(3.5) Cheap mundane items

[Goonthegoof]

We're starting a no magic 3.5 campaign with all characters are level 2 with 450 gold, but masterwork items cost 5x as much as normal.

This campaign is mostly going to be taking on a pirate ship, and I was wondering if you guys knew of any useful little mundane items that can be bought/made cheaply?

[Goonthegoof]

Anyone? I'm kind of at a loss as to what to spend my money in, usually I just buy magic stuff.

[Strife Warzeal]

Soap? Use it as a nonmagical grease trap, if you are in a situation where you are able to set it up.
A Bag of Marbles can be used to force a balance check.
Rope is always good.
Caltrops
Torches can be used to burn people without magic
Skill check-wise you can get a masterwork tool that can boost a check by +2 for 50gp if you feel so inclined.
You can hire a mercenary for 3sp(average) a day to do fighting for you.
Rope is always good.

I don't know how useful this could be in a sea campaign but it's what I could think of.

[JeminiZero]

Are Alchemical Items still a ago? Here are some possibilities:
*Auran Masks [CMage]: Unless you can breath water, its probably a good idea to keep one or two of these on you.
*Fast Torch [CMage]: Quick-lighting torch. More importantly, it can burn (but cannot be lit) in water, making it useful for certain dark corners of the ocean.
*Antitoxin: Poison is bad.

[Raging Gene Ray]

We're starting a no magic 3.5 campaign with all characters are level 2 with 450 gold, but masterwork items cost 5x as much as normal.

By 5 times as normal, do you mean 5 x Common Item Price or 5 x (Price of a Masterwork Item according to normal rules)

Also, is that 450 gold each or for the whole party?

Some things you need:

Crowbars
Lockpicks
Bolt Cutters

How does Healing work in a world with no healing magic? If a Healing Kit restores HP instead of just helping with stabilization, there's no question about getting it.

How does alchemy work? Can it preserve food? Is your DM the kind who would monitor your food and water supplies? Take that into consideration.

Oh, and wine/liquor is good for bribery/diplomacy checks.

[Goonthegoof]

I like the liquor idea. Anyway, the cost to make something masterwork is multiplied by 5, not the whole thing. He basically made up for the lack of magic by increasing rest healing.

[Strife Warzeal]

The more creative you get the more useful random stuff can be.
Acid/Alchemist Fire can make decent touch attacks at low levels.
A Fishing Net could probably do some sort of entangle effect, at gm's discretion. Also useful if you run out of food on the ship.
Rope is always useful.
Grappling Hooks could be good if there is ship-to-ship things going on.
Ink could be used as a touch attack of Blindness.
If keeping prisoner's, manacles are a waste of money when Rope is more useful.

[Kaww]

Buy Vow of poverty...
It's two feats, but from the looks of it it will be worth it...

[Strife Warzeal]

Do you know if magic will ever rear it's head? or will magic never come into the campaign? Or is it unknown?

Rope is always good. Do you get the point yet?

[Goonthegoof]

Magical creatures being introduced seems likely, but the dm really doesn't want us doing anything magical.

[Kaww]

Do you know if magic will ever rear it's head? or will magic never come into the campaign? Or is it unknown?

Rope is always ... Do you get the point yet?

Sorry didn't catch that? Something about rope being something something?

Seriously 100ft of silk rope and a 10ft pole.

[Strife Warzeal]

Grappling Hooks could be good if there is ship-to-ship things going on.

Grappling hooks can be replaced with, but not limited to: Halflings, Gnomes, Kobolds

[Raging Gene Ray]

Magical creatures being introduced seems likely, but the dm really doesn't want us doing anything magical.

Would cutting up a Gorgon and making petrification arrows out of its lungs be plausible? I'd say that would qualify as earning a chance to use a little bit of semi-magical toys. What about making medicines (Cure Disease/Neutralize Poison that may only work on specific diseases/poisons) out of specialized plants? With a maxed Heal and Knowledge (Nature) skill, this might be another reason to invest in an alchemist kit.

[Strife Warzeal]

Would cutting up a Gorgon and making petrification arrows out of its lungs be plausible? What about making medicines (Cure Disease/Neutralize Poison) out of specialized plants? With a maxed Heal and Knowledge (Nature) skill, this might be another reason to invest in an alchemist kit.

And actually a really cool idea. And more use for the Heal skill.

[Goonthegoof]

I absolutely love the gorgon idea, that's genius.

[Raging Gene Ray]

I absolutely love the gorgon idea, that's genius.

Thanks...I tried it once and my DM ruled that I accidentally burst whatever organ secreted the gas and made me make a Reflex save. I failed. Then I got a Fort save. I failed. My hands were turned to stone for a few sessions.

