D&D 3.x Other Alternate Rules: Magic Items! (A Gift from the Magi, believe it or not) [Archive]

T.G. Oskar

2014-01-27, 01:26 AM

MAGIC ITEMS
One of the biggest challenges regarding the Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 Edition, aside from how to balance classes, is to deal with the so-called "Christmas Tree effect". This term refers to the notion of characters that their effectiveness is related to the ease of access regarding magic items, as if they were sold in a department store at virtually any city. As with many things, the DM is the final arbiter of which magic items does the characters gain access at any point in the game, but newcomers are usually given the ability to choose the magic items they desire, based on a table present at the Dungeon Master's Guide and replicated to some extent at the Magic Item Compendium generally known as "wealth by level". This guideline, which is meant to determine the average wealth a character is expected to have at any level based specifically on the amount of battles, quests and rewards the group acquires throughout the campaign, if generously split between four people. The notion, owing to many factors, lacks a proper fundament regarding its validity as there has been little extensive testing over various game tables, but as the Magic Item Compendium states (regarding the notion of "item levels"), it is a reasonable abstraction: most magic items are quite expensive, so the end result is cherry-picking the right set of items to complement the lack of features of certain classes. In this way, a fighter could gain the ability to fly, see invisible creatures, and potentially do many things that many spellcasters can do naturally.

However, how this notion is presented within the game is utterly ridiculous, to say the very least. There are two moments in the history of the 3.5 edition where great advances regarding magic items were made: first, the creation of the incarnum mechanics, which granted certain classes the ability to create "soulmelds", which are functionally similar to magic items in all but name (and permanency). The other is the reformatting of pretty much everything within the Magic Item Compendium, which made low-cost magic items easily accessible. Even then, the results were not satisfactory enough to solve the inherent problems with magic items.

The first, and probably the most mind-bending of all concepts, is the actual process of item creation. In this method of creation, only spellcasters (and only spellcasters of certain caster levels, to be precise), could forge magic items. To assist them on the proposal, spells such as fabricate or major creation were made in order to assist the spellcaster in that proposal. This is inimical to the fantastic notion of item creation: a spellcaster with several caster levels, a way to procure experience points and gold with ease and several days worth of downtime could, with little effort, create any amount of magic items it desired. In most fantastical settings, magic items are created through accessing rare metals, ancient gems and through ancient lore, using ancient artifacts and mostly relying on the crafter's skill rather than any magical talent. Item creation feats work very well to replicate that, but it eliminates one of the key traits a non-spellcaster could have, which implies the creation of magic items to overcome its own flaws (such as a warrior born of blacksmiths whom wishes to forge a hammer with which to shatter the mightiest of walls, or a rogue well-versed in mechanics attempting to create a flying contraption). Certainly, this would allow wizards and clerics to forge their own items, but it will require greater talent on their own right rather than a simple casting of spells and ways to bypass the inherent blockades in the process (namely, experience and gold). Items of legacy (explained in the Weapons of Legacy sourcebook) work very well to allow any character to create its own magic item, but unfortunately that is not enough; it is, however, a very flavorful way to handle the concept of creating magic items based on the legacy of its users.

The second, of course, is how magic items work pretty much equally to anyone who wears it. A gauntlet of ogre power, for example, could provide anyone from a fighter to a wizard to a commoner with a sizable increase in Strength. Ideally, the item is replaced with the more powerful belt of giant strength, but eventually all characters gain the same bonus. The biggest offender, of course, is weaponry; the one thing in which a fighter is meant to be better than a wizard (combat) is utterly negated since the damage provided by the item does not stack. 1d6 points of fire damage might seem like a reasonable increase in damage at low levels, but at high levels the increase seems to lose steam (no pun intended) as the damage remains functionally similar while the monster's hit points increase. Likewise, certain abilities that could provide great benefits (such as enhancements that cause the enemy to suffer an effect when attacked) have so many hurdles that, when it actually WORKS, the wizard has already finished the rest of the battle with a single spell. What's worse, of course, is that a wizard with some proficiency using the weapon could achieve the same effect without casting a spell, and it STILL has the spell to work with, which means the fighter definitely has a disadvantage regarding the wizard in what it does best: combat.

The following rules work closely within the changes explained in the Alternate Rules (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=242261) document. But first, let's deal with the fluff behind it.

I'll be the first to admit: this isn't the best introduction. I read it every single time, and I wonder myself what kind of muse was around when I wrote this. The reason is simple: I wrote about how one of the problems in D&D was the "Christmas Tree Effect", and not only did, IMO, I missed the mark, but as you'll see, I pretty much embraced the concept in its entirety.

So, why it's here? I'm posting everything with as little changes as possible, just so you know sometimes I can suck at writing. Eventually, I hope I can write a better introduction for this mammoth thread, one that better reflects the nature of it.

As for the "Alternate Rules" document? Turns out that the link is only half of a document with alternate rules for combat...and a retool of the feats from the PHB with some additional new ones. Those changes include "effective Fighter levels", which is sort of a big secret which will be revealed in parts. As you'll see, "effective Fighter levels" are an important part of this retool, as it determines the power of certain magic items. Yes, you heard that right. As for how...you'll see now.

THE INHERENT MAGIC POTENTIAL
Introduced in a way through Magic of Incarnum and Weapons of Legacy, the idea that magic items could improve based on the character's inherent potential, or rather, that the power a warrior can draw from a magic item based on its degree of experience remains an unexplored way on how to further improve magic items. This might seem a bit odd, given that if a fighter has some degree of inherent magical potential, a wizard could draw from it with greater ease given that they can already manipulate magical forces, and that wouldn't be far from the truth.

All I ask is; bear with me with this one.

Consider the following notion: all creatures are born with a degree of magical potential. Incarnum somewhat dealt with that, as well as legacy items: unborn souls are receptacles of incredible power, and the use of certain items in legendary acts allows the item to absorb part of the power within that "story" and become more powerful on its own. Now, let's assume some creatures learn to harness that power in their own way: wizards learn to use their magical potential through a conceited effort to understand the laws of nature and how to bend them; sorcerers learn to harness their power once it flares forth in a burst of raw magic. Clerics and favored souls are awakened their magical potential through their deities, but in different ways; for clerics, deities (or divine agents) temporarily grant them the potential of how to harness their faith and innate magical potential into action, while favored souls are granted the knowledge of the same acts permanently, yet with restrictions. Archivists, students of the faith, learn the structures behind the prayers and harness their power through a rare mixture of faith and innate magical potential. Warlocks awaken their inherent magical potential through a pact, whether with fiends, with fae or even the entities beyond the Material Plane. Psionic characters, such as psions, wilders and psychic warriors, harness a different expression of the same potential; instead of magic, they harness the power within their own minds, a power which is similar in many respects to magic yet at the same time strikingly different (the actual degree of separation relies, as usual, within the DM; magic and psionics could emerge within the same source or from a different source). Incarnum users or "meldshapers" learn to harness the power of incarnum, binders learn how to harness the power of vestiges and so forth, but all classes have something in particular: they harness what seems to be a singular essence.

This doesn't happen with other classes. The humble and noble Fighter, for example, relies on his physical prowess and skill to achieve his goals, but there's a limit on how his skill and prowess can assist him. The samurai has a stringent code of honor and advanced combat technique, but at the end it's as limited as the fighter in what it can do; however, as presented in Oriental Adventures, it had a method of how to improve his weapons by awakening his ancestral spirits. Even the warblade, master of various schools comprising the Sublime Way, can do just enough to excel in various stages of combat but eventually his prowess reaches a limit that only magic can bypass. All three, if assuming all creatures have some degree of magical potential, hold something that archivists, clerics, favored souls, meldshapers, soulbinders, sorcerers and wizards lack; untapped magical potential.

Assume each character is, using a famous pop reference, a "battery". A wizard starts as a battery on a flashlight, but eventually grows to be a reactor that powers various houses. A meldshaper starts as a backup battery for a single computer, but eventually becomes the generator for an entire server and potentially all computers connected to it. Now, assume the Fighter is also a battery, but it's used only as a projectile. Eventually, the fighter becomes a reactor ready to unleash its power, but it will never stop being anything else than a massive paperweight if only because it has no way to distribute its power. The Fighter, thus, would be a font of untapped magical potential that has no way to unleash its power unless there's some way to establish a connection. Multiclassing, for example, could provide the fighter with a way to unleash some of that power, but the multiple hits and dents have dulled its full magical potential, and it'll never reach the power of a reactor (as the wizard would be).

Now, let's assume for a while that the Fighter's magical potential is resolved differently. Instead of having no connections, let's assume it has a different plug. You know, the wizard's plugs are meant to be connected with just about anything, while the Fighter requires a very specialized form of connection. Not the best example, but assume the Wizard is NTSC, while the Fighter is PAL; or, the Wizard is a USB plug while the Fighter is...let's say a serial I/O plug. The Wizard will be capable of connecting and distributing its power, information and whatnot easily, but the Fighter will need a specialized method of distributing that same power; however, once done, the Fighter may do stuff that the Wizard will be uncapable of doing because its magical potential is compromised in other things, while that of a Fighter is essentially free to distribute to that very specific service. That doesn't mean Rogues are exempt from that; in fact, Rogues have the same potential as Fighters do, except that instead of a battery that has been used as a projectile, in the case of a Rogue the battery was used for things it was not meant to be used, and sometimes you could connect two wires to it and use that potential to emulate magic (a fancier way to say "Rogues have Use Magic Device").

And, what about classes such as Paladins or Rangers? Being part warriors and part spellcasters, Paladins and Rogues (and Bards, to an extent) have a part of their magical potential unleashed. In the case of Bards, they have at least two-thirds of their magical potential unleashed, with a part reserved for Use Magic Device and their songs. Paladins have only one-eighth of their magical potential unleashed (technically one half, but with half spells, half caster level and half the spell list, the effect becomes one eighth of their potential), and so do Rangers (although Paladins have their smites and their mount as quasi-magical abilities). Hexblades, duskblades and others also work on similar ways. The monk and the swordsage blur the lines between magical and mundane, with the Monk attempting (poorly) to be self-reliant while the Swordsage becomes almost completely reliant yet still "mundane" enough. All classes have a degree of magical potential that's partially tapped. In the case of feats (as presented in the Alternate Rules* section), effective fighter levels work very nicely to determine improved abilities that spellcasters could duplicate with their spells but otherwise only dream of. This isn't the same regarding magic items, which are extremely varied.

So: how to deal with magic items in a way that is both reasonable, respecting the untapped magical potential of most melee characters and the slightly-tapped potential of hybrid classes without providing too much power to spellcasters?

*: will have a link once Feats are released.

UNLEASHING THE MAGICAL POTENTIAL THROUGH MAGIC ITEMS
Naturally, the best way to deal with it would be to determine the intention behind a few magic items. The Alternate Rules (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=13182717&postcount=3) document has a way to deal with the most basic: potions, scrolls, staffs, wands and even poisons (which aren't magical in origin, but still needing some fixing). The purpose of this document is to deal with the remaining magic items, but for purposes of completion the already established fixes will be explained at the end of the document as an appendix.

The following explains the two main items that warrior classes are capable of enhancing directly:
Weapons: Being the tool that every warrior holds (much like a fisherman holds his rod or a weaver holds her distaff and needles), it's more than natural that warriors' weapons directly deal with the warrior's innate magical potential. To exemplify this, the traits of weapon enhancements are improved directly based on the character's effective fighter level. This would imply fighters would draw the full power of the weapon, while spellcasters couldn't draw even a bit of it unless they had some training with the weapon (and of course, limited part of their own magical potential). To draw the power of a weapon, the character must be proficient with said weapon. There's an inherent problem with that, however, which implies the use of effective fighter levels on classes which are meant to be skilled (essentially the rogue, the scout, the spellthief which also has some degree of spellcasting, the factotum and to an extent the bard).

To solve this predicament, weapons will have enhancements based on the character's effective fighter level (see the Alternate Rules** document for better explanation). The above-mentioned classes have an effective fighter level equal to half their class level (and if they multiclass or gain levels in a prestige class they may gain effective fighter levels based on the specific class). Classes with Use Magic Device may use the skill to emulate an effective fighter level for magic items (see the application below). This may leave some classes, like the scout, unable to get more than half their level's worth of effective fighter levels without multiclassing. In the case of bards, their spellcasting ability causes them to have no effective fighter level, but they may use the Use Magic Device skill to compensate.

Characters with levels in psionic classes (such as psion, wilder or psychic warrior) are treated similarly as spellcasters, owing to magic/psionics transparency. Do note, however, that items which are done through psionic power instead of magic aren't transparent in the same way: a bard couldn't use a weapon enhanced with the psychokinetic special quality as it would be a psionic item; likewise, a character with Use Psionic Device may not use said item to emulate effective fighter levels for magic items (but it could do so for psionic items). Lurks would be treated as rogues in this regard, while ardents would be treated as full spellcasters (and thus gain no bonus).

Incarnum-using classes (except for the soulborn which has an effective fighter level) are treated as spellcasters regarding weapons, and thus they may not upgrade the effect of the weapons. However, if they manage to bind a magic weapon to their hands, they may treat their meldshaper level as effective fighter levels for this purpose. Since the binding of a magical weapon to the meldshaper's hands nulls part of their effectiveness, they may imbue their weapon with incarnum to achieve the same effort (essentially, they emulate fighting skill and untapped magical potential through incarnum).

In the case of other classes, each has to be treated on its own merit. Binders usually gain powers as if spellcasters, so for the most part they are not entitled any effective fighter level; however, the flexibility of binders could allow exchanging one ability from the vestiges (particularly those which favor melee combat such as Savnok) and allow effective fighter levels based on the character's effective binder level (with a reduction, of course). Shadowcasters and truenamers are effectively spellcasters on their own, so they are treated as such.

In the case of part-casting classes, such as paladins and rangers, their partial allowance of spellcasting to a very small extent justifies their limited access to magic item potential. Paladins and rangers, already having a limitation to caster level, spellcasting level and accessibility to spells, would have an effective fighter level for the purpose of items equal to their actual effective fighter level (their class level -4, as indicated in the Alternate Rules document). Duskblades and psychic warriors, having full caster level (or manifester level) for their abilities have a special restriction: for every level of spell (or power) they have access to, they take a -1 penalty on their effective fighter level for purposes of powering magic items. Thus, a 8th level psychic warrior (which has access to 3rd level powers) would have an effective fighter level regarding magic items equal to a 1st level fighter (since the psychic warrior has an effective fighter level of 4th, plus access to 3rd level powers). This may seem as severely limiting, but do consider that such classes have ways to exceed their damage potential through other ways (and various spells may see a revision regarding their utility, as a psychic warrior could manifest weapon of energy which is effectively the same as wielding a flaming burst weapon, which could have an improvement based on how the original enhancement is improved).

Note: in the case of Retooled classes (Retooled Ranger (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=165522), Bez-Kismet (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=153696), Project Heretica classes (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=193554)), since such classes usually have full caster level (specifically the ones mentioned, as well as others that have actual spellcasting ability), they would have the same penalties as the duskblade has regarding magic items. For these classes, a 0-level spell (a cantrip/orison) wouldn't count against their effective fighter level.

Armor: Same as weapon. As with weapons, the character must be proficient with the specific armor in order to apply the benefits.

Shields: Shields, capable of being used as weapons and as defensive tools, hold a special utility. Normally, a shield is treated as a defensive item and as a weapon for purposes of enchanting, but both types of enhancements must be done separately. This makes shields unusually expensive to be used as defensive tools and as weapons on their own right, which reduces their effectiveness. For this purpose, if the shield has the bashing special property or shield spikes, the enhancement bonus of the shield applies to attack rolls, damage rolls and AC; however, other enhancements have to be bought separately; thus, a character could have a +5 shield of bashing, a +5 flaming shield of bashing, a +5 arrow deflecting shield of bashing, or a +5 arrow deflecting flaming shield of bashing, with a cost equivalent to a +6 shield, a +6 shield and a +1 weapon, a +7 shield or a +7 shield and a +1 weapon, respectively. This makes shields significantly less expensive than normal, but still a conscious choice. Otherwise, the same traits of weapons and armor apply, including the need for proficiency with the weapon.

Wondrous Items: as a rule of thumb, most wondrous items are effectively universal in terms of whom may use them (with the specified exceptions, such as the need of hands to use gloves as an example). However, if the item provides the ability to duplicate the effect of a spell (such as a gauntlet of rust duplicating the effect of a rusting grasp spell), certain items allow characters with effective fighter levels to apply such benefit to them. In this case, the item's caster level for purposes of this ability is equal to the character's effective fighter level, and the saving throw DC is equal to the base DC or 10 + half the character's effective fighter level + the character's Charisma modifier. In the above-mentioned example, a 10th level fighter wearing a gauntlet of rust may use the rusting grasp effect of the item as if a 10th level wizard. Other examples include: a 16th level fighter wearing a major cloak of displacement may activate the effect for 16 rounds instead of 15 (because the effective caster level of the effect would increase); likewise, a 15th level fighter with a Charisma of 8 imbibing an elixir of fiery breath would force a Reflex save of DC 16 (10 + half the fighter's level which would be 7 if rounded down minus one for the penalty to Charisma). The character applying this benefit uses the most beneficial of the two (thus, a 7th level fighter with Charisma 8 imbibing an elixir of fire breath would retain the DC 13 of the item but a 10th level fighter with the same Charisma would apply the increased DC).

The following items are most likely to apply their benefit to characters with effective fighter levels:
Head: helmet
Neck: amulet, pendant, torc
Shoulders: cape, cloak, mantle
Torso: vest
Arms: bracers
Hands: gauntlets, gloves
Waist: belt (or anything that acts like a belt)
Feet: boots, greaves

Remember that this benefit applies only to wondrous items that depend on the item's caster level or the ability scores of its creator (as usually the Difficulty Class is calculated by determining the level of the spell plus the minimum ability score to activate the ability).

Consumables: same as wondrous items. Remember that potions are treated separately.

FORMAT
For purposes of clarity, the following changes to magic items and special qualities of weapons, armor and shields will use the Magic Item Compendium format, which is presented below:

ITEM NAME
Price (Item Level):
Body Slot:
Caster Level:
Aura:
Activation:
Weight:
Item description
Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

The Format for Magic Items should be familiar; it's in the Magic Item Compendium, and I like it a lot, so there it goes.

Now, you may have noticed that the fluff for "inherent magical potential" of characters involves "effective Fighter levels". To put it in simple terms: a Fighter has an effective Fighter level equal to its class level. Classes with full BAB have an effective Fighter level ranging from "class level" (Samurai) to "class level -4" (Paladin, Ranger). If you're using Retooled classes, most of them have their effective Fighter level on their "Bonus Feats" section (if they have them, of course), but if not, there will be a cheat sheet just below; trust me on that.

Now, the idea behind the penalty on effective Fighter levels regarding magic items is inspired behind the idea that classes with such penalties (like Duskblades and Psychic Warriors) already deploy enough of their inherent magical potential, and thus they can't harness all of that power through magic items. That was then; now...I find it too much of a hassle to remember, though you'll still find handy to make a small note indicating your effective Fighter level if you intend to use this retool, the feat retool, or both. The cheat sheet will have the effective Fighter levels as I use them in my games; I'll put in parentheses the extra penalty whenever applicable).

So, by reading, you'll notice that a big deal of the retool is making scaling magic items. This isn't new: this was done by 4e, but they made magic items into other kinds of powers. Scaling here isn't merely "add +damage to certain enemy"; scaling also implies better DCs for effects, unlocking new effects, and so forth. This is important, as it makes low-level magic items still useful. Now, that doesn't mean you'll get Gloves of Dexterity that stack from +2 to +6 if you're a Fighter, but some magic item enhancements will get some nifty new abilities. Scaling, though, is not the only change. Some magic items are more powerful, others are cheaper, and others have nice new effects for the same price.

Published Base Classes:
Barbarian: class level -3
Fighter: class level
Marshal: class level -2
Monk: class level -2
Paladin: class level -4
Ranger: class level -4
Hexblade (CW): class level -4
Samurai (CW or OA): class level
Swashbuckler (CW): class level -3
Sohei (OA): class level -4
Psychic Warrior (XPH): class level -4
Soulknife (XPH): class level -3
Soulborn (MoI): class level -4
Divine Mind (CPsi): class level -4
Duskblade (PHB II): class level -4
Knight (PHB II): class level -3
Crusader and Swordsage (ToB: Bo9S): class level -3

Other classses (such as homebrewed):
Replaces Fighter: class level
Hybrid (full BAB + magic/psionics/etc.): Class level -4
Variant Martial Class: Class level -3 (Tier 3/High balance point) or Class level -2 (Tier 4 or 5/Medium balance point)

Multiclassing: Sum of classes with effective Fighter levels - highest penalty

Non-martial Class/Multiclassing:
Non-martial, non-spellcaster class (Rogue, Ninja, etc.): 1/2 class levels
Any else (Bard, Wizard, Cleric, Druid, Incarnate, etc.): no class levels

Prestige Classes:
Meant for martial classes (think Full BAB): full class levels (Retooled Classes have effective Fighter level count included)
Meant for skill-based classes (usually medium BAB; think Exemplar): 1/2 class levels
Meant for spellcasters (usually poor BAB and full spellcasting progression): no class levels
Gishes (Eldritch Knight, Spellsword, etc.): full class levels
Classes with full/medium BAB and limited spellcasting (Suel Arcanamach, Knight of the Weave, Pious Templar, etc.): full class levels
Non-martial, increase caster levels (Ruathar, Arcane Trickster, etc.): 1/2 class levels
Grant full spellcasting/near-full spellcasting (Sublime Chord, Ur-Priest, Acolyte of Peace, Nar Demonbinder): no class levels
Advance full spellcasting (Archmage, Incantatrix, etc.): no class levels

T.G. Oskar

2014-01-27, 02:31 AM

WEAPONS
The following is a list of changes to weapon special qualities present on the Dungeon Master's Guide. Some magic items retain the same qualities: bane (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicWeapons.htm#bane), distance (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicWeapons.htm#distance) (1000 gp), ghost touch (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicWeapons.htm#ghostTouchWeapon) (1000 gp), keen (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicWeapons.htm#keen), seeking (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicWeapons.htm#seeking).

ANARCHIC
Price (Item Level): +2 bonus
Property: Weapon
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 18) evocation [chaotic]
Activation: --

The weapon has an uneven construction, remaining whole by the very magic flowing through it. The weapon swirls with red energy, flickering madly as if flames but erratically, as if it were to extinguish at any moment.

An anarchic weapon is chaotically aligned and infused with the power of chaos. It makes the weapon chaos-aligned and thus bypasses the corresponding damage reduction. It deals an extra 2d6 points of damage against all of lawful alignment. It bestows one negative level on any lawful creature attempting to wield it. The negative level remains as long as the weapon is in hand and disappears when the weapon is no longer wielded. This negative level never results in actual level loss, but it cannot be overcome in any way (including restoration spells) while the weapon is wielded.

A character that has effective fighter levels increases the damage dealt by the weapon and gains additional properties. At effective fighter level 6th, the weapon gains an increase to its enhancement bonus of +1 (as per the bane weapon property) against all lawful creatures; this bonus increases to +2 at 11th level and +4 at 16th level. At effective fighter level 11th, the weapon deals 3d6 points of damage against any creature of lawful alignment and 1d6 points of damage against any neutral good, neutral or neutral evil creature; at effective fighter level 16th, the weapon instead deals 4d6 and 2d6 points, respectively.

Furthermore, at effective fighter level 9th, once per day as a swift action the wielder may banish any lawful creature with the extraplanar subtype back to its plane of origin with its next successful attack; the target gains a Will save (DC 10 + ½ effective fighter level + the wielder’s applicable ability modifier for damage rolls) to negate the effect, and the wielder gains an additional use of this ability for every 3 effective fighter levels after the 9th (2/day at 12th, 3/day at 15th, and so on).

If a barbarian wields an anarchic weapon, it treats its actual class level as its effective fighter level, rather than its own, for purposes of determining the increases of the anarchic weapon property.

Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the chaotic power upon their ammunition.

Note: if using the Project Heretica content, the Anarch also treats its class level as its effective fighter level for purposes of this property.

Prerequisites: Creator must be chaotic.
Cost to Create: varies

AXIOMATIC
Price (Item Level): +2 bonus
Property: Weapon
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate; (18th) evocation [lawful]
Activation: --

The weapon is flawless on all regards, a masterpiece amongst all, even if made of crude iron. The weapon flares with silver energy as if flames, but all wisps flow in the same direction, regardless of how the weapon swirls, in perfect coordination.

An axiomatic weapon is lawful aligned and infused with the power of law. It makes the weapon law-aligned and thus bypasses the corresponding damage reduction. It deals an extra 2d6 points of damage against all of chaotic alignment. It bestows one negative level on any chaotic creature attempting to wield it. The negative level remains as long as the weapon is in hand and disappears when the weapon is no longer wielded. This negative level never results in actual level loss, but it cannot be overcome in any way (including restoration spells) while the weapon is wielded.

A character that has effective fighter levels increases the damage dealt by the weapon and gains additional properties. At effective fighter level 6th, the weapon gains an increase to its enhancement bonus of +1 (as per the bane weapon property) against all chaotic creatures; this bonus increases to +2 at 11th level and +4 at 16th level. At effective fighter level 11th, the weapon deals 3d6 points of damage against any creature of chaotic alignment and 1d6 points of damage against any neutral good, neutral or neutral evil creature; at effective fighter level 16th, the weapon instead deals 4d6 and 2d6 points, respectively.

Furthermore, at effective fighter level 9th, once per day as a swift action the wielder may banish any chaotic creature with the extraplanar subtype back to its plane of origin with its next successful attack; the target gains a Will save (DC 10 + ½ effective fighter level + the wielder’s applicable ability modifier for damage rolls) to negate the effect, and the wielder gains an additional use of this ability for every 3 effective fighter levels after the 9th (2/day at 12th, 3/day at 15th, and so on).

If a monk or a samurai (see Complete Warrior for more details) wields an axiomatic weapon, it treats its actual class level as its effective fighter level, rather than its own, for purposes of determining the increases of the axiomatic weapon property.

Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the lawful power upon their ammunition.

Note: if using the Project Heretica content, the Justiciar also treats its class level as its effective fighter level for purposes of this property.

Prerequisites: Creator must be lawful.
Cost to Create: varies

BRILLIANT ENERGY
Price (Item Level): +2 bonus
Property: Melee weapon, thrown weapon or ammunition
Caster Level: 11th
Aura: Strong; (DC 20) transmutation
Activation: --

The weapon has a significant portion of its blade or head transformed into light. The blade or head flows uninterrupted when swung upon stone, but it's particularly harmful to the touch.

A brilliant energy weapon always gives off light as a torch (20-foot radius). A brilliant energy weapon ignores nonliving matter. Armor and shield bonuses to AC (including any enhancement bonuses to that armor) do not count against it because the weapon passes through armor. (Dexterity, deflection, dodge, natural armor, and other such bonuses still apply.) A brilliant energy weapon cannot harm undead, constructs, and objects (exception: a weapon with the brilliant energy and the bane special qualities with the latter affecting undead or constructs allows the character to affect them as if they were living, but only the creature type affected by the bane weapon).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

DANCING
Price (Item Level): +2 bonus
Property: Any weapon except armor spikes, shields, projectile weapons.
Caster Level: 9th
Aura: Strong; (DC 19) transmutation
Activation: standard (command)

Swirls and arrows are etched upon the weapon's blade, and the hilt is decorated with a wing motif. By uttering the command word, the weapon floats alongside the wielder, moving on its own accord.

As a standard action, a dancing weapon can be loosed to attack on its own. It fights for 4 rounds using the base attack bonus of the one who loosed it and then drops. While dancing, it cannot make attacks of opportunity, and the person who activated it is not considered armed with the weapon. In all other respects, it is considered wielded or attended by the creature for all maneuvers and effects that target items. While dancing, it takes up the same space as the activating character and can attack adjacent foes (weapons with reach can attack opponents up to 10 feet away). The dancing weapon accompanies the person who activated it everywhere, whether she moves by physical or magical means. If the wielder who loosed it has an unoccupied hand, she can grasp it while it is attacking on its own as a free action; when so retrieved the weapon can’t dance (attack on its own) again for 4 rounds.

The dancing property may not be applied to armor spikes or shields, nor to any projectile weapon.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

DEFENDING
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Melee weapon except armor spikes or shields
Caster Level: 8th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 19) abjuration
Activation: swift (mental)

The weapon has a swept hilt, a pole with quillions or another appropriate design meant for defense. With a swift mental command, the weapon reacts to incoming attacks, allowing you to parry incoming attacks at the expense of accuracy.

A defending weapon allows the wielder to transfer some or all of the sword’s enhancement bonus to his AC as a bonus that stacks with all others. As a swift action, the wielder chooses how to allocate the weapon’s enhancement bonus at the start of his turn before using the weapon, and the effect to AC lasts until his next turn.

This enhancement may only be applied to melee weapons. This enhancement may not be applied to armor spikes or shields.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

FLAMING
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Weapon
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) evocation
Activation: swift (command)

The weapon's blade or head ignites with hot embers, yet the flames do not melt or damage the weapon; instead, they merely wrap the weapon as if they were licking it.

Upon command, a flaming weapon is sheathed in fire. The fire does not harm the wielder. The effect remains until another command is given. A flaming weapon deals an extra 1d6 points of fire damage on a successful hit.

A character that has effective fighter levels increases the damage dealt by the weapon and gains additional qualities. At effective fighter 6th, the wielder may turn all damage dealt by the weapon into fire damage (this includes the wielder’s Strength modifier to damage and any kinds of precision damage, and any additional weapon damage from enhancement bonus but not from similar properties such as the frost or holy properties) for a number of rounds equal to twice the wielder’s effective fighter level (these rounds need not be consecutive). At effective fighter 9th, the weapon deals an additional point of fire damage on each attack, plus an additional point for every 3 effective fighter levels after the 9th (+2 fire damage at 12th, +3 fire damage at 15th, and so on). At effective fighter level 12th, the weapon deals 2d6 points of fire damage, and the target must succeed on a Reflex saving throw (DC 10 + ½ the wielder’s effective fighter level + the wielder’s applicable ability modifier for attack rolls) or catch on fire, taking an additional 1d6 points of damage per round. At effective fighter level 15th, if the target catches fire and attempts to smother the fire, it doesn’t gain the +4 bonus on the save; furthermore, the target takes an additional +3 fire damage when catching on fire (which increases for every three effective fighter levels after the 15th. At effective fighter level 18th, the weapon instead deals 3d6 points of damage and the damage from catching on fire increases to 2d6.

Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the fire energy upon their ammunition.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

FLAMING BURST [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Weapon
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) evocation
Activation: swift (command)
Synergy Prerequisite: Flaming

The weapon is set with a large ruby at its pommel, a clear-cut and flawless ruby that seems to flicker and flash at occasions.

As the flaming property, except as follows: upon a successful critical hit, the fire damage dice are d10s instead of d6s. A weapon with a critical modifier of x3 deals an extra 1d10 points of damage, while one with a x4 modifier deals an extra 2d10 points of damage. At effective fighter level 9th, the wielder deals this additional damage upon a 10 ft. radius, which increases by 5 ft. every three fighter levels (Reflex save halves, DC 10 + ½ wielder’s effective fighter level + wielder’s Constitution modifier); the wielder may choose not to deliver this area burst if it desires, as the effect applies to all creatures within area.

Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the fire energy upon their ammunition.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

FROST
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Weapon
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) evocation
Activation: swift (command)

The weapon's blade or head feels oddly cold to the touch, and a thin film of frozen dew coats and protects it. An aquamarine is set at its pommel, and vapor condenses around the entire weapon's length.

Upon command, a frost weapon is sheathed in icy cold. The cold does not harm the wielder. The effect remains until another command is given. A frost weapon deals an extra 1d6 points of cold damage on a successful hit.

A character that has effective fighter levels increases the damage dealt by the weapon and gains additional properties. At effective fighter 6th, the wielder may turn all damage dealt by the weapon into cold damage (this includes the wielder’s Strength modifier to damage and any kinds of precision damage, and any additional weapon damage from enhancement bonus but not from similar properties such as the flaming or holy properties) for a number of rounds equal to twice the wielder’s effective fighter level (these rounds need not be consecutive). At effective fighter 9th, any time the wielder deals cold damage with the weapon, the target takes a -1 penalty to Fortitude saves for 1 round; multiple hits on the same creature don’t stack, and the penalty increases by 1 every three effective fighter levels after the 9th (-2 at 12th, -3 at 15th, and so on). At effective fighter level 12th, the weapon deals 2d6 points of cold damage. At effective fighter level 15th, the target also takes a -10 ft. penalty to any of its speeds (except burrowing, to a minimum speed of 5 ft.) for 1 round. At effective fighter level 18th, the weapon instead deals 3d6 points of damage, and the penalty to its speeds increases to -15 ft.

Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the cold energy upon their ammunition.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

HOLY
Price (Item Level): +2 bonus
Property: Weapon
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 18) evocation [good]
Activation: --

The weapon's blade or head is etched with sacred runes. A feeling of warmth emerges from the softly flickering white flames emanating from the weapon, but the feeling grows into full heat upon the presence of evil.

A holy weapon is good aligned and infused with the power of good. It makes the weapon good-aligned and thus bypasses the corresponding damage reduction. It deals an extra 2d6 points of damage against all of evil alignment. It bestows one negative level on any evil creature attempting to wield it. The negative level remains as long as the weapon is in hand and disappears when the weapon is no longer wielded. This negative level never results in actual level loss, but it cannot be overcome in any way (including restoration spells) while the weapon is wielded.

A character that has effective fighter levels increases the damage dealt by the weapon and gains additional properties. At effective fighter level 6th, the weapon gains an increase to its enhancement bonus of +1 (as per the bane weapon property) against all evil creatures; this bonus increases to +2 at 11th level and +4 at 16th level. At effective fighter level 11th, the weapon deals 3d6 points of damage against any creature of evil alignment and 1d6 points of damage against any chaotic neutral, neutral or lawful neutral creature; at effective fighter level 16th, the weapon instead deals 4d6 and 2d6 points, respectively.

Furthermore, at effective fighter level 9th, once per day as a swift action the wielder may banish any evil creature with the extraplanar subtype back to its plane of origin with its next successful attack; the target gains a Will save (DC 10 + ½ effective fighter level + the wielder’s applicable ability modifier for damage rolls) to negate the effect, and the wielder gains an additional use of this ability for every 3 effective fighter levels after the 9th (2/day at 12th, 3/day at 15th, and so on).

If a paladin wields a holy weapon, it treats its actual class level as its effective fighter level, rather than its own, for purposes of determining the increases of the holy weapon property.

Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the holy power upon their ammunition.

Prerequisites: Creator must be good.
Cost to Create: varies

ICY BURST [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Weapon
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) evocation
Activation: swift (command)
Synergy Prerequisite: Frost

The weapon's blade is coated with a sharp, solid coating of ice, and a cool wind surrounds it. Smaller aquamarines and small diamonds decorate its hilt, cut as if frozen waterdrops.

As the frost property, except as follows: upon a successful critical hit, the cold damage dice are d10s instead of d6s. A weapon with a critical modifier of x3 deals an extra 1d10 points of damage, while one with a x4 modifier deals an extra 2d10 points of damage. At effective fighter level 9th, the wielder deals this additional damage upon a 10 ft. radius, which increases by 5 ft. every three fighter levels (Fortitude save halves, DC 10 + ½ wielder’s effective fighter level + wielder’s Constitution modifier); the wielder may choose not to deliver this area burst if it desires, as the effect applies to all creatures within area.

Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the cold energy upon their ammunition.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

KI FOCUS
Price (Item Level): +1000 gp
Property: Melee weapon
Caster Level: 8th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 19) transmutation
Activation: --

The weapon is deceptively simple in appearance, largely unadorned except for some monastic scripture at the blade or the head, or an intricately adorned wrap.

This magic weapon serves as a focus to the character's ki. If the user is a monk, the weapon allows her to use her Wisdom modifier with her attack and damage rolls and gain all the benefits of her ki strike class feature, as if she was using her unarmed strikes. If she has the Stunning Fist feat or feats that consume daily uses of her Stunning Fist feat, she may channel these abilities through this weapon; this last ability can be used by any character so as long as she has the requisite feats.

Prerequisites: Character must be a 4th level monk
Cost to Create: varies

MERCIFUL
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Weapon
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) conjuration
Activation: --

The weapon seems well constructed but its blade seems blunt, or its head seems to lack jagged edges or points. The weapon is decorated with subtle, soft designs.

The weapon deals an extra 1d6 points of damage, and all damage it deals is nonlethal damage. On command, the weapon suppresses this ability until commanded to resume it.

A character that has effective fighter levels increases the damage dealt by the weapon. At effective fighter level 12th, the weapon deals 2d6 points of non-lethal damage. At effective fighter level 18th, the weapon causes the enemy to fall unconscious unless the target succeeds on a Fortitude save (DC equal to 10 + half the character's effective fighter level + the character's Charisma modifier; minimum DC 11, paladins are treated as fighters of their class level).

Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the merciful effect upon their ammunition.

Prerequisites: Character must be good-aligned
Cost to Create:

MIGHTY CLEAVING
Price (Item Level): +2 bonus
Property: Melee weapon
Caster Level: 8th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 19) evocation
Activation: swift (command)

The weapon seems lighter than the norm, allowing making wide swaths with unusual ease.

Three times per day as a swift action, the wielder of the weapon may activate it to make attacks against adjacent enemies for 1 round. The wielder of the weapon may make an attack against two adjacent enemies.

A character that has effective fighter levels increases the amount of enemies that may be attacked by the weapon. At effective fighter level 12th, the wielder may attack three enemies with the same swing; at effective fighter level 18th the wielder may attack up to four enemies, so as long as they are adjacent to each other.

Prerequisites: Character must have the Great Cleave feat.
Cost to Create: varies

RETURNING
Price (Item Level): +1000 gp
Property: Thrown weapon or ammunition.
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate (DC 18) transmutation
Activation: swift (command)

The weapon's hilt or haft seems to be slightly curved inward, with an aerodynamic pommel; alternatively, the weapon's hilt seems to swirl, and the handle or haft has a twisted hinge.

As a swift action, a weapon with this property flies after striking the enemy and returns within an arced trajectory back to the wielder. It returns to the thrower just before the creature’s next turn and is therefore ready to use again in that turn). Catching a returning weapon when it comes back is a free action. If the character can’t catch it, or if the character has moved since throwing it, the weapon drops to the ground in the square from which it was thrown. A 6th level fighter (or a character with effective fighter level 6th) that activates the weapon may make as many attacks as it has iterative attacks with the same weapon; effectively, the weapon instantly returns to the wielder in the same turn, ready to be used again.

In the case of ammunition (such as arrows or bolts; this includes shuriken), this property allows the weapon to reform in the user's quiver once used, but treats the item as if it were a thrown weapon (and thus must be enchanted separately). For example, a +1 returning arrow would cost 3,300 gp and 5 cp.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

SHOCK
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Weapon
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) evocation
Activation: swift (command)

The weapon's hilt (or haft) is surrounded with wire, with a quartz at its pommel, connecting the pommel to the head. A faint smell of ozone surrounds the weapon, and sparks dance in occasions.

Upon command, a shock weapon is sheathed in crackling electricity. The electricity does not harm the wielder. The effect remains until another command is given. A shock weapon deals an extra 1d6 points of electricity damage on a successful hit.

A character that has effective fighter levels increases the damage dealt by the weapon and gains additional properties. At effective fighter level 6th, the wielder gains a +1 circumstance bonus to attack rolls against targets wielding metal armor or that are mostly made of metal, which increases by 1 for every 3 effective fighter levels (+2 at 9th, +3 at 12th, and so on); at effective fighter level 9th, the target takes a penalty to Reflex saves equal to its circumstance bonus to attack rolls from the weapon minus 1. Also at effective fighter 9th, the wielder may turn all damage dealt by the weapon into electricity damage (this includes the wielder’s Strength modifier to damage and any kinds of precision damage, and any additional weapon damage from enhancement bonus but not from similar properties such as the flaming or holy properties) for a number of rounds equal to twice the wielder’s effective fighter level (these rounds need not be consecutive).At effective fighter level 12th, the weapon deals 2d6 points of electricity damage. At effective fighter level 15th, any target struck by the weapon is dazzled for 1 round. At effective fighter level 18th, the weapon instead deals 3d6 points of damage, and the dazzled effect lasts for 2 rounds.

Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the electricity energy upon their ammunition.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

SHOCKING BURST [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Weapon
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) evocation
Activation: swift (command)
Synergy Prerequisite: Shocking

The quartz at the pommel is pierced by copper wire, and a small spark generates light and heat. An arc of energy dances from the hilt to the tip of the weapon.

As the shocking property, except as follows: upon a successful critical hit, the electricity damage dice are d10s instead of d6s. A weapon with a critical modifier of x3 deals an extra 1d10 points of damage, while one with a x4 modifier deals an extra 2d10 points of damage. At effective fighter level 9th, the wielder deals this additional damage upon a 10 ft. radius, which increases by 5 ft. every three fighter levels (Fortitude save halves, DC 10 + ½ wielder’s effective fighter level + wielder’s Constitution modifier); the wielder may choose not to deliver this area burst if it desires, as the effect applies to all creatures within area.

Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the electricity energy upon their ammunition.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

SPEED
Price (Item Level): +3 bonus
Property: Weapon
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Strong; (DC 20th) transmutation
Activation: swift (command)

The weapon is unusually light, and moves with unusual speed as it is swung. The blade, or head, of the weapon is decorated with stylish arrow patterns that point at the direction of attack, and the arrowhead duplicates in smaller intervals, forming a blur of arrowheads.

Light weapons with the speed weapon enhancement allow their wielders to add their Dexterity modifier to their attack rolls; one-handed weapons allow only half their Dexterity modifier and two-handed weapons add none (but weapons that can be used with Weapon Finesse are treated as light weapons for purposes of this feature).

When making a full attack action, the wielder of a speed weapon may spend a swift action to make one extra attack with it. The attack uses the wielder’s full base attack bonus, plus any modifiers appropriate to the situation. This stacks with any other abilities that grant extra attacks as part of a full-attack action (except for the haste spell). A character with the Combat Reflexes feat and at least 6 levels in fighter (or effective fighter levels) gains an extra attack of opportunity, and may make a second attack once per round as an immediate action. A character with the Two-Weapon Fighting feat may activate two weapons with this enhancement as part of the same swift or immediate action (thus gaining two extra attacks) if it has at least 6 levels in fighter (or effective fighter levels).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

SPELL STORING
Price (Item Level): +3 bonus
Property: Weapon
Caster Level: 12th
Aura: strong (DC 21) evocation, plus aura of stored spell
Activation: swift

The blade and hilt are etched with magical runes, with the hilt runes pointing towards the guard and the blade runes pointing towards the blade itself. A large clear gem with etched runes adorns the center of the weapon's guard, with a smaller and equally etched gem on the pommel and a copper wire binding both, which pulse with colored magical energy.

A spell storing weapon allows a spellcaster to store a single targeted spell of up to 3rd level in the weapon. (The spell to be cast must have a casting time of 1 standard action, a range of touch, close, medium or long, and that affects a single target.) Any time the weapon strikes a creature and the creature takes damage from it, the weapon can immediately cast the spell on that creature as a swift action if the wielder desires. (This special ability is an exception to the general rule that casting a spell from an item takes at least as long as casting that spell normally.) Once the spell has been cast from the weapon, a spellcaster can cast any other targeted spell of up to 3rd level into it. The weapon magically imparts to the wielder the name of the spell currently stored within it. A randomly rolled spell storing weapon has a 50% chance to have a spell stored in it already.

Regardless of the caster level of the spellcaster that imbues this ability, the spell is always cast at the minimum spell level for the spell to be cast, and all variables that depend on caster level use this reduced caster level. A spellcaster (arcane or divine, but only a spellcaster) may use the spell's caster level or its own, if it so desires, while a martial character may use the spell with a caster level equal to the character's effective fighter level.

Only melee and projectile weapons (but not ammunition) may have this property. A spell storing projectile weapon deploys the stored spell via its ammunition.

Prerequisites: Character must have a caster level of 12th
Cost to Create: varies

SPELL STORING, GREATER [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +2 bonus
Property: Weapon
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: strong (DC 22) evocation, plus aura of stored spell
Activation: swift
Synergy Prerequisite: Spell storing

The hilt is crowned by a large, flawless, colorless etched gem and a set of nine smaller gems of different colors surrounding it. The gems pulsate with the same light, overriding the natural color of the gems but always resembling that of one of the smaller ones.

A greater spell storing weapon acts exactly as a spell storing weapon, except it may store a single targeted spell of up to 6th level, or an area spell of up to 3rd level. Area spells do not affect the wielder, but affect allies close to the wielder.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

THUNDERING
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: -- (weapon)
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: faint (DC 17) evocation
Activation: swift (command)

The weapon's blade emits a low hum, and when wielded, a faint vibration runs from the hilt, which is adorned with a quartz.

Upon command, a thundering weapon emits a blast of piercing sound. The blast does not harm the wielder. The effect remains until another command is given. A thundering weapon deals an extra 1d4 points of sonic damage on a successful hit.

A character that has effective fighter levels increases the damage dealt by the weapon and gains additional properties. At effective fighter level 6th, any damage made to an object ignores its hardness; this also applies to sunder attempts. At effective fighter level 9th, any time the wielder deals sonic damage with the weapon, the target takes a -1 penalty to Will saves for 1 round; multiple hits on the same creature don’t stack, and the penalty increases by 1 every three effective fighter levels after the 9th (-2 at 12th, -3 at 15th, and so on). At effective fighter level 12th, the weapon deals 1d6 points of sonic damage, and the target must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + ½ effective fighter level + target’s applicable ability modifier for attack rolls) or cause the target to become deafened for 1 round. At effective fighter level 15th, the wielder may turn all damage dealt by the weapon into sonic damage (this includes the wielder’s Strength modifier to damage and any kinds of precision damage, and any additional weapon damage from enhancement bonus but not from similar properties such as the flaming or holy properties) for a number of rounds equal to twice the wielder’s effective fighter level (these rounds need not be consecutive). At effective fighter level 18th, the weapon instead deals 1d8 points of sonic damage.

Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the sonic energy upon their ammunition.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

THROWING
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Melee weapon
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: faint (DC 17) transmutation
Activation: --

The weapon seems to be lighter than the norm, shorter, but equally deadly. The center of the weapon's weight, however, has shifted, making it feasible enough to throw, and the weapon's form seems to allow for a longer flight.

This ability can only be placed on a melee weapon. A melee weapon crafted with this ability gains a range increment of 30 feet and can be thrown by a wielder proficient in its normal use.

A character that has effective fighter levels increases the range of the weapon. At effective fighter level 6th, and every five effective fighter levels afterwards, the weapon's range increment increases by 10 ft.

Prerequisites: Character must have the Far Shot feat.
Cost to Create: varies

UNHOLY
Price (Item Level): +2 bonus
Property: Weapon
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 18) evocation [evil]
Activation: --

The weapon's blade or head is etched with profane runes. A cold chill runs through the length of the weapon, and the blade bursts into sickening black flames within the presence of good.

An unholy weapon is evil aligned and infused with the power of evil. It makes the weapon evil-aligned and thus bypasses the corresponding damage reduction. It deals an extra 2d6 points of damage against all of good alignment. It bestows one negative level on any good creature attempting to wield it. The negative level remains as long as the weapon is in hand and disappears when the weapon is no longer wielded. This negative level never results in actual level loss, but it cannot be overcome in any way (including restoration spells) while the weapon is wielded.

A character that has effective fighter levels increases the damage dealt by the weapon and gains additional properties. At effective fighter level 6th, the weapon gains an increase to its enhancement bonus of +1 (as per the bane weapon property) against all good creatures; this bonus increases to +2 at 11th level and +4 at 16th level. At effective fighter level 11th, the weapon deals 3d6 points of damage against any creature of good alignment and 1d6 points of damage against any chaotic neutral, neutral or lawful neutral create; at effective fighter level 16th, the weapon instead deals 4d6 and 2d6 points, respectively.

Furthermore, at effective fighter level 9th, once per day as a swift action the wielder may banish any good creature with the extraplanar subtype back to its plane of origin with its next successful attack; the target gains a Will save (DC 10 + ½ effective fighter level + the wielder’s applicable ability modifier for damage rolls) to negate the effect, and the wielder gains an additional use of this ability for every 3 effective fighter levels after the 9th (2/day at 12th, 3/day at 15th, and so on).

Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the unholy power upon their ammunition.

Note: If using the Project Heretica content, a blackguard that wields an unholy weapon treats its actual class level as its effective fighter level, rather than its own, for purposes of determining the increases of the unholy weapon property.

Prerequisites: Creator must be evil.
Cost to Create: varies

VICIOUS
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Weapon
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 18) necromancy
Activation: swift (command)

At a glance, the weapon looks brutal. Jagged edges, thick and menacing blade, rough-hewn hilt; the weapon looks deadly by all means. Touching the hilt of the weapon causes a slight tinge of pain; touching the blade causes a more painful effect.

A vicious weapon causes a mild sensation of pain when activated. The weapon remains active until another command is given. When a vicious weapon strikes an opponent, it creates a flash of disruptive energy that resonates between the opponent and the wielder. This energy deals an extra 2d6 points of damage to the opponent and 1d4 points of damage to the wielder.

A character with effective fighter levels deals extra damage and imposes a penalty caused by the pain, but the retributive effect worsens. At effective fighter level 6th, the weapon deals 3d6 points of damage, but returns 1d6 points of damage. At effective fighter level 11th, the weapon imposes a -1 penalty on attack rolls and weapon damage rolls against the target for 1 round (the effect is not cumulative), but the wielder takes 1d8 points of damage. At effective fighter level 16th, the weapon deals 4d6 extra damage, but the wielder takes 2d6 points instead.

Only melee weapons can be vicious.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

VORPAL [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +5 bonus
Property: Slashing weapon
Caster Level: 18th
Aura: Strong (DC 24); necromancy and transmutation
Activation: --
Synergy Prerequisite: Keen

This sword has a razor-sharp edge, extremely fine, which could easily cut flesh, bone and metal with haunting ease. A sound of "snicker-snack" hums as the blade strikes the target, with the blade partially snapping back for increased cutting power.

This potent and feared ability allows the weapon to sever the bodies of those it strikes. If the wielder makes a critical hit, the weapon instantly severs one of the target's limbs, unless the target succeeds on a DC 20 Reflex saving throw (roll a d% to determine the effect: on a 01-50 a leg is severed, on a 51-100 roll an arm is severed). If the wielder makes a natural roll of 20 on the attack roll, the creature's head is severed instead.

The loss of an arm causes the target to gain a permanent loss to its attack bonus equal to one-fifth its base attack bonus (thus, a character with a base attack bonus of 16 takes a -4 penalty) and may not use the arm until it is restored with a regenerate spell. The loss of a leg causes the target to take a permanent penalty to movement speed of 10 ft., and a -4 bonus on all Balance, Jump and opposed bull rush and trip checks. If the creature lacks an arm or a leg, an equivalent appendage is severed instead (such as a tentacle, or a wing). A severed head instantly kills most living creatures, although some creatures do not suffer by the loss of the head (if they require their heads for sight, they are treated as permanently blinded).
Oozes are treated differently. In the case of a successful natural 20 check, the ooze's reproductive ability is negated, annihilating the creature instantly. In the case of a dragon, a natural roll of 19-20 severes the head instantly, and in the case of a hydra, cutting the head (by means of a sunder attempt) negates the creature's ability to regenerate.

If using a vorpal weapon to sunder an object, a natural roll of 20 in the attack roll immediately destroys the item, without a need for a damage roll.
A character with effective fighter levels increases the effective "threat" range of the head-severing property. A character with an effective fighter level of 11th severs heads on a natural roll of 19 or 20, whereas a character with an effective fighter level of 21st or higher severs heads on a natural roll of 18, 19 or 20. This increase in range only works if the weapon has an actual threat range; for example, a vorpal longsword worn by a 21st level fighter severes heads on a roll of 19-20 (as per the weapon's critical threat range), whereas a vorpal scimitar worn by the same fighter severs heads on a roll of 18-20. This particular property is independent of the weapon's modified threat range (by means of the keen weapon property, for example).

Vorpal weapons must be slashing weapons (If you roll this property randomly for an inappropriate weapon, reroll.)

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

WOUNDING [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Weapon
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate (DC 20); evocation
Activation: --
Synergy Prerequisite: Keen (or Impact if bludgeoning)

The weapon has a particularly sharp edge, a sharp point, or a wedge that causes a deadly wound. The runes that adorn that part of the weapon seem to intensify the effect of the wound, attempting against the very life of the target.

A wounding weapon deals 1 point of Constitution damage from blood loss on a successful critical hit. A character with 11 effective fighter levels deals 2 points of Constitution damage on a critical hit, and a character with 16 effective fighter levels deals 1 point of Constitution damage with every hit (except critical hits, in which case it deals 2 points). Creatures immune to critical hits (such as plants and constructs) are immune to the Constitution damage dealt by this weapon.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

As you can notice, the biggest winners were Mighty Cleaving and Speed, but everyone had its touch. Alignment-based powers have increasing damage, but also allow to expend some of their damage against creatures of neutral alignment (this is inspired in DDO's "True Law", "True Chaos" and "Pure Good" enhancements). Holy is the clear winner here as it allows you to deal some serious damage, but Axiomatic is now more useful than ever, and so does Anarchic. Elemental enhancements are also slightly more potent, allowing you to deal a respectable 3d6 points of damage with each hit and puncture the weakest of energy resistances with each hit. Brilliant Energy now has the ability to affect undead and constructs if a Bane effect is stacked upon them (meaning that a Bane weapon of Brilliant Energy is now the most lethal thing you can bring against a construct or undead), and is now considerably cheaper.

Merciful and Vicious also have scaling damage bonuses, but here's where I like what I made; both have a rider effect with each attack that makes them very useful. Merciful allows you to make an opponent fall unconscious, which is short of a coup de grace; this is quite probably the largest boost to a class feature ever. Compared to that, the penalty granted by Vicious is pretty small, but you deal large amounts of damage in addition to the penalty (though at considerable risk to yourself). Still: do not underestimate the effect of a penalty granted for free.

Then, we get to meatier changes. Elemental Burst enhancements, as well as Vorpal and Wounding, are now synergy effects. This makes perfect sense; Elemental Burst effects are clear upgrades of elemental weapons, while Vorpal and Wounding weapons rely on bloodletting weapons, therefore they need to be pretty sharp (or else open a bleeding wound), typical of a critical hit. Elemental Burst weapons now change ALL the dice on a critical hit, so you deal 3d10 points of damage at most, and up to 5d10 points of damage if the weapon happens to be something like a scythe. Compared to the old Elemental Bursts, they're definitely a step up. Vorpal is now THE reason why Regenerate exists; it no longer cuts ONLY heads, but also severs arms and legs. An Epic Fighter with a weapon holding a naturally high critical threat range now has a very deadly weapon on its hands (a 15% chance of killing anyone outright), and a brutal weapon even on a crit (up to 30% chance to dismember an opponent outright, causing a lasting penalty). Wounding was nerfed at first, since allowing a Wizard to grant Constitution damage for free is not what I wanted, but a Fighter can eventually unlock its original effect,, so martial characters still get a nice benefit. Thundering also shifted from dealing damage on a crit to what's essentially the effect of Screaming (from the MIC), with subsequent improvements.

And thus, we come to Mighty Cleaving and Speed. Mighty Cleaving weapons no longer grant an extra attack on a Cleave; now, they grant the effect of the War Mind's Sweeping Strike a limited amount of times per day. Now, here's a little secret: this is based on the retooled Great Cleave's effect, which grants it to all classes with effective Fighter levels over 6th (or 11th, don't remember correctly); thus, you can spend two/three slots for the feat, or get a limited version of the effect for free, or get War Mind and get a longer-lasting but similarly limited effect. Speed, on the other hand, not only grants an extra attack (activated with a swift action, though, so can't combine it with Dancing/Raging Mongoose), but an attack of opportunity as well. Speed doesn't stack with Haste, but it stacks with any other ability that grants extra attacks...including the Snake's Swiftness spell, or certain other spells such as...IIRC, Righteous Wrath of the Faithful. Look at them. They grant extra attacks, don't consume swift actions... Oh, and that means Ruby Knight Windicators get as many attacks as their swift actions allow them, right? Speed, alongside Ki Focus, have a special benefit: they allow Dexterity (or Wisdom) to attack and/or damage rolls, so there's a further benefit. Definitely, the most improved weapon is between Merciful, Mighty Cleaving and Speed.

And here we come to the features that got nerfed. Defending can still be applied to a gauntlet, but it no longer applies to armor spikes, and for good reason; I find it somewhat cheap. Gauntlets, on the other hand, are fair play because not all weapons have them, and it's more natural to have a gauntlet that boosts your defense than armor spikes that pretty much munch (pun not intended) on your opponent's weapon. Dancing gets the same idea, though on that one I'd say gauntlets cannot be dancing weapons (after all, they're fixed upon your arms, no?); on the other hand, it's less expensive than the original. Wounding, as mentioned, no longer deals 1 point of Con damage with each hit as its normal feature, but that's only a nerf where it's needed; with Keen, it's also cheaper, so there's that (and with a good crit-fishing weapon, you'll deal even MORE damage).

That leaves Spell Storing, which is now much more expensive, but with some changes. It's a +3 weapon enhancement, but it's worth every penny; a Fighter can use its effective Fighter level as the caster level for the spell, so an Orb of Force will deal 20d6 points of awesome damage (if only once, tho). Greater Spell Storing allows a 6th level spell or 3rd level area spell (that includes Fireball, Lightning Bolt, how about...erm...WINGS OF FLURRY!), at a costlier +5 bonus as it's a synergy effect. But we all agree it's still worth every penny, right?

T.G. Oskar

2014-01-27, 02:38 AM

PSIONIC WEAPONS
The following is a list of changes to weapon special qualities present on the Expanded Psionics Handbook. Items with these qualities do not necessarily are specifically psionic items, and may be done through the use of Craft Magic Arms and Armor. Some magic items retain the same qualities: bodyfeeder (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/items/weapons.htm#bodyfeeder) (as per Expanded Psionics Handbook), dissipater (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/items/weapons.htm#dissipater), lucky (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/items/weapons.htm#lucky), mindcrusher (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/items/weapons.htm#mindcrusher), mindfeeder (as per Magic Item Compendium), psychic (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/items/weapons.htm#psychic), soulbreaking (as per Magic Item Compendium),

COLLISION
Price (Item Level): +2 bonus
Property: Weapon
Caster Level: 6th
Aura: Moderate (DC 18); transmutation
Activation: --

This delicately balanced weapon settles into your grip as if you had wielded it for years. It's blue-gray hue shimmers as you heft the weapon.

A collision weapon temporarily increases its own mass at the end point of each swing or shot. The weapon deals damage as if it were a size category larger, and any disarm or trip attempt made with the weapon is done at a +4 bonus. This property does not stack with any other effect that increases the size of the weapon, except for an actual size increase of the wielder. At effective fighter level 6th, the weapon deals an additional point of damage, plus one for every three effective fighter levels after the 6th (+2 at 9th, +3 at 12th, and so on).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

COUP DE GRACE
Price (Item Level): +5 bonus
Property: Weapon
Caster Level: 19th
Aura: Strong (DC 24); necromancy
Activation: --

The weapon is meant for an assassin or executioner; the weapon to deal the killing blow in a single stroke. The blade is stained with blood, but seems unusually new, as if used only sparingly and cleaned very carefully, save for the stains which can't seem to be removed.

A coup de grace weapon is one of the deadliest weapons in existence. On a successful critical hit, the target of the weapon must make a DC 24 Fortitude save or die instantly. Creatures immune to instant death and/or critical hits take double damage from the weapon instead (remember that, if the attack deals critical damage, two doublings equal a triple and so forth). As well, this weapon allows the wielder to make a coup de grace as a standard action (instead of a full-round action, as usual).

An assassin (or a character with the death attack class feature) does not need to make three rounds of study when wielding this weapon, and applies a +5 bonus to the save DC to resist the attack.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

DISLOCATOR
Price (Item Level): +2 bonus
Property: Melee weapon
Caster Level: 12th
Aura: Strong (DC 21); conjuration
Activation: Immediate (command)

Discolorations in the surface of this weapon appear, then fade in a random pattern. An elaborate handle contains a thumb-sized indent.

Dislocator weapons are excellent for those warriors who seek to protect their charges from approaching enemies. When making an attack of opportunity, the wielder of a dislocator weapon may activate this ability to cause the target of the attack to be teleported up to 15 ft. in any direction and facing the wielder chooses. If the enemy is moving or charging, it remains moving in the same intended direction. The wielder of this weapon can't teleport a target into an occupied space (such an attempt automatically fails and wastes the effect).

A dislocator weapon functions five times per day

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

DISLOCATOR, GREAT [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Weapon
Caster Level: 12th
Aura: Strong (DC 21); conjuration
Activation: Immediate (command)
Synergy Prerequisite: Dislocator

Brilliant discolorations in the surface of this weapon appear, then fade in a random pattern. An elaborate handle contains a thumb-sized indent coated in gold filigree.

This property functions as a dislocator weapon (see above), except the target may be teleported up to 30 ft. in any direction and facing the wielder chooses, and may be used as many times per day as the wielder chooses.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

MANIFESTER
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Weapon (but not ammunition)
Caster Level: 8th
Aura: Moderate (DC 19); divination
Activation: Free (mental)

Radiating inner power, this princely weapon settles and clarifies your thoughts.

When manifesting a power, the bearer of this weapon can draw 5 power points from it. These points must be all used on the same power, and that power cannot be imbued with power points from any other source.

A manifester weapon functions once per day.

Prerequisites: Craft Psionic Arms and Armor, creator must have a power point source
Cost to Create: varies

PARRYING
Price (Item Level): +2 bonus
Property: Weapon
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: Strong; (DC 22) divination
Activation: --

The detailed engraving on this shiny weapon appears to spin and jump about. Even when grasped, it twitches and bucks.

A parrying weapon allows the wielder to discern events an instant into the future, granting a +1 insight bonus to Armor Class. The weapon makes the wielder so adept at parrying that it grants a +1 insight bonus on saving throws.

Characters with effective fighter levels gain increased insight abilities. At effective fighter level 6th, the insight bonus increases by 2; every five effective fighter levels afterwards, the bonus increases by 1.

The bonuses are granted whenever the weapon is wielded (not sheathed), even if the wielder is flat-footed.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

POWER STORING
Price (Item Level): +3 bonus
Property: Weapon
Caster Level: 12th
Aura: strong (DC 21) evocation, plus aura of stored spell
Activation: swift

The weapon is composed of a white, honeycomb substance of substantial weight.

A power storing weapon allows a manifester to store a single targeted spell of up to 5 power points in the weapon. (The power to be cast must have a manifesting time of 1 standard action, a range of touch, close, medium or long, and that affects a single target.) Any time the weapon strikes a creature and the creature takes damage from it, the weapon can immediately manifest the power on that creature as a swift action if the wielder desires. (This special ability is an exception to the general rule that manifesting a power from an item takes at least as long as manifesting that power normally.) Once the power has been manifested from the weapon, a manifester can cast any other targeted power of up to 5 power points into it. The weapon telepathically whispers to the wielder the name of the spell currently stored within it. A randomly rolled power storing weapon has a 50% chance to have a power stored in it already.

When storing a power in this weapon, the manifester may choose to expend extra power points to augment the weapon (up to a total cost of 5 power points; thus, a 1st level power may be augmented with up to 4 power points, or a 2nd level power augmented with up to 2 power points). The manifester level of the power is always the minimum to manifest the power, unless it has been augmented (in which case its ML is equal to the amount of power points expended, maximum ML 5th). A manifester may not augment the stored power but may use its manifester level to determine other traits (such as duration or range), and a character with effective fighter levels may treat such levels as if manifesting levels for this purpose.

Only melee and projectile weapons (but not ammunition) may have this property. A power storing projectile weapon deploys the stored power via its ammunition.

Prerequisites: Craft Psionic Arms and Armor, character must have a manifester level of 12th
Cost to Create: varies

POWER STORING, GREATER [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +2 bonus
Property: weapon
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: strong (DC 22) evocation, plus aura of stored spell
Activation: swift
Synergy Prerequisite: Power storing

The honeycomb coating on the weapon crystallizes into a dense substance, with small gemdrops in each hole. When a power is stored, the weapon thrums with power, the small gemdrops shining in unison.

A greater power storing weapon acts exactly as a power storing weapon, except it may store a single targeted power of up to 11 power points, or an area spell of up to 5 power points. Area spells do not affect the wielder, but affect allies close to the wielder. If the targeted power has a power level of 3rd or lower and only the minimum power points have been expended to store it, a manifester may expend power points to augment the power as if manifesting it; a character with 6 effective fighter levels and a power point reserve treats its effective fighter levels (if lower than any existing manifester level) as manifester levels for purposes of augmenting stored powers.

Prerequisites: Craft Psionic Arms and Armor, character must have a manifester level of 15th
Cost to Create: varies

PSYCHOKINETIC
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Weapon
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) evocation
Activation: Standard (command)

This silvery-white weapon has a smooth sheen and is difficult to grip tightly

Upon command, a psychokinetic weapon glows from the inside with lethal psionic energy. Such a weapon deals an extra 1d4 points of force damage on a successful hit. This extra damage is not affected by damage reduction, and it affects incorporeal creatures even if the attack would normally miss due to the incorporeal miss chance. The energy does not harm the wielder while wielding the weapon.

A character that has effective fighter levels increases the damage dealt by the weapon. At effective fighter level 6th, the weapon deals 1d6 points of force damage; at every three effective fighter levels above the 6th, the damage dealt by the weapon increases further: 1d8 at 9th, 2d6 at 12th, 2d8 at 15th, 3d6 at 18th.

Projectile weapons bestow this property upon their ammunition.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: Varies

PSYCHOKINETIC BURST [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Weapon
Caster Level: 12th
Aura: Strong; (DC 21) evocation
Activation: Standard (command) and --
Synergy Prerequisite: Psychokinetic

Silvery-black and potent, this weapon is very smooth and difficult to grip tightly.

This weapon functions as a psychokinetic weapon. In addition, whenever the wielder makes a critical hit, the weapon deals an extra 1d6 points of force damage. A weapon with a x3 critical multiplier deals an extra 2d6 points of force damage instead, and a weapon with a x4 critical multiplier deals an extra 3d6 points of force damage. This extra damage is not affected by damage reduction and affects incorporeal creatures, as per the psychokinetic weapon property. At effective fighter level 9th, the wielder deals this additional damage upon a 10 ft. radius, which increases by 5 ft. every three fighter levels (Fortitude save halves, DC 10 + ½ wielder’s effective fighter level + wielder’s Constitution modifier); the wielder may choose not to deliver this area burst if it desires, as the effect applies to all creatures within area.

Projectile weapons bestow this property upon their ammunition.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

SUNDERING
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Melee weapon
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) transmutation
Activation: --

This weapon seems denser than normal. Thick spikes, sculpted fists of imposing size and form or a thick and wide blade, amongst others, decorate the weapon in its entirety.

A sundering weapon aids on sunder attempts, and may sunder equipment with devastating blows. When sundering, the wielder is treated as if having the Improved Sunder feat; if the wielder already has the Improved Sunder feat, the wielder deals double damage. As well, if the wielder succeeds on a critical hit, the wielder is considered as if it automatically succeed on a sunder attempt, dealing damage equal to half the damage from the critical hit.

Prerequisites: Creator must have the Improved Sunder feat
Cost to Create: varies

TELEPORTING [SYNERGY]
Price: +3000 gp
Property: Thrown weapon or ammunition
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 12) conjuration
Activation: --
Synergy Prerequisite: Returning

The weapon seems to have a slight curve on the blade, or a swirling hilt, and vibrates slightly. When unsheathing, the weapon instantly leaps nto the wielder’s hand.

Weapons with the teleporting property leap through the Astral Plane, bypassing physical barriers. The wielder of a teleporting weapon must have line of sight to the target. When using the teleporting weapon, the attack ignores cover, phasing through the Astral Plane 5 ft. after taking flight and reappearing 5 ft. in another direction. Because the attack comes from an unpredictable source, the wielder ignores the target’s Dexterity bonus to Armor Class (but cannot use this weapon to deal sneak attacks). Once thrown, the weapon teleports back into its wielder’s hand as a free action. This property is negated within a dimensional lock, but works against enemies affected by the dimensional anchor spell.

As with the returning property, teleporting weapons are enchanted as if they were throwing weapons for purposes of costs. Unlike other synergy properties, the teleporting effect of the weapon can be turned off without deactivating the returning property, in case the target wishes to make sneak attacks with the weapon.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

Psionic weapons also got their retools, though more than half are already worked out. Most of the psionic weapon special qualities are in the MIC, but of those, I intended Bodyfeeder to remain as per its XPH incarnation (full damage as temp. HP compared to half damage, 10 minutes compared to 1, and easily replaceable with another crit), but mindfeeder and soulbreaker are specific to their MIC incarnation (mindfeeder grants 1 PP/5 points of damage for 1 minute, soulbreaker is now a synergy enhancement with enervating). The remaining are left to your discretion.

As for THOSE that changed...Manifester is now distinctively worse, since it's now a +1 weapon enhancement rather than something you stack upon. It works exactly as per the XPH and MIC, however, but you can't craft it into ammunition, which was a needed nerf. Dislocator is now a fun weapon, because it's meant to be used in attacks of opportunity rather than on actual melee attacks; stack it on a tripper build and see how the charging guy is tripped AND then moved away a nice distance. Great Dislocator should be, IMO, a must-have enhancement on the weapon of any self-respecting tripper.

Sundering, in the eyes of many, shouldn't exist. No one wants its hard-won magic items destroyed, but it's still an option. This would make it less palatable...but consider, for example, in a world like Pathfinder, where Sundering only damages the item (doesn't really destroy it). In that world, a Sundering weapon would be lethal, because any critical hit would make your opponent nearly worthless, and later on you only need to repair the item to gain full power, or recoup some of the costs. Ideally, that should be the point of Sunder. If you notice the Alternate Rules link I posted on the Introduction (just above the first spoiler box), that is what I envision as a change to Sunder; therefore, in that circumstance, the Sundering property is far, far better.

This leads us to the big winners here. Coup de Grace weapons are now beautiful, as they are the only weapons that grant an instant kill effect with a decent Fortitude save (though, unlike others, it doesn't improve; it's much better than a paralyzing effect, tho), and they're a nice touch for Assassins who can make Death Attacks indiscriminately, and with a sizeable boost to their DC to boot. Parrying now grants a solid boost to AC and saves (both insight, so great for gishes, bad for PsyWars...) which scales with your effective Fighter level. Psychokinetic now stacks, and Psychokinetic Burst is now considered a synergy effect, though it retains the old format of Elemental Burst weapons. And, finally, a Teleporting weapon changes from a variant of Returning to a weapon that ignores cover and Dexterity bonuses to AC (though it distinctively prevents you from using Sneak Attacks; the ability CAN be turned off, if necessary), and a synergy effect to Returning.

Power Storing, on the other hand, got a similar nerf/boost to Spell Storing. The lower version is now more expensive, but the Greater version is friendlier to martial classes with power point sources (and psionic potential) despite its heavy cost.

UPDATE: Collision regained its static damage, but slowly. Thus, a Collision weapon is an overall improvement upon the original, as it boosts both the weapon damage and the additional damage, AND it gains a slight boost to stuff like disarm or trip.

NEW WEAPON SPECIAL QUALITIES
The following is a collection of new special weapon qualities.

AUTHORITATIVE
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Weapon
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: moderate (DC 18); transmutation
Activation: standard (command)

This weapon is made of far too precise measurements, intricate to the last detail. A runic phrase describing a law of the land runs alongs its blade or haft.

By speaking the appropriate command word, you can sheathe an authoritative weapon in an energy aura of order. A fey that touches this weapon takes 1 point of Charisma for each round that it holds the weapon while the effect is activated, This effect lasts until you speak another command word to end it. A cold iron weapon enchanted with this trait does not need to pay the 2000 gp cost to enchant the weapon with this trait.

While activated, an authoritative weapon deals an extra 1d6 points of damage to any fey (or 2d6 points against a chaotic outsider) on a successful hit. Also, it is treated as lawful-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

AUTHORITATIVE BURST [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Weapon
Caster Level: 12th
Aura: strong (DC 21); transmutation
Activation: standard (command) and --
Synergy Prerequisite: Authoritative

This weapon is made of perfect measurements, adorned with jewels fit for a king. Runic phrases describing the laws of the land run along its blade or haft and glow when its wielded.

An authoritative burst weapon functions as an authoritative weapon (see above).

In addition, the weapon explodes with lawful energy on a successful critical hit, dealing extra damage as set out on the table below. (This effect activates even if the target is not normally subject to extra damage from critical hits.) An authoritative burst weapon deals even more damage to chaotic outsiders on a successful critical hit. This burst does not harm you or any other creature other than the target; if you are a fey, though, you take 1d4 points of Charisma damage. This is a continuous effect and requires no activation. Even if the weapon has not been activated to deal extra damage because of the authoritative property, the weapon still deals its extra damage on a successful critical hit.

Critical MultiplierExtra DamageChaotic Outsider Extra Damage

x2
1d10
2d10

x3
2d10
4d10

x4
3d10
6d10

Projectile weapons bestow this property upon their ammunition.

Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, axiomatic storm (SpC 22)
Cost to Create: varies

ENTROPIC
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Weapon
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: moderate (DC 18); transmutation
Activation: standard (command)

The weapon seems unusually frail, as it would break on any second, but is supernaturally resilient. A runic phrase detailing incomprehensible babble run alongside its blade or haft, but if understood, it details a daring act of violation of order.

By speaking the appropriate command word, you can sheathe an entropic weapon in an energy aura of chaos. A construct that touches this weapon takes 5 points of damage for each round that it holds the weapon while the effect is activated, This effect lasts until you speak another command word to end it.

While activated, an entropic weapon deals an extra 1d6 points of damage to any construct (or 2d6 points against a lawful outsider) on a successful hit. Also, it is treated as chaotic-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, inflict light damage
Cost to Create: varies

ENTROPIC BURST [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Weapon
Caster Level: 12th
Aura: strong (DC 21); transmutation
Activation: standard (command) and --
Synergy Prerequisite: Entropic

The weapon not only seems frail and ready to break at any moment, but its form is unlike any other, as if the weapon was warped by mistreatment. Runic phrases detailing incomprehensible babble run alongside its blade or haft, but if understood, it would detail countless acts detailing violations of order.

An entropic burst weapon functions as an entropic weapon (see above).

In addition, the weapon explodes with chaotic energy on a successful critical hit, dealing extra damage as set out on the table below. (This effect activates even if the target is not normally subject to extra damage from critical hits.) An entropic burst weapon deals even more damage to lawful outsiders on a successful critical hit. This burst does not harm you or any other creature other than the target; if you are a construct, though, you take 10 points of damage and become stunned for 1 round. This is a continuous effect and requires no activation. Even if the weapon has not been activated to deal extra damage because of the authoritative property, the weapon still deals its extra damage on a successful critical hit.

Critical MultiplierExtra DamageLawful Outsider Extra Damage

x2
1d10
2d10

x3
2d10
4d10

x4
3d10
6d10

Projectile weapons bestow this property upon their ammunition.

Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, inflict critical damage
Cost to Create: varies

FINESSE
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: One handed melee weapon
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) transmutation
Activation: --

This weapon is unusually light, and perfectly balanced despite its size and shape.

A finesse weapon allows warriors to treat them as light weapons for purposes of two-weapon combat and Weapon Finesse; thus, the wielder may use this weapon in its off-hand and incur penalties as if wielding a light weapon (instead of a one-handed weapon), as well as apply Dexterity to attack rolls. Furthermore, if the wielder has the Weapon Finesse feat, the wielder may add its Dexterity modifier to damage rolls as well instead of Strength (if it does not already).

Note: the EBERRON Campaign Setting book has a weapon property called Finesse; if using this property, treat the weapon property as a synergy property worth the same bonus.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

SUBTLETY
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Weapon
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 18) illusion
Activation: --

The weapon’s blade is dull black, almost absorbing the light. The weapon seems easy to conceal, has a shape that makes it easy to draw, and has a natural curve that aids on striking vital spots.

A weapon with the subtlety property is favored by those warriors that excel on precision damage. When making a sneak attack, sudden strike or skirmish attack (or any form of precision damage), the weapon provides a +1 competence bonus to attack rolls and a +2 competence bonus to damage rolls. This damage is considered precision damage for purposes of determining immunities (thus, it does not affect creatures immune to critical hits or sneak attack).

A character with at least 9 ranks in Sleight of Hand may, once per day (plus one for every three ranks in Sleight of Hand over 9) as a free action, make its next attack a sneak attack even if the target is not flat-footed or denied its Dexterity modifier to Armor Class (unless the target is a Rogue with a class level equal to the wielder’s ranks in Sleight of Hand +4).

If used on a ranged weapon, this property applies only within 30 ft. (unless the effective range for precision damage is higher).

Special: More powerful versions of the subtlety property exist. A weapon of improved subtlety grants a +2 competence bonus to attack rolls and a +4 competence bonus to damage rolls, whereas a weapon of greater subtlety grants a +4 competence bonus to attack rolls and a +8 competence bonus to damage rolls. Improved subtlety requires the subtlety property and increases the effective enhancement bonus of the weapon by 1, while greater subtlety requires the improved subtlety property and increases the effective enhancement bonus of the weapon by 1.

Prerequisites: Creator must have the sneak attack, sudden strike or skirmish abilities.
Cost to Create: varies

If you've seen the Project Heretica page, you'll notice that Authoritative, Entropic, and their Burst versions first appeared there. They appear here as well, unchanged. They're basically the law and chaos versions of Sacred and Profane, from the Magic Item Compendium: Authoritative works on fey which are usually prone to revelry, while Entropic works best against the logic-minded constructs.

Finesse is a response to how many attempts have been made to make Weapon Finesse more interesting. This allows any one-handed weapon to become a light weapon, which is wonderful for those who have Weapon Finesse and/or Two-Weapon Fighting (as you can hold a one-handed weapon in your off-hand) and you have a fetish for a specific weapon (or you just followed the full Weapon Focus chain on it, for some reason). A note I'd like to add is that the penalties for one-handed weapons only apply to attack penalties, not damage penalties; however, you can only apply Dexterity to damage once. This is in case that Weapon Finesse ALREADY grants Dexterity to damage or you mix this with the Speed weapon property. I make a distinction with Shadow Blade, as you're essentially wasting a feat for something two weapons (and potentially one feat) are granting you and with very specific weapons, so that is the ONLY exception to the rule. That said, if read by strict RAW, you get twice your Dexterity to damage rolls, but if wielded on your off-hand, the weapon only grants Dexterity to damage rolls. Nifty, eh?

Finally, Subtlety should be familiar to anyone who plays DDO: it's the Backstabbing property turned "official". The property (which now scales from Subtlety I to Subtlety V, IIRC) grants a linear competence bonus to attack rolls when making sneak attacks, and a better-increasing bonus to damage. This version grants a damage bonus when making sneak attacks equal to twice the attack bonus granted, so it's an easy mnemonic in case you want an Epic Subtlety weapon (and noticing how it grows, it'll probably be +8 attack/+16 damage). Oh yeah, and it also works on sudden strike and skirmish, so Ninjas and Scouts have nothing to lose. That also includes any precision-based damage, so Order of the Bow Initiates, Riposte Scouts and a few others also gain a benefit.

UPDATE: Subtlety now also grants Impromptu Sneak Attacks to anyone, and it's better for skilled characters than for Fighters.

T.G. Oskar

2014-01-27, 03:05 PM

SPECIFIC WEAPONS
The following is a list of changes to weapons present on the Dungeon Master's Guide. Some magic items retain the same qualities: adamantine battleaxe, adamantine dagger, masterwork cold iron longsword, masterwork silver dagger (all non-magical), rapier of puncturing (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicWeapons.htm#rapierofPuncturing).

The following weapons are not handled here: holy avenger and sun blade(see here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=12600564&postcount=180) for the avenger weapons)

ASSASSIN’S DAGGER
Price (Item Level): 131,902 gp (22th)
Body Slot: -- (held)
Caster Level: 9th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 19) necromancy
Activation: --
Weight: as dagger

This small dagger is wicked looking, curved, with a black hilt and red ruby adorning its pommel. Its fullers allow for the free flow of blood when dealing a deadly blow

This +2 dagger of coup de grace is a deadly weapon in the hands of assassins. If the wielder has the sneak attack property, the dagger deals an extra 1d6 points of damage with a successful sneak attack. If wielded by an assassin (or a character with the death attack class feature), the weapon grants a +1 bonus to the death attack’s DC (in addition to the bonus granted by the coup de grace special quality); for every dice of sneak attack sacrificed, the DC increases by 1.

Prerequisites: creator must be an assassin
Cost to Create: 65,800 gp (plus 302 for masterwork dagger), 5264 XP, 132 days

BLADE OF VENOM
Price (Item Level): 40,302 gp (for dagger) or 40,310 (for short sword) (17th)
Body Slot: -- (held)
Caster Level: 9th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 19) necromancy
Activation: Swift (command)
Weight: as weapon

This weapon has a serrated black edge with oozing pits on its tips, and glows with an unsettling ochre glow. The hilt, made of snake skin, has a guard in the shape of a coiled serpent, its mouth gaping open as it holds the wicked blade.

This +1 toxic, virulent, venomous weapon (usually a dagger, but at times a short sword) coats itself in deadly injury poison (Fort DC 14), which affects the creature as per the effect of a poison spell. Upon activation, the wielder may choose to conjure a Strength-sapping, Dexterity-sapping or Constitution-sapping poison; the poison deals 1d10 points of initial and secondary damage. The poison coating lasts for up to 2 attacks, each of which deal their secondary damage after 5 rounds. The blade of venom can be used three times per day.

If the wielder is evil-aligned and has levels in the fighter class (or effective fighter levels) or the poison use special ability, the save DC for the poison is equal to 10 + half the wielder’s effective fighter levels (or levels that grant poison use ability) + the wielder’s Intelligence modifier or the original DC, whichever is higher.

Prerequisites: creator must have the poison use special ability.
Cost to Create: 20,000 gp (plus cost of masterwork dagger or short sword), 1600 xp, 40 days

DWARVEN THROWER
Price (Item Level): 30,010 gp (for battleaxe); 30,012 gp (for warhammer) or 30,030 (for dwarven waraxe) (16th)
Body Slot: -- (held)
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) conjuration and transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: as weapon

The design of this weapon is distinctive of dwarven weaponsmithing, designed for maximum flight capabilities. Despite its heavy and huge head, the weapon is nonetheless light, but with a short and thick haft best fit for dwarven hands.

The dwarven thrower commonly functions as a +1 returning throwing weapon of giant bane, being often a battleaxe or warhammer, and in rare occasions a dwarven waraxe. In the hands of a dwarf, the weapon has an enhancement bonus equal to 1 for every four character levels (minimum of +1). When thrown, the weapon deals an extra 1d8 points of damage against any creature, and 2d8 points of damage against giants. If wielded by a giant (somehow), the weapon bestows a negative level that cannot be removed by any means (not even restoration spells) until the weapon is dropped.

