and makes life difficult for flying creatures. Check with your DM if the Dex penalty from multiple sources stack (net, lasso, etc.).
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

#6 - Candle, Focusing
Price: 100 GP
Weight: 1#
(Complete Adventurer p. 118)
+1 circumstance bonus on Appraise, Decipher Script, Forgery, and Search checks. Note: if you think you'll need this for longer than an hour, you can increase the duration to 15 days (365 days / 24 hours = 15.21 days) with a little Unguent of Timelessness (19 GP per dose, DMG).
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

#7 - Hearthfire
Price: 10 GP
Weight: 2#
(Races of Stone p. 160)
This is Jello... that glows like a torch. Angel Radiance may be a better light source, but I'm sorry, this is just too cool not to include. While the dowdy ol' torch may still be the most economical light source at only 1 CP apiece, they're very bulky (each torch weighs a pound). Two pounds of Hearthfire includes 12 cubes, and each cube lasts 24 hours. While an equivalent number of torches would only cost 2.88 GP, they would weigh 288 pounds. Hearthfire doesn't produce any heat and thus can't be used to light anything on fire or as an improvised weapon, but... Glowing Jello!
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

#8 - Healing Salve
Price: 50 GP
Weight: --
(Tome & Blood p. 72)
A potion of cure light wounds costs the same and cures one more HP, but a Healing Salve is non-magical and thus can be used in an anti-magic field or created by marvelous pigments. It's also not a conjuration (healing) effect, so it works normally on Warforged. There's also a Healing Salve in the Magic Item Compendium, but it's a magic item, and it's a lot more expensive (2250 GP) than 10 applications of this alchemical item.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

#9 - Quickspark
Price: 25 GP
Weight: --
(Complete Adventurer p. 122)
Of all the various alchemical items that do energy damage, Quickspark is the easiest to use and you're less likely to run into electricity resistance than fire or cold. It can be applied to a weapon as on oil with a standard action, or as a swift action when used with a Weapon Capsule Retainer (100 GP, Complete Adventurer). It can't be thrown on its own and does no splash damage, but you can apply it to any grenade-like weapon just like any other weapon. A Quickspark + Acidic Fire, for example, does an average of 11 energy damage over 2 rounds. Alchemist's Spark (Eberron Campaign Setting) is easier to throw, does a little more damage (1d8) and also splashes for 1 damage, but can't be applied to a weapon. A Sparkstone (Arms & Equipment Guide) can be thrown as a grenade-like weapon for 1d6 electricity damage and it will arc to one adjacent opponent (but only one) for half damage.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

#10 - Stonebreaker Acid
Price: 20 GP
Weight: 1#
(Arms & Equipment Guide p. 35)
Thrown as grenade-like weapon. Against stone objects/creatures, 5d10 damage over 2 rounds that ignores hardness. While Delver Slime (150 GP, Savage Species) may deal more damage per application, Stonebreaker Acid is a lot cheaper.
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Note: Tarmak War Paint (check the Honorable Mention list) probably belongs at the top of this list (+5 Natural Armor bonus and Fast Healing 5, up to 20 HP) but due to the price and obscurity of the sourcebook, I consider it a little too unlikely to clear DM approval.

strider24seven
2010-04-06, 04:49 PM
Damn, that's nice!

I loved the old Bunko's threads. Ol' Bunko sold me many a cheap magic trinket back in the day.

And I forgot how deadly Aboleth Slime was! That's going back in my Haversack! And I'll keep an Aboleth for milking in my Bag of Holding.

Edit: Sorry, didn't mean to be a combo breaker!

Darrin
2010-04-06, 04:50 PM
Drugs

I didn't include drugs in any of the haversacks because they involve a lot of special rules and complications: addiction checks, side effects, and overdose effects. However, since most of the negative effects of using drugs involve ability damage, there are several methods to mitigate or completely negate the negative effects.

Drugs work like poisons, so they have a primary and secondary effect. They all have Fortitude saves related to those effects, but someone willingly taking a drug automatically fails both the primary and secondary Fortitude save. Side effects or overdoses may include additional saves, which the user may attempt to avoid as normal.

Addiction must be checked for separately, and the Fortitude save DC, satiation period, and consequences are determined by the drug's addiction rating (see Book of Vile Darkness p. 41, Lords of Darkness p. 184, or Sharn: City of Towers p. 160 for the specific rules for drug addiction). Although the rules state that addiction "functions much like diseases" as per the DMG, there may be rules complications if you treat them as actual diseases. Certain classes/abilities grant immunity to disease (I'm looking at you, Mr. Paladin, who not only gets immunity to disease, but also gets remove disease a certain number of times per week as a Spell-Like Ability). My advice would be to allow effects that grant a save bonus against diseases to work on addiction checks, but declare that blanket "immunity to disease" does not apply to addictions under the reasoning that while it may work mechanically similar to a disease, it's either not an actual disease, or because it's self-inflicted the user is compromising/waiving his immunity.

Addiction can be "cured" by succeeding with two consecutive Fortitude saves or via a remove disease spell. Since there is no specific duration, the condition can't be removed via Iron Heart Surge (IHS). Remove disease is one of those spells that everyone should have ready to cast in some capacity, but clerics are generally loathe to waste a spell slot on something that comes up so rarely. It's a good idea to keep a few scrolls (375 GP) or potions (750 GP) handy. A Heartstone from a Night Hag (1800 GP, MM p. 194) may be even cheaper: instantly cures disease up to ten times, 180 GP per use.

There is quite a bit of overlap between drugs and poisons, particularly when you start delivering drugs to an unwilling victim. One advantage some drugs have over other poisons is that multiple doses/attacks may trigger an overdose, which might include damage/penalties that take effect immediately (in some cases without a save). I don't really explore that here since the Poison Handbook (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=4854.0) is already very detailed and extensive. Go there for everything you need to know about poisons.