You might want vials for a ranger with Wild Empathy and Craft (Poisonmaking) to "milk" the venom from poisonous animals and put it on weapons.
If you ever meet a dragon...see if you can't get the DM to allow you to squeeze its severed lungs and use its breath weapon once.

Say, what classes are going to be in this game, anyhow?

[Strife Warzeal]

Say, what classes are going to be in this game, anyhow?

Another question to tack onto this, Is it only full casters not allowed like clerics, wizards, druids, sorcerers etc. Or includes partials like Paladin, Ranger, Bard?
Or are you limited to melee classes like monk(shudder), fighter, barbarian, rogue?

[Goonthegoof]

Half orc, cherry picking from lion totem barbarian, half orc paragon, frenzied berserker and eye of gruumsh. DM let me use strength for intimidate =D

Nothing supernatural allowed.

Although I'm really having to resist the temptation to make a water orc warblade with vow of poverty just to see how powerful I can get with no magic items. Anyone know of a way to get a shield without breaking vow of poverty? (Improvised shield, simple weapon that doubles as a shield or similar)

[Loki Eremes]

Hi there.

Maybe this is your answer to mundane items:


"Arms & Equipment Guide 3.5"


Thats the book you re looking for pal.
Comes with a load of nonmagical items at cheap prices

Be ready to use silver and cooper pieces :elan:

[Raging Gene Ray]

Half orc, cherry picking from lion totem barbarian, half orc paragon, frenzied berserker and eye of gruumsh. DM let me use strength for intimidate =D

What about the others? Would they want a cut of the gold to get themselves masterwork weapons? Is there a Ranger, Paladin, or Bard that gets some alternate class feature to replace their spellcasting?



Although I'm really having to resist the temptation to make a water orc warblade with vow of poverty just to see how powerful I can get with no magic items. Anyone know of a way to get a shield without breaking vow of poverty? (Improvised shield, simple weapon that doubles as a shield or similar)

A little off the topic of items, but yes, ToB has THE best martial-based mundane classes. I doubt that VoP, considering it IS supernatural, would be allowed...but I don't see why it would disallow a simple, non-masterwork shield if it would allow you to carry a non-masterwork weapon.

I'd personally rule you could have any weapon if you made it yourself, likely from the carapace of some sort of crab monster you killed with your bear hands. No, that's not a typo. You made some gauntlets out of a bear's hands.

[grimbold]

you can only use bread to bait basic traps ;)

[Goonthegoof]

Two party members are trying to roll up characters that will let them invent and use guns, one is a swashbuckler and one is a half-orc knight.

[FelixG]

Lots of alchemical items are good, you could take craft alchemy to make them more cheaply.

If you are allowed to use Pathfinder stuff you could use the Alchemist Class minus the extracts and a boost to bomb capacity for a grenadier or mad scientist

[Strife Warzeal]

Two party members are trying to roll up characters that will let them invent and use guns, one is a swashbuckler and one is a half-orc knight.

If they want to invent guns they have to be gnomes. Which can be used as grappling hooks as per my previous post. Win-Win.

[Raging Gene Ray]

Two party members are trying to roll up characters that will let them invent and use guns, one is a swashbuckler and one is a half-orc knight.

So then, that's more of the budget/carrying capacity eaten up by scrap metal, crafting tools, and gunpowder.

[FelixG]

If they want to invent guns they have to be gnomes Kobolds. Which can be used as grappling hooks as per my previous post. Win-Win.

Fixed that for you :smallbiggrin:


So then, that's more of the budget/carrying capacity eaten up by scrap metal, crafting tools, and gunpowder.

They could have a base to work from where some of the stuff is stored. Gunpowder doesn't need to weigh a lot especially if they come up with cartridges :smallwink:

[Greenish]

One of my favourites is the Torch bug paste from Comp. Scoundrel. Non-magical Faerie Fire (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/faerieFire.htm) effect for 1 hour, and splashes the adjacent squares too.

At 25 gp a pop it's an absolute must have for fighting things with invisibility or miss chances.

[Loki Eremes]

If your master dont want PCs to use magic or alike, I dont think Vows are allowed.


Do you even know if Spell-like abilities are even allowed?


and maybe this thread goes to quickly, but i repeat
ARMS & EQUIPMENT GUIDE

[Darrin]

Everything in the Type I Haversack (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148101) is non-magical or alchemical (except for the haversack itself).

Some highlights:

Aboleth Mucus (20 GP, Savage Species p. 46). Throw as a grenade-like weapon, target must make Fort save DC 19 or he suffocates in about 2-3 minutes. With no water breathing or air breathing spells available, it's a save-or-die effect for only 20 GP. And although it works a lot like poison, it isn't poison, so there's no check to see if you poison yourself.