Prerequisites: creator must be a 10th level dwarf.
Cost to Create: 14,850 gp (plus cost of masterwork weapon); 1188 xp, 20 days

FLAMETONGUE
Price (Item Level): 61,515 (for longsword or scimitar); 61,550 (for greatsword) or 61,550 gp (for falchion) (18th)
Body Slot: -- (held)
Caster Level: 12th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 21) evocation
Activation: Standard (command); full round (special)
Weight: as weapon

This weapon has a red-hot blade licked by orange flames, adorned by a large red ruby at its pommel. When swung, the flames leave a trail where the blade traveled.

The flametongue is a +1 flaming burst weapon (usually a longsword, but also available in greatsword, falchion or scimitar versions) with various extra properties. The wielder is protected from the first 10 points of cold damage in the round whenever fighting defensively, using the total defense action or using the Combat Expertise feat.

Three times per day, the sword’s power can be released in one of two ways. Upon command (and by swinging the sword), the weapon can unleash a cone of flames that deals 5d6 points of damage on all targets within 15 ft. (if swung horizontally) or a whip-like ray of flames that lashes upon a target within 60 ft. that deals 4d6 points of damage ( if swung vertically).

A character with levels in the fighter class improves the effect of these abilities. The wielder is protected of an amount of damage equal to 10 per two effective fighter levels (maximum 120) every round. If using the cone of fire, a character with 6 effective fighter levels increases the range to 30 ft. and deals an amount of damage equal to 1d6 per two effective fighter levels or 5d6, whichever is higher. If using the ray of fire, a wielder with 8 effective fighter levels may shoot up to 2 rays as a full round action; at 16 effective fighter levels, the wielder may shoot up to three rays.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 30,600 gp (plus cost of masterwork weapon); 2448 xp; 62 days

FROSTBRAND
Price (Item Level): 196,120 gp (for greataxe); 196,130 (for dwarven waraxe) or 196,150 (for greatsword) (25th)
Body Slot: -- (held)
Caster Level: 14th
Aura: Strong; (DC 22) abjuration and transmutation
Activation: Full-round (command)
Weight: as weapon

This weapon seems to be made out of everfrost ice, tinted with a pale blue color. Vapor in the area condenses as an aura around the weapon, but the weapon itself remains eerily dry.

The frostbrand is a +1 icy burst weapon (usually a greatsword or greataxe, and occasionally a dwarven waraxe) with various extra properties. The wielder is protected from the first 10 points of fire damage in the round and can withstand temperatures of up to 120 degrees F with no difficulties (but is still affected by very cold temperatures).

At will as a standard action, the wielder of a frostbrand may touch a source of flame and attempt to extinguish it. If the source of flame is non-magical, it is automatically extinguished; otherwise, the wielder must succeed on a dispel check (with a +14 bonus) against a DC equal to 11 + the caster level of the fire spell (or DC 20 if the flame is supernatural in origin and has no caster level).

Three times per day, as a full-round action, the wielder may swing the weapon overhead. Any creature within 5 ft. of the wielder takes 1d6 points of damage every round the wielder makes at least a single melee attack (up to 14 rounds); any non-magical flame is extinguished while the effect lasts, and any magical flame can be dispelled as per the effect above.

If the wielder has levels in the fighter class (or effective fighter levels), the abilities of this weapon improve. The dispel check bonus for extinguishing normal flames is equal to the wielder’s effective fighter level or +14, whichever is higher. If the wielder has 15 effective fighter levels, the aura of cold increases to 10 ft., all creatures within take 2d6 points of cold damage per round, and the effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to its effective fighter level.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 97,900 gp (plus cost of masterwork weapon), 7832 xp; 197 days

JAVELIN OF CHAIN LIGHTNING
Price (Item Level): 45,701 gp (17th)
Body Slot: -- (held)
Caster Level: 11th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) evocation
Activation: Standard (command)
Weight: as javelin

This javelin resembles a lightning bolt, but has small chains running alongside its tip and butte. If hurled, it turns into a lightning bolt only briefly, and then seemingly drops into the ground before turning back.

The javelin of chain lightning is a +1 shocking burst returning javelin. Once per day, while thrown, the wielder may command the javelin of chain lightning to become a lightning bolt that deals 11d6 points of electricity damage to all creatures within a 120-ft. line (Reflex DC 17). After striking the first target, the javelin leaps through up to 11 secondary targets (chosen by the wielder) before returning.

If the wielder has effective fighter levels, the javelin of chain lightning instead deals damage equal to 1d6 per effective fighter level (minimum 11d6, maximum 20d6; Reflex DC equal to 10 + half effective fighter levels + wielder’s Strength or Dexterity modifier, minimum DC 17).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 22,700 gp plus 301 for masterwork javelin; 1816 xp; 46 days

JAVELIN OF LIGHTNING
Price (Item Level): 14,301 gp (14th)
Body Slot: -- (held)
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) evocation
Activation: Standard (command)
Weight: as javelin

This javelin has a warped form, resembling a lightning bolt. The weapon appears to turn into a bolt of lightning while on flight.

The javelin of lightning is a +1 shocking returning javelin. Once per day, while thrown, the wielder may command the javelin of lightning to become a lightning bolt that deals 5d6 points of electricity damage to all creatures within a 120-ft. line (Reflex DC 14).

If the wielder has effective fighter levels, the javelin of lightning instead deals damage equal to 1d6 per two effective fighter levels (minimum 5d6, maximum 10d6; Reflex DC equal to 10 + half effective fighter levels + wielder’s Strength or Dexterity modifier).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 7000 gp plus 301 for masterwork javelin; 560 xp; 15 days

LIFE-DRINKER
Price (Item Level): 130,320 gp (for greataxe) or 130,350 gp (for greatsword) (22nd)
Body Slot: -- (held)
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) necromancy
Activation: --
Weight: as weapon

This axe has a jet-black blade, with runes shining a disturbing blood red. When wielded, the handle seems to sap the wielder’s life, and when it strikes, wisps of white energy flow from the wound and stick, as if blood, to the sharp blade.

The life-drinker is a +1 souldrinking greataxe (though greatsword versions also exist) favored by undead and constructs because of their life-sapping capabilities. Unlike other souldrinking weapons, the life-drinker imposes negative levels each attack (instead of every time it deals a critical hit); on a critical hit, the weapon deals 1d4 negative levels. These negative levels last for an hour.

If a living creature has no protection against energy drain, every time it strikes with a life-drinker, it takes 1 negative level as if it had been struck by an undead creature. This negative level lasts for 1 hour. Since undead and constructs are immune to energy drain, such creatures suffer no penalties by wielding it.

If the creature has levels in the fighter class, the item’s enhancement bonus increases as if a greater magic weapon of a caster level equal to the creature’s effective fighter level. Furthermore, a living creature with at least 6 effective fighter levels may make a DC 16 Fortitude save each time it strikes in order to ignore the negative level (DC 23 in case of a critical hit).

Prerequisites: creator must be undead with an energy drain attack
Cost to Create: 65,000 gp plus cost of masterwork weapon; 5,200 xp , 130 days

LUCKBLADE
Price (Item Level): 98,310 gp (20th)
Body Slot: -- (held)
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: strong; (DC 21) divination and transmutation
Activation: Free (mental) and --
Weight: as weapon

This beautiful sword has a cross-hilt shaped as a clover, with an emerald in the middle, one of the leaves pointing to the blade and another serving as a hand-guard. The gleaming blade has a slight greenish hue.

The luckblade is a formidable weapon in the hands of any person, but specifically those with excellent fortune. This weapon, a +2 keen lucky shortsword of parrying, grants a series of bonuses: first, whenever the wielder makes a critical hit, the weapon deals an extra 1d6 points of damage (if made for a Medium creature; otherwise, it deals damage exactly as a shortsword of the weapon’s size category); this is considered precision damage. If the wielder activates its rerolling ability, the weapon gains a +2 bonus on the attack and deals an extra 2d6+2 points of damage (whether it’s a critical hit or not). A wielder that becomes capable of rerolling an attack roll (by means of a class feature such as the Luck domain granted power, a feat such as luck feats [see Complete Scoundrel for more details] or by means of a spell or magic item) also adds the bonus to attack and damage rolls by means of the feat.

Prerequisites: creator must have access to the Luck domain
Cost to Create: 49,000 gp plus masterwork shortsword; 3920 xp; 98 days

MACE OF SMITING
Price (Item Level): 100,312 gp (21st)
Body Slot: -- (held)
Caster Level: 11th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: as weapon

This sturdy mace seems quite plain, a bit dented and rusted. However, upon close examination, this weapon is still capable of strong strikes. Its teeth are designed to break through the strongest of barriers.

The mace of smiting is a +3 adamantine heavy mace of construct bane, designed to break through the defenses of most constructs and utterly annihilate them. Against constructs, the mace of smiting not only offers a +2 enhancement bonus higher and an extra 2d6 points of damage, but all attacks ignore damage reduction. If the wielder makes a critical hit against a construct, it automatically destroys it (no saving throw). Against objects, the wielder of a mace of smiting deals damage as if attacking a construct, except that it ignores the object’s hardness (regardless of the amount) and does not destroy it on a critical hit.

Against outsiders, the critical multiplier of the weapon increases to x4.

Prerequisites: creator must be a chaotic outsider or have constructs as a favored enemy
Cost to Create: 50,000 gp plus masterwork shortsword, 4000 xp; 100 days

MATTOCK OF THE TITANS
Price (Item Level): 23,348 gp (15th)
Body Slot: -- (held)
Caster Level: 16th
Aura: Strong (DC 23); transmutation
Activation: -- and full-round (command)
Weight: 120 lbs.

This massive hammer is crafted from adamantine. When struck on a rocky surface, it sends the debris in all directions.

The mattock of the titans is a +3 Gargantuan adamantine warhammer and deals damage as a weapon appropriate to its size (4d6/x3). As a full-round action, the wielder of this weapon can strike the earth, causing a localized seismic movement; any creature on the ground within 15 ft. of the wearer must make a Reflex saving throw (DC 19) or fall prone and take 4d6 points of damage plus the wearer’s Strength modifier. The wielder ignores damage reduction and hardness of stone or earth-based creatures and objects. Once every 10 minutes, the wielder may slam the earth and command it to move, as per a move earth spell, or disintegrate up to 10 cu. ft. of solid rock.

Creatures of Medium size and larger may wield a mattock of the titans with a -2 penalty, so as long as they have a specific Strength bonus or higher (Str 22 for Medium, Str 18 for Large). A Huge creature can wield the weapon without penalty, but it must have a Strength score of 14 and wield it in two hands.

If the wearer has levels in the fighter class (or effective fighter levels), it gains greater benefits. The save DC for the seismic wave is equal to 10 + half the wielder’s effective fighter levels + the wielder’s Strength modifier. Furthermore, it can disintegrate an amount of rock equal to one 10 cu. ft. per 5 effective fighter levels (with a minimum of one 10 cu. ft. cube), but all cubes must be in contact with at least another 10 cu. ft. cube.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 13,348 gp; 800 xp, 24 days days

MAUL OF THE TITANS
Price (Item Level): 25,305 gp (16th)
Body Slot: -- (held)
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: Strong (DC 22); evocation
Activation: --
Weight: 160 lbs.

This massive mallet is over 8 feet long and clearly designed for larger creatures. However, it is manageable by smaller creatures by means of magic.

The maul of the titans is a +3 Huge greatclub and deals damage as a weapon appropriate of its kind (3d8, x2). If used against inanimate objects, it deals triple damage.

Despite being a weapon meant for Huge creatures, any creature of Medium size or larger can wield it, so as long as it has a specific Strength bonus or higher (Strength 18+ for Medium creatures, Strength 14+ for Large creatures).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 12,305 gp, 480 xp, 26 days

NINE LIVES’ STEALER
Price (Item Level): 61,380 gp + cost of masterwork weapon (18th)
Body Slot: -- (held)
Caster Level: 13th
Aura: Strong; (DC 21) evil and necromancy
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Weight: as weapon

This sword has a jet-black edge with a dull gray fuller. The hilt is decorated with nine small, sparkling black onyxes, and the guard has a skull motif, with the pommel holding nine blood-red strings. A chilling aura surrounds this weapon.

The nine lives’ stealer is a deadly weapon that can instantly snuff the life of its opponents. The nine-lives’ stealer is a +2 longsword (although in occasions it may be a dagger, a short sword, a rapier or a scimitar) that bypasses the damage reduction of good creatures (DR X/evil). As a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity, the nine lives’ stealer may instantly slay any creature it strikes (unless the creature is immune to death effects). The victim is entitled to a DC 20 Fortitude save to avoid it.

The nine lives’ stealer has 9 charges when it is first made. Each time the death ability is used, one charge is expended from the weapon (dulling the sparkle of one of the onyxes and darkening the color of one of the stripes). If all charges are expended from the weapon, the nine lives’ stealer still functions as a +2 longsword (with a hint of evil around it). As a full-round action, the wielder of a nine lives’ stealer may make the final blow to a creature between -1 and -9 hit points; this works as if using the death knell spell, except the weapon regains one charge. The weapon may recharge up to 1 charge per round and may hold no more than 9 charges at any moment.

The nine lives’ stealer is evil, and any good creature wielding this weapon gains 2 negative levels. These negative levels remain as long as the sword is in hand and disappear when the sword is no longer wielded. These negative levels never result in actual level loss, but they cannot be overcome in any way (including restoration spells) while the sword is wielded.

If a character has effective fighter levels, the saving throw DC for the death effect is equal to 10 + ½ the character’s effective fighter level + the character’s Charisma modifier (or DC 20, whichever is higher). A blackguard is considered to have an effective fighter level equal to its class level, caster level, or effective fighter level (whichever is higher) when using this ability.

Special: The nine lives’ stealer may be redeemed. A redeemed nine lives’ stealer loses its ability to deliver death attacks, becoming a +2 longsword that bypasses the damage reduction of evil creatures (DR X/good). If it still has charges, the remaining charges may be used to banish an evil outsider struck by the weapon as a standard action, with a save DC of 33 (a character with effective fighter levels adds a save DC of 20 + it’s base attack bonus or 33, whichever is higher). Once discharged, the weapon remains as a +2 longsword. A redeemed nine-lives stealer cannot be recharged.
Prerequisites: Creator must be evil
Cost to Create: 30,915 gp plus cost of masterwork weapon; 2474 xp, 62 days

OATHBOW
Price (Item Level): 57,000 gp (18th)
Body Slot: -- (held)
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: strong; (DC 22) evocation
Activation: Swift (command)
Weight: as weapon

This beautiful white bow is of exquisite construction, hinting at its Elven origin. When its string is pulled and released, a whisper in Elven sweeps through the air: “Swift defeat to my enemies”. If the wielder swears an oath of slaying in front of the bow, the whisper becomes a fierce battle-cry: “Swift death to those who oppose me!”

The oathbow is a longbow designed for those who seek to right wrongs caused by foes, by swearing an oath upon them. The oathbow is a +2 composite longbow, which allows wielders of any Strength to pull it without penalties and apply their Strength modifier to the damage. As a swift action once per day, the wielder of an oathbow may swear an oath to slay a single target: against this target, the weapon becomes a +5 composite longbow of bane, with its bane property equal to that of the creature; furthermore, the weapon’s critical multiplier increases to x4. Once this oath is sworn, it lasts for 7 days or until the enemy is slain (by the wielder or any of his allies); if the wielder has not slain the intended target after 7 days has passed, the oathbow becomes a masterwork composite longbow, adds none of the Strength modifier to the weapon, and imposes a -2 penalty on all attack rolls done by any weapon other than the oathbow for 1 week.

Creatures with favored enemies have an affinity with the oathbow. If a ranger, or a creature with the favored enemy class feature wields the oathbow, the weapon’s enhancement bonus is equal to +1 per every 2 points of bonus against the favored enemy (up to +5 at 20th level, and up to any amount after 21st level), and gains the bane property against any of the favored enemies it holds (in the case of arcane spellcasters, it gains the magebane property instead). If the wielder swears an oath to slay one of its favored enemies, the next attack has a chance of instantly slaying the opponent: the target must make a DC 20 plus half the bonus of the favored enemy class property or die.

Prerequisites: Creator must be an elf or have the favored enemy class feature
Cost to Create: 28,200 gp plus cost of composite longbow; 2256 xp; 57 days

SHATTERSPIKE
Price (Item Level): 13,504 gp (light pick); 13,508 gp (heavy pick) or 13,512 gp (warhammer) (14th)
Body Slot: -- (held)
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) evocation
Activation: -- and swift (command)
Weight: as weapon

The head of this weapon has a vicious, sturdy pike. When it strikes an enemy, the weapon sends a faint vibration through the handle, which magnifies at the point.

Shatterspike is a +1 light pick, +1 heavy pick or +1 warhammer designed to puncture through solid objects with a solid blow. When used against an object, the weapon ignores the object’s hardness and deals double damage. The weapon ignores the damage reduction of constructs as well.

Three times per day, the wielder of Shatterspike can use it for one of the two following functions. If activated as a swift action, the next melee attack ignores Armor Class (as if making a touch attack) and all damage dealt affects both the target and any armor it wields (if made of stone or metal). Alternatively, the wielder may duplicate either the area version or the targeted version of shatter as per a 5th level caster.

A character with effective fighter levels may use its effective fighter levels as the caster level for the shatter ability.

Prerequisites: Creator must have the Improved Sunder feat
Cost to Create: 6,600 gp + cost of masterwork weapon; 528 xp, 14 days

SHIFTER’S SORROW
Price (Item Level): 17,090 gp + cost of weapon (longsword, rapier, greatsword, greataxe; 14th); 25,880 gp (two-bladed sword; 16th)
Body Slot: -- (held)
Caster Level: 9th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 19) abjuration
Activation: --
Weight: as weapon

This weapon has a tarnished silver edge, and its blade is etched with magical runes. At times, the runes and the edge shine a sky blue color.

A weapon designed to counter creatures that transform, shifter’s sorrow is a +1 silvered longsword of shapechanger bane (though it can also be a rapier, a greatsword, a greataxe or a two-bladed sword; in the case of the latter, both sides are enchanted); the bane effect also affects creatures in an alternate form or transformed in some way (such as a werewolf, a druid using wild shape, a polymorphed wizard, a shifter while shifting or a changeling using the minor change shape ability). When in the presence of a shapechanger or a transformed creature within 60 ft., one or various of the runes begins to shine:

Shapechanger subtype: first rune
Creature in alternate form: second rune
Wild shape: third rune
Polymorphed creature: fourth rune

If the creature is vulnerable to silver, the edge shines as well.

Whenever a shapechanger or a transformed creature is struck by the shifter’s sorrow, the target must make a DC 15 Will save or return to its natural form. A wielder with effective fighter levels imposes a save DC of 10 + ½ the effective fighter levels + the wielder’s Charisma modifier (or DC 15, if higher). A shapechanger wielding this weapon gains 2 negative levels. These negative levels remain as long as the weapon is in hand and disappear when the weapon is no longer wielded. These negative levels never result in actual level loss, but they cannot be overcome in any way (including restoration spells) while the sword is wielded.

Lore (Eberron): The first shifter’s sorrow was designed by the Church of the Silver Flame during the great Purge to aid the Faithful in their war against the lycanthropes. The peculiar name of the weapon derives from the term “to cause sorrow to all shape-shifters”, once used to refer to all lycanthropes. After the end of the Purge and the recognition of shifters as beings free from the taint of lycanthropy, the creation of the weapon was outlawed and deemed anathema by the main sect of the Flame. Some Purified Puritans, still harboring a hatred for all shapeshifters, hold the creation of these weapons, and the Flame itself does not condone the use of the weapon if deemed necessary, however. Shifter’s sorrow is often used by detractors of the Flame as one of the most dangerous weapons ever wielded by fanatics in the name of “purity”, and generates ill repute to its wielder.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 8500 gp + cost of masterwork silvered weapon (longsword, rapier, greatsword, greataxe) or 12,500 plus masterwork silvered two-bladed sword; 680 xp (longsword, rapier, greatsword, greataxe) or 1000 xp (two-bladed sword); 17 days (longsword, rapier, greatsword, greataxe) or 25 days (two-bladed sword)

SWORD OF THE PLANES
Price (Item Level): 410,315 gp (Epic?)
Body Slot: -- (held)
Caster Level: 20th
Aura: Strong; (DC 22) universal
Activation: -- and swift (command)
Weight: as weapon

This mysterious blade is forged out of metal from different planes. Aside from iron wrought from the Material Plane, it has bits of a githyanki silver blade, traces of Baatorian green steel, of Gehennan morgauth iron, of aurorum and others. The careful enchantments keep all materials in careful balance, yet allow it to resonate with the plane.

The sword of the planes is a weapon that was constructed in an attempt to blend bits and pieces of all the planes, drawing the full strength of each plane whether in clear opposition or resonance. In the Material Plane, this weapon acts as a +1 metalline longsword, but on other planes, the effect is different:

Ethereal Plane: the sword of the planes acts as a +3 ghost touch longsword, and thus may affect creatures on the Material Plane
Plane of Shadow: the sword of the planes acts as a +3 longsword, but its reach is 5 ft. longer than usual
Astral Plane: the sword of the planes acts as a githyanki silver sword with a +3 enhancement bonus
Elemental Planes: the sword of the planes acts as a +2 longsword with one of the following properties: aquan (Elemental Plane of Fire), auran (Elemental Plane of Earth), ignan (Elemental Plane of Water) or terran (Elemental Plane of Air)
Upper Planes (Arborea, the Beastlands, Bytopia, Celestia, Elysium): the sword of the planes acts as a +4 profane longsword, but imposes no penalty.
Lower Planes (the Abyss, Baator, Carceri, Hades, Gehenna): the sword of the planes acts as a +4 sacred longsword, but imposes no penalty.
Lawful Planes (Arcadia, Mechanus, Acheron): the sword of the planes acts as a +4 entropic longsword, but imposes no penalty
Chaotic Planes (Limbo, Pandemonium, Ysgard): the sword of the planes acts as a +4 authoritative longsword, but imposes no penalty
Outlands: the sword acts as a +5 longsword; as a swift action at-will, the next attack done by the sword of planes imposes the effect of a greater dispel magic spell cast by a 20th level caster. The sword of the planes is one of the few items that functions within the Spire, its power reduced to a +1 longsword.

Aside from these effects, a sword of the planes allows the wielder to be treated as a native.

If the sword of the planes strikes a creature within the Material Plane that belongs to a different plane, the weapon applies the traits native to the plane as if it were on the plane. Thus, if attacking a baatezu or tanar’ri with the sword of the planes, the weapon strikes as if it were a +4 sacred longsword even if on the Material Plane.

A character with effective fighter levels may improve the power of the weapon while on the Material Plane, as if a greater magic weapon spell cast by a spellcaster of the wielder’s effective fighter level. This ability also applies while within proximity of the Spire in the Outlands.

Special: In settings other than Greyhawk (such as Faerun or Eberron), the effects of a sword of planes may differ. The DM may judge which abilities work depending on the plane, but on the Material Plane related to that setting, it always works as a +1 metalline longsword.

Prerequisites: Creator must forge this weapon in Sigil, the City of Doors.
Cost to Create: 205,000 gp plus masterwork longsword; 16,400 xp; 410 days

SYLVAN SCIMITAR
Price (Item Level): 56,115 gp (18th)
Body Slot: -- (held)
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: as weapon

This elegant scimitar is unusually light, perfectly balanced for blade dancing. Forest motifs are embedded in its guard, and a vine-like wire grips its oaken handle.

The sylvan scimitar is a +1 scimitar of speed designed for swift combat. A sylvan scimitar is treated as a light weapon for purposes of two-weapon fighting and the Weapon Finesse feat.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 27,900 plus cost of masterwork scimitar; 2232 xp, 56 days

Yes, the trident of fish command and the trident of warning are missing...ish. I don't think you really miss them, though. Aaaaanyways...

As you can see, there's two things that spring to mind; the lack of prerequisites to build the weapons, and the fact that they're VERY expensive. Lemme explain quickly. The first is because I loathe the idea that only spellcasters get to create weapons. Personally, while I don't like 4e much, I tend to look at it for ideas, and the idea of "residuum" is cool...but horribly fluffed. I figure that, if you're an adventurer, you're ending up with bits of snakeskin, some dragon scales, a pint of remorhaz blood, nymph's tears and a whole other load of strange objects. I figure that, much like spell components, these could be abstracted into some sort of resource (let's call it "residuum" while at it, but it could have a better name) from where very skilled, almost legendary casters build their weapons. Thus, a gauntlet of ogre power could be made from tanned ogre skin, or be reinforced by bits of ogre bones, or even simply hold bits of ogre tooth. Likewise, the shifter's sorrow was quenched in the blood of various lycanthropes mixed with water, and hence you end up with that property; you don't have to cast a spell to grant it its effect. That is the reason why, while I still favor stuff like Craft Magic Arms and Armor, I don't give it a spell equivalent. I want my weapons and tools to be made by master craftsmen, not by wizards who could be spending their time better doing other stuff, like pouring on tomes or ruling magocracies better.

The second is...an unfortunate circumstance of re-evaluating the worth of items. If you don't believe me, each weapon was re-calculated using a weapon with the desired traits as a base, and then adding the weapon effects exactly as presented on the SRD, or the tables on the Dungeon Master's Guide regarding magic item creation. Some are pretty odd, and all were done the "traditional" way (casting the spell on it), and they ended up ranging from item level 15th to EPIC (darn Sword of the Planes!) If you wish to calculate, here are the spells used for every weapon:

Assassin's Blade: +2 dagger plus coup de grace (+5 ability) plus Slay Living at minimum level, use-activated
Blade of Venom: +1 weapon plus toxic (+1 ability) plus virulent (+1 ability) plus venomous (+1 ability) plus Poison at minimum level (command word, three charges)
Dwarven Thrower: +1 weapon plus returning (3000 gp) plus throwing (+1 ability) + bane (+1 ability, giant)
Flametongue: +1 weapon plus flaming (+1 ability) turned into flaming burst (+1 ability, synergy) plus Burning Hands at CL 5th (command words, three charges) plus Scorching Ray at minimum level (command word, three charges) plus Resist Energy (cold) at minimum level (continuous)
Frostbrand: +1 weapon plus frost (+1 ability) turned into icy burst (+1 ability, synergy) plus Resist Energy (fire) at minimum level (continuous) plus Quench at CL 14th (command word, at-will) plus Ice Storm at CL 14th (command word, three charges)
Javelin of Chain Lightning: +1 javelin plus shocking (+1 ability) turned into shocking burst (+1 ability, synergy) plus Chain Lightning at minimum level (command word, one charge)
Javelin of Lightning: +1 javelin plus shocking (+1 ability) plus Lightning Bolt at minimum level (command word, one charge)
Life-Drinker: +1 weapon plus enervating (+2 ability) turned into souldrinking (+1 ability, synergy) plus Enervation at CL 10th (use-activated)
Luckblade: +2 shortsword plus keen (+1 ability) plus parrying (+2 ability) plus lucky (+1 ability) plus bane (+1 ability); note that the cost is the equivalent of a +7 weapon
Mattock of the Titans: as per its original cost.
Maul of the Titans: as per its original cost
Nine-Lives' Stealer: +2 weapon plus Slay Living at CL 13th (command word, half-cost for limited charges plus reduced cost for 9 charges) plus Death Knell at minimum level (use-activated)
Oathbow: +5 weapon plus bane (+1 ability); may also potentially have Foebane at CL 15th or minimum level (command word, one charge)
Shatterspike: +1 weapon plus Shatter at CL 5th (command word, three charges)
Shifter's Sorrow: +1 weapon plus cost of alchemical silver (90 or 180 gp) plus bane (+1 ability) plus Discern Shapechanger at minimum level (use-activated, at-will)
Sword of the Planes: +5 longsword plus metalline (+2 bonus) plus authoritative/entropic/sacred/profane (+1 ability, counts as another weapon) + ghost touch (+1000 gp) +aquan/auran/ignan/terran (+2 bonus, counts as another weapon) plus Greater Dispel Magic at CL 20th (command word, at-will) plus cost of githyanki silver sword. The calculation was done by calculating the cost of a +5 metalline longsword, then adding the costs of Greater Dispel Magic at 75% cost, then the githyanki silver sword at 50% cost, the cost of a single +4 longsword with one of the alignment effects (minus the weapon cost) at 50% of the price, then the +3 ghost touch longsword (minus the weapon cost) at 50%, then the +2 longsword with elemental plane effect (minus the weapon cost) at 50%.
Sylvan Scimitar: +1 scimitar plus Speed (+3 ability) plus Haste (use-activated)

Some extra winging was done to reach a lower cost, but chances are you'll get either the exact result or somewhere around it. Thing is, creating these weapons from scratch is horribly expensive, but keeping them at their old costs might seem like too good to be true, and in the case of a few (like Assassin's Dagger), they HAVE to have their costs raised; in the case of others (Shatterspike, for example), their costs have to be lower. The costs of each item here are at best approximates of the cost required to make them as if they never existed, but chances are that in the future, they may be revised. Quite probably this will depend on setting a fair price more than anything.

Now, to the changes. You'll notice that all weapons should be more interesting now, as some aren't limited to a specific weapon. Flametongue, Frostbrand, Dwarven Thrower and some others now have some (reasonable) options, and even Shifter's Sorrow isn't limited to a two-bladed weapon. Of those, Flametongue feels like it could have been made by Desert Wind masters, and for good reason; the Burning Hands effect is pretty much Fan the Flames, while the Scorching Ray effect is not that distant. Frostbrand has a cool Sun Blade-esque effect, except it generates an aura of cold that lasts for over a minute, and while the effect is somewhat limited, by effective Fighter level 18th it definitely makes you a menace (2d6 per round isn't too shabby, particularly when all you need to maintain it is making at least ONE melee attack per round, meaning you add that delicious 3d6 cold damage each hit, potentially escalating the damage).

I never liked that the Javelin of Lightning got consumed (even if it means it's cheaper), so it's now a permanent, albeit limited, effect. A Lightning Bolt spell may not be the best effect (much less if once per day), but at least it allows you to work something out; the fact that it's a shocking weapon that returns with you (and if you read the Alternate Rules link I set above, that means you spply your Strength modifier to attack and damage rolls with it) makes it a useful weapon. However, Javelin of Lightning gets its full power at around 10th level and then it's diminishing returns; thus, Javelin of Chain Lightning sets the bar in order to let you deal huge amounts of damage at least once, with the benefit of retaining a shocking burst returning weapon once expended. (BTW, it's most definitely NOT related to Chief's weapon; you know what weapon I mean...)

Surely you'll notice Oathbow is far more amazing than before. While it keeps its awesome boost when activating its main ability (and with no penalties, to boot!), now it has adjusted pull (making it an overall nice weapon), and somewhat the equivalent of the Holy Avenger for Rangers, what with adjusting to your favored enemies. It also accounts for those who get the Arcane Hunter ACF, because I love it. Shifter's Sorrow is likewise boosted; it's no longer limited to two-bladed sword, but also allows you to discern any shapechanger while at it (and also detects creatures vulnerable to silver!) Since it counts against ANY transformed creature, it's nice against those pesky druids and their uber-Wild Shape forms, or Shapechanged Wizards.

Of course, Assassin's Dagger and Blade of Venom are now particularly brutal. The first has the new-and-improved coup-de-grace effect, but with the chance of boosting a death attack's DC to YES. Blade of Venom not only has the Venomous (coat weapon with magic poison at command) effect, but also the Toxic (increased DC of poison) and Virulent (faster-acting poison) effects, AND the DC stacks if you're a Fighter, have effective Fighter levels, or have levels in a class that grants Poison Use (like, say...Assassin, maybe?) Definitely the two weapons are nice tools for Assassins, and just what the doctor ordered for someone like Ilphaiid (bet you don't remember who he is, right? Think Iron Chef).

Of the "dark and foreboding" weapon variety, both Nine Lives' Stealer and Life-Drinker (such poetic names!) have been nicely boosted. The latter is now firmly a Souldrinking weapon with a better effect than a regular weapon of that type, but I'd like to point attention to the former. Nine Lives' Stealer was a sucky weapon because it was a +2 longsword that could kill an opponent with a standard action...but only nine times. Afterwards, it became a mere +2 longsword with nothing really special, so you had a weapon that cost around 23,000 gp that was only special at around nine times, and then...a glorified 8,000 gp longsword. Now, Nine-Lives' Stealer can be recharged, and with something as simple as a coup-de-grace against a dying opponent. Sure, it's about three times more expensive, but its ability to recharge (even if expended!) makes the investment longer-lasting.

Now we get to the...more boring ones, frankly. That'd be Shatterspike and Mace of Smiting. The original Shatterspike was horribly bad, and for good reason: it only worked if you attempted to sunder a weapon. Now, while it still makes an impromptu sunder, it allows you to deal touch attacks, even if only three times per day (think a more limited version of Wraithstrike) or activate the effect of Shatter, which makes it more reasonable; also, it's now a hammer or pike, which makes much more sense than a longsword. The Mace of Smiting was cool, but aside from the increased critical multiplier against outsiders and the insta-destroy effect on constructs, it was unremarkable. Adding Construct Bane rectifies this, as you now deal a reasonable amount of extra damage against constructs, and you can stack Fiercebane on top, which is pretty cool. Oh, and you also ignore damage reduction (always nice; you don't want Shadesteel Golems to ruin your day, no?) and affects objects, so it's also an awesome tool. The Mattock of the Titans and the Maul of the Titans were moved from the Wondrous Items (tools) section into weapons proper, much like the MIC moved the weapon-like rods into the weapons section. Both are pretty interesting weapons, and hold interesting effects. You'll notice they keep the same cost, because the Maul is only a very large weapon, while the Mattock...erm, how do you adjudicate the cost of an ability usable once every 10 minutes?

And, to the final two. The Luckblade loses one thing (the wishes) and has another altered (the luck reroll becomes the effect of the Lucky property), but gains a cool new one (a bane-like effect when making ANY kind of reroll), plus you get an increased critical hit chance AND the improved Parrying effect. So, you lose some, you gain some.

Then there's the Sword of the Planes. Goodness, that's expensive! Officially, any item with more than a +10 to its enhancement bonus or that costs over 200,000 gp is considered an Epic weapon. The Sword of the Planes could easily qualify as an Artifact for what it offers. Think about it: it's pretty much the perfect weapon to wield regardless of the plane you are. On the Material Plane, it bypasses the DR of any creature; on the Ethereal Plane, it allows you to strike the Material Plane and incorporeal creatures. On the Plane of Shadow, it grants reach; on the Elemental Planes, you deal quite a bit of damage, and on the Outer Planes you deal even more. And, it's the only weapon that retains its magical effect even on the deepest part of the Spire, so you get a +1 to attack and damage rolls against helpless gods. The tag of 400,000 gp seems pretty cheap now, doesn't it? What's worse, a Fighter or any character with enough Fighter levels can end up with an Epic weapon right at the Spire, while gods lack access to their divine powers and immortality and whatnot. Therefore: it's pretty much a minor artifact. Do you consider it best to make it an artifact and drop the pretense of making it a weapon?

With that said, there's a few more items that don't appear. Of those, the Mace of Terror is a bit of an oversight (it'd remain the same but add the Domineering effect), the Rapier of Puncturing remains as-is, the Screaming Bolt is redundant when you can make bolts with the Screaming (or Thundering) and Domineering effects, the Slaying Arrow remains as-is, the Sleep Arrow is somewhat boring, the Sun Blade is dealt in the same way as the Holy Avenger, and the Sword of Subtlety now exists as a weapon property. So, that's that.

T.G. Oskar

2014-01-27, 04:17 PM

NEW WEAPONS
The following is a collection of new magic weapons.

BLADE OF CHANGE
Price (Item Level): 50,710 gp (18th)
Body Slot: -- (held)
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) chaotic, evocation and transmutation
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Weight: as weapon

Although apparently unassuming, this battle axe has greenish-yellow sparks dancing from the handle to the tip, flowing in irregular patterns. The design of the blade is unequal, and the weight of its blade is equally unbalanced.

The blade of change is a +1 shock battleaxe in the hands of any non-lawful creature, but in the hands of a chaotic creature, it instead becomes a +3 anarchic dancing battleaxe of shock.

When the dancing property of the blade of change is active, the weapon gains further properties. The blade of change is treated as if made of force for purposes of damage reduction and striking incorporeal targets (only the melee damage portion of the blade of change converts into force damage, not the anarchic or electrical damage). The wielder may command the weapon to affect a single target within 200 ft., or switch the target, as a move-equivalent action. In the same turn the blade of change is ordered to move, it makes one attack using the wielder’s base attack bonus plus its Strength modifier and the weapon’s enhancement bonus; on further rounds, so as long as the creature does not move, it may make full attacks. The special dancing effect of the blade of change lasts for 1 minute, but the effect may only be activated once per hour.

A chaotic wielder with effective fighter levels treats the weapon as if affected by a greater magic weapon cast by a cleric of the wielder’s effective fighter level (if the enhancement bonus was higher than +3); as well, the dancing effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to its effective fighter level or 1 minute, whichever is higher.

A lawful character wielding this weapon gains 2 negative levels. These negative levels remain as long as the weapon is in hand and disappear when the weapon is no longer wielded. These negative levels never result in actual level loss, but they cannot be overcome in any way (including restoration spells) while the battleaxe is wielded.

Prerequisites: Creator must be of chaotic neutral alignment and worshipping a chaotic neutral deity or a chaotic neutral philosophy.
Cost to Create: 25,300 gp plus cost of masterwork battleaxe; 2016 xp; 51 days

FIENDISH TRIDENT
Price (Item Level): 60,415 gp (18th)
Body Slot: -- (held)
Caster Level: 13th
Aura: Strong; (DC 21) conjuration
Activation: -- and full-round (command)
Weight: as trident

This long red iron trident feels very hot to the touch. It has an aura of evil surrounding it.

A dangerous weapon, the fiendish trident is a +1 unholy flaming trident. The trident has reach, and may strike enemies up to 10 ft. away (but does not threaten adjacent creatures). The fiendish trident is treated as both a trident and a longspear for purpose of feats such as Weapon Focus and Improved Critical.

Once per day, the wielder of a fiendish trident may summon an evil outsider of 12 HD or lower. The wielder of the trident must succeed on a Charisma check against a DC of 10 + the summoned outsider’s Charisma modifier in order to retain control. The wielder of the trident has full control of the outsider for as long as it holds the weapon, and serves the wielder of this weapon for up to 3 hours. A failed save causes the summoned creature to act as it desires, potentially fooling the wearer into service.

Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor; creator must be an evil outsider of 18 HD or higher.
Cost to Create: 30,040 gp plus cost of masterwork trident; 2,404 xp

HAMMER OF JUSTICE
Price (Item Level): 50,712 gp (18th)
Body Slot: -- (held)
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) good, evocation and transmutation
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Weight: as weapon

This heavy warhammer is decorated with symbols of pure good. Its head feels unusually cool to the touch, but never icy cold.

The hammer of justice is a +1 frost warhammer in the hands of any non-evil creature, but in the hands of a good creature, it instead becomes a +3 holy dancing warhammer of frost.

When the dancing property of the hammer of justice is active, the weapon gains further properties. The hammer of justice is treated as if made of force for purposes of damage reduction and striking incorporeal targets (only the melee damage portion of the hammer of justice converts into force damage, not the holy or cold damage). The wielder may command the weapon to affect a single target within 200 ft., or switch the target, as a move-equivalent action. In the same turn the hammer of justice is ordered to move, it makes one attack using the wielder’s base attack bonus plus its Strength modifier and the weapon’s enhancement bonus; on further rounds, so as long as the creature does not move, it may make full attacks. The special dancing effect of the hammer of justice lasts for 1 minute, but the effect may only be activated once per hour.

A good wielder with effective fighter levels treats the weapon as if affected by a greater magic weapon cast by a cleric of the wielder’s effective fighter level (if the enhancement bonus was higher than +3); as well, the dancing effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to its effective fighter level or 1 minute, whichever is higher.

An evil character wielding this weapon gains 2 negative levels. These negative levels remain as long as the weapon is in hand and disappear when the weapon is no longer wielded. These negative levels never result in actual level loss, but they cannot be overcome in any way (including restoration spells) while the hammer is wielded.

Prerequisites: Creator must be of neutral good alignment and worshipping a neutral good deity or a neutral good philosophy.
Cost to Create: 25,300 gp plus cost of masterwork warhammer; 2016 xp; 51 days

SCOURGE OF SOULS
Price (Item Level): 60,908 gp (18th)
Body Slot: -- (held)
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) evil, evocation and transmutation
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Weight: as weapon

This flail is wicked-looking, with particularly sharp spikes and a jet-black head. A frightening aura emerges from its head, and when swung, the screams of the dead wail in eternal agony.

The scourge of souls is a +1 mighty cleaving light flail in the hands of any non-evil creature, but in the hands of an evil creature, it instead becomes a +3 unholy dancing light flail of mighty cleaving.

When the dancing property of the scourge of souls is active, the weapon gains further properties. The scourge of souls is treated as if made of force for purposes of damage reduction and striking incorporeal targets (only the melee damage portion of the scourge of souls converts into force damage, not the unholy damage). The wielder may command the weapon to affect a single target within 200 ft., or switch the target, as a move-equivalent action. In the same turn the scourge of souls is ordered to move, it makes one attack using the wielder’s base attack bonus plus its Strength modifier and the weapon’s enhancement bonus; on further rounds, so as long as the creature does not move, it may make full attacks. The special dancing effect of the scourge of souls lasts for 1 minute, but the effect may only be activated once per hour. The scourge of souls is treated as if having the Great Cleave feat in case it downs an enemy, even if the wielder does not have the feat.

An evil wielder with effective fighter levels treats the weapon as if affected by a greater magic weapon cast by a cleric of the wielder’s effective fighter level (if the enhancement bonus was higher than +3); as well, the dancing effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to its effective fighter level or 1 minute, whichever is higher.

A good character wielding this weapon gains 2 negative levels. These negative levels remain as long as the weapon is in hand and disappear when the weapon is no longer wielded. These negative levels never result in actual level loss, but they cannot be overcome in any way (including restoration spells) while the flail is wielded.

Prerequisites: Creator must be of neutral evil alignment and worshipping a neutral evil deity or a neutral evil philosophy.
Cost to Create: 30,300 gp plus cost of masterwork light flail; 2424 xp; 61 days

SWORD OF TRUTH
Price (Item Level): 50,710 gp (18th)
Body Slot: -- (held)
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) lawful, evocation and transmutation
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Weight: as weapon

This perfectly crafted and balanced sword is licked by red-hot flames, and looks regal despite its dull-looking blade and unadorned hilt.

The sword of truth is a +1 flaming longsword in the hands of any non-chaotic creature, but in the hands of a lawful creature, it instead becomes a +3 axiomatic dancing flaming longsword.

When the dancing property of the sword of truth is active, the weapon gains further properties. The sword of truth is treated as if made of force for purposes of damage reduction and striking incorporeal targets (only the melee damage portion of the sword of truth converts into force damage, not the axiomatic or fire damage). The wielder may command the weapon to affect a single target within 200 ft., or switch the target, as a move-equivalent action. In the same turn the sword of truth is ordered to move, it makes one attack using the wielder’s base attack bonus plus its Strength modifier and the weapon’s enhancement bonus; on further rounds, so as long as the creature does not move, it may make full attacks. The special dancing effect of the sword of truth lasts for 1 minute, but the effect may only be activated once per hour.

A lawful wielder with effective fighter levels treats the weapon as if affected by a greater magic weapon cast by a cleric of the wielder’s effective fighter level (if the enhancement bonus was higher than +3); as well, the dancing effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to its effective fighter level or 1 minute, whichever is higher.

A chaotic character wielding this weapon gains 2 negative levels. These negative levels remain as long as the weapon is in hand and disappear when the weapon is no longer wielded. These negative levels never result in actual level loss, but they cannot be overcome in any way (including restoration spells) while the longsword is wielded.

Prerequisites: Creator must be of lawful neutral alignment and worshipping a lawful neutral deity or a lawful neutral philosophy.
Cost to Create: 25,200 gp plus cost of masterwork longsword; 2016 xp; 51 days

Short, but these are a bunch of new weapons for you guys. You will notice four of the five weapons are really odd, but savvy readers will know where I got the idea for them.

If not: these are the weapons you generate when a cleric of an ideal casts Weapon of the Deity: a battleaxe for chaotic clerics, a warhammer for good clerics, a light flail for evil clerics, and a longsword for lawful clerics. It's also the weapons generated by the Incarnate Weapon soulmeld. They're meant to be the representative weapons of each alignment, so I couldn't but oblige. All of them work the same way: they work roughly like Holy Avengers in that they get better on the right hands, and their Dancing properties work like Spiritual Weapons (hence the wording of Spiritual Weapon encompassing the second paragraph). As well, and taking a cue from the Avenger weapons, they improve if you have effective Fighter levels, including the duration of their special Dancing ability. This is why they have to be made by specific clerics; they need to be exemplars of the alignment. Still, it allows for some classes to have options (a Paladin can get an Avenger weapon, a Sword of Law or a Hammer of Justice, while a Samurai can have a cool Sword of Justice in addition to its Ancestral Daisho).

The Fiendish Trident is a reference to the stereotype about the Devil, wielding a farmer's fork as if a trident. Thus, you get an Unholy Flaming Trident that has the range of a Longspear, and with a minor summoning effect while at it. The Fiendish Trident is unique because it represents what I seek of specific weapons, and that's more obvious with the specific armors; they have to be more than just a combination of materials and items, with one or two unique abilities. The Fiendish Trident is special because it combines aspects of a trident and a longspear, making it special on its own.

Those are the few ideas I could generate, but I'm always open for ideas. After all: (n+1) heads think better than (n) heads.

T.G. Oskar

2014-01-27, 04:18 PM

ARMOR
The following is a list of changes to armor (and shield) special qualities present on the Dungeon Master's Guide. Some magic items retain the same qualities: arrow catching (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicArmor.htm#arrowCatching), glamered (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicArmor.htm#glamered), wild (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicArmor.htm#wild) (+2 bonus).

Some magic items can go f**k in the fires of Mt. Doom are no longer available: animated (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicArmor.htm#animated).

ACID RESISTANCE
Price (Item Level): +12,000 gp
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 3rd
Aura: Faint; (DC 16) abjuration
Activation: --

Of olive color, this armor is slightly slimy to the touch, and emits a pungent odor. Touching the armor delivers a mild sting, but afterwards the hand ends up cleaner.

Armor and shields with this property absorbs the first 10 points of acid damage per attack that the wearer would normally take (similar to the resist energy (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/resistEnergy.htm) spell). If the wearer has effective fighter levels, the armor’s resistance to acid increases by 1 for every four levels.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 6,000 gp; 480 xp, 12 days

ACID RESISTANCE, IMPROVED [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +16,000 gp
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Faint; (DC 18) abjuration
Activation: --
Synergy Prerequisite: Acid resistance

Of olive color, this armor is slippery to the touch, and emits a strong, pungent odor. Touching the armor delivers a moderate sting, but afterwards the hand ends up cleaner.

Armor and shields with this property absorbs the first 20 points of acid damage per attack that the wearer would normally take (similar to the resist energy (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/resistEnergy.htm) spell). If the wearer has effective fighter levels, the armor’s resistance to acid increases by 1 for every two levels.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 8,000 gp; 640 xp; 16 days

ACID RESISTANCE, GREATER [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +16,000 gp
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 11th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) abjuration
Activation: --
Synergy Prerequisite: Improved acid resistance

Of olive color, this armor is very slippery to the touch, and emits a penetrating pungent odor. Touching the armor delivers a strong burn, but afterwards the hand ends up drier and cleaner.

Armor and shields with this property absorbs the first 30 points of acid damage per attack that the wearer would normally take (similar to the resist energy (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/resistEnergy.htm) spell). If the wearer has effective fighter levels, the armor’s resistance to acid increases by 1 for every level.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 8,000 gp; 640 xp; 16 days

ARROW DEFLECTION
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Shield
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 19) abjuration
Activation: free (command)

This shield has etchings of arrows and bolts pointing outward, as if blocked, by a central eye etching. During battle, it seems to move of its own accord whenever a projectile moves too close.

A shield of arrow deflection protects the wielder from small projectiles such as arrows or bolts. Once per round as a free action outside its turn, a wielder may activate the power of this shield and deflect a single arrow thrown at it, as if having the Deflect Arrows (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#deflectArrows) feat, but using the shield instead of a free hand. To use this ability, the wielder must be aware of the attack and not flat-footed. If the wielder has the Deflect Arrows or Block Arrows (Heroes of Battle) feats, it may use these feats one more time per round (in the case of Deflect Arrows, it may use the feat with a shield).

A character with effective fighter levels can attempt to deflect magical projectiles, such as an acid arrow (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/acidArrow.htm) spell. The spell must be one that requires a ranged touch attack. The wielder must make a special check (d20 + the wielder’s effective fighter level + the shield’s bonus to AC including enhancement bonuses) against a DC of 10 + the spellcaster’s caster level; if successful, the wielder takes no damage. The wielder may use the shield’s ability to deflect projectiles one more time per round at effective fighter level 6th, and every 5 effective levels afterwards.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

BASHING
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Shield
Caster Level: 8th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 19) transmutation
Activation: --

This shield seems somewhat sturdier than the norm, lighter and with a natural curve that resembles the wielder’s arm.

Shields of bashing are equally effective as a weapon and as a defensive tool. A shield of bashing deals damage as if two size categories larger (thus, a light shield deals 1d6 points of damage, a heavy shield deals 1d8 points of damage, and a tower shield deals 1d10 points of damage), and gains an enhancement bonus equal to that of the enhancement bonus to the shield’s Armor Class (thus, a +2 shield of bashing grants a +2 enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls with shield bashes, as well as a +2 enhancement bonus to shield AC).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

BLINDING
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Metal armor or shield
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 18) evocation
Activation: -- and standard (command)

The metal on this suit of armor or shield has been polished to a degree it reflects light. In brightly lit areas, the polished item seems to amplify and redirect the ambient light.

A blinding suit of armor or shield allows the wearer (or wielder) to use light as a weapon. In an area of bright illumination, enemies attempting to strike the wearer of a blinding armor (or wearer of a blinding shield) become dazzled for 1 round. Treat this as a gaze attack for purposes of determining how to resist or ignore this effect. However, because the item reflects and improves ambient light, the wearer (or wielder) takes a -5 penalty on all Hide checks while on an area with shadowy illumination or brighter.

Three times per day, the wearer may choose to activate the property of this item as a standard action. Regardless of the ambient light, all creatures within 15 ft. of the wearer of a blinding armor (or within a 30 ft. cone of the wielder of a blinding shield) must make a Reflex save or become blinded for 1d4 rounds (save DC 14). Creatures averting their eyes gain a +4 bonus to their Reflex saves, while light-sensitive creatures are instead blinded for 1d6+1 rounds. Blind creatures or creatures immune to gaze attacks are immune to this effect. Characters with effective fighter levels instead impose a save DC of 10 + half their effective fighter levels + their Charisma modifier.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

COLD RESISTANCE
Price (Item Level): +12,000 gp
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 3rd, 7th (improved) or 11th (greater)
Aura: Faint; (DC 16) abjuration
Activation: --

This armor is of pale blue hue or almost white, and feels slightly cool on the outside. However, while worn, it is comfortably warm.

Armor and shields with this property absorbs the first 10 points of cold damage per attack that the wearer would normally take (similar to the resist energy (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/resistEnergy.htm) spell). If the wearer has effective fighter levels, the armor’s resistance to cold increases by 1 for every four levels. Furthermore, wearing cold resistant armor allows surviving comfortably in temperatures up to -50° F.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 6,000 gp, 480 xp, 12 days

COLD RESISTANCE, IMPROVED [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +16,000
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Faint; (DC 18) abjuration
Activation: --
Synergy Prerequisite: Cold resistance

This armor is of pale blue hue or almost white, and feels refreshingly cool on the outside. However, while worn, it is comfortably warm.

Armor and shields with this property absorbs the first 20 points of cold damage per attack that the wearer would normally take (similar to the resist energy (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/resistEnergy.htm) spell). If the wearer has effective fighter levels, the armor’s resistance to cold increases by 1 for every two levels. Furthermore, wearing cold resistant armor allows surviving comfortably in temperatures up to -50° F.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 8,000 gp; 640 xp, 16 days

COLD RESISTANCE, GREATER [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +16,000 gp
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 11th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) abjuration
Activation: --
Synergy Prerequisite: Improved cold resistance

This armor is of pale blue hue or almost white, and feels chilly on the outside. However, while worn, it is comfortably warm.

Armor and shields with this property absorbs the first 30 points of cold damage per attack that the wearer would normally take (similar to the resist energy (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/resistEnergy.htm) spell). If the wearer has effective fighter levels, the armor’s resistance to cold increases by 1 for every level. Furthermore, wearing cold resistant armor allows surviving comfortably in temperatures up to -50° F.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 8,000 gp; 640 xp; 16 days

ELECTRICITY RESISTANCE
Price (Item Level): +12,000 gp
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 3rd
Aura: Faint; (DC 16) abjuration
Activation: --

This armor, often metallic, has a bluish-white color, though it may be also purple at times. A faint tang surrounds it, one that leaves your mouth tasting somewhat metallic, and small sparks flow through grooves etched all around.

Armor and shields with this property absorbs the first 10 points of electricity damage per attack that the wearer would normally take (similar to the resist energy spell). If the wearer has effective fighter levels, the armor’s resistance to electricity increases by 1 for every four levels.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 6,000 gp; 480 xp; 12 days

ELECTRICITY RESISTANCE, IMPROVED [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +16,000 gp
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Faint; (DC 18) abjuration
Activation: --
Synergy Prerequisite: Electricity resistance

This armor, often metallic, has a bluish-white color, though it may be also purple at times. A moderate tang surrounds it, one that leaves your mouth tasting somewhat metallic, and sparks flow through grooves etched all around.

Armor and shields with this property absorbs the first 20 points of electricity damage per attack that the wearer would normally take (similar to the resist energy (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/resistEnergy.htm) spell). If the wearer has effective fighter levels, the armor’s resistance to electricity increases by 1 for every two levels.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 8,000 gp; 640 xp; 16 days

ELECTRICITY RESISTANCE, GREATER [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +16,000 gp
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 11th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) abjuration
Activation: --
Synergy Prerequisite: Improved electricity resistance

This armor, often metallic, has a bluish-white color, though it may be also purple at times. The armor makes your mouth taste of iron, and static flows all over the armor.

Armor and shields with this property absorbs the first 30 points of electricity damage per attack that the wearer would normally take (similar to the resist energy (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/resistEnergy.htm) spell). If the wearer has effective fighter levels, the armor’s resistance to electricity increases by 1 for every level.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 8,000 gp; 640 xp; 16 days

ETHEREALNESS
Price (Item Level): +3 bonus
Property: Armor
Caster Level: 13th
Aura: Strong; (DC 21) transmutation
Activation: Swift (command)

This suit of armor seems translucent, almost insubstantial, but offers very strong protection.

Armor of etherealness allows the wearer to briefly jaunt into the Ethereal Plane as a means of escape or combat. As a swift action, the wearer of an armor of etherealness may become ethereal for up to 13 rounds per day. These rounds need not be consecutive.

A character with effective fighter levels wearing this armor may activate the ability to become ethereal for a number of rounds equal to its effective fighter level or 13 rounds, whichever is higher.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

FIRE RESISTANCE
Price (Item Level): +12,000 gp
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 3rd
Aura: Faint; (DC 16) abjuration
Activation: --

Bright red with wisps of orange, this armor feels warm to the touch. However, when worn, it is quite comfortable, great for high temperatures.

Armor and shields with this property absorbs the first 10 points of fire damage per attack that the wearer would normally take (similar to the resist energy (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/resistEnergy.htm) spell). If the wearer has effective fighter levels, the armor’s resistance to fire increases by 1 for every four levels. Furthermore, wearing fire resistant armor allows surviving comfortably in temperatures up to 120° F.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 6,000 gp; 480 xp; 12 days

FIRE RESISTANCE, IMPROVED [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +16,000 gp
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Faint; (DC 18) abjuration
Activation: --
Synergy Prerequisite: Fire resistance

Bright red with wisps of orange, this armor feels quite warm to the touch. However, when worn, it is quite comfortable, great for high temperatures.

Armor and shields with this property absorbs the first 20 points of fire damage per attack that the wearer would normally take (similar to the resist energy (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/resistEnergy.htm) spell). If the wearer has effective fighter levels, the armor’s resistance to fire increases by 1 for every two levels. Furthermore, wearing fire resistant armor allows surviving comfortably in temperatures up to 120° F.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 8,000 gp; 640 xp; 16 days

FIRE RESISTANCE, GREATER [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +16,000 gp
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 11th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) abjuration
Activation: --
Synergy Prerequisite: Improved fire resistance

Bright red with wisps of orange, this armor sears the skin upon touch. However, when worn, it is quite comfortable, great for high temperatures.

Armor and shields with this property absorbs the first 30 points of fire damage per attack that the wearer would normally take (similar to the resist energy spell). If the wearer has effective fighter levels, the armor’s resistance to fire increases by 1 for every level. Furthermore, wearing fire resistant armor allows surviving comfortably in temperatures up to 120° F.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 8000 gp; 640 xp; 16 days

FORTIFICATION
Price (Item Level): +1 (light), +2 (moderate) or +3 (heavy)
Property: Armor
Caster Level: 13th
Aura: Strong; (DC 21) transmutation
Activation: --

This suit of armor would be otherwise indistinguishable from other suits of magic armor, were it not because parts of it are unusually stronger than usual. Neck and torso are reinforced physically with extra plating, and magically through small fields of force.

This suit of armor or shield produces a magical force that protects vital areas of the wearer more effectively. When a critical hit or sneak attack is scored on the wearer, there is a chance that the critical hit or sneak attack is negated and damage is instead rolled normally.

{TABLE=head]Fortification Type|Chance for Normal Damage|Base Price Modifier
Light|25%|+1 bonus
Medium|75%|+2 bonus
Heavy|100%|+3 bonus[/TABLE]

Special: Fortified armor may be improved, as if moderate fortification and heavy fortification were synergy properties. Improving fortified armor increases the base price modifier of the armor by 1.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

GHOST TOUCH
Price (Item Level): +2000 gp
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) abjuration
Activation: --

This gray-hued armor blinks between opaque and translucent. When worn, it turns almost completely opaque, but with a rare gray glow.

Suits of armor or shield with the ghost touch enhancement are perfect against incorporeal and ethereal creatures. The armor (or shield’s) AC and its enhancement bonus counts against the attacks of incorporeal creatures. Incorporeal creatures may wear the armor (or wield the shield), gaining its full bonus to AC against all corporeal and incorporeal attacks, but not corporeal touch attacks (if the attacker somehow may touch incorporeal or ethereal creatures). Incorporeal creatures (and wielders/wearers within the Ethereal Plane) may phase through while wearing this armor.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 1000 gp plus cost of masterwork armor or shield; 80 xp; 2 days.

INVULNERABILITY
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Armor
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) abjuration
Activation: --

This suit of armor is unusually solid, and very resilient. It also shines with a blue-green glow.

An armor suit of invulnerability makes the wearer resilient to many attacks. When worn, armor of invulnerability grants damage reduction 5/magic, or improves the existing damage reduction of armor by 5 (if the armor is made of adamantine, for example).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

INVULNERABILITY, IMPROVED [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Armor
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: Strong; (DC 22) abjuration
Activation: --
Synergy Prerequisite: Invulnerability

This suit of armor is unusually solid, and very resilient. Not only it is reinforced with extra plating, it also shines with a blue-green glow.

An armor suit of improved invulnerability makes the wearer resilient to many attacks. When worn, armor of improved invulnerability increases the armor’s bonus to AC by 1 (this is not considered an enhancement bonus, but a direct bonus to the armor’s AC) and grants damage reduction 10/magic, or improves the existing damage reduction of armor by 10 (if the armor is made of adamantine, for example).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

INVULNERABILITY, GREATER [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +2 bonus
Property: Armor
Caster Level: 20th
Aura: Strong; (DC 25) abjuration
Activation: --
Synergy Prerequisite: Improved invulnerability

This suit of armor is effectively indestructible. Not only it is reinforced with extra plating, it also shines with a blue-green glow.

An armor suit of greater invulnerability makes the wearer resilient to many attacks. When worn, armor of greater invulnerability increases the armor’s bonus to AC by 3 (this is not considered an enhancement bonus, but a direct bonus to the armor’s AC) and grants damage reduction 15/magic, or improves the existing damage reduction of armor by 15 (if the armor is made of adamantine, for example).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

REFLECTING
Price (Item Level): +5 bonus
Property: Shield
Caster Level: 14th
Aura: Strong; (DC 22) abjuration
Activation: Immediate (command)

This shield is carefully polished to as to reflect the gleam of light, but it does not reflect your image.

A reflecting shield not only nulls spells directed at the wielder, but reflects them back at its caster. Twice per encounter as an immediate action, the wielder of a reflecting shield can turn an enemy’s spell back to its caster, as if under the effect of a spell turning (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/spellTurning.htm) spell able to return a 9th level spell; however, it only works for a single spell.

A character with effective fighter levels gains a greater benefit when wielding reflecting shield. If the wielder has 11 effective fighter levels, it may use the spell turning property of the shield one more time per encounter (plus one more time for every five effective fighter levels after the 11th). Furthermore, in the case a resonating field is produced (by means of a wielder using the spell turning effect on a caster that has the spell turning spell cast on itself), if the amount of effective fighter levels is higher than the caster level of the spell turning effect, the turned spell punches through without returning back (as if the spell turning effect was suppressed); otherwise, the resonating field works as normal.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

SHADOW
Price (Item Level): 3,000 gp
Property: Armor
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) illusion
Activation: --

This armor is almost completely obscure, with a mild bluish hue appearing only in the presence of bright light. This armor seems to absorb ambient light.

Suits of shadow armor aid wearers when attempting to hide, compensating for the bulkiness of armor. Shadow armor grants a +5 competence bonus to Hide checks and allows ignoring the armor check penalty to Hide checks if added to light armor.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

SHADOW, IMPROVED [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Armor
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) illusion and evocation
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Synergy Prerequisite: Shadow

This armor is jet black, remaining opaque and devoid of all luster even in the brightest light. This armor seems to absorb ambient light.

Suits of improved shadow armor aid wearers when attempting to hide, compensating for the bulkiness of armor. Improved shadow armor grants a +10 competence bonus to Hide checks and allows ignoring the armor check penalty to Hide checks if added to medium armor. Once per day, the wearer of this armor can use darkness (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/darkness.htm) as a 10th level caster, with the effect centered on the square where the armor wearer stands. While on an area of shadowy illumination or darker, the wearer gains total concealment (50% miss chance against all attacks); this does not work against creatures with the ability to see through magical darkness, creatures with blindsight or that have the benefit of a true seeing (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/trueSeeing.htm) spell.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

SHADOW, GREATER [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Armor
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 22) illusion and evocation
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Synergy Prerequisite: Improved shadow

This armor absorbs all ambient light, obscuring the wearer’s features within the area.

Suits of greater shadow armor aid wearers when attempting to hide, compensating for the bulkiness of armor. Greater shadow armor grants a +15 competence bonus to Hide checks, a +5 competence bonus to Disguise checks, and allows ignoring the armor check penalty to Hide checks if added to heavy armor. Three times per day, the wearer of this armor can use deeper darkness (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/deeperDarkness.htm) as a 15th level caster, with the effect centered on the square where the armor wearer stands. Furthermore, the wearer gains concealment (20% miss chance) on any form of illumination except bright light; in an area of shadowy illumination or darker, the wearer gains total concealment (50% miss chance against all attacks). This effect does not work against creatures with the ability to see through magical darkness, creatures with blindsight or that have the benefit of a true seeing (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/trueSeeing.htm) spell.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

SILENT MOVES
Price (Item Level): +3,000 gp
Property: Armor
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) illusion
Activation: --

This suit of armor is well oiled, and crafted in such a way it dampens sound.

Suits of armor of silent moves aid wearers when attempting to move silently, compensating for the bulkiness of armor. Armor of silent moves grants a +5 competence bonus to Move Silently checks and allows ignoring the armor check penalty to Move Silently checks if added to light armor.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

SILENT MOVES, IMPROVED [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Armor
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) illusion
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Synergy Prerequisite: Silent moves

This suit of armor is well oiled, and crafted in such a way it dampens sound. While worn, your voice seems to sound like a whisper when you talk normally, unless speaking directly to the ear.

Suits of armor of improved silent moves aid wearers when attempting to move silently, compensating for the bulkiness of armor. Armor of improved silent moves grants a +10 competence bonus to Move Silently checks and allows ignoring the armor check penalty to Move Silently checks if added to medium armor. Once per day, the wearer may use silence (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/silence.htm) as a 10th level caster, with the effect centered on the wearer. If the wearer grapples a spellcaster, the latter may not use spells with a verbal component (unless modified by the Silent Spell metamagic feat).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

SILENT MOVES, GREATER [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Armor
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 22) illusion
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Synergy Prerequisite: Improved silent moves

This suit of armor is exceedingly well oiled, and crafted in such a way it dampens sound all around the area. Within a 5 foot area, no sound can be heard.

Suits of armor of greater silent moves aid wearers when attempting to move silently, compensating for the bulkiness of armor. Armor of silent moves grants a +15 competence bonus to Move Silently checks, a 50% chance to ignore acid and rust effects on armor, and allows ignoring the armor check penalty to Move Silently checks if added to heavy armor. Three times per day as a standard action, the wearer may use zone of silence (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/zoneOfSilence.htm) as a 15th level caster. If the wearer grapples a spellcaster, the latter may not cast any spell with a verbal component (even if modified by the Silent Spell metamagic feat).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

SLICK
Price (Item Level): +3,000 gp
Property: Armor
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) conjuration
Activation: --

This suit of armor seems coated at all times with a slightly greasy oil; despite this, it remains firm upon the wearer.

Suits of slick armor aid wearers attempting to escape binds and grapples, compensating for the bulkiness of armor. Slick armor grants a +5 competence bonus to Escape Artist checks, and allows ignoring the armor check penalty to Escape Artist checks if added to light armor.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

SLICK, IMPROVED [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Armor
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) conjuration
Activation: -- and immediate (command)
Synergy Prerequisite: Slick

This suit of armor seems coated at all times with a greasy oil; despite this, it remains firm upon the wearer.

Suits of improved slick armor aid wearers attempting to escape binds and grapples, compensating for the bulkiness of armor. Improved slick armor grants a +10 competence bonus to Escape Artist checks, a 50% chance to ignore acid and rust effects on armor, and allows ignoring the armor check penalty to Escape Artist checks if added to medium armor. Three times per day as an immediate action, the wearer may gain the benefit of a freedom of movement (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/freedomOfMovement.htm) spell until the beginning of its next turn.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

SLICK, GREATER [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Armor
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) conjuration
Activation: -- and immediate (command)
Synergy Prerequisite: Improved slick

This suit of armor seems coated at all times with a very greasy, lustrous oil; despite this, it remains firm upon the wearer.

Suits of greater slick armor aid wearers attempting to escape binds and grapples, compensating for the bulkiness of armor. Greater slick armor grants a +15 competence bonus to Escape Artist checks, makes armor immune to acid and rust effects, and allows ignoring the armor check penalty to Escape Artist checks if added to heavy armor. Twice per encounter as an immediate action, the wearer may gain the benefit of a freedom of movement (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/freedomOfMovement.htm) spell until the beginning of its next turn.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

SONIC RESISTANCE
Price (Item Level): +12,000 gp
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 3rd
Aura: Faint; (DC 16) abjuration
Activation: --

This suit of armor hums slightly at the presence of a loud sound. If spoken very close, one can hear the echo of its voice.

Armor and shields with this property absorbs the first 10 points of sonic damage per attack that the wearer would normally take (similar to the resist energy (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/resistEnergy.htm) spell). If the wearer has effective fighter levels, the armor’s resistance to sonic damage increases by 1 for every four levels.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 6,000 gp; 480 xp; 12 days

SONIC RESISTANCE, IMPROVED [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +16,000 gp
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Faint; (DC 18) abjuration
Activation: --
Synergy Prerequisite: Sonic resistance

This suit of armor hums at the presence of a loud sound. Within a mostly silent area, one can hear the echo of all voices and sounds.

Armor and shields with this property absorbs the first 20 points of sonic damage per attack that the wearer would normally take (similar to the resist energy (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/resistEnergy.htm) spell). If the wearer has effective fighter levels, the armor’s resistance to sonic damage increases by 1 for every two levels.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 8,000 gp; 640 xp; 16 days

SONIC RESISTANCE, GREATER [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +16,000 gp
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 11th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) abjuration
Activation: --
Synergy Prerequisite: Improved sonic resistance

This suit of armor hums at the presence of the slightest sound. The voice of the wearer seems to have an unusual echo, as well as that of anyone who draws nearby.

Armor and shields with this property absorbs the first 30 points of sonic damage per attack that the wearer would normally take (similar to the resist energy spell). If the wearer has effective fighter levels, the armor’s resistance to sonic damage increases by 1 for every level.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 8000 gp; 640 xp; 16 days

SPELL RESISTANCE
Price (Item Level): +2 bonus
Property: Armor
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) abjuration
Activation: --

This armor is surrounded by a blue-green glow. It seems to resist magical divinations, though this is only an assumption; it shows the same traits with other forms of magic.

This property grants the wearer of the armor spell resistance while worn. The wearer gains spell resistance 20; if the wearer already has spell resistance, it gains a +5 bonus to its spell resistance.

A character with effective fighter levels gains spell resistance equal to 10 + its effective fighter levels, with a minimum of 20.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

SPELL RESISTANCE, IMPROVED [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Armor
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 22) abjuration
Activation: --
Synergy Prerequisite: Spell resistance

This armor is surrounded by a blue-green glow. It seems to resist magical divinations, though this is only an assumption; it shows the same traits with other forms of magic.

This property grants the wearer of the armor spell resistance while worn. The wearer gains spell resistance 25; if the wearer already has spell resistance, it gains a +10 bonus to its spell resistance.

A character with effective fighter levels gains spell resistance equal to 15 + its effective fighter levels, with a minimum of 25.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

SPELL RESISTANCE, GREATER [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Armor
Caster Level: 20th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 25) abjuration
Activation: --
Synergy Prerequisite: Improved spell resistance

This armor is surrounded by a blue-green glow. It seems to resist magical divinations, though this is only an assumption; it shows the same traits with other forms of magic.

This property grants the wearer of the armor spell resistance while worn. The wearer gains spell resistance 30; if the wearer already has spell resistance, it gains a +15 bonus to its spell resistance.

A character with effective fighter levels gains spell resistance equal to 20 + its effective fighter levels, with a minimum of 30.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

UNDEAD COMMANDING
Price (Item Level): +2 bonus
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 13th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 21) necromancy
Activation: --

This armor or shield is decorated with a bone motif, as if made from an unusually large skeleton’s breast bones, but it does not interfere with the protection granted by it. Hanging from the left shoulder plate is a chain that connects to a bone-carved holy symbol.

Armor of undead controlling aids the wearer in the ability to control undead. The wearer (or wielder, if a shield) of this item gains a +5 bonus on checks to rebuke (or control) undead and a +5 bonus to its caster level when using control undead (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/controlUndead.htm). The wearer (or wielder) is considered as brandishing its holy symbol when casting spells.

Once per day, as part of the action used to rebuke undead, the wearer (or wielder) may activate the abilities of this armor. If doing so, the wearer (or wielder) of this item automatically controls all undead creatures it would otherwise rebuke.

Prerequisites: creator must be capable of rebuking undead.
Cost to Create: varies

And here we are, with special qualities for both armor and shields!

It's my personal appreciation that, while weapons have cool special properties, armor...is pretty barebones. I don't get excited if I find a +1 Full Plate of Greater Cold Resistance, because I can just cast Magic Vestment and Resist Energy and get the exact same benefit. About the only interesting ones were Invulnerability (too little, too late), Fortification (the best bar none, but TOO expensive) and...I dunno, Reflecting? MIC had some more interesting ones like Healing, but in the end, when making a custom suit of armor, everything looks so...bland.

Thus, you'll see that these improvements to armor and shield properties are far more extensive and interesting than those of the weapons. These are the kinds of boosts I like to see, and part of what made me retool magic items entirely.

For example: you'll notice that Energy Resistance items are now more effective in the hands of Fighters. An Improved Energy Resistance armor (or shield) provides at 20th level the same protection as Resist Energy cast by an 11th level caster, while Greater Energy Resistance armor provides a degree of protection that's unrivaled; virtually NOTHING has energy resistance over 30, so Fighters get some huge protection. This, of course, makes them more useful, and since their cost is fixed, you can afford to add more stuff to your armor without making it Epic, in terms of cost.

You'll also notice three things: Invulnerability is now a must-have (sure, DR 15/magic is bypassed by just about everything, but if your armor happens to be made of adamantine, that's DR 16~18/-, which is bypassed by no physical attack (save for Mountain Hammer and upgrades, but hey; it's fair), AND Greater Invulnerability also boosts your AC by a nice amount. You'll notice that an Adamantine Full Plate of Greater Invulnerability sports a base armor bonus to AC of +11, and that gets just better with the DR 18/-; you can call yourself just about invulnerable with this. A +5 Adamantine Mechanus Gear of Greater Invulnerability sports the absolute highest bonus to AC (a whopping +18) and the same amount of DR, which makes it THE investment for anyone who wants protection. The second one is that Spell Resistance is now not just worthwhile, but cheaper: Greater Spell Resistance armor nets you a nice SR 30 (or, if you're a Fighter, SR 40 at level 20) for a mere +3 bonus. Sure, it makes casting spells on you a veritable pain (fortunately you can lower that spell resistance, no?). If you happen to be a Drow, or using one of the Retooled Classes which are trigger-happy with SR, you can net a massive SR 50, which is tantamount to saying "no" to any spellcaster that dares to cast spells with SR: Yes (too bad spells with SR: No still work, but that's why you get a Reflecting Shield, no?). The third, of course, is that Fortification retains its usual goodness but it's now cheaper: Heavy Fortification is now a +3 bonus.

Make the calculation: a +1 Greater Invulnerability Full Plate of Greater Spell Resistance and Heavy Fortification costs roughly the same as a +10 armor, pre-epic, and provides three MASSIVE boosts to defense. Compared to before (where a +1 Full Plate of Invulnerability, Heavy Fortification and Spell Resistance 19 ALREADY exceeded the Epic cost threshold by a +3, and the effects are nowhere near as strong), the boost is just immense. But fair. I mean, you're spending good money on armor, so make it count. Oh, and Bracers of Armor have a change, which is both good and bad; you'll see later on, when Clothes are posted.

That leads to the "skill boosting" armor properties, which are also AWESOME. Sure, Shadow, Silent Moves and Slick are still pretty boring at first (cheaper, though, and good enough for Light Armor), but once you get that +1 for their Improved versions...minds get blown. Improved Shadow nets you Darkness and free concealment (easily beaten, but still formidable enough), while Greater Shadow nets you Deeper Darkness AND a bonus to Disguise while at it, plus more efficient concealment; Improved Slick AND Greater Slick give you a chance to use Freedom of Movement, and the Greater Slick version gives you that use twice per encounter, meaning you could easily get up to 8 uses (and lets you save other ways to get Freedom of Movement for when you're outside of battle); Greater Slick also nets you the equivalent of Blueshine armor while at it, which is pretty cool. Silent Moves is the oddball here, as the Improved version nets you a single use of Silence (which is a nice area), but the Greater version nets you Zone of Silence, which is smaller AND you can hear anything within the area. Chalk it up on why Zone of Silence is higher-level than Silence, tho. Also, Greater Silent Moves nets you decent resistance to acid and rust, though nowhere near the effect of Slick (or Blueshine, while at it). As you can see, all three went from barely noticeable to effin' AWESOME. That's the idea, of course.

That leaves us with the properties that grant effects. Arrow Deflection basically nets you Deflect Arrows, so why not make it so that it GRANTS Deflect Arrows as a feat, but while using a shield? While at it, why not make it so that it boosts uses of Deflect Arrows AND Block Arrows, it's "wielding a shield" equivalent? And, hey, why not allow Fighters to deflect ranged touch spells while at it!? A 20th level Fighter might just have ruined the Mailman's trick forever with this item (after all, the Fighter has the advantage on that one, what with adding your entire shield bonus to AC on top of your effective Fighter level as a bonus to the opposed check), though it still doesn't break the Wizard's myriad of tricks. But hey, we're whittling them down: between Greater Slick Armor, Greater Spell Resistance Armor and Shield of Arrow Deflection, we've covered everything save for SR: No spells that require no ranged touch attack. This means area spells and a few others...

...which is where Reflecting Shield comes in. Reflecting shields allow you to cast Spell Turning to deflect a single spell, but Fighters get extra uses. Now, this is pretty cool since that means that any spell that bypasses your formidable defenses will be returned back to caster, with full force behind, but what happens if the Wizard just HAPPENS to have Spell Turning cast as well? That is when, if your effective Fighter level exceeds its caster level, you get to pierce the target's Spell Turning field, creating no resonance field and affecting the caster directly. Now you see why I can't let spellcasters build these items? Legendary blacksmiths should be the ones building these, darn it to tarnation!

...Oh, I haven't finished yet. Well, Shields of Bashing work exactly as intended, though they have some redundancy; yes, I'm aware that all shields are supposed to place their enhancement bonus to both attack/damage and AC, but in case someone missed it, it's placed here. That means the enhancement bonuses don't stack (you don't get twice the bonus to attack & damage rolls when wielding a shield of bashing), but if for some reason it's not obvious, it's here. Blinding now works on metal armor, and offers a minor effect even when not active (dazzled is pretty minor, but it's still a nice penalty), so as long as you're on bright light (mix it with Daylight, and you get a nifty penalty to all opponents once you activate it); its blinding effect now improves if you're a Fighter. Etherealness now lasts longer (if you're a Fighter) and works exactly as Boots of Speed in terms of effect...at the cost of increasing the item's base price modifier (a sad, but necessary nerf to one of the worthwhile features; still cheaper so as long as the item's total cost doesn't exceed +7). Finally, Undead Controlling also boosts base price modifier, but it directly boosts Clerics and Dread Necromancers, so there's that.

Oh, and I mean it. Animated Shields no longer exist. If I could, I would take it from the original document of the DMG, go to the Maze of Many and throw it into an Oblivion Hole. You want to gain the benefits of a shield, you HAVE TO WIELD IT. Or, maybe have someone cast Shieldbearer on your behalf so that you can get the effect of an "Animated" Shield, but that implies having a spellcaster spend one of its precious and sacred spell slots, or spend money and XP and precious actions to cast it on your behalf, so it pays off. Plus, it only lasts for a while, so it's much better than having a shield you can send off floating, ruining S&B forever.

Thus, as you can see, armor is now far, far more useful than before (and it SHOULD, since it's pretty pathetic to have people with higher AC while wearing bracers, without respecting the worth of full plate armor), or so I hope. It all depends, of course, on Bracers of Armor and a few others (the usual Chahar-Aina and Dastana combination, of course), but these make armors and shields more competitive than before.

T.G. Oskar

2014-01-28, 02:22 AM

PSIONIC ARMOR AND SHIELD SPECIAL QUALITIES
The following is a list of changes to armor and shield special qualities present on the Expanded Psionics Handbook. Items with these qualities do not necessarily are specifically psionic items, and may be done through the use of Craft Magic Arms and Armor. Some magic items retain the same qualities: aporter (as Magic Item Compendium), floating (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/items/armorAndShields.htm#floating), gleaming (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/items/armorAndShields.htm#gleaming) (+2 bonus), linked (as per Magic Item Compendium),

AVERTER
Price (Item Level): +13,000 gp
Property: Shield
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: moderate (DC 18); enchantment
Activation: standard (command)

The design in this shield seems grotesque, unsettling. The precise details are largely unknown because it is difficult to look at it.

When activating an averter shield, all enemies who can see it must succeed on a DC 14 Will save or be overcome with a powerful aversion to the shield. For the remainder of the encounter and one minute thereafter, affected creatures do not approach within 30 ft. of the wielder. This effect is a mind-affecting compulsion ability.

If the wielder of an averter shield has levels in the fighter class or effective fighter levels, the saving throw DC against the effect is instead equal to 10 + half the wielder’s effective fighter levels + the wielder’s Charisma modifier.

The averter property functions once per encounter.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

HEARTENING
Price (Item Level): +2,000 gp
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: faint (DC 17); necromancy
Activation: immediate (command)

The design of the armor or shield has extra rivets and plaques in various areas, but retains its weight and mobility. Wearing the item makes the wearer feel invigorated to fight.

These suits of armor (or shields) allow the wearer (or wielder) to withstand wounds that would otherwise be fatal, or negate the effect of a blow. As an immediate action, the wearer (or wielder) of an armor of heartening (or shield of heartening) gains 15 temporary hit points, which lasts for up to 1 minute. The wearer (or wielder) of an armor of heartening (or shield of heartening) can be activated in response to an attack, after the result of the enemy attack roll is known but before the attacker rolls for damage,

The heartening property may be activated three times per day. If the character wears armor of heartening and wields a shield of heartening, it can activate both abilities on separate occasions.

If the wearer/wielder has levels in the fighter class or has effective fighter levels, the amount of temporary hit points is equal to 10 + the wearer’s/wielder’s effective fighter levels.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

HEARTENING, GREATER [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: moderate (DC 20); necromancy
Activation: immediate (command)
Synergy Prerequisite: Heartening

The design of the armor or shield has extra rivets and plaques in various areas, but retains its weight and mobility. Wearing the item makes the wearer feel invigorated to fight.

This suit of armor (or shield) works as the heartening property, except its ability may be activated once per encounter. If the item is activated outside of combat, it recharges after 1 hour or during the beginning of a new combat encounter.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

LANDING
Price (Item Level): +2000 gp
Property: Armor
Caster Level: 4th
Aura: faint (DC 17); transmutation
Activation: --

This suit of armor has a feather-and-cloud motif surrounding it, specifically on the front and back of the breastplate. While it is as heavy as usual, it seems to momentarily float in mid-air.

Armor of landing helps prevent the impact from falls. When falling more than 5 ft., armor of landing activates a feather fall effect on the wearer, negating the effects of the fall as per the spell, but affecting only the wearer.

Prerequisites
Cost to Create: varies

MANIFESTER
Price (Item Level): +800 gp
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 4th
Aura: faint (DC 17); universal
Activation: --

This suit of armor or shield holds a large gem embedded into a complex pattern that connects it with the body. A faint psychic aura concentrates within this gem.

A suit of manifester armor or a manifester shield holds a small repository of psychic energy for use by manifesters. This suit of armor (or shield) generates three power points, which may be used only on a single power. Unlike other items, the wearer (or wielder) of manifester armor (or a manifester shield) may use its own power point resource to augment this power, but cannot be used to activate a power of a higher cost, or use this item to augment a power manifested with the wearer’s (or wielder’s) power point resource.

Special: More advanced versions of this property exist. An armor or shield with the improved manifester ability generates seven power points per day, has an extra cost of 3000 gp and requires the manifester property. An armor or shield with the greater manifester ability generates eleven power points per day, has an extra cost of 4000 gp and requires the improved manifester property.

Prerequisites
Cost to Create: varies

MINDARMOR
Price (Item Level): +6,000 gp
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: faint (DC 17); abjuration
Activation: -- and immediate (mental)

This suit of armor or shield is comprised of a layer of tin embedded within the armor, with etchings upon the top layer carving a glyph of mental protection.