Here are some methods/items to mitigate or nullify the disadvantages of drugs:

Filth Eater feat (Sharn: City of Towers p. 157): +4 bonus on saves against disease or ingested poisons. Also, reduces ability damage from either source by 1 point (minimum of 1). The save bonus won't help you on the primary and secondary effects of drugs, but should work against any saves from side effects or overdoses. This feat pairs up beautifully with the Strongheart Vest soulmeld or the Naberius vestige.

Iron Heart Surge maneuver (Tome of Battle p. 68): As a standard action, end any negative condition/effect that has a duration that can be expressed in rounds (usually abbreviated as IHS). While this isn't an immediate cure-all for addiction or ability damage (neither of these have specific durations), many side effects and some overdose effects have durations and can be negated with Ironheart Surge. Many DMs ban Tome of Battle because they think it's overpowered, and this maneuver is one of the major reasons why. The maneuver description isn't worded very clearly and it's not always obvious what conditions/effects it can stop, so even if your DM allows Tome of Battle, expect to get into more than a few discussions about what this maneuver can or can't do. This maneuver is easiest to pick up with a dip into Warblade after ECL 8. You can also use the Martial Study feat twice, but your Initiator Level still needs to be 5, so without any Martial Adept levels, you'll need to be at least ECL 10. Iron Heart Surge requires you know one Iron Heart maneuver as a prerequisite, but you can pick up a Novice version of the Iron Heart Vest (Tome of Battle p. 150) for only 3000 GP. This can be used in place of one Martial Study feat, either to allow you to take Iron Heart Surge, or add it to your maneuvers known if you already know one Iron Heart maneuver.

Keoghtom's Ointment (DMG p. 261): 5 applications of either neutralize poison (to negate a drug's side effects or overdose effects after the primary/secondary benefit has expired), remove disease (get rid of addiction), or cure light wounds.

Naberius vestige (Tome of Magic p. 41): This is a first level vestige with an easy binding DC 15, so it's easy to grab with just a one-level dip into Binder. Naberius offers several interesting abilities, but the one we're interested in is the Faster Ability Healing, which heals 1 point of ability damage per round. Because you actually take the damage before you heal it, there's not much of an argument that preventing the damage prevents the positive effects, as it might be argued with the Strongheart Vest. You're also less likely to see this method banned, although it does involve learning another magic system with new, sometimes not-so-intuitive rules. Another issue is it only heals 1 point of ability damage per round, so if you're taking large amounts of ability damage, it may take many rounds to get it all back.

Necropolitan template (Libris Mortis p. 114): Making yourself undead removes your Constitution score and makes you immune to most anything that requires a Fortitude save. This would include drugs, addiction, and some side/overdose effects, but you'll need to get your DM to agree that your immunity to drugs does not also extend to their benefits... which may be a bit of a hard sell.

Orb of Mental Renewal (Magic Item Compendium p. 167): 3/charges per day, can heal up to 12 points of Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma damage, or up to 6 points to all three ability scores. Great bargain, too: only 3100 GP.

Restoration spells (PHB): These cure ability damage, and even if you're not a divine caster or don't have one in the party, there are a variety of ways to get access to this spell. If you already have divine casting, a dip into Prestige Paladin can add lesser restoration as a 1st level spell. If you find a paladin with the right item creation feats, you can buy potions of lesser restoration for only 100 GP or a wand of lesser restoration for only 1500 GP. Arcane Disciple + Renewal Domain can add it to an arcane caster's spell list. There's also a Touchstone site in Sandstorm (see below) that offers lesser restoration.

Rod of Bodily Restoration (Magic Item Compendium p. 173): 3/charges per day, can heal up to 12 points of Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution damage, or up to 6 points to all three ability scores. Same price as the Orb of Mental Renewal: 3100 GP.

Strongheart Vest soulmeld (Magic of Incarnum p. 89): Already a favorite of Hellfire Warlocks, who use this to negate the Constitution damage from using their Hellfire Blasts. With a dip into Incarnate or taking the Shape Soulmeld feat, you can reduce any ability damage you take by 1 point. By investing essentia, you can reduce it even further. If you're not familiar with the Incarnum rules, it may take a while to fully wrap your head around them, but it's well worth the effort. However, because of the Hellfire Warlock abuse, some DMs ban this soulmeld, or they may argue that preventing the ability damage also prevents any positive benefits they were supposed to provide. Also, it's not clear if you take two different types of ability damage from the same effect, such as Strength damage and Dexterity damage, does the Strongheart Vest prevent 1 point from both ability scores, or just one ability score per round? Talk with your DM about how this soulmeld should work.

Talisman of Undying Fortitude (Magic Item Compendium p. 188): 2/day, gain immunity to a wide variety of effects, including ability damage and anything that requires a Fortitude save. Lasts for 3 rounds, so timing it to negate certain side effects or Fortitude saves may be tricky. Not as cheap as the Orb/Rod, but not all that expensive, either: 8000 GP.

Touchstone feat (Sandstorm p. 53): It's not clear if the Sandstorm Touchstone rules were supposed to be an update of the Planar Touchstone rules from the Planar Handbook or should be treated as a different mechanical system entirely, but the two Touchstone sites we're interested in are both in Sandstorm, and fortunately the requirements are looser than the Planar version. You need 8 ranks of Knowledge (Local), or you can spend 250 GP on a touchstone key. To create a link with a touchstone site, you must meditate for a day, spend 10 XP, and sacrifice either the touchstone key or 250 GP worth of material components. This gives you access to a Touchstone site's Base Ability. *You do not have to visit the Touchstone site to get the Base Ability!* The two sites we're interested in:

Shrine at Kahar (Sandstorm p. 54) lets you cast a cleric spell as a Spell-Like Ability 1/day, chosen from a list that includes lesser restoration.

