Free Wonderous Item

[Erritu]

I haven't played D&D for about six years or so, but a conversation at work suddenly has six players and a DM meeting regularly at my table for weekly play sessions. The DM is making XP based on storyline progression rather than encounters with specific characters/opponents to keep the playing field fairly level for the new players that have never-ever played and the people who have been playing since they could throw dice instead of eat them.

As a Wizard with craft wondrous item (I like making off the wall stuff that seems fun/different) I get to make up the XP tracking with certain crafting being free. Up to this point its been little stuff. Last session however, I was told that the next session would have us leveling and that I would be able to create any wondrous item I could afford/cast without paying for the XP Which brings me here, I would like help/inspiration on what you would do if presented the same opportunity.

We are only progressing from 3rd to 4th level, and this quest-line is supposed to be exceptionally lucrative. The other characters are a LG cleric of Pelor, a N cleric of Nerull (these two are hilarious), a ninja, a scout, and a druid.

Ready? Go.

[Kamin_Majere]

An item that makes the cleric of pelor smell sexy to badgers... why, because he knows deep down pelor is evil and he should suffer for worshiping :smalltongue:

On the other hand if you are wanting something serious i'd kinda need to know what your party needs, wondrous item covers SO many things you could make almost anything

[Zanos]

A blessed book would be pretty nice if you could afford it.

[VoxRationis]

Heward's Handy Haversack? Great for hauling that "exceptionally lucrative" treasure out of the dungeon, as well as for potions and the like.

[mabriss lethe]

Lots of Chronocharms? Otherwise, something like a cloak of resistance for one of the squishies. the "What" isn't terribly important. Knowing "Who" as in who will get the item, will help you determine what to make. The goal here, as a crafter, will be to spread the love around to all the players. I'd start with the least optimized/powerful character in the party and give him a little boost. Work your way up through the ranks of your party.

[Thiyr]

So you can craft without the XP but with the gold cost still intact? What kind of GP limits are we talking here? 'Cause I could say you should make a Helm of Brilliance, but odds are that's out of your price range. Other ideas:

I'm always partial to Ioun Stones of all varieties.
Never had a chance to use them myself, but I have always wanted to take advantage of Marvelous Pigments.
Nothing says "Yippie Ki Yay" quite like a necklace of fireballs (toss the full necklace, have someone toss an alchemist's fire into the same square, and hope you aren't in blast radius, because even making all your saves, you're gonna hurt.)
Cheaper option: Tree tokens. You can NEVER have enough tree tokens.
Bags of tricks are nice if traps are ever a worry.
an Efficient Quiver could be good if you have a lot of wand or staff.
Decanter of endless water. Always a good time.
Apparatus of the Crab: Terrible item, but being a wizard in a crab-suit? THAT is truly priceless.
And if your DM is gonna play it by the book instead of by the "makes sense and follows the general formula laid out that literally everything else follows", stat books (manual of bodily health, and the like). Because for some reason, they mixed up the GP and XP costs for crafting. 6,250 gp + 25,500 XP for +5 inherent to a stat could be rough, seeing as it is at least a full level's worth of XP. But 6250? Affordable AND stupidly good. and liable to get you a book to the face.

[ChocoSuisse]

And if your DM is gonna play it by the book instead of by the "makes sense and follows the general formula laid out that literally everything else follows", stat books (manual of bodily health, and the like). Because for some reason, they mixed up the GP and XP costs for crafting. 6,250 gp + 25,500 XP for +5 inherent to a stat could be rough, seeing as it is at least a full level's worth of XP. But 6250? Affordable AND stupidly good. and liable to get you a book to the face.

Actually, this crafting cost makes sense : you're casting 5 Wishes to get the +5 inherent bonus and it costs 25K xp as a component.
The wonderous item - the book storing this effect, costs you 6250gp + 500xp.

As a DM, if I were to grant the same thing, I'd just remove the 500xp, but you still have to pay the 25K xp.
Well, that wouldn't be a great deal, but that's what you get for trying to trick your DM! :smallamused:

[Erritu]

Digging the badger idea.

The total amount of gold I will have is likely to be around 4-5k. A lot of the items you all were throwing out there are great, but outside the abilities of my wizard to craft unless I managed to get the appropriate scrolls for the spells (or Caster Level) and roll really well.

About that apparatus of the Crab. . . The DM is down for custom items - Maybe I could use that as a starting point and make my lil wizard a floating tank or something with modular attachments for different scenarios. Anything like that out there?

[John Longarrow]

Step 1) Get the Mount spell
Step 2) Make a horseshoe that casts Mount at will
Step 3) PROFIT.

Being able to cast mount at will is really fantastic. Need to look for traps? MOUNT. Need to occupy space to keep enemies away? MOUNT. Need to distract that pack of ghouls? MOUNT. Need to get around? MOUNT.

There are few tricks you can do with a feather token - Tree you can't pull off with MOUNT.

[Perturbulent]

I have to admit, there are very few things the mount spell cannot do, and half of those that can't can be done with something silly like communal mount...

[Erritu]

I appreciate the help. I'll probably go with that custom mount item, seems to be exceptionally useful.