Designed to improve protection against mental assault, mindarmor (or mindshield) grants a +1 insight bonus on Will saves against mind-affecting abilities. Once per day, as an immediate action in response to being affected by a mind-affecting ability, the wearer (or wielder) of mindarmor (or mindshield) may improve this benefit to a +5 insight bonus. This bonus must be applied before making a saving throw against said ability.

Prerequisites
Cost to Create: varies

You may notice, much like with the psionic weapon properties and special qualities, that some of them appear as presented on the Magic Item Compendium. This is because, being the most "recent" version of the item and because it's good enough, it needs no change. That said, of those items that required a change, not just their traits were updated; their description was also altered, rephrased, so that it wasn't just a banal copy. With that note mentioned, let's go with the actual changes.

The first thing you'll notice and potentially chew on me is "why is Manifester Armor better than a Manifester Weapon?", to which the answer is "because Manifester Armor implies you're wearing a suit of armor, whereas a Manifester Weapon doesn't even has to be used in order to draw its power?" You may notice that the Manifester armor/shield property is a bit more flexible than that of the weapon, as it allows you to augment the manifested power with your own power point reserve; this is intentional. Unless you haven't found a better item for your Arms slot, you might have Bracers of Armor with this property, which kinda beats the purpose of it, but if you wear a shield, you'll immediately notice why the property is better (then again, Manifester buckler...nah, still considerable).

While I was making such a fuzz about how awesome it was that the Shadow Armor grants concealment, I noticed there's two other items that also grant it: the Greater Blurring armor from the MIC and the Gleaming property from the XPH. You'll also notice that Greater Blurring is far too expensive for its utility (20% miss chance through concealment every 10 minutes when you activate the Blur effect), and that Gleaming is also pretty expensive, even if it's basically the same as Greater Blurring but permanent. Gleaming is now slightly cheaper...roughly as cheaper as Greater Shadow Armor (if not more), and cheaper than Greater Blurring...since that's not exactly OGL anymore. That's what happens when WotC can't get its stuff right...

As for the rest, you'll notice that Heartening now grants a reasonable amount of temporary hit points (15 hit points is a better buffer than 5), and Greater Heartening extends your uses based on how many times you fight; it also became an armor property, because the original working only on shields made as much sense as putting peanut butter and jelly on the outside edges of the bread, rather than on the inside edges (you still make a sandwich with all ingredients, but it defeats the purpose of using bread to consume it and keep your hands clean). Landing is now basically another "Ring of Feather Falling", something that might frustrate Monks to no avail (but that still requires a magic item to work, and the Retooled Monk has a way to make its Slow Fall closer to Feather Fall in occasions). Mindarmor now grants an insight bonus to saves against mind-affecting abilities...well, a minor but permanent protection, in addition to the activated ability. This is a hybrid of the XPH and the MIC versions, making it cheaper than the XPH version but twice as expensive as the MIC one, and capable of providing an effect just by wearing it (the one thing that makes the MIC one poorly effective).

Finally, the Averter weapon has very few changes, aside from having the DC of its effect boosted if you're a Fighter. No big changes here.

NEW ARMOR & SHIELD SPECIAL QUALITIES
The following is a collection of new special armor and/or shield qualities.

ACID GUARD [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) abjuration and evocation
Activation: --
Synergy Prerequisite: Lesser acid guard

This suit of armor or shield is coated with a mild film of acid that drips to the floor, but does not harm the item.

Acid guard suits of armor or shields protect wielders from incoming damage by retaliating with a splash of acid. Any creature striking with a non-reach manufactured weapon or melee weapon takes 2d6 points of acid damage. This also applies to touch attacks and grapples.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

ACID GUARD, GREATER [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 22) abjuration and evocation
Activation: --
Synergy Prerequisite: Acid guard

This suit of armor or shield is coated with a thick sheath of acid that drips to the floor, but does not harm the item.

Greater acid guard suits of armor or shields protect wielders from incoming damage by retaliating with a splash of acid. Any creature striking with a non-reach manufactured weapon or melee weapon takes 4d6 points of acid damage. This also applies to touch attacks and grapples.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

ACID GUARD, LESSER
Price (Item Level): +3,000 gp
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) abjuration and evocation
Activation: --

This suit of armor or shield is coated with droplets of acid that drips to the floor, but does not harm the item.

Lesser acid guard suits of armor or shields protect wielders from incoming damage by retaliating with a splash of acid. Any creature striking with a non-reach manufactured weapon or melee weapon takes 1d6 points of acid damage. This also applies to touch attacks and grapples.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

ACROBAT
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Armor
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 18) transmutation
Activation: --

This suit of armor is form-fitting, made thinner and more elastic but without sacrificing defensive quality.

Acrobat armor is designed to reduce the bulkiness of armor when making acrobatic acts. The wearer ignores the armor’s Armor Check Penalty when making Balance, Jump or Tumble checks, and may make Tumble checks regardless of whether the armor is light, medium or heavy. As well, the wearer gains a +2 competence bonus on Reflex saves and a +5 competence bonus on Balance checks.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

DEFLECTING
Price (Item Level): +3 bonus
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 11th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) abjuration and evocation
Activation: --

This suit of armor or shield seems unusually clean and dry, despite the specks of rust here and there. The material of the armor can be touched, but only if pressed upon slowly.

Deflecting suits of armor and shields are prized by all warriors because of its uncanny property. A suit of armor or shield with the deflecting property adds its armor or shield bonus to AC to all touch attacks.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

FIRE GUARD [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) abjuration and evocation
Activation: --
Synergy Prerequisite: Lesser fire guard

This suit of armor or shield is surrounded by wisps of flame. Touching the armor or shield may cause a serious burn.

Fire guard suits of armor or shields protect wielders from incoming damage by retaliating with a small burst of fire. Any creature striking with a non-reach manufactured weapon or melee weapon takes 2d6 points of fire damage. This also applies to touch attacks and grapples.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

FIRE GUARD, GREATER [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 22) abjuration and evocation
Activation: --
Synergy Prerequisite: Fire guard

This suit of armor or shield glows red hot, and blazes surround it all over.

Greater fire guard suits of armor or shields protect wielders from incoming damage by retaliating with a burst of fire. Any creature striking with a non-reach manufactured weapon or melee weapon takes 4d6 points of fire damage. This also applies to touch attacks and grapples.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

FIRE GUARD, LESSER
Price (Item Level): +3,000 gp
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) abjuration and evocation
Activation: --

This suit of armor or shield is surrounded by small wisps of flame.

Lesser fire guard suits of armor or shields protect wielders from incoming damage by retaliating with a small burst of fire. Any creature striking with a non-reach manufactured weapon or melee weapon takes 1d6 points of fire damage. This also applies to touch attacks and grapples.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

ICE GUARD [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) abjuration and evocation
Activation: --
Synergy Prerequisite: Lesser ice guard

This suit of armor or shield is coated with a mild film of frozen water that feels icy cold to the touch, but does not harm the wearer, fumes flowing from it due to condensing water vapor.

Ice guard suits of armor or shields protect wielders from incoming damage by retaliating with a blast of cold. Any creature striking with a non-reach manufactured weapon or melee weapon takes 2d6 points of cold damage. This also applies to touch attacks and grapples.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

ICE GUARD, GREATER [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 22) abjuration and evocation
Activation: --
Synergy Prerequisite: Ice guard

This suit of armor or shield seems to be forged out of solid ice, but this is only a thick shell formed by all the frozen water. Touching the armor may cause frostbite.

Greater ice guard suits of armor or shields protect wielders from incoming damage by retaliating with a blast of cold. Any creature striking with a non-reach manufactured weapon or melee weapon takes 4d6 points of cold damage. This also applies to touch attacks and grapples.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

ICE GUARD, LESSER
Price (Item Level): +3,000 gp
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) abjuration and evocation
Activation: --

This suit of armor or shield is coated with a thin sheet of frozen dew, which feels cool to the touch.

Lesser ice guard suits of armor or shields protect wielders from incoming damage by retaliating with a blast of cold. Any creature striking with a non-reach manufactured weapon or melee weapon takes 1d6 points of cold damage. This also applies to touch attacks and grapples.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

LIGHTNING GUARD [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) abjuration and evocation
Activation: --
Synergy Prerequisite: Lesser lightning guard

This suit of armor or shield releases sparks every now and then, delivering a nasty jolt.

Lightning guard suits of armor or shields protect wielders from incoming damage by retaliating with a jolt of electricity. Any creature striking with a non-reach manufactured weapon or melee weapon takes 2d6 points of electricity damage (+2 if wielding a weapon mostly made of metal). This also applies to touch attacks and grapples.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

LIGHTNING GUARD, GREATER [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 22) abjuration and evocation
Activation: --
Synergy Prerequisite: Lightning guard

This suit of armor or shield has waves of energy snaking all around, the sucking sound of burned air roaring forth as the wearer engages in battle.

Greater lightning guard suits of armor or shields protect wielders from incoming damage by retaliating with a short-range bolt of lightning. Any creature striking with a non-reach manufactured weapon or melee weapon takes 4d6 points of electricity damage (+4 if made of metal). This also applies to touch attacks and grapples.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

LIGHTNING GUARD, LESSER
Price (Item Level): +3,000 gp
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) abjuration and evocation
Activation: --

This suit of armor or shield seems slightly unassuming, until touched; then, static clings into your hand, delivering a mild sting.

Lesser lightning guard suits of armor or shields protect wielders from incoming damage by retaliating with static. Any creature striking with a non-reach manufactured weapon or melee weapon takes 1d6 points of electricity damage (+1 if made of metal). This also applies to touch attacks and grapples.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

SONIC GUARD
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 8th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) abjuration and evocation
Activation: --

This suit of armor or shield hums and vibrates. When struck, the vibration stops, but a loud bang emerges forth.

Sonic guard suits of armor or shields protect wielders from incoming damage by retaliating with a sonic burst. Any creature striking with a non-reach manufactured weapon or melee weapon takes 1d8 points of sonic damage and must make a Fortitude save (DC 13) or be deafened for 1 round. This also applies to touch attacks. If grappling, the grappler takes a -4 penalty on grapple checks (instead of being deafened; no save) because of the unsettling vibrations.

Characters with effective fighter levels wearing sonic guard armor or wielding a sonic guard shield treat the save DC against the deafening effect as equal to 10 + half its effective fighter levels + the wearer’s Constitution modifier (or 13, whichever is higher).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

SPELUNKER’S
Price (Item Level): +3,000 gp
Property: Armor
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) transmutation
Activation: --

This suit of armor is lighter than the norm, and has various small spikes designed to punch through solid rock.

Wearers of spelunker’s armor ignore some of the difficulties of climbing by having reduced bulk in their armor and better grip. The wearer of spelunker’s armor gains a +5 competence bonus on Climb checks and ignores Armor Check Penalty when making Climb checks if placed on light armor.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

SPELUNKER’S, IMPROVED [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Armor
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) transmutation
Activation: --
Synergy Prerequisite: Spelunker's

This suit of armor is lighter than the norm, and has various protrusions to assist on climbing. The gauntlets (or gloves) of this armor are usually dry while in contact with stone in order to have an improved grip.

Wearers of improved spelunker’s armor ignore some of the difficulties of climbing by having reduced bulk in their armor and better grip. The wearer of spelunker’s armor gains a +10 competence bonus on Climb checks and ignores Armor Check Penalty when making Climb checks if placed on medium armor. Three times per day, the wielder may use spider climb as a 10th level caster.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

SPELUNKER’S, GREATER [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Armor
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) transmutation
Activation: --
Synergy Prerequisite: Improved spelunker's

This suit of armor is lighter than the norm, and has various protrusions to assist on climbing. The gauntlets (or gloves) of this armor are coated with a sticky material that greatly improves climbing, and the armor has internal harnesses that support its wearer’s weight.

Wearers of greater spelunker’s armor ignore some of the difficulties of climbing by having reduced bulk in their armor and better grip. The wearer of spelunker’s armor gains a +15 competence bonus on Climb checks and ignores Armor Check Penalty when making Climb checks if placed on heavy armor. The wearer also gains a climb speed of 20 ft.; three times per day, the wearer may move up to its land speed when climbing for 150 minutes.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

STINKY
Price (Item Level): +2 bonus
Property: Armor or shield
Caster Level: 8th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 19) conjuration
Activation: -- and standard (command)

The stench of this armor is hard to describe. At times, it is no more intense than the stink produced by leather soaked in sweat, but at times, it rivals the stink of a troglodyte or even the putridness of otyughs.

Arguably a disgusting proposal, stinky armor is no joke when considered by the discerning warrior that seeks the edge in combat. Whenever the wielder of a stinky armor (or the wielder of a stinky shield) is struck in combat, the attacker must make a Fortitude save against DC 15 or become sickened for 1 round.

Three times per day, the wielder may intensify the stench of the armor, creating the effect of a stinking cloud (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/stinkingCloud.htm) spell for 8 rounds, with the same Fortitude save DC as the sickening effect. The wearer is not affected by the stinking cloud’s nausea effect, but it is still affected by the concealment effect.

A character with effective fighter levels treats the save DC of the sickening effect (and the stinking cloud nausea effect) as equal to 10 + half the wearer’s effective fighter level + the wearer’s Constitution modifier or 15, whichever is higher. Furthermore, the sickening effect increases by 1 for every five effective fighter levels (2 rounds at 5th, 3 rounds at 10th, and so on), and the duration of the stinking cloud is equal to its effective fighter level.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

And, as disappointing as the Psionic Armor section was (in terms of size), the New Armor/Shield properties section more than compensates.

The Elemental Guards are yet another thing I like from DDO, but wished they'd work it better. The original (going from Minor to Greater) allowed you to deal 1d4 points of damage...at a 50% chance, then 1d4 points of damage, then 1d6 points of damage, then 2d6 for the Greater version. This is inexcusable, as those are the cheapest guards you could find; later on, when you got stuff like Haste Guard (get the effect of a Haste spell when hit at a 5% chance of activation), Crushing Salt Guard (something like 500 points of bludgeoning damage with a 3% chance of activation every hit) and Healer's Bounty (get the effect of a Heal spell with a 3% chance of activation), these abilities sorta lost steam. In order to make them somewhat useful here, I went for a 1d6/2d6/4d6 progression, making Greater Elemental Guards useful. Sonic Guard, much like in DDO, is unique in that it has no lesser or greater version, but it provides a deafening effect which stacks with effective Fighter levels.

Acrobat armor is designed with thief-acrobats, spies and catsuits in mind; it's strange NOT to see armor that helps you with acrobatic abilities, as you'd expect combat acrobats to be well protected. I didn't make more advanced versions because the main ability wasn't the bonuses to skill checks, but the ability to remove ACP from acrobatic skills. Spelunker's armor works almost as well as Shadow, Silent Moves and Slick (and it also shares the starting S on the word, too!), though its effect is somewhat weaker; a bonus on Climb checks and eventually permanent climb speed, a far cry from Deeper Darkness, Silence or Freedom of Movement. However, whenever you need to get into a mountain, spelunker's armor should be useful.

Yet, the ones you might be most curious about are the best of the properties there, and the most disgusting of them all. Deflecting is natural; while pretty expensive, having all that AC apply to your touch attacks is what every armor-wielding warrior strives for, and if applied to a shield, it saves you at least one feat slot (for Parrying Shield, that is; Shield Ward grants bonuses to other stuff as well, so it's strictly better), so it might end up being standard issue for armor. Stinky, on the other hand...is partly a joke and partly awesome. The joke part comes from the idea that the game usually addresses stink as something an enemy would use; you expect most of the heroes to be pretty clean, never thinking "why I can't use my B.O. as a weapon?" Stinky armor allows you to use A.S's.O. as a weapon, with a much more devastating effect. Having the ability to cast one of the three key low-level spells for Wizards (Stinking Cloud), while getting the immunities from it, makes Stinky Armor pretty awesome on its own right; you get concealment, your enemies can't act, and if using something like Stand Still and a way to pinpoint them, you can lock them on your own and make them unable to do ANYTHING...and the save DC will be far, far better than the Wizard's own. Considering they will suffer from the sickening effect, it's a very useful, albeit disgusting, property to have. Not in vain did I wrote that stinky armor "is no joke for the discerning warrior that seeks the edge in combat".

T.G. Oskar

2014-01-28, 02:49 AM

SPECIFIC ARMOR
The following is a list of changes to armor present on the Dungeon Master's Guide. Some magic items retain the same qualities: adamantine breastplate (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicArmor.htm#adamantineBreastplate), dragonhide plate (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicArmor.htm#dragonhidePlate), mithral shirt (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicArmor.htm#mithralShirt) (all non-magical),

ARMOR OF FORTUNE
Price (Item Level): 126,000 gp (22nd)
Body Slot: Body
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 21) divination and enchantment
Activation: -- and immediate (command)
Weight: as armor

This suit of armor is decorated with ten gems worth a total of one hundred gold pieces. The gems are traditionally related to good fortune.

Armor of fortune grants the benefit of good luck upon its wielder. This +3 banded mail (though it can be any kind of armor except padded and hide) grants a +1 luck bonus on all attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saving throws and skill checks. Furthermore, once per day as an immediate action, the wearer of this armor can reroll a saving throw or force the opponent to reroll an attack roll. If this ability is used, the armor of fortune loses its luck bonus until the next day. The reroll must be used before the result of the earlier roll is known.

Prerequisites: Creator must have access to the Luck domain.
Cost to Create: 62,250 gp + 10 gems costing 100 gp + cost of masterwork armor + 100 gp; 4980 xp; 125 days

CELESTIAL ARMOR
Price (Item Level): 22,400 gp + cost of medium armor (15th), or 25,900 gp + cost of heavy armor (16th)
Body Slot: Body
Caster Level: 8th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) abjuration and transmutation
Activation: -- and swift (command)
Weight: half of armor

This exquisite suit of armor is made of fine silver and gold that glistens in the light. It is unusually light, but it offers great protection against the forces of evil.

Crafted by the finest celestial armorsmiths, celestial armor is prized for its superior craftsmanship. Celestial armor can be either a chainmail, breastplate, half-plate or full plate armor. While made of silver (or gold), celestial armor is treated as made of mithral, with the following traits: its maximum Dexterity bonus increases by 6 (instead of 2) and its arcane spell failure is reduced by 15% (instead of 10%). The celestial armor is also a +2 armor with a permanent protection from evil (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/protectionFromEvil.htm) effect cast upon. If the wearer has wings, the armor does not interfere with its flight capabilities.

Two times per day, as a swift action, the wearer of a celestial armor can activate the effect of a fly (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/fly.htm) spell cast by an 8th level sorcerer.

An evil creature wearing celestial armor takes one negative level while wearing it. The negative level remains as long as the wearer uses the armor and disappears when the armor is no longer worn. This negative level never results in actual level loss, but it cannot be overcome in any way (including restoration spells) while the armor is worn, except as follows. This effect may be negated by applying unholy water to the celestial armor (3 vials for a Medium creature; increase or decrease by 1 for each size category, to a minimum of 1 vial), but this negates the protection from evil and fly effects and only works for a day.

Prerequisites: Creator must be good aligned.
Cost to Create: 11,200 gp (medium) or 12,950 (heavy) plus cost of armor; 896 (medium) or 1036 (heavy) armor; 23 (medium) or 26 (heavy) days.

DEMON ARMOR
Price (Item Level): 80,050 gp (20th)
Body Slot: Body
Caster Level: 12th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 21) abjuration [evil]
Activation: --
Weight: as full plate

This plate armor is fashioned to make the wearer appear to be a demon. The helmet is shaped to look like a horned demon head, and its wearer looks out of the open, tooth-filled mouth.

This +4 full plate armor (though it may also be any other kind of heavy armor) grants its wearer fiendish traits. The wearer is constantly protected by a protection from good (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/protectionFromGood.htm) spell.

The gauntlets and vambraces of the demon armor are designed in such a way that they end up in long, sharp claws. Because the tips of the claws are actually tied to the shoulder plates instead of the claws or vambraces, the wearer may use different items on hands and claws without losing the property. These claws deal 1d10 points of damage and have an effective enhancement bonus equal to the armor’s enhancement bonus. The claws are evil-aligned for purposes of bypassing damage reduction.

The armor bestows one negative level on any nonevil creature wearing it. This negative level persists as long as the armor is worn and disappears when the armor is removed. The negative level never results in actual level loss, but it cannot be overcome in any way (including restoration spells) while the armor is worn.

Prerequisites: Creator must be evil.
Cost to Create: 39,200 gp plus cost of masterwork full plate; 3136 xp; 79 days

DWARVEN PLATE
Price (Item Level): 20,000 gp (15th)
Body Slot: Body
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) abjuration
Activation: --
Weight: 75 lbs.

This exquisite suit of full plate armor is the masterpiece of dwarven armorsmiths. Unenchanted, it grants greater protection than mundane armor (at the expense of speed), but the enchantments woven into it further improve their protective qualities.

Custom-made for the wearer but mostly seen amongst the bravest of dwarven warriors; dwarven plate rivals the defensive qualities of any armorsmith. Dwarven plate is a +1 adamantine full plate, except that its base armor bonus to AC is 10 (thus, it offers a +11 armor bonus to AC), its maximum Dexterity bonus is 0, and it grants damage reduction 5/-.

Prerequisites: Creator must be a dwarf.
Cost to Create: 1750 gp plus cost of adamantine full plate; 140 xp; 20 days.

ELVEN CHAIN
Price (Item Level): 6,930 gp (chainmail, 11th) or 2,475 gp (chain shirt, 7th)
Body Slot: Body
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 17) abjuration
Activation: --
Weight: 20 lbs. (chainmail) or 12 lbs. (chain shirt)

This extremely light chainmail is made of very fine mithral links. Its design contains stylized leaves and a chain design that flows like water.

Only granted to the most dexterous of elven warriors and bladesingers, elven chain is a masterpiece of elven craftsmanship. Elven chain is a +1 mithral chainmail or +1 mithral chain shirt, except its maximum Dexterity bonus is 4 points higher (instead of 2; thus, a chainmail has a MDB of 6 while a chain shirt would have a MDB of 8), its Armor Check Penalty is entirely removed, and its armor spell failure chance is reduced by 20% (thus, a chainmail only has a 10% armor spell failure chance, while chain shirts offer no such penalty).

Prerequisites: Creator must be an elf
Cost to Create: 315 gp plus cost of mithral chainmail, or 113 gp plus cost of mithral chain shirt; 25 (chainmail) or 9 (chain shirt) xp; 7 (chainmail) or 3 (chain shirt) days.

PLATE OF SPEED
Price (Item Level): 29,500 gp (16th)
Body Slot: Body
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) transmutation
Activation: -- and swift (command)
Weight: 25 lbs.

This suit of plate armor is lighter than the norm, but this is not its main property. While worn, the wearer feels swifter, faster than if not wearing the armor itself.

A suit of armor designed with swiftness and strong protection in mind, the plate of speed is a +1 mithral full plate of speed (see Magic Item Compendium for details about the speed armor quality), except as follows: the wearer may move at its base land speed (ignoring the speed penalty despite being treated as medium armor), and the haste (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/haste.htm) effect lasts for 5 rounds.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 14,000 gp plus cost of masterwork armor; 1120 xp; 28 days.

PLATE ARMOR OF THE DEEP
Price (Item Level): 26,650 gp (16th)
Body Slot: Body
Caster Level: 11th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 21) transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: 50 lbs.

This dull black suit of armor is decorated with a fish motif. A layer of small “scales” of metal replaces the typical chain mail coverings, and fin-like protrusions in the vambraces and greaves hold a rubbery, velvety material. The helmet is almost completely air-tight, with two fin-like protrusions on the sides.

Offering the best protection for underwater combat, plate armor of the deep covers all possible challenges that any kind of aquatic environment may offer. This +1 full plate of the deepdweller (see Magic Item Compendium for details about the deepdweller armor quality) grants the wearer a swim speed of 20 ft. Furthermore, any attack done with non-piercing weapons while wearing plate armor of the deep takes no penalties while underwater.

Prerequisites: Creator must have the aquatic subtype
Cost to Create: 12,500 gp plus cost of masterwork full plate; 1000 xp; 25 days.

RHINO HIDE
Price (Item Level): 51,885 gp (18th)
Body Slot: Body
Caster Level: 9th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 19) abjuration and transmutation
Activation: -- and swift (command)
Weight: 30 lbs.

Made from the hide and the bones of a rhinoceros, this suit of armor offers superb protection and excellent mobility. At times, the spirit of the slain rhino urges you to charge heedlessly, the horn adorning your head vibrating with excitement.

Form-fitting and suitable for combat, the rhino hide is a +2 hide armor but works better than other forms of hide. The rhino hide provides a +6 base armor bonus to AC (instead of +3; thus, it offers a total of +8 to armor class), a natural armor bonus of +1 (which can be improved further with enhancement bonuses to natural armor), a movement speed of 30 ft., an armor check penalty of -1 and a +2 enhancement bonus to Strength checks. The wearer gains a gore attack which it may use as part of a charge, as a secondary natural attack.

Three times per day, as a swift action, the wearer may summon a burst of Strength and rush upon its enemy. The wearer’s enhancement bonus to Strength increases by 4 (thus, it grants a +6 bonus) for 1 round; if the wearer makes a charge attack, it deals double damage. The wearer always does double damage with its gore attack, whether the ability is active or not.

Prerequisites: Creator must be a druid
Cost to Create: 25,860 gp, 2069 xp; 52 days.

So, while the armor section suffered only a few changes (for its size, that is; it has a section of its own pretty much), it's components suffered quite the change. There's a reason why I mentioned I was excited more for armor than for weapons.

As you can see, while the Adamantine Brestplate, Dragonhide Plate and Mithral Shirt remain the same as ever (since they're not really that special, and the Mithralmist Shirt does Mithral Shirt pretty much better), the rest are turned into pretty good stuff.

Let's start with the former Banded Mail of Luck, now turned into the Armor of Fortune. The original suit forced you to use a sub-par weapon for the ability to force a creature to reroll an attack roll once per day, which isn't that awesome. The newer version now grants you a decent luck bonus to various rolls, and the reroll now can be used to reroll a saving throw, so the protection effect of the item is now much, much better (though expending the luck reroll sorta has the same effect, so watch out when to use it). Note that you pretty much gain the effects of the Prayer spell permanently, until you spend your luck reroll.

I recall someone (whose name I won't say, not a fan of promotion) telling me whether the Celestial Armor could be placed on other kinds of armor rather than Chain Mail. I went with it and made Celestial Armor less of a magical property and actually its own kind of armor AND its own magical property. Thus, you could seek to disenchant Celestial Armor and keep some of its properties. Also, without the +2 enhancement bonus, the permanent Protection from Evil effect and the uses of Fly, it's actually pretty cheap. That said, it DOES have permanent Protection from Evil, which is great defense against mind-affecting abilities, and it's formidable for characters that like to have some decent Dexterity without losing that much AC. Oh, and before you mention "+6 MDB is just excessive!", I'd like to mention the max. Dexterity bonus to AC for chainmail suits is a +2, while Celestial Armor grants a +8 to MDB, so this is taken straight from the source. I just reduced the enhancement bonus to a +2, made the weapon officially behave as mithral and added the Protection from Evil effect. Oh, and the little fluffy bit where you can wear it even if non-good by using unholy water, but by losing the magical effects. That should come as a surprise for many (including an example on how to disenchant Celestial Armor, that is).

Demon Armor, on the other hand, hasn't changed much aside from one or two things. It now applies to any kind of heavy armor (not just full plate), it's about 30% more expensive, it has permanent Protection from Good as a magical effect, and the vambraces lose their bland disease effect for having the claws' enhancement bonus equal to the bonus of the armor itself (sorta like what you get with the shield).

Dwarven Plate and Elven Chain are the finest examples of what I mean with "specific kinds of armor and weapons should be unique on their own right"; they're better than the originals, even though they're otherwise pretty barebones if you want to enchant them any further. Dwarven Plate originally was an adamantine full plate, so it was not really unique. Now, it's not just a +1 suit of armor (and pretty close to the cost of the original; just exactly 3,500 gp more expensive, and 1,000 of those pieces are mostly on the enhancement bonus), but its base armor bonus to AC is higher, and its DR is ALSO higher. Remember when I mentioned the Greater Invincibility property? With this sturdy plate, you can achieve DR 20/- rather easily, and have a base armor bonus to AC of +12 without adding enhancement bonuses. Elven Chain, on the other hand, was essentially the same as the Mithral Shirt (a fluff addition to what's basically a mithral chainmail), but now it's the finest form of Elven craftsmanship by making an item that's pretty close to Celestial Armor itself, though somewhat more limited (only to chain-linked armor; it works on chain shirts, though, something that Celestial Armor doesn't). As you can see, both examples distinguish themselves from their equivalents (Adamantine Full Plate, Mithral Chainmail) by having an extra edge that makes them exceptional.

The same, of course, goes for Rhino Hide. Hide armor, as you know, is pretty much pointless; sure, Druids might seek to use it, but its protective qualities are worse than wearing friggin' Studded Leather, so why would you wear one kind of armor when the other is clearly better? In this case, Rhino Hide provides protection equivalent to the weakest form of heavy armor, but still counts as medium armor, allows you to move like if wearing light armor, though you get more stringent restrictions to maximum Dexterity (which you might probably ignore). What's more, you get an enhancement bonus to Strength for pretty much nothing (just the cost of armor, of course), AND a free gore attack. It's a pretty strong contender, if you think about it. Then, you add the rage-like effect, and the double damage on a rage... You know, I think I should stop inspiring myself on such an obvious villain when working this, or maybe it should be the opposite?

As for the remaining ones (Full Plate of Speed, Full Plate of the Deep), they're pretty straight-forward. The Magic Item Compendium made their uniqueness somewhat redundant (with the Speed, Deepdweller and...well, Commander isn't as unique, but it's pretty close, so Breastplate of Command is probably an oversight), so they need to be boosted up to date, and here's how they went. The Full Plate of Speed turns the Haste effect from 10 rounds per day to three sets of 5 rounds each, which is just as good. It's still Mithral, but its movement speed is now equal to that of Light Armor (that means, no restriction at all), which should make it interesting enough. As for the Full Plate of the Deep, the Deepdweller effect provides the exact same benefit, so to make it distinct enough, it now possesses the ability to allow you to fight freely while underwater, about the only thing you miss. Thus, the Full Plate of the Deep will end up being better, unless you raid Stormwrack and get that other property that lets you fight freely, and even then, it'll always be cheaper.

Next come the original suits of armor I "designed". As you can see, if you have any ideas for weapons or armor that you feel must exist, think about how they're better than the original in just about every aspect. In fact, three of the suits of armor I'll present aren't really that unique (they're stealth retools), AND at least two of them were downgraded from Epic levels. You'll see which.

T.G. Oskar

2014-01-28, 02:52 AM

NEW SUITS OF ARMOR
The following is a collection of new magic suits of armor.

DRAGONSCALE MAIL
Price (Item Level): 9,800 gp (12th)
Body Slot: Body
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint (DC 17); abjuration
Activation: --
Weight: 30 lbs.

This suit of scale mail is crafted from the scales of a single armor. The scales hold a small amount of the dragon’s magical properties.

This suit of +1 scale mail comes in one of five colors: white, green, blue, black or red. Dragonscale mail has an armor bonus 2 points higher than the norm, and grants a +2 bonus to saving throws and resistance 10 against a specific element, based on the color of the scale:

White: cold
Green or Black: acid
Blue: electricity
Red: fire

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 4,200 plus cost of dragonskin scale mail; 336 xp

DRAGONSKIN PLATE
Price (Item Level): 23,700 gp (half-plate; 15th) or 25,500 gp (full plate; 16th)
Body Slot: Body
Caster Level: 13th
Aura: Strong (DC 21); abjuration
Activation: --
Weight: 50 lbs.

This suit of plate mail is made from the toughened skin of dragons. The skin holds a small amount of the dragon’s magical properties.

This suit of +1 half plate or +1 full plate comes in one of five colors: white, green, blue, black or red. Dragonskin plate has an armor bonus 2 points higher than the norm, and grants a +4 bonus to saving throws and resistance 20 against a specific element, based on the color of the scale:

White: cold
Green or Black: acid
Blue: electricity
Red: fire

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 11,100 gp plus cost of dragonskin half-plate or full plate; 888 xp

ECTOPLASMIC ARMOR
Price (Item Level): 32,000+ gp
Body Suit: Body
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: faint (DC 18); transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: half of armor

This suit of armor is made of a strange, semisolid and translucent material. The material is light and flexible enough to improve movement, but solid enough to provide maximum protection.

Combining flexibility and durability, ectoplasmic armor is literally made out of ectoplasm, magically (or psionically) solidified. Ectoplasmic armor is treated as if made out of one category lighter for purposes of determining its qualities; thus, ectoplasmic full plate is treated as medium armor for purposes of maximum base land speed. Furthermore, ectoplasmic armor grants a maximum Dexterity bonus 2 points higher than the norm for the armor, a reduction to armor check penalty of 3 and an arcane spell failure chance reduction of 15%. Finally, ectoplasmic armor grants damage reduction based on the original (not modified) category; DR 1/- for light, DR 2/- for medium and DR 3/- for heavy. Thus, ectoplasmic full plate grants damage reduction 3/-. Ectoplasmic armor grants its armor bonus against incorporeal attacks, because of the composition of its form.

Because ectoplasmic armor is composed of magically solidified ectoplasm, it is vulnerable to magic attacks. If the wearer of ectoplasmic armor is subject to a dispel magic (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/dispelMagic.htm) or dispel psionics (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/dispelPsionics.htm) effect, it becomes slowed for the amount of rounds the magic effect is suppressed. Ectoplasmic armor is considered +4 armor, but it only provides a +1 enhancement bonus; thus, the cost of armor is that of a +4 armor, and adding extra effects that increase the item’s effective enhancement bonus increases the cost of the armor based on the new effective enhancement bonus, as usual.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: varies

GARGOYLESKIN SUIT
Price (Item Level): 24,165 gp (15th)
Body Slot: Body
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint (DC 17); abjuration and transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: 30 lbs.

This suit is made of what seems to be hide, but with the texture and toughness of stone. The suit’s cape seems to be comprised of two leathery wings which share the texture of the suit, but greater flexibility.

Made from the skin of a gargoyle perfectly preserved, the gargoyleskin suit sacrifices some mobility for greater defense. This suit of +1 hide armor of invulnerability grants a higher base armor bonus than the norm for hide (+6 instead of +3) but with a greater restriction towards mobility (MDB 3 and ACP -4). The wearer of gargoyleskin suit gains a +10 competence bonus to Jump checks and the ability to glide through means of its wing-like cape. The wearer negates a fall and may transport 20 ft. of forward travel for every 5 ft. of descent. The wearer glides at a speed of 30 ft. with average maneuverability. The wearer cannot glide while carrying a heavy load. If the wearer of gargoyleskin suit becomes unconscious or helpless while on midair, the wing-like capes unfurl and stiffen.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 12,000 gp plus cost of masterwork hide armor; 960 xp

GOLEM PLATE
Price (Item Level): 215,650 gp (26th)
Body Slot: Body
Caster Level: 17th
Aura: Strong (DC 23); enchantment
Activation: -- and swift (command)
Weight: 70 lbs.

This suit of armor is comprised of many layers of hard steel placed one over another, providing superior protection at the expense of mobility. The runes within the armor hum slowly, and flash whenever magic strikes.

Designed in resemblance to iron golems, the golem plate is the ultimate in protection, so as long as mobility is not an option. This suit of +1 full plate armor of heavy fortification and greater spell resistance provides a greater protection than typical plate armor (base armor bonus to AC of +12) but restricts movement slightly more (MDB 0, ACP -8, ASF 50%, -5 to base land speed). Furthermore, the armor provides damage reduction 15 against all attacks except those made from adamantine weapons. As a swift action, the wearer of a golem plate becomes immune to all spells, spell-like abilities, psionic powers, psi-like abilities, invocations, mysteries and supernatural abilities for up to 17 rounds per day. These rounds need not be consecutive.

While wearing golem plate, certain spells may work differently. A spell or attack that successfully deals cold damage temporarily slows the wearer for 3 rounds; if multiple cold attacks strike the wearer, the duration of the slow effect does not stack, but overlaps. A spell or attack that successfully deals fire damage (except heat metal (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/heatMetal.htm)) reduces some of the movement penalties of the wearer as if wearing normal full plate armor (MDB +1, ACP -6, ASF -35%) for 3 rounds; if multiple fire attacks strike the wearer, the duration of the movement penalty reduction does not stack, but overlaps. A spell or attack that deals electricity damage negated by the golem plate's spell resistance allows the wearer to use the armor’s spell-negating effect for 1 round for every 30 points of damage it would have otherwise dealt (but cannot exceed the maximum amount of rounds per day, except as seen below).

A character with effective fighter levels may use the spell-negating ability of the golem plate up to a number of rounds per day equal to 10 plus its effective fighter levels or 17, whichever is higher. This is in addition to the boost provided to the greater spell resistance property.

Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Craft Construct; approximately 500 lbs. of inanimate iron golem remnants or the following spells: geas/quest (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/geasQuest.htm), limited wish (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/limitedWish.htm)
Cost to Create: 112,000 plus cost of masterwork full plate; 8,160 xp

GOLEM SUIT
Price (Item Level): 56,165 gp (18th)
Body Slot: Body
Caster Level: 13th
Aura: Strong (DC 21); enchantment and transmutation
Activation: -- and swift (command)
Weight: 35 lbs.

This tattered, stitched suit of hide armor is made from alchemically treated flesh. The flesh seems to come from several donors, and the size of each patch is irregular in shape, size and color.

Taken from the flesh of slain flesh golems, the golem suit provides protection equivalent to theirs. This +1 hide armor of moderate fortification and improved spell resistance provides a greater protection than typical hide armor (base armor bonus to AC of +6) but with the same mobility traits as normal hide armor. Furthermore, the armor provides damage reduction 10 against all attacks except those made from adamantine weapons. As a swift action, the wearer of a golem suit becomes immune to all spells, spell-like abilities, psionic powers, psi-like abilities, invocations, mysteries and supernatural abilities for up to 13 rounds per day. These rounds need not be consecutive.

While wearing a golem suit, certain spells may work differently. Spells that deal electricity damage heal 1 point of damage for every 3 points that would have otherwise been dealt, and temporarily hastens the wearer for 3 rounds; multiple electricity attacks do not cause the duration of the haste effect to stack, but rather overlap. Despite being made of hide (and thus usable by druids), spells such as heat metal (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/heatMetal.htm) and chill metal (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/chillMetal.htm) affect the golem suit as if made out of metal. Finally, the wearer gains vulnerability to fire damage.

Prerequisites: Craft Construct, Craft Magic Arms and Armor; 1 fully inert flesh golem (head, hands and feet not required) or the following spells: bull’s strength (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/bullsStrength.htm), geas/quest (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/geasQuest.htm), limited wish (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/limitedWish.htm)
Cost to Create: 28,500 gp plus cost of masterwork hide armor; 2220 xp

HEDGEHOG HIDE
Price (Item Level): 3,515 gp (8th)
Body Slot: Body
Caster Level: 3rd
Aura: Faint (DC 16); no aura
Activation: -- and immediate (command)
Weight: 25 lbs.

This suit of hide is made of soft, yet resilient skin. Its back and arms are covered with seemingly thousands of quill-like hairs that stiffen whenever the wearer becomes tense.

Made of enchanted hedgehog hide, this suit of +1 spiked hide armor has spikes that deal damage as a +1 weapon. If the wearer fights defensively or uses the total defense action, any non-reach melee attack made against it must succeed on a Reflex save against DC 15 or take damage from the spikes. Likewise, as an immediate action in response to a non-reach melee attack, the wearer of hedgehog hide may make an attack with the spikes against the attacker. The spikes on a hedgehog hide armor must be enchanted separately.

A character with effective fighter levels wearing hedgehog hide imposes a Reflex save DC of 10 + half the character’s effective fighter levels + the enhancement bonus of the armor, with a minimum DC of 15.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 1500 gp plus cost of masterwork hide armor and masterwork armor spikes; 120 xp

MUSCLE ARMOR
Price (Item Level): 78,260 gp + cost of masterwork armor (19th)
Body Slot: Body
Caster Level: 11th
Aura: Moderate (DC 20); transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: as armor

This armor is tinted a deep crimson. The plate and shoulderpads are etched to resemble the muscles of a strong warrior.

A favored weapon of warriors (and those who wish to become warriors), muscle armor is a +1 breastplate (though it can also be a +1 half-plate or +1 full plate) that grants a +2 enhancement bonus to Strength and Constitution while wearing it. The wearer of this armor may upgrade the cost of the enhancement bonuses to Strength and Constitution at half the price it would take (see Magic Item Compendium for more details).

Certain classes gain a further benefit from wearing muscle armor. A barbarian’s damage reduction gained by class (if any) increases by 1 when wearing this armor, and increases the bonuses to Strength and Constitution granted by rage by an extra 2 points (thus, a barbarian of 9th level or lower gains a +6 bonus to Strength and Constitution); finally, the barbarian takes no Armor Class penalty when raging with this armor, and doesn’t becomes fatigued at the end of the rage. A fighter wearing this armor gains a +4 bonus on all Strength checks (such as those required to break doors, disarm, trip and bull rush) and may lift 1.5 times its heavy load (increasing light and medium load by an equal amount).

If the character has no effective fighter levels, once per day it may activate the benefit of a Tenser’s transformation (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/transformation.htm) spell for I minute. At the end of this transformation, the character becomes exhausted for 1 hour.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 39,130 gp plus cost of masterwork armor; 3131 xp

RUST CARAPACE
Price (Item Level): 57,350 gp (18th)
Body Slot: Body
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate (DC 18); transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: 15 lbs.

This breastplate is made of a rust-red carapace with parts of shell and hide. Metal objects nearby seem to rust with unnatural swiftness.

This +1 breastplate is made from the hide and shell of a slain rust monster. When the wearer of a rust carapace is struck by a metal weapon, the wearer of such weapon must make a Reflex save against a DC of 12 or have the weapon immediately destroyed. Magic weapons add their enhancement bonus as a bonus to the saving throw. If the metal weapon has any sort of protection against rusting effects, the item is unaffected.

A character with effective fighter levels wearing rust carapace imposes a Reflex save DC of 10 + half the character’s effective fighter levels + the enhancement bonus of the armor, with a minimum DC of 12.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 28,000 gp plus cost of masterwork breastplate; 2240 xp

As you can notice, the new suits of armor pretty much overwhelm the existing ones, and are meant to be quite interesting.

Let's start with those that already exist, to a point. First, we get the Dragonskin Plate, which is basically the Dragonhide Plate turned into magical armor and given utility, but also distinguished from original dragonhide armor. The +4 bonus on saving throws is a nice bit, and the resistance echoes the immunity you're naturally supposed to get if you were a dragon of the same kind. There's no metallic dragon versions, but you can figure out how they might work. Dragonscale Mail is basically scale mail given the same treatment, but somewhat weaker: +2 to saving throws and resistance 10 is nice, but not overwhelming. At the very best, you get an item with a free resistance stuck upon, but with the changes to energy resistance you're pretty much getting the item for its saving throw bonus.

The other two are the Golem Suit and the Golem Plate. I mentioned I "downgraded" two items from the Epic Level Handbook to regular use, and here they are. If you're curious, both are based on an original Major Artifact (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/magicItems/artifacts.htm#golemArmor), something I didn't notice until much later, but the differences are vast. The Golem Suit is based on the flesh golem, and while offering better protection than typical hide, it has its own set of restrictions and vulnerabilities (particularly the fire vulnerability and the vulnerability to Heat Metal). Golem Plate is its full plate armor/iron golem equivalent, and the closest to the aforementioned Major Artifact; grants the same DR, slightly less AC overall but more base AC than the original, plus a cool effect if you get hit by electricity or fire, at a heavy mobility cost and deadly vulnerability to cold (much like the Construct Armor from that web article based on Cannith crafts). The original, of course, has no cost and gives you heavy defenses, including construct immunities but also the inability to heal at all (and a hefty enhancement bonus to Strength + actual size increase, forgot to mention). Thus, all of them are pretty distinct, allowing their odd coexistence. One thing I don't want to forgot mentioning is the incredibly awesome effect that allows you to negate far more than a Golem is supposed to negate, and which the Golem Plate allows you to regenerate (slowly but surely); basically, you have a small-scale Antimagic Field around you which blocks more than just magic, for a very small amount of time, but without negating your own magic items, so it is particularly great. For about a minute, you negate the most powerful classes' most powerful effects, and the way it's written, it blocks just about any effect thrown at you, whether it bypasses spell resistance or not, and even if it's mostly indirect (like Conjuration spells). It should even block the effects of a Miracle or Wish spell, through it doesn't negate the effect of magic items used against you (unless they cast a spell on you). It's quite probably the most powerful defense you can have, and this is IMMENSE. A way to give the metaphorical finger to the casters, of course.

Of the rest, I'm particularly fond of Muscle Armor. It has a very LOOSE basis on Final Fantasy (if you don't know, think about how their Fighter is usually depicted...), but with some nifty abilities. Fighters get some goodies, but the armor is definitely meant for Barbarians, who can wear Medium armor in case you haven't forgotten. It's also nice for non-warriors that choose to wear it for some reason, but want to feel like warriors for once (though, they must endure not using magic of any kind, so...)

Ectoplasmic Armor is...bizarre. It's part special material, part enhancement and part exclusive armor. As you can see, Ectoplasmic Armor combines the effects of Adamantine and Mithral plus Ghost Touch, at a fixed +4 cost (+1 armor plus the equivalent of a +3 property), so while you can't add many properties to it, it's already pretty cool. It's much like Riverine, which blurs the effect of magical and non-magical, so its one reason why it has that drawback. Just try not to get dispelled.

Gargoyleskin Suit, Hedgehog Hide and Rust Carapace are suits of armor based on creatures (gargoyles, hedgehogs and rust monsters, respectively). When I was figuring ways to create interesting new suits of armor, looking at the Rhino Hide (and how hide armor is vastly underrepresented) and the beast-based suits of armor (Hawkfeather Armor, Owlfeather Armor, Tigerskin Suit) gave me ideas. The Gargoyleskin Suit allows you to glide (much like a Dragonborn or a Raptoran of low levels), and also benefits from the "specific armor must be unique" belief in that it provides better protection than basic hide armor in addition to its benefit; not exactly allows you to fly, but it's great if you fall (or get a way to be aloft). Hedgehog Hide is one of the few examples of spiked armor that isn't made of metal, and the spikes are likewise ready to be enchanted; it's also one of the cheapest suits of armor around. Rust Carapace is another kind of non-metallic armor Druids can wear, with the good (or bad) benefit of rusting away any metallic weapon that strikes it; your choice if it's good or bad, but if you're creating armor from Rust Monsters, might as well exploit their key property. That said, against most warriors, the Rust Carapace offers a devastating psychological defense because not even metal weapon-wielding opponents ran by the DM will risk their weapons, so it may be an awesome defense after all!

T.G. Oskar

2014-01-28, 02:53 AM

SPECIFIC SHIELDS
The following is a list of changes to shields present on the Dungeon Master's Guide. Some magic items retain the same qualities: darkwood buckler (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicArmor.htm#darkwoodBuckler), darkwood shield (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicArmor.htm#darkwoodShield), mithral heavy shield (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicArmor.htm#mithralHeavyShield) (all non-magical)

ABSORBING SHIELD
Price (Item Level): 540,000 gp (30th+)
Body Slot: -- (held)
Caster Level: 17th
Aura: Strong; (DC 23) abjuration
Activation: -- and swift (command)
Weight: as heavy shield

This heavy steel shield is pitch black, seemingly absorbing up to one inch around it. Upon close examination, some sort of jewels adorn it.

Useful for warriors facing spellcasters, absorbing shields absorb the power of the thrown spell and use the energy for other uses. This +1 heavy steel shield can drain up to 7 levels of spells per day; any remaining levels of spells only have a partial effect (subtract the amount of spell levels absorbed from the level of the spell, then divide the result by the spell level to determine the fraction of the effect that crosses over). Once the spell levels are absorbed for the day, the absorbing shield remains a +1 heavy steel shield.

If the absorbing shield has absorbed spell levels, the wielder may use them in one of the following ways. By spending 1 spell level, the wielder may increase the enhancement bonus of the shield by 1 point for every spell level absorbed for a total of 17 minutes (up to a maximum of +5), which may apply to its Armor Class or to its attack and damage rolls. Alternatively, the wielder may expend 1 spell level to restore 1d8+5 points of damage per level, up to a total of 4d8+17 for 4 spell levels. Both effects may be used as a swift action.

If the wielder is proficient with an absorbing shield and is capable of casting spells, the wielder may expend absorbed spell levels to cast a spell. The spell must be one that the caster knows (or has prepared), and consumes an amount of spell levels equal to the level of the spell to be used; the spell is treated as if cast from the wielder by any other means.

A character with effective fighter levels may absorb an extra spell level at effective fighter level 6th, and every five levels afterwards (9 levels at 11th, 10 levels at 16th, and so on).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 269,415 gp plus cost of masterwork heavy steel shield; 21,553 xp, 540 days

CASTER’S SHIELD
Price (Item Level): 5,653 gp plus cost of scribed spell (if currently scribed)
Body Slot: -- (held)
Caster Level: 6th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 18) abjuration
Activation: -- and standard (spell completion)
Weight: as shield

This small wooden shield has runes written all over. Its back is made of parchment, with enough space to write up a single spell.

A special protective item that grants spellcasters an expanded choice of spells and a hint of spellcasting power to non-spellcasters, caster’s shields are in high demand. This +1 light wooden shield is covered in the back with parchment of the same quality as that used on scrolls, and can be used to write a single spell within. A spell so scribed requires only half its base cost in raw materials, although their experience point and component costs remains the same. Any spell can be written on the shield, but there is an element of risk in writing spells of higher power; any spell of 4th level or higher has a small chance (5% per spell level above 3rd) of destroying the shield upon cast. Once written, the spell can be used as if per a scroll; if the shield still remains after the use, the parchment can be rewritten and reused.

A spellcaster needs not be proficient with the caster’s shield to use it, and may use the spell written within so as long as the spell is on its spell list. The caster’s shield has no arcane spell failure chance when using the scribed spell or any spell cast upon, and the shield is designed to allow the use of somatic components with it. A non-spellcaster may make a Use Magic Device check to emulate the necessary requirements to use the spell, as usual.

A character with effective fighter levels may also use the scroll, counting as if having a caster level equal to its effective fighter level when using the spell. The character may not activate the scroll if the caster level of the written spell is higher than its effective fighter levels; however, if it exceeds the caster level of the scroll, it may use the spell as if its caster level was equal to its effective fighter levels. A character with spellcasting ability and effective fighter levels (such as a paladin or ranger) may use its own caster level if it’s higher than its effective fighter levels, but only for spells belonging to its spell list.

Prerequisites: Creator must have the Scribe Scroll (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#scribeScroll) feat and a minimum character level of 6th.
Cost to Create: 2250 plus masterwork light wooden shield, 180 xp, 45 days

LIONHEAD SHIELD
Price (Item Level): 54,160 gp (18th)
Body Slot: -- (held)
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) conjuration
Activation: -- and free or swift (command)
Weight: as shield

This steel shield is fashioned after the head of a lion, with brass gilding in different hues to assimilate the mane and skin. When wielded, the lion’s head seems to roar and strike of its own accord.

The lionhead shield is an excellent protective weapon, as it reinforces the power of attacks done with it. The lionhead shield is a +1 heavy steel shield of bashing with the roaring property (see Magic Item Compendium for more details). When using the lionhead shield to attack, the lion’s visage deals a bite attack that replaces the bashing, dealing damage as a lion of one size category larger than the shield and adding the enhancement bonus to the attack (thus, if a Medium character wields a lionhead shield meant for a Medium character, the shield bash deals 1d8+2 points of bashing damage). Three times per day as part of the bashing action with the shield (but only once per round), the wielder of a lionhead shield may attempt to initiate a grapple attempt after a successful attack, as per the improved grab (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbilities.htm#improvedGrab) special ability. The wielder takes a -10 penalty to the grapple check but otherwise may hold a creature grabbed with one hand, thus leaving the other hand free for other actions.

A character with effective fighter levels improves upon the use of a lionhead shield. The penalty on grapple checks is lessened by 1 for every three effective fighter levels, and may use the improved grab action one more time per day for every five effective fighter levels after the 1st. If so desired, as a swift action, the wielder may expend one of its daily uses of improved grab to initiate a pounce, adding a shield bash to the attack. The wielder is treated as if having the Two-Weapon Fighting (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#twoWeaponFighting) feat for purposes of attack roll penalties and treats the lionhead shield as a light weapon. If the wielder succeeds on at least one attack with a slashing weapon in its main hand and the shield bash, the wielder may rake the enemy, dealing damage equal to the slashing weapon’s damage plus half its Strength modifier.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 27,000 gp plus cost of masterwork heavy steel shield; 2160 xp; 55 days

SPINED SHIELD
Price (Item Level): 10,660 gp (13th)
Body Slot: -- (held)
Caster Level: 6th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 18) transmutation
Activation: Standard (command)
Weight: as shield

This shield is covered with large, thick spikes. The spikes on the shield seem to be designed to be removed.

Useful for close and mid-range combat, a spined shield provides a careful balance between offense and defense. This +1 spiked heavy steel shield of bashing provides a further +2 bonus to shield AC against slashing attacks because of its design. If used on a shield bash, the weapon acts as a +1 weapon that deals piercing damage as a spiked shield for a creature two size categories larger (1d10 for Medium creatures, 2d6 for Large creatures). As part of an attack action, the wielder of a spined shield can throw the spikes up to a distance of 120 ft., dealing the same damage as a shield bash but using the wielder’s Dexterity modifier for attack and damage rolls. This attack may be used up to three times before recharging. Firing one spike requires a recharge time of three minutes; two spikes require a recharge of four minutes, and all three spikes require a recharge of five minutes. If at least two spikes are thrown, the wielder loses its +2 bonus to AC against slashing attacks. The recharge time starts from the moment the last spike is thrown, unless the spikes have recharged already.

A character with effective fighter levels draws even more benefit out of the spined shield. At effective fighter level 6th, and every five effective fighter levels afterwards, the spined shield produces an extra spike that can be fired, and the AC bonus against slashing attacks increases by 1. If having at least one effective fighter level, the wielder may apply the AC bonus against slashing attacks to disarm checks against a slashing weapon.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 5240 gp plus cost of masterwork spiked heavy steel shield; 210 xp; 11 days

As you may see, this bit is pretty short, so I collapsed all shields I worked with into one page.

The original Absorbing Shield was...unusual, to say the very least. Essentially, you could use it to deliver a Disintegrate effect when allowing the shield to touch the item, which is somewhat counterproductive considering its effect. After thinking a bit, I made it into a cool effect, but one that's so expensive, it makes the Sword of the Planes look cheap. Then again, this is what you get when you multiply an 8th level spell by its caster level, THEN by 2,000 gp, and make it a basis for a Magic Vestment or a Cure Critical Wounds effect. Compared to that, the cost of the shield itself is negligible (a mere 1,000 gp). I may have jumped the bit on that one, so if you have a way to justify all these effects at a lesser price, I'd be thankful. In fact, I'd like to revise the cost of some of the weapons, given that they're somewhat more powerful than the norm but not deserving of price tags that make them inaccessible to most people.

In comparison, the Caster's Shield was moderately simpler: take the cost of creating a single scroll of 9th level, tack it to a shield, and give it the property to be reasonable for casters. The Caster's Shield is very similar to the original, but if you noticed what I just said, a much better proposal as you can, at considerable risk, imbue the item with a very potent spell. A 9th level spell has roughly 3/10ths of a chance to destroy the item, but the effect it delivers to Fighters means you can have someone cast a Wish on their behalf and compensate for the loss with an insanely powerful spell at its beck and call.

The Lionhead Shield has a fun effect, but I figured that I could do better. Hence, the Lionhead Shield deals less damage, has Improved Grab instead of its pseudo-pounce, and denies you some degree of action economy (you could use the benefit of the pseudo-pounce as a free action and the effect was intentionally additional to any actions the wearer could use). On the other hand, you can keep an opponent pretty much locked so as long as you can reliably beat the grapple check, and you can still pounce (just without the odd reading that allowed an interesting bit of action economy) with a rake thrown just for the heck of it. It's a bit more expensive, though, but the overall damage is somewhat better (compare 2d6 to 1d8+enhancement bonus to see which one is better; after a +4 enhancement bonus, the latter wins by a decent margin).

Finally, the Spined Shield was improved quite a bit. Not only does it give you an increased AC against slashing attacks (the spines catch pretty much all blades and foil the swipe of claws), but the spines regenerate much, MUCH faster than before. Furthermore, the Spined Shield now works better when bashing.

NEW SHIELDS
The following is a collection of new magic shields

MIRRORSHEEN SHIELD
Price (Item Level): 60,170 gp (18th)
Body Slot: -- (held)
Caster Level: 17th
Aura:
Activation: -- and immediate (command)
Weight:

This beautiful shield is made entirely of metal, polished to a degree that the surface reflects light. It always looks polished and lustrous.

This shield is prized not only for its durability, but for its reflective properties. This +1 reflecting heavy steel shield is immune to the destructive effects of acid and rust. The shield automatically reflects any spell with the [light] descriptor or that have “light” on its name (such as searing light (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/searingLight.htm)).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 30,000 gp plus cost of masterwork heavy steel shield; 2,400 gp, 61 days

SHIELD OF HEROES
Price (Item Level): 28,020 gp (16th)
Body Slot: -- (held)
Caster Level: 9th
Aura: Moderate (DC 19); transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: 6 lbs.

This disc-shaped shield is large, but deceptively light and dense. The shield has an outward red stripe, followed by a white stripe and another red stripe enclosing a blue circle, with a five-pronged white star in the middle.

A replica of a shield that once belonged to a legendary hero of a forgotten kingdom, the shield of heroes is a +3 ranged heavy adamantine shield of bashing, but is considered light for purposes of weight and other traits (thus, a character wielding a shield of heroes can hold somatic components and holy symbols in the hand). The shield deals damage based on its shield bash damage, even if used as part of a shield throw. Any weapon improvements to this shield apply both to shield bashes and shield throws. Furthermore, the wielder is treated as if having the Far Shot (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#farShot) feat, but only for shield throws. Finally, the shield is immune to damage from acid and rust.

A character with effective fighter levels can use this shield with greater efficiency. If the character has at least one effective fighter level, the shield returns to the user’s hand in the same round, thus allowing the wielder to make multiple ranged attacks. A character with six effective fighter levels may make a ricochet attack with the shield throw, hitting a second creature within 10 ft. of the primary target, so as long as the second creature is within range of the shield. This ricochet attack is done at a -5 penalty, and causes the weapon to return at the beginning of the wielder’s next turn. If the character can make extra attacks with the shield (such as by having the Improved (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#improvedTwoWeaponFighting) or Greater Two-Weapon Fighting (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#greaterTwoWeaponFighting) feat), the wielder may affect one (with Improved Two-Weapon Fighting) or two (with Greater Two-Weapon Fighting) more creatures with the ricochet attack, but each subsequent attack takes a cumulative -5 penalty (thus, a ricochet attack that affects three creatures has an attack penalty of 0/-5/-10, while one that affects four creatures has an attack penalty of 0/-5/-10/-15).

Paladins gain further benefits when wielding the shield. A paladin may make a ranged smite evil attack with the shield throw as a standard attack action, adding its Charisma modifier to the attack roll and its paladin class level to the damage dealt. Furthermore, the paladin is treated as having the Two-Weapon Fighting (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#twoWeaponFighting) feat when wielding this shield, but only for purposes of making shield bashes or shield throws as part of a full attack.

Prerequisites: creator must have the Far Shot and Two-Weapon Fighting (or Agile Shield FighterPHBII) feats.
Cost to Create:

SHIELD OF THE LEGION
Price (Item Level): 26,680 gp (16th)
Body Slot: -- (held)
Caster Level: 8th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 19) divination and transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: half of tower shield

This massive shield is designed for ease of use, lightweight yet capable of strong protection. The shield bears the insignia of an army.

Built for large-scale warfare, the shield of the legion is a +1 mithral tower shield of nimbleness (the nimbleness property still applies despite being a shield, see the Magic Item Compendium for more details on the property). This shield is meant to lock with other shields to provide great protection; if a character wielding a tower shield is within 5 ft. of the shield of the legion, the wearers of the shield gain a +1 enhancement bonus to their shield’s Armor Class, increases the maximum Dexterity provided by the shield by 1, and reduces the shield’s armor check penalty by 2 (as if the shield was also a +1 tower shield of nimbleness). If the wielder of a shield of the legion is within 10 ft. of another wielder with the same shield, both of the shields provide a synergistic effect: the enhancement bonus of the shield increases by 1 (up to a maximum of +5), the maximum Dexterity provided by the shield increases by 1, and the shield’s armor check penalty is reduced by 2 (to a minimum of 0). While this effect is active, all tower shields have a superposed glyph of the insignia floating over their surfaces.

If the wielder of a shield of the legion has levels on the fighter class (or effective fighter levels), it gains further benefits. A character with one effective fighter level can wield the shield without penalty (as if it had the Tower Shield Proficiency (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#towerShieldProficiency) feat, but only for purposes of wielding the shield). A character with more than 20 effective fighter levels can increase the shield’s enhancement bonus by an amount higher than 5 whenever in contact with another shield of the legion.

Lore: The shield of the legion was designed by the armorsmiths of an ancient empire, known for its mighty defensive formation, the “phalanx”. Spread evenly, the phalanx became nearly unbeatable, while lessening the costs by crafting shields of lesser quality. While many shields of the legion still exist, very few shields of lesser quality remain, perhaps hinting at why the ancient empire is no more. Regardless of how it ended, the craftsmanship of the shield of the legion is without question.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: 13,250 gp plus cost of masterwork tower shield; 1060 xp, 27 days.

The new shields are pretty cool IMO, if only because they're memorable. Or, you know, blatant rip-offs of other shields. Which is still kinda cool, IMO.

The Mirrorsheen Shield is pretty obviously a rip-off of the best shield in the Legend of Zelda franchise, the Mirror Shield. While the Hylian Shield in Skyward Sword is defined as indesctructible, usually it's the Mirror Shield that ends up being the best weapon, as it's hard to steal, just as invulnerable as the Hylian Shield, usually better, and capable of reflecting magic. In that line of thought, the Mirrorsheen Shield is likewise capable of reflecting magic (but with a special affinity for light spells) and is immune to the worst enemies of any protective item: acid and rust. Definitely a must-have, even if its pretty expensive.

The Shield of Heroes, on the other hand, is another blatant rip-off, but this one is so popular that I'm not gonna give you any chances to figure it out; I'll just ask you to give up your Nerd credentials and return to the nearest comic shop [I]post-haste[I] for re-education (doubly so if you live in the U.S.). If you do know about it, you'll notice it's pretty close to the original envisioning, including the ability to ricochet when thrown. Certainly I could have made it go "it's a material that behaves in all ways as adamantine but it's not", but I figure that the original is the only one that has that property; this is a copy, so it's fair to be made out of adamantine and not of *material withheld*. It's great for anyone with effective Fighter levels, but given the morals of that kind of hero, I made it doubly-special in the hands of Paladins, and not because they're my favorite-est class ever (no sir, not at all!), though only for purposes of their Smite Evil class feature and allowing you to fight with both without difficulties.

Finally, the only shield that's pretty much original (though its inspiration is pretty easy to get) is the Shield of the Legion, and it was an attempt to make a cool Tower Shield. Most people ignore Tower Shields because they need their own feat to work, they can't be used as a weapon at all (therefore you're forced to wield one weapon, barring you from increased Power Attack damage or TWF/Agile Shield Fighting), they further limit your maximum Dexterity bonus and armor check penalties, and they even penalize your attack rolls. Nimbleness only helps a bit with the middle two, but with the ability to wield the item without a feat, this shield should be considered fair play to use. However, while it's somewhat good on its own (better if tied with Elemental Guards), it's effect is really unlocked when you get people with the same shield nearby, because its properties improve ever further. It's also an awesome item if you're the kind of player motivated by large-scale battles, because at the cost of a +2 item you get a whole bunch of +2 shields when marching in close formation, and since tower shields can be used as cover, when properly placed they somewhat nullify the effect of AoE non-spread spells. You may notice that, if you set the formation of each shield so that you have one of these items within 10 ft. of you, you get a +5 shield with a huge slew of reductions to ACP and increases to MDB, not to mention spreading that to your allies, fully unlocking the power of the shield. Of course, this also means you end up really, really close to each other, so anyone right in the middle will be protected not by the shield but by the wall of bodies surrounding you, so... Anyways, there's a few builds that can benefit from this, but none like builds focusing on Leadership and White Raven maneuvers, because the strategic expenditure of money to get these shields can provide your followers with solid protection and an excuse to wade into battle for your charge maneuvers, particularly the White Raven 9th level maneuver, War Master's Charge.

In any case, if you have ideas of new and interesting shields (aside from Aegis, which is most definitely a Major Artifact), feel free to post it out.

T.G. Oskar

2014-01-28, 02:55 AM

CLOTHING
The following is a list of changes to equippable wondrous items present on the Dungeon Master's Guide. Some magic items retain the same qualities: amulet of health (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#amuletofHealth) (renamed vest of health, occupies torso slot), amulet of natural armor (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#amuletofNaturalArmor), belt of giant strength (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#beltofGiantStrength) (also offers a +2 Strength variety costing 4000 gp), boots of levitation (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#bootsofLevitation), bracelet of friends (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#braceletofFriends), cloak of Charisma (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#cloakofCharisma), cloak of etherealness (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#cloakofEtherealness), cloak of the manta ray (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#cloakoftheMantaRay), cloak of resistance (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#cloakofResistance), gloves of Dexterity (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#glovesofDexterity), gloves of storing (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#glovesofStoring) (cost is for a pair, can store 1 item per glove, sum of stored items must not exceed 20 lbs.), hand of glory (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#handofGlory), hand of the mage (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#handoftheMage), hat of disguise (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#hatofDisguise), headband of intellect (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#headbandofIntellect), helm of underwater action (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#helmofUnderwaterAction), periapt of Wisdom (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#periaptofWisdom) (renamed phylactery of Wisdom), robe of scintillating colors (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#robeofScintillatingColors) (characters with effective fighter levels extend the duration of the effect based on their effective fighter level, minimum 10 rounds)

The following magic items are no longer available: boots of teleportation (replaced with boots of seven leagues), gloves of arrow snaring (replaced with gloves of snatching), gloves of swimming and climbing (replaced with athlete’s gloves), helm of teleportation, necklace of fireballs I through IX (replaced with medallion of fireballs), periapt of proof against poison (merged with periapt of health)

AMULET OF NATURAL ATTACKS
Price (Item Level): 2200 gp (6th)
Body Slot: Throat
Caster Level: 3rd
Aura: Faint (DC 16); transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: --

This amulet is made of simple cord, or dried vines woven into a cord. A fang, claw, bit of nail or similar appendage dangles from it.

An amulet of natural attacks improves a character’s unarmed strikes and natural attacks. When wearing an amulet of natural attacks, the wielder’s unarmed strikes (or a single natural attack of its choice) is treated as magic (for purposes of bypassing damage reduction) and gains a +1 enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls.

Special: The amulet effectively allows its wielder to improve its natural attacks as if they were magic weapons. The amulet of natural attacks effectively counts as a +1 melee weapon for purpose of adding weapon special qualities; the natural attack must comply with the weapon’s prerequisites to allow the effect to be applied to it. You may never add the throwing and returning qualities to the amulet of natural attacks. The cost increases as if improving a magic weapon.

An amulet of natural attacks can apply to more than one natural weapons at once, but the cost increases for each addition. An amulet of natural attacks that affects two natural weapons costs an extra 75% (only the cost of the enhancement bonus applies; do not apply the 200 gp base cost of the amulet), and any subsequent natural weapon affected increases the cost by a cumulative 50%.

Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftMagicArmsAndArmor), Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem), crafter must have the Improved Unarmed Strike (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#improvedUnarmedStrike) or Improved Natural Attack (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsterFeats.htm#improvedNaturalAttack) feat.
Cost to Create:

AMULET OF NONDETECTION
Price (Item Level): 32,500 gp (16th)
Body Slot: Throat
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint (DC 17); abjuration
Activation: --
Weight: --

This amulet is made of fine silver cords, their length and texture similar to the mane of an unicorn. A silver disc with a crossed X over the etching of an eye decorates one side, while a similar etching of an ear likewise crossed decorates the other side.

The ideal item for people who don’t want to be detected, the amulet of nondetection provides protection against many divinations, including scrying, unless said detections are intentionally powerful. Anyone attempting to cast a divination spell against the wielder of an amulet of nondetection must succeed on a caster level check against a DC of 20 (as if the wielder had cast nondetection on itself) to affect the wielder.

If the character has ranks in Hide and the Stealthy feat, the DC of the nondetection effect is instead equal to 11 + the number of ranks in Hide or 20, whichever is higher.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

AMULET OF THE PLANES
Price (Item Level): 34,020 gp (16th)
Body Slot: Throat
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: strong (DC 22); conjuration
Activation: full-round (command)
Weight: --

This amulet is comprised of a black disc etched with the Orrery of the Great Wheel. If looked carefully, you can see a moving swirl of color almost opaque.

This amulet allows the wielder and up to 7 allies holding hands to travel to any plane of its choice, albeit the wielder must have a good idea where to travel. The amulet of the planes allows the wielder to use plane shift once per day; however, the wielder must make a successful Knowledge (the planes) check to determine the correct location. A failed check causes the wielder to travel to a random location on the plane (01-60) or to a random plane (61-00).

{TABLE=head]Departure Plane|Arrival Plane|Know (the Planes) check DC
Material Plane|Ethereal Plane, Astral Plane or Plane of Shadow|
15|
Material Plane|Inner Planes|
20|
Material Plane|Outer Planes|
30|
Ethereal Plane|Astral Plane|
15|
Astral Plane|Plane of Shadow|
15|
Astral Plane|Inner Planes|
20|
Astral Plane|Outer Planes|
25[/TABLE]

If the wielder has no ranks in the Knowledge (the planes) skill, it may attempt a difficult DC 20 Intelligence check to achieve the same result, regardless of the plane. If the wielder successfully arrived on the plane and location it desired, it may use the amulet of the planes one more time per day to return. This effect lasts for 24 hours (or its equivalent) after the amulet was used; if the time spent on the plane exceeds this amount, the wielder must use the amulet to transport to its plane, or any plane of its choice, as usual.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); crafter must have 18 or more ranks in Knowledge (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/knowledge.htm) (the planes)
Cost to Create:

ATHLETE’S GLOVES
Price (Item Level): 12,000 gp (13th)
Body Slot: Hands
Caster Level: 6th
Aura: Moderate (DC 18); transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: --

These rugged leather gloves protect the wearer’s hands, but are surprisingly water-proof. Wearing them increases the wearer’s general strength.

The wearer of athlete’s gloves gains a +2 enhancement bonus to Strength, a +4 competence bonus to Climb and Swim checks and a +2 competence bonus to grapple and trip checks. The wearer’s carrying capacity is treated as if its Strength score was 2 points higher than the norm.

A character with levels in the fighter class (or effective fighter levels) gains greater benefits when wearing this item. The competence bonus on grapple and trip checks increases by 1 at effective fighter level 6th, plus 1 for every five effective fighter levels. Furthermore, if the wearer also has the Improved Grapple feat, the wearer adds the competence bonus on grapple checks to the unarmed damage done while grappling.

Because of its affinity towards physical strength, attempting to improve the gloves’ enhancement bonus to Strength or competence bonus to Strength-based skills costs only half the usual fee (in both gold and experience). Thus, improving the enhancement bonus of the athlete’s gloves from a +2 to a +4 would cost 6,000 gp (if done by an NPC crafter; if done by the wearer or a PC crafter, the cost is instead 3,000 gp) instead of 12,000 gp (the difference between 4,000 gp and 16,000 gp).

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must have a Strength score of 13 or higher.
Cost to Create:

BELT OF DWARVENKIND
Price (Item Level): 39,000 gp (17th)
Body Slot: Waist
Caster Level: 12th
Aura: Moderate (DC 21); divination
Activation: --
Weight: 1 lb.

This thick leather belt is rugged and smelly. The buckle on the belt has etched the runes that comprise the Dwarven word, “stonebrother”.

This belt provides non-dwarves with a modicum of dwarven spirit, and provides great benefits to dwarves. If a non-dwarf (that is, a character without the dwarf subtype) wears the belt of dwarvenkind, it gains a +2 bonus to Constitution (which stacks with any other bonus to Constitution unless it is a racial bonus), a +2 bonus on saves against poisons, spells and spell-like abilities; darkvision up to 60 ft. and the dwarven stonecunning ability. The wielder is treated as if it had the dwarven subtype for purposes of items that may only be used by dwarves (except for this item, of course, which provides the benefit; thus, the bonuses are not in peril). The non-dwarven wearer of this belt also gains the ability to speak and understand Dwarven.

If a dwarf wears the belt of dwarvenkind, it gains greater benefits. Its racial bonus to Constitution increases by 2 (to a total of +4), gains immunity to poisons of all kinds and spell resistance equal to 5 + its character level, as well as tremorsense up to 30 ft. Only characters that innately possess the dwarf subtype (hill dwarves, mountain dwarves, deep dwarves, duergar and others) may gain this benefit.

Regardless of the subtype, anyone who wears a belt of dwarvenkind gains a +4 competence bonus on Charisma checks to deal with dwarves of all kinds, a +2 bonus to deal with gnomes and halflings, and a -2 penalty when dealing with traditional dwarven enemies (such as giants).

Lore: A belt of dwarvenkind is crafted exclusively by dwarves towards their greatest allies. These belts are not exactly bought, but instead given to exemplary dwarves and non-dwarves that represent the core beliefs of all dwarven clans. To be given a belt of dwarvenkind is to be treated as a dwarf-brother, and must be worn with pride. (Knowledge [history] or bardic knowledge check DC 15)

Belts of dwarvenkind given to non-dwarves include information about the wearer’s name (a transliteration of its name in Dwarven, or the wearer’s adopted Dwarven name), the clan that has adopted the wearer, and the exploit to be remembered by dwarves. This safety measure makes anyone who wears a belt of dwarvenkind without truly claiming its possession a sworn enemy of the dwarves. Any dwarf who sees someone wear a belt of dwarvenkind and senses it doesn’t meet its wearer (Spot check against DC 15, or the wearer’s Hide check) immediately becomes hostile and demands the wearer to return the belt or face terrible consequences. (Knowledge [history] or bardic knowledge check DC 20)

Returning a reclaimed or stolen belt of dwarvenkind to a dwarven clan is considered a token of respect amongst all clans, even if the belt and its former wielder belong to another clan. Oftentimes, those who make such a gesture are given the belt as a reward, suitably altered to fit its new wearer. (Knowledge [history] or bardic knowledge check DC 25)

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must be a dwarf
Cost to Create:

BOOTS OF ELVENKIND
Price (Item Level): 2,500 gp (7th)
Body Slot: Feet
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Moderate (DC 21); transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: 1 lb.

These soft suede boots are tinted forest green, olive green or gray, and decorated with subtle mithral etchings upon the ankles. Regardless of size, these boots are comfortable and suitable for long traveling.

Often given as a gift to exemplary elves and non-elves that prove their worth to the elven nations, boots of elvenkind allow the wielder to travel through forests without impediment. The wearer of boots of elvenkind can move through any sort of undergrowth (such as natural thorns, briars, overgrown areas and similar terrain) normally and without taking damage, as if they had the woodland stride class feature. If the wearer already has the woodland stride ability, it gains an improvement; the wearer can walk upon magically impeded areas of the same kind. Furthermore, the wearer gains a +4 bonus on Constitution checks to maintain running or to avoid non-lethal damage from a forced march (these bonuses stack with the bonuses provided by the Endurance feat).

Special: This item belongs to an item set called the raiments of elvenkind. If worn with a cloak of elvenkind, it gains further bonuses explained in the description for the item.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must be an elf
Cost to Create:

BOOTS OF SEVEN LEAGUES
Price (Item Level): 18,120 gp (15th0
Body Slot: Feet
Caster Level: 11th
Aura: Moderate (DC 20); conjuration
Activation: move (command)
Weight: 3 lbs.

These leather boots seems completely worn, as if many miles had been traveled on them. Despite this, the wearer feels them fitting and comfortable.

Designed for extremely long travels, the boots of seven leagues allow the wearer to travel extremely long distances in a relatively short amount of time. The wearer of the boots of seven leagues gains a 10 ft. increase to its base land speed (treat as an enhancement bonus). The wearer may, three times per day, choose to leap a larger distance forward, as if using the dimension door spell cast by an 11th level sorcerer. If it so desires, the wearer may choose to instead travel an immensely long distance in a brief moment, sacrificing all daily uses of dimension door (the wearer of the boots must not have used any during the day) to instead gain the benefit of a teleport spell, except only to a distance between 20 and 40 miles, and without a chance for error. Once the character has expended its last daily use of dimension door, the bonus to land speed ends for the day and the wielder is considered fatigued; if the wearer instead attempted to teleport, it is considered exhausted.

Special: These boots can be turned into horseshoes by spending 1.5 times the cost of the normal item. Horseshoes of seven leagues cost 24,180 gp. The rider activates the powers of the item, but the effect applies to both the mount and the rider. The mount is the one considered fatigued (or exhausted) instead.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

BOOTS OF SPEED
Price (Item Level): 12,000 gp (13th)
Body Slot: Feet
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate (DC 20); transmutation
Activation: swift (command)
Weight: 1 lb.

These stylish boots are aerodynamic, definitely designed for running. A symbol that seems to be a wave (or a stylish “C”, or a zephyr) adorns the boot, and an arrow adorns the sole.

Boots of speed allow the wearer to gain a moderate boost to their speed for a fraction of the time. When clicking together the heels of the boots (as a swift action), the wielder is treated as if having the haste effect for up to 10 rounds each day. These rounds need not be consecutive, and the effect can be ended as a free action.

A character with levels in the fighter class (or effective fighter levels) gains the effect of haste for a number of rounds equal to its effective fighter level or 10, whichever is higher.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

BOOTS OF STRIDING AND SPRINGING
Price (Item Level): 6,000 gp (10th), 12,000 gp (improved; 13th). 24,000 gp (greater, 15th)
Body Slot: Feet
Caster Level: 3rd, 7th (improved), 11th (greater)
Aura: Faint to strong (DC 16, 18, 20); transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: 1 lb.

The sole of these leather boots is raised, and flexed in a way that allows for increased speed and longer jumps.

The wearer of boots of striding and springing has its maximum base land speed increased by 10 ft. (this is considered an enhancement bonus), and gains a +5 competence bonus on all Jump checks.

Special: More potent versions of boots of striding and springing exist, providing greater bonuses to speed and Jump checks. Improved boots of striding and springing provide a +20 ft. enhancement bonus to maximum land speed and a +10 competence bonus on Jump checks; greater boots of striding and springing offer a +30 ft. enhancement bonus to land speed and a +15 competence bonus to Jump checks.

These boots can be turned into horseshoes by spending 1.5 times the cost of the normal item. Thus, horseshoes of striding and springing cost 9,000 gp, improved horseshoes of striding and springing cost 18,000 gp and greater horseshoes of striding and springing costs 36,000 gp.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem), creator must have at least 5 ranks in Jump (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/jump.htm) (10 ranks for the improved version, 15 ranks for the greater version).
Cost to Create:

BRACERS OF ARCHERY
Price (Item Level): 15,000 gp (13th)
Body Slot: Arms
Caster Level: 11th
Aura: Moderate (DC 20); conjuration
Activation: --
Weight: 1 lb.

These wristbands look like normal protective wear, but seem to prime the hand for proper gripping of bows. When aiming, the arm seems to remain steady and sure, as if someone was grabbing it and guiding its movements.

A pair of wristbands that aid the novice and the expert in general, the bracers of archery provide the wearer with exceptional skill when wielding a bow. The wearer of this item gains proficiency with the longbow and the shortbow, as well as its composite variants. Furthermore, the wearer gains a +2 competence bonus on ranged attack rolls and a +4 bonus to damage rolls with bows. While wearing the bracers of archery, the wearer is treated as if having the Precise Shot feat (even if it doesn’t meet the prerequisites), but only when using a bow. Both bracers must be worn for the magic to be effective (the weight is determined for the pair)

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); crafter must be proficient with bows or an elf, must have the Precise Shot (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#preciseShot) feat.
Cost to Create:

BRACERS OF ARCHERY, GREATER
Price (Item Level): 25,000 gp (15th)
Body Slot: Arms
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: Strong (DC 22); conjuration
Activation: -- and swift (mental)
Weight: 1 lb.

These elaborate bracers protect the hand and the arm from the backlash of the tensed string. The arm and the hand remain firm, only moving swiftly to reload a bow, as if mounted.

As bracers of archery, except as follows: the wearer gains proficiency with all bows (but not crossbows; weapons that are treated like bows qualify, however), gains a +5 competence bonus to attack rolls and a +10 competence bonus to damage rolls with bows, and gains the benefit of the Precise Shot and Improved Precise Shot feats even if it does not meet the prerequisites. If the wielder has the Improved Precise Shot feat, the wearer of these bracers may treat a single ranged attack with a bow as a touch attack as part of a swift action (this action may be done as part of a full attack, with the wielder choosing which attack to grant the benefit).

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); crafter must be proficient with bows or an elf, must have the Improved Precise Shot (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#improvedPreciseShot) feat.
Cost to Create:

BRACERS OF ARCHERY, LESSER
Price (Item Level): 5,000 gp (9th)
Body Slot: Arms
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate (DC 18); conjuration
Activation: --
Weight: 1 lb.

These wristbands look like normal protective wear, but seem to prime the hand for proper gripping of bows. Tucking the string of a bow feels natural to you.

This pair of wristbands acts like bracers of archery, except as follows: the character only gains proficiency with shortbows, gains a +1 competence bonus on attack rolls and a +2 competence bonus on damage rolls with bows.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); crafter must be proficient with bows or an elf
Cost to Create:

BRACERS OF ARMOR
Price (Item Level): 1,000 gp (+2; 4th), 2,000 gp (+3; 6th), 3,000 gp (+4, 7th), 9,000 gp (+5, 12th), 15,000 gp (+6, 14th), 21,000 gp (+7, 15th), 27,000 gp (+8, 16th)
Body Slot: Arms
Caster Level: 1st (+2), 3rd (+3), 6th (+4), 9th (+5), 12th (+6), 15th (+7), 18th (+8)
Aura: Faint to strong (DC 15 to 24); conjuration
Activation: --
Weight: 1 lb.

These bracers are made of metal, and cover the extension of the arm. When worn, you feel a sheath of energy covering your skin, but still allowing movement.

A boon for those individuals unable to wear armor, bracers of armor sheathe their wearer in a flexible, invisible yet tangible force field that protects its wearer. The wearer gains an armor bonus to AC ranging from +2 to +8, just as if it was wearing armor, but without maximum Dexterity penalty, armor check penalty or arcane spell failure. Bracers of armor do not count as armor for classes who have forbidden their use; thus, monks may gain the benefits of the bracers and retain their ability to execute a flurry of blows and other such class features. Furthermore, as bracers of armor are not considered metallic armor, druids may wear them without penalty.