Healing Waters of Abu-Ima (Sandstorm p. 55) lets you cast either cure serious wounds or remove disease 1/day as a Spell-Like Ability. This will get rid of addiction, although ability damage from addiction still needs to be healed/cured normally.


List of Drugs

Almost all drugs have an initial effect, secondary effect, side effect, and an overdose effect. They also have addiction ratings and satiation periods that may need to be kept track of. For the complete rules on handling drugs, refer to pages 41-42 in the Book of Vile Darkness. Below I've compiled a list of almost all the drugs from various sourcebooks. If a drug had no beneficial effects or no mechanical benefits beyond a fluff description, then I didn't include it.

Agony ("Liquid Pain")
Price: 200 GP
(Book of Vile Darkness p. 42)
Initial: Stunned 1d4 rounds, staggered 1d6 minutes
Secondary: 1d4+1 enhancement bonus to Cha for 1d10+50 minutes
Side: intense pleasure 1d4 hours (fluff)
Overdose: If second dose taken within 24 hours, Fort DC 18 or fall unconscious for 1d4 hours
Comments: IHS can't help with the stunning, but it can get rid of the staggered condition once you're able to move again. The Charisma bonus takes a minute to kick in, but it's an interesting alternative to an eagle's splendor buff.
Addiction: Extreme
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Baccaran
Price: 10 GP
(Book of Vile Darkness p. 42)
Initial: 1d4 points Str damage
Secondary: 1d4+1 enhancement bonus to Wis for 1d10+15 minutes
Side: -4 penalty on saves vs. illusions for 2d4 hours
Overdose: 2d6 points of damage and side effect doubled (although it doesn't specify if they mean the penalty or the duration)
Comments: Strongheart Vest or Naberius can take care of the Str damage, IHS can get rid of the penalty vs. illusions, and anything that gives temporary HPs (such as the Stone Power feat) can offset the overdose damage.
Addiction: Low
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Devilweed
Price: 6 GP
(Book of Vile Darkness p. 42)
Initial: 1 point Wis damage
Secondary: +2 alchemical bonus to Str for 1d3 hours
Side: Acts skittish (treat as shaken) for same duration as the secondary effect
Overdose: none
Comments: Very easy to counteract these negative effects, and the alchemical bonus to Str stacks with bull's strength and Mule Pollen. You may need the DM to clarify if the skittish condition is identical to being shaken, because there are a variety of class abilities and some regional feats that offer immunity to shaken or other fear effects. Otherwise, IHS will get rid of it.
Addiction: Low
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Dragon's Blood, Black
Price: 240 GP
(Sharn: City of Towers p. 161)
Initial: next use of a least dragonmark or sorcerer spell of 2nd level or lower is enhanced with Enlarge Spell and Extend Spell. Lasts 10 minutes or until dragonmark/spell is used.
Secondary: 1d4 points of Cha damage
Side: none
Overdose: Will save DC 18 or take 2d6 points of damage
Comments: Magical effect. User may only benefit from one type of Dragon's Blood per day. Free metamagic for 1st and 2nd level sorcerer spells is all sorts of win, but if it's something you're going to be using a lot of, metamagic rods can be used more often and may be cheaper in the long run.
Addiction: Medium
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 30

Dragon's Blood, Blue
Price: 750 GP
(Sharn: City of Towers p. 161)
Initial: next use of a least/lesser dragonmark or sorcerer spell of 4th level or lower does not use up a spell slot or daily use. Lasts 10 minutes or until dragonmark/spell is used.
Secondary: 1d4+1 points of Cha damage
Side: none
Overdose: Will save DC 20 or take 4d6 points of damage
Comments: Magical effect. User may only benefit from one type of Dragon's Blood per day. Interesting, but like metamagic rods, a Memento Magica (Pearl of Power for sorcerers, Magic Item Compendium) might be cheaper in the long run.
Addiction: High
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 30

Dragon's Blood, Red
Price: 1200 GP
(Sharn: City of Towers p. 161)
Initial: All uses of a least/lesser dragonmark and all sorcerer spells of 3rd level or lower are either Maximized or cast at +3 caster levels. Lasts 1 minute.
Secondary: 1d6+1 points of Cha damage
Side: none
Overdose: Will save DC 22 or take 8d6 points of damage
Comments: Magical effect. User may only benefit from one type of Dragon's Blood per day. Nice little nova effect, but except for fireball/lightning bolt, a lot of the best bread-and-butter blasty-type spells are 4th level or higher (orb of {blank}, enervation, disintegrate, etc.). Paired up with arcane spellsurge, a Sorcerer could get up to 20 maximized spells cast in 10 rounds for only 1200 GP.
Addiction: Extreme
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 30

Haunspeir
Price: 50 GP
(Lords of Darkness p. 183)
Initial: 1d4 points of damage
Secondary: 1d4+1 enhancement bonus to Int for 1d10+15 minutes
Side: +1 damage to all slashing/piercing attacks while drug is in effect
Overdose: 2d4 points of damage and side effects doubled
Comments: Get yourself a little temp HP (see Sezarad Root below) or a cure light wounds, and this could work as a cheaper alternative to fox's cunning. Stacks well with Mushroom Powder.
Addiction: Low

Jhuild ("Thrallwine")
Price: 6 GP
(Lords of Darkness p. 183)
Initial: 1 point Wis damage
Secondary: +2 alchemical bonus to Str for 1d3 hours
Side: While under drug's effects, user is shaken, and resistance to Intimidate checks reduced to 0 + HD.
Overdose: none
Comments: Almost identical to Devilweed, and likewise easy to counteract, although in this case the side effect is explicitly shaken rather than something like it, so immunities to fear should work. Stacks with bull's strength and Mule Pollen. [Note: There's another version of Jhuild printed in Unapproachable East as "Rashemi Firewine", but the mechanics are significantly different. I prefer the LoD version, which still follows the Drug rules.]
Addiction: none

