Low Lvl Gear for a Rogue-ish

[Diarmuid]

As some of my other threads have mentioned I'm making a Spellthief/Sorc for an upcoming RL game.

I have no interest in discussing the build or classes.

What I do want to talk about is gear. We're starting at 6th level and to have qualified for Master Spellthief at 6th I needed my level breakdown to be Spellthief 2/Sorc 4.

This leaves my melee and sneak attacking less potent than I would like for the character currently, and I was curious what I could do to eeek out a little more oomph.

I'm already looking at a Mithril Chain Shirt +1 and Masterwork weapons (we're playing a module, and I know there will be magical weapons to be had so not using up my wealth on them). Additionally, I'm going with a +2 Dex item.

Are there any cheap ways to boost SA damage that arent weapon enhancements? I plan on using a mix of X-bow, thrown Daggers and Melee to get my sneak attacks in, and using Sorc spells to set up SA opportunities (Nerveskitter, Distract Assailant, Sniper's Shot) when flanking isnt available.

I dont need a healing belt as I'm using the Divine Companion sorc ACF which should fill my healing and utility defense needs. I'm considering getting a Lens of Detection for finding traps, and possible Arcane Thieves' Tools to make disarming them easier.

I'm not looking for the "all characters must have X" responses of Anklets of Translocation, and whatnot as the Optimization level of the group is low-medium at best.

So how can I boost my roguely skills for about 7k (13k - 4k (+2 dex), -2k Armor)?

[BIGMamaSloth]

marbles. A&E guide I believe. move action to spread them on a five foot square and people become flat footed unless they have 5 or more ranks in balance, + they need a balance check or they'll fall over.

[Madcrafter]

SA damage boosting items are in most cases rare, moderately expensive, and in obscure locations. From an old assassin character I built the only ones I could find were:
-Rogue's Vest from the MIC, 16k - add an extra d6
-Bracers of the Hunter from Secrets of Xen'drik, 8.5k - add another d6
-Bracers of Murder from Drow of the Underdark, 8k - reroll all ones on SA dice
As you may observe, these are all out of your current price range, so you may have to wait before you can start boosting SA.

[grarrrg]

If you have a spare feat there is always Craven, +1 damage per char level to Sneak Attack.

[Telonius]

1 square yard of linen. (Ask DM if you can have a 3x5 piece of terry cloth instead). Possibly the most useful item in the game. :smallbiggrin:

Elixir of Vision (DMG) gives a +10 competence bonus to Search. 250gp. It's a one-use item, so I wouldn't get more than two of them, but it's good for the odd case where you absolutely know for sure that something's there, and really need to make the save.

One item you might want to reconsider is the Lens of Detection. While it does have an untyped bonus, it's fairly expensive at your level (3500 gp). Goggles of Minute Seeing give the same numerical bonus at only 1250 (though it is typed - competence). It sounds like you're mainly considering the item for trapfinding, not tracking; so the goggles might make more sense until you have a little more gold to work with.

[Darrin]

What I do want to talk about is gear. We're starting at 6th level and to have qualified for Master Spellthief at 6th I needed my level breakdown to be Spellthief 2/Sorc 4.


Have you consulted Shax (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148101) yet? [EDIT: URL FIXED]



Are there any cheap ways to boost SA damage that arent weapon enhancements?


Bracers of Murder (8000 GP, DotU p. 98) are very nice (+2 attack/damage on flat-footed targets, reroll 1's on sneak attack damage), but a wee bit outside your price range. Rogue's Vest (18000 GP, MIC p. 130) adds +1d6 sneak attack, but is definitely out of your price range.

The best way to augment damage on a tight budget is a Lesser Crystal of Acid Assult (3000 GP, MIC p. 64), but this requires at least a +1 weapon, and if you're going TWF this doubles your cost. There are two cheaper methods:

1) Wand Chamber (100 GP, Dungeonscape p. 34) and a few wands for blades of fire (Spell Compendium, Rgr/Sor/Wiz 1), blade of blood (PHBII, Asn/Blk/Clr/Dsk/Sor/Wiz 1), deafening clang (Spell Compendium, Pal 1), and instant of power (Forge of War, Brd/Dru/Rgr 1). Unfortunately, these can't be easily transferred to a new weapon, unless you can convince your DM to let you use Craft (Weaponsmith) to drill a hole into an existing magical weapon.

2) Weapon Capsule Retainer (100 or 450 GP, Complete Adventurer p. 121). Add quickflame, quickfrost, and/or quickspark to your melee attacks for 1 round. Each capsule costs 25 GP, but you can buy a couple dozen to help tide you over until you can afford an augment crystal or weapon enhancement. As an added bonus, the weapon capsule retainer can be transferred to a better (magical) weapon when it becomes available. The triple capsule version offers three rounds of +1d6 damage, or your can alpha strike for +3d6 energy damage on a sure thing. Get your hands on a Collar of Perpetual Attendance (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fools/20030401c), and your unseen servant can reload your capsules for you.

You might want to ask your DM how he feels about Dust Eggshell Grenades (10 GP, Oriental Adventures p. 78) or Aboleth Mucus (20 GP, Savage Species p. 46). Very cheap, very powerful, very ban-hammerable.



So how can I boost my roguely skills for about 7k (13k - 4k (+2 dex), -2k Armor)?

Some other selections from Shax:

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

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

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

Chaos Flask
Price: 100 GP
Weight: 1#
(Planar Handbook p. 76)
As a free action once per round, you can make a Wisdom check DC 13 and shape this material into almost any non-magical object of the same volume or smaller (depending on the material or density). Somewhat like a one-shot Marvelous Pigments, but there is no price limit. Most alchemical items are quite small and non-magical, so this is a great wild card to have up your sleeve if you run into something you didn't anticipate. But that's not the best thing you can do with a Chaos Flask. Know what else is non-magical and very small? Vials of poison. So 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 price tag, Dungeonscape p. 129.) It only lasts a number of rounds equal to your Wisdom score, but as long as your Wisdom is 11+, that should be just long enough for the poison's secondary effect to kick in. Another good use for a Chaos Flask would be expensive material components for spells. Need 5,000 GP diamond for a raise dead? (Sadly, this won't quite work for resurrection's 10 minute casting time unless your Wisdom score is 100+.)

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. Circumstance bonuses stack, so you may be able to stack multiple darkweave clothing items on yourself (Check with DM, or brush up on your "dodge books being thrown at your head" skills).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

[Diarmuid]

Darrin, thanks for the items. That link isnt working.