Special: All forms of bracers of armor, regardless of their AC, count as if they were +1 armor and thus may be enchanted as such. When determining their cost, add +1 to the effective enhancement cost of the item, then add to the cost of the bracers of armor and subtract 1000 gp from the total cost (the bracers of armor count as +1 armor, thus they would have a base cost of 1000 gp; otherwise, this cost would be calculated twice). Bracers of armor may not exceed an effective enhancement cost of +6, and the armor special qualities do not stack with those from magic armor; only the benefits from the item with the highest armor bonus to AC (including enhancement bonuses to armor) qualify.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

BROOCH OF SHIELDING
Price (Item Level): 2,000 gp (6th)
Body Slot: Throat
Caster Level: 1st
Aura: Faint (DC 15); abjuration
Activation: --
Weight: --

This brooch, made of gold or silver, has an ellipsoidal shape, flat at the needle area, and the protuberant area adorned with small black jewels equidistant to each other and forming an outer ring. The inner part of the brooch is etched with a magical rune for protection.

Designed to protect against the ever-reliable magic missile, a brooch of shielding is worn fastening a cloak or cape. Whenever the wearer is affected by a magic missile spell or a spell derived from it (such as chain missile or force missiles), the brooch protects from all missiles targeted at it. The brooch has twenty gems around it; every time the wearer is affected by a single missile of the magic missile spell, one of the gems turns inert and the missile is negated; once all 20 gems are inert, the brooch protects from no other missiles until the next day. The missile is completely negated: a chain missile will not proceed, and a force missile will not explode upon contact.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

CAPE OF THE MOUNTEBANK
Price (Item Level): 27,900 gp (16th)
Body Slot: Shoulders
Caster Level: 9th
Aura: Moderate (DC 19); conjuration and transmutation
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Weight: 1 lb.

This bright red cape with golden trims (large enough to seem a cloak) seems fit for a noble, but holds a series of pockets inside. Whomever wears it seems someone you could trust.

The cape of the mountebank (which is actually a cloak) is the perfect instrument for the savvy swindler. While wearing the cape, the wearer gains a +5 competence bonus to all Bluff and Sleight of Hand checks. The pockets inside the cape are capable of holding small items and vials up to 2 lbs. of weight, and the entire cloak can hold up to 50 lbs. of weight.

Once per day, the wearer of this cape may use one of the following abilities:
Dimension door as per a 9th level spellcaster. When the wearer uses this ability, it disappears in a small cloud of smoke, which acts as if a smokestick was dropped.
When holding a vial of water, the wearer may briefly turn the vial into one of the following potions: cure serious wounds, neutralize poison, remove blindness/deafness, remove disease, remove paralysis. This trick is often used by swindlers when selling “snake oil” to reinforce their sales pitch.
Rope trick, as per a 9th level spellcaster. When the wearer uses this ability, it disappears in a small cloud of smoke, which acts as if a smokestick was dropped. The wearer can see everything in its surroundings while using this feature.

Furthermore, the wearer may become invisible for up to 9 rounds, as if using the [I]greater invisibility[/URL] spell. The rounds need not be consecutive. To use this feature, the wearer must wrap the cape around it.

For all these benefits, the wearer of the cape pays a small price. The cape has a 51st pocket, which only accepts coins. Whenever the wearer uses its ability to replicate any potion, it must pay the amount of 900 gold pieces (likely from its earnings) which must be placed on the pouch. If the wearer fails to pay this amount, the abilities of the cape of the mountebank become unusable for 1 day, and the wearer takes a -5 penalty to its Bluff and Sleight of Hand checks. On the other hand, for every 1,500 gold pieces (or its equivalent in coins) given to the cape, the wearer may turn any vial of water in any of the pockets into a potion without suffering the consequences.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

CIRCLET OF BLASTING
Price (Item Level): 16,830 gp (14th)
Body Slot: Head
Caster Level: 9th
Aura: Moderate (DC 19); evocation
Activation: swift (command)
Weight: --

This simple golden headband has a white gem in its forehead. The gem emits a faint multicolored light, which stings when touched.

Crafted by evokers wishing to improve their destructive power, circlets of blasting improve the damage dealt by spells of the evocation school. The wearer of a circlet of blasting is treated as if having one caster level higher when casting evocation spells. This effect is always active.

Each circlet of blasting has 3 charges, which are renewed each day at dawn. Spending one or more of these charges grants a bonus to the damage dealt by the next evocation spell cast by the wielder on the same turn.
1 charge: deal 1 extra damage dice, +2 on caster level checks to bypass spell resistance
2 charges: deal 3 extra damage dice, +5 on caster level checks to bypass spell resistance
3 charges: deal 6 extra damage dice, bypass spell resistance

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must have the Empower Spell (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#empowerSpell) feat.
Cost to Create:

CIRCLET OF PERSUASION
Price (Item Level): 13,000 gp (13th)
Body Slot: Head
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint (DC 17); enchantment
Activation: -- and immediate (mental)
Weight: --

This silver headband seems made for a prince, and evokes an air of royalty. You feel an aura of confidence surrounding you.

The wearer of a circlet of persuasion gains a+2 enhancement bonus to Charisma and a +3 competence bonus to all Charisma-based checks it does. Once per day, the wearer of this circlet may reroll a single Charisma-based check. This may be done as an immediate action as part of a failed check. You must accept the results of the second roll, even if they’re lower than the first.

Because of its affinity towards force of personality, attempting to improve the circlet’s enhancement bonus to Charisma costs only half the usual fee (in both gold and experience). Thus, improving the enhancement bonus of the circlet of persuasion from a +2 to a +4 would cost 6,000 gp (if done by an NPC crafter; if done by the wearer or a PC crafter, the cost is instead 3,000 gp) instead of 12,000 gp (the difference between 4,000 gp and 16,000 gp).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

CLOAK OF THE ARACHNIDA
Price (Item Level): 63,000 gp (18th)
Body Slot: Shoulders
Caster Level: 11th
Aura: Moderate (DC 20); conjuration and transmutation
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Weight: 1 lb.

This black cloak, woven from the silky strands of monstrous spiders, is comprised of a webbed pattern beginning from a cowl that resembles the head of a spider and ends in what seems to be spider legs with sharp stingers. The cloak is unusually light, but incredibly strong.

Designed by drow to grant the benefits of spiders, cloaks of the arachnida grant their wearer the ability to climb walls at will as if a spider climb spell had been cast upon them, and gains a +2 bonus on Fortitude saving throws against all poisons (this bonus increases by 4 if the poison is somehow related to drow or spiders, such as drow poison). These two abilities are always active. Eight times per day, the wearer of this cloak can throw a web, as if using the web spell cast by an 11th level sorcerer.

If a drow wears the cloak of the arachnida, it gains greater benefits. Webs spun by the wearer have a save DC equal to 10 + half the wearer’s save DC + the wearer’s Constitution modifier. If the wearer sacrifices a daily use of its webbing ability, it can choose to use poison as a spell-like ability, with three exceptions: the save DC of the poison is equal to the web’s save DC, the wearer may choose to use the poison as a touch attack or magically apply the poison to a weapon it holds (without risk of poisoning), and may choose between drow poison or monstrous spider poison. Finally, by sacrificing three daily uses of this ability, the wearer may transform into a monstrous spider of one size category larger than it for up to 11 rounds.

Lore: The cloak of the arachnida is a prized treasure of the drow, often worn only by matriarchs and very important people in drow society. Cloaks of the arachnida are not truly earned, but rather claimed from weaker drow because of the power it offers. (Knowledge [history] or bardic knowledge check DC 20)

Cloaks of the arachnida are spun from the silk of monstrous spiders, with the head resembling the exact spider that provided the web (including any specific head pattern), and all stingers and fangs that serve as decoration are taken from the spider itself. Crafting one of these cloaks implies a sacrifice to Lolth, but the end effect doesn’t necessarily makes the item evil, for some reason; non-drow (and specifically any elf) that wears it earns the full enmity of drow. (Knowledge [arcana] or Knowledge [religion] check DC 20, or bardic knowledge check DC 25)

It is rumored that the first cloak of the arachnida was actually an artifact from Lolth herself, spun from her own web and adorned with the fangs and stingers she lost during her battles with Corellon. To wear such an item is to be considered blessed by Lolth, though to what extent that may construe a blessing is debatable. (Knowledge [history], Knowledge [religion] or bardic knowledge check DC 30).

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must be a drow with 15 or more ranks in Knowledge (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/knowledge.htm) (religion).
Cost to Create:

CLOAK OF THE ARACHNIDA, LESSER
Price (Item Level): 20,500 gp (15th)
Body Slot: Shoulders
Caster Level: 6th
Aura: Faint (DC 18); conjuration and transmutation
Activation: standard (command)
Weight: 1 lb.

This black cloak, spun from silk, has interwoven white silk threads in a webbed pattern. The ends of the cloak are sticky, and the whole garment seems to withstand heavy weight if stretched.

A weaker version of the cloak of arachnida, this garment provides the wearer with a +5 competence bonus to Climb checks and immunity to entrapment from webs of any sort, allowing the wearer to move through webbed areas at half speed. Furthermore, the wearer gains a +2 bonus to Fortitude saving throws against the effects of drow and spider poisons. These abilities are always active.

Three times per day, the wearer of this cloak gains the ability to use spider climb (as per a 6th level sorcerer) and web (Reflex save DC 13).

Lore: Not as valuable as their improved counterparts, the lesser cloaks of the arachnida are nonetheless valuable imitations. Only drow are considered worthy of possessing a lesser cloak of the arachnida, and it is as prized as the proper cloak of the arachnida. (Knowledge [history] or bardic knowledge check DC 15)

Whenever a drow with a lesser cloak of the arachnida defeats the wearer of the better cloak of arachnida, it often leaves its former possession behind. This was once considered a particular form of insult to the dead, but nowadays taking the two cloaks is considered widely insulting. It is difficult to determine just how insulting, but the insult increases in magnitude if the fallen wearer shows marks of defense. Some claim this may be an urban legend of the drow, however. (Knowledge [local] or bardic knowledge check DC 20)

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must be a drow with 9 or more ranks in Knowledge (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/knowledge.htm) (religion).
Cost to Create:

CLOAK OF THE BAT
Price (Item Level): 19,000 gp (15th)
Body Slot: Shoulders
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate (DC 18); transmutation
Activation: -- and swift (command)
Weight: 1 lb.

This long cloak is black at one of the sides and bright red in the other, with eight long wires slightly slanted inwards within the cape, giving it the appearance of bat wings. The cowl of the cloak forms a rigid cone with an opening at the top and the middle, allowing for sight and wearing large headgear.

This cloak has been popularized as part of the imagery of the vampire noble in image and song, and its powers certainly evoke some of the traits of bats and vampires. The wearer of a cloak of the bat gains a +5 competence bonus on all Climb and Hide checks. Furthermore, if the wearer of a cloak of the bat falls, it gains the ability to glide by holding the edges of the garment, allowing up to 20 ft. of movement for every 5 ft. of falling distance. If the wearer becomes unconscious during flight, the cloak magically unfurls, slowing the fall as per the feather fall spell. These abilities are always active.

As a swift action, the wearer of a cloak of the bat may utter a command word (the word is spoken on a rare variant of the Common and Abyssal languages, and loosely translates to “spread thy wings and fly”) and gain the ability to fly, as per the fly spell for up to 7 minutes at a time. The amount of time flying need not be consecutive, but may only be done in darkness; if a source of light affects the wearer while in flight, the flying effect is dispelled but the cloak still allows its gliding property.

If a vampire or vampire spawn wears this cloak, it gains further properties. A vampire spawn gains the ability to turn into a bat or dire bat as a swift action; when turned into a bat, every round spent as a bat consumes one round of flight (thus, if the wearer turned into a bat for 5 rounds, it loses 5 rounds of flight), and every round spent as a dire bat consumes one minute of flight (thus, if the wearer turned into a dire bat for 5 rounds, it loses 5 minutes of flight). A vampire instead may transform into its bat or dire bat alternate form as a swift action.

Lore: Although the cloak of the bat has been used as the typical imagery of the noble vampire, some people claim of a heroic vigilante that wore the cloak against evildoers. This heroic vigilante used the image of a bat and the nature of fear as weapons even in day, suggesting he wasn’t a vampire. How the hero got his hands on the cloak is unknown, but ever since, cloaks of this kind have been acquired by adventurers everywhere.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item; creator must be a vampire, desmodu (see Monster Manual II) or bat-related race.
Cost to Create:

CLOAK OF DISPLACEMENT, MINOR
Price (Item Level): 16,500 gp (14th)
Body Slot: Shoulders
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint (DC 17); illusion
Activation: swift (command)
Weight: 1 lb.

This cloak doesn’t seem any special until it’s worn. Once worn, the cloak seems to extend more than its length, and images within the garment seem to be distorted.

This cloak distorts visible light in area, providing a miss chance against attacks. The wearer, as a swift action, may activate the cloak’s properties, gaining the effect of a displacement spell for up to 5 rounds. This ability may be used three times per day.

If the wearer has levels in fighter (or effective fighter levels), the minor cloak of displacement has its duration extended each use for up to the wearer’s effective fighter level, as long as the wearer’s effective fighter level is higher than five.

If the wearer has ranks in Hide and the Stealthy feat, the cloak provides a smaller, yet permanent miss chance. For every 10 ranks in the Hide skill, the wearer gains a permanent 10% miss chance while wearing this cloak.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

CLOAK OF DISPLACEMENT
Price (Item Level): 32,500 gp (16th)
Body Slot: Shoulders
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate (DC 18); illusion
Activation: --
Weight: 1 lb.

This cloak doesn’t seem any special until it’s worn. Once worn, the cloak warps the wearer’s image, displacing its image a few feet further.

This cloak acts as a minor cloak of displacement, but the wearer is also constantly protected with a blurring effect, granting a 20% miss chance, and the duration of the displacement effect lasts for 7 rounds. If the wearer has ranks in Hide and the Stealthy feat, the cloak’s permanent miss chance increases by 10 for every 5 ranks, starting at 10 ranks (up to 50% miss chance with 20 ranks).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

CLOAK OF ELVENKIND
Price (Item Level): 6,000 gp (10th)
Body Slot: Shoulders
Caster Level: 3rd
Aura: Faint (DC 16); illusion
Activation: --
Weight: 1 lb.

This cloak has a forest green, olive green or gray color, and is bound by a beautiful mithral leaf brooch. Inside, the cloak feels humid and cool, as if within a forest and with a soft breeze passing by.

Often given as a gift to exemplary elves and non-elves that prove their worth to the elven nations, cloaks of elvenkind provide great hiding skill. The wearer gains a +5 competence bonus to Hide checks and is constantly under the effects of an endure elements spell.

If the wearer has the camouflage class feature, a cloak of elvenkind changes color to adapt, allowing the wearer to use the Hide skill in any terrain, even if it’s not natural terrain. If the wearer has the hide in plain sight ability, the cloak allows the wearer to use the Hide skill even while being observed, even if not on natural terrain or within shadows.

Special: This item belongs to an item set called the raiments of elvenkind. If worn with boots of elvenkind, the wearer gains the ability to become invisible as per the greater invisibility spell for up to 5 rounds per day as a swift action (these rounds need not be consecutive). When invisible in this way, the individual cannot be detected by natural means (such as scent or blindsight) or divination spells (such as detect magic or scrying); the wearer can only be identified by means of the true seeing spell, and items or abilities based on said spell, or by dust of appearance. If the wearer has the camouflage class feature or 10 ranks in Hide and the Stealthy feat, the duration of the invisibility effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to the class level that grants camouflage or the wearer’s ranks in Hide -3, whichever is higher (to a minimum of 5 rounds).

Lore: The set of magic items that comprise the raiments of elvenkind is given only to exemplary elves for dedicated services, and very rarely to non-elves as a great reward for outstanding efforts to elvenkind. Even rarer still is an elven nation giving this item to someone willing to do a great service for them, and most often than not only the boots of elvenkind are given. Versions of non-elves are stitched at the inner collar rim of the cloak with Elven script detailing a title given to the owner, representing the service done to them. (Knowledge [history], Knowledge [local] or bardic knowledge check 15)

Boots and cloaks of elvenkind are given freely only to those people that elves call ruathar (“star-friend”). Ruathar may choose the boots or the cloak as a gift, and while elves do not consider an insult to refrain from wearing it, they consider selling the item or giving it to an unworthy individual a grave one. (Knowledge [history] or bardic knowledge check DC 20)

The first raiments of elvenkind were crafted for the greatest elven rangers in existence, and thus the power of the garments are at their greatest when worn by a ranger (even if not an elf). The first raiments of elvenkind given to non-elves involved a legendary entourage comprised of humans, halflings, an elf and a dwarf questing to destroy an evil artifact. One of the raiments was buried alongside this warrior, its grave unmarked within the many forests of the world.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Items (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem), creator must be an elf with the camouflage class feature or 15 ranks in Hide.
Cost to Create:

DRUID’S VESTMENTS
Price (Item Level): 14,400 gp (14th)
Body Slot: Torso
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate (DC 20); transmutation
Activation: standard (command)
Weight: --

This light garment is worn over normal clothing or armor. The vestment is usually green, often with plant or animal motifs.

The wearer of a druid’s vestment gains the ability to transform into a Small or Medium animal of its choice once per day, as per the effect of a 5th level druid’s wild shape ability.

If the wearer of a druid’s vestment has the wild shape ability, it is treated as a druid of two levels higher for purposes of determining the daily uses and properties of this ability; this does not allow the wearer to transform into an elemental. If the wearer is a ranger, it gains the wild shape ability of a druid whose class level is 4 plus half the levels in the ranger class (up to a maximum of its ranger level) and is treated as if having the Natural Spell feat, but it still does not allow the wearer to transform into an elemental.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must be a 5th level druid or higher.
Cost to Create:

With armor and weapons out of the way, it's time to get to the meaty stuff: the wondrous items. We're starting with clothing here, because these are the items on which your Wealth by Level will be spent the most. Tools and consumables will be dealt with later. As you can see, I divided this into four posts, and I doubt it'll remain in four slots. Even writing these will require some finesse.

You'll notice not just fighters getting boons, but also skill-monkeys (Amulet of Nondetection and Cloak of Elvenkind help if you have Hide ranks and the Stealthy feat). Boots and Cloaks of Elvenkind now work as a magic item slot, and work great for rangers. The Amulet of Natural Attacks is fair game because it appeared in a web article at the WotC site, so I merged it with the Amulet of Mighty Fists. The Greater Bracers of Armor benefit is meant to activate once per round as a swift action. The Brooch of Shielding is no longer charged, and for very good reasons. The Cape of the Mountebank requires you to spend the rough equivalent of making a 4th level potion at CL 9th, so don't think you're gonna break the economy with it. Druid's Vestments now work much like a Monk's Belt, particularly if you're a Ranger (Wildshape Rangers count as Druids, not as Rangers, for this purpose). The Circlets of Blasting were boring, so instead of making it shoot Searing Light 1/day it now boosts your evocation spells up to 3/day.

Bracers of Armor I want to deal separately. As you can see, the rules to treat them as armor are now clearer, and explicitly don't stack, so you can't have someone wielding Bracers of Armor and benefitting from a +12 worth of armor enhancements; you want anything higher than +6, go buy some actual armor. They're also far more expensive than before because they're based on the cost of Mage Armor rather than on their given cost (armor bonus squared x 1000 gp). Hence: HAHA! Also: MWEHEHEHE!!

Finally, there's two or three pop references hidden within the Lore.

T.G. Oskar

2014-01-28, 02:57 AM

EYES OF CHARMING
Price (Item Level): 33,820 gp (pair; 16th)
Body Slot: Face
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate (DC 18); enchantment
Activation: standard (command)
Weight: --

These concave crystal lenses are tinted rose. When placed over the eyes, they make the wearer’s gaze look incredibly charming; males get a penetrating primal gaze, while females gain long eyelashes and the ability to flutter them incredibly fast.

Eyes of charming are worn over the wearer’s eyes, remaining fixed until they are removed. If the wearer wears only one of the lenses, it may use charm person, as the spell cast by a 3rd level spellcaster, three times per day (Will save DC 13 to resist), except the effect is treated as a gaze attack. If the wearer uses both lenses, it gains a +5 competence bonus on Bluff checks and may use charm person at-will as if cast by a 7th level spellcaster (Will save DC 16 to resist).

If the wearer of eyes of charming has the Persuasive feat and at least 10 ranks in Bluff and Diplomacy, it adds its Charisma modifier to the save DC, plus 1 for every 5 ranks in Bluff and Diplomacy over 9.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

EYES OF DOOM
Price (Item Level): 46,000 gp (pair; 17th)
Body Slot: Face
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate (DC 18); necromancy
Activation: standard (command)
Weight: --

These concave crystal lenses are dark-tinted, but allow normal vision even in dark areas (to the extent that the person can see). Once the lenses are worn, the gaze of their wearer becomes fiendish.

Eyes of doom are worn over the wearer’s eyes, remaining fixed until they’re removed. If the wearer wears only one of the lenses, it gains a +5 competence bonus to Intimidate checks and may use the doom spell (Will save DC 11), three times per day, except as a gaze attack affecting only one person as a standard action. If the wearer equips both lenses, the doom effect becomes an actual gaze attack, affecting all creatures within range (enemy or ally); three times per day as an attack action, the wearer may focus its power and duplicate the effect of a fear spell (Will save DC 16).

If the wearer of eyes of doom has levels in the fighter class (or effective fighter levels), the save DC for the gaze attacks is equal to 10 + half the wearer’s effective fighter levels + the wearer’s Strength, Constitution or Charisma modifier (whichever is higher). Alternatively, if the wearer has the Persuasive or Skill Focus (Intimidate) feat and at least 10 ranks in Intimidate, it adds its Charisma modifier to the save DC for all effects, plus 1 for every 5 ranks in Intimidate over 9. If a character has both effective fighter levels and the Persuasive or Skill Focus (Intimidate) feat, calculate the two results and choose whichever is higher.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

EYES OF THE EAGLE
Price (Item Level): 3,500 gp (8th)
Body Slot: Face
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint (DC 17); divination
Activation: --
Weight: --

These concave crystal lenses are amber-tinted, and have a simulated iris. When worn, the wearer’s eyes take an avian form.

Eyes of the eagle are worn over the wearer’s eyes, remaining fixed until they’re removed. The wearer gains a +10 competence bonus on Spot checks and low-light vision if it already does not have it. The wearer also reduces the penalties for ranged attacks exceeding their range intervals by half.

Prerequisites: Cost to Create:

EYES OF PETRIFACTION
Price (Item Level): 72,000 gp (19th)
Body Slot: Face
Caster Level: 11th
Aura: Moderate (DC 20); transmutation
Activation: standard (command)
Weight: --

These concave crystal lenses are semi-opaque and very dark, with slitted irises, but still allow proper sight. When worn upon the eyes, they seem to resemble those of a snake.

Eyes of petrifaction are worn over the wearer’s eyes, remaining fixed until they’re removed. The wearer gains a petrifying gaze that acts exactly like the flesh to stone spell (DC 19), except it only works by focusing on a single target as a standard action and only three times per day. This effect is considered a supernatural ability. Both lenses must be worn in order to use this ability.

If a character has levels in the fighter class (or effective fighter levels), the petrifying gaze’s save DC is instead equal to 10 + half the wearer’s effective fighter levels + the wearer’s Constitution modifier (or 19, whichever number is higher).

If the wearer is a yuan-ti pureblood, half-blood or abomination, the power of the eyes of petrifaction increase. The gaze lasts for up to 3 rounds (1 round for purebloods, 2 rounds for half-bloods, and 4 rounds for abominations) each time the ability is activated, and the wearer gains the full gaze effect of a medusa, including its save DC.

Lore: It is said that, to craft eyes of petrifaction, the creator needs the molten eye scales of a medusa, which is claimed to retain its petrifying abilities. (Knowledge [arcana] or bardic knowledge check DC 10).

It is said that the first eyes of petrifaction were crafted by yuan-ti in order to mimic the powers of a medusa. Because of this, or because of the shared ties between both (monsters related to snakes), eyes of petrifaction are more potent with them.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

GAUNTLETS OF OGRE POWER
Price (Item Level): 5,702 gp (10th)
Body Slot: Hands
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint (DC 17); transmutation
Activation: -- and swift (command)
Weight: 4 lbs.

These gauntlets are made of tough leather with iron studs running across the back of the hands and fingers. Wearing them makes you feel impulsive.

A favorite item for warriors anywhere, gauntlets of ogre power grant both a sustained and a temporary boost to physical strength, at the expense of mental strength. Gauntlets of ogre power are considered +1 gauntlets (and can be improved as actual gauntlets) and grant a +2 enhancement bonus to Strength. Once per day, the wearer of gauntlets of ogre power can use the rage spell once per day as a 5th level spellcaster. In exchange for this power, the wearer is considered to have a -2 penalty to the wearer’s mental ability scores for purposes of casting spells; thus, a cleric with 16 Wisdom wearing gauntlets of ogre power is considered to have a Wisdom of 14 for casting spells (thus, being unable to cast spells of 5th level or higher), the save DC for spells decreases by 1, and bonus spells are calculated based on their new score. This also affects users of psionic powers. The penalty increases if the wearer improves the gauntlets’ enhancement bonus to Strength.

A character with levels in the fighter class (or effective fighter levels) gains further benefits when using gauntlets of ogre power. The duration of the rage effect is equal to 1 round per effective fighter level or 5 rounds, whichever is higher. Furthermore, at effective fighter level 6th, the wearer takes no penalty to their mental ability scores; this only works for characters that cast spells, such as paladins, rangers and multiclass characters.

If the character is an orc (or from a race with the orc subtype), or is a barbarian, it is treated as a barbarian of three levels higher (if having no barbarian levels, thus, the character is treated as a 3rd level barbarian) for purposes of rage. Thus, a 5th level barbarian wearing gauntlets of ogre power gains an extra daily use of rage, and an 8th level barbarian is treated as if having the greater rage class feature. Wearing the gauntlets does not allow a character to be considered as having the rage ability. This effect replaces the wearer’s ability to use the rage spell effect, however.

Lore: The first gauntlets of ogre power were supposedly made by Gruumsh, the god of orcs, in order to “equal the orc’s strength with that of ogres”, thus giving the gauntlets their name. Because of this, orc master smiths can craft gauntlets of ogre power with little effort. (Knowledge [history], Knowledge [religion] or bardic knowledge check DC 20).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

GAUNTLETS OF RUST
Price (Item Level): 54,702 gp (18th)
Body Slot: Hands
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate (DC 18); transmutation
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Weight: 2 lbs.

These metal gauntlets look heavily rusted and pitted; attempts to reduce or remove the rust simply do not work. On the other hand, the gauntlets remain fully functional, despite the rust patina.

These gauntlets are prized for their rust-related abilities. Gauntlets of rust are treated as +1 gauntlets (and can be improved as magical gauntlets), ignoring damage reduction and hardness of constructs made mostly out of metal. As a standard action, the wearer can touch a metallic object or creature, causing 3d6+7 points of damage against it. If the wearer attempts to sunder an object made out of metal, the wearer deals this extra damage to the object and all damage ignores the object’s hardness. Attempting to destroy a metallic object by means of a Strength check reduces the check DC by 5. Finally, the gauntlets make the wearer’s equipment immune to the effects of other rusting abilities, such as the rust touch effect of a rust monster.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

GLOVES OF SNATCHING
Price (Item Level): 7,500 gp (11th)
Body Slot: Hands
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint (DC 17); conjuration
Activation: -- and free (mental)
Weight: --

These gloves seem somewhat sticky, and are unusually light. When worn, they feel like if they weren’t there, the sticky feeling gone, but things seem to remain stuck to your hands.

A pair of gloves fit for thieves, gloves of snatching provide a +5 competence bonus to Sleight of Hand checks and a +2 bonus on all disarm attempts. If the wearer has at least one hand free, it is treated as if having the Snatch Arrows feat even if it does not meet the prerequisites, though it is still limited to the number of attacks of opportunity it may make per round.

A character with levels in the fighter class (or effective fighter levels) may, once per encounter at effective fighter level 6th and every five effective fighter levels thereafter, attempt to snatch an arrow or thrown object as a free action without spending an attack of opportunity. At effective fighter level 11th, the wearer may make a ranged attack of opportunity with the thrown weapon (even if it is an arrow) against any target within the first range increment of the weapon (arrows and bolts are limited to 30 ft.) at a -5 penalty; if the object was caught by consuming an attack of opportunity, this special attack is done freely.

A character with at least 9 ranks in Sleight of Hand and the Deft Hands feat increases the bonus on disarm checks by 1, plus 1 for every five ranks over 9; at 14 ranks, the wearer can make a disarm attempt as a free action once per round so as long as it has one hand free.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must have 10 ranks in Sleight of Hand (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/sleightofHand.htm) and the Deft Hands (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#deftHands) feat.
Cost to Create:

GOLEMBANE SCARAB
Price (Item Level): 27,500 gp (16th)
Body Slot: Throat
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint (DC 17); divination and transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: --

This beetle-shaped pin, upon close examination, has a very complex mechanism. It starts to resonate when close to complex machinery.

An item suitable against constructs, the golembane scarab has two main functions. First, the wearer automatically detects any construct within 120 ft. of it; the scarab begins to beat its “wings” swiftly once this happens. Whenever the wearer is fighting a construct, any attacks it makes ignore its damage reduction and hardness. Constructs with the living subtype may wear this item without penalty, but any construct that wears it takes a negative level and 2d6 points of damage while worn. Inevitables, despite their construct appearance, are immune to this effect.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

GOGGLES OF MINUTE SEEING
Price (Item Level): 5,000 gp (9th)
Body Slot: Face
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint (DC 17); divination
Activation: -- and swift (mental)
Weight: --

The lenses of these goggles are made as if magnifying glasses, but only on the lower part of the visual range so that the person can see normally. Seeing through them allows incredible breadth of visual acuity, allowing the wearer to distinguish things clearly.

The wearer of goggles of minute seeing gains a +5 competence bonus on all Appraise and Search checks. Once per hour, by adjusting the goggles around the lens’ area, the wearer may choose to reroll a single Appraise or Search check. The wearer of these goggles must accept the result of the second roll, even if it’s lower than that of the first.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

GOGGLES OF NIGHT
Price (Item Level): 6,000 gp (10th)
Body Slot: Face
Caster Level: 3rd
Aura: Faint (DC 16); transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: 1 lb.

These goggles are made of a dark crystalline lens outfit upon a tube placed on each eye socket. When looking through the goggles at dark, everything is seen in differing shades of green.

Designed for those beings without the ability to see in the dark, goggles of night grant the wearer darkvision up to 60 ft., but obscure normal vision when worn. Shifting through normal vision and darkvision requires a swift action (to raise or lower the goggles). If worn by a creature that already has darkvision, the goggles of night extends the range of this sense by 30 ft. and allows the viewer to see in magical darkness (if it doesn’t do so already), but negates normal vision as usual.

The loss of normal vision by means of the goggles grants the wearer immunity to blindness effects caused by light sources and gaze attacks for as long as it wears them.

Lore: The first goggles of night were designed by human warriors in order to face enemies clearly at night. While not every soldier can have one, elite soldiers of various armies are often granted a pair of goggles of night for their activities. Currently, the design is rumored to be at its fifth generation.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

HEADBAND OF LANGUAGES
Price (Item Level): 37,500 gp (17th)
Body Slot: Head
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) divination
Activation: --
Weight: --

This silver headband is wrapped in parchment, with the word “comprehension” written in all languages. Runes of speech, hearing and magic surround empty spaces in the parchment.

Designed to comprehend any language, the headband of languages grants the wearer the ability to read, write, speak and understand any language, as if having the tongues ability. Furthermore, the wearer automatically understands magical writing, as if under the effect of read magic. The headband of languages also grants a +5 competence bonus on Decipher Script checks, and allows using Decipher Script checks untrained.

Special: If the wearer is also a truenamer (see Tome of Magic for more details), it gains a +1 insight bonus on Truespeak checks, plus 1 for every five truenamer levels or levels in a prestige class that requires the Truespeak skill.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must have 10 ranks in Decipher Script (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/decipherScript.htm).
Cost to Create:

HEADBAND OF TELEPATHY
Price (Item Level): 43,200 gp (17th)
Body Slot: Head
Caster Level: 9th
Aura: Moderate (DC 19); divination
Activation: -- and standard (mental)
Weight: --

This copper headband has a quartz gem incrusted within the brow, cut to resemble an eye.

This headband grants a mental connection with other creatures, but with the risk of mental assault. The wearer of this headband can use detect thoughts at-will. While using this ability, the wearer can communicate with all creatures it has access to, establishing a two-way communication link so as long as the individuals are within 60 ft. (even if the wearer is not directly looking at them). The wearer chooses the individuals to communicate with.

So as long as the wearer is establishing telepathic contact, all creatures within the link have a -2 penalty to their Will saves against mind-affecting effects, but at a cost; the wearer also takes a -2 penalty against the same effects so as long as the link remains. A successful Will save cuts the link with the specific individual that made the attack. Because the individuals are establishing a telepathic link, this enables the wearer to ignore language-based restrictions (the telepathic communication relays the information), but this also applies to everybody.

If the character can manifest powers, it gains greater benefits. The wearer gains a +1 bonus to the manifester level of all telepathy powers, and the penalty on Will saves also applies to all powers from the telepathy discipline, even if they don’t have the mind-affecting descriptor (almost all do). If the character is a telepath (a specialist in the telepathy discipline), it can ignore the penalty to Will saves.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must be a diviner, telepath or have telepathic ability.
Cost to Create:

HELM OF BRILLIANCE
Price (Item Level): 180,000 gp (25th)
Body Slot: Head
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: Strong (DC 22); conjuration, evocation and transmutation
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Weight: 3 lbs.

This finely designed sliver barbute is adorned with a single flawless diamond in its forehead, with ten rubies orbiting the diamond as if forming a crown. The nose guard is decorated with fine fire opals, and the cheekguards are decorated with beautiful quartzes. Inlaid jade covers the borders of the headpiece.

The finest helmet made by any craftsman, the helmet of brilliance is incomparable; a treasure like no other. The helmet offers a +5 resistance bonus to Will saves against mind-affecting abilities, a +2 enhancement bonus to Charisma, fire resistance 30 and a +4 competence bonus to all Diplomacy and Intimidate checks. The diamond crowning the forehead emits a bright white light, as per a widened light spell; if undead are within the range of the light, the shine turns bluish-white.

The helm of brilliance has 50 charges when formed. Using one of the following abilities expends a charge from the helm:
1 charge: the wearer of a helm of brilliance emits a more potent light, as if using a widened daylight spell cast by an 15th level sorcerer. The light is normally a bright white, but when undead enter the range of the area, it turns an intense bluish-white that deals 1d6 points of damage every turn it stays on the area.
1 charge: the wearer of a helm of brilliance temporarily grants any weapon it wields the flaming property for 15 rounds. Undead creatures take twice the amount of damage from the flaming effect, and the target must succeed on a Fortitude saving throw (DC 13) or become blinded for 1 round.
2 charges: the wearer of a helm of brilliance emits a ray of light from the diamond, duplicating the effect of a searing light (DC 14) spell cast by a 15th level cleric.
3 charges: the wearer of a helm of brilliance emits a wall of intense light that works effectively as a wall of fire spell cast by a 15th level sorcerer. Every time a creature is dealt damage by this special wall of flame, all creatures within area must succeed on a Reflex saving throw (DC 16) or become blinded for 1 round.
4 charges: the wearer of a helm of brilliance emits an intense, explosive burst of light duplicating a sunburst spell (Reflex save DC 22) cast by a 15th level cleric.
5 charges: the wearer of a helm of brilliance emits a ray of multicolored light, duplicating the effect of a heightened prismatic ray spell (save DC 23)

Once the wearer expends all charges of the helm of brilliance, it loses all properties except for the enhancement bonus to Charisma and the resistance bonus to saving throws. The helmet may not be recharged, but it may be used as a component if crafting another helm of brilliance, reducing the total cost by 25%.

If the wearer of a helm of brilliance has levels in the fighter class (or effective fighter levels), the powers of this item improve. The caster level for all abilities is equal to the wearer’s effective fighter level or 15th, whichever is higher. Furthermore, the save DC for all effects is equal to 10 + half the wearer’s effective fighter levels + the wearer’s Charisma modifier. Paladins are treated as fighters of their level for purposes of determining their effective fighter level for purposes of the helm of brilliance only (instead of their class level -4, as usual).

The helm of brilliance has a flaw that causes its power to explode if struck carefully. If the wearer of the helm takes more than 15 points of magical fire damage (after the fire resistance has been accounted for), it must succeed on a Will save against a DC of 15 + 1 for every five charges remaining. If the wearer fails the Will save, the helm’s power explodes on the next round, causing damage as if a widened sunburst dealing 2d6 points of damage per remaining charge. The wearer, all of its contents, and any victim taken down to 0 hp or lower are immediately destroyed in the process (as if a destruction spell had been cast), no saving throw allowed. This Will save is not considered a mind-affecting ability, and thus gains no benefit from the resistance bonus provided by the helm.

Lore: It is said that the helm of brilliance is merely a weak replica of a majestic helm once worn by a legendary king, which granted its wearer air of royalty. The legend speaks that the helm of brilliance was designed for the successors of this quasi-divine king, when the original was lost many eons ago. (Knowledge [history], Knowledge [religion] or bardic knowledge check DC 15)

It is said that only those born into the bloodline of this king can contain the mighty power of the helm, and some say even restore its powers when expended. The legend speaks that the descendants of this celestial king are recognized once they don the helm, as the light becomes a golden hue. (Knowledge [arcana], Knowledge [history], Knowledge [religion] or bardic knowledge check DC 20).

The “unstable power” of the helm of brilliance is said to be a curse laid upon by the last descendant of the original crafters of the replica-helmet when the dynasty ended in terrible war. Because of this, all helms of brilliance forged afterwards have this effect, which is bound so tightly to the creation of the item that it is impossible to remove, not even by powerful abjurations. (Knowledge [arcana], Knowledge [history] or bardic knowledge check DC 25)

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

HORSESHOES OF A ZEPHYR
Price (Item Level): 19,080 gp (set; 15th)
Body Slot: Feet (mount only)
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate (DC 18); transmutation
Activation: -- and swift (command)
Weight: 3 lbs.

This set of four horseshoes are etched with wind motifs. Despite being made of iron, they feel unusually light, and float when in close proximity to the ground.

Designed primarily for mounts, the horseshoes of a zephyr cause the mount to float above the ground while riding. The horse must still run above a roughly horizontal surface (always above 4 inches). The mount can ride over nonsolid or unstable surfaces without leaving tracks.

As a swift action, the wearer may speak the command word (“zephyr” in Auran) and make a Ride check against DC 25 in order to make the mount travel through the air, as if using the air walk spell. This effect lasts for up to 7 hours, which need not be continuous. The Ride check allows the mount to travel as if it knew the trick to travel through air (see the spell for descriptions on how to use with mounts); if the mount already knows how to travel through air, the rider needs only make a DC 10 Ride check.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item
Cost to Create:

MANTLE OF FAITH
Price (Item Level): 84,600 gp (20th)
Body Slot: Shoulders
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: Strong (DC 22); abjuration
Activation: --
Weight: 1 lb.

This mantle is bound by a thin chain, which extends to a side of the garment with a hook to allow a holy symbol to hang from. The mantle is gray-colored, but changes color each time it is worn.

A mantle worn over armor or normal clothing, the mantle of faith provides protection against attacks based on the faith of the wearer. If the wearer is chaotic neutral, neutral evil, neutral good or lawful neutral, it gains damage reduction 5 against all attacks except those from the opposite alignment (thus, a neutral good wearer gains damage reduction 5/evil). If the wearer is lawful good, lawful evil, chaotic evil or chaotic good, it gains damage reduction 10 against all attacks except from those of alignments one step away (thus, a lawful good wearer gains DR 10/chaotic or evil). Purely neutral wearers gain damage reduction 5 against all attacks.

If the wearer follows a deity and places its holy symbol on the garment, the garment provides damage reduction based on the alignment of the deity and a further +2 bonus on saving throws against spells of alignments opposed to those of the deity.

If the wearer has an alignment-based aura, the wearer gains spell resistance equal to 5+the level of the aura against any spell with an alignment opposed to that of the wearer (thus, a 10th level paladin gains SR 15 against spells with the [evil] descriptor).

The mantle of faith assumes a different color based on the alignment of the wearer:
Lawful good: teal
Neutral good: blue-green
Chaotic good: forest green
Lawful neutral: purple
Neutral: gray
Chaotic neutral: yellow-green
Lawful evil: red
Neutral evil: orange
Chaotic evil: pale yellow

Special: A meldshaper (see Magic of Incarnum for more details) can develop further benefit from the mantle of faith. For every point of essentia spent on the mantle of faith, the spell resistance gained by means of the meldshaper’s aura increases by 3. If the meldshaper binds the mantle of faith to the shoulder’s chakra, it gains a +1 bonus on saving throws against spells opposing its alignment, plus 1 for every point of essentia (this stacks with the bonus provided by the holy symbol, if they apply to the same effect). If the meldshaper binds the mantle of faith to the heart chakra, the damage reduction gained from the garment increases by 2, plus 1 for every point of essentia. If the meldshaper binds the mantle of faith to the soul chakra, the garment duplicates the effect of a cloak of chaos, holy aura, shield of law or unholy aura spell cast by a character of its meldshaper level.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem), character must have an alignment-based aura of a 15th level or higher character.
Cost to Create:

MANTLE OF SPELL RESISTANCE
Price (Item Level): 90,000 gp (20th)
Body Slot: Shoulders
Caster Level: 9th
Aura: Moderate (DC 19); abjuration
Activation: --
Weight: --

This mantle is made out of silk interwoven with silver and etched with protective runes.

The wearer of a mantle of spell resistance gains spell resistance equal to 5 plus their character level. If they already have higher spell resistance, they gain a +5 bonus to it. This benefit does not stack with another item-based form of spell resistance (such as an armor of spell resistance or a mantle of faith).

A character with levels in the fighter class (or effective fighter levels) gains further benefit from this item. A character with 1 effective fighter level ignores spells with the (harmless) descriptor for purposes of spell resistance (in other words, spells with said descriptor affect the wearer as if it had no spell resistance). With six effective fighter levels, the wearer gains an increase of 5 to its spell resistance and a +2 bonus against all spells and spell-like abilities, which increases by the same amount for every 10 effective fighter levels after the 6th.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

MASK OF THE SKULL
Price (Item Level): 12,580 gp (13th)
Body Slot: Face
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate (DC 18); necromancy
Activation: standard (command)
Weight: 3 lbs.

This mask, crafted from flawless ivory, is etched in the image of a skull. The mask does not seem to resemble a particular skull, but when worn, it shifts to resemble the skull of a member of the wearer’s race.

A favorite item mostly for its grim image, the mask of the skull grants powers related to fear and death. The wearer of the mask of the skull gains a +5 competence bonus on all Intimidate checks, and the save DC of any fear spells it casts (or any extraordinary or supernatural ability that grants a saving throw, such as frightful presence) increases by 1.

Once per day, the wearer of a mask of the skull can deliver a potent gaze to its wearer, causing it to face its worst fears. As a standard action, a single creature within 60 ft. that the wearer can see must make a Will saving throw against a DC of 17 or confront its worst fears, as per a phantasmal killer spell, except the target needs not make a subsequent Fortitude saving throw and the effect is partially real, dealing 3d6 points of damage on a successful save. This effect is considered a death, fear, mind-affecting ability.

If the wearer has levels in the fighter class (or effective fighter levels), it gains extra benefits. The wearer may make an Intimidate check, with a penalty of -10 when activating the mask’s effect, and the damage dealt by the mask increases by 1 for every effective fighter level if the target’s Will save exceeds the wearer’s Intimidate check.

The wearer of a mask of the skull is treated as if it were an undead for purposes of spells and effects that detect undead, but unless the wearer is an undead itself, it doesn’t get affected by abilities that affect undead.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

MEDALLION OF FIREBALLS
Price (Item Level): 9,300 gp
Body Slot: Throat
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate (DC 20); evocation
Activation: standard (command)
Weight: --

This garment looks as a few beads tied on a string, ending in a red crystal disc with the etching of a flame. When held and observed carefully, the string is revealed to be a thin golden chain, and both the beads and the medallion made out of fire ruby.

The wearer of a medallion of fireballs gains the ability to deploy fireballs, and empower fire-based magic. The wearer of the medallion gains a +1 competence bonus to the caster level of all spells with the [fire] descriptor. This ability is always active.

A medallion of fireballs has three charges, which are renewed each day at dawn. Spending 1 or more charges allows the wearer to manifest a fireball, as the spell (except the range is always up to 600 ft.), with increasing power.

1 charge: Fireball, as per a 5th level sorcerer (DC 14).
2 charges: Empowered fireball, as per a 7th level sorcerer (DC 16).
3 charges: Maximized empowered fireball, as per a 10th level sorcerer (DC 18). The damage is first maximized, then empowered (thus, the fireball always deals 135 points of damage).

If a character has levels in the fighter class (or effective fighter levels), the fireballs from the medallion become more powerful. Regardless of the amount of charges chosen, the fireball counts as if cast by a character of half the wearer’s effective fighter levels (up to a maximum of 10th level at effective fighter level 20).

Special: Other medallions exist, which cast use different spells and empower different kinds of magic. A medallion of cone of cold affects [cold]-based magic and allows the wearer to cast cone of cold; a medallion of lightning bolt affects [electricity]-based magic and allows the wearer to cast lightning bolt; a medallion of acid arrow affects [acid]-based magic and allows the wearer to cast Melf’s acid arrow (at caster levels 6th, 12th and 18th; treat effective fighter level as caster level for this medallion); and a medallion of greater shout affects [sonic]-based magic and allows the wearer to cast greater shout (at caster levels 10th, 15th and 20th; treat effective fighter level as caster level for this medallion).

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must have the Empower Spell (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#empowerSpell) and Maximize Spell (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#maximizeSpell) feats.
Cost to Create:

MEDALLION OF THOUGHTS
Price (Item Level): 23,400 gp (18th)
Body Slot: Throat
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint (DC 17); divination and enchantment
Activation: standard (command)
Weight: --

This medallion seems to be a normal pendant disk made of copper, hung from a neck chain. The disk has the etching of an eye on one side, and an ear on the other.

A dangerous medallion in the hands of powerful enchanters, the medallion of thoughts allows the wearer to listen to the thoughts of others, as per a detect thoughts spell. The wearer may concentrate on the target (or targets) for as much as it desires, unlike the spell.

Once per day, the wearer of a medallion of thoughts may attempt to, if listening the thoughts of a wearer, attempt to drop a message as if the target had thought of it. Treat it as the effect of a suggestion spell, with a save DC of 14.

If the wearer is an enchanter, or has the Spell Focus (enchantment) feat, it gains further benefits. The suggestion effect save DC is equal to 10 + half the wearer’s caster level + the wearer’s main ability score for spellcasting. Furthermore, by making a DC 25 Concentration check, the wearer may sacrifice a 3rd level or higher spell to cast suggestion, even if the wearer has not prepared it for the day or does not know it, but only as long as the wearer is listening to the target’s surface thoughts. The Concentration check allows it to expend the spell slot as if it had cast a quickened suggestion spell. If the wearer has the Greater Spell Focus (enchantment) feat as well, it may expend a 7th level spell slot to instead cast modify memory, as a bard of its caster level.

A bard gains a different set of benefits, though it may take advantage of the former if it also has the Spell Focus (enchantment) feat. When using the medallion of thoughts, the bard can expend one daily use of its bardic music ability to use its suggestion effect, even if the wearer has not been previously fascinated. This also works with the bard’s mass suggestion ability, but only affecting those which are on the area of effect of the medallion of thoughts. The bard may use this item when using the fascinate bardic music ability; if attempting to do a suggestion while the target is fascinated and the listener is hearing its surface thoughts, it may expend three daily uses of its bardic music to duplicate the effect of a modify memory spell. The save DC for the suggestion effects is based on its Perform check, as usual, but the modify memory effect DC is equal to 8 + half the wearer’s ranks in Perform + the wearer’s Charisma modifier.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

MONK’S BELT
Price (Item Level): 40,000 gp (17th)
Body Slot: Waist
Caster Level: 11th
Aura: Moderate (DC 20); transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: 1 lb.

This belt is comprised of simple, yet sturdy, silk rope. Wearing it enlightens the user into the secrets of martial artists.

The wearer of a monk’s belt gains the ability to strengthen its fists, and gain a modicum of defense against attacks even if unarmed. The wearer gains the benefit of the Improved Unarmed Strike feat, and the damage dealt by the fists increases to 1d6 (for Medium creatures only; see the monk’s unarmed strike damage table for Small or Large creatures). Furthermore, the wearer gains a +4 armor bonus to AC, and a +2 resistance bonus to all saving throws. If the wearer has the Stunning Fist feat, it gains an extra daily attempt when wearing the belt.

Monks and classes with similar traits (such as ninjas and swordsages; see Complete Adventurer for details on the ninja and Tome of Battle: the Book of Nine Swords for details on the swordsage) gain improved benefits. All classes, regardless of type, are treated as if they were a 5th level monk (or a monk of 5 levels higher) for purposes of determining unarmed strike damage and Armor Class bonus, and their unarmed strikes gain a +1 enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls.

Special: Two variants of the monk’s belt exist, which provide the wearer with the abilities of either a ninja or a swordsage instead of a monk. The ninja obi treats a character with at least 1 level of monk, ninja or swordsage as a ninja of 5 levels higher for purposes of determining daily uses of ki; a monk or a swordsage may expend a daily use of ki to restore an amount of hit points equal to their character level, to activate a daily use of the Stunning Fist feat, or to become invisible (as per the invisibility spell) for 1 round (a monk may also expend one daily use of ki to activate its abundant step ability one more time per day, or three daily uses to activate its quivering palm ability). The red sash of a swordsage grants monks and ninjas (and only monks and ninjas) the ability to wear light armor without losing their AC bonus, the quick to act ability of a 5th level swordsage, and the ability to ready up to 3 maneuvers from any of the disciplines allowed to the swordsage with an initiator level equal to 5 + half the character level of the wearer (up to a maximum of its character level; this initiator level cannot be applied when learning maneuvers by means of the Martial Study feat, but the wearer can use maneuvers learned from this feat to qualify for other maneuvers, and may apply this temporary initiator level for purposes of using martial scrolls and maneuvers from any of the items on page 149 of the Tome of Battle: Book of Nine Swords sourcebook).

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must be a 10th level monk, ninja (CAdv) or swordsage (ToB 16)
Cost to Create:

Part 2 of the retooled clothing, and here you can notice the depth of the changes. Some of these items passed from boring to fun, some from merely fun to wonderful, and some got their just and deserved nerf. Let's go in order, shall we?

The Eyes items, for example, are now more useful than before. The original had a pretty high price, and a poor effect if you used only one of the lenses instead of both; now, the effect is somewhat more reasonable than before (a +3 to its save DC). The Eyes of Doom lose their Deathwatch ability and are a bit more expensive, but you can use Fear daily instead of weekly, and the Doom effect becomes a bona-fide gaze attack, which makes it pretty cool. The Eyes of the Eagle are just a tad more expensive, but they grant free low-light vision and a respite for those who want to play as snipers. Finally, the Eyes of Petrifaction lose their continuous effect (unless you're a yuan-ti), but can be used a few more times per day. All eyes except the Eyes of the Eagle have their save DCs boosted quite fairly if you're a fighter or if you're skilled with Diplomacy or Intimidation.

Afterwards come a well-known item, one that with the slight change to items would have been otherwise forgotten: Gauntlets of Ogre Power. The original merely grants a +2 enhancement bonus to Strength and nothing else. Now? Now it's a +1 weapon, grants the same bonus to Strength, and the ability to use Rage. That alone makes it pretty useful (compared to a Belt of Giant Strength +2, that is), but I felt it wasn't enough. Barbarians will definitely ask for this item to whomever gives up gifts in your campaign (Santa Claus, the Magi, Father Christmas, baby Jesus, the Jester of Festivult, etc.) because of its Monk's Belt-esque ability to boost rage. I always felt the Gauntlets of Ogre Power had to deal for some reason with orcs, so they get that benefit for free, and the Lore supports that. The Gauntlets of Rust are now far more expensive but usable at-will, and they count as a magic weapon with a free Blueshine/Everbright effect on top. The Gloves of Snaring take the old Gloves of Arrow Snatching and make them a thief's best friend, what with the boost to Sleight of Hand and disarm checks (and if you're playing PF, that means a +2 to CMB when making Steal checks, so more power to them...wait, why I'm talking about PF!?)

Again with face items, the Goggles of Minute Seeing gain a nifty reroll effect and are now great for Appraise checks (minute seeing involves having a keen, clinical eye, and you really can't expect that to apply to valuing an object? For shame!). The Goggles of Night have a pretty obvious inspiration; they're glorified night-vision goggles, and I just ran with it. On top of those two, and going straight into the shoulders, the Golembane Scarab retains most of its old properties but detects constructs (not just golems) at twice the range and constantly, rather than having to focus on it; shame about the price, though, whose multiplying factor rose up to eleven...

Proceeding with the H, the old Helms of Comprehend Languages and Read Magic/Telepathy were turned into Headbands, and now they're pretty cool. The former had its comprehension ability upgraded to bonafide Tongues, and its Decipher Script ability can now be used at will, but for those few Truenamers that lost their ability to taste ice cream, the Headband is now a must-have item for its rising insight bonus. The Headband of Telepathy is now a boon for those who love mind-affecting abilities, but most importantly to Telepaths, so even manifesters get some love.

Then, we get into the Helm of Brilliance, an item that's incredibly cool but impractical as heck. Now, it's one of the few items that hold 50 charges, but the rearrangement allows it to hold a nice permanent boost to Charisma and Diplomacy/Intimidate checks, so it's not like it went from cool to useless when uncharged. The Will save is a bit more difficult to succeed at, but the effect isn't a mini-Fourth of July anymore. The Lore bit is important, because I'd like to see it made into a bonafide Major Artifact, much like the Sunsword (the precursor of the Sun Blade); I really got inspired in that one. To finish the H, the Horseshoes of a Zephyr now grant a temporary Air Walk effect, alongside its elocation effect (think the ability of the Elocater, which is exactly the same as this item).

Passing to M, the two Mantles also got a fair boost. The Mantle of Faith no longer offers a fixed damage reduction, but instead grants a variable boost. However, that's not just the only thing it gained; the bonus to saving throws is a nice bit, but you also gain spell resistance on top of it if you have an aura (which means Clerics, Paladins, Blackguards, Incarnates and Soulborn will definitely want this). Incarnum users will seek this the most, because of their special chakra binds which boost each of the properties independently; I figured that Incarnum-specific items were sorta boring, so I made this into an impromptu soulmeld for them. The Mantle of Spell Resistance now grants actually useful SR, and if you have a higher amount (unless gained from an item), you just make it more powerful. Considering just how trigger-happy my retools are with spell resistance, the item just became even MORE useful; shame about the Drazzix's Vest, which got its benefit somewhat offsided. Then again, I got to check if they can stack...

Getting short on space...let's see...Mask of the Skull's instant death effect got nerfed into Phantasmal Killer but provides a boon to Intimidate checks and fear effects. That's simple. The Medallion of Fireballs is now more reliable, and there's now one for every energy type but Force (using some of the better-known mid-level blasting evocation spells, with the exception of Acid Arrow [conjuration] and Greater Shout [somewhat higher level than the rest]. The Medallion of Thoughts overlaps with the Headband of Telepathy, but works best for Bards, Beguilers and Enchanters instead; all of them get access to Modify Memory in one way or another, which makes it a pretty nasty item.

...Ah, YES! I was speaking quite a bit about the Monk's Belt, you thought I wouldn't dabble on it? To make the long story short, the Monk's Belt got nerfed...for everyone but Monks (of course), Ninjas and Swordsages (what!?). Ninjas and Swordsages now have their own items, and Monks benefit from those just as the latter two benefit from the Monk's Belt, so all martial artists (save for the Sohei) are accounted for.

T.G. Oskar

2014-01-28, 06:53 PM

NECKLACE OF ADAPTATION
Price (Item Level): 57,500 gp (18th)
Body Slot: Throat
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint (DC 17); abjuration and transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: --

This necklace is comprised of a heavy chain and a platinum medallion. When wearing the item, the air seems fresh and clean, no matter what.

The wearer of a necklace of adaptation is protected from a variety of effects. First, it gains the ability to survive temperatures between -50 and 140 degrees F, as per the endure elements spell. Second, it creates a shell of fresh air that protects the wearer from dangerous gases, such as the effects of the cloudkill and stinking cloud spells (but not from spells such as incendiary cloud), as well as any inhaled poisons. The shell of air allows the wearer to breathe even underwater or in a vacuum. Third, the wearer of a necklace of adaptation can adapt to the harsh natural conditions of other planes; for example, it can ignore the fire damage taken by a character while in a fire-dominant plane, or prevent the risk from suffocation from an earth-dominant plane; wearers of a necklace of adaptation does not gain temporary hit points in excess of its own when fully restored and does not take damage or receive negative levels when under a negative-dominant plane. Even specific effects of planes can be resisted by a necklace of adaptation, such as the deafening effects of Pandemonium and the cold damage on the Cania layer of the Nine Hells. The wearer is still affected by some of the traits, such as the healing property of a positive-dominant plane, gravity in a plane, altered passage of time, effects related to magic, and the effects of alignment-based planes and entrapment traits of certain planes (such as Elysium or Hades). The wearer of a necklace of adaptation is still affected by the traits of the Spire, but unlike other traits, the necklace of adaptation does not lose its powers even at the closest point.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

PERIAPT OF HEALTH
Price (Item Level): 27,550 gp (16th)
Body Slot: Throat
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: 5th (DC 17); conjuration and transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: --

This blue-black gem dangles on a slim, delicate silver chain. Holding it seems to alleviate the fatigue of a long day.

The wearer of a periapt of health gains a +2 enhancement bonus to Constitution, as well as immunity to all poisons and diseases, whether natural, magical or supernatural.

Because of its affinity towards physical endurance, attempting to improve the periapt’s enhancement bonus to Constitution costs only half the usual fee (in both gold and experience). Thus, improving the enhancement bonus of the periapt of health from a +2 to a +4 would cost 6,000 gp (if done by an NPC crafter; if done by the wearer or a PC crafter, the cost is instead 3,000 gp) instead of 12,000 gp (the difference between 4,000 gp and 16,000 gp).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

PERIAPT OF WOUND CLOSURE
Price (Item Level): 45,000 gp (17th)
Body Slot: Throat
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate (DC 20); conjuration
Activation: --
Weight: --

The small red stone in this necklace dangles from a fine golden chain. When you hold it, wounds begin to close and pain begins to subside.

Designed to assist in the recovery of wounds, the periapt of wound closure grants temporary fast healing based on the wearer’s wounds, and improves natural and magical healing acquired. To gain the benefits of a periapt of wound closure, the item must be worn for 24 consecutive hours. The wearer of this periapt automatically becomes stable if its hit points drop between -1 and -9, inclusive. The periapt doubles the amount of normal healing. If the wearer of a periapt of wound closure is the target of a conjuration (healing) spell that restores hit point damage, the spell is treated as if the Empower Spell feat had been used. This also applies to effects that restore hit points in a similar way, such as the healing provided by a crusader’s strike (see Tome of Battle: the Book of Nine Swords). Finally, the wearer is immune to all kinds of bleeding damage; the bleeding wound closes immediately after it opens.

If the wearer has taken any damage, it gains fast healing 1 until it recovers; if the wearer is at half its maximum hit points, it recovers 5 hit points per round. Once the periapt of wound closure has healed up to 100 hit points, the fast healing effect ends until the next day. The “healing pool” of a periapt of wound closure can be restored whenever the wearer receives healing in excess of their maximum amount of hit points. Only healing gained by means of a conjuration (healing) spell or an effect that acts as one provide the benefit of restoring the hit point pool; fast healing or regeneration cannot restore the healing pool.

If the wearer has levels in the fighter class (or effective fighter levels), it gains greater benefits. The amount of fast healing increases to 3, and the “healing pool” is equal to 10 times the effective fighter level of the wearer or 100, whichever is higher.

Special: if the wearer of a periapt of wound closure wears a ring of regeneration, the two have a synergistic effect. The wearer gains regeneration 3, bypassed by the same attacks that would affect a ring of regeneration.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

PHYLACTERY OF FAITHFULNESS
Price (Item Level): 2000 gp (construction purposes only; item cannot be sold; 6th)
Body Slot: Head
Caster Level: 1st
Aura: Faint (DC 15); divination
Activation: --
Weight: --

This headgear is comprised of a headband that ends in a small box from where a scroll strip with religious text flows. The writing on the strip is somewhat illegible, but you can seem to reckon it speaks of proper behavior.

An item that seeks to preserve the purity of their wearers, the phylactery of faithfulness serves to define any action that may threaten the wearer’s alignment. Whenever the wearer would act in some way contrary to their alignment, it gets informed of the error in its action. If the wearer is under a logical paradox, it suggests the best course of action (the one that will minimize the effect of alignment, or the actual third option).

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must follow a very specific code of conduct.
Cost to Create:

PHYLACTERY OF INFLUENCE OVER UNDEATH
Price (Item Level): 22,000 gp (15th)
Body Slot: Head
Caster Level: 9th
Aura: Moderate (DC 19); enchantment and necromancy
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Weight: --

This headgear is comprised of a leather headband that ends in a small box from where a scroll strip with religious text flows. The text in the strip contains an exercise to focus positive or magical energy, and the right words to address the deities when attempting to deal with the undead.

Given to members of undead-hunting parties or developed by powerful necromancer-priests, the phylactery of influence over undeath works to strengthen the power of priests over the undead, but holds some power to control them as well. The wearer of this phylactery is treated as if it were four levels higher when attempting to turn or rebuke undead, and may affect up to 1d6 extra HD worth of undead (paladins and blackguards, as well as any class or prestige class that grants the ability to turn or rebuke undead at a lesser strength than that of the cleric, instead are treated as if they were six levels higher, but their turning or rebuking ability cannot exceed more than their class level +4).

Once per day, even if it does not have the ability to turn or rebuke undead, the wearer may activate the powers of the phylactery of influence over undeath. At its choice, the wearer may choose to erect a barrier that repels any undead within a 10-ft. radius for up to 90 min., or attempt to control a single undead creature for up to 9 days. If the wearer chooses to repel the undead, it automatically repels all undead with HD lower than one-third of the wearer’s HD; other undead may attempt to pass by making a Will save (DC 17), but they take 2d6 points of damage by attempting to pass upon the barrier. If the wearer attempts to control the undead, treat as if using a command undead spell, except the saving throw DC for the effect is 17.

If the wearer has the ability to turn or rebuke undead, it may sacrifice the ability to repel or command undead as a free action while attempting to turn or rebuke undead. If doing so, the wearer is treated as if making a greater turning (as the Sun domain power, if turning undead) or automatically control all undead that would otherwise be rebuked (if rebuking undead).

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must be capable of turning undead and have the Glory (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/divine/domains.htm#gloryDomain) or Sun (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spellLists/clericDomains.htm#sunDomain) domains, or rebuking undead and have the Death (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spellLists/clericDomains.htm#deathDomain), Deathbound or Undeath domains.
Cost to Create:

ROBE OF THE ARCHMAGI
Price (Item Level): 127,650 gp (22nd)
Body Slot: Body
Caster Level: 18th
Aura: Strong (DC 24); no school
Activation: --
Weight: 1 lb.

At first glance, this seems to be a normal traveler’s robe of a white, grayish or black color. When sufficiently powerful magic is applied to it, the robe is revealed to be made of exquisite silk, with golden threads etched with extremely potent arcane runes.

A robe designed for the most powerful mages in existence, robes of the archmagi provide protection to a similar degree as armor and then some. When worn by any character, the robe of the archmagi provides a +4 armor bonus to AC, spell resistance 10 and a +1 resistance bonus to all saving throws.

If the wearer is capable of casting arcane magic, the robe of the archmagi provides superior protection based on the caster level of its wearer:
{TABLE=head]Caster Level|Armor|SR|Saves|CL checks|Other
1st – 5th|
+5|
5+CL|
+2|
+1|-
6th – 10th|
+6|
7+CL|
+3|
+2|Extra Slots (3)
11th – 15th|
+7|
10+CL|
+4|
+3|Extra Slots (6), +1 CL
16th – 20th|
+8|
15+CL|
+5|
+5|Extra Slots (9), +2 CL, +1 DC[/TABLE]

Caster Level: the caster level of the wearer. This only applies caster level acquired by means of class levels, not by means of feats or items (except the Practiced Spellcaster feat; see Complete Arcane for more details)
Armor: armor bonus to AC provided by the robe of the archmagi. The robe of the archmagi can be enchanted just as if it were magic armor: see the bracers of armor description for more details.
SR: spell resistance provided by the item. If the wearer already has better spell resistance, add the base amount (5, 7, 10 or 15) to existing spell resistance.
Saves: resistance bonus to all saving throws.
CL checks: bonus on caster level checks to bypass spell resistance. This bonus does not apply with any other trait affected by caster level (such as duration or damage dealt).
Extra Slots: amount of spell levels a character wielding this robe has available. A prepared spellcaster may prepare a number of spells whose combined spell level does not exceed the amount of spell levels provided by the robe. Spontaneous spellcasters may cast a number of spells whose combined spell level does not exceed the amount of spell levels provided by the robe.
+CL: actual increase in caster level. This applies to all effects that depend on caster level, including checks to bypass spell resistance (and thus, stack with the bonus on checks to bypass spell resistance granted by the robe). This increase only applies while the wearer has the robe, and does not allow the wearer to qualify for prestige classes that require a caster level.
+DC: increase in the saving throw DC of any spell cast.

The robe of the archmagi comes in three colors, each representing an alignment. The white robe of the archmagi may only be used by good creatures, the gray robe of the archmagi by neutral creatures, and the black robe of the archmagi by evil creatures. A good character wearing a black robe or an evil creature wearing a white robe takes 3 temporary negative levels for as long as it wears it and for 24 hours afterwards. A neutral character wearing a white robe or a black robe, or a good/evil creature wearing a gray robe, takes 2 temporary negative levels instead.
Special: The robe of the archmagi, if worn with a vest of the archmagi (see Magic Item Compendium, page 145), produces a synergistic effect. The wearer is treated as if its caster level was 5 higher for purposes of determining the bonuses of the robe of the archmagi, and may recall up to 5 spells when using the properties of the vest of the archmagi.
Lore: These robes are the remnants of an ancient order of wizards that promoted and defended magic in antiquity. The order was divided in three great organizations, which represented benevolent white magic, malevolent black magic, and the fundaments of magic represented through the gray order. The first robes belonged only to the most powerful members of each group. (Knowledge [arcana], Knowledge [history] or bardic knowledge check DC 20).
It is said that the order still exists, or that rather, the original order is from another world. In this world, there is no order of “gray mages”, but rather the order of Red Mages (and thus, no gray robe of the archmagi, but instead a red robe of the archmagi). It is said that the organization was known as the “Orders of High Sorcery”, and that each of the organizations represented one of the three moons that orbit said plane, which represented each of the three gods of Magic. The first robes of the archmagi are said to be from that plane, and were given only to the highest authorities of each. (Knowledge [arcana], Knowledge [history], Knowledge [the planes] or bardic knowledge check DC 35).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

ROBE OF BLENDING
Price (Item Level): 21,500 gp (15th)
Body Slot: Body
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint (DC 17); illusion and transmutation
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Weight: 1 lb.

This traveling robe seems unassuming, plain. However, it seems to fit well with anything the wearer uses, from poor clothes to expensive jewelry.

An unusual choice of attire, the robe of blending grants its wearer the ability to blend into surroundings and crowds. The wearer gains a +5 competence bonus on all Hide checks and a +10 competence bonus on all Disguise checks. At-will, the wearer gains the ability to change its appearance, as per the disguise self spell; because the robe alters its own form and helps shape the wearer’s body, the wearer gains no Will save to disbelieve the effect.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

ROBE OF BONES
Price (Item Level): 15,080 gp (14th)
Body Slot: Body
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate (DC 18); necromancy
Activation: --
Weight: 1 lb.

This black robe has a set of bone decorations, including shoulder plates, a complete set of ribs, and several arm and leg bones. Seen from any angle, it perfectly mimics the structure of a skeleton.

A boon for the aspiring necromancer, the robe of bones allows the wearer to animate undead creatures with ease and strengthens control over them. While wearing a robe of bones, the wearer may control up to 150% more undead (thus, the wearer may control 6 x its caster level worth of undead HD when using animate dead or spells based on it, or up to 3 undead creatures per every two cleric levels if rebuking undead). Once per day, when using the animate undead spell or a spell based on it, the wearer may ignore the material component.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

ROBE OF EYES
Price (Item Level): 120,000 gp (22nd)
Body Slot: Body
Caster Level: 11th
Aura: Moderate (DC 20); divination
Activation: --
Weight: 1 lb.

This bluish-black robe has patterns of eyes, of various forms and eye colors, surrounding it. Sometimes, one of the glyphs seems to blink.

A robe that grants unparalleled visual acuity, the robe of eyes provides several sight-related abilities. The wearer gains low-light vision and darkvision up to 60 ft. (which works even in magical darkness); if the wearer already has low-light vision, the range doubles, and if it already has darkvision better than 60 ft., the wearer gains a 30 ft. bonus to its range. The wearer gains the ability to see in all directions; thus, the wearer cannot be flanked and retains its Dexterity bonus to AC at all moments, even if flat-footed. The wearer gains a +10 competence bonus on all Search and Spot checks, as well as a +5 bonus on all Will saves to disbelieve illusions. Furthermore, the wearer can see all invisible and ethereal creatures within 120 ft. Finally, the wearer is immune to blindness (but see below).

In exchange for all these abiltiies, the wearer of a robe of eyes takes a few penalties. The wearer of a robe of eyes, because it is always looking at its surroundings, cannot avert its eyes from a gaze attack. Furthermore, if a sufficiently bright light (or a continual light spell) is cast upon the wearer of a robe of eyes, the wearer is blinded for 1d3 rounds. A daylight spell blinds the wearer for 2d4 minutes instead. If the wearer is affected by a spell or effect that causes blindness by means of a sudden blast of light, the wearer is automatically affected (no saving throw allowed). These instances of blindness are an exception to the wearer’s immunity to blindness indicated above.

Lore: The first robe of eyes was supposedly crafted by a cultist that worshipped beholders, although its powers were not developed at that moment. Supposedly, that robe of eyes had the ability to duplicate the power of the beholder’s eye rays. It was until much later where the robe of eyes became a powerful item for adventurers. It is a mystery what happened to that ancient robe, but it is said that whomever wears it becomes influenced by beholders into their worship. (Knowledge [arcana], Knowledge [religion] or bardic knowledge check DC 20).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

ROBE OF USEFUL ITEMS
Price (Item Level): 219,000 gp (26th)
Body Slot: Body
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: Strong (DC 22); transmutation
Activation: -- and move (command)
Weight: 1 lb.

This unusual item seems unremarkable, except for a few pouches spread on the inside. The pouches seem deeper than they seem, and are decorated with several patches of tools and other items.

Quite possibly the greatest adventuring gear ever made, the robe of useful items allows holding several items and provides the right tool whenever it is needed. The robe has 20 patched pouches, which can hold a multitude of items inside (as if a bag of holding). The patches are spread as follows:

At least 10 of the pouches can hold small things, generally something that can be held in one hand, and that weighs no more than 1 lb.
Another 4 pouches act as a larger storage device, holding up to 10 items of the same kind that weigh no more than 25 lbs. total. These pouches are normally used to store potions or scrolls.
Two extra pouches act as very large storage devices, generally holding items no bigger than a bedroll (and weighing no more than 5 lbs.)
Another 2 pouches act as quivers, holding up to 50 projectile weapons (arrows, bolts, sling bullets and similar) or small throwing weapons (such as shuriken or darts).
One pouch can hold a single weapon, generally no bigger than a two-handed weapon designed for a Medium-sized creature.

Claiming any of the items stored in these pouches takes only a move action, except for a stored weapon, which can be claimed as a free action (as if the wearer had the Quick Draw feat). The pouch’s patch automatically changes to resemble a flat replica of the item stored.

The last pouch serves a special purpose. The robe of useful items has five charges, which are replenished during the day at dawn. By spending one or more charges as a move action, the wearer can draw a specific item from this pouch, according to its needs:
1 charge: a bell, a winter blanket, an empty bucket, a crowbar, a dagger, enough firewood for 1 day with flint and steel, a grappling hook, 50 ft. of hempen rope, a 10 ft. ladder, a miner’s pick, 2 pitons, a 10 ft. pole, a signal whistle, a sledgehammer, a small steel mirror (2 ft. by 4 ft.), a set of thieves’ tools, an unlit torch, or trail rations and water for 1 day. All items last for up to 3 hours, except for the firewood, the trail rations and the water that last for 1 day or until consumed.
2 charges: an adamantine dagger, an adamantine sledgehammer (deals damage as Large warhammer, ignores 20 points of hardness), a bottle of wine, a climber’s kit (1 use), a disguise kit (1 use), 5 flasks of acid, 5 flasks of holy water, a magnifying glass, a musical instrument that can be used by hand (such as a flute, a lute or a mandolin), a portable ram, a potion of cure light wounds, a spyglass, a sunrod, a wooden holy (or unholy) symbol. All items last for 1 hour.
3 charges: a hole (as per a portable hole, except that when used it permanently creates a 10 ft. by 10 ft. by 10 ft. pit), a potion of cure serious wounds, a potion of neutralize poison, a potion of remove blindness/deafness, a potion of remove curse, a potion of remove disease, a potion of remove paralysis, or a scroll of up to 3rd level holding a single spell. All items last for 1 minute except for the pit, which is permanent but must be deployed after 1 minute.

Items acquired through charges work exactly as normal, but they look and feel obviously fake, and always about to crumble; because of this, they cannot be sold by any means. However, they work exactly as indicated; a bottle of wine will taste exactly like wine (though perhaps not fine wine), and an adamantine dagger will work exactly as a dagger sized for the wearer would, with the adamantine property on top.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

SCARAB OF PROTECTION
Price (Item Level): 49,860 gp (18th)
Body Slot: Throat
Caster Level: 9th
Aura: Moderate (DC 18); abjuration
Activation: --
Weight: --

This device seems to be a silver medallion in the shape of a beetle. Holding it for a short while causes the scarab’s wings to move, revealing an inscription that proves it a protective amulet.

This potent medallion allows the wearer to be protected from black magic. The wearer gains spell resistance equal to 5 plus its character level. Furthermore, the scarab of protection has 3 charges, which are renewed each day at dawn. Each time the wearer fails a saving throw or is otherwise affected by a spell or effect that causes energy drain, instant death, or that deals negative energy damage, one of the charges is immediately expended. Once all charges are expended, the scarab becomes inert until the next day, deactivating the spell resistance effect.

If the wearer already has spell resistance, the scarab instead increases the spell resistance provided by 5. A wearer may expend two daily uses of its turn undead ability to provide the item with one temporary charge, which lasts until all expended or until all charges are renewed next day.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

SLIPPERS OF SPIDER CLIMBING
Price (Item Level): 22,000 gp (15th)
Body Slot: Feet
Caster Level: 3rd
Aura: Faint (DC 16); transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: --

These slippers, which bind tightly to the ankle and the leg, are made of fuzzy grayish-black leather. The sole has small, sticky spikes, small enough to allow for comfortable walking but solid enough to remain stuck to a wall and withstand several pounds of weight until pulled out.

Fashionable yet useful, the slippers of spider climbing grant the wearer a climb speed equal to half its base land speed. The wearer does not need to climb (or remain ahold of a solid surface) with its hands, allowing the wearer to keep its hands free; the wearer may even hang from a ceiling without falling. On slippery surfaces, the spiky sole provides a +10 competence bonus on Balance checks.

Lore: These slippers were once crafted by drow shoemakers, and were meant for nobility, from the skin of baby woolly monstrous spiders. Even now, they are a symbol of fashion over practicality, although the utility of climbing the humid, dank caverns of the Underdark comes in handy, particularly against ambushes. (Knowledge [history], Knowledge [local] or bardic knowledge check DC 20).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

VEST OF ESCAPE
Price (Item Level): 14,900 gp (14th)
Body Slot: Torso
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: (DC); conjuration and transmutation
Activation: -- and swift (command)
Weight: --

This simple-looking silk vest feels slick to the touch, and holds a small chain with a set of lockpicks designed for ease of use.

A boon for the escapist or the cunning rogue, the vest of escape provides the wearer with lockpicks that grant a +5 competence bonus on Open Lock checks. Furthermore, the slickness of the vest provides the wearer a +5 competence bonus on Escape Artist checks.

Once per day, the wearer of a vest of escape may instantly open any lock, as per the knock spell cast by a 5th level sorcerer. As well, as a swift action, the wearer gains the benefit of a freedom of movement spell for up to 5 rounds; these rounds need not be consecutive, and the effect can be dismissed as a free action.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

WINGED BOOTS
Price (Item Level): 33,760 gp (16th)
Body Slot: Feet
Caster Level: 11th
Aura: Moderate (DC 20); transmutation
Activation: -- and move (command)
Weight: 1 lb.

These leather boots have stylish wings made out of gold and eagle feather in the ankles. They are unusually light, and allow the wearer to feel like if floating.

The wearer of winged boots gains a +10 competence on all Jump checks, and is constantly under the effect of an air walk spell. As a move action, the wearer may choose to move faster, gaining a flight speed of 60 ft. with poor maneuverability for up to 11 hours. These rounds need not be consecutive.

A character with levels in the fighter class (or effective fighter levels) can fly for a number or hours per day equal to its effective fighter levels or 11, whichever is higher.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

WINGS OF FLYING
Price (Item Level): 54,000 gp (18th)
Body Slot: Shouders
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate (DC 20); transmutation
Activation: Move (command)
Weight: 2 lbs.

This cloak is made out of feathers, and bisected in half, starting from the lower half of the back, with a feathered cowl serving as a hood. The flaps of the cloak seem to move on their own, even in a place devoid of air.

The wearer of the wings of flying gains the ability to fly with a speed of 60 ft. (good maneuverability). If the wearer already has the ability to fly, it gains a +30 ft. improvement to its land speed, and its maneuverability improves to good (unless it has perfect maneuverability). This ability may be dismissed as a move action.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

On this part, we deal with robes, periapts, phylacteries, and items that in one way or another buff casters. Not a fan of buffing casters more than they already should, but the Robe of the Archmagi just asked for it.

Let's start with the Necklace of Adaptation. The original was pretty interesting, but it lacked that bit that'd make it a must-have for anyone. Now, not only are you protected from gas-based attacks, but also from the elements and the nastier effects of the planes. It's also, specifically, the one other item thus far (alongside the Sword of the Planes) to work on the Spire, so we're removing some of the mystique of that area. It's pretty expensive, but that's what you get when you justify the effects based on new spells.

The two Periapts are now VERY good; perhaps too good for their own sake. The Periapt of Health originally was pretty boring; immunity to disease is good, but not THAT good. The Periapt of Proof against Poison was worse; too expensive for its own good, because the effects don't scale. Thus, to make it attractive, the two Periapts were combined and a bonus to Constitution was added. Much like the Athlete's Gloves or the Circlet of Persuasion, the Periapt of Health has affinity with improvements to Constitution, and hence tacking one of those gets pretty cheap; perhaps not as cheap as the Vest of Health, but definitely cheaper than an Epic one. The Periapt of Wound Closure was the most boring of all; you ignore natural healing after mid-levels, you don't get enough negative HP to become stable at mid-levels, and about the only thing it was worthwhile was to stave off bleeding damage, which can be somewhat nasty. Now, the Periapt of Wound Closure magnifies incoming healing effects (note the reference to Crusader's Strike? Hehe...) and grants limited Fast Healing, of which Fighters get a much larger amount. Sure, it's fast healing 1 (pretty meh), but outside of battle, where it matters, it's golden. Since ithe pool regenerates if your hit points are full and the amount of healing exceeds the amount you need to heal for full (note: this doesn't mean it'll work if you're already full), it makes healing in-combat viable, as you can end the battle just as fast and have the spell run its course, slowly, while you recover. I'm even thinking on the healers, darnit!

The Phylacteries are also somewhat improved. The well-known Phylactery of Faithfulness has its effect cleared up a bit, from a stern reprimand to improving your common sense (and helping you find the best course of action on a Kobayashi Maru, for example). The lesser known Phylactery of Undead Turning now also boosts rebuking (hence it improves influencing the undead), and has a cool Repel/Control effect even if you don't happen to have turning or rebuking, making it useful for just about everybody. The fact that you get uses of Greater Turning or Greater Rebuking is icing on the cake.

And thus, we reach the Robes. The Robe of the Archmagi definitely had to reference Dragonlance, because it's pretty much obvious where the inspiration came from. The original, let's face it, is boring as watching paint dry; a combination Bracers of Armor, Mantle of Spell Resistance and Cloak of Resistance in a single item, and then the Vest of the Archmagi simply HAS to make it useless. This version starts initially weak, but eventually improves based on your caster level, and strictly works as per Bracers of Armor if you want to improve its effect with armor properties (remember, you can add up to +6 on armor properties, though independent costs don't add to this). You also get far more interesting effects, such as extra spell slots (strictly limited to a number of spell levels), and direct boosts to caster level and save DC. Of course, you know every wizard and its m...aster will want one, and the battles for it will be legendary. I know I did right if at least THIS puppy makes Tippy's mouth unhinge.

Compared to the almighty Robe of the Archmagi, the other Robes kinda falter, save for one. The Robe of Blending is much better, granting a lesser bonus on Hide checks but a superior bonus to Disguise checks, and the Disguise Self effect becomes a minor change shape effect, which is pretty awesome; turns out, those changes made it somewhat cheaper... Who knew!? Anyways, the Robe of Bones is now more expensive, but its effect is MUCH better than before, improving your control over undead (what this item definitely should have been), and also works with rebuking, so definitely one item a Dread Necromancer will love (since it combines so nicely with its own class features...) The Robe of Eyes retains most of its properties, but also nets Low-Light Vision and Darknvision (if you happen to lack it), the ability to see Invisible and Ethereal creatures (always a plus), and immunity to Blindness (just for the heck of it), though bright light spells its doom. If it's based on frickin' True Seeing, make it count! Last, and sadly least, the Robe of Useful Items passed from an unremarkable 7,000 gp item to...a somewhat less unremarkable 200,000+ gp item. This is the one item I'd gladly change its effect, because while you get enough pouches to make a Bag of Holding or Efficient/Quiver of Ehlonna blush (to say the least of Rob Liefeld), the useful items granted by a single charge are already obsolete by the time you gain the item. By that level, you should already have stuff like an item that grants Light, a Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion at your beck and call, and enough magic to make mundane sit in a corner and cry. The 2-charge effect is also lacking, because aside from the Adamantine items, the other effects as just as mundane. Only when you spend all charges you get something useful, such as a free potion once a day for the rest of your life (fascinating on Fighters, who get to add their class level, or martial characters who end up adding their effective Fighter level to the caster level; what, you didn't read that?) or a low-level scroll (which can likewise be boosted by Rogues). That the robe takes up your armor slot is also a mild insult, but the item wasn't ever meant to be a piece of armor anyways. I'd definitely slash the price like...well, I won't go into slasher movies or slasher comedies (oh, Chucky!), but you get the idea.