Kammarth
Price: 80 GP
(Lords of Darkness p. 183)
Initial: same effect as expeditious retreat for 1d4+1 minutes
Secondary: +2 alchemical bonus to Dex for duration of drug's effect
Side: none (fluff)
Overdose: 2 doses within 8 hours, 1d4 damage and paralyzed for 2d4 minutes. 3+ doses within 24 hours, 4d4 damage and paralyzed for 2d4 hours.
Comments: Magical effect. No real downside here, other than addiction or overdose. The speed increase is an enhancement bonus, however, so it won't stack with other enhancement bonuses.
Addiction: Medium

Katakuda ("Dragonskin")
Price: 100 GP
(Lords of Darkness p. 183)
Initial: none
Secondary: +3 natural armor bonus for 30 minutes
Side: after secondary effect ends, 1d4+1 Dex damage
Overdose: a second dose taken within 10 days of the first only provides a +2 natural armor bonus
Comments: Magical effect. Takes a minute to kick in, but cheaper than a potion of barkskin.
Addiction: None

Luhix
Price: 2000 GP
(Book of Vile Darkness p. 42)
Initial: 1 point of damage to all ability scores
Secondary: +2 alchemical bonus to all ability scores for 1d2 hours
Side: immune to pain (including symbol of pain, but unfortunately "pain" isn't all that clearly defined as a status condition)
Overdose: Fort save DC 25 or DIE!
Comments: No real point to take this drug unless you have a reliable way to prevent/cure all that ability damage. Best to have Naberius up and running, although you may want to check with your DM if Strongheart Vest will prevent the damage to all six ability scores at the same time. Otherwise, pair up an Orb of Mental Renewal/Rod of Bodily Restoration. Unless you have a particularly MAD (Multiple Ability Dependency) character, I'm not sure it's worth the bother.
Note: As Akal Saris points out, since Luhix can be delivered as an injury poison, two hits on a target constitutes an overdose and the target must make a Fort save DC 25 or DIE!
Addiction: Vicious
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 30

Mule Pollen
Price: 50 GP
(Magic of Faerun p. 181)
Initial: +2 untyped bonus to Str, -2 penalty to Int and Wis for 1d4x10 minutes
Secondary: none
Side: Fort save DC 12 or target is fatigued whenever not under the effects of mule pollen. Can be removed with neutralize poison.
Overdose: none
Comments: This is an oddball that was included in Magic of Faerun's "Extraordinary Natural Items" before there were any formal drug rules. The Fort DC is low but the fatigue effect appears to be permanent and has no duration until you can get a neutralize poison spell. The penalty to Int and Wis does have a duration, so IHS can get rid of that, and the bonus to Str is untyped, so it will stack with other alchemical bonuses.
Addiction: special

Mushroom Powder
Price: 100 GP
(Book of Vile Darkness p. 43)
Initial: +2 alchemical bonus to Int and Cha
Secondary: 1 point Str damage
Side: -2 alchemical penalty to Wis for 1d4 hours and same penalty to Str and Con for 2d4 hours
Overdose: 2d6 damage (within 12 hours) or 4d6 damage plus paralyzed for 2d4 hours
Comments: Kicks in immediately and stacks with enhancement bonuses, although bonus to Int and Cha only lasts 10 rounds. Most spellcasters could care less about the Str damage. The penalties to Wis/Str/Con have durations so they can be negated with IHS.
Addiction: Medium
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25

Panacolo
Price: 250 GP
(Lords of Darkness p. 184)
Initial: none
Secondary: +2 untyped bonus to DC for all arcane spells user casts for the next 1d4 hours
Side: 1d6 points Cha damage
Overdose: second dose taken within one hour increases DC bonus to +3, but user takes 2d8 Cha damage. For additonal doses taken within the hour, the user takes additional Cha damage but do not increase DC further.
Comments: Magical effect. Great way for Int-based casters to improve save DCs, and stacks well with Mushroom Powder and Haunspeir.
Addiction: Low

Redflower Leaves
Price: 300 GP
(Book of Vile Darkness p. 43)
Initial: none
Secondary: move action to focus on one creature, +4 competence bonus on next attack, lasts 10 minutes
Side: none
Overdose: nauseated 1d4 x 10 minutes
Comments: Unless you overdose (and IHS won't help with nausea), no real negative effects here, although there's an argument that the benefits aren't worth the bother. Most melee-types with higher BABs would probably rather full attack than waste a move action for a +4 attack bonus.
Addiction: Low
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 27

Rhul ("Battlewine")
Price: 50 GP
(Lords of Darkness p. 184)
Initial: +4 alchemical bonus to Str and Con, also -2 penalty to AC.
Secondary: User is fatigued. A second dose of Rhul negates the fatigue for 1 minute, but may trigger overdose, and two or more doses of Rhul cause exhaustion.
Side: Will save DC 16 or user cannot make ranged attacks, must use melee attacks.
Overdose: If more than one dose taken in an hour, 1d4 points Int and Wis damage.
Comments: The AC penalty may be something you have to live with, but the fatigue is usually easy to get rid of. Icewild Lichen Paste (Secrets of Sarlona) pairs up nicely, as would any lesser restoration effect. Stacks with bull's strength and Mule Pollen.
Addiction: Medium