Auran Mask (60 GP, Complete Mage p. 134). +5 circumstance bonus on saves vs. inhaled toxins, and 10 minutes of non-magical water breathing.

Bitterleaf Oil (25 GP, Races of the Dragon p. 122). Boosts natural healing, +1 HP per character level (5 HP max).

Chaos Flask (100 GP, Planar Handbook p. 76). I'm not sure if extraplanar items will be available, but if you can get ahold of this, you can turn it into almost any other non-magical item under half a pound: alchemist's fire/frost/spark, diamond dust, or poisons (Black Lotus Extract or Megapede Poison, for example).

Eggshell Grenade, Dust (10 GP, Oriental Adventures p. 78). Ranged touch attack, on a successful hit the target is blinded for 1d4 rounds *no save*.

Firestone (50 GP, Dragon Compendium p. 117). Thrown as a grenade-like weapon, but instead of hitting one target, it does 1d6 damage to everything in the square, *no save*. So you can throw a bunch of these in a sack, throw the sack, and you've got a Xd6 mini-fireball that even those "improved evasion" rogues can't avoid taking full damage.

Healing Salve (50 GP, Tome & Blood p. 72). Non-magical potion of CLW, heals 1d8 HP.

Hearthfire (10 GP, Races of Stone p. 160). Jello that glows like a torch when it gets wet.

Icewild Lichen Paste (50 GP, Secrets of Sarlona p. 138). Removes fatigue for 2d4 hours.

Ipecac (50 GP, Expedition to Castle Ravenloft p. 209). Got swallowed by a whale? This is a "Get Out Of Swallow Whole Free" card.

Lasso (1 GP, Book of Exalted Deeds p. 34). Exotic weapon, but ranged touch-attack to entangle. Also, swing across the quarterdeck Errol-Flynn-style. Or tie lasso to anchor, toss lasso around opponent, kick anchor overboard.

Liquid Ice (30 GP, Dragon Compendium p. 118). Extinguish a 10' x 10' section of fire (ships + fire = VERY BAD THINGS), or turn a 10' x 10' section of wet decking into difficult terrain that makes anyone standing on it flat-footed without 5 ranks in Balance.

Liquid Smoke (20 GP, Oriental Adventures p. 78). Same price as a smokestick, but doesn't need an action to light. Smoke can provide concealment or block line-of-sight.

Marbles (2 SP, Arms & Equipment Guide p. 24). Bags of 5' x 5' squares of grease, deployed much like caltrops. Anyone without 5 ranks in Balance becomes flat-footed if they're attacked while standing in a square with marbles.

Shapesand (100 GP, Sandstorm p. 102). Any mundane tool, weapon, or item you can think of up to 12 lbs is just a DC 16 Wisdom check away. Reusable, too... another Wisdom check and you just turn it into something else.

Sprayer (15 GP, Arms & Equipment Guide p. 25). Turns any liquid or splash weapon into a 5' x 10' area effect, automatically hits and no save. Works with alchemist's fire, holy water, defoliator, liquid ice, and everybody's favorite new death effect, aboleth mucus.

Torch Bug Paste (25 GP, Complete Scoundrel p. 120). Thrown as a grenade-like spash weapon, non-magical faerie fire effect, which completely negates concealment due to invisibility, blur, displacement, obscuring mist, fog, smoke, non-magical darkness (but not magical darkness).

[Coidzor]

I like the liquor idea. Anyway, the cost to make something masterwork is multiplied by 5, not the whole thing. He basically made up for the lack of magic by increasing rest healing.

That means a masterwork weapon now costs more than a normal suit of Full-Plate. :smalleek:


Magical creatures being introduced seems likely, but the dm really doesn't want us doing anything magical.

Did he rebalance the classes after taking everything supernatural out of them or are you basically reduced to the rogue, fighter, and barbarian classes? Maybe knight and swashbuckler and CW samurai.

Actually, did he remember that the CR system is predicated on the idea of magic items being obtained and compensate accordingly? Or is he going to be so careless as to throw shadows at you when you have no way to harm them and expect you to actually beat them?


Is there a Ranger, Paladin, or Bard that gets some alternate class feature to replace their spellcasting?

They're still supernatural in all of their official forms, even the ones that nix spellcasting. Bardic music is supernatural when it's not a spell like ability.

[Necroticplague]

Personally, I put my vote in for shapesand. Any mundane equipment from 100 feet away. Plus if you need money bad, you can turn the shapesand into something valuable, sell it, then force your will on it so it returns to you before they get 100 ft away. Also perfect for consumables and one time objects, since you can have them turn back into shapesand after use.