Out of the robes and entering the miscellaneous, the Scarab of Protection went from "what the heck is this!?" to "oh, interesting!" The spell resistance granted is mild, of course, but noticeable (and if you have SR already, you get the usual boost), but its secondary effect (absorbing the nasty necromancy effects) passed from 20 charges (no recharge) to 3 charges (recharged daily), so while you don't get as much protection as before, you end up getting more on the long run. The Slippers of Spider Climbing grant a permanent effect (because, why have the effect last for 10 measly minutes, even if it's as much as the wearer desires, rather than last for a longer while?), while the Vest of Escape went from an unremarkable, yet cheap, magic item to a life-saver (not so much for Knock, but Freedom of Movement is ALWAYS nice, and more if it's 5 rounds spread as you like); the cost of the latter is really a bargain. The Winged Boots grant a permanent Air Walk effect and their measly effect is now Overland Flight; you're flying because you're flying, and the cost is definitely par for the course. As a fitting end, the Wings of Flying have their cost somewhat justified as they now also improve innate flying abilities, so anyone with flight capabilities will still want one of these.

Next: clothing parts based on psionics. Goodness, third eyes are boring!

T.G. Oskar

2014-01-29, 02:36 PM

PSIONIC CLOTHING
The following is a list of changes to equippable wondrous items present on the Expanded Psionics Handbook. Items with these qualities do not necessarily are specifically psionic items, and may be done through the use of Craft Wondrous Item. This includes items present on the Magic Item Compendium.

Some items retain the same qualities: boots of landing (as per Magic Item Compendium), boots of skating (as per Magic Item Compendium), gloves of object reading (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/items/universalItems.htm#glovesofObjectReading), all psionatrixes (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/items/universalItems.htm#psionatrix), third eye conceal (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/items/universalItems.htm#conceal) (renamed third eye of mental concealment), third eye powerthieve (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/items/universalItems.htm#powerthieve) (renamed third eye of power thievery), third eye sense (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/items/universalItems.htm#sense) (renamed third eye of clairvoyant sense)

The following items are no longer available: torc of leech freedom

AMULET OF MENTAL CATALEPSIS
Price (Item Level): 16,200 gp (14th)
Body Slot: Throat
Caster Level: 9th
Aura: Moderate; (DC) enchantment
Activation: Standard (command)
Weight: --

This crimson-tinted metal amulet is rimmed with dozens of copper pyramids. It hums cheerfully when grasped.

When activated, this amulet emits a 30-ft. radius area of telepathic noise, centered on the wearer, once per day for 9 rounds. If any creature in the area (except for the wearer) attempts to cast a spell or spell-like ability, manifest a psi-like ability, or attempts to use a mystery treated as a spell or spell-like ability, it must succeed on a caster level check against a DC of 10 + twice the spell or power level (or equivalent) to succeed, else, the ability is considered expended without effect.

A creature with manifesting ability is treated differently. To manifest a power, the creature must expend 4 more power points than it otherwise would. The limit on the number of power points a subject can spend on a power remains in effect, so a creature that fails its saving throw might not be able to manifest its highest-level powers.

If the character has levels in the fighter class, or effective fighter levels, it may activate this benefit for a number of rounds equal to its effective fighter level (or 9 rounds, whichever is higher). At effective fighter level 11th, the wearer may toggle the effect on or off (the latter as a standard action); effectively, the rounds spent activating the amulet of mental catalepsis need not be consecutive.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

BOOTS OF STOMPING
Price (Item Level): 600 gp (3rd)
Body Slot: Feet
Caster Level: 3rd
Aura: (DC); evocation
Activation: Standard (manipulation)
Weight: 2 lb.

The thick metal soles of these dirt-brown boots are slightly wider than the vamp. Brassy metal bands run from the sides of the soles to the tops.

When the wearer stops its feet and activates the boots of stomping, it generates a 20-ft. long cone shaped burst of seismic force that travels along the ground, toppling creatures and loose objects. The shockwave affects only creatures and objects standing on the ground within the area. Creatures that fail a DC 13 Reflex save are thrown to the ground, prone, and take 1d4 points of non-lethal damage. These boots function three times per day.

If the character has levels in the fighter class (or effective fighter levels), the shock wave saving throw DC is instead equal to 10 + half the character’s effective fighter levels + the character’s Strength modifier, and anyone affected takes 1d4 points of non-lethal damage per effective fighter level. A character of size Large or larger grants a bonus on its size modifier equal to the bonus on grapple checks (+1 for Large, +2 for Huge, and so on). A half-giant counts as Large size for purposes of the save DC and uses its effective manifester level (or its effective fighter level, if higher) for purposes of determining the non-lethal damage; effectively, it gains an extra use of its stomp psi-like ability.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicFeats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must be a half-giant or know the stomp power.
Cost to Create:

BOOTS OF TEMPORAL ACCELERATION
Price (Item Level): 123,000 gp (22nd)
Body Slot: Feet
Caster Level: 19th
Aura: Strong; (DC) conjuration
Activation: Swift (command)
Weight: 1 lb.

These dark leather boots feature a small image of a sundial sewn into each side. When worn, they pulse slightly once every second.

When wearing boots of temporal acceleration, any spell or power that would speed the wearer’s timeframe (such as haste or time stop) cast on behalf of the wearer is extended for 1 round, whereas any spell or power that would slow the wearer’s timeframe (such as slow or temporal stasis) cast against the wearer has its duration reduced by 1 round (to a minimum of 1 round). This ability is always active.

In addition, these boots have 3 charges, which are renewed each day at dawn. Spending 1 or more charges allows the wearer to enter another time frame, speeding up so greatly that all other creatures seem frozen, though they are actually moving at normal speed. Other creatures are immune to the wearer’s attacks, powers or spells unless the wearer creates an area effect that lasts longer than 2 rounds, which applies normally once the duration of the item’s effect expires. Treat the effect as if using the time stop spell (or the temporal acceleration power), except the duration is determined by the number of charges used and the wearer is shaken for 1 round when the effect ends.
1 charge: 1 round
2 charges: 2 consecutive rounds
3 charges: 3 consecutive rounds

Alternatively, as an immediate action, the wearer of boots of temporal acceleration may sacrifice charges to gain actions when another creature uses a time stop spell, a temporal acceleration power, or a similar effect. In essence, the wearer stows away with the caster. By spending 2 charges, the wearer is treated as if casting the spell itself, except without any metamagic or metapsionic effect; by spending 3 charges, the wearer is also treated as casting the spell (or manifesting the power) and it applies any metamagic effect (or metapsionic effect) the caster (or manifester) uses. Once the effect ends, the wearer is shaken for a number of rounds equal to the amount of time spent on the time frame. During the time the wearer is in the same time frame as another, they may affect each other as normal (an exception to the rule that states a character may not affect another creature with attacks, powers or spells).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

CRYSTAL MASK OF DETECTION
Price (Item Level): 10,000 gp (12th)
Body Slot: Face
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 18) divination
Activation: -- and swift (mental)
Weight: 1/2 lb.

This crystal mask, which covers the top portion of the face, is translucent and shot through with golden flecks.

A crystal mask of detection grants its wearer a +10 competence bonus on Search checks. If the wearer has any degree of psionic power, it may expend its psionic focus as a swift action to reroll one Search check.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem), creator must have a power point reserve and 15 ranks in Search (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/search.htm).
Cost to Create: 5,000 gp; 400 xp

CRYSTAL MASK OF DISCERNMENT
Price (Item Level): 10,000 gp (12th)
Body Slot: Face
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 18) divination
Activation: -- and swift (mental)
Weight: ½ lb.

This transparent mask has a pale green tinge and covers all the face, save for the mouth and jaw. It is bound by straps made of silvery cloth.

A crystal mask of discernment grants its wearer a +10 competence bonus on Sense Motive checks. If the wearer has any degree of psionic power, it may expend its psionic focus as a swift action to reroll one Sense Motive check.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must have a power point reserve and 15 ranks in Sense Motive (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/senseMotive.htm).
Cost to Create: 5,000 gp; 400 xp

CRYSTAL MASK OF DREAD
Price (Item Level): 10,000 gp (12th)
Body Slot: Face
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 18) divination
Activation: -- and standard (mental)
Weight: ½ lb.

This mask is seemingly made of iron coated with a thick crystalline substance, with writhing red vein-like conduits all over its surface. Black leather straps hold it tightly in place.

A crystal mask of dread grants its wearer a +10 competence bonus on Intimidate checks. If the wearer has any degree of psionic power, it may expend its psionic focus as a standard action to demoralize all opponents within a 30-ft. cone-shaped burst.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must have a power point reserve and 15 ranks in Intimidate (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/intimidate.htm).
Cost to Create: 5,000 gp; 400 xp

CRYSTAL MASK OF INSIGHT
Price (Item Level): 20,000 gp (15th)
Body Slot: Face
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 18) divination
Activation: -- and (mental)
Weight: --

This thin visor, made of turquoise crystal, covers the wearer’s eyes. It is bound to the head by equally thin bone-white twine, with metal links on its extremities.

A crystal mask of insight grants the wearer a +10 insight bonus on Search and Spot checks. If the wearer has any degree of psionic power, it may expend its psionic focus as a swift action whenever it makes a Search or Spot check. The result of this check is treated as if the result was a 15; effectively, the wearer “takes 15” on the result of the check.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must have a power point reserve and 15 ranks in Search (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/search.htm) and Spot (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/spot.htm).
Cost to Create: 10,000 gp; 800 xp

CRYSTAL MASK OF KNOWLEDGE
Price (Item Level): 2,500 gp (7th)
Body Slot: Face
Caster Level: 3rd
Aura: Faint; (DC 16) divination
Activation: -- and swift (mental)
Weight: ½ lb.

This visor is crafted from smooth citrine, covering the wearer’s forehead, attached to the front of a pearly white cloth cap with silvery glitter.

A crystal mask of knowledge grants its wearer a +5 competence bonus on a specific type of Knowledge check; thus, a crystal mask of arcane knowledge would grant a bonus on Knowledge (arcana) checks, while a crystal mask of psionic knowledge would grant the bonus on Knowledge (psionics) checks instead. If the wearer has any kind of psionic power, it may expend its psionic focus to reroll the result of a Knowledge check.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must have a power point reserve and 10 ranks in any Knowledge (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/knowledge.htm) skill
Cost to Create: 1,250 gp; 100 xp

CRYSTAL MASK OF LANGUAGES
Price (Item Level): 12,500 gp (13th)
Body Slot: Face
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Faint; (DC 16) divination
Activation: -- and swift (mental)
Weight: ½ lb.

This cobalt-colored mask covers only the lower portion of the face.

A crystal mask of languages grants the ability to speak and understand different languages, up to the required accent. The crystal mask of languages grants a +5 insight bonus on all Bluff and Diplomacy checks, and allows the wearer to understand and speak fluently 5 different languages, enchanted upon the mask. If the wearer has any kind of psionic potential, it may expend its psionic focus as a swift action to reroll a single Bluff or Diplomacy check, so as long as the earlier roll is made using one of the mask’s languages (thus, even if the wearer knows one of the languages on the mask regardless of whether it wears it or not, it may take advantage of this benefit). The amount of languages the mask allows to speak and understand is chosen randomly, but almost 90% of the times (a roll of 01-90 on a d%) one of the languages is Common. The crystal mask of languages only allows understanding the spoken language; the mask does not offer the ability to read or write the language.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem), creator must have a power point reserve and 10 ranks in Bluff (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/bluff.htm) and Intimidate (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/intimidate.htm), plus know at least five languages.
Cost to Create: 6,250 gp; 500 xp

CRYSTAL MASK OF MINDARMOR
Price (Item Level): 1,500 gp (+1, 5th), 6,000 gp (+2, 10th), 13,500 gp (+3, 14th), 24,000 gp (+4, 15th) or 37,500 gp (+5, 17th)
Body Slot: Face
Caster Level: 3rd (+1), 6th (+2), 9th (+3), 12th (+4) or 15th (+5)
Aura: Faint to strong; (DC 16, 18, 20, 22 or 24) enchantment
Activation: -- and immediate (mental)
Weight: ½ lb.

This translucent visor, generally made out of chalcopyrite, carnelian or chiastolite, has small slits to allow full range of vision, but otherwise covers the frontal half of the wearer’s head up to the nose.

A crystal mask of mindarmor grants an insight bonus on all Will saving throws, ranging from +1 to +5. If the wearer has any kind of psionic potential, it may reroll a single Will saving throw against fear or mind-affecting abilities as an immediate action.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must have a power point reserve and the Iron Will (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#ironWill) feat.
Cost to Create:

CRYSTAL MASK OF PSIONIC CRAFT
Price (Item Level): 10,000 gp (12th)
Body Slot: Face
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 18) divination
Activation: -- and free (mental)
Weight: ½ lb.

This visor, made of translucent blue crystal, extends up to the hairline, down below the nose and back to the ears. It is easy to pull, yet remains firmly in place without the need of straps.

A crystal mask of psionic craft grants its wearer a +10 competence bonus on Psicraft checks, and allows the use of Psicraft checks untrained. If the wearer has any degree of psionic power, it may expend its psionic focus as a swift action to reroll a single Psicraft check.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must have a power point reserve and 15 ranks in Psicraft (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/skills/psicraft.htm).

EYES OF EXPANDED VISION
Price (Item Level): 6,000 gp (10th)
Body Slot: Face
Caster Level: 3rd
Aura: Faint (DC 16) divination
Activation: --
Weight: --

These two oval lenses of murky glass cover the entire length of the eye socket. When worn, they blend with the wearer’s eyes, allowing incredible visual acuity.

These lenses expand the wearer’s field of vision. Flanking characters only gain a +1 bonus on attack rolls, and any precision damage activated by flanking (such as sneak attack) has a 50% chance of being negated. The wearer gains a +2 enhancement bonus on all Spot and Search checks, but takes a -2 penalty on saving throws against gaze attacks.

If the wearer has any degree of psionic potential, the benefits of these lenses improve. The character may no longer be flanked, and precision damage activated by flanking (such as sneak attack) is completely negated. The enhancement bonus on Spot and Search checks increases to 4, but the penalty on all saves likewise increases by 4. These abilities are active so as long as the wearer retains psionic focus.

If the wearer has the improved uncanny dodge ability, the wearer cannot be flanked by any means, regardless of the opponent’s rogue level.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

EYES OF POWER LEECHING
Price (Item Level): 10,000 gp (12th)
Body Slot: Face
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate (DC 16) enchantment
Activation: Standard (command)
Weight: --

These translucent dark blue, violet or red lenses are tied by a thin rim, with a small gem placed upon the forehead. When worn, the ensemble blends upon the wearer’s eyes, causing the iris to adopt the same color and sheen as the lenses.

The wearer of eyes of power leeching can drain power points from another creature by meeting its gaze. As a standard action, the wearer may make a gaze attack against a single creature; if the creature has a power point reserve, a failed Will save against DC 16 causes the target to lose 1d6 power points. Every time this ability is used, the wearer gains half the damage in power points, up to its normal maximum. The wearer may use this ability for up to 7 rounds per day, and may be used consecutively (by concentrating as a standard action). The wearer may use this ability against meldshaping creatures, draining 1 point of essentia if the character fails a DC 14 Will save and gain 2 temporary power points (that last for 1 minute); the character regains its essentia after said minute.

A wearer with a degree of psionic potential and levels in the fighter class (or effective fighter levels) improves the effect of this item. The Will save against the effect is equal to 10 + half the wearer’s effective fighter levels + the wearer’s Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma modifier (whichever is higher; minimum DC 16); against meldshaping creatures, the save is 2 points lower. The wearer may use this ability a number of rounds per day equal to its effective fighter level (or 7 rounds, whichever is higher).

Special: a variant of eyes of power leeching has a small cognizance crystal embed upon its forehead, which allows it to drain items over its normal maximum. The cost of these vampiric eyes of power leeching is equal to the cost of regular eyes of power leeching plus 1.5 times the cost of the cognizance crystal (thus, a vampiric eyes of power leeching that has a power point reserve of 5 costs 23,500 gp). This variant cannot drain temporary power points from meldshaping creatures.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

GLOVES OF THE TITAN’S GRIP
Price (Item Level): 16,000 gp (14th)
Body Slot: Hands
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 18) transmutation
Activation: -- and swift (command)
Weight: 2 lbs.

These oversized boiled leather gloves rumble when flexed. Bands of steel cover the knuckle and the vambrace.

These gloves grant the wearer a modicum of physical strength and tight grip. Gloves of the titans grip are treated as +1 locked gauntlets (and can be improved as such), and grant a +2 enhancement bonus to Strength. The wearer is treated as one size modifier larger for purposes of all disarm, grapple and trip checks, and may wield items one size category larger. These abilities are always active.

As a swift action done as part of a successful grapple check, the wearer gains a +8 enhancement bonus on all grapple checks which lasts for up to 7 rounds. This ability may be used three times per day.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

THIRD EYE OF AWARENESS
Price (Item Level): 1,600 gp (5th)
Body Slot: Face
Caster Level: 3rd
Aura: Faint; (DC 16) divination
Activation: --
Weight: --

This crystal glows with a pale, faint blue light.

While worn, this crystal grants its wearer the benefit of the Alertness feat. If the wearer already has the Alertness feat (including by means of a familiar or psicrystal), the bonus granted by the feat increases by 2 (for a total of +4 bonus to Listen and Spot checks).

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem), creator must have the Alertness (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#alertness) feat.
Cost to Create: 800 gp; 64 xp

THIRD EYE OF CONCENTRATION
Price (Item Level): 12,000 gp (13th)
Body Slot: Face
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 18) transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: --

This crystal glows with a faint magenta light. The color tone of the light seems to hum as a heartbeat, with a rhythm.

This crystal grants a +10 competence bonus on Concentration checks. Once per day, the wearer of a third eye of concentration may keep concentration on one effect (such as a spell or power) while making other actions, effectively transferring the concentration requirement to the item. While the item retains concentration on the effect, the wearer loses the bonus to Concentration checks. This effect lasts for 3 minutes. If it has any degree of psionic potential, the wearer may instead use an effect that requires psionic focus without expending it.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem), creator must have 15 ranks in Concentration (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/concentration.htm)
Cost to Create:

THIRD EYE OF DOMINATION
Price (Item Level): 80,000 gp (19th)
Body Slot: Face
Caster Level: 17th
Aura: Strong; (DC 23) enchantment
Activation: -- and standard (mental)
Weight: --

This gleaming yellow crystal pulses with hypnotic power.

A third eye of domination augments the wearer’s powers of domination. Any enchantment spell or telepathy power with the compulsion descriptor has its saving throw DC increased by 2; this also applies to spell-like abilities, psi-like abilities and supernatural abilities that duplicate these. If the wearer has any degree of psionic potential, it may expend its psionic focus to augment the DC of these spells and powers by 1, for a total of +3.

As well, once per day as a standard action, the wearer of a third eye of domination allows the wearer to use dominate monster (as the spell) on any creature within 60 ft. (Will DC 23 negates). The saving throw for this effect is not augmented by the power of the item, but if the wearer has any degree of psionic potential, it may expend its psionic focus to augment the save DC by 1. Once the wearer uses this ability, the bonus on saving throw DCs stops functioning until after 24 hours have passed.

Lore: Some people claim that third eyes of domination were made from crystallized aboleth eyes, because of their innate enslaving ability. While this trait is false, these items are sought after not just by aboleths, but by any race that seeks to dominate another through enchantments. Very rarely this item is seen in the hands of a good-aligned individual, and thus anyone who manages to recognize their utility is advised to be wary of its wearer (Knowledge [arcana], Knowledge [psionics] or bardic knowledge DC 20 check)

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

THIRD EYE OF EXPOSITION
Price (Item Level): 50,000 gp (18th)
Body Slot: Face
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 18) divination
Activation: -- and swift (mental)
Weight: --

This white crystal glows with a pale light. In dark areas, its glow intensifies, piercing into the deepest darkness.

A third eye of exposition grants its wearer clarity of mind and sight. The wearer gains a +5 insight bonus on all Sense Motive checks, and detects any bluff on a successful check of 5 or more. These abilities are always active.

At-will, the wearer of a third eye of exposition can emit a beam of light, which it can turn on or off as a standard action. The light shines as per a light spell, but the light’s range becomes a 30-ft. cone of bright light and 60-ft. cone of dim light. While this light is active, any creature within range that has any form of magical disguise (such as the disguise self or alter self spell, a hat of disguise, the change form special quality or similar traits), or an illusory effect that allows a Will save to disbelief, automatically allows its wearer to make a Sense Motive check. If it succeeds on a DC 25 check, it has a hunch that something is wrong, allowing a single Spot check (for magical disguises) with a +10 bonus or a Will save (for illusory effects) with a +4 bonus to reveal the effect. If the wearer succeeds, it pierces through the disguise or illusory effect each time it lights the creature (or area), though this does not immediately reveal the truth to others.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must have 10 ranks in Sense Motive (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/senseMotive.htm)
Cost to Create:

THIRD EYE OF POWER/SPELL PENETRATION
Price (Item Level): 8,000 gp (11th)
Body Slot: Face
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: Strong (DC 22) no school
Activation: --
Weight: --

This crystal glows with a piercing purple or dark blue light.

A third eye of power/spell penetration grants its wearer a +2 bonus on caster level (or manifester level) checks to overcome a creature’s spell resistance and power resistance. If the wearer has some kind of psionic potential, it may expend its psionic focus to increase the bonus on caster (or manifester) level checks by 1, for a total of +3.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must have the Spell Penetration (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#spellPenetration) or Power Penetration (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#powerPenetration) feats.
Cost to Create: 4000 gp; 320 xp

THIRD EYE OF REPUDIATION
Price (Item Level): 20,000 gp (15th)
Body Slot: Face
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 18) abjuration
Activation: Immediate (mental)
Weight: --

This crystal glows with a powerful azure light.

A third eye of repudiation creates a short-lived 5-ft. radius resilient sphere that blocks incoming attacks. Ranged attacks and ranged touch attacks cannot cross the sphere and area attacks ignore the wearer. A charging opponent must make a Reflex save against DC 16 or bounce back 10 ft. and fall prone (a successful save merely stops the charge). The resilient sphere lasts until the end of the wearer’s next turn, or until the sphere is destroyed (by means of a rod of cancellation, a targeted dispel magic or dispel psionics ability, or a disintegrate spell). This ability may be used twice per day.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

THIRD EYE OF THE STREETEAR
Price (Item Level): 20,000 gp (15th)
Body Slot: Face
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 18) divination
Activation: --
Weight: --

This crystal glows with a deep blue light.

A third eye of the streetear grants its wearer a +10 competence bonus on Gather Information checks. Making a Gather Information check while wearing this item takes only half the usual time. If the wearer spends at least 8 hours within a tavern, it may make Knowledge (local) checks even if untrained, with a +5 insight bonus on the check, but only related to topics within the region (up to a distance of a 10-mi. radius or the city limits, whichever is higher. These abilities are always active.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must have 15 ranks in Gather Information (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/gatherInformation.htm) and 10 ranks in Knowledge (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/knowledge.htm) (local)
Cost to Create: 10,000 gp; 800 xp

TORC OF FREE WILL
Price (Item Level): 38,000 gp (17th)
Body Slot: Arms or throat
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 18) abjuration
Activation: -- and immediate (mental)
Weight: 2 lbs.

This torc is made of a silver and tin alloy, with two semiprecious stones at each extremity.

The wearer of a torc of free will gains a +2 insight bonus to Will saves against mind-affecting abilities. This ability is always active.

A torc of free will has 3 charges, which are renewed each day at dawn. Whenever the wearer of a torc of free will fails a Will save against a compulsion effect (a spell, power, spell-like ability, psi-like ability, or supernatural ability that duplicates a spell or power), it may activate the benefit of this item to negate the effect. This consumes one charge from the item.

A torc of free will can be worn on the throat or on one of the wearer’s arms.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

TORC OF POWER PRESERVATION
Price (Item Level): 6,000 gp (8th)
Body Slot: Arms or throat
Caster Level: 13th
Aura: Strong; (DC 21) no school
Activation: -- and swift (mental)
Weight: --

This copper neck band is inlaid with gold, silver and platinum. The inlays take the form of a dragon writhing across the surface of the torc.

Whenever the wearer of a torc of power preservation takes power point damage, it takes one fewer point of damage than it would otherwise take (to a minimum of 1 point of damage). This ability is always active.

A torc of power preservation has 5 charges. When manifesting a power, the wearer may activate the item as a standard action and pay a reduced number of power points (to a minimum of 1 power point), as indicated below:
1 charge: -1 power point cost.
3 charges: -2 power point cost
5 charges: -3 power point cost

Special: A permanent version of the torc of power preservation allows its wearer to manifest a power by paying power points equal to its standard cost minus 1 (to a minimum of 1 point). The cost of this permanent version is 36,000 gp.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

Lucky I had four tabs for this! If you're waiting for new pieces of clothing, you'll have to wait until Rings are worked with, or perhaps Tools, as they're not that much and they could easily be collapsed into a single page (or two). However, this ends up all the retooled clothing, given that the next three spots are separate.

The Amulet of Catapsi is an item that definitely crushes manifesters, but does little to nothing against spellcasters. You'd expect psychic static to disorient people whose spell matrix is entirely within their minds (something like watching from an old-school analog TV and getting the static, when you have to read a really long document), but the Catapsi power doesn't work like this. The improved Amulet of Mental Catalepsis (not exactly as it should be, though; it should be Mental Catalepsy, but if you're suffering from catalepsy, your mind just went blank as your body, so...) affects spellcasters as well, and also those with innate potential for spellcasting or power manifesting, to be completely fair. The original (going by the MIC version) has its duration be consecutive, but no battle usually lasts more than 9 rounds unless you have an HP sponge or you're facing a small army, so the Amulet has an option to deactivate early and conserve some of its power...for martial characters. You know they'll be the ones to use it the most. Thus, massive improvement.

The Boots of Stomping remain one of the cheapest items around (merely 600 gp!), but their effect is slightly better now if you're a Fighter or a similar class, because it allows an area-wide, super-effective ability to knock enemies prone, which also happens to deal a larger amount of non-lethal damage; a perfect set-up for Tripper builds, and with 3 uses per day, you can use them in at least three battles. Just like the Robe of Useful Items is too expensive for its own good, the Boots of Stomping are perhaps too cheap for their own good. However, in this case, any and ALL help is appreciated, so they don't end up being that cheap. Even if you're a 20th level Fighter (DC 20 + Strength mod., 20d4 points of non-lethal damage!?)

Then, we get into the Boots of Temporal Acceleration, perhaps one of the items that went from "cool" to "utterly broken". And I feel fine with that, you know? 43,000 gp for a nerfed Time Stop effect is cool...if you're capable of buffing yourself. A caster has better use of it, since you get Quicken Spell to abuse action economy, but a warrior won't make that much good use. At that price, any caster would save for early access (at least, until they got Time Stop), and even then, they'd keep it. Now, aside from the nifty permanent effect (+1 round of Haste is awesome; +1 round of Time Stop is just asking for a Core Rulebook to your face; -1 to Slow or Temporal Stasis is the kicker), you can measure just how much you want to use the Time Stop effect, which is just as bad if not worse. However, it's the ability to stow away on someone else's Time Stop effect (or Temporal Acceleration, mind you) what makes this item cross the threshold to "utterly broken"; any creature, either a martial character or a spellcaster or a manifester or a monster, can stow into the BBEG's spell and fight on the same time frame, therefore affecting the caster as usual. A fellow caster (such as a Cleric, for example) can stow on its friendly Wizard's Time Stop spell to double up on casting, or a Fighter can stow on its opponent's Time Stop spell to force the latter to think between buffing or taking away the newcomer. Sure, a self-respecting caster will fight using its Astral Projection, but considering just how martial characters boost items, even they're quaking on their boots (of Temporal Acceleration, natch). If you think about it, that last bit makes the Boots of Temporal Acceleration far too cheap for the immense cost they represent (nearly three times the original amount), but it's the cost for the weapons' race.

After that, we get into the Crystal Masks. Remember when I mentioned they were boring? Well, if I didn't, here it goes: they're boring. I mean, most of them are "grant +5/+10 competence boost to X skill", and sometimes not even the good ones, for goodness sakes! The new versions have a special benefit if you're a psionic creature, as you're allowed a single reroll of the item, making them instantly better than before, for the same cost. You're spending a renewable resource for the ability to reroll a single skill check, so perhaps the cost is too good for it. Four masks merit expansion: the Crystal Mask of Dread replaces the general effect for a more specific one, effectively granting psionic creatures with high Intimidate checks the effect of Never Outnumbered without spending a skill trick, and the ability to use it more than once, making them excellent locks (particularly with Imperious Command). The Crystal Mask of Languages originally had the ability to allow you reading and writing up to 5 languages, and while it keeps this, the effect was pointless if you had an item like the Headband of Languages running around, which allows you to instantly comprehend ALL languages; thus, the focus of the item shifted into helping you with speech, providing a boost to Bluff and Diplomacy checks, and providing rerolls on both if the languages matched with those on the item (something just about everybody can benefit, as one of them is almost always Common). The Crystal Mask of Insight doesn't provide a reroll, and instead allows you to ADD the psionic focus benefit to Spot or Search; taking 15 on both of these just by spending psionic focus is big, merely 5 points shy of taking 20 in 1 round. Finally, the Crystal Mask of Mindarmor conflicts with the armor property of Mindarmor, so it gets an awesome secondary benefit of rerolling a single mind-affecting ability's saving throw as an immediate action (basically, slippery mind but spending immediate actions instead of allowing only a single reroll).

On to the Eyes. Expanded Vision keeps its usual goodness (Ubiquitous Vision, meaning you can see in all directions), but creatures with psionic potential get Improved Uncanny Dodge on top of that for free. Power Leeching got a massive boost, going from 1 PP per round to half PP per round, but the bit that might make you cringe is that the item also affects meldshapers, draining them of their essentia (hey, WotC was the one that made the whole Midnight feat line, making Incarnum a tasty boost for psionics!) and netting you temporary power points equal to that amount. I'd like to rephrase that bit so that you don't use this as a power point battery for your buffs, since even a 1-minute duration doesn't really cut it. Perhaps "doesn't work if the character is willing"? Psychic Warriors, of course, gain the most from it, because they're the few who have PP and effective Fighter levels; Divine Minds benefit as well, but who plays them!? The Vampiric version now makes more sense, adding a Cognizance Crystal that you can power up for a longer-lasting benefit.

The Gloves of Titan's Grip are one of those items that are pretty cool, but end up being a bit disappointing. Here, they got turned into Locked Gauntlets (a lesser known item that grants a whopping +10 to Disarm checks), but working as regular Gauntlets (the weapon kind, of course) and with a +2 enhancement bonus to Strength, on top. Oh, and they grant Powerful Build for free; note how it doesn't prevent stacking, and therefore grants Half-Giants and Goliaths the ability to wield Huge weapons and an increase to their combat maneuver checks? Top that with the original benefit of boosting your grapple checks, and you have the one-in-all item for suffering Grapplers (Large/Huge size equivalent, a bonus to grapple checks equivalent or higher to Improved Grapple that explicitly stacks with it, and that can reach as high as +13 or more?). I would have felt tempted to grant this the "Strength score synergy" bit, but that'd be way too much, and I wanted Gauntlets of Ogre Power to keep their niftyness (and the Athlete's Gloves to make actual sense...) I was definitely channeling a video game here.

Now, we get into Third Eyes. These ones are less boring than Crystal Masks, but not by that much; most of them are "grant +5/+10 boost to X skill" items, which make them just as boring as the latter. You may notice some of them (the better ones, at least) to remain the same, but there's quite a bit of changes on these items. The Third Eye Aware passed from a boring +10 to Spot (o hai, Crystal Mask of Insight says hi!) to an...equally boring free Alertness feat, but at least this one can be redeemed if Alertness is awesome in your game! It costs cheaper than an actual feat (because the original Alertness isn't that good, mind you), but that's basically what you get when you add a +2 to Spot and Listen checks, with a potential of +4 if you get the feat by any means; really depends on the skill being awesome in your campaign to see the change. Third Eye Concentrate would have originally remained as-is, and was actually a carbon-copy of the MIC one, until just at the moment I'm writing this (actually, about an hour before I wrote this), I figured that it needed a boost. Thus, why not make Third Eye of Concentration grant the ability to take over the concentration of an ability? That's mostly what you expect from it, but it gets better for users of psionic powers; it allows you to spend the effect (that is, the 1/day take over concentration effect) to use psionic focus without expending it! That means a Psion with a Psicrystal can use three Metapsionic feats on a single power 1/day, since expending psionic focus usually depends on the ability you use it. Third Eye Dominate is now slightly more useful, as while Dominate Monster is a very powerful effect, it's only a 1/day affair, and the DC for the effect isn't that hot; now, it's also a boost for those individuals who use Enchantment or Telepathy abilities. Third Eye Expose was just as boring as Crystal Masks, but now it has a nifty "True Seeing" effect that relies on having an awesome Sense Motive effect; not only does it boosts the effectiveness of the skill, but also helps when it's too dark by adding Light on top of it. Third Eye Repudiate went from Dispel Magic (cool, but not very potent) to Resilient Sphere (awesome but...impractical?) turned into a short-lived barrier (oh, so it's actually practical then!). Given its short duration, it's also nice bait for Dispel Magic/Psionics. Third Eye Gather (that's the original version of the Third Eye of the Streetear, BTW) adds a quickened Gather Information check and the ability to use Knowledge (local) checks without training, an awesome effect if you're in Faerun (where Knowledge [local] is sub-divided into regions, diluting its effect).

The last two items are Torcs, which traditionally were used on throats or arms, so they're just about the only item that has access to two slots instead of one (hey, who said History wasn't awesome?). The Torc of Free Will never crossed into the MIC, but it's horribly boring because it only blocks ONE effect (Brain Lock); now, it's a 3 charge item that helps you shake off any mental compulsion (just as good as Mind Blank!). Torc of Power Preservation underwent a more radical procedure, as the MIC's version really doesn't cut it. The item still works somewhat as per the MIC's version (5 charges), but the effect can be boosted if you spend more charges, so it's now a bit more cost-effective; also, it provides a longer-lasting PP protection effect, so it's not so bad anymore. However, I decided (as with, if I get my hands on it) the XPH version could be a nice "greater" version of it (hey, doesn't the Cloak of the Salamander has a greater version that's basically the same but at-will?), so I added it as a special version at the same original price. I only wish the Amulet of Retribution was OGL so I could retool the heck out of it...

T.G. Oskar

2014-01-30, 08:25 PM

IOUN STONES
This small semi-precious stone has a distinctive color and shape. When held firmly for a moment and then released, the stone begins to orbit around your head.

A rare magic item that has unusual qualities, the ioun stones all behave in a similar way. All ioun stones float in the air and must be within 3 in. of the user to have any benefit. Whenever a character gets hold of an ioun stone, it must hold it first and then release it, where it gravitates in a circling orbit 1d3 feat from the head. A character may only have one ioun stone gravitating upon its head , plus one for every five character levels (2 stones at character level 5th, 3 stones at character level 10th, and so on). All ioun stones offer two benefits: a primary benefit, and a secondary benefit which stacks with the number of ioun stones equipped. The owner of an ioun stone may grasp the item (a move action) to store it, but it loses the benefits of the item until it gravitates again. Because of the way ioun stones gravitate, any individual may attempt a melee touch attack with an empty hand (which provokes an attack of opportunity) to seize the stone, causing the target to lose its properties. Because ioun stones do not take space in the character’s body, ioun stones are an excellent way to provide benefits without the need to determine which item slot to expend.

Lore: Ioun stones are named by this because of their mythical creator, Ioun. Some claim that Ioun was a mystic, an ascetic with great knowledge about the divine; others say he was a powerful magician who dabbled in crafting and took precious and semi-precious gems to enchant them with his immense power. Others claim that Ioun was a powerful psychic, and that ioun stones are really part of an experiment to create the first psicrystal. No matter what the result, ioun stones hold strange powers, which can be magical or psychic in origin. (Knowledge [arcana], Knowledge [history], Knowledge [psionics], Knowledge [religion] or bardic knowledge check DC 20).

Clear Spindle
Price (Item Level): 4,200 gp (9th)
Body Slot: --
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint (DC 17); conjuration
Activation: --
Weight: --

A clear spindle ioun stone sustains its wearer without food or water indefinitely. As well, the wearer gains a +1 bonus on Fortitude saves against fatigue and exhaustion, which increases by 1 for every ioun stone worn.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

Dark Blue Rhomboid
Price (Item Level): 16,000 gp (14th)
Body Slot: --
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint (DC 17); abjuration
Activation: --
Weight: --

The wearer of a dark blue rhomboid ioun stone often wears this item before falling asleep, because of its properties. If the wearer falls asleep (naturally or magically), any hostilities within a 30 ft. area cause a small ringing that causes them to awake, as per the alarm spell. As well, the wearer gains a +2 competence bonus to all Listen and Spot checks, which increases by 1 each for every ioun stone worn.

Since the dark blue rhomboid ioun stone does not discern between hostilities, some may choose to store it for a pleasant sleep, particularly if their adventuring party turns suddenly hostile out of mere bickering.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

Deep Red Sphere
Price (Item Level): 9,000 gp (12th)
Body Slot: --
Caster Level: 8th
Aura: Moderate (DC 19); transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: --

The wearer of a deep red sphere ioun stone gains a +2 enhancement bonus to Dexterity. As well, it gains a +1 competence bonus on all Dexterity-based checks (including initiative) and Dexterity-based skill checks for every ioun stone worn.

If the wearer wishes to enhance the deep red sphere ioun stone enhancement bonus to Dexterity, it must pay twice the difference (thus, to augment the enhancement bonus from +2 to +4, the wearer must pay 24,000 gp, double the cost difference between a +2 enhancement bonus and a +4 one).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

Dull Gray (Any)
Price (Item Level): 200 gp (2nd)
Body Slot: --
Caster Level: 1st
Aura: Faint (DC 15); no school
Activation: --
Weight: --

Lacking the shine of other ioun stones, a dull gray ioun stone merely orbits around the wearer. While it provides no primary benefit, it still boosts the benefits of other ioun stones when worn.

A dull gray ioun stone is considered to be the starting point to craft any other ioun stone (requiring a cut gem with a cost of 150 gp; the other 50 gp attune the stone). Always add the cost of a dull gray ioun stone when determining the cost of materials

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); 1 level in an arcane or divine spellcasting class, manifesting class or mystery-using class.
Cost to Create: 200 gp (150 for the gem, 50 for the process); 2 xp

Dusty Rose Prism
Price (Item Level): 308,200 gp (30+)
Body Slot: --
Caster Level: 17th
Aura: Strong (DC 23); divination
Activation: --
Weight: --

The wearer of a dusty rose prism ioun stone gains extraordinary defensive qualities. The wearer is treated as if having the uncanny dodge class feature; a character with uncanny dodge acquired by means of a class feature gains improved uncanny dodge instead, and a character with improved uncanny dodge already acquired is treated as a character of four levels higher for purposes of determining the minimum rogue level required to flank the character. As well, the wearer gains a +1 insight bonus to AC, which increases by 1 for every ioun stone worn.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

Incandescent Blue Sphere
Price (Item Level): 9,000 gp (12th)
Body Slot: --
Caster Level: 8th
Aura: Moderate (DC 19); transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: --

The wearer of a incandescent blue sphere ioun stone gains a +2 enhancement bonus to Wisdom. As well, it gains a +1 competence bonus on all Wisdom-based checks and Wisdom-based skill checks for every ioun stone worn.

If the wearer wishes to enhance the incandescent blue sphere ioun stone enhancement bonus to Wisdom, it must pay twice the difference (thus, to augment the enhancement bonus from +2 to +4, the wearer must pay 24,000 gp, double the cost difference between a +2 enhancement bonus and a +4 one).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

Iridescent Spindle
Price (Item Level): 22,000 gp (15th)
Body Slot: --
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint (DC 17); transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: --

The wearer of an iridescent spindle ioun stone is capable of surviving without air (or, in the case of water-breathers, without water) for as long as it is worn; the ioun stone forms an air (or airy water) bubble of the same radius as the distance between the wearer and the bubble (usually 3 ft.). The wearer also gains a +1 bonus on all Fortitude saves to resist inhaled poisons or to resist suffocation, plus 1 for every ioun stone worn.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

Lavender and Green Ellipsoid
Price (Item Level): 52,000 gp (18th)
Body Slot: --
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: Strong (DC 22); abjuration
Activation: --
Weight: --

The wearer of a lavender and green ellipsoid ioun stone gains protection from magical spells cast upon the wearer. The wearer gains a +1 bonus on all saving throws against spells and spell-like abilities, plus 1 for every ioun stone worn. Furthermore, the wearer automatically ignores the effect of any spell (except for spells with the [harmless] descriptor). The lavender and green ellipsoid ioun stone has 50 charges when constructed; every time the wearer resists the effect of a spell, the ioun stone loses one charge per level of the spell resisted. Once all charges are expended, the stone loses its power, becoming a dull gray ellipsoid ioun stone.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

Orange Prism
Price (Item Level): 30,000 gp (16th)
Body Slot: --
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate (DC 18); transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: --

The wearer of an orange prism ioun stone gains a +1 bonus to its caster level. Furthermore, the wearer also gains a +1 bonus on caster level checks to bypass spell resistance, plus 1 for every ioun stone worn.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

Pale Blue Rhomboid
Price (Item Level): 9,000 gp (12th)
Body Slot: --
Caster Level: 8th
Aura: Moderate (DC 19); transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: --

The wearer of a pale blue rhomboid ioun stone gains a +2 enhancement bonus to Strength. As well, it gains a +1 competence bonus on all Strength-based checks (including any bull rush, disarm, grapple and trip opposed checks) and Strength-based skill checks for every ioun stone worn.

If the wearer wishes to enhance the pale blue rhomboid ioun stone enhancement bonus to Dexterity, it must pay twice the difference (thus, to augment the enhancement bonus from +2 to +4, the wearer must pay 24,000 gp, double the cost difference between a +2 enhancement bonus and a +4 one).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

Pale Green Prism
Price (Item Level): 60,000 gp (18th)
Body Slot: --
Caster Level: 11th
Aura: Faint (DC 20); enchantment
Activation: --
Weight: --

The wearer of a pale green prism ioun stone gains a +1 competence bonus on all attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks and ability checks, plus 1 for every ioun stone worn.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

Pale Lavender Ellipsoid
Price (Item Level): 30,000 gp (16th)
Body Slot: --
Caster Level: 9th
Aura: Moderate (DC 19); abjuration
Activation: --
Weight: --

The wearer of a pale lavender ellipsoid ioun stone gains limited resistance to spells. The wearer gains spell resistance 15, plus 3 for every ioun stone worn.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

Pearly White Spindle
Price (Item Level): 120,000 gp (21st)
Body Slot: --
Caster Level: 13th
Aura: Strong (DC 21); conjuration
Activation: --
Weight: --

The wearer of a pearly white spindle ioun stone gains the benefit of fast healing, and the ability to regenerate wounds with effort. The wearer gains fast healing 1, which increases by 1 for every ioun stone worn. If the wearer takes 2d10 points of damage, it may regenerate a lost limb in an amount of rounds equal to 21 minus the damage taken (thus, if the wearer took 11 points of damage, the limb is restored in 1 minute). The wearer may still die by means of a vorpal weapon, though.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

Pink Rhomboid
Price (Item Level): 9,000 gp (12th)
Body Slot: --
Caster Level: 8th
Aura: Moderate (DC 19); transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: --

The wearer of a pink rhomboid ioun stone gains a +2 enhancement bonus to Constitution. As well, it gains a +1 competence bonus on all Constitution-based checks and Concentration skill checks for every ioun stone worn.

If the wearer wishes to enhance the pink rhomboid ioun stone enhancement bonus to Constitution, it must pay twice the difference (thus, to augment the enhancement bonus from +2 to +4, the wearer must pay 24,000 gp, double the cost difference between a +2 enhancement bonus and a +4 one).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

Pink and Green Sphere
Price (Item Level): 9,000 gp (12th)
Body Slot: --
Caster Level: 8th
Aura: Moderate (DC 19); transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: --

The wearer of a pink and green sphere ioun stone gains a +2 enhancement bonus to Charisma. As well, it gains a +1 competence bonus on all Charisma-based checks and Charisma-based skill checks for every ioun stone worn.

If the wearer wishes to enhance the pink and green sphere ioun stone enhancement bonus to Charisma, it must pay twice the difference (thus, to augment the enhancement bonus from +2 to +4, the wearer must pay 24,000 gp, double the cost difference between a +2 enhancement bonus and a +4 one).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

Scarlet and Blue Sphere
Price (Item Level): 9,000 gp (12th)
Body Slot: --
Caster Level: 8th
Aura: Moderate (DC 19); transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: --

The wearer of a scarlet and blue sphere ioun stone gains a +2 enhancement bonus to Intelligence. As well, it gains a +1 competence bonus on all Intelligence-based checks and Intelligence-based skill checks for every ioun stone worn.

If the wearer wishes to enhance the scarlet and blue sphere ioun stone enhancement bonus to Intelligence, it must pay twice the difference (thus, to augment the enhancement bonus from +2 to +4, the wearer must pay 24,000 gp, double the cost difference between a +2 enhancement bonus and a +4 one).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

Vibrant Purple Prism
Price (Item Level): 288,000 gp (30th)
Body Slot: --
Caster Level: 12th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 21) evocation, plus aura of stored spell
Activation: see text
Weight: --
The wearer of a vibrant purple prism ioun stone can store magic spells to be used later. The wearer can store up to 3 levels of spells, as per a ring of minor spell storing, plus 1 level for every ioun stone. If a wearer removes the vibrant purple prism ioun stone, only three levels worth of spells (three 1st level spells, one 1st level and one 2nd level spell, or a 3rd level spell) will be stored; any other spell will be lost.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

Yay, Ioun Stones! Either you love them or you hate them. Ioun Stones are useful because they're slotless items that can be worn by anybody to get an effect, but hated because almost all the effects other than Spell Storing or spell negation are pretty pointless. Oh, there's the "regeneration" power, but let's face it; who benefits from that kind of power when it's a per-hour thing? And let's not speak of Dull Gray, which is only worthwhile to be the receptacle of a Continual Flame spell, pretty much literally (I believe even the Designers and Developers acknowledged this). Thus, to make them less boring and cringe-worthy, Ioun Stones have a special stacking effect that works the more you equip, so even if you get a Dull Gray Stone, it won't be that Dull anyways. I like how Dull Gray was changed, because it allows you to create other Ioun Stones, even if most of them essentially waive this requirement (except for the ones that boost ability scores, you'll notice).

Let's go for the ability-enhancing stones, shall we? You'll notice all of them cost 9,000 gold pieces, all grant a direct bonus to ability scores, and a secondary bonus to ability and skill checks, so they end up being slightly better than their base counterparts...though their price is doubled. That's almost straight from the DMG; if an item is slotless, the effect costs double. This is fair for these items, but not fair for a specific Ioun Stone which is far too expensive for what it offers (honest to goodness!). The most useful will definitely be Pale Blue Rhomboid and Deep Red Sphere, because a competence boost to combat maneuvers and Initiative is golden, particularly if you happen to have both. If you have a cheaper item on yourself, they still remain useful, though, which is the idea of the Ioun Stone having secondary effects in any case.

Clear Spindle and Iridescent Spindle (redundancy necessary to distinguish the stones) remain mostly as-is, though Iridescent Spindle now work for water-breathers. Their secondary effects are closely related to their original, but they end up being sorta weak. Dusty Rose Prism is the stone I say suffers because of this: the spell used for this is Foresight, a 9th level spell, cast at CL 17th. Because it's a permanent effect, its cost was well near the 200,000 gp altogether. However, its when made slotless that the stone broke the Epic-level barrier. All of this...for Uncanny Dodge and a small insight bonus to AC. This, plus the other two items I mentioned (Robe of Useful Items and Sword of the Planes) are the main reason I want to work with a new method to price items, because they end up far off their intended cost.

Of the somewhat more useful ones, Dark Blue Rhomboid seems unassuming; a bonus to Spot and Listen checks doesn't seem that much, and Alarm is merely a gimmick. However, since it automatically detects hostility and wakes you up, you should consider yourself immune to any and all sleep effects, all for the lowly cost of 16,000 gp. Sleep can be rather nasty, since while you end up being immune to the spells earlier on, any other effect is still fair play, and if the effect is not mind-affecting, then it's twice as bad; you're unconscious and ready to be "coup"-ed into the Outer Planes (no body required, since you can't take it. Because you'll be dead. Gosh, do I have to explain the joke to you guys!?) Thus, the stone has some hidden utility, though it can turn up to be a nuisance. Pale Green Prism takes the benefit of the ability-enhancing stones and collapses them into one, though the cost skyrockets (60,000, compared to 54,000 for six stones, and you automatically get full effect this way). Orange Prism...well, that one didn't got that much of a boost, because providing this effect directly to caster level would effectively break the item (as in, "utterly broken; HAX!"). It still has its old effect (which is quite good), but its secondary effect only works to bypass spell resistance (a harder task because of how many items grant decent SR). Speaking of SR; Pale Lavender Ellipsoid no longer absorbs spells, because of how it overlaps with Lavender and Green Ellipsoid, so it now has fixed SR (ending up in...SR 30, I believe?).

From this, we go to the three real good ones. Let's start with Lavender and Green Ellipsoid, which gains a secondary Protection from Spells effect, but retains its incredibly useful 50 charges. Its effect was VASTLY improved, though, as it now absorbs spells up to 9th level, even with metamagic, except those who are Harmless (so you can get buffed while at it), though retaining their "1 charge = 1 spell level" proportion, so it won't absorb that many spells. For its cost, it's hilariously cheap. On to Vibrant Purple Prism, which works as a Ring of Spell Storing (just like the original), but you'll notice a quick change on the wording; it no longer retains spells, but spell levels. If you read this all at once, you might notice that's the same wording as with the Spell Storing weapon property, thus only requiring a modicum of arithmetic knowledge (a fancy way to say "sum 2 + 2", an equivalent for "connect the dots") to realize that the Ring of Spell Storing has a similar change. Still, it's pretty useful, and thus pretty expensive (you'll see when you look at it). Finally, Pearly White Spindle stops being useless and nets you both Fast Healing and the ability to regenerate lost body parts. Much like the Vibrant Purple Prism, this is essentially a Ring of Regeneration without a slot, so here's another sneak peek at the changes to rings. Remember how the Periapt of Wound Closing and the Ring of Regeneration have a synergy effect? Well, the Pearly White Spindle doesn't have the same effect, but the base trait of the Ring of Regeneration is pretty similar. Just saying.

PSYCHOACTIVE SKINS
This fist-sized blob of murky ectoplasm shimmers faintly in the light. When held, the blob seemingly comes to live, reacting to the holder’s heat.

Psychoactive skins (known as “full-body, living clothing” or “ecto-skins” to connoisseurs of ectoplasm) are fist-sized globs of psionically-charged ectoplasm. As part of a full-round action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity, a Medium or smaller-sized creature can mentally command the psychoactive skin to spread upon it, covering exactly what the wearer desires (typically the user’s entire body, but the wearer may choose to cover only its skin and leave all equipment uncovered). Because of this, the skin opens and moves to allow its wearer to reach any equipment, open its mouth to eat, does not impede breathing or hearing, and generally does not hinder its wearer’s normal biological functions.

Up to three skins can be worn simultaneously, although only the outermost shell is active in any given round; the powers of the innermost skins cannot be activated or accessed. Skin layers can be changed as a move (mental) action, which causes the desired lower layer skin to surface.

Psychoactive skins occupy no item slots.

Skin of the Chameleon
Price (Item Level): 40,000 gp (17th)
Body Slot: --
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) transmutation
Activation: Swift or standard (mental)
Weight: 2 lbs.

This skin is normally green colored, but it adjusts its color and texture according to the surroundings.

A skin of the chameleon adjusts to its surroundings and changes its texture and colors, continually granting a +10 competence bonus on Hide checks; this ability can be activated or deactivated as a swift action. At-will, the wearer gains the ability to change its appearance, as per the minor change shape racial feature, except the skin changes its form instead of the wearer. The wearer can make the skin (and any skin it wears) appear as if it were its own skin (but the wearer cannot transform unless this skin is the primary one). While transformed, the wearer can choose to gain a +10 circumstance bonus on Disguise checks, but it loses the competence bonus to Hide checks; the wearer can shift between both bonuses as a swift action.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

Skin of the Claw
Price (Item Level): 12,000 gp (13th)
Body Slot: --
Caster Level: 3rd
Aura: Faint; (DC 16) transmutation
Activation: Swift (mental)
Weight: 2 lbs.

This skin has a bone-white color and chitinous feel. When worn, the wearer’s fingers elongate and become solid, as if claws.

A skin of the claw can transform its hands into deadly claws. The wearer gains two primary natural claw attacks, each dealing 1d6 points of damage (if the wearer is Medium-sized) plus its Strength modifier; the wearer is not considered to have a natural weapon for purposes of qualifying for a feat or prestige class when wearing this item (unless it has a natural weapon already), and the damage remains fixed (thus, if the wearer has the Improved Natural Attack [claw] feat, it doesn’t apply to these claws). The wearer cannot combine these claw attacks with other weapon or natural weapon attacks (except for unarmed strikes) as part of the same full attack action. The wearer can change its claws into hands and back as part of a swift (mental) action.

Special: The skin of the claw can be modified as if it were a manufactured weapon. Treat the claws manifested by a skin of the claw as if they were masterwork light slashing weapons for purposes of which enhancements can be applied. The benefit only applies to the claws, not to the wearer’s unarmed strikes.

Skins of the claw with increased claw damage can be created. Increasing the damage dice of the claw attacks costs 8,000 gp per increase. The damage increase for Medium creatures goes from 1d6, to 1d8, to 2d6, to 3d6, to 4d6, to a maximum of 5d6 points of damage.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

Skin of the Defender
Price (Item Level): 2,000 gp (+1; 6th), 8,000 gp (+2, 11th), 18,000 gp (+3; 14th), 32,000 gp (+4; 16th) or 50,000 gp (+5; 18th)
Body Slot: --
Caster Level: 3rd (+1), 6th (+2), 9th (+3), 12th (+4), 15th (+3)
Aura: Faint to strong; (DC 16, 18, 19, 21, 22) transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: 2 lbs.

This thick, rough skin gives the wearer’s body the appearance of tree bark, tough leather or scaly hide.

This skin continuously grants its wearer an enhancement bonus to natural armor of +1 to +5. A creature without natural armor has an effective natural armor bonus of +0. The wearer is free to choose the texture of the skin (between hide, bark, scale or chitin) and its color.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

Skin of Elemental Response
Price (Item Level): 60,000 gp (18th)
Body Slot: --
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 18) evocation
Activation: --
Weight: 2 lbs.

This skin shines with contained energy, appearing fiery orange, snowy pale white, shocking light blue, sickening yellow or metallic brass. It generates warmth, cold, or a tingling shock, emits a pungent acidic or slightly metallic scent, or projects a slight echo.

A skin of elemental response answers any melee attack in the round with a burst of energy against the attacker. The burst of energy emits from the skin at the moment of contact and strikes automatically, (though it does not succeed against opponents with spell resistance 17 or higher), and deals 1d6+7 points of damage from the specified element.

Furthermore, if the wearer is attacked by an energy-based attack that’s the opposite of the skin’s own, the wearer only takes half damage from the attack, or no damage if the attack allows a successful save.

The skin of elemental response has five main types:
The skin of fiery response deals fire damage when attacked, and halves cold damage.
The skin of icy response deals cold damage when attacked, and halves fire damage.
The skin of shocking response deals electricity damage when attacked, and halves acid damage.
The skin of caustic response deals acid damage when attacked, and halves electricity damage.
The skin of echoing response deals sonic damage (but only 1d4 +3). Instead of negating elemental damage, any creature that attacks it must make a successful Fortitude save against DC 16 or be knocked 5 feet away into an unoccupied space of the wearer’s choice.

If the wearer has levels in the fighter class (or effective fighter levels), the skin of elemental response deals damage equal to 1d6 plus the wearer’s effective fighter levels (maximum of 15; the skin of echoing response deals damage equal to 1d4 plus 1 damage for every 2 effective fighter levels, and the Fortitude save against the effect is equal to 10 + ½ the wearer’s effective fighter levels + the wearer’s Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma modifier, whichever is higher), except for creatures with spell resistance equal to 10 + the wearer’s effective fighter levels or higher.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

Skin of the Hero
Price (Item Level): 60,000 gp (18th)
Body Slot: --
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate (DC 20); evocation or transmutation
Activation: -- or swift (mental)
Weight: 2 lbs.

This skin seems to sheathe the wearer in crystal, mimicking its form but not its imperfections. Light seems to gleam upon it.

The wearer of this skin gains a +2 enhancement bonus to Strength, Dexterity and Constitution checks, a +1 deflection and natural armor bonus to Armor Class, a +1 resistance bonus to all saving throws, and a +1 competence bonus on attack rolls. However, while wearing this item, the wearer has a constant -1 penalty to caster level and manifester level. Once per day as a swift action, the wearer is treated as if having a base attack bonus equal to its character level, gains temporary hit points equal to its character level and a competence bonus to damage rolls equal to twice the item’s competence bonus to attack rolls (all effects lasting for 1 minute), but at the expense of any spellcasting or manifesting ability (including invocations and mysteries, but not spell-like abilities and psi-like abilities).

Because of its affinity towards the physical concept of heroism, any attempt to enhance the item’s enhancement bonus to Strength, Dexterity and/or Constitution, its deflection and/or natural armor bonuses to AC, or its resistance bonus to all saves, costs 75% of its base price (both if crafted and if modified by a friendly NPC), instead of its base cost (or twice its base cost, as normal for similar psychoactive skins). The skin’s competence bonus to attack rolls can be increased at the following rates: +4,000 gp for a +2 bonus, +11,500 gp for a +3 bonus (or +7,500 gp for an increase of +2 to +3), +22,000 gp for a +4 bonus (or +10,500 for an increase of +3 to +4), +35,500 for a +5 bonus (or +13,500 gp for an increase of +4 to +5).

If the wearer has levels in the fighter class (or effective fighter levels), the skin of the hero provides an augmented benefit. The skin still provides its wearer an effective base attack bonus increase and temporary hit points equal to its character level, as well as a competence bonus to damage rolls, but the effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to its effective fighter level. If the wearer has 11 effective fighter levels, its effective fighter levels are treated as equal to its character levels for the duration of the effect. This also applies to initiator level (see Tome of Battle: the Book of Nine Swords for more details).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

Skin of Iron
Price (Item Level): 55,000 gp (18th)
Body Slot: --
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: Strong; (DC 22) transmutation
Activation: -- and swift (mental)
Weight: 4 lbs.

The skin has a dull gray color, and feels solid to the touch. When worn, the wearer’s body feels rigid, as if made of metal.

The skin of iron grants its wearer damage reduction 5/adamantine for as long as it is worn. This effect is always active (as long as it is the primary skin). While worn, the wearer is treated as if it had an armor check penalty of -2, unless the penalty is higher.

Once per day, the wearer of a skin of iron may empower the benefit of this skin, gaining the benefit of the iron body spell for up to 15 minutes. Once the effect ends, the skin becomes inert until the next day at dawn.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

Skin of Nimbleness
Price (Item Level): 19,000 gp
Body Slot: --
Caster Level: 8th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 19) transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: 1 lb.

This skin seems to be slick and oily black. When worn, it fits surprisingly well, granting great flexibility.

This skin continually grants its wearer a +10 competence bonus to Tumble checks. Any armor check penalty the wearer has because of its armor is reduced by 3, and its arcane spell failure is reduced by 10%.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must have 15 ranks in Tumble (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/tumble.htm).
Cost to Create: 9,500 gp; 760 xp

Skin of Proteus
Price (Item Level): 130,000 gp (22nd)
Body Slot: --
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) transmutation
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Weight: 2 lbs.

This skin constantly changes color and texture at every moment. When worn, it sometimes reflects the mood of the wearer through color.

The skin of proteus grants its wearer a +10 competence bonus to Disguise checks. This ability is always active.

At-will, the wearer can assume a form of its liking, as if it was under the constant effect of a polymorph spell, but the wearer can only assume the form of a creature with 10 HD or less. While in a form other than its natural form, the wearer does not appear to be wearing the skin.

If the wearer has levels in the fighter class (or effective fighter levels), it can assume the form of a creature whose HD is equal or lower than its effective fighter level (up to a maximum of 15 HD at effective fighter level 15th). At effective fighter level 16th, the effect instead becomes that of a shapechange constantly under effect, but the forms are still limited to 15 HD or less.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must have 15 ranks in Disguise (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/disguise.htm)
Cost to Create:

Skin of the Psion
Price (Item Level): 45,250 gp (17th)
Body Slot: --
Caster Level: 9th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 19) abjuration and transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: 2 lbs.

This skin is usually green, violet, red or dark blue, with ridges of a darker tone. When worn, the ridges shine brightly, forming conduits of energy.

This skin grants its wearer a small measure of psionic power. The wearer gains power resistance 21, a pool of 9 power points and knowledge of a number of powers that cannot exceed 5 power levels (thus, it may hold knowledge of a single 5th level power, a 4th level power and a 1st level power, a 3rd level power and a 2nd level power, a 3rd level power and two 1st level powers, two 2nd level powers and one 1st level power, a 2nd level power and three 1st level powers, or five 1st level powers).

Skins of the psion found randomly can be assigned their powers randomly. Roll on the cognizance crystal table on the Medium column; the result determines the highest level power it knows. If the result would grant a 3rd level or lower power, roll again until all power levels are filled (reroll any result that would end up with more power levels than the limit, until one or no power levels remain adjudicated). Then, determine randomly from psion powers for each indicated power level.

Special: Skins of the psion can hold more power points and hold powers of higher level. If increasing the power point cost, subtract 25,000 gp from the base cost and add the cost of the desired cognizance crystal. To determine new powers, add twice the cost of a power stone with the power.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

Skin of the Spider
Price (Item Level): 56,000 gp (18th)
Body Slot: --
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) transmutation
Activation: -- and standard (mental)
Weight: 2 lbs.

This oily black skin has a spiderweb pattern all around, with a menacing white eye pattern and grin on the head. It shines midnight blue on the presence of moonlight.

This skin grants several abilities based on those of spiders. The wearer gains a +5 competence bonus on Climb, Hide and Jump checks, and a climb speed of half its base land speed. The skin adjusts the wearer’s body equilibrium with any solid or liquid substance, allowing it to move (but not run) across water, quicksand, or even a spider’s web at its normal speed. The skin prevents the wearer from being detected by extraordinary or supernatural senses, such as blindsense, blindsight, tremorsense, the telepathic field of the touchsight power and the benefit of the Mindsight feat, and also denies its opponents the benefit of the foresight “sixth sense”; however, they can still be detected by other divination spells. Finally, the wearer gains a bite attack that deals 1d6 points of damage (if a Medium creature). These are continuous effects and require no activation.

Three times per day, the wearer can fire a glob of ectoplasmic web at a medium or smaller target within 50 ft., as per a monstrous spider’s web attack. Because it is made of ectoplasm, the web affects even incorporeal creatures.

Lore: The first skin of the spider was said to be of extradimensional origin. It first traveled with a group of kaorti (see Fiend Folio for more details), but eventually was owned by a drow, who eventually became a drider. Ashamed of what he had turned into, the drider stripped of the skin before it made him lose his mind. The skin, apparently a symbiotic organism, crossed paths with a drow-hating strong human, granting it powers similar to spiders. It’s said that subsequent skins of the spider are spawns of this psychoactive skin, neutered by psionic power into docility. (Knowledge (history), Knowledge (psionics) or bardic knowledge check DC 20)

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

Skin of the Troll
Price (Item Level): 61,000 gp (18th)
Body Slot: --
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: Strong; (DC 22) conjuration
Activation: --
Weight: 2 lbs.

This marsh green skin looks sickly, covered with warts and blemishes. A mild acrid odor emanates from the unfurled skin once worn.

This skin grants the wearer fast healing 5. This benefit is not effective against damage from starvation, thirst or suffocation. The skin also regains lost portions of its body and allows it to reattach severed limbs. To gain the effects of this skin, it must be worn for 24 straight hours. In exchange, the wearer gains vulnerability to fire and acid damage. Creatures without a Constitution score cannot benefit of a skin of the troll.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

Compared to their stony cousins, the Psychoactive Skins aren't as boring, though some are hilariously expensive. Nearly all of them, save for one or two, got updated into the Magic Item Compendium, but almost verbatim. Much like with the Psionic items that also appear in the MIC, I decided to twink these to be much, much better.

The Skin of the Chameleon is another of those "gain +10 competence bonus to X stat" boring items, except this time it's an enhancement bonus. Still, when I hear "chameleon", aside from using the skills to hide, I also think of "disguise", if only because of the repercussions of how the word entered pop culture. Thus, they get a nifty new ability to allow minor change shape, making them a direct competitor to the almighty Skin of the Proteus, though only in terms of disguises. The item grants a bonus to Disguise if transformed (it makes little to no sense to grant the bonus while transformed), and also has a nifty synergy effect with other skins, in case you don't want to look like...erm, I won't say, because I'd be spoiling one of the INCREDIBLY OBVIOUS references I'll make.

The Skin of the Claw and the Skin of the Defender got a mild boost. The original Skin of the Claw offered the ability to use the Claws of the Beast power at-will, at a hefty cost. The MIC changed it to a fixed bestowing of claws, at 75% the cost. The retooled version retains the cost, but with the capability of boosting both the claw damage AND granting it weapon properties. The Skin of the Defender, on the other hand, has the same cost range as the Amulet of Natural Armor but suitably doubled for the "slotless" trait.

On to the Skin of Elemental Response, which is really the Skin of Fiery Response but tailored to one of the four usual elements (plus sonic). You'll notice that the original required the wearer to make a ranged touch attack, which made it somewhat useful (particularly the MIC version which deals a nifty amount of damage because it was based on a higher-level Energy Retort power), but also far too expensive for its own good. The retooled version works more like Fire Shield, sacrificing the ability to respond to a single attack at a range of 40 ft. to respond to ALL melee attacks, and also granting a sizable defense against the opposite (except for Sonic, which grants a knockback effect). The cost is the same as per the original (not MIC) Skin of Fiery Response, but the effect is slightly better. Following that is the Skin of the Hero, which is quite the boring effect (think: a Ring of Protection +3, coupled with a Cloak of Resistance +3, and finally half the effect of a magic weapon, without adding to damage rolls AT ALL or even granting the ability to have your weapons count as magical), and for a really nasty cost (77,000 gp!?) The new and improved version is sorta weaker, but nets you the equivalent of five items at once (Belt of Giant Strength, Gloves of Dexterity, Amulet Vest of Health, Ring of Protection, Necklace of Natural Attacks) with the old bonus to attack rolls now being competence, all at the lowly cost of -1 CL/ML. I say this is a fair trade, considering that you're getting to be a better warrior. The boost effect is basically Tenser's Transformation (in fact, the basis for my improved version), though lacking the alchemical bonuses to Strength and Constitution. Fighters might not get that much benefit from full BAB, but gishes that sacrifice BAB will truly appreciate the definite boost, and far more the temporary benefit of treating your character level as your effective Fighter level, which is the key to unlocking more potent abilities. Plus, it's actually cheaper than the old one, and has three synergy effects that reduce the cost of boosting this item!

Skin of Iron suffered a bad trade when getting to the MIC; it's now cheaper, but the Iron Body effect can only be used once. 40,000 gp for 15 minutes of incredible protection doesn't really cut it. The original was far too expensive, so returning to that would have undermined a bit its worth. Thus, the Skin of Iron only got a mild benefit of added Damage Reduction, so that you wouldn't feel so cheated. Skin of Nimbleness passed almost exactly as the original one, but its effect is, once again, boring ("g+10toXskill", but for Tumble checks, which is just about the one skill that doesn't need to be boosted that much), so it now offers a nifty boost to, of all people, those who wear armor.

And now, the piece de resistance; the Skin of the Proteus; the one skin that wasn't ported to the MIC. Just by looking at it, you'd think "surely T.G. Oskar will nerf it to oblivion, because it's too good to be true!"

Sorry guys. This item is too cool to be nerfed. It actually got boosted, and big time. If it helps, it's...more expensive? Let's face it; that price tag is misleading, because boosting the Polymorph effect to CL 10th means the list just got bigger. Sure, it's Polymorph and not Metamorphosis, so it's a...

Yes, you read that right. You're a Fighter? Congrats; you get Shapechange AT-WILL. And as if you were a 15th level caster, to boot! So yeah, you won't get the forms of 16 HD or higher, but you definitely get the remainder, and you know that a Fighter will gasp in exhilaration at the idea of transforming into a Twelve-Headed Hydra with all of your feats intact. Just one HD shy of a Marilith, though... In any case, since Shapechange allows you to shift your form if necessary, that allows for impressive tactical potential, and also a multitude of forms that Metamorphosis doesn't allow (Shadesteel Golem, anyone? The Stone Golem is a nice 14-HD creature...) Though not at full strength, there's one reason why Shapechange is part of the "broken" spells, and you get it at 75% of full capacity, whereas Wizards have to wait one more level to use them, and only for limited duration. I wouldn't mind taking it all the way to "CL 20th" or higher, but that's probably when I adventure into fully Epic levels.

Let's continue; the Skin of the Psion is for whenever you want to make people think you're a Psion. It combines a Cognizance Crystal with a set of Power Stones and free Manifester Levels to allow you to play as a Psion for a while, and if you manage to customize it to your taste, much better. I'm half-tempted to make a "Skin of the Wizard" and make it almost the same as this one, but with a Fighter boost effect to finally break Wizard hegemony... Oh well, a homebrewer can dream, and then post into forums for people to admire. The Skin of the Spider is the reference I mentioned, and you get no tries to figure out who I was inspired upon; compared to the original, it's definitely improved. You may think of the Skin of the Claw as its "son", if you know what I mean. Finally, the Skin of the Troll has its effect boosted to bona-fide fast healing (much like the Periapt of Wound Closure, the Ring of Regeneration and the above-mentioned Pearly White Spindle), though with a slight limitation (requires a Con score, so not useful for Necropolitans or Shadesteel Golem-transferred Psionic Sandwiches) and a weakness (hey, fire is very common!)

T.G. Oskar

2014-02-01, 01:33 AM

RINGS
A type of magic item that distinguishes from the others by the traits it can bring, rings have a distinctive method of crafting that separates it from other magical items. Unlike most magic items, which only allow one per slot (as in, only one magic item worn in the head will work, even if the magic items would otherwise fit), rings usually count as more than one slot. The typical ring-wearer is a humanoid, which more often than not has 10 functional fingers, of which at least 6 can accept a ring (the index and middle fingers of each hand, with the eponymous “ring” fingers covering the last slots).

A character begins by harnessing the power of a single ring; any other rings worn simply don’t function. Once the character reaches 6th level, the wearer can harness the power of two rings at the same time; the character can harness the power of an extra ring every 5 character levels, up to a maximum of 5 ring slots at character level 21st. Alongside the Extra Ring Slot epic feat, the wearer can equip up to 6 rings total, each offering their own power. Regardless of how many rings the wearer may equip, no ring can be equipped more than once to retain its qualities; the benefit of ring stacking is the same as that of any magic item; exceptions involve any ring that requires two or more equipped to gain its benefit.

Other characters may have less (or more) fingers, and thus may equip less (or more) slots. To wear rings, a character must have human-like hands and fingers (or the hand of glory magic item). A wearer may equip one extra ring per pair of hands over the first (thus, a marilith, which has six hands, may equip three rings, plus the amount of rings allotted by their amount of Hit Dice). If the wearer has only one functional hand, it may only wear one ring (and up to three rings).

The following rings retain the same qualities: ring of energy resistance (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/rings.htm#energyResistance), ring of feather falling (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/rings.htm#featherFalling), ring of freedom of movement (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/rings.htm#freedomofMovement) (cost increased to 60,000 gp), ring of protection (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/rings.htm#protection), ring of sustenance (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/rings.htm#sustenance), ring of water walking (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/rings.htm#waterWalking), ring of wizardry (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/rings.htm#wizardry) (all types)

The following rings are no longer available: ring of elemental command (split into ring of aerial command, ring of aqueous command, ring of fiery command, ring of terran command, and the variants ring of glacial command and ring of lightning command), ring of friend shield (turned into the ring of the bodyguard), ring of meld into stone (turned into the ring of stonemelding), ring of mind shielding (turned into the ring of nondetection), ring of three wishes (HELL NO!!! DO NOT WANT!!), ring of X-ray vision (turned into the ring of piercing image)

RING OF AERIAL COMMAND
Price (Item Level): 90,000 gp (20th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: Strong (DC 22); various
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Weight: --

This ring is made of white gold, with a windswept design. An emerald and quartz crown the ring, which seems to attract a cool breeze when moved.

The wearer of a ring of aerial command has the ability to control air. If the wearer falls more than 5 ft., a pillow of air slows the fall, acting as per a feather fall spell that lasts for as long as the character falls. As well, any spells cast by the wearer with the [air] descriptor are at +1 to caster level. The wearer of this ring gains a +5 circumstance bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy and Intimidate checks when dealing with creatures of the [air] subtype. These abilities are always active.

The wearer of this ring gains the ability to cast gust of wind at-will, as a sorcerer of 15th level.

The ring of aerial command has 5 charges, which are renewed each day at dawn. The wearer may expend charges to invoke other wind-related powers:
1 charge: wind wall, as the spell, or charm air monsters (as charm person, except it only affects any creature with the [air] subtype instead of humanoids)
3 charges: control winds, as the spell, or dominate air monsters (as dominate person, except it only affects any creature with the [air] subtype instead of humanoids).
5 charges: whirlwind, as the spell.

In exchange for all these powers, the wearer gains enmity against earth creatures. The wearer takes a -2 penalty on all saving throws against earth-related attacks, a -5 penalty on all Bluff, Diplomacy or Intimidate checks to deal with creatures of the [earth] subtype, and any spells it casts from the [earth] subtype are at a -1 to caster level.

Prerequisites: Forge Ring (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#forgeRing); creator must have the [Air] subtype or a cleric with the Air or Windstorm domains.
Cost to Create:

RING OF ANIMAL FRIENDSHIP
Price (Item Level): 18,700 gp (15th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint (DC 17); enchantment
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Weight: --

This ring is made out of bound leather, bits of bone and fangs. The bone and the fangs hold small inscriptions written in a rare language.

The wearer of a ring of animal friendship has the power to befriend animals with ease. The wearer gains a +5 competence bonus to all Handle Animal and wild empathy checks. If the wearer has an animal companion, it is treated as a druid of three levels higher for purposes of determining the benefits.

The ring of animal friendship has three charges, which renew each day at dawn. By expending charges, the wearer gains the ability to befriend animals temporarily.
1 charge: charm animal, as the spell, for up to 3 hours
2 charges: mass charm animal. This works as charm animal, except it affects one or more creatures, no two of which may be more than 30 ft. apart. This effect lasts for 30 minutes.
3 charges: dominate animal, as the spell, for up to 3 rounds.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

RING OF AQUEOUS COMMAND
Price (Item Level): 90,000 gp (20th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: Strong (DC 22); varied
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Weight: --

This ring is made of gold, with a coral design, surrounded by a mist that smells of sea air. An aquamarine and sapphire crown the ring.

The wearer of a ring of aqueous command has the ability to control water. The wearer is capable of breathing even underwater, or allows a water-breather to subsist outside of water. As well, any spells cast by the wearer with the [water] descriptor are at +1 to caster level. The wearer of this ring gains a +5 circumstance bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy and Intimidate checks when dealing with creatures of the [water] subtype. These abilities are always active.

The wearer of this ring gains the ability to cast create water at-will, as a cleric of 15th level.

The ring of aqueous command has 5 charges, which are renewed each day at dawn. The wearer may expend charges to invoke other water-related powers:
1 charge: water walk, as the spell, or charm water monsters (as charm person, except it only affects any creature with the [water] subtype instead of humanoids)
3 charges: control water, as the spell, or dominate water monsters (as dominate person, except it only affects any creature with the [water] subtype instead of humanoids).
5 charges: waterspout (SpC 236), as the spell.

In exchange for all these powers, the wearer gains enmity against fire creatures. The wearer takes a -2 penalty on all saving throws against fire attacks, a -5 penalty on all Bluff, Diplomacy or Intimidate checks to deal with creatures of the [fire] subtype, and any spells it casts from the [fire] subtype are at a -1 to caster level.

Prerequisites: Forge Ring (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#forgeRing); creator must have the [water] subtype or a cleric with the Ocean or Water domain
Cost to Create:

RING OF THE BODYGUARD
Price (Item Level): 40,000 gp (17th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate (DC 20); abjuration
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Weight: --

This thick platinum band has protective glyphs around the edges, which spell the phrase “united, we stand undying”. A red ruby and some small diamonds among the rim seem lifeless, but shine in presence of certain rings.

The ring of the bodyguard, on its own, provides no protection and may seem even useless. However, in the presence of other rings of the bodyguard (or a ring enchanted with the shield other spell), its gems shine, resonating with the spell’s power. To unlock its powers, the wearer of a ring of the bodyguard must attune with another, generally by having the rings in close contact (usually for 24 hours, in a bag). Once a ring is attuned, it remains attuned to all other rings until the same ritual is made. Removing a ring’s attunement requires having the ring be unworn for at least 24 hours, upon which the contact with all other rings are lost; if the ring is worn by a dead creature, it is treated as unworn for this same purpose.

Once attuned, the wearer of a ring of the bodyguard gains a +1 deflection bonus to AC and a +1 resistance bonus to saving throws; these effects are always active until the ring is no longer attuned. Furthermore, as a standard action, the wearer of a ring of the bodyguard may choose to take half of the damage of another creature wearing a ring attuned to the wearer’s own, as per the shield other spell but with no effect on its duration and with no limit on range (so as long as they’re on the same plane). This effect can be activated or deactivated as an immediate action if one of the attuned ringwearer’s hit points fall under half of its maximum amount. Once this ability is active, other wearers of attuned rings cannot affect the wearer or its warden.

This ring, if used as a focus for the shield other or glory of the martyr (BoED), provides greater properties. The wearer’s bonus on deflection and resistance bonuses increases by 1 for every character beside itself affected by the ring, and the wearer may choose to absorb all the damage from the attack, instead of merely half the damage. If two or more rings of the bodyguard are attuned by these means, the wearer can use any healing effect with a range of touch on any creature, regardless of its range (so as long as they’re on the same plane).

Note: if the wearer is a paladin using the Project Heretica variant, the ring of the bodyguard gains a further benefit so as long as the wearer projects an aura of devotion or aura of retribution. If the wearer projects an aura of devotion, the wearer absorbs an amount of damage equal to half the damage taken by the warded creature plus the amount normally absorbed by its aura of devotion, regardless of the distance, when the wearer activates the ring’s shield other ability. If the wearer projects an aura of retribution, the warded creature is treated as the wearer for purposes of activating the retributive effect, regardless of the distance (in effect, the warded creature is treated as if projecting an aura of retribution, as if it were the wearer). This effect also works with the justiciar’s interdiction and retribution sanctions, applying the effects of the auras of devotion and retribution, respectively.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

RING OF CAUSTIC COMMAND
Price (Item Level): 90,000 gp (12th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: Strong (DC 22); varied
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Weight: --

This ring is made of iron, but seemingly rusted. A sickly green emerald and tangerine-colored citrine crown the ring, which seems to be coated in a substance that stings at first

The wearer of a ring of caustic command has the ability to control acid. The wearer gains resistance 10 to acid attacks. As well, any spells cast by the wearer with the [acid] descriptor are at +1 to caster level. The wearer of this ring is treated as if it had the wild empathy ability of a 5th level druid, except this effect only works on oozes. These abilities are always active.

The wearer of this ring gains the ability to cast acid splash at-will, as a sorcerer of 15th level.

The ring of caustic command has 5 charges, which are renewed each day at dawn. The wearer may expend charges to invoke other acid-related powers:
1 charge: Melf’s acid arrow, as the spell, or repel ooze (as repel vermin, except it only affects oozes)
3 charges: orb of acid (SpC 150), as the spell, or ooze puppet (SpC 150)
5 charges: acid fog, as the spell.

In exchange for all these powers, the wearer gains weakness towards electricity. The wearer takes a -2 penalty on all saving throws against electricity attacks and any spells it casts from the [electricity] subtype are at a -1 to caster level.

Prerequisites: Forge Ring (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#forgeRing); creator must have the [earth] subtype or a cleric with the Earth or Ooze domain
Cost to Create:

RING OF CHAMELEON POWER
Price (Item Level): 70,400 gp (19th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate (DC 18); illusion and transmutation
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Weight: --

This ring is crafted from a blend of various semiprecious stones formed in the shape of a ring: agate, amber, jade. When worn, the ring takes the color of the wearer’s finger and seems to blend with it.

The wearer of a ring of chameleon power grants the ability to blend with the surroundings, in and out of the wilderness. The wearer gains a +10 competence bonus on Disguise and Hide checks.

The ring of chameleon power has five charges, which are renewed each day at dusk. By expending charges, the ring may activate one of two effects:
1 charge: disguise self or invisibility (self), no limit to duration. The invisibility effect still ends if the wearer makes an attack, however.
2 charges: alter self or greater invisibility (self), for up to 7 rounds.
3 charges: polymorph or superior invisibility (self), for up to 3 rounds. Superior invisibility works like greater invisibility, except the target may not be detected by any means other than true seeing.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

RING OF CLIMBING
Price (Item Level): 2,500 gp (7th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint (DC 17); transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: --

This ring is actually a leather cord that ties around the finger. The leather has small sticky filaments all over.

The wearer of a ring of climbing gains a +5 competence bonus to Climb checks.

Prerequisites: Forge Ring (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#forgeRing), creator must have at least 10 ranks in Climb (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/climb.htm).
Cost to Create:

RING OF COUNTERSPELLS
Price (Item Level): 8,000 gp (11th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate (DC 18); abjuration and evocation
Activation: Free (no action) and immediate (mental)
Weight: --

This golden ring has a single embedded ruby, which flickers with magical power.

A weapon designed to help anyone fight spellcasters, the ring of counterspells works with spellcasters and non-spellcasters alike. This ring acts like a ring of spell-storing (see below), but it only allows storing a single spell of up to 6th level (0-level spells don’t count for this purpose). Unlike a ring of spell-storing, the wearer cannot reclaim the spell; instead, whenever the same spell (or a spell that would normally counter the spell, such as a haste spell countering a slow spell and viceversa) affects the wearer, the spell is immediately countered as if the wearer had readied for a counterspell (whether it casts spells or not).

If the character has 6 levels in the fighter class (or effective fighter levels), the ring of counterspells allows the wearer to counter a spell as if it had cast dispel magic once per day, even if the ring has no spell stored within. The wearer’s dispel check bonus is equal to half his effective fighter levels or its caster level (if any, so as long as the character can cast dispel magic), up to a maximum of +10.