Sakrash ("Twilight Mind")
Price: 500 GP
(Lords of Darkness p. 184)
Initial: user dazzled for 1 minute
Secondary: user immune to effects that read or alter thoughts/emotions for 1d4 hours (includes detect thoughts, zone of truth, calm emotions, cause fear)
Side: attempts to communicate telepathically/empathically fail
Overdose: none
Comments: Magical effect. The strange wording on this doesn't explicitly say the user is immune to all mind-affecting spells... it doesn't mention charm or compulsion spells, but I can't imagine how those could *not* involve altering the target's thoughts. So yeah, looks like for only 500 GP you can get the equivalent of mind blank for 1d4 hours.
Addiction: none

Sannish
Price: 15 GP
(Book of Vile Darkness p. 43)
Initial: 1 point Wis damage
Secondary: immune to pain for 1d4 hours
Side: -2 penalty on initiative checks while under effects of drug
Overdose: staggered for 2d4 hours
Comments: Other than symbol of pain, pain isn't a very well-defined status condition. I don't see much of a use for this drug.
Addiction: Medium
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 20

Sezarad Root
Price: 75 GP
(Lords of Darkness p. 184)
Initial: gain 1d8 temp HP
Secondary: gain 1d8 temp HP (these do not stack but overlap the first 1d8), all temp HP wear off in 10 minutes
Side: 1d4 points Wis damage
Overdose: none
Comments: Best used to offset minor damage, such as Haunspeir's initial damage. Other than that... it's cheaper than a potion of aid.
Addiction: Low

Tekkil
Price: 5 GP
(Lords of Darkness p. 185)
Initial: none
Secondary: reduces penalties from extreme pain by 1, gain DR 1/- against subdual damage only. Lasts 1d4 hours.
Side: While under drug's effect, -2 penalty to initiative.
Overdose: if second dose taken while first dose still in effect, user under slow effect for 2d4 hours
Comments: Pain penalties and subdual damage don't come up often enough to make this anything other than a waste of 5 GP.
Addiction: Medium

Terran Brandy
Price: 500 GP
(Book of Vile Darkness p. 43)
Initial: +2 alchemical bonus to caster level
Secondary: 2 points Con damage
Side: none
Overdose: 1 point Con damage
Comments: Magical drug, so this won't work in an anti-magic field. Great way to boost caster level if you can prevent/cure the Con damage.
Addiction: Low
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 30

Vodare
Price: 40 GP
(Book of Vile Darkness p. 43)
Initial: +2 alchemical bonus on Intimidate and saves vs. fear effects for 1d4 hours
Secondary: -4 alchemical penalty on Diplomacy and Bluff for 2d4 hours
Side: none (fluff)
Overdose: Fort save DC 15 or become catatonic
Comments: Intimidate is almost completely useless (unless you have an Imperious Command type of build), but the bonus against fear effects might be useful. The overdose condition is really strange... catatonic isn't really defined anywhere in the rules, so I assume they mean unconscious or "really, really, like, hardcore sleepy", but there's no duration listed. So... I'm not really seeing anything to recommend using this drug for any reason.
Addiction: High
Craft (Alchemy) DC: 15

Ziran ("Bloodfast")
Price: 100 GP
(Lords of Darkness p. 185)
Initial: user dazed 1 round
Secondary: +2 alchemical bonus to Dex for 1d3 hours
Side: after secondary effect ends, user takes 2 points Con damage
Overdose: second dose taken within 24 hours causes an additional 2 points of Con damage
Comments: Stacks with enhancement bonuses, such as cat's grace.
Addiction: High

Kaiyanwang
2010-04-06, 05:01 PM
Great posts. I love alchemical items.

And thank you for the Dust Egshell grenade. I always overlooked the main target thing as if the save was allowed. :smallsmile:

Thanks!

(If I have to remove the post because you need space, just PM me).

arguskos
2010-04-06, 05:02 PM
And this hits my bookmarks. Great resource, excellent job Darrin, really. :smallbiggrin:

Redshirt Army
2010-04-06, 06:33 PM
Love it, bookmarked, thank you, etc... :smallbiggrin:

This is going to become a staple of character creation for me.

AslanCross
2010-04-06, 08:56 PM
Bookmarked. I don't normally have trouble picking gear, but my players do. Good job.

Jack_Simth
2010-04-06, 09:13 PM
Bookmarked. I don't normally have trouble picking gear, but my players do. Good job.

Scrapbooked. Considering that this is the rules forum, which quite recently underwent a purge (for quite legitimate reasons), I'm not going to rely on it sticking around forever.

Godskook
2010-04-06, 10:02 PM
Note: By RAW, there's no penalties for stacking one bag of holding into another, and since a haversack is a derivative, you can dump bags of holding into your haversack to increase the weight load while only doing minimal damage to your 'handiness'. Additionally, you can add interior haversacks, making items inside the interior sack two move actions to retrieve.

Also, by a cheesy interpretation of RAW, you can retrieve things from interior bags without spending additional actions to do so, which makes bags of holding more economical by this reading.

This might help with the weight problems.

bartman
2010-04-06, 10:37 PM
Scrapbooked.

How would one go about doing this? (I have it bookmarked, but do not want to lose it either, and would like to keep it in the current spoilered format)

IonDragon
2010-04-07, 12:43 AM
How would one go about doing this? (I have it bookmarked, but do not want to lose it either, and would like to keep it in the current spoilered format)

There are multiple Firefox add ons that can do this, and using IE(I personally don't) it gives you the option to "Make page available offline" when you bookmark it and as long as you never update it, it will always appear just as it does now.

Person_Man
2010-04-07, 09:11 AM
Made of awesome. Thanks Darrin.

Also, at some point we need to put together a comprehensive list of the best weapons, armor, etc in 3.5. There are a bunch of different threads that do this, but none that cover everything.

AslanCross
2010-04-07, 09:16 AM
...I'm definitely houseruling that the Chaos Flask can't duplicate anything that's worth more than 100 GP, though. That 5000 GP diamond trick makes the already bruised and battered WBL cry.

Jack_Simth
2010-04-07, 11:24 AM
There are multiple Firefox add ons that can do this, and using IE(I personally don't) it gives you the option to "Make page available offline" when you bookmark it and as long as you never update it, it will always appear just as it does now.

Most browsers will also let you do File/Save As... and select "Web page(Complete)" to do the same thing.

Darrin
2010-04-07, 05:28 PM
Also, at some point we need to put together a comprehensive list of the best weapons, armor, etc in 3.5. There are a bunch of different threads that do this, but none that cover everything.

For exotic weapons, I just use your Haberdash thread. I think that has all the worthwhile exotics, except for the chain/chain lash/manriki-gusari. Do we need anything for non-exotics? Martial weapons usually boil down to Greatsword and Guisarme + Armor Spikes.

You've already got a Shield Handbook. Armor, though... I could start putting together some notes on that.

Akal Saris
2010-04-07, 08:56 PM
Fantastic handbook/guidebook Darrin. Absolutely wonderful :)

Here are some affordable additions all priced between 5g and 100g, mostly from my Poisons handbook, that have good applications even for good-aligned adventurers. I apologize for not listing the weights - it's not something I track in my games.

Oruighen (Lords of Darkness): It's basically Mace. Make a melee touch attack to throw tiny pellets at your opponent to give -2 to attacks, saves, and skills. Very cheap at 20g! Similar to the Eggshell grenades et all.

Tanglepatch: Maybe I missed it, but this alchemical item from Races of Faerun creates a genuine nonmagical entangle spell for only 100g.

Blister Oil (Races of Stone): an alchemical substance, but dirt cheap (5gp for 1-8 uses), and works as an injury poison to deal some damage (1d4?) and penalize Dex checks and reflex saves. Great for low-level alchemists, and doesn't carry the drawback of poisoning yourself if you mess up.

Stun Gas (Underdark): 40gp (6.6gp self-crafted). DC 12 inhaled poison, and stuns for 1/1d4 rounds. A dose can be stored in darts and presumably arrowheads. I think of it as a poor man's Dust of Sneezing & Choking.

Sleep-Smoke (Waterdeep: City of Splendors): At 25g (4.16g self-crafted), this is a DC 15 inhaled poison that lasts 2 rounds - first in a 10ft globe, then in a 20ft globe! Both the primary and secondary effects are unconsciousness (1 min/1d3 mins). DC 15 to create - this is used by Waterdeep's town guard, I think.

Roach Paste (Drow of the Underdark): DC 12 Injury poison, but only 50g (so 8.32g to make), and causes nausea for 1 round. Great at low levels, and the components are from giant roaches, which is absolutely disgusting (but easy enough to find).

Darkeye (Sharn, City of Towers)
50gp, Alchemy DC: 25. A toxic beverage: DC 12 ingested, paralysis/secondary damage 1 Con. However, if the victim fails his saving throw against the secondary damage, the paralysis continues and he must make another save after a minute has passed. This continues until the victim makes a successful saving throw.
During the period of paralysis, the victim is poised on the brink of life and death. Some victims see visions of their past, while others hear the voices of departed friends and family. The experience sensitizes the victim to the emanations of the beyond. For an hour after consuming darkeye, the victim gains +1 effective caster level when casting any sort of necromantic spell; this is increased to +5 when casting speak with dead. Darkeye is terribly bitter, and a full dose (2 ounces) is required to have any effect.

TheMadLinguist
2010-04-07, 09:37 PM
Can't you just stick an enveloping pit inside the haversack and dramatically increase the storage capacity?

Darrin
2010-04-08, 01:29 PM
Oruighen (Lords of Darkness): It's basically Mace. Make a melee touch attack to throw tiny pellets at your opponent to give -2 to attacks, saves, and skills. Very cheap at 20g! Similar to the Eggshell grenades et all.


I don't recall exactly why I didn't include this in the poisons, but probably because Eggshell Grenades blind so much better. Even Red Tidewater has a better save DC and... comparable duration? I can't recall exactly. Although the -2 penalty is very nice. I'll consider adding this.



Tanglepatch: Maybe I missed it, but this alchemical item from Races of Faerun creates a genuine nonmagical entangle spell for only 100g.


I think it was reprinted in the MIC for 200 GP, where it's now quite definitely magical. I'll take another look at this one.



Blister Oil (Races of Stone): an alchemical substance, but dirt cheap (5gp for 1-8 uses), and works as an injury poison to deal some damage (1d4?) and penalize Dex checks and reflex saves. Great for low-level alchemists, and doesn't carry the drawback of poisoning yourself if you mess up.


No damage, just a pain penalty, I think... and the save DC was low enough that I didn't consider it all that useful.



Stun Gas (Underdark): 40gp (6.6gp self-crafted). DC 12 inhaled poison, and stuns for 1/1d4 rounds. A dose can be stored in darts and presumably arrowheads. I think of it as a poor man's Dust of Sneezing & Choking.


I left out poisons for the most part because I already had Aboleth Mucus and the Chaos Flask. The Poison Handbook (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?action=printpage;topic=4854.0) covers poisons pretty well already.



Sleep-Smoke (Waterdeep: City of Splendors): At 25g (4.16g self-crafted), this is a DC 15 inhaled poison that lasts 2 rounds - first in a 10ft globe, then in a 20ft globe! Both the primary and secondary effects are unconsciousness (1 min/1d3 mins). DC 15 to create - this is used by Waterdeep's town guard, I think.


I had a tough time with all the various sleep-based alchemical items... I just couldn't find one I liked that didn't have a really low save DC. Sleep smoke that lasts two rounds and expands to 20' sounds like you could run into trouble putting your allies to sleep.