Prerequisites: Forge Ring (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#forgeRing); creator must have the Improved Counterspell (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#improvedCounterspell) feat.
Cost to Create:

RING OF THE DJINNI
Price (Item Level): 46,500 gp (17th, djinni) or 110,500 gp (21st, noble djinni)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 11th (djinni), 17th (noble djinni)
Aura: Moderate (DC 20) or strong (DC 23); conjuration
Activation: Standard (command)
Weight: --

This solid gold ring has a ruby embedded upon it, with the rim having inscriptions in the Auran language. It seems a bit dirty, coated with the sand of the deserts.

The ring of the djinni grants its wearer the service of a magically loyal djinni for a limited amount of time. The djinni is a typical member of its race, and the same djinni will appear each time it is summoned. The first time the djinni is summoned by a character, it must make a DC 15 Charisma check (or a Diplomacy check; treat the djinni as unfriendly) to claim dominion. If the wearer establishes dominion, the djinni serves for 1 hour each day; else, the djinni attempts to escape and attacks the wearer until it reaches half of its hit points, upon which the djinni accepts service. If the wearer wishes for the djinni to act against its alignment, it must make a Charisma check against DC 15 (+1 for every request of the same type done during the day) in order for it to work; a failure forces the wearer must make a Charisma (or Diplomacy) check the next day to ensure dominion (with a penalty of -1 to the Charisma check, or -2 to the Diplomacy check, for every failure after the first during the same day).

The wearer may attempt to befriend the djinni by catering to its desires. When summoning the djinni, the wearer may choose to allow it to act on its will rather than establish dominion; the character must still succeed on a Charisma or Diplomacy check when befriending. For every day the djinni is allowed to act on its wishes, the djinni agrees to act for 1 extra hour per day, so as long as it isn’t commanded to act against its will.

As a special action, the wearer of a ring of the djinni may choose to free the spirit by breaking the ring (as a full-round action). If doing so, the djinni willingly acts for the wearer for as many hours as it would be otherwise allotted, and then returns to its plane. From thereafter, the djinni always treats the wearer as friendly.

If the djinni is ever killed, the ring of the djinni becomes a normal ring, although it can be used alongside a planar binding spell to capture a new one.

Special: A small amount of rings of the djinni (01-05%) house noble djinn instead. A noble djinni will not use its ability to provide wishes unless it is freed, upon which it grants a single wish (as the spell) to the wearer, its result based on its degree of friendliness: an indifferent or more hostile djinni may attempt to warp the wish in detriment of the wearer, a friendly djinni will attempt to provide the wish as desired by the former wearer, a helpful djinni will provide the wish exactly as desired by the wearer, and a fanatical djinni (see Epic Level Handbook for more details) will provide wishes for 1 week.

Prerequisites: Forge Ring (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#forgeRing); magic circle against good (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/magicCircleAgainstGood.htm), planar binding (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/planarBinding.htm) or Bind Elemental feat; character must have a Charisma of 18.
Cost to Create:

RING OF EVASION
Price (Item Level): 68,000 gp (19th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 17th
Aura: Strong (DC 23); transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: --

This ring has an agate eye on its center, shaped like an eye. When worn, the wearer feels fleet of foot and able to react to anything.

The wearer of a ring of evasion gains the ability to evade attacks that would potentially be mortal, or allow those that have developed the ability to move even if under encumbrance. The wearer of a ring of evasion is treated as if having the evasion ability of a 2nd level monk or rogue, but only when wearing light or no armor and holding no more than a light load. Unlike actual evasion, a medium armor made of mithral is not treated as light for purposes of evasion, and denies the wearer the benefit of this ring.
If the wearer already has evasion, it gains the ability to use this class feature when equipping any kind of armor.

Finally, the wearer also gains a +5 competence bonus to Tumble checks. If wearing light or no armor and carrying no more than a light load (or if it has the evasion class feature), it may make Tumble checks untrained.

Prerequisites: Forge Ring (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#forgeRing); creator must have the evasion (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/rogue.htm#rogueEvasion) or improved evasion (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/monk.htm#monkImprovedEvasion) ability.
Cost to Create:

RING OF FIERY COMMAND
Price (Item Level): 95,000 gp (20th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: Strong (DC 22); varied
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Weight: --

This ring is made of bronze, with a fiery design, and crowned with a fire ruby on its top. The ring feels hot to the touch.

The wearer of a ring of fiery command has the ability to control flames. The wearer can subsist on extremely hot temperatures (up to 150 degrees Fahrenheit), as per an endure elements spell, and also resistance 10 to fire attacks. As well, any spell cast by the wearer with the [fire] descriptor is at +1 to caster level. The wearer of this ring gains a +5 circumstance bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy and Intimidate checks when dealing with creatures of the [fire] subtype. These abilities are always active.

The wearer of this ring gains the ability to cast produce flame at-will, as a druid of 15th level.

The ring of fiery command has 5 charges, which are renewed each day at dawn. The wearer may expend charges to invoke other fire-related powers:
1 charge: heat metal, as the spell, or charm fire monsters (as charm person, except it only affects any creature with the [fire] subtype instead of humanoids)
3 charges: wall of fire, as the spell, or dominate fire monsters (as dominate person, except it only affects any creature with the [fire] subtype instead of humanoids).
5 charges: fire storm, as the spell.

In exchange for all these powers, the wearer gains enmity against water creatures. The wearer takes a -2 penalty on all saving throws against cold or water-related attacks, a -5 penalty on all Bluff, Diplomacy or Intimidate checks to deal with creatures of the [water] subtype, and any spells it casts from the [cold] or [water] subtype are at a -1 to caster level.

Prerequisites: Forge Ring (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#forgeRing); creator must have the [fire] subtype or a cleric with the Fire domain
Cost to Create:

RING OF FORCE SHIELD
Price (Item Level): 2,500 gp (light, 7th), 10,000 gp (heavy, 12th) or 40,000 gp (tower, 17th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 9th (light), 13th (heavy) or 17th (tower)
Aura: Moderate or strong (DC 19, 21 or 23); abjuration
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Weight: --

This thick iron band is etched with protective glyphs. A single, larger glyph stands on a shield-shaped plate.

This ring was designed to aid people unable to wear shields, though their protections also benefit bonafide shield users. If not wearing a shield, the ring of force shield projects a shield-shaped barrier of force that provides protection equivalent to a light shield, heavy shield or tower shield (based on the type of ring worn), except the shield is weightless, provides no encumbrance, and protects against touch attacks of all kinds (whether incorporeal or not).

If the wearer already has a shield, the ring instead projects a barrier that assumes the same form as the shield. The shield must be worn in order to gain this benefit. Any shield improved by means of the ring of force shield allows the wearer to apply its entire shield bonus to AC against touch attacks of all kinds, and all damage dealt by shield bashes is treated as force damage (thus, it affects incorporeal creatures). If the shield-bearer wears a ring of force shield that acts as a heavy shield or a tower shield, it gains a +1 (for a heavy shield equivalent) or +2 (for a tower shield equivalent) bonus to its shield Armor Class (which stacks with the shield’s enhancement bonus to AC); when making a shield bash, the attack deals extra damage equal to twice the bonus granted by this ring.

A wearer of a ring of force shield that wields a tower shield reduces the armor check penalty of said shield by 3 and allows the wearer to make shield bash attacks with a tower shield in one hand; if used as cover, the wearer is treated as if it hiding behind a wall of force, except as follows: a disintegrate spell (or a rod of cancellation) suppresses the ring’s benefits for 1d4 rounds, and the wearer is affected by gaze attacks as normal when taking cover.

Regardless of how it is used, the effect of a ring of force shield can be activated or deactivated as a standard action.

Special: All forms of rings of force shield, regardless of their AC, count as if they were +1 shields and thus may be enchanted as such. When determining their cost, add +1 to the effective enhancement cost of the item, then add to the cost of the ring of force shield and subtract 1000 gp from the total cost (the ring of force shield count as +1 shield, thus they would have a base cost of 1000 gp; otherwise, this cost would be calculated twice). Rings of force shield may not exceed an effective enhancement cost of +6, and the shield special qualities do not stack with those from magic shields; a shield will always have priority, unless the shield has no other quality than an enhancement bonus to AC and/or the bashing or ranged special qualities without any other qualities (thus, a +1 shield of bashing can project the special qualities of a ring of force light shield of acid resistance as well as a +3 shield or a masterwork shield, but a +1 shield of arrow deflection and a +1 arrow catching shield of bashing would take priority)

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

Here I was thinking I could make the Rings in one page, and turns out I have to split the rings' content in two.

Rings are interesting magic items because they're the only ones that have more than one spot (even if that is just two). However, rings tend up to have the most powerful and best traits of any item, IMO. Just ask the Monk how a set of rings can invalidate its existence...

Increasing the amount of rings you can equip, much like limiting the amount of Ioun Stones you can equip, is a controversial matter. Allowing the use of six rings rather than 2 at Epic levels means you can mix and match old stalwarts like Ring of Evasion, Ring of Feather Fall and Ring of Freedom of Movement with rings you'd like to have, but wouldn't consider having (say, the Rings of Elemental Command). If you manage to get a ring early on, you'd get to use only one ring, but afterwards you get an increasing amount. If you remain under level 10, it'll play as usual, but once you reach 11th level, the third ring will probably unbalance your game. As a DM, you're allowed to limit the amount of rings as you desire, but the idea is that rings, beyond most items, are the ones that benefit Fighters and martial characters the most. Strange? Let's see how, specifically as I pick those rings out.

The Ring of Animal Friendship is a boon for Druids and Rangers just by wearing it. While you may no longer use Charm Animal at-will, the chance to use more powerful effects by sacrificing charges compensates. It also allows altering costs to make it somewhat fairer. The Ring of Chameleon Power definitely steps on the toes of the Skin of the Chameleon, providing even better benefits (such as Alter Self and Polymorph) at a cost of losing its ability to Disguise Self at-will (something the Skin of the Chameleon has as a physical effect). As you can see, while they overlap, the traits are distinct enough to allow them to exist on their own, and even complement each other (you might not get to stack the bonuses, but you can use the Skin for at-will minor change shape to save charges, and let the Ring transform you into something more powerful in the chance you need it). The Ring of Counterspells went from "useful by most people but really by mages" to "just as good as a Ring of Greater Counterspells, if not better"; the latter is always great because you can make it count as a Dispel Magic (rather than a Greater Dispel Magic), but with the caveat of not requiring a spell slot AND only applicable to martial characters.

The Ring of the Bodyguard was one of the items I desperately wanted to change, because the effect is great but the execution is horrendous. Basically, you get permanent Shield Other, but you really get no benefit or control over it. Shield Other is one of my favorite spells, because it encompasses the tanking discipline of "damage redirection" at its earnest; you don't even have to be adjacent to your ally to soak its damage and improve its survivability. The spell, though, has a set of benefits that are too small to matter, such as the deflection and the resistance bonuses; those, of course, got improved on the retool I made them (which I'm pretty sure it must be on the Project Heretica page, or at least the result of those on newer spells), particularly turning them into sacred bonuses that improve based on your CL. Thus, the Ring of the Bodyguard has to work similarly, but its effect is now much more user-friendly. First, it doesn't require you to have a pair, but instead it attunes to similar rings, so you can protect more than one ally. Second, it works as a focus for the Shield Other spell, and using it as a focus actually improves its potential. Third, since it was made with Project Heretica in mind, it also helps the Divine Champions' defensive auras, particularly those of the Paladin and the Justiciar. In this way, the item doesn't replace the spell, but instead improves it furthermore; items that work this way become useful on their own but don't make the spells they're based off pointless, a design decision I agree with only whenever it's strictly necessary (that is, when it doesn't hinder the martial classes!)

The "inheritor rings" that sprout from the Rings of Elemental Command work usually in a similar way, and thus most of them have the same price. You see the Fire, Water, Air and Acid rings here, missing only the Lightning, Earth and Ice rings. Just in case; I made no Heart ring, though if I WERE, I'd definitely make a reference to you-know-who. Anyways; the rings are far, far cheaper and follow the format of the MIC for most rings, giving them charges that grant improved effects the more you sacrifice; their permanent effects are slightly more interesting, as well, and make them different from their "precursors" (Ring of Fire Resistance, Ring of Water Walking, Ring of Feather Fall; Acid has no "precursor" ring BTW), something that's sort of a sacred cow. The penalties are now more reasonable, and harmful mostly to spellcasters who get their CL reduced while wearing these. They're nicer to Wu Jen and Shugenja, however, who may find the element they focus on strengthened furthermore.

You may have noticed the Ring of Three Wishes was unceremoniously banned, and that's because items that grant Wishes are a big, big problem. However, the Ring of the Djinni does just this, which is a clear contradiction. If the idea is to remove Wishes from most items, why explicitly allow the Ring of the Djinni to grant them? This is in part the result of the change in focus; the Ring of the Djinni is evidently based in the (real?) myth of Aladdin (fun fact: did you know that the myth of Aladdin, or "Allah-ad'Din", speaks of Chinese Muslims?), who had not just the Magic Lamp, but also a Magic Ring with a genie inside. The Ring of the Djinni is based on Aladdin's tale, and thus it binds a ring rather than call one. However, the explicit reference to its ability to bind a Noble Djinni rather than a regular one, and the prerequisite to extract (extort?) a Wish from it, and even extract MULTIPLE Wishes from it, is a recipe for disaster (not to mention it makes you a PR god of sorts, because turning Djinn into fanatics will make you popular in the Elemental Plane of Air). I believe Planar Binding and its lk should be rituals rather than spells limited only to a few, but even as a ritual the damage is mostly done. I'd like to hear your thoughts about removing the language and explicitly mentioning the Ring cannot trap Noble Djinni, to remove the trap exploit.

The Ring of Evasion is another item that helps martial characters, but this time it helps those that dabble into Rogue or Monk for their Evasion. The ability to use Evasion in armor is pretty huge, but only works if you already have Evasion, which means you must multiclass into one of these. While it sounds counterintuitive at first, it still serves as a balance of sorts, making the item useful mostly to those who wear no armor and desire Evasion, or those who have Evasion and desire wearing heavier armor. The latter immediately brings Rangers to mind, but they still rely a bit on their heavy armor (except if they sacrifice their combat styles) as they also get Evasion, but are mostly forced towards light armor because of other class features.

The Ring of Force Shield is another item that's great for martial characters, and ideally reinforces shield-users. The original ring is a great offender, because it allows you to get some of the benefits of wielding a shield at a somewhat costlier price, but with the addition of commodity (can be turned off as a free action) and utility (it's a Wall of Force effect, so it blocks the attacks of incorporeal creatures). The newer one is somewhat more offensive as it has a light shield and tower shield variant, but it's when it's worn alongside a shield that its utility doubles. You'll notice that the 40,000 gp version of the ring is definitely the one to seek the most, as it improves every kind of shield; light and heavy shields gain a bonus to their AC and damage rolls, while tower shields gain increased mobility and the ability to create pseudo-Walls of Force, effectively killing force projectiles (bye bye Wings of Flurry? Then again, that's a spread effect, no?) and any spell that requires line of effect, not to mention using them as weapons for shield bashes. Thus, a tower shield user gains the most benefit, and one that happens to wield a Ring of Force Tower Shield benefits the most. The special property is because I figured a Ring of Force Shield would be useful in many ways as a Bracers of Armor would, but the stacking benefit is slightly more friendly to those who wield a shield with little or no enhancements. I'd like to hear the opinion on a shield with weapon enhancements stacking with a Ring of Force Shield with protective shield enhancements, tho.

Which..leaves us with the boring Ring of Climbing. There's a good reason why it's so boring, but I'll wait until the next section to reveal why. It's linked to how Shadow, Silent Moves and Slick got improved, though.

T.G. Oskar

2014-02-02, 02:17 AM

RING OF GLACIAL COMMAND
Price (Item Level): 90,000 gp (20th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: Strong (DC 22); varied
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Weight: --

This ring is made of crystal, crowned by a small diamond. The ring feels cool to the touch.

The wearer of a ring of glacial command has the ability to control the power of ice. The wearer can subsist in very cold temperatures (up to -70 degrees Fahrenheit) as per the endure elements spell, and also gains resistance 10 versus cold attacks. As well, any spells cast by the wearer with the [cold] descriptor are at +1 to caster level. These abilities are always active.

The wearer of this ring gains the ability to cast ray of frost at-will, as a sorcerer of 15th level.

The ring of glacial command has 5 charges, which are renewed each day at dawn. The wearer may expend charges to invoke other cold-related powers:
1 charge: sleet storm, as the spell, or charm cold monsters (as charm person, except it only affects any creature with the [cold] subtype instead of humanoids)
3 charges: wall of ice, as the spell, or dominate ice monsters (as dominate person, except it only affects any creature with the [water] subtype instead of humanoids).
5 charges: field of icy razors (SpC 90), as the spell.

In exchange for all these powers, the wearer gains enmity against fire creatures. The wearer takes a -2 penalty on all saving throws against fire attacks, a -5 penalty on all Bluff, Diplomacy or Intimidate checks to deal with creatures of the [fire] subtype, and any spells it casts from the [fire] subtype are at a -1 to caster level.

Prerequisites: Forge Ring (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#forgeRing); creator must have the [cold] subtype or a cleric with the Cold or Water domain
Cost to Create:

RING OF GREATER CLIMBING
Price (Item Level): 30,000 gp (16th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate (DC 18); transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: --

This ring is a leather and silk cord tied around the finger. Fine strands of steel sprout from the cord, allowing for a firmer grip.

The wearer of a ring of greater climbing gains a +15 competence bonus to Climb checks and a climb speed of 40 ft. If the wearer already has a climb speed, that speed is improved by 20 ft.

Prerequisites: Forge Ring (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#forgeRing), creator must have at least 20 ranks in Climb (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/climb.htm).
Cost to Create:

RING OF GREATER JUMPING
Price (Item Level): 25,000 gp (15th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 9th
Aura: Moderate (DC 19); transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: --

This simple ring consists of flexible wire turned into a spring. Wearing it makes you feel lighter.

The wearer of a ring of greater jumping gains a +15 competence bonus to all Jump checks. Furthermore, the wearer is always considered as if making a running jump; if it decides to make a running jump, it gains a +4 bonus on the check. Finally, the wearer doubles the distance with a high jump; the wearer can jump an amount based on twice its Jump check, rather than four times the result.

Prerequisites: Forge Ring (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#forgeRing), creator must have at least 20 ranks in Jump (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/jump.htm).
Cost to Create:

RING OF GREATER SELF-SUFFICIENCY
Price (Item Level): 30,000 gp (16th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: --

This ring is made of fragile, pale green crystal with a swirling pattern etched to appear as if moving constantly.

The wearer of a ring of self-sufficiency gains a +15 competence bonus on all Autohypnosis checks. The wearer is treated as if having the Diehard feat, except that it does not lose hit points by making actions.

Prerequisites: Forge Ring (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#forgeRing); creator must have 20 ranks in Autohypnosis (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/skills/autohypnosis.htm).
Cost to Create: 15,000 gp; 1,200 xp

RING OF GREATER SWIMMING
Price (Item Level): 30,000 gp (16th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate (DC 18); transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: --

This glistening silver ring has the image of a fish biting its own tail, with the scales forming an elaborate wave pattern.

The wearer of a ring of greater swimming gains a +15 competence bonus to Swim checks and a swim speed of 40 ft, plus the ability to breathe water (if not available already; this does not allow a water-breather to breathe air). If the wearer already has a swim speed, that speed is improved by 20 ft.

Prerequisites: Forge Ring (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#forgeRing), creator must have at least 20 ranks in Swim (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/swim.htm).
Cost to Create:

RING OF IMPROVED CLIMBING
Price (Item Level): 12,500 gp (13th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate (DC 18); transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: --

This ring is a leather and hemp cord tied around the finger. The strands of hemp seem to stick around any kind of stone.

The wearer of a ring of improved climbing gains a +10 competence bonus to Climb checks and a climb speed of 20 ft. If the wearer already has a climb speed, that speed is improved by 10 ft.

Prerequisites: Forge Ring (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#forgeRing), creator must have at least 15 ranks in Climb (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/climb.htm).
Cost to Create:

RING OF IMPROVED JUMPING
Price (Item Level): 12,500 gp (13th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint (DC 17); transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: --

This simple ring consists of flexible wire turned into a spring.

The wearer of a ring of improved jumping gains a +10 competence bonus to all Jump checks. Furthermore, the wearer is always considered as if making a running jump; if it decides to make a running jump, it gains a +4 bonus on the check.

Prerequisites: Forge Ring (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#forgeRing), creator must have at least 15 ranks in Jump (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/jump.htm)
Cost to Create:

RING OF IMPROVED SELF-SUFFICIENCY
Price (Item Level): 12,500 gp (13th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 18) transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: --

This ring is made of fragile, pale green crystal with a swirling pattern etched to appear as if moving constantly.

The wearer of a ring of self-sufficiency gains a +10 competence bonus on all Autohypnosis checks. The wearer becomes automatically stable if its hit points falls under -1 and -9.

Prerequisites: Forge Ring (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#forgeRing); creator must have 15 ranks in Autohypnosis (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/skills/autohypnosis.htm).
Cost to Create: 6,250 gp; 100 xp

RING OF IMPROVED SWIMMING
Price (Item Level): 12,500 gp (13th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate (DC 18); transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: --

This large silver ring has a relief etching of placid waves on the band.

The wearer of a ring of improved swimming gains a +10 competence bonus to Swim checks and a swim speed of 20 ft.; furthermore, the wearer can hold its breath while underwater for a number of hours equal to its Constitution modifier. If the wearer already has a swim speed, that speed is improved by 10 ft.

Prerequisites: Forge Ring (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#forgeRing), creator must have at least 15 ranks in Swim (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/swim.htm).
Cost to Create:

RING OF INVISIBILITY
Price (Item Level): 53,000 gp (18th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate (DC 18); illusion
Activation: standard or immediate (command)
Weight: --

This simple-looking silver ring seems easy to hide. Inscriptions in the Elven script poetically suggest the nature of its magic.

The wearer of a ring of invisibility gains a +5 competence bonus on Hide checks; this ability is always active. Furthermore, the wearer of a ring of invisibility can turn invisible, at will as per the invisibility spell, with no limit to casting time. As with the invisibility spell, any hostile action disables the effect.

If a character has the Stealthy feat, wearing the ring of invisibility allows it to hide after the effect of the ring wears off. If the invisibility effect is lost by means of a hostile action or a spell, the wearer may move up to 5 feet for every five ranks in the Hide skill and attempt a Hide check as an immediate action.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

RING OF JUMPING
Price (Item Level): 2,500 gp (7th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint (DC 17); transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: --

This simple ring consists of flexible wire turned into a spring.

The wearer of a ring of jumping gains a +5 competence bonus to all Jump (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/jump.htm) checks.

Prerequisites: Forge Ring (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#forgeRing), creator must have at least 10 ranks in Jump
Cost to Create: 1,250 gp; 100 xp

RING OF LIGHTNING COMMAND
Price (Item Level): 85,000 gp (20th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: Strong (DC 22); varied
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Weight: --

This ring is made of two thick wires made from two different kinds of metal, usually copper and gold, twisted and then bound into a ring with each end connecting to the opposite metal. A quartz crowns the ring, which has a faint metallic tang and seems to deliver a slight jolt when worn.

The wearer of a ring of lightning command has the ability to control lightning. The wearer gains resistance 10 against electricity attacks. These abilities are always active.

The wearer of this ring gains the ability to cast shocking grasp at-will, as a sorcerer of 15th level.

The ring of lightning command has 5 charges, which are renewed each day at dawn. The wearer may expend charges to invoke other electricity-related powers:
1 charge: call lightning, as the spell, except it only allows for 1 bolt
3 charges: lightning bolt, as the spell
5 charges: chain lightning, as the spell.

In exchange for all these powers, the wearer gains weakness against acid attacks. The wearer takes a -2 penalty on all saving throws against acid and earth attacks, a -5 penalty on all Bluff, Diplomacy or Intimidate checks to deal with creatures of the [earth] subtype, and any spells it casts from the [acid] or [earth] subtypes are at a -1 to caster level.

Prerequisites: Forge Ring (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#forgeRing); creator must have the [air] subtype or a cleric with the Air or Storm domains
Cost to Create:

RING OF NONDETECTION
Price (Item Level): 30,000 gp (16th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint (DC 17); abjuration
Activation: --
Weight: --

This ring is made of an odd alloy of tin and gold, with embedded gems of various types.

The wearer of this ring is immune to scrutiny from a variety of divination effects of spell level 3rd or higher, as per a nondetection spell constantly on effect. Divination effects of spell level 4th or higher are negated if the caster level check of its user surpasses 20. Powers from the clairsentience discipline are treated as divination spells for purposes of determining whether they are negated or resisted.

If a character has the Persuasive or Skill Focus (Bluff) feats, the user of a divination effect of spell level 4th or higher must instead succeed on a caster level check against the wearer’s ranks in Bluff plus 11, or 20 (whichever is higher). Thus, a character with 10 ranks in Bluff would force a caster level check result higher than 21.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

RING OF PIERCING IMAGE
Price (Item Level): 29,000 gp (16th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 6th
Aura: Moderate (DC 18); divination
Activation: standard (command)
Weight: --

This ring has the image of an open eye hidden under a plaque of metal. When active, the etched image shines forth.

When activated, the ring of piercing image reveals anything within a specific range, even if solid matter were to block it. On command, the wearer can observe anything within a 60-ft. range cone as if looking at something in normal light, even if there is no illumination, by maintaining concentration (as if using the detect magic spell). The wearer is free to determine the degree of penetration of its vision, but if used on a creature, it feels whenever it is observed (potentially risking the health of any potential voyeur). The cone can penetrate barriers, but 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, 3 feet of wood or dirt, and thicker substances (or a thin sheet of lead) block the cone.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

RING OF THE RAM
Price (Item Level): 31,500 gp (16th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate (DC 18); transmutation
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Weight: --

This ornate ring is forged of a dense metal, generally iron or an alloy of it. On its top, it has the head of a ram, poised as if charging, with two rubies for eyes.

The wearer of a ring of the ram gains a +2 bonus on all Strength checks that involve rushing, such as breaking a door, making a bull rush attempt or attempting to open a lock. Furthermore, when charging, a successful melee attack deals an extra 4 points of damage. This ability is always active.

The ring of the ram has five charges, which are renewed each day at dawn. Expending a charge allows the wearer to unleash a blast of force (with the stylish representation of a charging ram) that affects a single target within 50 ft. of the wearer. This blast can be used as an attack (requiring a ranged touch attack), or to open a door.
1 charge: Deal 2d6 points of force damage or open door as a character with Strength 25 (+7 Str modifier)
2 charges: Deal 3d6 points of force damage or open door as a character with Strength 27 (+8 Str modifier)
3 charges: Deal 4d6 points of force damage or open door as a character with Strength 29 (+9 Str modifier)

If a creature is within 30 ft. of the wearer, the force of the blast affects it as if bull rushing. Treat the blast as a creature of the wearer’s size, with the same effective Strength score as if opening a door. The wearer does not move with the target, but can only move it backwards.

Special: A less expensive ring of the ram exists, but its power is limited. This version of the ring of the ram costs 15,500 gp, but its limited to 50 charges only; however, the wearer may use as many charges as it desires per day (but no more than three charges per activation).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

RING OF REGENERATION
Price (Item Level): 168,000 gp (24th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: Strong (DC 22); conjuration
Activation: --
Weight: --

This simple, yet ornate ring is made of white gold. The shape of the ring is that of a serpent devouring itself, commonly called the “ouroboros”.

A very potent item, the ring of regeneration grants its wearer the power of limited regeneration. To gain the benefits of this item, the ring of regeneration must be worn for 24 straight hours. Once the ring is active, the wearer is treated as if having a limited form of regeneration: the wearer recovers a number of hit points equal to its Hit Dice every hour (non-lethal damage is healed at a rate of the wearer’s Hit Dice every five minutes). Furthermore, the wearer automatically regrows any lost limb (but see exception, below) after 2d10 rounds, unless the limb is immediately reattached (which requires a full-round action that provokes an attack of opportunity) which lasts for 1 round; however, this only applies to any lost limb acquired after the wearer gains the benefit of this ring. Finally, if the wearer of the ring is dying (on negative hit points), any amount of negative hit points over -9 immediately become nonlethal damage, until the number of negative hit points reaches the wearer’s maximum hit points +10; if this happens, the ring overloads, destroying itself and the wearer.

The ring of regeneration, however, has two main drawbacks. The first is that each ring has a specific form of attack to which it’s weak against: if the target is attacked by this type of damage, the ring cannot regenerate the damage or the lost limb on its own (however, magical healing works as usual). The other is that the ring’s effect is immediately lost if the finger or hand where the ring is worn is severed and not reattached in 1d4 rounds. The effect of a vorpal weapon is considered enough to negate the effect of a ring of regeneration if it affects the wearer’s arm.

This ring may only be worn on a hand. If the wearer has alternative ways to wear a ring (such as by means of the hand of glory item or a feat), the ring of regeneration does not work unless the ring is actually worn on the wearer’s hand.

Special: if the wearer of a ring of regeneration wears a periapt of wound closure, the two have a synergistic effect. The wearer gains regeneration 3, bypassed by the same attacks that would affect the ring.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

RING OF SELF-SUFFICIENCY
Price (Item Level): 2,500 gp (7th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: --

This ring is made of fragile, pale green crystal with a swirling pattern etched to appear as if moving constantly.

The wearer of a ring of self-sufficiency gains a +5 competence bonus on all Autohypnosis checks.

Prerequisites: Forge Ring (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#forgeRing); creator must have 10 ranks in Autohypnosis (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/skills/autohypnosis.htm).
Cost to Create: 1,250 gp; 100 xp

RING OF SHOOTING STARS
Price (Item Level): 102,500 gp (21st)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 20th
Aura: Strong (DC 25); conjuration and evocation
Activation: standard (command)
Weight: --

This beautiful ring is made of a rare alloy of iron and mithral, alongside a rare green substance; some claim the alloy is comprised of meteoric iron, mithral and starmetal. The ring has several tiny crystals all around, surrounded by small holes that make it look like the surface of a meteorite.

A replica of a ring with a wealth of lore behind, the ring of shooting stars has its full power at night, or in areas of shadow or darkness. Under those conditions, the wearer of the ring may manifest dancing lights or faerie fire at will, as a 20th level caster.

A ring of shooting stars has three charges, which are renewed each day at dusk. Expending a charge releases one of three unique powers, which are considered supernatural abilities:
1 charge: spark shower. A spark shower is a cloud of sizzling purple sparks that fan from the ring as per a lightning bolt spell, except to a range of 20 ft. Creatures in the area take 2d8 points of damage, or 4d8 points of damage if wielding a metal weapon, wearing metal armor or being entirely comprised of metal.
2 charges: ball lightning, as per the spell (see Spell Compendium, page 23) cast by a 15th level caster, but treated as a supernatural ability and emits light as per a dancing lights spell.
3 charges: shooting stars, as per a maximized meteor swarm spell cast by a 20th level caster, but treated as a supernatural ability. When this ability is activated, the wearer may release one “star” at a time as a standard action, or all at once as a full-round action. Once this ability is active, the wearer retains the “stars” for up to 2 minutes.

Lore: The ring of shooting stars is not exactly a replica, but based on an old Elven legend. The ring is a reflection of the starry sky at Arvandor, on the plane of Olympus, the house of the Seldarine. It is said that this ring is based on an ancient magic ring forged during the time the goddess of the drow, Lolth, was still known as Araushnee and was a member of the Seldarine (and Corellon’s consort). Because of this, it duplicates two of the drow typical powers.

Prerequisites: Forge Ring (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#forgeRing); creator must be an elf
Cost to Create:

RING OF SPELL STORING
Price (Item Level): 16,000 gp (minor, 14th), 144,000 gp (base, 23rd) or 400,000 gp (major, 30+)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 6th (minor), 12th (base) or 20th (major)
Aura: Moderate or strong (DC 18, 21 or 25); evocation, plus aura of stored spells
Activation: see text
Weight: --

This golden ring has copper wire has a copper wire etched on one half of the ring and a tin wire on another, connecting a clear cut gem on the top of the ring with smaller gems all around.

A ring sought after by those who can’t cast spells (and those who do, as well), a ring of spell storing allows its wearer to store spells on it and cast them at a latter time. A ring of spell storing can store up to 12 levels of spells, but can only store spells of 6th level or lower; if a spell cast into the ring would take it over the limit of spells, the wearer may choose to remove stored spells order to accommodate the new spell, with those spells taking no effect. Metamagic versions of spells can be added, but they add a number of spell levels equal to the modified spell level (thus, a 3rd level spell heightened to 5th level would count as a 5th level spell); these spells may ignore the spell level limitation, but only if the base spell level would otherwise qualify (thus, a 6th level spell heightened to 9th level can be added, but not a 7th level spell heightened to 9th level because it wouldn’t qualify).

Once the ring of spell storing has stored at least one spell, its wearer can activate its effect as if it were a scroll, except the wearer does not need any kind of spellcasting ability to activate. The spell is cast at its minimum caster level and requires no focus, material component or XP cost (as the caster that imbued the spell has already provided it while preparing the spell or, if cast spontaneously, at the moment the spell is imbued into the ring); the Difficulty Class of the spell’s effect is equal to 10 + the spell’s level + the modifier relevant to the minimum ability score to cast the spell (thus, a 3rd level spell would have a DC of 14 as the minimum requisite ability score to cast the spell is 13, which would grant a +1 modifier). The wearer has complete control over the particular traits of the spell, such as its targets.
If the wearer is capable of casting the spell (that is, if it’s part of its spell list, even if it doesn’t has it prepared or isn’t on its list of spells known), the spell is instead treated as if cast from a staff; thus, the wearer may apply its caster level (if higher) and the spell’s saving throw DC becomes 10 + the spell’s level + the wearer’s relevant ability modifier for spellcasting (with a minimum equal to the spell’s DC). If the wearer has levels in the fighter class (or effective fighter levels), it is treated as a spellcaster with a caster level equal to its effective fighter level, and the saving throw DC of the stored spell becomes 10 + the spell’s level + the highest modifier between Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma. If the wearer has both effective fighter levels and caster levels, use the highest modifiers (thus, a character with a caster level of 10th, an effective fighter level of 6th, a Constitution of 16 and a Charisma of 18 would count as a 10th level caster and use its Charisma to determine its saving throw).

If a ring of spell storing is found randomly, roll a d% dice: on a result of 91-00, the item is charged with a random spell. Treat the ring of spell storing as a medium scroll for purposes of determining which spells are available. Any spell within the ring does not increase the item’s base price.

Special: Different tiers of rings of spell storing exist; the one presented above details a typical ring of spell storing. A minor ring of spell storing stores up to 6 levels of spells and up to 3rd level spells (and is treated as a minor scroll when randomly assigning spells), while a major ring of spell storing stores up to 20 levels of spells and up to 9th level spells (and is treated as a major scroll when determining spells).

Prerequisites: Forge Ring (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#forgeRing), creator must have a caster level of 6th (minor), 12th (normal) or 20th (major); imbue with spell ability
Cost to Create:

RING OF SPELL TURNING
Price (Item Level): 280,000 gp (29th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 13th
Aura: Strong (DC 21); abjuration
Activation: --
Weight: --

This platinum band is polished to reflect all light. Magic runes cover its entire surface.

A potent tool against spellcasters, the ring of spell turning allows its wearer to reflect harmful spells back to the caster. Each time a caster uses a harmful spell that targets the wearer of this ring, it must make a caster level check against DC 25; if it fails, the spell bounces back as if a spell turning spell had been cast on behalf of the wearer. The spell is turned regardless of its actual spell level. Abilities that provide benefits to bypass spell resistance (such as the Spell Penetration feat) also apply to the caster level check.

A character with levels in the fighter class (or effective fighter levels) treats the caster level check DC of the ring by a number equal to 12 + its effective fighter level or 25, whichever is higher.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

RING OF STONEMELDING
Price (Item Level): 30,000 gp (16th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint (DC 17); transmutation
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Weight: --

This ring seems and feels as if made of stone. When touching a stone structure, the hand seems to take the texture and form of stone.

The wearer of a ring of stonemelding gains a +10 competence bonus on Hide checks when near a structure made of stone. This effect is always active.

As a standard action, the wearer gains the ability to blend with stone at will, as per the meld into stone spell without limit on duration.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

RING OF SWIMMING
Price (Item Level): 2,500 gp (7th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint (DC 17); transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: --

This silver ring has a wave pattern etched into the band.

The wearer of a ring of swimming gains a +5 competence bonus to Swim checks.

Prerequisites: Forge Ring (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#forgeRing), creator must have at least 10 ranks in Swim (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/swim.htm).
Cost to Create:

RING OF TELEKINESIS
Price (Item Level): 90,000 (20th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: (DC); transmutation
Activation: see text
Weight: --

This iron band has the image of an open hand relief on the top of the band. Despite the composition, it is rather light, and doesn’t rust.

The wearer of a ring of telekinesis may use one of the following abilities at-will:
As a standard action, the wearer may move an object weighing no more than 250 lbs. a distance of 20 ft. per round, as per the sustained force effect of a telekinesis spell, except that the object can be moved for as long as the wearer concentrates (thus, it has no time limitation).
The wearer can, instead of a melee attack, use the ring to make a bull rush, disarm or trip attempt at a distance of up to 30 ft.; however, the wearer has only a +12 bonus on the opposed roll (as if it had a base attack bonus of +10 and Strength of 15).
The wearer can, as a full-round action, attempt to make a grapple at a distance against the enemy. The grapple check is done at a +12 bonus. If the wearer can make multiple attacks, it can make a new grapple check to execute any of the actions allowed in a grapple maneuver (including a pin). The target does not gain cover as usual for grappling, however.
Finally, the wearer can launch an object or creature, as per the violent thrust maneuver of a telekinesis spell. The wearer can launch up to 10 objects or creatures within 10 ft. of each other and with a combined weight of no more than 250 lbs. a distance no farther than 100 ft., if it succeeds on an attack roll with a +12 bonus.

If the character has levels in the fighter class (or effective fighter levels), all of the maneuvers are improved.
When using the sustained force effect, the wearer can lift an object weighing no more than 25 lbs. per effective fighter level.
The wearer’s bonus on opposed rolls when using a bull rush, disarm or trip attempt with this ring is instead equal to its base attack bonus plus its Strength modifier (unless its Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma bonus was higher). At effective fighter level 6th, the wearer can apply the benefit of any feat, magic item or spell effect that directly improves these checks to the opposed roll, as if executing the maneuver on its own. This also applies to grapple checks done when using the ring. The wearer is treated as a Medium character for purposes of determining size bonuses; if the wearer is larger, it is treated as a Large creature at effective fighter level 6th, Huge at effective fighter 11th, Gargantuan at effective fighter 16th and Colossal at effective fighter 21st.
When using the violent thrust maneuver, the wearer can launch a number of objects equal to its effective fighter level (minimum 10), with a combined weight of no more than 25 lbs. per effective fighter level (minimum 250 lbs.), at a distance no farther than 10 ft. per effective fighter level (minimum 100 ft.). It may use its base attack bonus and Dexterity modifier for the attack roll, as if making a ranged attack.
Finally, if the wearer has 6 effective fighter levels, it can combine the sustained force and violent thrust maneuver as part of a full-round action. The wearer can, at first, grab an object weighing no more than 25 lbs. per effective fighter level, move it 20 ft. at any direction, then release as per the violent thrust maneuver.

If the wearer has manifesting capabilities and the correct power, it may expend power points to augment the effects of the maneuvers, as detailed below:
If the wearer knows the telekinetic force power, it is treated as if using this power when using the sustained force effect of the ring, and may expend power points to increase the maximum weight limit of the effect.
If the wearer knows the telekinetic maneuver power, it is treated as if using this power when attempting a ranged bull rush, disarm, grapple or trip check, using power points to augment as usual.
If the wearer knows the telekinetic thrust power, it is treated as if using this power when using the violent thrust effect of the ring, and may expend power points to increase the maximum weight limit of the hurled objects or creatures.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

RING OF TERRAN COMMAND
Price (Item Level): 90,000 gp (20th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: Strong (DC 22); varied
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Weight: --

This ring is made of raw iron, designed to seem like etched from rock.

The wearer of a ring of terran command has the ability to control the earth. The wearer is treated as if having the woodland stride ability of a 2nd level druid or 7th level ranger. As well, any spells cast by the wearer with the [earth] descriptor are at +1 to caster level. The wearer of this ring gains a +5 circumstance bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy and Intimidate checks when dealing with creatures of the [earth] subtype. These abilities are always active.

The wearer of this ring gains the ability to cast mage hand at-will, as a sorcerer of 15th level.

The ring of terran command has 5 charges, which are renewed each day at dawn. The wearer may expend charges to invoke other earth-related powers:
1 charge: meld into stone, as the spell, or charm earth monsters (as charm person, except it only affects any creature with the [earth] subtype instead of humanoids)
3 charges: wall of stone, as the spell, or dominate earth monsters (as dominate person, except it only affects any creature with the [earth] subtype instead of humanoids)
5 charges: earthquake, as the spell.

In exchange for all these powers, the wearer gains enmity against air creatures. The wearer takes a -2 penalty on all saving throws against electricity and air-related attacks, a -5 penalty on all Bluff, Diplomacy or Intimidate checks to deal with creatures of the [air] subtype, and any spells it casts from the [air] or [electricity] subtype are at a -1 to caster level.

Prerequisites: Forge Ring (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#forgeRing); creator must have the [earth] subtype or a cleric with the Earth domain
Cost to Create:

The Rings of Glacial, Lightning and Terran Command are mostly the same as their Aerial, Aqueous, Caustic and Fiery counterparts, though the Terran Command ring is the true inheritor of the Ring of Elemental (earth) Command, boosting the few earth spells around. Much as the Fiery Command ring is more expensive than the rest, the Lightning Command ring is slightly cheaper because it lacks the ability to control creatures, as there are no creatures with the [lightning] descriptor around. Glacial Command is perfect on a setting based on the Frostburn supplement.

As I mentioned before, the rings of Climbing, Jumping, Swimming, and even Self-Sufficiency (the ring that boosts Autohypnosis, and the only psionic ring around) are boosted much like what I did with Slick, Shadow and Silent Moves armor properties. The Improved versions start to manifest these, and the latter versions lack a spell to cast in rare occasions, but they get longer-lasting (as in, permanent) effects. Surely there's no Ring of Jumping +20 available normally, but you can figure that Belkar might wish to change its Ring of Jumping +20 for a Ring of Greater Jumping since he loves to prance around. The Ring of Greater Self-Sufficiency has an effect that's somewhat unfortunate, as it makes the Diehard feat pointless when you can get it by 30,000 gp with a +10 bonus to Autohypnosis on top.

Having dealt with over half of the available rings, let's go with the specific ones. The Ring of Invisibility kept its original benefit, but this time the duration is defined as "until you get revealed" (pretty much), so it's far more useful. Again, I make Stealthy a lot more useful since it allows you to hit and run pretty much at-will...to an extent, of course. While it may seem weak at first, it's certainly a fun move, and being an immediate action effect you can benefit from not-being-seen even when there's an Invisibility Purge going on. The Ring of Mind Shielding became the Ring of Nondetection, and it's vastly buffed from the original, as the Nondetection effect works against divination spells of higher level so as long as it doesn't pierce the ring's DC (or your ranks in Bluff, if you happen to have the feats for it). The Ring of Piercing Image is the old Ring of X-Ray Vision made saner; after all, how in heathenly tarnation do wizards know about X-Rays!? Piercing Image works exactly as fiction perceives x-rays to work, even including the ability to modify what you see (so you don't see skeletons), but potential voyeurs have to realize that they can be caught if using the ability. Note that it doesn't mention the effects of radioactivity, so the Ring is actually safer than using an expensive X-Ray machine! (Though compared to an MRI, well...)

On to the Ring of the Ram, an item that I feel should be awesome but it really isn't. The old 50 charges version combined ranged attack capabilities, minor crowd control (bull rush!) and even a knock-like effect... If that sounds familiar, it's because that's three-quarters of what the Dungeon Crasher ACF for the Fighter offers; you know, the one that raises the Fighter up a tier because it's mighty useful? The new version is, of course, the Dungeon Crasher's best friend, because it further boosts its traits. Though it has less charges than before, the new ring eventually allows for more uses than before, since it already exceeds its allotment if you use all charges for 10 straight days, something any adventurer will appreciate. The old ring is still there, keeping the charges but retaining the benefits to Strength checks. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention it also grants increased damage while charging, so it's also a must for the discerning pouncer.

Considering just how the Pearly White Spindle Ioun Stone got buffed, you might expect the Ring of Regeneration to be the end-all-be-all item...and you might be a bit disappointed, but I did mention the synergy benefit. The new version adds two awesome benefits, such as healing your HD every hour (because healing 1 hit point per hour is insulting), and the super-extended negative hit point damage effect (cleverly using non-lethal damage)...you know, pretty much like regeneration! However, when the power of the Ring of Regeneration and the Periapt of Wound Closure are combined, I take my gloves off and go all-in. Yes, it's bonafide Regeneration, and Regeneration 3 to boot (a decent amount of Fast Healing...say, one that stacks with the Periapt's fast healing...and the fast healing of the Pearly White Spindle), though with some weaknesses. I mean, if it's Fire and Acid, you can get immunities to that, so for nearly 250,000 gp (or is it 300,000 gp?), you become nearly immortal. Just be an Elan (not THAT Elan; the race) and enjoy immortality.

The Ring of Shooting Stars has its effects turn up a bit more, and blends the effects of indoors and outdoors because, frankly, the fluff needed some revamping. The ring got a needed boost by having Dancing Lights and Faerie Fire active at-will, and the other abilities somewhat stronger (specifically Ball Lightning, now based on the SpC spell, and Shooting Stars which is a very strong Meteor Swarm effect). The fluff I wove into it is pretty interesting IMO, forcing you to be an elf and showing my Knowledge (D&D) skill by mentioning Lolth's Seldarine name, or at least the best known version.

As I also mentioned before, the Ring of Spell Storing became the basis for some of the other Spell-Storing effects, such as the Spell-Storing weapon and the spell-storing Ioun Stone. As it stands, the Ring of Spell Storing is vastly improved, because of the increased amount of spell levels combined with the trait of allowing boosted caster level. The ring's minor and major versions are also improved, with the minor getting an additional spell level and the major one doubling the amount of spells you could get. Both fighters and casters get a noticeable boon out of this item. The Ring of Spell Turning, on the other hand, went from a 1/day use to super Spell Resistance, because it uses the same mechanic but with the Spell Turning effect on top. Note that the ring doesn't mention that spells with SR: No aren't affected, but that effects that help bypass SR do help, and this is simple; since the Ring of Spell Turning isn't really spell resistance, it ignores that bit, but because it's based on that mechanic, anything that helps bypass it will also bypass this effect. This makes the Ring of Spell Turning vastly more powerful than SR alone, but since you can combine both effects, it makes fighting against its wearer somewhat more dangerous. Fighters, once again, benefit greatly from this, as you can force a check of 32 at 20th level, something even a caster with Assay Spell Resistance will find hard to resist. And, due to how it works, the caster might still be unable to bypass the other defenses. Note that the spell has to target the wearer, so area spells are fair play (but that means either Evasion or immediate-action teleportation, so...)

On to the last two: the Ring of Stonemelding keeps its old permanent Meld into Stone effect, but it adds a nifty bonus to Hide checks while on stone, which makes it a bit more useful. The Ring of Telekinesis is just as good as before, but its effects are clearly defined, so that you know exactly what you can pull off with this. The reason why is because I wanted to define exactly how Fighters/martial characters could boost each of the effects, and also boost how manifesters use the ring, through each of the split variants (TK Maneuver, TK Force and TK Thrust). It's still "Telekinesis at-will on command", but instead of using the spell, you have all of its effects at once. Come to think about it, it makes the item more useful, since you're no longer liable to have the effect dispelled.

T.G. Oskar

2014-02-02, 08:44 PM

NEW CLOTHING
The following include all kinds of new clothing, including rings and psionic items.

AMULET OF PROTECTION AGAINST EVIL
Price (Item Level): 20,000 gp (15th)
Body Slot: Throat
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) abjuration
Activation: --
Weight: --

This amulet is comprised of a chunk of blessed jade held by fine blessed silver wire with simple reed cord.

The wearer of an amulet of protection against evil is constantly under the effect of protection from evil, as per the spell, with one exception: a caster attempting to use an enchantment spell against the wearer must succeed on a caster level check against DC 20.

Special: The amulet of protection against evil can be made to apply against chaotic, good or lawful creatures, at the same cost.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

BOOTS OF LEVITATION
Price (Item Level): 8,250 gp (12th)
Body Slot: Feet
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17th) transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: 2 lb.

These boots are made of fine leather, with metallic soles made of fine mithral and gold and anklets of winged motif. They seem to be repelled by the ground.

Boots of levitation grant its wearer the ability to float and even move above ground, but at the cost of poor traction. While wearing the boots, the wearer always floats one foot above ground, unconcerned by hard earth and difficult terrain. If remaining within 1 foot of a solid, the wearer can take normal actions and attack normally, and also move at its normal speed. The wearer may move over liquids or even above any kind of pit at its speed without falling, but if it does not end its movement at least one foot above solid ground, it automatically falls. As well, the wearer is effectively weightless, which prevents it from activating any trap or glyph that requires stepping on a pressure-sensitive plate or falling on quicksand.

In exchange, when moving more than its base movement speed (modified by armor), the wearer has a chance of moving farther than intended. If the wearer fails a Reflex save (10 + 2 per each 5 ft. moved), it moves an additional distance of 1d4 x 5 ft., which provokes attacks of opportunity as usual. Attempting to charge with these boots is almost impossible: a failed Reflex save causes the wearer to trip before making an attack, but a successful save allows the wearer to initiate a free bull rush with a +2 bonus after making the attack. Furthermore, they can be moved by strong winds as if they were flying and considered one size category smaller.

Boots of levitation cannot be deactivated by the owner; they don’t work on an antimagic field or dead magic zone, however.

Lore: Nobody knows where the boots of levitation were first made. Some say that they were made by the fey, others, by the first of the elocaters (see Expanded Psionics Handbook for more details). They are better known for being used by a legendary hero that vanquished a mighty warlock who attempted to seize power in a foreign land by means of one-third of a divine artifact, after facing a giant disembodied hand in a temple devoted to the shadows, hidden beneath a graveyard. The hero was said to hold one-third of the same divine artifact, representing courage. (Knowledge [history] check DC 30, Knowledge [the planes] or bardic knowledge check DC 20)

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must have a supernatural method of flight or be an elocater (XPH)
Cost to Create:

BOOTS OF SWIMMING
Price (Item Level): 10,000 gp (12th)
Body Slot: Feet
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: 2 lbs.

These fine knee-high boots are made out of fish skin and scales. Despite looking thing, they stretch to fit any kind of wearer.

These boots allow its wearer to swim like a fish. To activate the benefits of boots of swimming, the wearer must be attempting to swim for at least 1 round. So as long as the wearer remains in water, its legs turn into a fish tail, granting it a swim speed equal to its base land speed. If the wearer uses armor, it may ignore its Swim check penalty and move at its speed, regardless of the type. The boots of swimming do not grant the wearer the ability to breathe underwater, though.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

DRAGOON HELM
Price (Item Level): 60,400 gp (18th)
Body Slot: Head
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) evocation and transmutation
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Weight: 2 lbs.

This helmet (usually a bascinet) is decorated with dragon scales, and has a design that resembles the head of a dragon.

The wearer of a dragoon helm gains a +10 competence bonus on Intimidate checks and a immunity to paralysis and sleep effects. The wearer also gains low-light vision, darkvision up to 60 ft. and blindsense up to 30 ft.; if the wearer has low-light vision, its range increases by 1 step (double -> triple-> four times), a wearer with darkvision has its range increased by 30 ft., and a wearer with blindsense has its range increased by 15 ft. These abilities are always active.

Once per encounter as a standard action, the wearer of a dragoon helm may unleash a breath weapon (Reflex DC 16). The breath weapon deals 5d8 points of damage, based on the type of dragon the helm emulates:
Black or Copper: 30-ft. line of acid
Blue or Bronze: 30 ft. line of electricity
Brass: 30-ft. line of fire
Gold or Red: 15-ft. cone of fire
Green: 15-ft. cone of acid
Silver or White: 15-ft. cone of cold

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item; creator must have the dragon type or the dragonblood subtype.
Cost to Create:

GLOVES OF QUICK-DRAWING
Price (Item Level): 5,500 gp (10th)
Body Slot: Hands
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) no school
Activation: --
Weight: 1 lb.

These black leather gloves are “fingerless”, allowing the wearer’s fingers to move freely. When worn, the wearer’s arms move swifter than the norm.

The wearer of gloves of quick-drawing is treated as if it had the Quick Draw feat. If it already has the feat, all attacks (except those made by thrown weapons) made during the turn the weapon is drawn deal an extra 1d6 points of damage, and all disarm or trip checks gain a +2 bonus on their opposed rolls. Thrown weapons deal the extra damage once.

A character with levels in the fighter class (or effective fighter levels) and the Quick Draw feat gains a further benefit. For every five effective fighter levels after the 1st, the wearer of gloves of quick-drawing deal an extra 1d6 points of damage and all disarm or trip checks deal an extra +2 bonus.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must have the Quick Draw (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#quickDraw) feat.
Cost to Create:

MEDALLION OF ELEMENTAL CHANNELING
Price (Item Level): 15,400 gp (14th)
Body Slot: Throat
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) enchantment
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Weight: --

This silver medallion has a single fire ruby, aquamarine, blue quartz or black opal on its center. Mild heat, mild cold, a mild shock or acrid smell emanates from it.

A medallion of elemental channeling is considered a silver holy symbol, and thus can be used as a divine focus for spells. The medallion of elemental channeling remains in medallion form, but the etched image duplicates the wearer’s deity’s symbol.

By expending a daily use of turn or rebuke undead, the wearer of a medallion of elemental channeling can attempt to turn or rebuke creatures of a specific elemental subtype, as if it had the granted power of the Air, Cold, Earth, Fire or Water domains; the wearer uses its effective cleric level to determine the turning check bonus and turning damage, as usual. The wearer also gets three daily uses of turning or rebuking ability, but these are expended first.

If the wearer has no ability to turn or rebuke undead or elemental creatures, once per day it may attempt to repel or command a single elemental creature within 60 ft. as a standard action. If it chooses to repel an elemental creature, the creature cannot approach the wearer within 30 ft., as if blocked by the effect of a magic circle against evil spell. If it chooses to command a creature, the creature is affected as if under a command undead spell (treat the elemental creature as an intelligent undead). The elemental creature is allowed a Will save against DC 14 to resist both effects.

The medallion of elemental command is keyed to a single elemental type: a medallion of aerial command works as per the Air domain, a medallion of earthen command works as per the Earth domain granted power, a medallion of fiery command works as per the Fire domain, a medallion of glacial command works as per the Cold domain, and a medallion of aqueous command works as per the Water domain.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must have access to the Air, Cold (MIC), Earth, Fire or Water domain.
Cost to Create:

RING OF THEOLOGY
Price (Item Level): 20,000 gp (I, 15th), 40,000 gp (II, 17th), 70,000 gp (III, 19th), 100,000 gp (IV, 20th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 11th (I), 14th (II), 17th (III), 20th (IV)
Aura: Moderate or strong (DC 20, 22, 23 or 25); no school
Activation: --
Weight: --

This ornate silver, gold and platinum alloy ring has the symbol of a deity on its band, beautifully etched. Divine runes surround the rest of the band, detailing a litany of concentration.

A boon for any divine spellcaster, a ring of theology is to them what a ring of wizardry is for an arcane spellcaster. The wearer may use this ring as a divine focus for any spell that requires it; the symbol on the ring matches that of the wearer’s deity, and thus it can be treated as a holy symbol. Furthermore, the wearer’s divine spells are doubled for one specific spell level: type I rings double 1st level spells, type II rings double 2nd level spells, and so forth. Bonus spells from high ability scores or domain spell slots are not doubled.

Prerequisites: Forge Ring (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#forgeRing), creator must have ranks in Knowledge (religion) equal to the caster level of the item +3.
Cost to Create:

You might have expected this section to be pretty large, being comprised of all new pieces of clothing lying around. Trust me, I'm as disappointed as you; I'd have expected more, but it's pretty difficult to make a magic item that feels unique, or to find an interesting item that hasn't been replicated yet.

The Amulet of Protection from Evil, for example, is your typical protective amulet. Most horror/mystery books, movies and games have some sort of protection like this, and it's strange that D&D lacks such a common item like this. Of course, because of its benefit, the cost is proportional to its caster level, which is much higher to compensate, but it's still cheap enough for the average mid-level adventurer to use.

The Boots of Levitation are based off a set of boots from a very, very, VERY popular (dare I say legendary) action-adventure RPG franchise, and while attempting to replicate its effects, I found the traits of an elocater to match perfectly. So much, in fact, that I found the item to be more interesting than I'd imagine. The Boots of Swimming may seem less interesting in comparison, but instead of a flat, boring "you gain a +X bonus to Swim checks", you get swim speed in a very interesting way; by effectively turning into a mermaid without the ability to breathe water.

The Dragoon Helm is also based on a fantastical RPG franchise (which has yet to be finalized, though it's growing a tad stale), but focusing on the awesomeness of D&D dragons. Its price is mostly because of the multitude of benefits you gain from simply wearing it, but the 1/encounter breath weapon is pretty nice too, and definitely beats a limited amount of uses per day. The damage becomes somewhat diminished pretty quickly, however. Note that it doesn't have a boost when worn by a martial character? This isn't exactly intentional, but it's definitely a missed effect; however, I'd like to gauge just exactly how fast the damage should progress, considering it's based off the Dragon Breath spell but it makes the damage from a dragonborn's breath weapon suffer.

The Gloves of Quick-Drawing are also the kind of item that's sadly missing from an action-filled D&D campaign, particularly when you get the awesome Crystal of Return for so cheap. Since the effect of Quick Draw on just about any weapon wasn't good enough, I added a nifty effect where, if you had the feat, you could deal extra damage and increase your disarm & trip checks, making it pretty awesome if you're a Fighter (or Swashbuckler).

The Medallion of Elemental Command is another item I find odd that's missing from the D&D magic items' list, particularly late on. Basically, it allows you to turn your turn/rebuke undead (no pun intended) daily uses into the ability to turn or rebuke certain creatures, based off the type of the medallion. This might make the domains pretty pointless, but they still have some benefit nonetheless (namely, the amount of extra uses they get). I was thinking that, since there's the chance a Cleric with, say, the Earth domain finds a Medallion of Earthen Command, which is mostly useless as the Cleric would gain as many uses as it realistically needs, to allow the items to let you treat uses of turn/rebuke elemental creatures as uses of Turn/Rebuke Undead for purposes of Divine Feats, if you have the ability to turn or rebuke undead normally. This is pretty useful, but also risky as it effectively doubles your turning capacity, making it broken for DMM Clericzillas.

Finally, the Ring of Theology is meant to rectify a mistake done by WotC, namely to restrict the benefit of doubled spells to arcane spellcasters. Now, Clerics and Druids can get the same benefit, but most importantly Paladins and Rangers, who suffer greatly for the lack of spells. A Ring of Theology IV is a massive boon for a 20th level Paladin, because it can prepare twice the amount of the spells that actually make them more useful than before, thus increasing their power nearly by 50%.

T.G. Oskar

2014-02-04, 12:43 AM

TOOLS
The following is a list of changes to non-equippable wondrous items present on the Dungeon Master's Guide. Some magic items retain the same qualities: bag of holding (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#bagofHolding), carpet of flying (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#carpetofFlying) (all sizes), crystal ball (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#crystalBall) (all types), cube of force (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#cubeofForce), cubic gate (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#cubicGate) (renamed cube of planar portals), deck of illusions (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#deckofIllusions), dust of disappearance (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#dustofDisappearance), dust of tracelessness (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#dustofTracelessness), folding boat (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#boatFolding), handy haversack (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#handyHaversack), horn of the tritons (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#hornoftheTritons), lantern of revealing (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#lanternofRevealing), marvelous pigments (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#marvelousPigments), pearl of the sirines (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#pearloftheSirines)

The following magic items are no longer available: chaos diamond (turned into a lesser artifact), gem of seeing (see lens of seeing), horn of fog, horn of Valhalla (turned into a lesser artifact), mattock of the titans (see Weapons section), maul of the titans (see Weapons section)

Note: Interaction Between Extradimensional Spaces
Some items, like the bag of holding, the efficient quiver, the handy haversack, the gloves of storing, the portable hole and the robe of useful items allow the owner (or wearer) to hold items in extradimensional spaces. This allows for an efficient method of storing valuables, as it reduces storage space and makes weight negligible (two important things for the long-trek traveler), not to mention it allows for inconspicuous storage (which deters thievery).

Some extradimensional spaces, such as the bag of holding (or the handy haversack and robe of useful items, which behave in a similar way as a bag of holding) and the portable hole, interact with each other in potentially disastrous ways. As a rule of thumb, extradimensional pocket spaces created by items interact poorly with similar spaces, but not necessarily with extradimensional spaces meant to hide or house living creatures, such as the spell effects of a rope trick spell, a mage’s magnificent mansion or the pocket space of a rod of security; alternatively, any attempt to create an extradimensional space within an extradimensional space automatically fails (such as casting rope trick within a mage’s magnificent mansion or the pocket space of a rod of security), but any character can access items from a bag of holding or similar item while within one of these spaces. Gloves of storing and robes of useful items don’t interact negatively with bags of holding and portable holes if someone is currently wearing them; however, if unworn, they interact in the same way. Assume that, unless previously indicated, any item with an extradimensional space behaves in many ways as a bag of holding for purposes of interacting with other objects.

As a basis, a bag of holding placed upon another bag of holding causes the first to collapse into itself, destroying both items (and all items therein, with the exception of living creatures and artifacts which are magically released in a random square adjacent to the bags). A portable hole works differently, and the effects are described in the item description.

Before going in depth with items, I wanted to make this bit of interaction pretty clear, because while the originals were mostly fluff recycled for the then-new edition, the increase in items with extradimensional spaces has always caused a bit of a headache. Thus, this small note was made to serve as the reference for all interactions between extradimensional spaces.

As you can see, the idea is that storage-based extradimensional spaces and spaces meant to be inhabited are fundamentally distinct to each other, and thus one can exist within the other, but two spaces of similar purpose aren't meant to coexist. Defaulting everything to the Bag of Holding makes things easier, as most items that allow extradimensional storage are usually based on it. The Portable Hole is a clear exception because of how it works as both a storage space and a hiding spot, so it becomes one of the clearer exceptions.

APPARATUS OF THE CRAB
Price (Item Level): 90,000 gp (20th)
Caster Level: 19th
Aura: Strong; (DC 24) evocation and transmutation
Activation: see text
Weight: 500 lbs.

This item looks like a large, sealed iron barrel when inactive, and as an iron lobster/crab hybrid when active. The apparatus has a hatch with two seats and a set of various levers.

The apparatus of the crab is a mechanical vehicle that holds up to two Small or Medium creatures. To open the apparatus of the crab, the character must seek for a secret catch (Search DC 20) and pull; the same catch closes the apparatus.

The apparatus of the crab combines the aspects of a vehicle and an animated object, as it can be used in combat. The apparatus has several levers, which enable its operation. The hatch keeps temperature temperate, which allows its occupants to survive in temperatures within -30 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit, and to remain underwater for up to 1d4+1 hours (twice the amount if a single occupant is around). The operator of the apparatus is considered as mounted for purposes of feats and abilities that improve mounted combat, as if the apparatus was a quadruped creature.

The stats for the apparatus of the crab are as follows:

Apparatus of the Crab CR --
Large construct
Init as operator1AC 20 (-1 size, +11 natural); Touch 8 Flat-footed 23
hp 200; DR 15/adamantine1Speed 20 ft. (4 squares); swim 20 ft.
Space/Reach 15 ft./10 ft.
Melee 2 pincers +12 (2d8)
Base Atk --, Grp +161Special Options continual flame eyes, extending pincer1Abilities Str 18 Dex 8 Con -- Int -- Wis -- Cha --
SQ user operated
Feats --
Skills –1Continual Flame Eyes (Sp): By activating one of the levers, the operator may open eyes with continual flames inside. These “eyes” illuminate the area as per a bullseye lantern.
Extending Pincers: The pincers of the apparatus of the crab allow it to attack enemies in a 10 ft. reach.
User Operated: The apparatus of the crab cannot act on its own. Any character on the front seat of the apparatus is considered its “operator”, and allows using its functions by activating levers. If activating a lever at random, roll a d10 to determine the result.
{TABLE=head]Lever|Lever Function|Action
1|Extend/retract legs and tail|Move
2|Uncover/cover forward porthole|Full-round
3|Uncover/cover side portholes|Full-round
4|Extend/retract pincers and feelers|Move
5|Snap pincers (attack)|Standard
6|Move forward/backward|Move
7|Turn left/right|Move
8|Continual flame eyes|Standard
9|Rise/sink in water|Move
10|Open/close hatch|Full-round[/TABLE]
Extend/Retract Legs and Tail: this allows the operator to change the apparatus from land speed to swim speed.
Uncover/Cover Porthole: this allows the operator to cover or uncover the forward or side portholes. The forward portholes are used to reach anything grabbed by the pincers, while the side portholes can be used so that a character in the second seat can use its weapons to attack (reach or ranged weapons only).

Prerequisites: Craft Construct (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsterFeats.htm#craftConstruct), Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); animate objects (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/animateObjects.htm), continual flame (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/continualFlame.htm), creator must have 10 or more ranks in Knowledge (architecture and engineering)
Cost to Create:

BAG OF TRICKS
Price (Item Level): 900 gp (gray; 4th); 3,000 gp (rust; 7th) or 6,300 gp (tan; 10th)
Caster Level: 3rd (gray), 5th (rust) or 9th (tan)
Aura: Faint to moderate; (DC 16, 17 or 19) conjuration
Activation: standard (command)
Weight: --

This small sack appears to be unremarkable and empty, but unable to hold anything. However, when reaching it with the hand, it seems to have small, fuzzy balls.

If the ball is removed and thrown up to 20 feet away, it turns into a random animal which serves the character who drew it for 10 minutes (or until slain or ordered into the bag), at which point it disappears. The summoned animal follows any of the commands described in the Handle Animal skill (as if it were trained in all of the tricks, unless they require a specific ability that would otherwise disable them). Roll a d% to determine the animal drawn, as specified in the following table:

{TABLE=head]d%|{colsp=3}Animal
|Gray|Rust|Tan
01-30|Bat|Boar|Gorilla
31-60|Rat|Wolverine|Lion
61-75|Cat|Heavy Warhorse*|Brown Bear
76-90|Weasel|Wolf|Tiger
91-00|Badger|Black Bear|Rhinoceros[/TABLE]
*Comes with tack and harness

The bag of tricks may be used twice per day.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); summon nature's ally II (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/summonNaturesAllyII.htm) (gray) or summon nature's ally III (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/summonNaturesAllyIII.htm) (rust) or summon nature's ally V (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/summonNaturesAllyV.htm) (tan), creator must have 10 or more ranks in Handle Animal (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/handleAnimal.htm)
Cost to Create:

BEAD OF FORCE
Price (Item Level): 2,000 gp (6th)
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) evocation
Activation: standard (command)
Weight: --

This small black sphere seems like a lusterless pearl.

A bead of force can be thrown up to 60 ft. with no range penalties. Upon sharp impact (hitting a creature or object), the bead explodes, making one of two actions which are determined by the thrower. The bead is consumed upon impact.

The thrower may choose to release a burst of force that deals 5d6 points of damage on all creatures within a 20 ft. radius. Treat as if using fireball, except the damage is instead force damage. A DC 16 Reflex save reduces the damage by half.

Alternatively, the thrower may choose to trap a single creature, as per the effect of a resilient sphere spell cast by a 10th level sorcerer. A Reflex DC 16 negates the effect.

A character with levels in fighter (or effective fighter levels) improves the properties of a thrown bead of force. If using the burst effect, the bead of force deals damage equal to 1d6 per 2 effective fighter levels (minimum of 5d6, maximum of 10d6). If using the trap effect, the character is treated as if having a caster level equal to its effective fighter level. The Reflex save DC to resist both effects is 10 + half the character’s effective fighter levels + the character’s Charisma modifier.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

BOTTLE OF AIR
Price (Item Level): 11,250 gp (13th)
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 18) transmutation
Activation: standard (command)
Weight: 2 lbs.

This appears to be a normal bottle with a cork, holding nothing but air. Once uncorked, the bottle releases a gust of fresh air.

A bottle of air retains air at all times, constantly renewing its contents. If taken to any airless environment, it can be used to breathe air (or slowly fill the environment with air, if an enclosed space). Breathing from the bottle of air takes a standard action; the bottle may be shared by multiple creatures if desired. If left open on an enclosed airless environment, the bottle creates 2 cu. ft. of air per round, thus filling a 20-ft. cube of volume per minute. Once the surface is filled with air, the bottle provides enough air to breathe for as long as it remains uncorked and for one minute thereafter.

By uttering a command word while uncorked (“blow forth winds” in Auran), the bottle of air may be commanded to release a burst of air, as per the gust of wind spell cast by a 7th level sorcerer. This ability may be used at-will, but only once per minute; the bottle of air becomes useless during this time.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

BOTTLE OF GENIES
Price (Item Level): 54,000 gp (janni; 18th), 86,000 (efreeti, 20th) or 108,000 gp (djinni; 21st)
Caster Level: 6th, 8th or 10th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 18, 19 or 20) conjuration
Activation: standard (command)
Weight: 1 lb.

This brass and bronze bottle has a lead stopper bearing special seals.

When opened, a bottle of genies releases the genie (either a janni, an efreeti or a djinni) trapped within, which serves the bottle’s owner dutifully for up to 10 minutes. If the genie dies, the bottle no longer works as intended (but see below).

When first opened, the genie imprisoned within the bottle has a 10% (01-10 on a d%) of being released on its own. The genie immediately turns aggressive, attacking its owner and its allies. Whether killed or if it escapes, the bottle no longer works as intended (but see below). The other 90% of the times, the genie serves dutifully.

The owner of a bottle of genies may open the bottle only once per day, by speaking the command word (usually a command in Ignan or Auran, based on the kind of genie) and opening the stopper; in other occasions, the seals on the stopper prevent its opening. If the bottle is destroyed, the genie is immediately freed, choosing to attack the enemy or grant its owner a service (depending on how it feels; generally, the genie is friendly if the bottle’s owner allows it to act as it desires, akin to its alignment, or treats it as a valued ally). The owner of a bottle of genies may willingly free the genie from its imprisonment, upon which it may act hostile (01-10 on a d% check if the genie is unfriendly or hostile), grant its owner one last favor (91-00 on a d% check if the genie is friendly or helpful) or simply escape. In very rare occasions (a 00 on a d% if the genie is fanatical, see Epic Level Handbook for more details), the genie is willing to offer limited wishes (or actual wishes) to its former owner (one limited wish if a janni, two limited wishes if an efreeti, or three wishes if a djinni; this happens regardless of whether the genie can grant wishes or not).

If the bottle of genies has no genie trapped within, it can be used as a special focus when using a planar binding spell. If successful on a special Charisma check (with the genie receiving a +10 bonus), the genie willfully accepts to be trapped in the bottle. As long as it is imprisoned, the genie is treated as if under a dimensional anchor spell at all occasions (including seemingly impossible situations, such as a banishment effect while the bottle of genies is under an antimagic field or dead magic zone).

Special: Other genies can be trapped in the bottle. A bottle of genies holding a qorrashi (Frostfell 131, one limited wish) dao (Manual of the Planes 172, three limited wishes) or khayyal (Tome of Magic 162, one limited wish) costs 78,000 gp (CL 7th), and one holding a marid (MotP 173, one wish) costs 92,000 gp (CL 9th).

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem), dimensional anchor (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/dimensionalAnchor.htm), lesser planar binding (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/planarBindingLesser.htm) or planar binding (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/planarBinding.htm), magic circle against law (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/magicCircleAgainstLaw.htm)/chaos (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/magicCircleAgainstChaos.htm); creator must have a Charisma of 18 or higher.
Cost to Create:

BOWL OF ELEMENTAL WATER
Price (Item Level): 110,000 gp (21st)
Caster Level: 13th
Aura: Strong; (DC 21) conjuration
Activation: Standard or full-round (command)
Weight: 3 lbs.

This large 1-ft. fragile container is made of blue or green semiprecious stone. It has a depth of half a foot.

The bowl of elemental water can be commanded to create up to 26 gallons of water, which are slowly poured at a rate of 2 gallons per minute (thus, the entire water is poured in 13 rounds). This ability may be used at will.

Any kind of liquid can be poured on the bowl of elemental water, but specifically pouring water allows the owner of this object to summon water elementals, as if using a summon monster spell. Only one elemental may be summoned at a time, and the container must be filled with new water in order to summon a new elemental.
Fresh water: Large water elemental.
Holy water: Large water elemental. Slam attacks against undead or evil outsiders deal an extra 2d4 points of damage. Undead or evil outsiders trapped in the elemental’s vortex take 2d4 points of damage per round trapped in the whirlpool.
Unholy, axiomatic or anarchic water: as with holy water, but affecting good outsiders (unholy; also heals undead by that amount), chaotic outsiders (axiomatic) or lawful outsiders (anarchic).
Sea water or salted water: Huge water elemental.

Water conjured from the bowl of elemental water cannot be used to summon a water elemental. Only water from a bowl of elemental water (or the drench effect of a water elemental) can douse elemental flame (see the brazier of elemental fire for more details).

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); must be crafted in the Elemental Plane of Water
Cost to Create:

BRAZIER OF ELEMENTAL FIRE
Price (Item Level): 110,000 gp (21st)
Caster Level: 13th
Aura: Strong; (DC 21) conjuration
Activation: Standard or full-round (command)
Weight: 5 lbs.

This container seems to be designed to hold burning coals.

The owner of a brazier of elemental fire can command the object to create a flame, as per the produce flame spell cast by a 13th level druid, except as follows. This flame is elemental flame (a purer form of flame), and thus cannot be extinguished by normal means (such as water, the lack of air, a quench or ray of frost spell, and so forth) except by the drench ability of a water elemental or elemental water (see the bowl of elemental water, above). If underwater, the elemental flame burns normally. Attacks with elemental flame deal 2d6+10 points of fire damage, half of which cannot be resisted by any means (if underwater, the attack causes half steam damage and half irresistible damage). This effect can be used at will.

If burning solid fuel (such as wood or coal) on the brazier, its owner can summon fire elementals, as if using a summon monster spell. Only one elemental may be summoned at a time, and unburnt coals, wood or similar fuels must be added anew in order to summon a new elemental.
Wood or coal: Large fire elemental
Incense: Large fire elemental. Spells cast with the [fire] descriptor within 10 ft. of the fire elemental are treated as if their caster level was increased by 1. The elemental is treated as if having 1 extra HD for purposes of resisting turning or rebuking attempts.
Brimstone: Huge fire elemental.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem), must be crafted in the Elemental Plane of Fire
Cost to Create:

BROOM OF FLYING
Price (Item Level): 27,000 gp (16th)
Caster Level: 9th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 19) transmutation
Activation: Standard (command)
Weight: 3 lbs.

This broom, its pole made of polished ash and its brush made of wicker and horsehair, seems barely used to clean the floor. If held, it feels unusually light.

The broom of flying is able to fly through the air as if affected by an overland flight spell. The broom can carry up to two passengers; at a combined weight of less than 200 lbs., the broom flies at a speed of 40 ft., and at a weight of up to 400 lbs. at a speed of 30 ft. The broom can be commanded (the command word often being “rise” in Auran, though some may use a different language or a different term such as “bibidi-babidi-boop!”) to become inactive, remain in flight position, or do the menial chore of cleaning an area from dust (at the rate of a 10-ft. cube per minute). While within a broom of flying and alone, the character is treated as if within a flying mount for purposes of mounted combat, but cannot direct the broom as a free action while using a Ride check and must always have one hand holding the broom.

Lore: The broom of flying is a favorite item in fairy-tale stories about witches, but not all witches use them. In fact, most of the people who use brooms of flying are lazy wizards who can’t spend time to clean their own towers, demesnes, or personal planes of existence. (Knowledge [arcana] or bardic knowledge DC 15 check)

A lesser known fact about brooms of flying is that they’re used in a competition which combines aspects of warfare with sport. The sport consists of a team attempting to deliver a sphere through one of three hoops, while the opposition attempts to halt them with bludgeon spheres. The game ends once a smaller golden sphere is caught by a specific player, which usually ends up giving its team the victory. Only wizards and witches could practice this, but the advent of the broom of flying amongst adventurers made even the sturdiest jousters fair game. (Knowledge [history] DC 25 check or bardic knowledge DC 20 check).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

CANDLE OF INVOCATION
Price (Item Level): 2,200 gp (6th)
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 18) conjuration
Activation: Standard (activation)
Weight: ½ lb.

This long, thick incensed candle is usually colored in one of nine specific colors, which represent the alignments. The runes running down the body of the candle speak the name of a deity or powerful exemplar of the alignment.

A character burning a candle of invocation must be of the same alignment as the candle itself in order to gain the benefit of this item. The character, and any creature of the same alignment within 30 ft. of the candle’s flame gain a +2 sacred (or profane) bonus to attack rolls, damage rolls, saving throws, skill checks and ability checks for as long as they remain within the area. When used in this way, the candle burns for 4 hours.

Divine spellcasters may use a candle of invocation when praying for their spells. If a candle of invocation dedicated to the same alignment as that of their deity is lit while in prayer, the spellcaster is treated as if it were two levels higher for purposes of spells, including casting spells that it wouldn’t be capable of casting otherwise. For example, a 10th level cleric that received the benefit of a candle of invocation while praying for its daily spells is treated as a 12th level cleric for purposes of spellcasting, and thus may cast 6th level spells at a caster level of 12th. Paladins and rangers are instead treated as if they were four levels higher when preparing spells, and if they are capable of casting 4th level spells, they gain the ability to prepare and cast a single 5th level spell from the cleric (for paladins) or druid (for rangers) spell list. Spontaneous divine spellcasters (such as favored soulsCDiv) gain the same benefit, but only at the moment in which they would normally recover their spell slots, and any temporary higher-level spells must be “prepared” as if they were clerics (but they cannot prepare spells with metamagic components in those temporary higher level slots). When used in this way, the candle burns for 4 hours, but the benefits for the spellcaster last for 24 hours.

As a special use, a character may use a candle of invocation to call a creature of the same alignment as the candle itself, as if using a lesser planar ally spell. The character may bargain for services as if it had spent an amount of money equal to the cost of the candle of invocation. When used in this way, the candle is immediately consumed after a creature answers.

Aside from the benefit given to divine spellcasters, a candle of invocation becomes inactive if its flame is snuffed out; reigniting the candle doesn’t provide the owner with the candle’s powers once first lit.

Lore: Originally, the candles of invocation were used to invoke powerful representatives of the deities or the higher (or lower) powers. However, these candles were reserved only for the high priests of the faith, and never to be used by those lower in the hierarchy. After a thief stole one of these candles and made use of it to invoke a powerful creature to save a city, the candles of invocation would be reduced in power to their current state. Some say the original candles of invocation still exist, carefully hidden by the higher powers. These greater candles of invocation are considered lesser artifacts.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must be a 12th level or higher cleric or druid.
Cost to Create:

CANDLE OF TRUTH
Price (Item Level): 1,200 gp (4th)
Caster Level: 3rd
Aura: Faint; (DC 16) divination
Activation: Standard (activation)
Weight: ½ lb.

This white tallow candle is inscribed with glyphs that spell out “honesty is the foundation of a just society”

When a candle of truth is burned, it emanates a 20-ft. radius area that acts as per a zone of truth spell (Will DC 13). The zone lasts for 4 hours, as long as the candle burns.

If a creature has 12 or more ranks in Sense Motive and uses a candle of truth, it gains a +30 bonus on Sense Motive checks to identify a lie (specifically compensating for the benefit of glibness).

A candle of truth becomes inactive if its flame is snuffed out; reigniting the candle doesn’t provide the owner with the candle’s powers once first lit.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

CENSER OF ELEMENTAL AIR
Price (Item Level): 110,000 gp (21st)
Caster Level: 13th
Aura: Strong; (DC 21) conjuration
Activation: Standard or full-round (command)
Weight: 1 lb.

This 6-inch wide, 1-inch high golden vessel resembles a thurible found in a place of worship.

By speaking a command word (“shroud” in Auran), the censer of elemental air releases one of two effects; a 5-ft. radius cylindrical wall of wind that blocks projectiles as per a wind wall spell, or a 10-ft. radius cloud of white smoke as per the fog cloud spell, except that the fog remains centered on the censer and lasts as long as the owner of the censer desires. If using the cloud of white smoke, no amount of wind can move the fog, as the smoke contains elemental air.

If oil or incense is burned on the censer, its owner can summon air elementals, as if using a summon monster spell. Only one elemental may be summoned at a time, and new blocks of incense or pints of oil must be added anew in order to summon a new air elemental.
Block of incense: Large air elemental
Pint of oil or similar fuel: Large smoke para-elemental (Manual of the Planes 184)
Frankencense: Huge air elemental
Incense of Meditation: Elder air elemental

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); must be created in the Elemental Plane of Air
Cost to Create:

CHIME OF INTERRUPTION
Price (Item Level): 10,800 gp (21st)
Caster Level: 3rd
Aura: Faint; (DC 16) no aura
Activation: Standard (activation)
Weight: 1 lb.

This small instrument is shaped as a two-pronged hollow fork. When struck, the instrument vibrates with a dissonant note that breaks concentration.

While the chime is resonating, any creature within 30 ft. finds it difficult to concentrate. Any spell cast by a creature within the area must succeed on a Concentration check against a DC of 15 + twice the level of the spell to be cast. Furthermore, the creature must succeed on a Concentration check against the same DC (or a DC of 15 if not casting a spell) every round in order to maintain a spell or effect that requires concentration. The effect lasts for 3 minutes, and may be used only once per encounter.

A character with 12 or more ranks in Perform (keyboard instruments or percussion) may make a Perform check while activating the chime of interruption. Any creature casting a spell must succeed on a Concentration check against the result of the Perform check to proceed with the action (with a minimum DC of 13 + twice the level of the spell to be cast).

A bard using countersong with a chime of interruption can extend its duration to 3 minutes and does not need to concentrate on the song; in effect, the chime of interruption resonates with the countersong. When using a countersong with it, the character cannot use the main function of the chime of interruption (but see below)

The effect lasts for 3 minutes, and may be used only once per encounter or after 10 minutes, whichever comes first. A bard may expend a daily use of bardic music to activate a chime of interruption at any time, and two daily uses to activate the countersong effect.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must know the countersong bardic music effect.
Cost to Create:

CHIME OF OPENING
Price (Item Level): 16,500 gp (14th)
Caster Level: 11th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) transmutation
Activation: Standard (activation)
Weight: 1 lb.

This hollow; 1-inch long mithral tube sends a vibration that resonates with any lock, lid, door, shackle or similar restraint.

The chime of opening must be pointed at the item or gate to be loosed or opened, which must be visible, accessible and known to the user. When activated, the chime of opening grants the user a +10 competence bonus in all Open Lock checks, and allows it to open doors held by a hold portal spell or locks enchanted by an arcane lock spell; attempting to open held or arcane locked items or gates increases the DC by an amount equal to the caster level of the creature that used the spell (or spell-like ability). Using the chime of opening in this way consumes no charges.