Roach Paste (Drow of the Underdark): DC 12 Injury poison, but only 50g (so 8.32g to make), and causes nausea for 1 round. Great at low levels, and the components are from giant roaches, which is absolutely disgusting (but easy enough to find).


Not sure DC 12 is worth the bother.



Darkeye (Sharn, City of Towers)
50gp, Alchemy DC: 25. A toxic beverage: DC 12 ingested, paralysis/secondary damage 1 Con. However, if the victim fails his saving throw against the secondary damage, the paralysis continues and he must make another save after a minute has passed. This continues until the victim makes a successful saving throw.
During the period of paralysis, the victim is poised on the brink of life and death. Some victims see visions of their past, while others hear the voices of departed friends and family. The experience sensitizes the victim to the emanations of the beyond. For an hour after consuming darkeye, the victim gains +1 effective caster level when casting any sort of necromantic spell; this is increased to +5 when casting speak with dead. Darkeye is terribly bitter, and a full dose (2 ounces) is required to have any effect.

Again, save DC is too low... anything that could fail a save DC 12 and be convinced/tricked into ingesting this stuff, and you have to wait a minute to see if it paralyzes... chances are good anything that weak could be more effectively rendered motionless with a dab or so of blunt force trauma.

Dusk Eclipse
2010-04-08, 01:36 PM
Just saying, I'm using a slightly modified versionof the first haversack on a pbp game, i'll tell yyou how it goes.

Akal Saris
2010-04-08, 06:31 PM
Actually, the usefulness of dark-eye is in the visions and CL boost, not the low DC paralysis. But I generally agree with your critiques of the other suggested items - my view is that since they are dirt cheap, even if the save DC is low they have a sweet spot of 2nd-6th level where they are quite useful.

By the way, the sneaky use for Luhix (the overdose = death drug) is because it's delivered by injury, you use it as a poison. Two hits and you have a DC 25 save or die, and the guy's probably viciously addicted to the stuff even if he makes the save. It's too expensive to include in the haversack, but a cute use for it.

Glimbur
2010-04-08, 07:49 PM
Can't you just stick an enveloping pit inside the haversack and dramatically increase the storage capacity?

You'd lose the ability to draw anything you want as a move action from things that are in the pit. For some things that's acceptable, for some things when you need them you need them now.

Darrin
2010-04-23, 09:58 PM
entangle [/I]spell for only 100g.


Ok, I did look at this, and the Races of Faerun version is probably worth it. It's a magical item (not alchemical), thrown with a 20' range increment (so up to 100'), and lasts for 10 rounds.

Unfortunately, it was updated in MIC, which supercedes the RoF version. They doubled the price (200 GP), and halved the duration (5 rounds) and range (50' max). Since this is four times the price of what a 1st-level single-use item should cost (50 GP), I don't think I can recommend it for inclusion. I'd probably consider a Skull Talisman version first... but I haven't quite worked out an elegant way to break the skull at range.

Has anyone had a chance to use one of Shax's Haversacks in actual play?

TheMadLinguist
2010-04-23, 11:10 PM
You'd lose the ability to draw anything you want as a move action from things that are in the pit. For some things that's acceptable, for some things when you need them you need them now.

Why? They're still in the haversack. They're also in the pit, but that's beside the point.

IonDragon
2010-06-15, 06:55 PM
Has anyone had a chance to use one of Shax's Haversacks in actual play?

My GMs never believe in giving out WBL, so I avoid one shot items most of the time. I am however drawing from this guide heavily whenever creating characters of level 3+ as some utility items are always appreciated.

Darrin
2010-06-15, 08:27 PM
My GMs never believe in giving out WBL, so I avoid one shot items most of the time. I am however drawing from this guide heavily whenever creating characters of level 3+ as some utility items are always appreciated.

Shapesand can be used over and over again. And there are some items that are cheap enough to be repeatedly useful in even a Wealth By Zero campaign: Flour pouches, marbles, candle wick. Most of the really broken stuff is in the 20-100 GP range.

Hmm... it might be worthwhile to put together a "Type Zero" haversack, or rather just a stripped-down normal backpack full of minimal but essential equipment for those, "Hi, I don't have a name yet, maybe I'll get one after I have more than 6 HP" characters.

balistafreak
2010-06-15, 08:48 PM
A type zero haversack would need to not even be a Handy Haversack. Just saying.

But yeah, a basic list of mundane items - chalk, needle/thread, 10 foot pole, hammer/pitons, etc. - would be great. Maybe a separate "shapesand" section where you list all the things you can replace with shapesand when you get it.

Wonton
2010-06-15, 10:48 PM
I'm still a big fan of the Belt of Hidden Pouches (though re-reading the Handy Haversack, it's pretty much better in every way...). Maybe because I'm super-messy in real-life, having a very organized character is appealing.

Anyway, this handbook is amazing, and I'm definitely using it next time I play a rogueish or low-level hell, any character. :smallsmile:

ArcanistSupreme
2010-06-24, 05:13 PM
I'm not sure if an unseen servant flies or not, which could limit its utility somewhat. The spell description is kind of vague, and I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on it.

AslanCross
2010-06-24, 05:51 PM
It doesn't mention it can fly, and I doubt such a thing would be omitted, even with WOTC's shoddy editing and proofreading skills. The "It doesn't say it can't!" argument is not logical. I doubt any DM would let a player say "My character sheet doesn't say my level 1 commoner CAN'T shoot planet-cracking lasers out of its eyes, so I can!"

aje8
2010-06-24, 06:35 PM
While I'm not a fan of one-shot items (because once you use them, you're down gold for no lasting gain. This is as compared to say, a Stat-booster or an Ac booster or any other lasting magical item) there is quite a bit of good stuff here none the less.

The @will Unseen Servant thing sound very useful, but also fun for my next high-level Wizard: HANDS?! Hands are for the weak. My magical ability allows me to forgo such things. *levitates cold drink to lips* Ahhhhh

sonofzeal
2010-06-24, 06:39 PM
The @will Unseen Servant thing sound very useful, but also fun for my next high-level Wizard: HANDS?! Hands are for the weak. My magical ability allows me to forgo such things. *levitates cold drink to lips* Ahhhhh
Isn't that what Hand of the Mage is for?

aje8
2010-06-24, 06:45 PM
Isn't that what Hand of the Mage is for?
That's true...... however, I think for the high level mage, the additional 1100 gp is almost irrelevant and thus I'd rather pay for the improved version.

ArcanistSupreme
2010-06-24, 08:21 PM
It doesn't mention it can fly, and I doubt such a thing would be omitted, even with WOTC's shoddy editing and proofreading skills. The "It doesn't say it can't!" argument is not logical. I doubt any DM would let a player say "My character sheet doesn't say my level 1 commoner CAN'T shoot planet-cracking lasers out of its eyes, so I can!"

Yeah, but from the description (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/unseenServant.htm) it seems like it doesn't make contact with the ground, as it has to push to activate pressure plates. The OP also mentions several "DEATH FROM ABOVE!" uses for it, so I was curious if it was clarified somewhere.

Darrin
2010-06-24, 11:20 PM
I'm not sure if an unseen servant flies or not, which could limit its utility somewhat. The spell description is kind of vague, and I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on it.

There is an old Sage ruling (I think it was from Skip Williams) from the 3.0 era where the Sage clarifies this... from a Dragon Magazine, apparently, not sure what issue, but I think it made its way into one of the older 3.0 FAQs. Anyway, the Sage says, essentially, "It doesn't have a fly speed, but it can move freely within the spell's range, which includes moving vertically." But since it has a strength score, it can be encumbered if it carries too much weight, and this can reduce its movement. It's not flying so much as it isn't affected by gravity or falling.

Here's a link to ENWorld post (http://www.enworld.org/forum/d-d-legacy-discussion/27957-sage-says-unseen-servants-fly.html) that mentions the ruling. I may try and track down the FAQ ruling later.

Escheton
2010-06-25, 06:06 AM
While I'm not a fan of one-shot items (because once you use them, you're down gold for no lasting gain. This is as compared to say, a Stat-booster or an Ac booster or any other lasting magical item) there is quite a bit of good stuff here none the less.

The @will Unseen Servant thing sound very useful, but also fun for my next high-level Wizard: HANDS?! Hands are for the weak. My magical ability allows me to forgo such things. *levitates cold drink to lips* Ahhhhh

Well, you will lose half cash on those as soon as you upgrade them(provided you buy better, not actually upgrade the specific item). They don't differ much from consumables when you do the math a bit.

Kaww
2010-08-11, 11:16 AM
Thanks for going through trouble of posting this. It is a great post and I think it was worth the effort!

Really great!

Telonius
2010-08-11, 12:59 PM
Honorable Mentions or Cut Due to Weight

Dust of Sneezing and Choking
Price: 2500 GP
Weight: --
(DMG)
Some DMs don't notice this item tucked away in the Cursed Items section, but many DMs who know exactly what it can do frequently ban it outright. If used against a party, it's pretty much a guaranteed Total Party Kill (TPK). Used *by* the party, and it's pretty much guaranteed Total Party Gets To Kill Anything. The reason the dust is so powerful is even if a creature hit by it makes its Fort save to resist the Constitution damage, it's still stunned 5d4 rounds (average 12.5 rounds, minimum 5 rounds). If your DM allows you to get hold of this, then I'd advise only using this item as a "Get Out of Certain Death Free" card last resort. Once the DM sees how powerful it is, odds are good you'll never be able to use it gain.


:smalleek: I ... had never noticed that one before. ::marks it down on the perma-ban list:: Thanks!

EDIT: Also didn't notice the fact that this thread would be immune to it, being undead and all.

Roland St. Jude
2010-08-11, 06:52 PM
Sheriff of Moddingham: Thread necromancy. :smallfrown:

Roland St. Jude
2010-11-08, 11:03 PM
Sheriff of Moddingham: Re-opened by OP request. Updates possibly forthcoming.

Escheton
2010-11-09, 02:50 AM
Awesome!
Been finding this thing very usefull. And my upcoming rogue will certainly be packing one.
Can't wait to see the changes/updates.

Kaww
2010-11-09, 05:03 AM
My necromancy failed... :smallfrown:
MOD's resurrection didn't... :smallsmile:
As stated with the necro attempt - great guide...

Cieyrin
2010-11-10, 05:58 PM
So what's changed? I see alterations have been made but I'm mildly curious to see what's been replaced. I suspect Goodberry Wine is in now but I'm not sure what else.

a.k.a. I can has version notes? :smalltongue:

Coidzor
2010-11-10, 10:57 PM
Some thoughts about level ranges for when to begin assembling/upgrading would be nice...

I ended up drawing a +50 K gold card from a deck of many things, so I'm glad this thread came back up to remind me of its existence. I think I'll give the type II or III a whirl.

Darrin
2010-11-12, 11:14 PM
So what's changed? I see alterations have been made but I'm mildly curious to see what's been replaced. I suspect Goodberry Wine is in now but I'm not sure what else.

a.k.a. I can has version notes? :smalltongue:


Some thoughts about level ranges for when to begin assembling/upgrading would be nice...


I started a new thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=9749090) to discuss changes/additions. I was hoping to continue the discussion over there. (This thread may get closed again.)

Roland St. Jude
2014-03-06, 11:50 AM
Sheriff of Moddingham: Re-opened by OP request. Updates possibly forthcoming.
Sheriff: Reopened for technical editing and reclosed now.