The chime of opening has three charges. By expending one charge, the user of a chime of opening can open any door, lock or lid after 1 round, as follows:
1 Charge: open any lock, door, lid, hinge or shackle with a DC of 20 or lower.
2 Charges: open any lock, door, lid, hinge or shackle with a DC of 30 or higher, and negate the effect of a hold portal spell.
3 Charges: open any look, door, lid, hinge or shackle, even those affected by a hold portal or arcane lock spell.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must have 15 ranks in Open Lock.
Cost to Create:

CUBE OF ENERGY RESISTANCE
Price (Item Level): 25,000 gp (15th)
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) abjuration
Activation: Standard (command)
Weight: --

This small cube, shaped almost like a six-sided die, has glyphs and sigils related to fire, frost, lightning, acid or sound.

The cube of energy resistance creates a 10-ft. cube-shaped area (choose one of the corners of the square in which the possessor stands as the center point for the field). The field absorbs all attacks of the specified energy type (acid, cold, electricity, fire or sonic), negating all damage dealt by the attack to creatures within the area. If the cube takes more than 50 points of damage of the specified element within 1 round, it collapses into its portable form and cannot be activated for 1 hour; if the cube takes more than 100 points of damage in a single round, the cube is destroyed immediately. Area of effect spells and attacks (such as fireball, cone of cold or a dragon’s breath weapon) are treated as a single attack for purposes of damage, even if it would otherwise affect more than one creature.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

I'm seriously starting to doubt that this section will require six posts, but in any case...here's how the remaining wondrous items work.

Let's start with the two most annoying ones (in terms of BBCode formatting), the Apparatus of the Crab and the Bag of Tricks. The former, the original D&D mecha, has now been refurbished into a slightly more useful tool, with the Apparatus itself turned into a creature/item hybrid with its own stat block. Amongst the changes, the apparatus now allows people within to fight, which is great as it turns the item into a pretty cool tank. The latter is limited to two uses per day, but in the end it allows for a larger amount of uses per week (14 compared to 10); as well, the Rust Bag of Tricks has the heavy warhorse, while the Tan Bag gets a gorilla for the exchange. The costs remain the same on both, so both items got a straight boost.

The Bead of Force is one of those items that could have been better, as it's a pretty expensive consumable which allows a nice AoE force damage effect and a trapping effect, but both lose steam eventually. A martial character gets better mileage out of it; sure, 10d6 force damage might not be that much, even with the increased Reflex save, but the Resilient Sphere cast as a 20th level wizard is one step shy of the mighty Forcecage, which can be a headache for anyone unable to break through force effects.

The Bottle of Air, and as you'll notice the Decanter of Endless Water, got some nice boosts. The Bottle didn't explained what happened if the cork was left open without breathing, so the effect is now twice as better, as it allows airless environments to slowly gain some air, and one that doesn't get stale. Certainly, the idea is that the airless environment is probably hermetically sealed or underwater, because a Bottle of Air in a vacuum is pretty much a lost cause (you lose air just as fast as the bottle generates it). The Gust of Wind effect is a nice touch, so that you don't feel shafted when you already have the ability to exist without breathing, something the original...well, didn't really consider.

On to the Bottle of Genies (aka the Efreeti Bottle), which received a most-needed nerf. The original allowed you a 10% chance to gain three free Wishes, which is one of the least-used methods to get free Wishes, and given our idea of removing as many sources of "free" Wishes as possible, the effect was reduced to basically making the trapped djinni your slave, and then giving it complete freedom, which pretty much requires you to hyper-specialize, get the money, and...well, you can imagine that it's possible, but quite difficult. While you don't get the same wishes as before, the Bottle now allows for a larger amount of djinni, including those from other books, with their given effect. The Bottle's effect is very similar to that of the Ring of the Djinni, though it's quite cheap compared to its original price. You're free to debate whether allowing a method to gain wishes is a good idea or not.

The Bowl, the Brazier, and the Censer of Controlling X Elementals got a much-needed boost, even if they're somewhat more expensive now. The Bowl now allows you to generate Elemental Water that can extinguish just about anything, the Brazier now allows you to generate Elemental Fire that burns hotter and refuses to extinguish, and the Censer now generates Elemental Air and two effects. The items retain their original purpose of summoning elementals, but the effects are now more varied, as the Bowl allows for Holy Water Elementals and the Censer allows summoning Smoke para-elementals, not to mention a hidden synergy effect with the Incense of Meditation. The cost is somewhat high, but they're definitely more useful than before.

On to the Candles, and item #3 in the list of "must-nerfs"; the Candle of Invocation. While it retains most of its useful effects, the once-mighty ability to Gate in Solars has been nerfed into near-oblivion to a Lesser Planar Binding effect. Even the fluff mentions why the ability had to be nerfed. Certainly, the old Candles of Invocation might exist, as relics of an old age, and definitely as Minor Artifacts, but the discerning optimizer never, EVER, uses Artifacts, no? Only DMs bestow that, and you don't have a defined method of getting one, so... Compared to that super-nerf, the Candle of Truth got a much-needed boost, allowing people with enough ranks in Sense Motive to annihilate the effect of a Glibness spell, the bane of any truth-seeker, by fighting skill against skill.

Returning to B once again, the Broom of Flying remains somewhat similar to its earlier incarnation, but also allows automatic cleaning AND is treated like a mount for purposes of mounted combat, so now you can have a Paladin on a broom dealing "OMGWTFBBQ!!!" amounts of damage. It's somewhat more expensive, but not by very much, and the Lore tidbit definitely covers for the rest :P

Onward to Chimes, the Chime of Interruption has a somewhat familiar scaling DC, which should make it better; as you may have noticed, the DC scales in the same way as Truenaming, making that Concentration check to cast a 9th level spell somewhere along the lines of 33 (with ranks alone, you need a roll of 10 to succeed, so it's a good start). Bards, naturally, benefit the most from it as they get to use their Perform check result instead, which will be naturally higher than the spellcaster's Concentration check, making Bards the best anti-mages. They also get a mild boost to their Counterspell effect, allowing them to act while using it. The Chime of Opening is now the Rogue's best friend, because aside from the boost to Open Lock checks, it allows using the skill to open Held or Arcane-Locked doors, which can be headaches to our friend; the ability to automatically unlock doors based on their Open Lock check DC is pretty nifty, with that 3-charge super-opening effect definitely a life-saver.

We stop here with the Cube of Energy Resistance, an item that went from mildly useful to much more useful. Since it protects from one form of energy of your choice rather than a fixed one, the item is definitely more useful. Instead of preventing the ability from working, it essentially soaks up the damage from each individual within the area separately, with area attacks counting as a simple effect. It still retains the limitations, and its price was shaved by 2,000 gp, so overall it wins rather than loses.

T.G. Oskar

2014-02-04, 03:49 PM

DARKSKULL
Price (Item Level): 60,000 gp (18th)
Caster Level: 9th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 19) evocation
Activation: --
Weight: 5 lbs.

This is the skull of a humanoid, carved from ebony or taken from an actual humanoid and given its color by ashes of ebony. Obscene glyphs are etched into the skull and drenched in humanoid and fiendish blood.

The darkskull projects an area that duplicates the unhallow effect, centered on the object. The main property of a darkskull is the ability to temporarily imbue a spell into the item, which then projects into the area covered by the unhallow effect. The spell must be one of the spells allowed by the unhallow spell, and the duration of the spell is halved. For detection spells (such as detect magic or detect good), the area instead becomes that of the unhallow effect and the owner may choose to keep the information of the detection to itself or reveal it to all creatures in area, but the effect lasts for as long as it otherwise would.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must be evil
Cost to Create: 30,000 gp; 2400 xp

DECANTER OF ENDLESS WATER
Price (Item Level): 67,500 gp (19th)
Caster Level: 9th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 19) conjuration and transmutation
Activation: Standard (command)
Weight: 2 lbs.

This ceramic vessel always feels light and seems empty, but it feels always full. When moved, the sounds of liquid emanate from the vessel.

By removing the stopper and speaking the command word (usually in Common or Aquan), the decanter of endless water releases a specific volume of water at a specified rate. The user determines the salinity of the water (from fresh water to brine) at the moment the command word is spoken. Water created in this way “evaporates” faster (in reality, it returns to its source, usually a large body of water nearby), except for any amount of drinked water.
Stream: the decanter of endless water releases 1 gallon of water per round. This is the equivalent of pouring the contents of a jar or other decanter, and is used to deliver drinking water.
Fountain: the decanter of endless water releases 8 gallons of water (the equivalent of 1 cu. ft..) per round. This is the equivalent of the stream produced by a garden fountain, and is designed to slowly fill a receptacle with water. If the decanter of endless water stops or changes from the “fountain” mode, one cubic foot of water evaporates every 10 minutes
Water Cannon: the decanter of endless water releases a jet of water with a length of 20 ft. The width of the stream hits a creature with enough force to deliver a bull rush effect; treat as if a Medium character with Strength score of 16 (for a +3 bonus). Whether it hits or not, the stream deals 1d4 points of nonlethal damage per round, from the strength of the water blast. The water cannon effect lasts for 1 minute, upon which the decanter automatically shifts to “stream” mode. Once the “water cannon” effect is used, it cannot be used for 1 hour; if the water cannon effect was used for a full minute, the decanter cannot use the “fountain” mode for 1 hour. The water cannon effect also can push objects of Small or smaller size as a character with a Strength of 8 (in real-life terms, the stream delivers 400 PSI of pressure).

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); must be crafted in the Elemental Plane of Water
Cost to Create:

DIMENSIONAL SHACKLES
Price (Item Level): 28,000 gp (16th)
Caster Level: 11th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) abjuration
Activation: --
Weight: 5 lb.

These finely-made cold iron-silver alloy shackles have golden runes traced along its edge.

Any creature bound by dimensional shackles is affected as if a dimensional anchor spell had been cast upon it (no saving throw allowed). Dimensional shackles fit any Small to Large creature; the shackles also bind incorporeal creatures, which are treated as corporeal when bound by them (thus, an incorporeal creature cannot phase through walls, and they may be affected by spells and weapons as normal). Because they’re made from an alloy of cold iron and alchemical silver, creatures with damage reduction bypassed by these materials have their damage reduction lowered by 5 (to a minimum of 0).

Treat the dimensional shackles as masterwork manacles for purposes of determining their Difficulty Class to break or slip from; if the manacles are made of a stronger substance (such as adamantine), improve the DC accordingly.

Lore: Dimensional shackles weren’t made in the Material Plane originally. They were originally made in the prison-plane of Carceri, to prevent powerful beings from escaping. They are somewhat more common in other planes, such as Sigil; if bought in these planes, their cost is halved. (Knowledge [history], Knowledge [the planes] or bardic knowledge DC 20 check)

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

DRUMS OF PANIC
Price (Item Level): 20,000 gp (15th)
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 18) necromancy
Activation: Standard (activation)
Weight: 10 lbs.

These small kettle drums, between 12 and 18 inches in diameter, are made of ebony with a wrapping ring made of bone. The leather wrapped over the drums is made of cured humanoid skin.

When the drums of panic are played by a character, all allies gain a +5 competence bonus on Intimidate checks to demoralize opponents within 120 ft. of the player. This bonus increases by 1 for every four skill ranks in the Perform (percussion instruments) skill.

Drums of panic have three charges. By expending one charge, all creatures within 120 ft. of the player are affected by one of the following abilities. Creatures in a 20 ft. radius area are unaffected.
1 Charge: cause fear (DC 13)
2 Charges: scare (DC 14)
3 Charges: fear (DC 16)

A bard playing drums of panic may use them to inspire despair. By expending a daily use of bardic music, the bard may cause all creatures within 120 ft. that can hear its song take a penalty to attack and weapon damage rolls, as well as saves against fear effects, equal to its inspire courage bonus. Alternatively, it may add its inspire courage bonus as a bonus to the save DC of any of the fear effects; if the bard has the inspire greatness class feature, it may affect creatures of 2 HD higher. To use this abilities, the bard must have the requisite amount of ranks in Perform (percussion instruments) to activate the abilities (3 for inspire despair and improved save DC, 12 for increased HD limit).

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); creator must have 15 ranks in Intimidate or a bard with 10 ranks in Perform (drums)
Cost to Create: 10,000 gp; 800 xp

DUST OF DRYNESS
Price (Item Level): 2,400 gp (7th)
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) transmutation
Activation: standard or full-round (use)
Weight: --

This white dust, held on a hollow bone or glass tube, feels dry to the touch. It is wrapped very tightly to prevent its contact with air.

A powerful dessicant, dust of dryness has a wide variety of uses. Dust of dryness can only absorb water (whether fresh, salted or alkaline). If a small pinch is placed within a surface, it drains the moisture within a 5-ft. cube, helping to preserve anything within the area. Dust of dryness can be used to prevent the advanced development of rust in generally humid conditions, as well as help preserve food fresh for an extended period of time.

Adventurers use dust of dryness in three main ways. If a small pinch is placed upon a vial of potion, it automatically absorbs the contents and turns the potion into a small bead; the bead can be consumed as a pill with the same properties as the potion, but protects the magical effect within the potion from any effect that would otherwise destroy it (such as the corrupt water ability of a black dragon) and makes the potion effectively weightless.

If a pinch is dropped in a container with water, 10 gallons (approximately 1.25 cu. ft.) are instantly transformed into nothingness, turned into a pellet of twice the size as a “potion bead”. The bead can be thrown, releasing its content in all directions as if it were a splash weapon: the force of the effect allows a Reflex save against DC 10 to prevent knockback, deal 1d2 points of damage against creatures with the fire subtype, and extinguish a small bonfire. The owner of dust of dryness can add twice, thrice, or more than a pinch of the dust, with each increase in content absorbing 10 gallons, increasing the save DC against the knockback effect by 1 and dealing an extra 1d2 points of damage; thus, if using the equivalent of five pinches of dust of dryness, it forms a pellet that contains up to 50 gallons, imposes a Reflex save DC of 15 and deals 5d2 points of damage against creatures with the fire subtype. Using the equivalent of one to four pinches releases water in a 5-ft. radius, the equivalent of five to nine pinches an amount of water in a 10-ft. radius (with a Reflex save DC of five points lower after the first 5 ft.), and a full container releases an amount of water in a 15-ft. radius (with a Reflex save DC of 10 after the first 10 ft.)

Against creatures with the water subtype, dust of dryness deals 2d6 points of damage per pinch (Fortitude save DC 10 per pinch). Deploying the full content of the dust immediately destroys the creature if it fails a Fortitude save against DC 20; a successful save deals 10d6 points of damage nonetheless.

A container with dust of dryness has content for up to 10 pinches. All pinches are carefully metered, and thus the user can measure just how much it can use and how much the container retains at any time.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

EFFICIENT QUIVER
Price (Item Level): 1,800 gp (5th)
Caster Level: 9th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 19) conjuration
Activation: --
Weight: 3 lbs.

This oversized cylindrical pack has a pocket that holds arrows and another that holds bolts, alongside two larger pockets and a smaller one. Regardless of the amount of items placed, it seems to weigh the same.

Each of the pockets of an efficient quiver are nondimensional spaces that would allow it to store far more than it would be possible. The pockets are designed so that the holder can draw anything from them as a free action, as if it had the Quick Draw feat. The pockets are organized as follows:
Small pouch: this pouch holds up to 100 sling bullets or shuriken, as well as any item of similar shape.
Bolt quiver: this small quiver holds up to 80 bolts or darts. It can also hide light weapons of the same size as a shortsword or light mace, but each light weapon counts as 5 bolts or darts.
Arrow quiver: this larger quiver holds up to 60 arrows, or any item with the same size and shape as an arrow.
Medium pouch: this open pouch holds up to eighteen objects of the same size and shape as a javelin (such as a shortspear). It can also hold one-handed weapons, such as longswords, but they count as two javelins. Regular spears, longspears and any polearm that requires the Martial Weapon Proficiency feat are too large to fit in this pouch.
Large pouch: this open pouch can hold up to six objects of the same size and shape as a bow (such as spears, polearms that require the Martial Weapon Proficiency, staffs, and the like). It can also hold two-handed weapons such as greatswords, but they count as if they were two bow-like objects.

Regardless of the content’s weight, the efficient quiver always weights the same amount. Because of the way it is designed, the quiver does not interfere with combat in any way.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

ELEMENTAL GEM
Price (Item Level): 3,000 gp (7th)
Caster Level: 11th
Aura: Strong; (DC 20) conjuration and transmutation
Activation: Standard (activation or command)
Weight: --

This precious gem is colored reddish-orange, blue-green or light brown, or is completely transparent. Wisps of energy flow from it.

Holding an elemental gem grants its owner an ability based on its element: air mastery, burn (save DC 14), earth mastery or water mastery ability. The elemental gem must be held, not stowed. Alternatively, holding an elemental gem allows its owner to increase its caster level when using spells of the same descriptor as the gem ([acid] or [earth] for earth elemental gems, [air] or [electricity] for air elemental gems, [cold] or [water] for water elemental gems, or [fire] for fire elemental gems). Both abilities must be activated as a standard action.

If thrown to the ground as a standard action, the elemental gem summons a Large elemental from the same type as the gem; a Large air elemental for an air elemental gem, a Large earth elemental from an earth elemental gem, a Large fire elemental from a fire elemental gem and a Large water elemental from the water elemental gem.

All benefits of the gem last for 10 minutes. Once the effect is consumed (whether held or shattered), the elemental gem loses its effect, becoming an ordinary gem if not shattered; treat the air elemental gem as a quartz, a fire elemental gem as a ruby, an earth elemental gem as an onyx, and a water elemental gem as an aquamarine.

Special: A permanent version of the elemental gem exists, granting each of the item’s abilities once per day. The cost of a permanent elemental gem is 21,000 gp.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

ELIXIR OF DRAGON’S BREATH
Price (Item Level): 960 gp (4th), 1920 gp (improved; 6th) or 3,200 gp (greater, 8th)
Caster Level: 8th, 12th or 16th
Aura: Moderate to strong; (DC 19, 21, 23) evocation
Activation: -- and standard (attack)
Weight: --

This flask contains one of four different liquids: a volatile transparent red spirit with a strong hint of alcohol; a minty, sweet-tasting, cold, transparent, viscous yellow-green liquid; a liquid similar in texture and color to quicksilver and tasting of blood, or a sour translucent brown liquid.

The elixir of dragon’s breath allows its imbiber to expel a blast of energy somewhat similar to the breath weapon of a dragon. The elixir of dragon’s breath comes in four types, each specifying an element.
Elixir of acrid breath: acid
Elixir of chilling breath: cold
Elixir of fiery breath: fire
Elixir of shocking breath: electricity

When imbibed, the character gains the ability to shoot a gout of the specified energy type up to three times as a standard action. The gout strikes a single target up to 25 ft. away and deals 4d6 points of damage, allowing a Reflex save (DC 16) to evade it. The effect of an elixir of dragon’s breath lasts for 1 hour or until all breaths are expelled, whichever comes first. For the remainder of the duration, the character also gains resistance 5 against the energy type contained within the elixir of dragon’s breath.

If the character has levels in the fighter class (or effective fighter levels), the gouts of flame are more potent. The gout of energy deals 1d6 points of damage per two effective fighter levels (minimum 4d6) and the saving throw DC against the effect is equal to 10 + half the character’s effective fighter levels + the character’s Constitution modifier.

Special: Two more potent versions of this elixir exist. The improved elixir of dragon’s breath allows up to four gouts of flame that deal 6d6 points of damage (Reflex DC 18); by spending two gouts, the imbiber can release the energy in a 10-ft. cone or a 20-ft. line. The greater elixir of dragon’s breath allows up to five gouts of energy that deal 8d6 points of damage (Reflex DC 20), and the imbiber can spend two gouts to release the energy in a 15-ft. cone or a 30-ft. line.

Lore: Of all the elixirs of dragon’s breath, the most popular undoubtedly is the elixir of fiery breath, because of its mild intoxicating effect. Some taverns that get ahold of this liquid and mix it with other heavy liquors to create potent drinks, a tradition that began on the Fang and Flagon Inn with its famous “Skullwhomper Ale” (Knowledge [local] or bardic knowledge check DC 20)

Prerequisites: Brew Potion (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#brewPotion)
Cost to Create:

ELIXIR OF LOVE
Price (Item Level): 250 gp (2nd)
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) enchantment
Activation: --
Weight: --

This sweet-tasting, mildly alcoholic clear or purple-red liquid comes in a small bottle.

The drinker of elixir of love is affected by one of two effects, based on a successful Will save. Only humanoids are affected by an elixir of love. If the imbiber succeeds on a DC 13 Will save, the next enchantment (charm) effect or special ability that duplicates such spell has its saving throw DC increased by 2; the liquid increases temporarily the imbiber’s self confidence. If it fails the save, it becomes affected by a charm person effect, becoming infatuated with the next creature it sees (whether humanoid or not); the imbiber becomes hopelessly enamored with said creature, regardless of danger (but still bound to the limits of the charm person effect). The effects of a failed save last for 1d4+1 hours.

Because of its intoxicating effect, the elixir of love improves its potency when combined with alcohol. If the imbiber has taken a pint of ale or a small amount of stronger liquor, the Will save DC of the elixir of love increases by 1 and the effects of a failed save last for an extra hour; however, for every two points of increase to the save DC, the imbiber gains a +1 increase to the next enchantment (charm) spell or special ability that duplicates this effect if it manages to succeed on the save (for example, a character that has drinked four pints of ale must succeed on a DC 17 Will save after drinking an elixir of love; a successful save grants a +4 increase to the next enchantment [charm] spell or effect, while a failed save imposes a charm person effect for 1d4+5 hours). A glass of wine has double the potency.

Prerequisites: Brew Potion (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#brewPotion)
Cost to Create:

ELIXIR OF SNEAKING
Price (Item Level): 1,050 gp (4th)
Caster Level: 6th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 18) illusion
Activation: --
Weight: --

This volatile dark gray liquid has a smoky flavor and smell.

A character that drinks an elixir of sneaking becomes invisible (as per the invisibility spell) for up to 1 hour. While under this effect, the imbiber produces no sound, as if under the effect of a silence spell surrounding its square. If the imbiber makes an action considered offensive (such as a melee attack or cast a spell that causes any type of damage through the Silent Spell metamagic feat), both effects end.

Prerequisites: Brew Potion (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#brewPotion)
Cost to Create:

ELIXIR OF SWIMMING
Price (Item Level): 600 gp (3rd)
Caster Level: 6th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 18) transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: --

This volatile liquid has the scent of sea, but when drunk, it lacks the taste of salt water.

A character that drinks an elixir of swimming gains a swim speed equal to its base land speed, and a +8 bonus to all Swim checks (by virtue of its swim speed) for 1 hour. While under this effect, the imbiber gains the ability to breathe water (but not air, unless it already has the capability). If the effects of an elixir of swimming end while the wearer is underwater, the imbiber is treated as if it had held its breath at the moment in which the effect is lost.

Prerequisites: Brew Potion (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#brewPotion)
Cost to Create:

ELIXIR OF TRUTH
Price (Item Level): 1,000 gp (4th)
Caster Level: 6th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 18) divination and evocation
Activation: --
Weight: --

This liquid has a mild scent of alcohol, but a bitter taste.

The drinker of elixir of truth is affected by one of two effects, based on a successful Will save. If the imbiber succeeds on a DC 13 Will save, it gains a +10 circumstance bonus to Sense Motive checks, and denies the effect of a glibness spell for up to 10 minutes. If it fails the save, the imbiber becomes intoxicated, forced to say nothing but the truth for up to 10 minutes. An elixir of truth dispels the effects of a glibness spell.

Because of its intoxicating effect, the elixir of truth improves its potency when combined with alcohol. If the imbiber has taken a pint of ale or a small amount of stronger liquor, the Will save DC of the elixir of truth increases by 1 and the effects of a failed save last for an extra minute; however, for every two points of increase to the save DC, the imbiber gains a +1 increase to the circumstance bonus to Sense Motive checks (for example, a character that has drinked four pints of ale must succeed on a DC 17 Will save after drinking an elixir of love; a successful save grants a +12 circumstance bonus to Sense Motive checks, while a failed save causes the imbiber to speak the truth for 14 minutes). An ounce of strong liquor has double the potency.

Prerequisites: Brew Potion (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#brewPotion)
Cost to Create:

ELIXIR OF VISION
Price (Item Level): 625 gp (3rd)
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) divination
Activation: -- and swift (mental)
Weight: --

This liquid looks and smells like water, but has a slightly salty taste, as that of a tear.

The drinker of elixir of vision gains a temporary improvement to its vision. The imbiber gains a +10 competence bonus to all Spot and Search checks for 1 hour. As a swift action while the effect is active, the imbiber can further improve its visual acuity, gaining the effect of a true seeing spell for 1 round; once the true seeing effect is used, the benefits of the elixir of vision end.

A character with ranks in Spot and Search, the Alertness and/or the Investigator feats may extend the benefit of true seeing. For every five ranks in Spot and Search after the first four, the duration of the true seeing effect lasts for one more round; having the Alertness and/or the Investigator feats increases the duration for 1 round. The actual duration of the true seeing effect is based on the amount of remaining minutes of the effect; thus, if the elixir of vision has 55 minutes remaining, the true seeing effect lasts for up to 11 rounds or up to the amount of rounds based on its skills and feats, whichever is less.

Prerequisites: Brew Potion (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#brewPotion)
Cost to Create:

EVERSMOKING BOTTLE
Price (Item Level): 53,000 gp (18th)
Caster Level: 9th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 19) conjuration and transmutation
Activation: Standard (activation or command)
Weight: 1 lb.

This blackened brass and bronze bottle has a lead stopper with runes, but always has white-colored soot coating around the neck. No matter how much it is cleansed, the soot always covers the neck after a minute.

When opened, an eversmoking bottle releases a cloud of white smoke as if a smokestick had been used. Treat in all ways as a smokestick, except as follows: the smoke remains until the bottle is corked again and 1 round per every two rounds the bottle was uncorked afterwards (thus, if the eversmoking bottle was uncorked for 1 minute, the smoke remains in effect for 5 rounds afterwards). The smoke expands at a rate of a 10-ft. radius each round, up to a maximum radius of 100 ft. The amount of smoke remains despite wind strength, except once uncorked; a moderate wind (11+ mph) disperses the smoke in 4 rounds unless it would disperse earlier, and a strong wind (21+ mph) disperses the smoke in 1 round.

The eversmoking bottle can be commanded to release a different kind of smoke by speaking the right command word (usually in Auran or Ignan). Each special smoke lasts for 1 minute, and can only be used once per day. A creature may move outside the range of the smoke to avoid its effects. The effects of each smoke are as follows:
Gray smoke: by speaking the word “choke” in Ignan or Auran, the eversmoking bottle can be commanded to release suffocating gray smoke. All creatures within the area of the smoke (including the owner) must make a Fortitude save (DC) or risk suffocation; the smoke affects anyone holding their breath on the first round they are affected, but they can hold their breath to prevent suffocation on subsequent rounds.
Black smoke: by speaking the word “blind” in Ignan or Auran, the eversmoking bottle can be commanded to release black smoke. Creatures within range of the smoke must succeed on a Reflex save or become blinded for as long as the smoke is active and for 1 round thereafter.
Green smoke: by speaking the word “stink” in Ignan or Auran, the eversmoking bottle duplicates the effect of a stinking cloud spell. All creatures within area of the smoke must make a Fortitude save or become nauseated, as per the spell.
Yellow smoke: by speaking the word “kill” in Ignan or Auran, the eversmoking bottle duplicates the effect of a cloudkill spell.
Purple smoke: by speaking the word “befuddle” in Ignan or Auran, the eversmoking bottle duplicates the effect of a mind fog spell.
Finally, by placing a vial of acid or alchemist’s fire upside down, with its stopper facing the neck of the eversmoking bottle, the owner may duplicate the effect of an acid fog or incendiary cloud spell, each lasting for 1 minute per vial. The contents of the bottles are consumed by using this feature. Other alchemical items can be used in this way: holy (or unholy) water causes the smoke to deal 2d6 points of damage against all undead and evil outsiders within the area each round for up to 1 minute, while a vial of antitoxin negates the effects of a stinking cloud or cloudkill spell within range of the smoke.

Lore: For all its uses, there is one undocumented use. An eversmoking bottle can be used to deliver “smoke signals”, using a special code often transmitted between generations. Smoke signals have no uniform code, and thus aren’t treated as a language; it can be a pre-planned code, or can be used with one of the existing codes. Understanding a smoke signal without knowing the code, however, requires a Decipher Script against DC 20 (+5 if within moderate winds, +10 if within strong or stronger winds), and savvy individuals can purposedly confound the code by using the Bluff skill, which requires a separate Sense Motive skill of its own. (Knowledge [history], Knowledge [local] or bardic knowledge DC 25 check)

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

Small update, but necessary in case I have to shift items from the earlier post.

The Darkskull got a nice upgrade by allowing it to serve as a focus for spells, though the halved effect was necessary to make the item fair. Considering only evil-inclined parties will make good use of them (or BBEGs and their minions), this item makes it tempting for your players to join the dark side (besides the cookies, of course; I stay on the good side because the cookies are made from oatmeal there). That said, the most powerful effect is most definitely the ability to project most divination spells, allowing the item to become a "goodness" sensor or, for guffaws, a "magic dowsing" skull. You still have to concentrate, definitely, but considering that you reveal to your minions where hidden people are... If you're paranoid enough, remember that Nystul's Magic Aura allows you to hide from those pesky spells.

The Decanter of Endless Water is one of those items that's just prone for abuse. Sure, the Stream and Fountain modes aren't that prone to abuse; it's the Geyser/Water Cannon mode that's ripe for. Thus, to define its effect, I talked with a friend/fellow player/fellow engineering student and figured out how to define the jet stream mode in order to restrain its effect. 400 PSI was the point we agreed on, and that translated to an effective Strength of 16 for purposes of pushing or moving objects. The Fountain mode also had a slight debuff by specifying the rate of evaporation of water, so that you don't suddenly turn a desert spot into a perennial oasis. You can still use it for drinking water without it suddenly "evaporating" in your stomach (or body, as it may), but it eventually returns to the surface through perspiration and other bodily functions, so its fair enough.

The Dimensional Shackles still need a bit of oomph to make them useful, but that's something I believe must be granted by a feat, a class feature, or a DM that's willing to help mundanes out. To expand upon: the Dimensional Shackles retain their mundane binding effect and their Dimensional Anchor property, but now also hold incorporeal creatures (making them corporeal as well), AND reduces the DR of certain creatures, so it softens them in case they wish to escape (pesky fey and werewolves!). However, against the people you'd like to use them the most (spellcasters, obviously), they still have some troubles. The first, of course, is how to restrain a Wizard that has set up a Contingency effect against being bound? Be it a Contingency, or Abrupt Jaunt, as long as they can escape your grasp, you can't bind them. Second, of course, is how to beat Still Spell, when they can just catch a rod and use it to, say, destroy the shackles or something, which makes your binding efforts moot. You may argue that Antimagic Shackles are best for them, but if all you have is Dimensional Shackles, and they're most popular on Carceri, you might want to make them useful against those pesky godling wannabes.

The Drums of Panic are some of the various musical instruments that got a boost, and for good reason. Just going with Core, the Bard has great utility but only a bare modicum of power; however, it could use some benefit. The drums now offer a constant effect that aids immensely any character that focuses on locking creatures through Intimidate, because of its direct boost to the effect. The 1/day Fear effect remains, but in case you don't need an effect that powerful, you can simply use less charges and mimic the effect of a Cause Fear or Scare spell, if necessary (good for warfare, BTW). Bards, of course, have to draw the most from it, and thus they get the ability to inspire "despair", which is shorthand for "Inspire Courage as a debuff". The subsequent effects directly boost the item, so a 9th level bard can affect 7 HD creatures with Cause Fear and increase the save DC by 2, or higher if you focus on Inspire Courage (+3 with Song of the Heart, +4 with Inspirational Boost, +8 if you mix both of those with Words of Creation...)

The Dust of Dryness is another moment where my inclination towards Chemistry works out. The original description mentions that "it has many uses", but I could only count three: make a pellet-bomb of water, damage creatures with the water subtype, and...wait, they were only two. Two isn't "many", it isn't even a crowd! Therefore, I felt I had to rectify the situation, and brainstormed for uses, and I figured that the Dust of Dryness was mostly a potent dessicant, so might as well draw inspiration from uses of dessicants! Thus, the dust now has many uses: pellet-bomb (now with upgraded uses!), bane of water creatures (now with instant kill effect!), moisture repellent, potion-pill... If you can find more uses for a dessicant, feel free to do so. The lovely bit is that it now contains 10 metered uses, so you can store some for more menial uses or bust it all at once against water creatures. This is an item that went from "meh" to "must-have", IMO.

The Efficient Quiver (also known as the Quiver of Ehlonna) didn't got much of a boost, though allowing Quick-Draw of any item stored therein makes its utility grow quite a bit. However, the quiver now has more pouches, making it look less like a quiver and more like one of those bags to store golf clubs (and I must admit, I was inspired by those), with strictly defined guidelines. This item is already pretty useful for archers, but now it is an essential tool for the discerning martial character, and even a spellcaster or two. BTW, did you notice it retained the same price?

The Elemental Gem was pretty lackluster, because summoning a Large elemental for little more than a minute doesn't really cut it. Thus, for a slight boost to its price, it now grants the effect of the elemental's inherent power (Air Mastery or Earth Mastery might not be that hot, but Burn or Vortex certainly do), or boosts the effect of certain spells (again, Wu Jen and Shugenja get the most from this). Extending the duration of the summon to 10 minutes, on the other hand, makes the cost viable beyond an emergency. However, it's by making a variant that's permanent where the item really shines, as you get each of the abilities usable once per day, so you don't have to choose whether to get a boost to your spellcasting or a ready-to-use summon.

The Eversmoking Bottle is another of those items, like the Dust of Dryness, that went from "meh" to "must-have", but this one definitely went straight into MacGyvering. You don't get merely ONE effect from the bottle; you get essentially ALL the Core "fog" spells around, including Mind Fog. If you have vials of acid, holy water or alchemist's fire at hand, you can create just about any fog effect at-will, which helps in a variety of ways: instant kill, incineration, escape, suffocation, making people more submissive to enchantments, blindness, nausea, smoke signals...wait, smoke signals? Well, I figured that most people might attempt to wing this out, so I made it part of the Lore, making the item instantly more interesting.

That leaves the Elixirs, and once again, my Chemistry studies made them far more interesting than before. In particular, the Elixirs of Love and Truth blur the line between buffing and debuffing, making them pretty risky but also pretty satisfactory. The Elixir of Love, being based off a love philter, can make someone "irredemably" fall in love, but echoing the idea of drinks as "courage shots", also improves general Charisma; the effect was based off a single Will save, so you'll want to use it even if your Will save is insanely high because you can get a boost out of it. The Elixir of Truth is obviously based off sodium pentobarbitol, also known as "truth serum", and its effects are somewhat replicated with this, but the effect you get when you conquer its Will save is particularly good, as it's the second item that allows you to bypass the dreaded Glibness spell. The fact that you can use it whenever you suspect someone might be under a Glibness effect makes it triply useful. The Elixirs of Dragon's Breath are a natural extension of the Elixir of Fiery Breath, and a stealth buff to the Drunken Master as its ability to breathe fire is based off this item. Martial characters, of course, get the most benefit from this item, but they can also partake of the Improved and Greater versions in order to benefit from the increased range. The Elixirs of Sneaking, Swimming and Vision also got much-needed buffs, with the first adding Invisibility and Silence rather than a piddling bonus to Move Silently, the second adding swim speed and water breathing, and the last granting the same bonus to Search, a commensurate bonus to Spot checks, and the earliest access to True Seeing, boosted if you have improved visual acuity. The Elixir of Hiding no longer exists as it was merged with the Elixir of Sneaking.

And, as a final bit: the Giant isn't the only one who gets its jokes referenced in this project. Another very famous webcartoonist's work also gets referenced. Now, how do I make references to the famous Canadian trio...?

T.G. Oskar

2014-02-06, 06:20 PM

GEM OF BRIGHTNESS
Price (Item Level): 15,000 gp (14th)
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) evocation
Activation: Standard (command)
Weight: --

This crystal appears to be a long, rough prism. It seems to shine with its own light.

When activated, a gem of brightness emits light as per a bullseye or hooded lantern, chosen at the time of activation.
The gem of brightness has three charges. By expending a charge, the owner of a gem of brightness can deliver a focused ray of light (or a burst of light) that causes one of the following:
1 charge: emit a ray of light that works as per a searing light spell
2 charges: emits a ray of light that works as per a searing light spell, except that the target must also succeed on a saving throw (Fortitude DC 14) or become blinded for 1d4 rounds.
3 charges: emits a burst of light that blinds all creatures within a 30-ft. cone for 1d4 rounds (Fortitude save DC 14)

If a character has levels in the fighter class (or effective fighter levels), the light from the gem of brightness become more potent. The searing light effect’s caster level is equal to the owner’s effective fighter level (minimum CL 5th), and the saving throw for the blindness effect is equal to 10 + half the owner’s effective fighter levels + the owner’s Charisma modifier. A cleric may use its effective cleric level to turn undead (but not to rebuke undead), and the paladin may use its class level, its effective fighter level or its effective cleric level to turn undead, whichever is the highest.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

GLIMMERING DUST
Price (Item Level): 1,000 gp (4th)
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) conjuration
Activation: standard (use)
Weight: --

This fine powder seems to be a very fine, very light metallic dust that glimmers in the presence of light. It is stored within a silk packet, hollowed bone, or small and thin glass flasks.

When thrown (whether into the air or as a splash weapon), glimmering dust duplicates the effect of a glitterdust spell that lasts for 5 minutes (Will DC 13), except as follows: any creatures blinded by the dust are affected for 1d4 rounds, and the dust reveals any kind of invisibility, whether natural, caused by a spell or magic item. For purposes of precedence, if a spell or magic item has a type of invisibility that cannot be dispelled (such as that of a dust of appearance), glimmering dust will always reveal the subject except for Hide checks, which are instead affected by the penalty to the check.

A character with levels in the fighter class (or effective fighter levels) improves the Will save DC of the glittering dust; the DC is instead equal to 10 + half the thrower’s effective fighter levels + the thrower’s Strength or Dexterity modifier. The duration, however, remains the same.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

GOLEM MANUAL
Price (Item Level): 13,000 gp (flesh; 13th), 17,125 gp (clay; 14th), 28,200 gp (stone; 16th), 42,100 gp (iron; 17th), 51,000 gp (greater stone; 18th)
Caster Level: 13th (clay or flesh), 14th (stone), 15th (iron) or 16th (greater stone)
Aura: Strong; (DC 21 to 23) varies
Activation: Standard (command)
Weight: 5 lb.

This heavy tome has a rare cover made of stone or hardened clay tablets, iron plaques, tanned flesh or other such materials. Within the tome there are specific instructions to create a golem, of the same kind, explained in such a way that anyone capable of reading can make one.

A complete resource for anyone who attempts to make a golem, the golem manual offers a series of benefits that allow creating a golem step-by-step. First, a golem manual grants the user a +10 circumstance bonus on all Craft checks required to craft a golem, but only for the explicit purpose of crafting said golem. Second, the tome allows the user to qualify for all prerequisites needed to create the golem (thus, the user is treated as if having the Craft Construct feat, but only for the purpose of creating golems). Third, the tome contains all spells required for the specific golem; while contained within the pages, they are not considered scrolls. The user of this manual cannot inscribe the spells into a spellbook, and does not need to have any degree of spellcasting ability to use them. Fourth, the manual provides all required experience to craft the golem; the experience is “expended” by the book during the creation process.

Once a golem is constructed by means of this tome, the user must burn the manual and sprinkle its ashes on it for its activation. A golem is considered complete once its body is finished. If the golem is not activated within 24 hours of its completion, the golem’s body is completely ruined and the writing within the manual disappears.

Clay Golem Manual: contains animate objects, bless, commune and resurrection; grants +10 circumstance bonus to Craft (sculpting) and Craft (pottery) checks, supplies 1,540 XP
Flesh Golem Manual: contains animate dead, bull’s strength, geas/quest and limited wish; supplies 780 XP
Greater Stone Golem Manual: contains antimagic field, geas/quest, slow, symbol of stunning; grants +10 circumstance bonus to Craft (sculpting) or Craft (stonemasonry) checks, supplies 7,640 xp
Iron Golem Manual: contains cloudkill, geas/quest, limited wish, polymoprh any object; grants +10 circumstance bonus to Craft (blacksmithing) checks, supplies 5,600 xp
Stone Golem Manual: contains geas/quest, slow, symbol of stunning; grants +10 circumstance bonus to Craft (sculpting) or Craft (stonemasonry) checks, supplies 3,400 xp

Prerequisites: varies
Cost to Create: varies

HARP OF CHARMING
Price (Item Level): 3,750 (normal; 8th) gp or 21,000 gp (greater; 15th)
Caster Level: 5th (normal) or 7th (greater)
Aura: Faint to moderate; (DC 17 or 18) enchantment
Activation: Standard (activation)
Weight: 5 lbs.

This instrument is a finely carved golden lap-harp. The music emanating from the strings is sweet and lovely, even when just strumming them with the fingers.

By succeeding on a DC 15 Perform (string instruments) check, the player of a harp of charming can attempt to charm a single humanoid, as per the charm person spell (Will DC 11). By increasing the skill check DC by 5, the player may attempt to charm one more person within 30 ft. of the player. Whether the target fails or succeeds on the check, it may be affected only once per day by the harp of charming.

A character with levels in bard increases the save DC of the charm effect by 1 for every five ranks in Perform (string instruments) above the first five (thus, a bard with 9 ranks in Perform [string instruments] can use a charming effect with a save DC of 12). Furthermore, any creature charmed by the harp of charming is treated as fascinated by the bard’s fascinate bardic music ability for purposes of the suggestion effect.

Special: A more powerful version of the harp exists. A harp of greater charming works exactly as the harp of charming, except if affects any kind of creature (instead of a humanoid) and the save DC for the effect is 16. A bard improves the save DC of the harp of greater charming for every five ranks in Perform (string instruments) after the first ten.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

HORN OF BLASTING
Price (Item Level): 20,000 gp (normal; 15th) or 70,000 gp (greater; 18th)
Caster Level: 7th (normal) or 15th (greater)
Aura: Moderate to strong; (DC 18 or 22) evocation
Activation: Standard (command)
Weight: 1 lb.

This brass trumpet has a horn wider than the norm. Even attempting to play with a soft blow delivers a loud sound.

A horn of blasting is treated as a masterwork horn or trumpet, and thus grants a +2 competence bonus to Perform (wind instruments) checks. By speaking a command word (usually “fierce cry” in Auran) and playing the instrument, the instrument releases a 30-ft. cone that deals 5d6 points of sonic damage and causes the target to become deafened for 2d6 rounds; a Fortitude save halves the damage and negates the deafening effect. Against brittle or crystalline objects and creatures, the horn of blasting deals 7d6 points of damage (Will DC 16 half if item is held, worn or carried by a creature).

A character with levels in the bard class (or that have the bardic music ability) makes the effect of a horn of blasting harder to resist. For every five ranks in the Perform (wind instruments) after the first ten, the save DC of the effect increases by 1 (thus, a bard with 15 ranks in Perform [wind instruments] playing the instrument imposes a save DC of 17 against the effect).

Special: A more potent version of the horn of blasting exists. A horn of greater blasting works exactly as a horn of blasting, except as follows: creatures within the cone take 10d6 points of damage, becomes stunned for 1 round and deafened for 4d6 rounds (Fortitude save 19 halves damage, negates stun and deafening); brittle or crystalline objects or creatures take 15d6 points of damage (Will DC 19 half if item is held, worn or carried by a creature), and the save DC increases by 1 for every five ranks in Perform (wind instruments) over the first 18.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

HORN OF GOODNESS/EVIL
Price (Item Level): 43,200 gp (17th)
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: Strong; (DC 22) evocation [good or evil]
Activation: Standard (command)
Weight: 1 lb.

This is a large brass trumpet used to announce important people. Sometimes, it takes on a magnificent luster, and at times it seems to absorb all light.

This horn works only when blown by a character with good or evil alignment; when used by a character with neutral alignment, the horn of goodness/evil has no effect. To use this item, the character must first utter the command word (“purity” in Celestial or “corruption” in Abyssal or Infernal) and then blow the trumpet. A character of good alignment blowing the horn duplicates the effect of a holy word spell cast by a 15th level cleric, except as follows: only evil creatures within a 40-ft. cone are afflicted. A character of evil alignment blowing the horn instead duplicates the effect of a blasphemy spell. A horn of goodness/evil can be used only once per day.

A character with levels in bard (or the bardic music class feature) can manifest greater effects from the horn of goodness/evil. When attempting to inspire courage, the character may choose to grant a sacred (if good) or profane (if evil) bonus instead of a morale bonus, but its effects only apply against creatures with the same alignment as the player. Furthermore, if the character has 18 ranks in the Perform (wind instruments) skill, it may expend five daily uses of bardic music to activate the holy word (if good) or blasphemy (if evil) effect one more time per day, with an effective caster level equal to its ranks in Perform.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

INCENSE OF MEDITATION
Price (Item Level): 2,100 gp (Extend Spell; 6th), 2,800 gp (Heighten Spell – +1 DC; 7th), 3,500 gp (Empower Spell; 8th), 4,900 gp (Maximize Spell or Widen Spell; 9th), 5,400 gp (Heighten Spell – +2 DC; 10th), 8,800 gp (Heighten Spell – +3 DC; 12th), 13,000 gp (Heighten Spell – +4 DC; 13th), 18,000 gp (Heighten Spell – +5 DC; 14th)
Caster Level: 7th (Extend, Empower, Maximize or Widen Spell; Heighten Spell +1 DC), 9th (Heighten Spell +2 DC), 11th (Heighten Spell +3 DC), 13th (Heighten Spell +4 DC), 15th (Heighten Spell +5 DC)
Aura: Moderate to strong (DC 18 to 22); enchantment
Activation: Standard (use-activated)
Weight: 1 lb.

This small rectangular block of sweet-smelling incense is visually indistinguishable from nonmagical incense. When lit, the special fragrance and pearly-hued smoke becomes instantly recognizable to erudites in magical matters.

Recognizing incense of meditation and its particular effect when lit requires a Spellcraft check against DC 15. When a divine spellcaster lights a block of incense of meditation and spends 8 hours meditating and praying nearby, the incense improves all spells it prepares.

There are several types of incense of meditation, each keyed to a particular metamagic feat: Empower Spell, Extend Spell, Heighten Spell (with different degrees of improvement), Maximize Spell and Widen Spell. All spells prepared when using the incense of meditation gain the benefit of the metamagic feat, but without requiring higher-level spell slots to prepare. In the case of Heighten Spell, the prepared spell instead has its saving throw DC (if any) increased by the indicated amount.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem), Empower Spell (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#empowerSpell), Extend Spell (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#extendSpell), Heighten Spell (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#heightenSpell), Maximize Spell (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#maximizeSpell) or Widen Spell (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#widenSpell), ability to cast divine spells of 5th level or higher.
Cost to Create:

INSTANT FORTRESS
Price (Item Level): 55,000 gp (18th)
Caster Level: 13th
Aura: Strong (DC 21); conjuration
Activation: Standard (command)
Weight: --

This small metallic cube has intricate etchings of a fortress-tower, with each side of the cube etched in such a way all sides of the tower can be seen. If turned, the sides move to always show the tower standing upright, its roof facing the sky.

Activating the instant fortress immediately causes the cube to grow and form a tower 20 feet square and 30 feet high, with arrow slits on all sides and a battlement (a low wall with slits, or crenels, at equal intervals to allow projectile weapons to be fired) atop. The walls of the instant fortress are made of adamantine (with 100 hit points and hardness 20) and extend 10 feet into the ground, rooting it to the desired spot.

The instant fortress is comprised of four floors, each floor reaching 10 ft. high (the roof with battlement is treated as a fourth floor and thus ignores roof height, but not width). The first room has a small table and up to five seats that can be used for planning or dining purposes; the second and third floors are largely empty, and all floors are connected with a metallic stair and a makeshift hand-crank lift for purposes of transporting objects (up to 50 lbs.) between floors. Aside from the lift, the table, the seats and the stair (all bearing the same mark), the fortress is devoid of other furniture. The temperature inside the fortress is temperate, and all individuals inside are affected as per an endure elements spell, which makes the fortress an excellent refuge when resting (creatures in the battlement are affected by the environment, as usual).

The only way to access the inner fortress is through a door at the first floor, or the stairs and lift at the roof. The door, as well as covers within the stairs and the lift, are made of heavy adamantine and cannot be broken, lifted or opened save for its owner. The door and covers open automatically whenever the owner commands them to, and they do not need to be opened at once. The fortress cannot be entered by any other means; teleportation attempts inside the fortress automatically fail, the door and the covers cannot be opened by the knock spell, and the adamantine walls make spells like passwall worthless (even if attempting to enter below the surface; the lowermost floor of the fortress is likewise made of adamantine). The walls of the fortress (and the lowermost floor) are immune to acid and rust, cannot be used for the fabricate spell as construction materials, and cannot be altered by any means; however, opponents may attempt to sunder the walls as normal (provided they bypass the hardness of the walls). The walls can be affected by chill metal or heat metal. The magic within the walls projects to the Ethereal Plane, and thus prevents incorporeal creatures from crossing by any means. If the walls take damage, they may be repaired by means of a repair damage spell (see Spell Compendium), a wish or a miracle (both restoring up to 50 hit points). The walls cannot be permanently enchanted, but they can be temporarily improved through magic spells (the spell effects are immediately lost once the fortress is deactivated).

Once active, the fortress assembles itself in 1 round, with the door facing the device’s owner. Any person or creature nearby (except for the owner) must be careful not to get caught by the fortress’ sudden growth; anyone caught within the range is automatically pushed to the boundaries of the fortress and take 10d10 points of damage (Reflex DC 19 half). If the fortress has to be assembled within a small area (for example, between two natural or artificial walls with a width less than 20 ft. but more than 5 ft.), the fortress grows to accommodate the width, and temporarily reinforces the surrounding walls up to the normal distance of the fortress (for example, if the fortress is assembled between a pass 15 ft. wide, the fortress has a width of 20 ft. at both open sides of the pass, 15 ft. width between the two walls of the pass, and the surrounding material is hardened as if made of adamantine until the total width of the fortress and the walls equals 20 ft.); this allows to create immediate fortifications and blockages.

Deactivating the instant fortress requires a second command word (different from the one used to activate it), and cannot be deactivated unless its empty. The fortress is defined as empty if it holds no person, creature or object other than those the fortress already had (the stairs, the lift, the door and covers, the table and the seats, which all hold their characteristic mark). Any object taken away from the fortress (such as the seats) immediately disappears once the fortress is reactivated, and anything it holds is carefully placed in the same square; the object returns to the fortress for later use.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

IRON BANDS OF BINDING
Price (Item Level): 26,000 gp (binding; 16th or 46,000 gp (binding and crushing; 17th)
Caster Level: 13th (binding) or 17th (binding and crushing)
Aura: Strong (DC 21 or 23); evocation
Activation: Standard (command)
Weight: 1 lb.

This 3-in. rusty iron sphere has bandings on the globe. It is difficult to see what’s inside the sphere, though, as the bands are tightly wrapped all over the sphere.

When the proper command word is spoken and the spherical iron device is hurled at the opponent, the bands expand and then contract to bind the target creature on a successful ranged touch attack. A single Large or smaller creature can be captured and thus held immobile until the command word is spoken to bring the bands into spherical form again. The iron bands are immune to rust effects (such as the rusting grasp spell or the rusting effect of a rust monster), but behave as metal for all other purposes (such as being affected by chill metal or heat metal). A creature may attempt to break the bands with a DC 30 Strength check (ruining the bands until the owner or an ally spends 520 experience points and casts a make whole spell on the remains) or escape with a DC 30 Escape Artist check.

If the owner of this item has effective fighter levels, the Strength check DC to escape the iron bands is equal to 15 + the owner’s effective fighter level or 30, whichever is higher.

Iron bands of binding may be used once per day.

Special: Some iron bands of binding are designed to constrict the opponent if uncooperative. These iron bands of binding and crushing work exactly as normal iron bands, except the DC to break the checks is equal to 35, the DC to escape the checks is equal to 40, and by using a second command word, the bands can be ordered to constrict the opponent, dealing 2d6+12 points of lethal damage every turn. Owners with effective fighter levels have the Strength check DC of iron bands of binding and crushing equal to 35 or 18 + effective fighter level, the Escape Artist check DC equal to 40 or 25 + effective fighter level, and the amount of damage dealt by constriction equal to its effective fighter level or 12, whichever is higher.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

IRON FLASK
Price (Item Level): 150,000 gp (23rd)
Caster Level: 20th
Aura: Strong (DC 25); conjuration
Activation: Standard (command)
Weight: 1 lb.

This small flask is completely made of iron, save for inlaid runes of silver and a brass plug engraved with sigils, glyphs and special symbols.

When the user of an iron flask speaks the command word, he can force any extraplanar creature into the container, provided the creature fails a Will save (DC 19). For purposes of this item, “extraplanar” refers to any creature not native to the Material Plane, Ethereal Plane or Plane of Shadow; the user of the iron flask may use this item on the Inner or Outer Planes against creatures native to those planes, but cannot use it on those planes to capture a creature native to the Material, Ethereal or Shadow planes. The creature to be captured must be within 60 feet of the flask, and only one creature can be contained at a time.

The iron flask can be used to contain the creature, but if the user speaks the command word while liberated (by loosing the stopper plug), the creature can be forced to serve for up to 1 hour (as if the user had successfully negotiated with the creature by means of a planar binding spell). If the creature is freed from the flask without the command word, it acts according to its natural inclinations, usually attacking the user unless it perceives a good reason not to. Subsequent attempts to force the creature into the flask provide it a stacking +2 bonus on its saving throw; even if freed through the command word, the creature becomes hostile and gains a Will saving throw to negate the compulsion to serve. Destroying the flask immediately frees the creature as if the command word wasn’t given.

Generally (50% of the time), an iron flask is found empty, but on occasions, the flask holds a trapped creature. If the creature is freed, it has a 50% chance (roll a d%) to offer a favor to the liberator, or the creature instead immediately attacks. If the creature is chaotic, the chance to aid the liberator increases to 60%; if the creature is evil, the favor usually comes with a caveat, and if chaotic evil, the creature attacks 60% of the times. A newly discovered bottle might contain any of the following:

{TABLE="class: grid"]d%Contentsd%Contents
01Balor50-60Medium elemental
02Rakshasa61-64Formian taskmaster
03-05Succubus65-69Large elemental
06-08Glabrezu70-74Salamander
09-12Hezrou75-79Formian myrmarch
13-16Vrock80-84Huge elemental
17-20Ghaele85-88Avoral
21-25Elder arrowhawk89-92Osyluth
26-30Adult tojanida93-95Barbazu
31-35Chaos beast96-98Erinyes
36-41Arrowhawk99Cornugon
42-49Xorn100Pit fiend[/TABLE]

Once the command word for an iron flask has been used to capture a creature, it cannot be used again except to liberate the creature; otherwise, it may be used as many times per day as desired.

Lore: The first iron flasks were created by powerful demon-binders of a forgotten empire. Its traffic with demons led to its destruction, but the secrets to demon binding remain very much alive and well. The iron flask was the natural result of the demon-binders’ original trapping method, an iron token the size of a large amulet that combined the effects of a magic circle against evil and a dimensional anchor spell; the flask allowed the demon-binder to capture the creature and eventually bind it into service at a more powerful trap. After the fall of the empire, more unscrupulous conjurers used it to bind all kinds of creatures to their service.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

Note: if the table seems broken, it's because of the upcoming forum changes. If the table seems right, ignore this.

LENS OF DETECTION
Price (Item Level): 5,000 gp (9th)
Caster Level: 9th
Aura: Moderate (DC 19); divination
Activation: --
Weight: 1 lb.

This circular prism is about 6 inches in diameter, set in a frame with a handle. Seeing through it enables detecting minute details and aids in following tracks.

The wielder of lens of detection gains a +5 bonus on Search checks and Survival checks when tracking. If the user of lens of detection casts a detect spell of any kind (such as detect evil or detect magic; this also works with spell-like abilities), it may use the lens of detection as a focus, doubling the area of effect to 120 ft.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

LENS OF SEEING
Price (Item Level): 75,000 gp (19th)
Body Slot: Face; see text
Caster Level: 10th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) divination
Activation: --
Weight: 1 lb.

This finely polished lens has no distinction to any other kind of lens. By looking at it closely, things seem to look sharp.

A character looking through the lens of seeing observes things as they really are, similar to the effects of a true seeing spell. This effect is always active.

The lens of seeing can be used in several ways. If adapted to a face mount, it takes the same space as a magic item worn in the face; the size of the lens of seeing usually cover almost half the face. Alternatively, it can be mounted on a handle and held on the hand, as if a magnifying glass. A third method is mounted on a bullseye lantern or similar tool, replacing its usual lens; in that case, all creatures within range of the light beam have their true forms superimposed over them, but only up to 1 hour. After being used for 1 hour, the lens of seeing becomes inert for one day.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

LUCK STONE
Price (Item Level): 14,000 gp (14th)
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Faint; (DC 18) evocation
Activation: Standard (command)
Weight: --

This small charm is made of a green semiprecious stone cut in the shape of a three-leaved clover. Holding it makes you feel luckier.

This stone, usually held by a small bit of rope and hung to clothing, improves its wearer’s luck. Once per day, the owner of a luck stone may invoke its power and gain a +1 luck bonus to all saving throws, ability checks and skill checks for 7 rounds.

If the owner of a luck stone is a cleric with the Luck domain, has a luck-based ability or class feature (but not by means of magic items) to reroll any roll or has at least one luck feat (see Complete Scoundrel for more details on luck feats), it may make an additional use of the domain’s granted power, ability, class feature or feat, but the luck stone shatters afterwards.

Special: A strange variant of the luck stone, usually made of emerald in the shape of a four-leaf clover, holds a more potent effect. This version of the luck stone constantly grants its wearer with a +1 luck bonus to all saving throws, ability checks and skill checks, and allows the use of a luck reroll from the Luck domain’s granted power, a special ability or class feature, or a luck feat without destroying the stone, but only once per day. This unique luck stone has a cost of 77,000 gp.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem), crafter must have access to the Luck domain or at least three luck feats (see Complete Scoundrel)
Cost to Create:

LYRE OF BUILDING
Price (Item Level): 13,000 gp (13th)
Caster Level: 6th
Aura: Faint (DC 18); transmutation
Activation: Standard (command)
Weight: 5 lbs.

This lyre is intricately constructed. When played, the walls and foundations of buildings seem to hum as harmoniously as its player.

If the proper chords are struck, a single use of this lyre negates any attacks made against all inanimate construction (walls, roof, floor and so on) within 300 ft. This includes the effects of a horn of blasting, a disintegrate spell, or an attack from a ram or similar siege weapon. This effect may be used three times per day, and its protection lasts for 30 minutes.

Alternatively, the lyre of building can be used with respect to buildings and strongholds, either to construct them magically or assist in their construction. To use this ability, the user of the lyre of building must succeed on a Perform (string instruments) DC 18 check, and must have the materials at hand. As well, the player must use the lyre without interruption for 8 hours. Without any assistance, the lyre of building constructs the equivalent of 1,500 gp worth of materials in one day, but can only construct buildings, mines, tunnels, ditches and other fortifications. Determine the total cost of a stronghold before using the lyre, and then divide the total result by 1,500 gp to determine the total amount of days required to complete. If the lyre of building is used to speed the construction of a stronghold (assume having enough workers to construct at a rate of 10,000 gp worth of materials per week), playing for 8 straight hours improves the construction speed of a stronghold at the equivalent of 3,000 gp worth of materials in a day (thus, constructing a stronghold would take three days and a half if played during three straight days); if the construction is not based on materials (such as a tunnel or a ditch), then assume the work of 100 humans laboring for three days (around thirty 10-ft. cubes). Alternatively, the lyre of building can be used to reduce the total cost of building a stronghold; by playing the lyre for 1 hour each week, the player can reduce the cost of building a stronghold by 15%; if playing for 2 hours, the cost is reduced by a maximum total of 30%. The owner of a lyre of building can choose to speed up construction or reduce construction price, but not both. This effect may only be used once per day.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

MANUAL OF BODILY HEALTH
Price (Item Level): 17,300 gp (+1; 14th), 23,300 gp (+2; 15th), 25,950 gp (improve by +1; 16th), 33,300 gp (+3, 16th), 34,950 gp (improve by +2; 16th), 47,300 gp (+4, 17th), 49,950 gp (improve by +3; 18th), 65,300 gp (+5; 19th), 70,950 gp (improve by +4; 19th)
Caster Level: 17th
Aura: Strong (DC 23); evocation
Activation: --
Weight: 5 lbs.

This thick tome contains an extensive study on the body processes, digestion, nutrition, health and fitness, including the multitude of “weird tricks” to gain or lose weight. Putting these tips in practice may actually improve health.

By reading this book, which takes a total of 48 hours over a minimum of six days, the reader of a manual of bodily health gains an inherent bonus of +1 to its Constitution score. Once the book is read, the magic disappears from the pages and becomes a useless book.

Special: The manual of bodily health exists in at least eight different variants. Half of these variants grant an increasing inherent bonus to Constitution (from a +2 to a +5), while the remaining half (manuals of improved bodily health) grant readers of earlier books to improve their existing inherent score by the indicated amount. A character may never have an inherent bonus to their Constitution score higher than 5; thus, if a character with a +2 inherent bonus to its Constitution reads a manual of improved bodily health +4, it improves its inherent Constitution bonus to a +5, not to a +6.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

MANUAL OF GAINFUL EXERCISE
Price (Item Level): 17,300 gp (+1; 14th), 23,300 gp (+2; 15th), 25,950 gp (improve by +1; 16th), 33,300 gp (+3, 16th), 34,950 gp (improve by +2; 16th), 47,300 gp (+4, 17th), 49,950 gp (improve by +3; 18th), 65,300 gp (+5; 19th), 70,950 gp (improve by +4; 19th)
Caster Level: 17th
Aura: Strong (DC 23); evocation
Activation: --
Weight: 5 lbs.

This thick tome contains a combination of exercises and diet suggestions, almost always given as “weird tricks” to improve its reader’s physical strength. The contents herein seem like hoaxes, but with enough truth intertwined to make them believable.

By reading this book, which takes a total of 48 hours over a minimum of six days, the reader of a manual of gainful exercise gains an inherent bonus of +1 to its Strength score. Once the book is read, the magic disappears from the pages and becomes a useless book.

Special: The manual of gainful exercise exists in at least eight different variants. Half of these variants grant an increasing inherent bonus to Strength (from a +2 to a +5), while the remaining half (manuals of improved gainful exercise) allow readers of earlier books to improve their existing inherent score by the indicated amount. A character may never have an inherent bonus to their Strength score higher than 5; thus, if a character with a +2 inherent bonus to its Strength reads a manual of improved gainful exercise +4, it improves its inherent Strength bonus to a +5, not to a +6.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

MANUAL OF QUICKNESS OF ACTION
Price (Item Level): 17,300 gp (+1; 14th), 23,300 gp (+2; 15th), 25,950 gp (improve by +1; 16th), 33,300 gp (+3, 16th), 34,950 gp (improve by +2; 16th), 47,300 gp (+4, 17th), 49,950 gp (improve by +3; 18th), 65,300 gp (+5; 19th), 70,950 gp (improve by +4; 19th)
Caster Level: 17th
Aura: Strong (DC 23); evocation
Activation: --
Weight: 5 lbs.

This thick tome contains a combination of exercises and gymnastics to improve the wearer’s agility. Unlike the other two manuals, this one does not contain “weird tricks”.

By reading this book, which takes a total of 48 hours over a minimum of six days, the reader of a manual of quickness of action gains an inherent bonus of +1 to its Dexterity score. Once the book is read, the magic disappears from the pages and becomes a useless book.

Special: The manual of quickness of action exists in at least eight different variants. Half of these variants grant an increasing inherent bonus to Dexterity (from a +2 to a +5), while the remaining half (manuals of improved quickness of action) grant readers of earlier books to improve their existing inherent score by the indicated amount. A character may never have an inherent bonus to their Dexterity score higher than 5; thus, if a character with a +2 inherent bonus to its Dexterity reads a manual of improved quickness of action +4, it improves its inherent Dexterity bonus to a +5, not to a +6.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

MIRROR OF LIFE TRAPPING
Price (Item Level): 193,000 gp (25th)
Caster Level: 17th
Aura: Strong (DC 23); abjuration
Activation: Standard (command)
Weight: 50 lbs.

This fine mirror is usually a 4 feet square framed in metal or wood, meant to be hung or placed in a surface.

A mirror of life trapping has fifteen nonspatial extradimensional compartments within it. Any creature within 30 ft. of the device that looks at its own reflection must make a DC 23 Will save or be trapped within the mirror in one of the cells. A creature not aware of the nature of the device is considered to always see its own reflection; reduce this probability to 50% if the creature is aware of the mirror’s effect and seeks to avoid it (treat the effect of the mirror as a gaze attack for all purposes). If the owner of the mirror knows the name of an individual and some facts about its life (this includes knowing the individual’s personal truename; see Tome of Magic for more details about personal truenames), it can set the mirror as a trap to capture only that individual, increasing the saving throw DC by 4.

When a creature is trapped, it is taken bodily into the mirror. The creature’s size is not a factor, but it must be capable of recognizing its own reflection; creatures with an Intelligence score of 1 or 2 are not affected, nor vampires (or any creature that casts no reflection, such as invisible stalkers). Inanimate objects and nonliving matter are likewise unaffected. The victim’s equipment (such as clothing and personal possessions) remains behind. Once trapped, if the mirror’s owner knows (and speaks) the right command word, the powerless prisoner’s reflection appears in the mirror’s surface and the owner may engage in conversation.

A trapped creature can be freed in one of four ways: by having the mirror’s owner speak a command word, by exceeding the mirror’s capacity (in which case one of the victims is randomly set free), by breaking the mirror (in which case all trapped creatures are freed) or by casting a freedom spell in front of the mirror.

The command word to engage with a prisoner and set said prisoner free are unique to each creature. The command word to activate or deactivate the mirror is independent of each creature.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

MIRROR OF MENTAL PROWESS
Price (Item Level): 156,780 gp (23rd) or 259,420 gp (greater; 28th)
Caster Level: 13th or 17th
Aura: Strong (DC 21 to 23); divination
Activation: Standard (command)
Weight: 40 lbs.

This mirror resembles an ordinary looking glass 5 feet tall by 2 feet wide. The reflection on the mirror is weak, akin to the reflection on a window, but still noticeable.

The mirror of mental prowess allows its owner to read thoughts, see far-away places and even answer specific questions. Each function has its own command word.

By speaking the first command word (usually related to “ruminate” or “read”), the owner of the mirror can read the thoughts of any creature reflected in the mirror, as long as the owner is within 30 ft. of it. The owner can read the thoughts as per the detect thoughts spell, but without requiring a Will save; however, aside from creatures of animal intelligence, the thoughts are relayed in the creature’s language. The mirror only allows reading the creature’s thoughts; its effect makes it unsuitable for other purposes.

By speaking the second command word (usually related to “observe”), the owner may view other places as per the effect of a clairvoyance/clairaudience spell, except as follows. The owner can see beyond other planes if sufficiently familiar with them. The owner must specify details about the area to observe; if details are too scarce or have changed (for example, requesting the mirror to “observe young master Harmond’s bedroom at Lord Harmond’s summer manor”), the mirror may not comply at all (the manor no longer exists, there is no bedroom that fulfills the requirement [the young master has moved from the house, for example, or no longer exists]), or fulfill the request in the best way possible, (the “young master” has grown and a brother has taken his place).

By speaking a third command word (almost always “pursue” or “scry”), the owner may use the mirror to scry upon a single individual, as the spell. The saving throw DC to resist the scrying effect is 16, and the owner of the mirror cannot cast spells through the sensor, unlike the spell.

By speaking a fourth command word (usually “analyze”), the mirror accurately answers one short question regarding a creature or object whose image is shown on its surface. The answers given are similar to those from the legend lore spell. Unlike the other effects, this effect works only once per day.

Special: A more powerful version of the mirror of mental prowess exists, allowing for additional uses:
The owner may listen to thoughts when using the first command word while within 60 ft. of the mirror.
When using the third command word to scry on an individual, the saving throw DC for the effect is 20, and the owner may cast spells as if casting a greater scrying spell.
The owner may combine commands. For example, the owner may use the clairvoyance effect on an area, then use the scrying command by touching a creature it sees on the mirror. As well, while using the clairvoyance or scrying effects, the owner may attempt to read thoughts through the sensor, though the target is allowed a Will save to negate the effects.
The legend lore effect of the mirror may be used at-will, rather than once per day.
As a special use once per week, when using the clairvoyance or scrying effects, the owner may utter a final command word and create a portal leading to the desired location. The mirror’s image serves as the portal, and others can follow through the mirror if they like. An invisible portal remains on the other side where the owner arrives, and the owner may return through that portal, which closes afterwards. The portal closes on its own after 24 hours (trapping the user if still on the other place), and the user can also close it with a command word. Creatures with Intelligence of 12 or higher may notice the portal just as they may notice a magical sensor from a scrying spell. Any creature who steps through the portal appears in front of the mirror, but the portal is not closed until the owner steps through it or the mirror is shattered (in which case it loses all its effects).

This mirror of greater mental prowess emits a strong conjuration aura in addition to its divination aura.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

MIRROR OF OPPOSITION
Price (Item Level): 216,000 gp (26th)
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: Strong (DC 22); necromancy
Activation: Standard (command)
Weight: 45 lbs.

This item resembles a normal mirror about 5 feet long and 3 feet wide, which can be hung or placed on a surface. The reflection on the mirror sometimes looks off; the colors are the opposite, or facing in a strange way, leaving an unsettling impression.

When speaking the command word to activate, a mirror of opposition creates an exact duplicate of the creature, down to its possessions and in the same condition, with one exception: the duplicate is in some way the opposite of the original, and always has hostile intent against it. For example, a right-handed fighter may face a left-handed one, a good-aligned cleric may face an evil-aligned one, a paladin faces a warrior that holds the opposite of his powers, a monk focused on unarmed strikes and stunning attacks may face a grappler, and so forth. The duplicate lasts until its defeat, or until it defeats the original (terms of defeat may include lowering its hit points to 0, forcing it to escape, or even killing the opponent), upon which its items also disappear. The duplicate does not count as an enemy for purposes of determining experience points or treasure, but at the Dungeon Master’s discretion, it may qualify for entry into a prestige class (particularly one that requires defeating an opponent of equal Challenge Rating). The owner of the mirror has no control over the duplicates, but is immune to the effect of the mirror itself.

If the owner of the mirror knows the personal truename of an individual, it can attempt to alter the ending result of the duplicate. To do so, the owner must make a Truespeak check with a DC equal to 15 + twice the individual’s Hit Dice before or after speaking the command word to activate the mirror. If successful, the owner may replace one aspect of the individual, plus one for every two points in which the check exceeds the DC. The owner may replace the individual’s race (so as long as the end result has the same level adjustment and racial Hit Dice, if applicable; else, every racial HD or level adjustment added or removed counts as one change of aspect), class, feat, prepared or known spells, alternate class features (see Player’s Handbook II for more details), physical traits (such as gender, height or weight) or age (only if changing from one age category to another). The owner of the mirror may attempt to change equipment, but only if the end result has roughly the same cost as the original (thus, the owner of the mirror may attempt to change a +2 flaming longsword into a +1 holy longsword or a +2 frost greatsword, but not into a +5 holy bastard sword of flaming burst because the end cost would be too excessive; likewise, the owner may change a +1 chain shirt into a +1 studded leather, but not into a +1 mithral shirt or a +1 chain mail). This effect lasts until the specific individual is affected by the mirror. The owner of the mirror knows the duplicate’s personal truename and may attempt to bind it into service with a successful Truespeak check against the original creature’s same DC, but with a +4 bonus. Regardless of the changes, the duplicate still ceases to exist once defeated, or once it defeats the original.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

Since I'm unsure of how many space I actually have, let's go in deep with the usually "broken" items that got retooled and just speak briefly of the rest.

The first, and most important of the changes, was on the Lyre of Building. The biggest problem was with the small bit of "[...]equal to the work of 100 humans laboring for three days", which wasn't really clear. The newer version, aside from having more uses of the base effect (protect fortifications), uses a more sensible approximation in terms of costs; you get a flat 15,000 gp/day progress, no less and no more. With the addition of reducing costs, the Lyre of Building got a massive improvement.

On to the Incense of Meditation: the original was a pretty cool item that allowed the user to prepare all divine spells as if Maximized. I ran with that and decided to work nearly all Core metamagic feats, including Heighten, but with the clear exception of Quicken Spell, which I wouldn't EVER allow. Technically, this is a massive buff rather than a nerf, but you can control which ones are available.

The Dust of Appearance, or rather, the new and improved Glittering Dust, is a way to provide anyone with one of the three low-level gamebreakers around (the Glitterdust spell), at a cost. As usual, Fighters get a much better benefit than before, because their levels scale the DC of the blindness effect. A note is that the Glittering Dust bypasses all methods of invisibility and most illusions, but it allows those with Hide to succeed if their check is high enough.

The Golem Manual went from a spellcaster-exclusive to an item just about anyone can use, specifically because the spell trigger requirement was waived (and thus, as they're not treated like scrolls, they definitely cannot be written into a spellbook by any means), and prepares everything. You can use this as a basis for other golems, including the eponymous Shadesteels.

Regarding the Manuals, I took something from the pages of DDO and made items that allow you to scale your inherent bonus if you already have it, so you can save money by getting those. The joke will have to wait until the Tomes appear.

T.G. Oskar

2014-02-08, 05:14 AM

ORB OF STORMS
Price (Item Level): 82,500 gp (20th)
Caster Level: 18th
Aura: Strong (DC 24); abjuration, conjuration and evocation
Activation: Standard (command)
Weight: 6 lbs.

This 8-inch diameter glass sphere seemingly contains a cloud within. The cloud changes form depending on the seasons.

The holder of an orb of storms is continually protected by an endure elements effect. This effect requires no action of the holder.

The orb of storms holds three charges. These charges renew each day at noon. Spending one of the charges allows the wielder to attempt controlling the weather, as per a control weather spell.
1 charge: as normal control weather spell
2 charges: as control weather spell cast by druid
3 charges: as control weather spell cast by druid, but weather changes in 1 minute.

As well, as a special use of the orb of storms, once per month the holder may spend all charges to add the effect of a storm of vengeance to the effect of control weather. In essence, the holder defines its desired weather (even if otherwise impossible because of the season), which manifests in one round, and stacks the effects of the storm of vengeance as well. Thus, the holder of an orb of storms can create a heat wave, and combine it with violent acid rain, lightning bolts, hailstones and wind gusts in subsequent rounds.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

PEARL OF POWER
Price (Item Level): 2,500 gp (1 spell level; 7th), 6,300 gp (2 spell levels; 10th), 11,300 gp (3 spell levels; 13th), 20,000 gp (4 spell levels; 15th), 32,000 gp (5 spell levels; 16th), 48,000 gp (6 spell levels; 17th), 64,000 gp (7 spell levels; 18th), 86,000 gp (8 spell levels; 20th), 110,000 gp (9 spell levels; 21st), 133,000 gp (10 spell levels; 22nd)
Caster Level: 7th (1 to 4 spell levels), 9th (5 spell levels), 11th (6 spell levels), 13th (7 spell levels), 15th (8 spell levels), 17th (9 spell levels), 19th (10 spell levels)
Aura: Moderate to strong; (DC 18 to 24) transmutation
Activation: Standard (command)
Weight: --

This seemingly normal pearl has an average size and luster, but brims with magical energy.

A potent aid to all spellcasters who prepare spells, the pearl of power enables the possessor to recall a specific number of spell levels once per day. When using the power of the pearl, the holder must allocate all spell levels at once; remaining spell levels are lost. For purposes of metamagic feats, the pearl of power treats the spell at its modified level, not its actual level. For all other purposes, the spell is prepared again, just as if had not been cast.

Different pearls exist, allowing the holder to recover from 1 to 10 spell levels.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

PIPES OF HAUNTING
Price (Item Level): 5,800 gp (10th)
Caster Level: 4th
Aura: Faint (DC 17); necromancy
Activation: Standard (command)
Weight: 3 lbs.

This small set of panpipes create an eerie, spellbinding tune.

Any creature within 30 ft. of the player of 5 Hit Dice or less must succeed on a DC 13 Will save or be frightened for 4 rounds. A successful Perform (wind instruments) DC 15 check is required to use this ability.

If the player is a bard, spending 1 use of bardic music improves the song in three ways: first, the saving throw DC for the effect becomes equal to 10 + ½ the bard’s class level (plus levels in classes that advance bardic music progression) + the bard’s Charisma modifier. Second, the bard may affect a number of creatures equal to its bard level. Third, the effect lasts for as long as the bard plays and for 5 rounds thereafter.

Regardless of the player, pipes of haunting may be used only twice per day.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

PIPES OF PAIN
Price (Item Level): 28,500 gp (16th)
Caster Level: 6th
Aura: Faint (DC 18); enchantment and evocation
Activation: Standard (command)
Weight: 3 lb.

These set of pipes appear to be like any other, with nothing to reveal their true nature. However, when played, they create a wondrous melody.

All creatures within 30 ft. of the player must succeed on a DC 14 Will save or become fascinated by the sound. A successful Perform (wind instruments) DC 15 check is required to use this ability.

As soon as the player stops the piping, all those creatures fascinated by the instrument are stricken by intense pain at even the slightest noise. Unless a character is in a totally silent area, it takes 1d4 points of damage per round for 2d4 rounds. During this time, any damage made from sonic attacks is doubled. Thereafter, the least noise causes the character to become shaken. This hypersensitivity is a curse and therefore hard to remove (see the bestow curse spell).

If the player is a bard, it unlocks further uses of the instrument. By spending 1 use of bardic music, the bard may improve the saving throw DC of the effect, using the same DC as fascinate bardic music effect. Using the fascinate bardic music effect does not automatically activate the effect. As well, if the bard uses the instrument as an optional focus when casting a spell with the [sonic] descriptor that deals hit point damage, it may spend two daily uses of bardic music to modify the spell with the effect of the Empower Spell feat, but without an increase in spell level.

The fascination effect of the pipes of pain is a mind-affecting, sonic compulsion effect.

Special: A variant of the pipes of pain exists for string instruments. The lute of pain works exactly as per the pipes, except it requires adding a somatic component for the spell when using it to empower a spell with the [sonic] descriptor, if the spell does not already has it.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem), creator must have the fascinate (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/bard.htm#fascinate) bardic music ability, Empower Spell (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#empowerSpell)
Cost to Create:

PIPES OF SOUNDING
Price (Item Level): 2,000 gp (6th)
Caster Level: 2nd
Aura: Faint (DC 16); illusion
Activation: --
Weight: 3 lb.

The ends of these wooden pipes are subtly carved into mouths and beaks of different creatures.

Any player of pipes of sounding that has ranks in the Perform (wind instruments) skill can create a variety of sounds with them, as if casting ghost sound (caster level 2nd). This ability only requires the player to play the instrument, and can be done at-will.

A bard using pipes of sounding can cast bard spells while using bardic music. The bard must make a Perform check equal to 11 + twice the level of the spell to be cast; if the check fails, the spell is considered expended but without any effect, as a caster who fails a Concentration check. In effect, the pipes of sounding allow the bard to retain the bardic music song and provides the verbal component of the spell without interruption. The bard must still be capable of casting the spell; the bard must not be gagged (as it would prevent playing the pipes) or under the effect of silence (the pipes must sound in order to work), must have at least one hand free to cast spells with somatic components, and cannot cast a spell in the same action it takes to use a bardic music spell or make a standard action (or the required action to cast the spell, in any case).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

PIPES OF VERMIN CONTROL
Price (Item Level): 1,260 gp (4th)
Caster Level: 2nd
Aura: Faint (DC 16); conjuration and enchantment
Activation: Standard (command)
Weight: 3 lb.

These wooden pipes appear ordinary, and their sound, while proper of a finely tuned instrument, seems unremarkable. However, the more it is played, the more vermin start to scurry around.

The owner of pipes of vermin control can attempt to attract vermin with its song. To use this ability, the player must know the right song to attract the right type of vermin; the pipes telepathically infuse knowledge of the song to its owner, but the tune cannot be fully interpreted unless the owner has at least 1 rank in Perform (wind instruments). The tune can also be taught by someone else.

When playing the desired tune, the owner of pipes of vermin control can attempt one of two things. First, the owner may attempt to establish control over any one creature of the vermin type, as per the effect of a charm animal spell. The target vermin can resist this control by making a Will saving throw with a DC of 12. Only one creature may be affected by this means, and the owner must succeed on a Perform DC 10 check every turn to establish dominion. This ability may be used once per day; if attempted on another creature in the same day, the owner must succeed on a Perform check equal to 10 + 5 times the number of attempts to control vermin during the day.

Second, the owner of pipes of vermin control can attempt to summon a swarm if the right creature is within 500 ft. The owner may only summon a centipede swarm, a rat swarm or a spider swarm. For each 50 ft. distance of travel, the effect has a 1-round delay (thus, the owner knows whether there are vermin or not during the area if no swarm appears after a minute). Then, 1d3 swarms of the desired creature appear, and the owner must make a Perform check with DC 10 to establish telepathic control. The swarm obeys the player’s commands so long as he continues to play; if for any reason the player ceases to play (or the song cannot be heard), the swarm disperses immediately. Failure on the check causes the swarm to turn on the player and ravage the area without control for 1 minute. This ability may be used at-will, but any attempt during the day after the first has the Perform check to control the swarm increase by 5.

A bard using pipes of vermin control can unlock greater effects. First, if the bard uses pipes of vermin control to use bardic music, the effect also affects all vermin and swarms, bypassing their immunity to mind-affecting abilities. Second, if the bard knows the fascinate bardic music, he may spend 2 uses of bardic music to duplicate the effect of charm animal on any vermin within hearing range (including swarms comprised of vermin), using its bard level for the effect; the bard uses its Perform check result for the save DC.

Lore: The first pipes of vermin control were crafted by a master piper, who earned his wage by removing pests from the area. The piper gained fame because of this, and could do effects with the pipes that have yet to be replicated by the greatest of pipers using one of these pipes (Knowledge [local], Knowledge [history] DC 15 or bardic knowledge DC 10)

The truth is that the piper wasn’t really that generous; he sometimes summoned swarms of creatures to affect an area, and then spread word of his services. Albeit shrewd, he was fair with his wage, completely removing the threat of swarms once paid. Yet, if the villagers were too greedy, the piper took something else; their children. It is said copies of pipes of vermin control were first made by the children taken by the piper in exchange for his services whenever his wage wasn’t paid. (Knowledge [arcana] DC 20 or bardic knowledge DC 15).

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem), crafter must have 10 ranks in Perform and the fascinate (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/bard.htm#fascinate) bardic music and wild empathy (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/druid.htm#wildEmpathy) class features.
Cost to Create:

PORTABLE HOLE
Price (Item Level): 20,000 gp (15th)
Caster Level: 12th
Aura: Moderate (DC 21); conjuration
Activation: --
Weight: --

This circular 6-ft. diameter patch of black cloth is spun from strangely fine silk, said to be the webbing of a phase spider, with sparking threads between that supposedly are strands of ether and beams of starlight. It can be folded as small into a pocket handkerchief.

When opened fully and spread upon any even surface (usually the ground, but it can cling into sufficiently large walls if opened while holding its border), it causes an extradimensional space 10 feet deep to come into being. This extradimensional space can be used to store anything, including living creatures of Medium size or smaller. The hole accumulates no weight, even if full to capacity. This hole can be picked up from inside or out by simply taking hold of the edges of the cloth and folding up; the entrance of the hole disappears, but anything placed inside remains within the hole.

Living creatures within the portable hole have a limited air supply, which is replenished only if the hole is opened (or the creature has a way to create air). The portable hole contains enough air to supply one Medium creature, two Small creatures, four Tiny creatures, or eight Diminutive/Fine creatures for 10 minutes.

Special: Portable holes react dangerously with bags of holding and similar extradimensional spaces within items (see Interaction Between Extradimensional Spaces, above). If one of these items is placed inside of a portable hole, the hole collapses into itself and destroys both, any contents inside forever lost (except for creatures and artifacts). If a portable hole is placed on a bag of holding or similar item, it opens a gate into the Astral Plane, causing any creature and object within a 10-ft. radius to be drawn inside; the portable hole and the bag of holding (or similar item) is destroyed in the process. As a precautionary measure, the two items will repel each other at first contact, and thus constant force is required; placing one item inside another to create any of these effects requires a full-round action, and cannot interact by sudden means (like throwing a folded portable hole into an open bag of holding, throwing a bag of holding into an open portable hole, or wrapping a portable hole into an arrow and shoot the two into an open bag of holding).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create: [/I

QUICKSHEEN
Price (Item Level): 250 gp (alchemical silver or cold iron, 2nd), 1,250 gp (mithral, 4th) or 2,250 gp (adamantine, 7th)
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: --

[I]This small bottle contains an oily substance similar to quicksilver. When coated into any nonliving substance, it alters its texture.

An alchemical miracle for warriors, quicksheen temporarily alters the properties of weapons or armor. Coating a weapon or shield with quicksheen takes a standard action, while coating a suit of armor takes 1 minute, and both actions provoke attacks of opportunity. Coating a 5-ft. surface requires 1 round.

Once the object is coated in quicksheen, it gains the properties of one of the following materials: adamantine, alchemical silver, cold iron, iron, mithral. This effect replaces the properties of any other special material it has, but the object retains the same hit points and only gains a slight increase to its hardness if not already of a stronger material (1 if any wood surface is coated with ironsheen, 2 if coating with mithralsheen, or 5 if coating with adamantsheen). The effect lasts for 1 hour.

A bottle of quicksheen contains enough for 1 Medium-sized suit of armor, 2 two-handed weapons such as mauls and greatswords, 3 one-handed weapons (such as maces, longswords, axes and hammers), 4 polearms or 6 small weapons (daggers, sai, handaxes and similar), or 20 units of ammunition.

Lore: Quicksheen was developed almost by accident, after attempting to create a substance that would aid warriors to keep their items pristine and protect them from rust and acid. Quicksheen only protected (and still protects) the weapon from one such attack, but it was when coated to a wooden weapon that their properties were discovered. The silversheen was the first such substance to be developed, with other substances developed and perfected later on. (Knowledge [arcana or architecture & engineering] DC 20 or bardic knowledge DC 20).

Prerequisites: Brew Potion (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#brewPotion),
Cost to Create:

RESTORATIVE OINTMENT
Price (Item Level): 5,600 gp (regular; 10th), 8,000 gp (extra strength; 11th), 8,400 (big jar; 12th)
Caster Level: 7th (regular and big jar), 10th (extra strength)
Aura: Faint to moderate (DC 17 to 20); conjuration
Activation: Standard
Weight: ½ lb.

This 1-in. deep jar, of 5 inches in diameter, contains a strange ointment that smells faintly of mint. When touched, it delivers a soothing hot and cold sensation, and if tasted, it seems to have a minty almond taste.

A miraculous medicine, restorative ointment allows anyone to restore health to any individual with little effort. Placed upon a poisoned wound or swallowed, restorative ointment detoxifies any poison (as neutralize poison, except the patient doesn’t gain temporary immunity to poison). Applied directly to the skin of a diseased patient’s warts or pustules (or any manifestation of a disease), it removes the disease immediately (as per a remove disease spell). Applied on the eyes or ears, it acts as a remove blindness/deafness spell. If rubbed on a wound, the ointment cures 1d8+7 points of damage (as per the cure light wounds spell, except it ignores the caster level cap). If rubbed on the head, it negates the effect of magic sleep and the feeblemind spell. Finally, if applied before resting (or as part of long-term care), the ointment doubles the amount of healing provided by 8 hours of (or complete) bed rest; remember that two doubles equal a triple, and so forth.

A jar of restorative ointment has enough medicine for five applications.

Special: Two variants of this restorative ointment exist. The restorative ointment (big jar) has enough uses for 10 applications, while the extra strength restorative ointment heals 2d8+10 points of damage (as per the cure moderate wounds spell) and removes ability score damage as per lesser restoration when applied on a wound that caused said damage.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

RING GATES
Price (Item Level): 40,000 gp (pair; 17th)
Caster Level: 17th
Aura: Strong (DC 23); conjuration
Activation: --
Weight: 1 lb.

These iron rings have arcane etchings on its edges, one colored blue and the other orange. Small hooks allow them to remain affixed to a wall.

To activate ring gates, both of the rings must be affixed to a solid surface, such as a wall, a floor, or the ceiling, must be within the same plane of existence, and within 100 mi. of each other. A ring gate can be affixed to a solid surface by spending a standard action to stick to the surface directly, or by throwing (treat as a thrown weapon that deals no damage, has a range increment of 20 ft. and requires a successful roll against AC 10 to attach; the ring bounces off harmlessly from any creature, including constructs). Anything that passes through one of the gates comes out of the other, and up to 100 pounds of material can be transferred at once. This device allows instantaneous transport of items or messages. A character can reach through to grab things near the other ring, or stick its head to look around. Small characters can make a DC 13 Escape Artist check to slip through, while creatures of Tiny size or small can pass through easily.
Ring gates can be used for other purposes, such as attacking or casting a spell. For example, a fighter can thrust a lance or stab a knife through the rings, a ranger can aim an arrow through the gates, a cleric can deliver a cure light wounds spell through the rings, and a wizard can aim a scorching ray spell at the ring, and the effect will manifest on the other ring. Any projectile, thrown weapon or ray spell aimed at the ring gates will emerge at the other side with the same speed and in the same direction it was launched.

For all its benefits, even ring gates cannot generate perpetual energy. Attempting to generate perpetual motion (such as dropping a rock at one of the gates placed in the floor, while the other is placed at the ceiling aiming directly towards the first one in order to have the rock always fall between the gates) eventually destroys the item and the gates upon reaching terminal velocity. The destroyed item liberates some energy, dealing 2d6 points of force damage at a 5-ft. radius exactly at the mid-point between one gate and the other. Thus, it is best used to transport objects and not as a weapon of mass destruction.

Lore: Foolish apprentices that somehow get ahold of ring gates attempt to generate perpetual motion machines by dropping something between two ring gates and letting gravity and acceleration do the rest. The same foolish apprentices often see how the ring gates are destroyed, generally with their wizardly masters having a chuckle at their expense (and months of free labor, because of the expense of destroying the gates). (Knowledge [arcana] DC 10 or bardic knowledge DC 5).

It is said that an industrious wizard named Rokh (son of Johann) created the first ring gates, but he is best known for his entrepreneurial adventure of “Early-Level Wizardry”. Rokh Johannson is infamous for his death-trap, handled by the awakened mad construct “Glolem”. (Knowledge [arcana] DC 15 or bardic knowledge DC 10)

Only one person managed to escape from the death-trap constructed by the deceased mad archmage. She used the ring gates in ways none other have imagined, including the folly of attempting perpetual motion to destroy an object she was attached to. It is said that the only thing she muttered upon escaping is, “I was promised a delicious baked good, but it seems ‘tis naught but a lie.” Whether our heroine had her baked good (rumored to be a cake promised by “Glolem”) or not, is lost to the annals of history. (Knowledge [local] DC 20 or bardic knowledge DC 15).

In fact, the baked good promised to the heroine wasn’t a lie from the awakened mad construct, but she never got to taste it, because “Glolem” kept it deliberately hidden. The heroine attempted to enter again at the promise of the baked good, and nothing else was heard of her. (Knowledge [history] DC 25 or bardic knowledge DC 20).

But, it seems, our heroine did finally have her baked good, and it was not a lie. (Knowledge [dungeoneering] DC 30 or bardic knowledge DC 25).

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

ROPE OF CLIMBING
Price (Item Level): 5,400 gp (10th)
Caster Level: 3rd
Aura: Faint; (DC 16) transmutation
Activation: -- and tandard (command)
Weight: 3 lbs.

This 60-ft. strand of finely-made silk rope is no thicker than a wand, but resilient enough to withstand ten burly men. When tied to a surface, the rope seems easy to bind and unbind.

A rope of climbing is sturdy enough to withstand 3,000 lbs. If bound to a grappling hook and thrown, the rope of climbing grants a +5 competence bonus to the Use Rope check. This ability is always active.

By speaking the command word (usually some form of “fasten there!” usually followed by pointing to a destination), the rope snakes forward, upward, downward or in any direction at 10 ft. per round, attaching securely wherever its owner desires. The rope of climbing can raise upward on its own, even if it doesn’t “scale” up any wall, up to a distance of 50 ft., and withstand the same weight; in this case, the rope remains inflexible and sturdy, as an iron bar. The same command word is used to unfasten the rope and command it to return.

If firmly fastened to a solid surface and the owner holds the other end, the rope of climbing can be commanded (usually some form of “lift me!”) to lift the owner at a rate of 10 ft. per round. The rope winds up around the anchoring surface, allowing its owner to reach it without making a Climb check.

As well, the rope of climbing can be commanded to knot itself (usually some form of “form knots!”) while holding one of the ends of the rope. By doing so, the length of the rope is shortened by 10 ft. (to a maximum of 50 ft.; a knotted rope of climbing can rise up to 45 ft.), but the Climb check DC to climb the rope is lessened to 10.

All uses of the rope of climbing can be made at-will, except for the bonus to Use Rope checks which is continuous

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

ROPE OF ENTANGLEMENT
Price (Item Level): 10,500 gp (13th)
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) transmutation
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Weight: 5 lb.

This unassuming hempen rope has a distance of 30 ft., except the hemp seems fresh rather than dry. The rope sometimes twitches on its own, except when wrapped around something.

This rope is excellent for binding creatures. The rope of entanglement can be used as an impromptu lasso, except the owner negates the non-proficiency penalty to use it and gains a further +1 bonus on the attack roll. If used to bind a creature, the rope of entanglement grants a +5 competence bonus on Use Rope checks to bind. Both effects are always active.

As a standard action, the owner of a rope of entanglement may command it to entangle or bind a creature. If commanded to entangle (usually by speaking “entangle” in some language, usually Common or Sylvan), the rope immediately leaps to a distance of 20 ft. (or 10 ft. upwards) and immediately entangles the target, no save required. If commanded to bind a creature (usually by speaking “bind him/her” in some language, usually Common or Sylvan), the rope acts as if entangling, but the target may make a Reflex DC 13 check to avoid the rope. On a failed save, the target is immediately bound and unable to move. Entangled or bound creatures may attempt a DC 25 Strength check to escape, or a DC 20 (for entangling) or 30 (for binding) Escape Artist check.

If the character has levels in the fighter class, or effective Fighter levels, the Reflex save DC to avoid the binds is equal to 10 + ½ the character’s effective fighter level + the character’s Dexterity modifier. If the character has Weapon Focus (lasso), it adds the bonus to attack rolls as a bonus to the Reflex save DC. A character with ranks in Use Rope may make an Use Rope check to determine the DC to escape the binds (minimum DC 30).

A rope of entanglement has AC 22, 12 hit points, hardness 10, damage reduction 5/slashing and resistance 10 to all energy types. Whenever it takes damage, the rope repairs damage to itself at a rate of 1 point per 5 minutes. If the rope is broken (by making a successful Strength check) or severed (by removing all 12 hit points to the rope), it is immediately destroyed.

Special: A more powerful, enchanted rope of binding exists. The rope of binding has the same ability to entangle an opponent, except the Escape Artist DC check increases to 35. If commanded to bind a target, a failed save is automatically held, as per the hold person spell, except the target is held for as long as the rope binds it and works against creatures immune to mind-affecting abilities (but not against creatures immune to paralysis or under a freedom of movement effect). The rope of binding has the same traits as a rope of entanglement, but its hit points increase to 20 and its hardness to 15. The rope of binding has a cost of 12,000 gp and has a caster level of 10th.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

Almost to the finish line on wondrous items! The ones over here are, aside from one of two (*coughcoughPearlofPower&RingGatescoughcough*), pretty lackluster, so let's give them time to shine.

The Orb of Storms is a pretty cool item, since you can use it to generate a different kind of weather every day. I went with the MIC format of giving it three charges with increasing potency, though all effects are functionally identical; you can control weather, except that if you use more slots, you can do it faster and as a druid. However, I found that the 1/month use of Storm of Vengeance was offensive, because it's flashy but not that impressive. I kept the 1/month effect but stacked the benefit to the Control Weather effect, so you get the mother of all Storms of Vengeance because it's the effect of a 9th level spell for...somewhere around 4d12 hours? In a distance of 2 miles? So yeah; let's turn the Orb of Storms into a frickin' Weapon of Mass Destruction.

Already to the P? Wow, that was short...oh look, it's our old friend, the Pearl of Power! Much like the general revision to spell-storing items, the Pearl of Power now restores spell levels rather than fixed spell slots, which makes it pretty useful at any level. Now, you can use it to recall one 9th level spell or nine 1st level spells or a combination of spells that total nine spell levels, so as long as you get a Pearl of Power IX. There's also a Pearl of Power X version, which is accessible at pre-Epic levels. Epic Pearls of Power might help you to restore other kinds of spell slots, but...let's not speak about that, lest I speak ill of a certain feat. Dammit to Heck, Epic Spellcasting! You've doomed Epic for us all! Dammit all to Heck!

Keeping up with P, we get to a set of four Pipes, which originally are interesting but somewhat lacking. The Pipes of Haunting work a lot like Drums of Panic in that they cause the target to become scared (honestly, have you seen how many musical instruments are meant to scare you? Who'd say that music can be so scary...), whereas the Pipes of Pain get a stringed variant. The Pipes of Sounding and the Pipes of Vermin Control got the better boosts, though; the former can be used as a mouthpiece for spellcasting (only if a Bard), whereas the Pipes of Vermin Control (previously Pipes of the Sewers) went from summoning a few rats to provide ample control over various forms of vermin, including centipede and locust swarms. Too bad you can't summon Apocalypse Swarms with those, but... As usual, bards get a kick out of these items, particularly the Pipes of Pain (almost freely Empower most of your attack spells!) and the Pipes of Sounding (yay, now I can save a feat slot!). Between the Drums, the Chimes, the Harps, the Pipes, and whatever instruments I'm forgetting, the Bards got much-needed instrument support, but that's fair in my book; Bards in Core suck a bit, and since this effectively replaces most of Core content, that means Bards get a load of nifty new options...in Core. Who says Bards suck in Core now? (Not like they completely suck in Core: get the right spells, and their crowd control spells can help your allies immensely; they just don't get the kills).

Let's see what else...oh, the eponymous Portable Hole! I almost forgot about that one! Now, I could have gone the same way as the Bag of Holding, but I wanted to specifically eradicate a myth: the Portable Hole/Bag of Holding Tactical Arrow. As you can see, the Portable Hole has a safety measure that prevents it from collapsing unless you specifically intend to, so unless you do it deliberately, you won't be able to weaponize this effect. The design of the Tactical Arrow required using the force of the shot to propel the Portable Hole once the tip strikes; in this case, the safety measure repels the force with an equal magnitude force, so the Bag and the Hole are perfectly safe, you just lost a bunch of money, and your opponent (if it survives and escapes) now has two storage measures for free.

Silversheen was a pretty decent item, which allowed you to grant an item the properties of alchemical silver temporarily. While this one isn't any better, shifting it to an item with variants (the Quicksheen) helps to coat your favorite weapon with the material you need at the moment you need it, which is great because you don't have to hold a golf bag for whenever you need the right weapon for the right enemy. Apply this on arrows for maximum effect, since you can have Bane arrows for multiple enemies and you can just apply the right material to the arrows you need. This is, perhaps amongst all other items, the one that really reduces the "Christmas Tree Effect" because it reduces the amount of weapons you need to...about three or four (one slashing, one bludgeoning, one piercing and one ranged).

Almost to the end...the Restorative Ointment is a pretty awesome item, but only if you get it for free or you can mass-produce it. It's a panacea for multiple ailments, earning it the nickname of "Cleric-in-a-Jar". However, its effect was pretty limited. The newer version loses some of its healing potency (then again, you already have ways to self-heal or get cheap healing, so you're not using the ointment for that), but you get a whole bunch of new effects that can be cured (blindness, deafness, feebleminded...) and you can use it to superpower your bed rest. There are two additional versions tacked in, one of them making reference to a joke from one of the most recent Order of the Stick strips (clever way to promote my 'brews, no?). The Extra-Strength version restores the healing you could provide to its maximum, and tacks in a Lesser Restoration effect so you don't miss anything. For less than 10,000 gp, it's a frickin' steal...provided you don't get a Wand of Panacea, which is a further steal.

Ring Gates...yup, there's another laser-guided ICBM against a ridiculous ruling. Since I want the laws of physics to get a break, you can't generate perpetual energy in this way; you get a nice explosion, but nowhere near a tactical nuke, so... Also, since you can't get its effects active unless it sticks to a surface, its benefit is somewhat reduced. That said, I had much fun writing the Lore for the item, specifically because no self-respecting geek would let an opportunity like that pass. Psst: the cake is still a lie.

Finally, on to the Ropes. Both Ropes are pretty expensive for what they offer, so they're prime material for a boost. The Rope of Climbing remains pretty much the same, except you get a free-standing 50-ft. Immovable Rod (stop that, you dirty-minded men!) to climb whenever you need to and you don't have anywhere to hold on. The Rope of Entangling now has a nifty binding effect, though its still pretty mundane. It's beefed-up brother, the Rope of Binding, tacks a Hold Person effect to it, making it the best way to bind a dangerous criminal. Since it works as an improvised lasso (which just happens to entangle, and also restrain movement), the latter got a much better improvement than the former (and I mean by "former" the Rope of Climbing). Fighters will get an awesome boost from the Rope of Binding, since they can improve the DC of the binding/holding effect based on their caster level, so unless the target isn't a humanoid or (in the case it is one) is protected by Freedom of Movement, you're safe. I mean, it also works against creatures immune to mind-affecting abilities! Now, I'd prefer for it to work as Hold Monster, but that'd make it more expensive (quite a bit more expensive), so if there's a way to work around that, mention it. I'd like the Rope of Binding to be an amazing tool to paralyze even the strongest monster (save for a Dragon...since it's immune to paralysis...or a self-respecting Wizard, but that's where CLASS FEATURES should shine, not magic items! Oh wait...)

T.G. Oskar

2014-02-08, 05:16 AM

SALVE OF SLIPPERINESS
Price (Item Level): 1,000 gp (4th)
Caster Level: 6th
Aura: Faint; (DC 18) conjuration
Activation: Standard
Weight: --

This small bottle contains a greasy, slippery, clear substance, with the same texture as oil. Once touched, it is very difficult to remove.

Considered one of the most slippery substances in existence, the salve of slipperiness serves for a variety of purposes. Each application requires a full-round action to use, and its effects last for 8 hours. A bottle of salve of slipperiness contains enough salve to coat a single Large or Medium creature, two Small creatures, four Tiny creatures, two suits of armor for a creature of Large size, three suits of armor for a creature of Medium size and subsequent (4 suits of armor for Small, 8 for Tiny), or a single 10-ft. square area.

If coated on a person, the individual gains a +20 competence bonus on all Escape Artist checks, making it almost impossible to grapple, tie, chain or bind. Obstructions such as webs, or even magical binds cannot hold the individual. The salve of slipperiness does not make the individual immune to paralysis, however.

If coated on the armor’s joints, it adds incredible flexibility, granting the wearer a +10 competence bonus on Move Silently checks, increasing the armor’s maximum Dexterity bonus by a certain amount (+4 if light, +3 if medium, +2 if heavy) and reducing the armor check penalty accordingly. The armor must be coated before wearing, and armor coated with salve of slipperiness does not grant the benefits of coating the individual itself, though if the individual and the armor are coated separately, both effects apply at once.

If coated on an item, the object becomes harder to grasp, but loses all friction. No individual can fully grasp an item at the area it is coated, but if attempting to drag the object through the floor, it has its maximum weight reduced to a tenth for this purpose (so as long as the salve coats the entire surface to be dragged). The object can even be given a mild push, moving alongside the same direction unless held; if it collides with a wall or similar surface, it bounces off and travels at a random direction (on a d6 roll, the object bounces back on a 15 degree angle on a result of 1, at a 30 degree angle on a result of 2, on a 45 degree angle on a result of 3 or 4, on a 60 degree angle on a result of 5, and on a 75 degree angle on a result of 6) for a number of feet equal to 5 times the pusher’s Strength score, with the remaining distance halved with every subsequent collision.

Coated on the floor, on steps, or at any surface meant to be grabbed, the salve of slipperiness acts as a long-lasting grease spell, with all effects.

Removing salve of slipperiness before the 8-hour mark requires any kind of alcohol solution (including wine or watered-down ale), or universal solvent. It can also be removed with very mild acidic substances (such as vinegar), but not with basic solutions (such as soap and water); an acid attack that deals at least 1 point of damage also removes salve of slipperiness.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

SCABBARD OF KEEN EDGES
Price (Item Level): 10,000 gp (12th)
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint (DC 17) transmutation
Activation: Standard (command)
Weight: 1 lb.

This scabbard is fashioned from cured leather and fine silver. While seemingly small enough to fit a knife, it can expand to cover any similar weapon, up to and including a greatsword.

The scabbard of keen edges keeps any melee slashing weapon of the same shape and use as a greatsword properly clean and sharpened. When drawing a stored weapon from a scabbard of keen edges, the first attack made during the round gains a +1 circumstance bonus to its damage rolls. This ability is always active.

The scabbard of keen edges has three charges, which are renewed each day at dawn. By speaking the command word (usually “slice & dice”, “sharpen steel!” or a similar cry) and drawing the weapon, the scabbard of keen edges places the following enchantemnts
1 charge: keen edge, as the spell (CL 5th)
2 charges: keen edge, as the spell (CL 7th), and the weapon gains a +1 circumstance bonus to its critical threat range. This bonus explicitly stacks with keen edge, and applies after the weapon’s critical threat range has been modifier.
3 charges: as the 2 charges effect, except the duration is in rounds instead of minutes, the caster level of the effect is 10th, and the critical threat range modifier applies before the keen edge effect (therefore, a weapon with a threat range of 19-20 counts as a 18-20 weapon for purposes of the effect, and thus ends up with a threat range of 15-20).

If the character has levels in the fighter class (or effective Fighter levels), the duration of a scabbard of keen edges charge effects have their effective caster level equal to their effective fighter level. At effective fighter level 6, the bonus to damage rolls applies to all attacks made during the round, and not just the first attack. The circumstance bonus to damage rolls increases by 1 for every five effective fighter levels after the 1st, including 6th level.

Special: Variants of the scabbard of keen edges exist for axe-type weapons and polearms. These items grant the same benefits, but are specific to those weapons only. Another variant of the scabbard of keen edges works for maces and hammers, but grants the effect of weapon of impact (see Spell Compendium, page 237) instead of keen edge. Aside from those minor changes, the effects are otherwise identical.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

STONE OF ALARM
Price (Item Level): 8,100 gp (12th)
Caster Level: 3rd
Aura: Faint; (DC 16) abjuration
Activation: Standard (command)
Weight: 2 lb.

This small cube is made of polished, worked stone with protective runes on each facet. Four of the facets hold a stylized eye, a fifth holds the image of a mouth, and the last is completely smooth.

An invaluable tool to protect an area from intruders, the stone of alarm has developed some minor utilities as well. To activate the stone of alarm, it must be set on a surface and given the command word (in fact a very specific order, such as “sound whenever anyone doesn’t speak the word ‘lollapalooza’” or “sound exactly two hours after dawn”, with the word “sound” usually spoken in Auran).

If set to protect perimeter, the stone of alarm immediately affixes in place and emits an alarm (whether mental or audible, as per the alarm spell) if the conditions set are not met. Usually, the stone of alarm will only accept commands that involve speaking a password, hold a specific object while entering, make a specific gesture, or wear a specific, recognizable outfit. The perimeter may be set anywhere from a 20 ft. radius from the stone to 200 ft.

If set to wake up, the stone of alarm makes a mental alarm at a specific amount of time, usually set up in a descriptive way; a stone of alarm will not understand the exact numeric hour, but understands abstract concepts of time like dawn, dusk, midday, midnight or twilight, regardless of location. Alternatively, the stone of alarm can be set to immediately wake the owner if it falls asleep, regardless of the time, sounding for 1 full round and negating a single sleep effect. The owner of the stone of alarm may choose to set an audible alarm instead of a mental alarm, and affect more than one creature, though each creature must be touching the stone at the moment of set up.

If set to prevent intrusion, the stone of alarm remains affixed to a surface and emits a mental alarm at a distance between 20 ft. and 1 mile. In this case, the stone’s alarm may be bypassed if the stone is touched and a password is given.

All uses of stone of alarm can be used at-will.

Lore: the first stones of alarm were meant to be portable traps, serving to alert castle denizens of intrusion. When the eventual stone of alarm failed, some additional uses, such as the wake-up alarm function, were improvised. Latter adjustments to the item made these available at default. (Knowledge [arcana or architecture & engineering] DC 15 or bardic knowledge DC 20)

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

STONE OF ELEMENTAL EARTH
Price (Item Level): 110,000 gp
Caster Level: 13th
Aura: Strong; (DC 21) conjuration
Activation: Standard or full-round (command)
Weight: 5 lbs.

This bit of roughly polished rock has an odd shape. Its texture is unlike any stone found within the land.

The owner of a stone of elemental earth can soften or harden any kind of earth or stone, as per the soften earth and stone spell. The owner of the stone must hold it and speak the command word (usually “soften” or “harden” in Terran) to use this ability. If choosing to soften earth or stone, wet earth becomes thick mud, dry earth becomes loose sand or dirt and stone becomes soft clay. If choosing to harden earth or stone, loose sand or dirt becomes dry earth, soft clay instantly hardens to stone, and thick mud instantly solidifies into wet earth, as the inverse of the soften earth and stone spell. Once changed by this item, the altered earth or stone may not be altered further by any spell (such as another soften earth to stone spell, transmute rock to mud or transmute mud to rock) for 1 week. The owner of this stone may use this ability once per minute.

If the stone is buried within earth, its owner can summon earth elementals, as if using a summon monster spell. Only one elemental may be summoned at a time, and the stone must be buried in a new patch of land. A “patch of land”, for purposes of this item, is defined as all squares occupied by the elemental; thus, a “new patch” of land must be one where, if the creature is summoned, none of the squares overlap with a square where another elemental was summoned by means of the stone. This restriction is removed after an hour. If the elemental is dispelled, dismissed or slain, the stone of elemental earth falls to the ground as the elemental’s body falls to the ground

Sand or stone-filled earth: Large earth elemental
Lava: Large magma para-elemental (Manual of the Planes p. 183)
Mud: Large mud elemental (as ooze para-elemental, Manual of the Planes p. 183, but without the acid special attack)
Dirt, fertile soil, clay: Huge earth elemental

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem), must be crafted in the Elemental Plane of Earth
Cost to Create:

STONE HORSE
Price (Item Level): 10,000 gp (courser; 12th) or 14,800 gp (destrier; 14th)
Caster Level: 14th
Aura: Strong; (DC 21) transmutation
Activation: Standard (command)
Weight: 6,000 lbs.

This is a full size, roughly hewn statue of a horse, typically carved from some type of hard stone. The statue is otherwise intricately detailed, almost life-like.

When the command word is spoken, the stone horse brings the steed to life, enabling it to carry burden and even attack as if it were a real horse of the appropriate kind. A stone horse can carry up to 1,000 pounds and never needs to rest or feed. The same command word causes the steed to become inanimate once again. A second command word reduces the size of the horse to Tiny, reducing its weight by 1,000 and making it easy to transport, or returns it to normal size.

If the stone horse takes any damage, it has a variety of ways to restore its hit points. A repair damage spell (see the Spell Compendium for the entire line of spells) restores damage to it, as if a construct. A stone horse affected by a stone to flesh spell becomes a normal horse (until it recovers full hit points, in which it automatically reverts to stone form) but loses most of its construct features (and behaves much like the animal it is based off). In its stone form, it can be fed gems that allow it to restore 1 hit point for every 10 gp worth of gems. Finally, a Craft (stoneworking) DC 20 check and 1 hour of work allows it to restore an amount of hit points equal to the result of the check -20 (minimum 1 hit point), but the stone horse must be inanimate and this check may only be done once after every combat encounter in which the horse takes damage.

There are two sorts of stone horse. Both types behave as normal animals of their type, except they gain the construct type (instead of the animal type), lose their Constitution score but gain 20 bonus hit points, a hardness of 10 and a +4 bonus to Strength. A stone horse (courser) has the traits of a heavy horse, whereas a stone horse (destrier) has the statistics of a heavy warhorse.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

STRAND OF PRAYER BEADS
Price (Item Level): See text
Caster Level: varies
Aura: varies
Activation: -- or standard (command)
Weight: --

This strand, bound at its ends and holding the holy symbol of a deity, has various beads used to aid in prayer. Some of these beads are of different size and hold sacred runes.

While a strand of prayer beads can be worn as a necklace or bracelet, its effect doesn’t work unless properly held, and thus doesn’t count as a magic item. The strand of prayer beads has a holy symbol at its end, and may be used as a divine focus. When first held, the owner lacks knowledge about the powers held by the item, but after praying or meditating to regain divine spells, the owner gains instant knowledge. An owner without divine spellcasting ability may make a Knowledge (religion) check against DC 20 followed by a Use Magic Device check against DC 20 to gain equal knowledge of its powers.

A strand of prayer beads may hold up to five special beads, each holding a special power. Unless otherwise mentioned, each of the beads’ powers may be used only once per day and require a standard action to use. Each bead has its own cost, and the item’s cost is based on the total cost of all beads in the strand, plus the cost of a silver holy symbol (25 gp).

Bane (600 gp ea.): the owner of a strand with this bead can cast bane, corrupt weapon or curse water once per day. If using the strand to curse water, the owner must dip the item’s holy symbol into the water to curse.

Blessing (600 gp ea., CL 1st): the owner of a strand with this bead can cast bless, bless weapon or bless water once per day, with a caster level equal to the owner’s CL for divine spells or 1st, whichever is higher. If using the strand to bless water, the owner must dip the item’s holy symbol into the water to bless.

Greater Healing (8,100 gp ea., CL 5th): the owner of a strand with this bead can cast cure serious wounds (3d8 hit points plus the owner’s caster level for divine spells, no lower than 5 nor higher than 15), remove blindness/deafness or remove disease once per day.

Healing (3,240 gp ea., CL 3rd): the owner of a strand with this bead can cast cure moderate wounds (2d8 hit points plus the owner’s caster level for divine spells, no lower than 3 nor higher than 10), lesser restoration or remove paralysis once per day.

Karma (24,300 gp ea., CL 7th): the owner of a strand with this bead can activate its effect as an immediate action. The next attack the owner receives, or the next hostile spell cast upon the owner within a range of 60 ft. forces the attacker to make a Will save (DC 17) or suffer the effect of a bestow curse spell.

Power (10,800 gp ea., CL 10th): the owner of a strand with this bead temporarily improves the caster level of all divine spells it casts by 1. This effect lasts for 10 minutes.

Smiting (15,120 gp ea., CL 7th): the owner of a strand with this bead can cast chaos hammer, holy smite, order’s wrath or unholy blight (DC 16), with a caster level equal to the owner’s CL for divine spells or 7th, whichever is higher. If the owner of the strand has the ability to smite a creature (by means of the smite evil class feature, or the granted power of the Destruction domain), it may spend two uses of this ability to duplicate the effect of one of these spells, so as long as the spell’s alignment matches that of the ability (thus, a paladin may only duplicate the effect of a holy smite spell, whereas a cleric with the Destruction domain and the Extra Smiting feat may choose any of the spells), with a caster level equal to all levels in classes that increase the smite ability (up to the owner’s character level).

Summons (51,100 gp ea., CL 13th): the owner of a strand with this bead can cast summon monster VII once per day, with a caster level equal to the owner’s CL for divine spells or 13th, whichever is higher. As a special use of this bead, the owner may duplicate the effect of a planar ally spell to serve for one day without payment, but the bead loses its power afterwards.

For example: a strand of prayer beads with the healing and power beads would cost 14,065 gold pieces, while one with the blessing, greater healing, karma, power and smiting beads would cost 58,945 gold pieces. The caster level of the strand of prayer beads is based on the effect of the strongest bead (for example, on the first strand, the CL of the item would be 3rd, whereas on the latter the CL would be 10th (for the power bead)

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem), creator must have a number of ranks in Knowledge (religion) equal to the caster level of the highest bead +3, one or more of the following spells (based on the bead): bane, bless, bless water, bless weapon, chaos hammer, corrupt weapon, cure moderate wounds, cure serious wounds, curse water, death knell, holy smite, lesser restoration, order’s wrath, planar ally, remove blindness/deafness, remove disease, remove paralysis, summon monster VII or unholy blight.
Cost to Create: varies

SUSTAINING SPOON
Price (Item Level): 7,500 gp (11th)
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) conjuration
Activation: Standard (command)
Weight: --

This otherwise unremarkable ladle is typically fashioned from horn. Even when cleaned, it usually has the smell of gruel around it.

If the sustaining spoon is placed in an empty plate and the command word is spoken (typically “fill ‘er up”), the vessel fills with a thick, pasty gruel. If left unflavored, the gruel tastes of warm, wet cardboard, but the spoon can be commanded to grant the gruel the flavor of hot oatmeal, cornmeal, or any kind of soup. The gruel is highly nourishing and contains all necessary nutrients to sustain any herbivorous, omnivorous or carnivorous creature. This ability may be used four times per day.

If all remaining uses of gruel are consumed at once, the gruel duplicates the effect of a heroes’ feast on the consumer, except it gains no temporary hit points.

Lore: The first sustaining spoon was made by a legendary figure, a paladin who traveled the land alongside many other heroes. He was famed by his penchant for fine dresses, his mysterious upbringing, his gentlemanly ways, his through knowledge on various topics, but most importantly his adherence to the code. The figure was known for his insignia of a knight figure, but fought without a coat of arms and under the strictest anonymity. (Knowledge [history] or bardic knowledge check DC 15).

While skilled at a variety of weapons, it is his strange assortment of weapons that made him popular. Calling his pair of weapons “.45 revolvers”, they were the match of any strong-pulled arrow or crossbow, and even the spells of a few sorcerers. It is believed that the sustaining spoon was the first, and only, magical object made by the famed hero whenever he had to make long travels. Even his famed “six-shooters” were of unknown origin. (Knowledge [arcana], Knowledge [history] or bardic knowledge check DC 20).

A few religious scholars state that the deeds of this legendary hero earned him the spark of godhood. This god, albeit a minor deity, is an exemplar of the paladin ideal and counts many paladins, artificers (see Eberron Campaign Setting for more details on the class) and even a few wizards as his followers. (Knowledge [religion] or bardic knowledge DC 25 check)

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

TOME OF CLEAR THOUGHT
Price (Item Level): 17,300 gp (+1; 14th), 23,300 gp (+2; 15th), 25,950 gp (improve by +1; 16th), 33,300 gp (+3; 16th), 34,950 gp (improve by +2; 16th), 47,300 gp (+4; 17th), 49,950 gp (improve by +317th), 65,300 gp (+5; 19th), 70,950 gp (improve by +4; 19th)
Caster Level: 17th
Aura: Strong (DC 23); evocation
Activation: --
Weight: 5 lbs.

This thick tome contains a wealth of information on its pages, alongside exercises to improve memory, arithmetic and logic. It is designed to aid anyone with basic reading capabilities, but still useful for erudites.

By reading this book, which takes a total of 48 hours over a minimum of six days, the reader of a tome of clear thought gains an inherent bonus of +1 to its Intelligence score. Once the book is read, the magic disappears from the pages and becomes a useless book.

Special: The tome of clear thought exists in at least eight different variants. Half of these variants grant an increasing inherent bonus to Intelligence (from a +2 to a +5), while the remaining half (tomes of improved clear thought) allow readers of earlier books to improve their existing inherent score by the indicated amount. A character may never have an inherent bonus to their Intelligence score higher than 5; thus, if a character with a +2 inherent bonus to its Intelligence reads a tome of improved clear thought +4, it improves its inherent Intelligence bonus to a +5, not to a +6.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

TOME OF LEADERSHIP AND INFLUENCE
Price (Item Level): 17,300 gp (+1; 14th), 23,300 gp (+2; 15th), 25,950 gp (improve by +1; 16th), 33,300 gp (+3; 16th), 34,950 gp (improve by +2; 16th), 47,300 gp (+4; 17th), 49,950 gp (improve by +317th), 65,300 gp (+5; 19th), 70,950 gp (improve by +4; 19th)
Caster Level: 17th
Aura: Strong (DC 23); evocation
Activation: --
Weight: 5 lbs.

This ponderous book is a treatise on the psychology of multiple beings, explained in very simple terms. The book contains the secrets to woo ladies, swindle fools, lead armies and convince even the most stubborn fool.

By reading this book, which takes a total of 48 hours over a minimum of six days, the reader of a tome of leadership and influence gains an inherent bonus of +1 to its Charisma score. Once the book is read, the magic disappears from the pages and becomes a useless book.

Special: The tome of leadership and influence exists in at least eight different variants. Half of these variants grant an increasing inherent bonus to Charisma (from a +2 to a +5), while the remaining half (tomes of improved leadership and influence) allow readers of earlier books to improve their existing inherent score by the indicated amount. A character may never have an inherent bonus to their Intelligence score higher than 5; thus, if a character with a +2 inherent bonus to its Charisma reads a tome of improved leadership and influence +4, it improves its inherent Charisma bonus to a +5, not to a +6.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

TOME OF UNDERSTANDING
Price (Item Level): 17,300 gp (+1; 14th), 23,300 gp (+2; 15th), 25,950 gp (improve by +1; 16th), 33,300 gp (+3; 16th), 34,950 gp (improve by +2; 16th), 47,300 gp (+4; 17th), 49,950 gp (improve by +317th), 65,300 gp (+5; 19th), 70,950 gp (improve by +4; 19th)
Caster Level: 17th
Aura: Strong (DC 23); evocation
Activation: --
Weight: 5 lbs.

This book is small, barely a proper book and almost a booklet. Whomever reads the book either ends up illuminated by the parables contained therein, or further confused.

By reading this book, which takes a total of 48 hours over a minimum of six days, the reader of a tome of understanding gains an inherent bonus of +1 to its Wisdom score. Once the book is read, the magic disappears from the pages and becomes a useless book.

Special: The tome of understanding exists in at least eight different variants. Half of these variants grant an increasing inherent bonus to Wisdom (from a +2 to a +5), while the remaining half (tomes of improved understanding) allow readers of earlier books to improve their existing inherent score by the indicated amount. A character may never have an inherent bonus to their Intelligence score higher than 5; thus, if a character with a +2 inherent bonus to its Wisdom reads a tome of improved understanding +4, it improves its inherent Wisdom bonus to a +5, not to a +6.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

UNGUENT OF TIMELESSNESS
Price (Item Level): 2,000 gp (6th)
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) conjuration and transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: --

This small jar contains one ounce of a thick, gooey material. The substance shines like a mirror when viewed from certain angles, and transparent in others.

When applied to any non-living matter (which takes a standard action), this substance halts the passage of time. Once the substance is coated, it enters a state of stasis, and any effects regarding the passage of time (such as rot, rust, or similar manifestations of entropy) are negated. A jar with this substance is capable of coating a single object with a total volume of 1 cu. ft.

Once applied, unguent of timelessness must be removed manually; not even the effects of dispel magic or similar abilities can remove it. When removed (which takes another standard action), there is a 75% chance that the unguent of timelessness evaporates completely; else, a 1-in. diameter bead weighing exactly 1 ounce forms immediately, which can be reserved for later use.

Multiple uses of unguent of timelessness can coat a larger area, but large accumulations of the substance cause a curious effect. If an object is coated with more than 16 applications of unguent of timelessness, the object hinders magical and psionic activity within the coated area and 5 ft. outwards. Spellcasters must succeed on a Concentration check against DC 18 or lose any spell they cast, and manifesters must succeed on a similar Concentration check or have the power point cost of their powers doubled.

Note: as a frame of reference, most items can be coated with a single jar of unguent of timelessness. Up to eight objects made for Medium-sized creatures, corpses of Tiny creatures, or armor made for Tiny creatures can be coated with a single jar of unguent of timelessness. Small creatures, or objects for Large creatures are treated as two Tiny creatures (or two objects for Medium-sized creatures), Medium creatures (or objects for Huge creatures) are treated as four Tiny creatures (or four objects for Medium-sized creatures), and so on. Treat suits of armor as if they were creatures of the same size as the creatures that can wear them for purposes of this item (thus, a suit of full plate armor for a Large creature may be coated with a single application of unguent of timelessness, but not a suit of full plate armor for a Huge creature).

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem); gentle repose (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/gentleRepose.htm) spell, quintessence (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/quintessence.htm) power.
Cost to Create:

UNIVERSAL SOLVENT
Price (Item Level): 50 gp (1/2)
Caster Level: 13th
Aura: Strong; (DC 21) transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: --

This flask contains a pungent-smelling aqueous solution of a substance diluted to 1/1,000th of its strength. The flask contains a variety of warnings in every language, and even very obvious pictures detailing the risk of using this item.

Considered the most powerful solvent in existence, universal solvent is an alchemical substance dissolved in the other universal solvent (water) in order to control its properties, but even at a very low concentration it is capable of dissolving golden ore. Universal solvent is capable of dissolving sovereign glue, unguent of timelessness and the goo of tanglefoot bags. If the entire contents of a flask are released upon contact with bare skin, the target takes 1 point of acid damage every round for up to 1d6 rounds, or until cleansed with soap or dirt (not water, nor any other acid). If a pure gold or silver ore is placed on a container with universal solvent, it immediately dissolves in around 1 minute, allowing to extract the mineral without the need of heat. Furthermore, coating an object made of adamantine deals exactly 1 point of damage, bypassing its hardness.

Attempting to concentrate universal solvent is dangerous. At double concentration (1/500th of its strength), universal solvent acts like an acid flask but with all its properties intact. At triple concentration (1/333th of its strength), universal solvent deals 2d6 points of acid damage to bare skin and adamantine, and disintegrates any non-animated corpse in 1 minute; gold and silver are dissolved in 1 round. At 1/200th of its strength, any bare skin or adamantine takes damage as if completely doused on acid for 1 round and 5d6 points of damage on subsequent rounds, and completely destroys dead matter (including undead); furthermore, at this rate, universal solvent becomes extremely flammable, duplicating the effect of a fireball spell (Reflex DC 19). At 1/100th of its strength, universal solvent immediately disintegrates any object, as if a disintegrate spell (Fortitude DC 19) was cast upon the target. Attempting to concentrate universal solvent at a higher concentration above 1/100th of its strength immediately causes the contents to detonate as per a delayed blast fireball (Reflex DC 19), leaving an acid fog that remains for 1d6 rounds or until dispersed. It is possible to concentrate the universal solvent in a surface without air (provided a form of heat is available, or another method of distillation is found), but at a concentration of 1/50th its strength it immediately dissolves any form of matter around it.

Lore: Universal solvent is a necessary item for alchemists, who use it in their quest to create philosopher’s stone. Some alchemists know the universal solvent as “aqua regia”, for its gold-dissolving properties, though the alchemy erudites are quick to distance proper universal solvent with another form of “aqua regia” which is capable of dissolving gold and platinum and is formed from a combination of “aqua fortis” and “acidum saltis” or “sal ammoniac”. (Knowledge [arcana] check DC 10).

The reason why universal solvent is so necessary for alchemists in its production of the philosopher’s stone is because, alongside “aqua regia”, it is capable of dissolving gold, thus proving the object has been transmuted appropriately. However, unlike “aqua regia” which creates “dragon’s blood”, universal solvent leaves the elemental gold suspended, making it far more efficient than “aqua regia” in recollection. (Knowledge [arcana] check DC 20).

It is said that universal solvent is made by undergoing the reverse of the twelve steps of the Magnum Opus, the great work of the alchemist, on common water. Because of this, it is also the one substance that utterly destroys the elixir of life and the philosopher’s stone. (Knowledge [arcana] check DC 30).

Prerequisites: Brew Potion (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#brewPotion), Craft Wondrous Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem), 15 ranks in Craft (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/craft.htm) (alchemy)
Cost to Create:

WIND FAN
Price (Item Level): 5,500 gp (10th)
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) evocation
Activation: Standard (command)
Weight: --

This large, two-handed fan is made from wood, with an extended flab made out of cloth or papyrus. Despite its size, it is very easy to manage.

When used to provide a cool breeze (speaking the command word “refresh” in Auran), the wind fan grants everyone within range of the fan (a 15-ft. cone) the effects of endure elements, except that the range is between 80 and 120 degrees F. This ability may be used at-will.

By speaking the command word (“fierce gale” in Auran), the wind fan duplicates the effect of a gust of wind spell. The owner of a wind fan may command the object to use this ability once per day without risk. If the owner attempts to use the fan in subsequent times, the wind fan has a 5% cumulative chance of tearing, losing its magic and becoming useless.

Prerequisites:
Cost to Create:

There: only the Psionic Wondrous Items, and the last steps, and we're finished.

Let's start with what I promised: Manuals and Tomes. I've never seen a Manual or Tome in my gaming career, so I consider these consumables somewhat unnecessary on a build. However, they're there, so they're kept. That said, one of the things I took from DDO was the idea of creating four extra tomes that allow you to increase your inherent bonus rather than replace it, for reduced cost. Since just the regular ones are so difficult, it'd be a shame to get a +2 item when you already have a +3, which could easily net you the maximum +5 inherent bonus. Therefore, the four new tomes (or manuals, depending on what you have) work as replacements, potentially reducing the cost of boosting your stats and maybe get them a bit earlier than usual. It's not a big increase, but it's still useful.

Just like with the Elixirs, this part has lots of superior alchemical items, and rest assured, they've been revised. The Salve of Slipperiness now has a nice variety of uses, including a pseudo-Freedom of Movement effect (though it doesn't protect you against paralysis, which still prevents your movement). The Unguent of Timelessness is essentially a magic/psionic hybrid of the Quintessence spell, and the exact amount you can apply has now been mentioned properly, mixing the amounts from the original Unguent and the amount provided by the Quintessence power. However, the one I consider the largest change is Universal Solvent, for a very specific reason.

Being a Chemistry major, the first thing you learn (amongst, say, the VSEPR theory), is that the universal solvent is water. However, it still cannot dissolve most things, so a "universal solvent" has to dissolve EVERYTHING. That would make it a pretty dangerous substance, since it'd be the ultimate oxidizer (spontaneously bursting into flames in contact with air) and corroder. Thus, the first thing I did was to dilute it to a ridiculous degree of strength. Then, since it'll behave as an acid and as a flammable substance, I made stronger concentrations allow for said traits. Since it requires concentration, that doesn't mean you can create a super-item for 50 gp; rather, by concentration, you get an ever-shrinking amount of the object, so you need more of the Universal Solvent to get the same (or roughly the same) volume you had, but at a higher concentration. Thus, you can figure that a double-strength Universal Solvent would cost 100 gp, which is pretty expensive for a glorified acid flask, whereas a quintuple strength Universal Solvent would cost around 1,000 gp, nowhere near as close to the cost of a scroll of Fireball. However, once you get the gist of it, the multitude of uses for the Universal Solvent becomes evident, and its somewhat excessive cost gets justified.

On to the Stones, or Stone-crafted objects. The Stone of Alarm is pretty boring (a glorified portable Alarm trap with a massive range), so it has newer uses, such as protecting an area or working as an alarm clock...and a way to resist Sleep effects. That last one, since you don't require to hold it, is a pretty decent way to bypass the eventual sleep effects of certain creatures (say, metallic dragons) that can be pretty nasty. The Stone of Elemental Earth gets a pretty nifty Soften/Harden Earth and Stone effect, and has the widest amount of elementals that can be summoned, though not the highest amount (Magma, Earth and pseudo-Ooze elementals). The Stone Horse now has a function that allows you to turn it into a Pokemon of sorts (portable creature), and is generally better than the original creature because of its construct traits. It's also easier to repair.

That leaves us with the remaining items, so let's go in order from weakest to broken. The Sustaining Spoon is, IMO, an underrated item, so it has a mild Prestidigitation effect and a pretty cool Heroes' Feast benefit if you're sorta greedy; its Lore blends its original inspiration (Murlynd's Spoon) with what's potentially Murlynd's original inspiration: Paladin, from Have Gun, Will Travel. The "mysterious figure" from the Lore is basically Murlynd as Paladin (in both class and figure), eventually ascending to godhood. However, it's pretty vague so that it doesn't infringe, leaving it less as product identity and more of a homage to an iconic TV figure who happened to, in a way, inspire an iconic Greyhawk hero. The Wind Fan now has a mild permanent effect, and the penalty for additional uses of its Gust of Wind effect are vastly reduced (you can use it about 4 additional times before it reaches what the original did in one). The Scabbard of Keen Edges likewise got a mild permanent benefit, but also a superb boost on its three-charge benefit: Keen Edge AND a +1 to Critical Threat applying BEFORE doubling? That's a pretty spectacular benefit. Naturally, being a Fighter-inclined item, Fighters get a lot of benefits from it. There's also variants for most weapons, as well.

And finally, we get to the Strand of Prayer Beads. The original was used only for one thing: the Karma bead, which granted a +4 bonus to CL for about 10 minutes. There was also the Summons bead, but I rarely see how that one can be exploited (unless you use it to gate a Solar, in which case it IS broken). Naturally, both got nerfed; the new equivalent-to-Karma bead (the Power bead, since I find Karma to be a pretty odd name for an ability that boosts your magical potential) only grants an increase of +1 to CL (still good, but not as much), whereas the Summons bead now limits you to Planar Ally (which can still net you a pretty nice creature, actually, but no Solar or, IIRC, Noble Djinn. The rest got some nifty boosts, such as the Healing bead, which gets a Greater Healing bead, or the Smiting bead that allows extra uses by sacrificing Smite uses (great for Paladins, which can turn two daily uses into an AoE with additional benefits). The new Karma bead is pretty awesome, since it nets you a retributive Curse effect with roughly the same DC as Mark of Justice (not Bestow Curse), but done instantly. The Summons bead isn't that bad either, since you can save it for a rainy day or use its Summon Monster VII benefit daily. You also get a better Blessing effect and its Bane bead counterpart, all with three spells tacked in. By the way, it also acts as a holy symbol. All in all, the Strand got major boosts but got nerfed in the right places. It's still an interesting and potent item, but nowhere near as broken as before. It's...also quite expensive.

Next should be the Psionic Wondrous Items and...well, I've made no new Wondrous Items, so that'll be left free for your (eventual) suggestions.

T.G. Oskar

2014-02-10, 01:21 PM

(Coming Soon part 5: A Good Day Will Be Coming Soon)

T.G. Oskar

2014-02-11, 09:57 AM

(Coming Soon)

T.G. Oskar

2014-02-11, 10:01 AM

INTELLIGENT ITEMS
Some magic items, by one reason or another, develop supernatural intelligence. Perhaps the weapon houses the soul of an ancient hero (or villain), or it has been for so long the possession of a specific individual that an imprint of its personality has manifested; perhaps it houses an intelligent elemental, or the remnants of an intelligent creature; perhaps, for strange reasons, the item gained sentience by means yet unexplained. The point is, some magic items develop sentience.

Intelligent items do not behave like normal magic items. Their powers and abilities may function at one moment, and then the weapon stops functioning. This is not because of a power malfunction: this is because the item itself is restraining its power.

Intelligent items often behave like normal magic items, but they gain a degree of progression of their own. However, their powers are often tied to their state of being. Intelligent items often prefer to belong to one person, and resent changing owners. Even with their owner, intelligent items may often quarrel, demanding that some action be taken. To some, intelligent items are stalwart allies and worthwhile companions; to others, an intelligent item can be its worst enemy.

BASICS OF INTELLIGENT ITEMS
Intelligent items are quite rare, often part of an extraordinary occurrence. There are four ways an intelligent item can enter play:

The first is that a magic item has reached a degree of interaction with the owner that it spontaneously sparks sentience. This is the most common event, and even this is quite rare. At the DM’s discretion, one of the character’s magic items may become intelligent: the item is most often the one that the character uses. Thus, a fighter’s favorite weapon may become an intelligent weapon, a paladin’s shield may become an intelligent shield, and a wizard’s headband of intellect may become imprinted with the wizard’s intelligence and spark one of its own. Once this event happens, the item has a 10% chance (01-10 on a d% roll) of sparking into sentience. If the item has not sparked into sentience, future events grant a +5% cumulative chance. These events are few and far in between: not every event is transcendental enough to spark intelligence. The magic item’s sentience is very similar to that of its owner, gaining its mental scores and alignment.
The second is that a crafted magic item suddenly develops sentience. When crafting an item, roll a d% dice; if the roll is between 01 and 10, the item becomes sentient. The item’s sentience can be determined randomly, or it can be fixed by the DM: generally, if the item’s sentience is pre-determined, it will behave similar to the typical owner of said item (thus, a headband of intellect will be a savant, while a greataxe will be somewhat brutish).
The third happens if a creature dies while holding an item with the chance of sparking sentience (see the first occurrence, above). If the owner reaches -10 hit points or lower (effectively dead, unless the character has a way to delay death), have the player roll a d% die. On a roll of 01-50, the character’s soul is absorbed into the weapon, sparking into sentience. Items formed in this way are often more powerful than the norm, and behave exactly as the character would. Once a character’s soul empowers a magic item, the character may no longer be resurrected, unless a miracle or wish is used, or the item is destroyed (in which case, a resurrection spell works so as long as the pieces of the magic item are around).
The fourth appears as random treasure. Roll a d%; on a roll of 01-05, one of the magic items has a chance of becoming sentient. Roll for each magic item (01-10 on a d% roll); the first successful roll causes the item to become sentient. Treat as if the item was crafted for purposes of determining sentience.
A fifth method is if the item has a legacy (or if its wielder establishes one; see Weapons of Legacy for more details). Such magic items become intelligent on their own terms, as established in the book.

Once an item has the chance of becoming intelligent, the player and the DM must decide to establish the properties or leave it to random chance. Each point can be established randomly, with some exceptions.

Only weapons, armor, rods, staffs, and other wondrous items (such as rings) can be randomly assigned as intelligent items; consumables (such as potions, scrolls and wands) are unsuitable to become intelligent items.

Mental Scores
The intelligent item’s mental scores can be acquired in one of three ways:
Imprint: this method applies with magic items already owned by someone or crafted at the moment: a magic item randomly found cannot have its mental scores defined this way. Legacy items are treated as crafted for this purpose. Imprinted intelligent items always have the base scores of the owner or the creator: for example, assume a fighter’s magic item becomes sentient. The fighter has an Int score of 10, a Wis score of 13 and a Charisma score of 8; the magic item thus gains the same scores (Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 8).

Pre-determined: this method is the choice of DMs mostly; the DM defines scores between 4 and 18 for all three scores. Define scores fairly, but sparingly: this method is better when the intelligent item becomes a complement of the character (positively or negatively)
Random: the usual choice for crafted or randomly found. Roll 3d6 for each ability score once: if the magic item adds a bonus to a mental ability score, add the bonus to the defined score, and any roll lower than an 8 automatically becomes a 8.

Alignment
The intelligent item will often be neutral, as natural for a nascent form of intelligence. Some items may hold a specific alignment, however. Imprinted intelligent items will always share the alignment of their owner; they are, to an extent, an extension of their owner (or creator). Magic items with an alignment (such as a +1 holy longsword) will have the same alignment as it: thus, a good-aligned weapon will always be good-aligned, much like a horn of goodness. Randomly acquired magic items may have pre-determined or random alignments, at the DM’s choice (however, it’s recommended that the same method of determining scores is the same method to determine alignment).

Magic items gaining sentience and randomized alignment has it determined as follows:

Non-aligned items

Items with one alignment

d%

Alignment

d%

Alignment

01-05
Chaotic evil
01-25
Chaotic or evil

06-20
Neutral evil
26-75
Neutral

21-25
Lawful evil
76-00
Lawful or good

26-40
Chaotic neutral

41-60
Neutral

61-75
Lawful neutral

76-80
Chaotic good

81-95
Neutral good

96-00
Lawful good

Personality
Once mental scores and alignment are defined, determine the personality of the newly-intelligent item.

Abrasive: the magic item can be difficult to deal with, usually demanding action. Conversations with this item can be difficult.
Absent-Minded: the magic item can lose itself in conversation, easily getting distracted.
Aggressive: this magic item can be downright offensive, inciting towards violent solutions. However, it can also be encouraging, to some extent.
Artiste: this magic item, ironically, has a taste for artistic beauty. Magic items of this sort can easily be narcissistic (considering themselves the pinnacle of construction), or may bother their owner with diatribes on the beauty of an object.
Bully: this magic item loves to command others. More often than not, this magic item will use intimidation to force its owner to act upon its desires. Magic items with this personality are often evil: roll again and discard this result if the magic item is good-aligned.
Cautious: this magic item is always aware of its surroundings, preferring judicious action to recklessness. Owned by a reckless or impulsive individual, the magic item may refuse to grant its powers. Cautious magic items may be confused with cowards, but they can be determined once the sufficient precautions are followed.
Coward: this magic item doesn’t want to engage in combat. If used in combat, it may negate its user the powers it offers. Items of this sort are rarely weapons, unless the weapon had experienced several sundering attempts. Magic items with this personality may never grant bonuses against fear effects; roll again and discard this result if the item grants a bonus against fear saves.
Detached: magic items of this sort are often the “loner” type, making any kind of relation difficult. A detached magic item rarely manifests its powers, rarely communicates with its owner, and keeps a distance from the troubles of the owner and its comrades.
Dishonest: magic items of this sort are brutally deceptive. They may claim that they offer a special power, for example, or attempt to convince their owners to distrust allies. Magic items with this personality are often chaotic, and some also evil: roll again and discard this result if the magic item is lawful-aligned.
Distinctive: magic items of this sort have a story behind them. They were perhaps used in a specific battle where the item granted victory, or is constantly stolen. Items of this sort derive their whole existence from this story, lending their “experience” to their owners.
Easy-Going: this magic item is easy to deal with, the equivalent of a “good-natured” individual. The magic item doesn’t seek to push the wielder to do what it desires, but when it does, it rarely feels like an order.
Focused: magic items of this sort are strongly disciplined; likely the weapon of a mighty commander, or the tome of a scholar. They incline towards specific goals, and are hard to convince, but their focus is immensely helpful when the need arises. Focused magic items require a strict mindset; roll again and discard this result if the magic item is chaotic-aligned.
Friendly: these magic items are desired by anyone. Friendly magic items are always willing to aid their owners, rarely opposing them. However, because of their friendliness, they are the swiftest to change hands, though they resent being taken by force. Friendly magic items are often good: roll again and discard this result if the magic item is evil-aligned.
Gifted: this magic item has a special trait. If crafted from magic, it has a strong affinity for magic, whereas if crafted from psionic powers, it has great psionic potential.
Hero: this magic item is bold, always pushing its wielder to heroic actions on its behalf. This attitude may appear as reckless, but the item is not dumb or naïve; it simply has a drive usually hard to understand. Heroic magic items despise evil by nature; roll again and discard this result if the item is evil-aligned.
Honest: this item is honest to a fault. While trustworthy, sometimes the item can be brutally blunt to its wielder, particularly if the wielder is deceptive and the relationship is not the best.
Imprinted: this magic item is imprinted with the behavior of its wielder or creator (depending on the method of imprinting sentience). In essence, it’s a perfect copy of the character, which can oftentimes end up being unnerving to its wielder if it shares the same traits. Imprinted magic items are much more complex than other personalities.
Inattentive: some magic items can lose themselves in conversation or get easily distracted; this magic item pays no attention for what seems to be no reason. This magic item can often be dormant, and requires a lot of effort to make it work. This doesn’t make it unreliable; it simply makes it hard to deal with.
Meticulous: these magic items demand that each action be done carefully; they accept no mistakes, and easily get frustrated when its wielder constantly makes failures. If necessary, it demands its wielder to stop what its doing and make it again; at times, it is never satisfied. Meticulous magic items have usually a one-track mind; roll again and discard this result if the item is chaotic-aligned.
Nimble: this magic item often emerges from items that boost speed, reflexes or Dexterity. Such item seems to be always “on the edge”; jittery, at most. It often urges its wielder to act quick and react quicker.
Observant: this magic item often works as the best scout. In conversations, it listens carefully, and often works to point out inconsistencies within others. This item is very perceptive; roll again and discard this result if the item’s Wisdom score is 12 or lower.
Passionate: whatever is the focus of this magic item, it will seek to follow it to its best. This magic item urges its wielder to follow its desires to its fullest, and to never give up on them.
Plucky: this magic item has a surprising courage, even if it doesn’t seem like it. This courage may be reflected with carelessness, but when the situation turns dire, this courage blossoms into hardy determination. No matter the circumstances, this magic item will urge its wielder to never give up, and to push forward. Because of this, it’s not the best friend of cynics.
Poised: this magic item has an air of self-confidence surrounding it; often times, it manifests as a cape or rod, typical accoutrements of a ruler or noble. At times, this air may seem like arrogance
Reckless: this magic item casts caution to the wind; impulsive at best, dangerous at worst. These magic items are difficult to handle, and usually manifest on items that are intended for use rather than worn. Reckless magic items usually don't think what they do, and rarely manifest on items with a Wisdom score higher than 12.
Resolved: this magic item can be hard to reason with. When it opposes its owner’s desires, this magic item refuses to cave in, but whenever it works in unison with its owner, nothing can set them apart. Magic items with resolve usually possess strong Will saves, and often emerge from items that increase Will saves or allows to resist mind-affecting abilities.
Sage: this magic item contains a wealth of knowledge, usually manifesting as a crown, headband or staff. Most magic items of this sort rarely have a high Charisma score; when determining stats, the item’s Charisma score is always the lowest.
Single-Minded: this magic item focuses on a single task, to the exclusion of all others. It often motivates its owner to do the same, and enters in conflict whenever it feels it doesn’t follow its intended purpose.
Sneaky: this kind of magic item generally manifests upon items that assist with stealth or deception. At first, they’re silent and emit an eerie aura, only working its powers whenever it deems necessary. Despite this, sneaky magic items are not necessarily deceptive, nor they are arrogant or bossy; generally, they prefer to be unassuming and pragmatic. Despite their nature, these magic items aren’t always evil or chaotic, and a lawful good magic item can certainly be sneaky. They also have a bizarre sense of humor.
Specialized: this magic item is designed for a specific purpose, and it excels at this purpose at the cost of others. A weapon designed to battle undead will develop purposes related to this. Whenever a magic item develops this, define their specialization. Magic item effects that support this specialization (including item powers) can be added with a 25% discount, while effects that attempt to deviate from this specialization cost 10% more. Specialized magic items tend to behave poorly when used at anything other than their area of specialization, and thus manifest frustration whenever they cannot apply their talents.
Suspicious: a magic item with this personality doesn’t arise suspicion; rather, it suspects of everybody and everything. These magic items almost always refuse to help their owner, but once their suspicions are dispelled, they actually work with their owner. These magic items love to draw suspicions from anything, and thus grant their owner a +2 circumstance bonus to Sense Motive checks, but at a cost of -2 to Diplomacy checks if the magic item establishes contact with the speaker.
Sympathetic: while friendly magic items actively work with their owner, sympathetic magic items attune to them. Arguably the best kind of magic item, once the owner of a sympathetic magic item attunes with its owner, it never enters in conflict. Such magic items are supportive to their owners and are even willing to cooperate with other magic items if necessary, or even to collaborate with its owner’s allies. However, if taken away from its owner by force, these magic items retain their loyalty to all extents. Often, a sympathetic magic item has to be transferred, not taken, in order for its functions to work.
Torpid: while easy-going magic items can be considered somewhat lazy, torpid magic items ARE lazy. Attempting to activate its powers requires a successful Ego score.
Uncivilized: magic items with this personality are difficult to deal with. Some have an animal mentality, while others are mostly savage. Uncivilized magic items may have their mental scores below 3, and rarely higher than 12.

Senses and Communication Modes
Intelligent items, once they gain sentience, acquire the ability to communicate with their wielders and sense the world. The way each item perceives the world is very different, and depends greatly on their mental scores.

Intelligent items see the world as follows:
Sound: intelligent items can, at the very least, hear everything within a small area. They have a Listen check bonus equal to half the item’s caster level, modified by their Wisdom modifier. The item hears only up to a distance of 30 ft.
Sight: intelligent items with a Wisdom score of at least 12 can see the world as clearly as a human would. They have a Spot check bonus equal to half the item’s caster level, modified by their Wisdom modifier. The item sees in the same direction as the wielder points it, up to a range of 30 ft.

Intelligent items communicate with their wielders as follows:
Omen: the best way to express communication through magic items is through manifestations, or omens, which are often hard to interpret. The wielder of an intelligent item must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom check to properly interpret the language; a Sense Motive check against DC 20 also allows to interpret the omen.
Language: a magic item with Intelligence 10 or higher gains the ability to speak one language. This language is usually Common, but it often depends on its crafter’s native language (thus, an item crafted by an elf speaks Elf, while an item crafted by an orc shaman speaks Orc) or that of its wielder, if the magic item has an imprint of it. A magic item learns a new language from those spoken by its creator (or its wielder, if an imprint of said wielder) for every 2 points of Intelligence over 10, but may not speak more languages than its creator (or wielder).
Empathy: a magic item with Charisma 10 or higher can relay specific emotions to its wielder; for example, the wielder of a sword can relay an emotion such as fear, or worry, if it senses an enemy within its vicinity.

Powers and Advancement
Intelligent items are magic items on their own right, but the sudden development of sentience also grants a slight degree of improvement. This represents how the magic item manages its power. At the moment the item gains sentience, it gains one of the following powers:
Upgrade Enhancement Bonus: an intelligent item’s enhancement bonus increases by 1 (for weapons, armor and shields) or 2 (for abilities that grant ability score improvements, up to a +6 bonus, until the character reaches 20th level).
Hidden Power: this only works for weapons, armor and shields. The item gains a special quality equivalent to a +1 enhancement bonus increase.
Spell Trigger: the item’s magic can be manifested as a spell. Once per day, the wielder of an intelligent item may cast a 1st level spell with a caster level of 1st as a spell-like ability. This ability only works with magic items, not with psionic items.
Manifestation: the item’s psionic potential can be manifested as a spell. The item knows a 1st level power and has a power point reserve of 1. This ability only works with psionic items, not magic items.

The powers manifested by the intelligent item depend mostly on the item’s relationship with its wielder (see below). An intelligent item with poor relationship with its wielder may negate the effect of its power.

Intelligent items may improve with time. Improving a magic item is no easy task; a transcendental event related to the event that imbued it with sentience must be achieved in order to empower the item. This improvement requires an expenditure of the wielder’s experience points, and improves the existing power or allows the item to manifest a new power:
Upgrade Enhancement Bonus: the item’s existing bonus increases by 1 (to a total of +5 pre-epic) or 2 (to a total of +6 pre-epic). Each improvement has an experience cost equal to the square of the item’s current enhancement bonus plus one, times 200.
Hidden Power: the item gains a new special quality with a +1 enhancement bonus, or may replace its existing quality to another with an enhancement bonus 1 point higher. Each improvement has an experience cost equal to the square of the item’s current effective enhancement bonus plus one, times 40.
Spell Trigger: the item learns a new spell of 1st level, may replace the spell it is capable of casting to a spell of one level higher, or increase the number of times the spell may be cast by 1. Each choice always increases the effective caster level of the item by 1 for purposes of spellcasting (except for replacing the spell’s level, in which case the caster level increases by 2). If learning a new spell or increasing the amount of uses per day the spell may be used, the experience cost is equal to 72 times the effective caster level; if the item’s spell is upgraded to a stronger one, the cost is equal to 72 times the effective caster level times the new spell level. An item may not have a caster level higher than the character’s level.
Manifestation: the item learns a new power of 1st level, or replaces an existing power it is capable of manifesting to a power one level higher. Furthermore, the item’s effective manifester level for manifesting a power always increases by 1 (2 if improving an existing power), and gains 1 extra power point (2 points if improving an existing power). If learning a new power, the experience cost is equal to 72 times the effective manifester level; if the item’s power is upgraded to a stronger one, the cost is equal to 72 times the effective manifester level times the new power level. An item may not have a manifester level higher than the character’s level.

An intelligent item also has the chance of improving its mental scores, its senses and communication modes. The item also requires an expenditure of experience points, and only be improved at the same moment it gains or improves a new power. Only one ability score or sense may be improved at once.
Ability Score: current ability score times 100
Improved Sight: current vision range times 5 plus 50; increase in 10-ft increments
All-Around Vision: 750
Improved Listening: current hearing range times 5 plus 50; increase in 10-ft. increments
Acquire Low-Light Vision: 500 (10-ft. range).
Improve Low-Light Vision: current low-light vision range times 25 plus 250; increase in 10-ft. increments
Acquire Darkvision: 1000 (10-ft. range). Requires low-light vision.
Improve Darkvision: current darkvision range times 50 plus 500; increase in 10-ft. increments. Cannot exceed normal vision range.
Acquire Blindsense: 2500 (5-ft. range). Requires Wisdom score of 15 or higher
Improve Blindsense: current blindsense range times 100 plus 500; increase in 5-ft. increments
Acquire Blindsight: 5000 (5-ft. range). Requires blindsense. Cannot exceed hearing range. Negated by silence or similar effect.
Improve Blindsight: current blindsense range times 250 plus 1250; increase in 5-ft. increments. Cannot exceed hearing range AND blindsense. Negated by silence or similar effect.
Read Magic: 1000. This allows the item to read magic, as per the read magic spell.
Detect Magic: 5000. This allows the item to detect magical auras, as per the arcane sight spell. This does not allow the item to recognize which aura, and its own aura doesn’t count for purposes of detection; however, it is able to recognize auras similar to its own (it automatically recognizes auras of the same school as the item’s own aura)
Speak with Wielder: 250. Requires Intelligence score of 6 or higher. This is the equivalent of the speak with master ability of a wizard and its familiar.
Acquire Telepathy: 5000. Requires Intelligence score of 15 or higher.

Ego
Once a magic item has gained sentience, it seeks to experiment the world as much as possible. Sometimes, this may cause conflicts with its owner. This conflict can be resolved by many ways: through negotiation, domination or submission.

When created, each magic item has an Ego score. This score is similar in most regards to a Will saving throw, but with some differences. For starters, the item’s Ego score is based on the item’s Charisma modifier, rather than Wisdom; then, the item gains bonuses on its score based on other factors. The item’s base Ego score is defined as follows: 1/3rd the item’s caster level + item’s Charisma modifier. This is a close approximation of a poor Will save, but unlike player characters, intelligent items have other forms of improving this Ego score.

The following effects improve an item’s Ego score:
Intelligence and Wisdom scores: a magic item gains a +1 to its Ego score for every 4 points of Intelligence and every 3 points of Wisdom over 10.
Enhancement bonus: a weapon, suit of armor or shield with an enhancement bonus adds this bonus to its Ego score. For purposes of Ego score, use the item’s effective enhancement bonus, not its actual bonus.
Will save bonus: if a magic item grants its wearer a bonus to Will saves, it adds this bonus to the Ego score.
Spell Trigger or Manifestation: for every spell or power the item can use, increase its Ego score by 1. If the spell or power is of 4th level or higher, add a +2 bonus instead; for every spell or power of 7th level or higher, add a +3 instead. Items with charges add 1 point per 10 charges, based on its maximum charge capability (thus, a +1 bonus to the score if the item has 10 or less charges, a +5 if the item is a staff or wand; this bonus is not lost if the amount of charges decrease)
Special Qualities: if the magic item is capable of telepathic communication, increase its Ego score by 1.

Conflict check
Whenever an intelligent item and its owner enter in conflict, the following occurs:
Domination: the owner makes a Will saving throw against the item’s Ego check. If the owner wins, the magic item is compelled to act as the owner desires. If the magic item wins, the item is free to act, often in detriment of its owner (but depending on personality)
Negotiation: the owner attempts to deal with the magic item. Treat as a Bluff, Diplomacy or Intimidate check to change an attitude, except as follows: determine the item’s initial attitude and add the Ego score as a bonus to the DC. If the owner succeeds, the item behaves based on its new attitude. The item’s bonus to any of these checks does not apply to the owner.
Submission: the owner may choose to accept to the magic item’s demands. The owner is compelled to act, but isn’t forced; essentially, it delays the conflict. However, if used to negotiate, it grants its owner a +10 bonus to the check (only on Bluff and Diplomacy checks).

Item alignments influence the result of the check. If the item and the owner have the same alignment, the owner has a +2 bonus on the Conflict check. If the item and the owner’s alignments are one step away to each other (for example, the owner is lawful good and the item is either neutral good or lawful neutral), the owner gains no bonus. If the owner and the item’s alignments oppose each other on one step (for example, the owner is lawful good and the item is lawful evil or chaotic good), the item’s Ego score is treated as 2 points higher; if the owner and the item’s alignments diametrically oppose each other, the item’s Ego score is treated as 5 points higher.

Item Dominance
If the magic item manages to dominate on a Conflict roll whenever an owner attempts to dominate it, or the owner submits to the magic item’s demands, the owner is compelled to act as the magic item requires. By definition, the owner is not under a compulsion effect (though some magic items may reinforce this if they have a compulsion effect), but the magic item is free to hinder its owner if it doesn’t acquiesce to its demands. Examples of this are as follows:

The magic item demands its owner to act according to its desires. Some items may force the owner to commit acts against their nature, while others demand embarking them on quests.
The magic item demands exclusivity. Some fickle items demand that their owners wear nothing else but themselves, while others demand that only some items are relinquished. Sometimes this extends to followers, cohorts, associates or even party members.
The magic item demands special treatment. Some, like weapons, demand their owners to properly treat them (oiling, sharpening and otherwise keeping them pristine), while others demand their use at specific occasions, even if it wouldn’t be prudent (such as wielding a sword on a peace negotiation, at clear sight, just because the sword wants to show-off). Demands can be as outrageous as the item’s personality allows.
The magic item demands the wielder relinquish it to a more suitable possessor. Oftentimes, this is the result of someone who fails its first Conflict roll, and is the hallmark of arrogant magic items, but usually happens whenever a magic item’s alignment opposes its owner’s or due to differences between conduct or utility.

Failure to do so involves the following hindrances:

The magic item stops working for the owner. This can be as little as denying the owner the benefit of a specific power (such as a flaming longsword turning its property off), to denying all benefits (the same flaming longsword would behave as a masterwork weapon, without the enhancement bonus and other properties). The more extreme ones refuse to even act on behalf of the owner, such as a weapon stopping in mid-swing, or a projectile weapon refusing to string.
The magic item may turn against its owner. For example, a weapon may impose a penalty to attack and damage rolls, up to its enhancement bonus, or impose a penalty to ability scores or skill checks equal to the bonus it would otherwise provide. Other items may actually target its owner; weapons swing towards the owner’s body, items with spells or powers activate them with their owner as the target, and so forth.
The magic item may betray its owner. This goes beyond stopping functions or turn against their owners, in that they seek any opportunity to aid the owner’s opponent. For example, the owner may be forced to succeed on an impromptu disarm check, with the item immediately changing hands on a failed check, or even allowing the opponent a Sleight of Hand check even if the opponent doesn’t attempt one, or even has the skill trained.
The magic item may establish more direct control over its owner. In this case, the magic item forces a Conflict roll, with the owner gaining a +10 bonus. If the magic item wins the roll (treat as a domination attempt), it gains control over its owner in a way it may seem reasonable; for example, a magic item may impose a geas, a quest, or even dominate the owner as per a dominate monster spell. This effect is treated as a mind-affecting ability, and a magic item never attempts it against owners immune to said effects.
The magic item disappears. This may be as simple as dropping during travel, incite others to steal it, or if capable, simply move on its own whenever the owner is distracted. An intelligent item seeking to escape its owner and that happens to be sold always acts in detriment of its owner, reducing its selling price.

Personalities and Ego
An intelligent item’s personality also affects its Ego. Some personalities increase or decrease the item’s Ego score, while others affect Ego in a different way:
Abrasive: Ego score increases by 2.
Absent-Minded: Ego score increases by 2, except when dominated or intimidated.
Aggressive: Ego score increases by 1
Artiste: No changes to Ego score. These items often demand exclusivity, particularly on items they consider inferior (generally items crafted in a style opposite their own, or crudely-made)
Bully: Ego score increases by 3, except when dominated or intimidated. This magic item often seeks to dominate its owner.
Cautious: Ego score increases by 1 whenever it doesn’t follow a plan. The plan may be made by its owner, the magic item, or someone the owner defers to as a leader.
Coward: Ego score increases by 5. If it wins a Conflict roll, the item asks its owner to refrain from dangerous actions, or otherwise disappears. Each time the owner wins an intimidation against this item, its Ego score increases by 1 for 24 hours.
Detached: Ego score increases by 2. Item’s attitude when negotiating always begins with indifferent.
Dishonest: Ego score increases by 2, or by 5 if attempting to negotiate diplomatically with them. Item has a (30 – difference between Conflict rolls)% of acting against its owner.
Distinctive: No changes to Ego score
Easy-Going: Ego score decreases by 2. Item’s attitude when negotiating always begins with friendly.
Focused: Ego score increases by 2 when attempting to intimidate.
Friendly: Ego score decreases by 3. Item’s attitude when negotiating always begins with friendly.
Gifted: No change to Ego score.
Hero: No changes to Ego score.
Honest: Ego score increases by 5 when attempting to bluff.
Imprinted: Base Ego score is based on creator’s original base Will save + Charisma modifier, rather than item’s caster level.
Inattentive: Ego score increases by 5. Item always refuses to act if it wins an opposed Conflict roll.
Meticulous: Ego score increases by 2.
Nimble: No changes to Ego score. Item always demands to be used by its owner whenever it wins a Conflict check, unless it holds severe differences.
Observant: No changes to Ego score.
Passionate: No changes to Ego score. If owner agrees to the item’s demands through submission, it grants a +1 morale bonus to attack rolls, saving throws and skill checks for as long as it remains submit.
Plucky: Ego score increases by 2 against cynics.
Poised: Ego score increases by 3. Item always demands special treatment; otherwise, it always demands a better owner.
Reckless: Ego score increases by 3 when it feels it must take action. How it measures taking action is based on its Intelligence score.
Resolved: Ego score increases by 5, or by 10 if the owner attempts to dominate.
Sage: No changes to Ego score.
Single-Minded: Ego score increases by 5, or by 2 if sharing its owner’s alignment.
Sneaky: Item has a (50 – difference between Conflict rolls)% of acting as it desires.
Specialized: Ego score increases by 2, or by 5 if owner attempts to dominate.
Suspicious: Ego score increases by 1, or by 5 if attempting to bluff.
Sympathetic: if owner is attuned, item never attempts a Conflict check. Otherwise, item’s Ego score increases by 15.
Torpid: Ego score increases by 5. Item requires an opposed Conflict roll to activate its power (if permanent, effect lasts for 1 hour or until stored)
Uncivilized: Ego score increases by 5, plus 2 for every mental score below 8.

Intelligent items. No warrior ever wants one. They usually screw you up.

If I was to work with magic items, one of the few things I had to do was reconsider how intelligent items work. They're a staple of fantasy literature, and they thrive in the conflict between their personality and that of their owner(s). It doesn't exactly has to be a weapon or a portable magic item; how about a ship, or a castle?

That said, one of the faults I found with the generation of intelligent items was the lack of helpful personality quirks. Usually, almost all intelligent items were highly egotistical, no matter their alignment. Orderly Lawful Good? Wants to get over its owner. Ruthless Chaotic Evil? Wants to get over its owner. Mild-mannered, unaligned Neutral? Wants to get over its owner, period. Thus, one of the things I did was to provide intelligent items with personality quirks, so that you could get a one-word definition of what they do: an intelligent sword could have a heroic personality, shouting (because it can speak) boasts that would make its meek owner red with shame, or an intelligent Headband of Intellect can be an insufferable artiste, demanding to rest only on the crown of a true erudite, one that has resolved the mysteries of the Multiverse. This gives intelligent items a motivation, but doesn't exactly make them antagonistic. The personality quirks were taken from the Traits and the Psicrystal personalities, existing references that were expanded.

The Ego score was also reigned and redefined. Originally, it was possible for an item to have an Ego score so brutal, its owner would be pretty much a puppet of its actions; now, the item is restrained a bit. There's also another method to handle working with an intelligent item, by means of Negotiation; if you're good at bluffing, an expert negotiator, or someone who could intimidate a skeleton into shaking itself to the floor, then you can force the magic item to play fair...at least for a while. The check required was cleared up, and the results for failure were also refined a bit more. The magic item doesn't necessarily HAS to be a prick, but if it has to, it will. Sometimes, it might just bother its owner, rather than force him to do something. Furthermore, intelligent items aren't always so egotistical to demand exclusivity; sometimes, they're willing to cooperate. Personalities make Ego scores quite distinct from each other, and some personalities actually help because they LOWER Ego scores.

The powers granted by intelligent items, though, were pretty boring. Most of them were "gain +10 to one skill", and if we're making items remain a bit distant from that, might as well diversify things a bit. Intelligent items end up being slightly more powerful than an item of the same price and form (think the difference between a +2 shortsword and, say, Sting, who might have the orc bane special quality because it was made for it). Certainly, the ability to cast a single spell or manifest a single power makes intelligent items far more useful than before, because you get (to an extent; this applies more to DMs than to players) control over the choice of spell (or power), making it fit the item better or providing a character with a much-needed benefit. Since the exchange is that the item's personality will influence the access of the item's powers, and some personalities might be friendly while others might be antagonistic, the trade off is fair, if somewhat random.

This may seem like a method to supplant Items of Legacy, but that's definitely not the case. Items of Legacy are awesome, because they allow a character to have an item rich with fluff, and with crunch that supports it...so as long as you make it yourself (some of the pre-made items are far too fluffy and not that crunchy). Therefore, Intelligent Items aren't meant to replace Items of Legacy, but instead compliment them. Note, though, that if you create an item by means of a Legacy, and it gains sentience, it uses the Legacy item's rules, not these ones. Don't want people trying to combine both aspects.

Next: artifacts.