[3.5] Help Me Make a Quiver of Many Tricks!

[GreatDane]

GRANET, NAFATIL, AND VALIA: STAY OUT.



Original thread/question:
Hiya, playgrounders. After defeating the first major boss in our current campaign, I intend to have an important NPC reward them with items that cater to their preferences and abilities. For one of my characters, I'm sure of what would do the trick: a quiver of "trick arrows" that can magically provide him with a variety arrows imbued with gimmicky (but still useful) effects. Here's what I've got so far:


Already-lit flaming arrows
An arrow that produces a cloud of black smoke on impact (a la smokesticks)
An arrow that reproduces the effect of a thunderstone on impact
An arrow that trails rope behind it when fired
An arrow that creates a shatter effect on impact
A seeking arrow


I'm looking for more and cooler effects. I'm also wondering what kind of pricing an item like this might have, depending on its uses (each arrow 1/day, any arrow 10/day, etc.).

I've come up with something I think will work. The question now: did I hit my price range of 8000-9000 gp? Is it obviously broken/underpowered? If the character wanted to improve the quiver (by adding new types of arrows or increasing the number of daily charges), how might I price that appropriately? I'm currently thinking that adding a "minor" (1 charge) effect would cost 750 gp, while adding a "major" (2 charge) effect would cost 1200 gp. Adding a daily charge to the item would cost 2000 gp.

[FocusWolf413]

Ideas:
An arrow that deals no damage and has a cure light wounds (or greater) attatched to it.
An arrow that can perform one of various combat maneuvers (trip, disarm...)
An arrow that has a magic mouth attatched to it.
An arrow that carries a note with explosive runes.

[Rakoa]

You're going to need an arrow that explodes (http://textsfromsuperheroes.com/image/117818043517) like a Decanter of Endless Water.

[gr8artist]

Hmm, for pricing/rules, I'd look at the mechanics for a staff (if you want him to be able to mix and match arrows as needed) or a collection of 1 or 2/day magic items (if you want to go that route). Honestly, I think giving him each arrow (spell effect) twice per day should be fine. Or have him "prepare" arrowheads ahead of time, which could be neat but doesn't have a lot of comparison.
Take a look at PF's "Snapdragon fireworks" spell; it's like a long-ranged flashy magic missile firework.

[GreatDane]

So here's the final product, complete with suggestions from this thread:

GANDAR'S QUIVER
This finely crafted leather quiver has a strip of gold etched with arcane runes encircling its base.

Gandar's quiver has 10 charges, which are renewed each day at dawn. You can spend one charge to draw forth any of the following arrows:

A black-fletched arrow that reproduces the effect of a smokestick on impact.

A yellow-fletched arrow that reproduces the effect of a thunderstone on impact.
An arrow whose tip contains a small glass sphere of holy water, which bursts on impact and deals 2d4 points of damage to undead, evil outsiders, and elementals with the [fire] subtype (in addition to the arrow's normal damage).
A gold-tipped arrow that reproduces the effect of a sunrod on impact.
A clear-tipped arrow that reproduces the effect of a shatter spell on impact (unattended objects only).
An arrow tipped with a grappling hook that magically trails silk rope until it strikes a target.
An arrow with wide fletching that will speak (or whisper, if chosen upon drawing the arrow) a message of up to 25 words that you speak to it before firing the arow.

You can spend two charges to draw forth any of the following arrows:

A +1 arrow with any of the following properties: corrosive, distance, flaming, frost, knockback, seeking, shocking.
A blue-fletched arrow that deals no damage to its target, instead healing it of 1d8+5 points of damage. If fired at an undead creature, this arrow instead deals 1d8+5 points of damage (instead of the arrow's normal damage).

Gandar's quiver also functions as an efficient quiver.

Did I miss any critical effects or open any easy abuse cases? More importantly, did I hit my target price range of 8000-9000 gp?

[FocusWolf413]

Looks good!
You should check out the ammunition in the A&EG and on pfsrd. You might get more ideas.

[Baroknik]

So here's the final product, complete with suggestions from this thread:

GANDAR'S QUIVER
This finely crafted leather quiver has a strip of gold etched with arcane runes encircling its base.

Gandar's quiver has 10 charges, which are renewed each day at dawn. You can spend one charge to draw forth any of the following arrows:

A black-fletched arrow that reproduces the effect of a smokestick on impact.

A yellow-fletched arrow that reproduces the effect of a thunderstone on impact.
An arrow whose tip contains a small glass sphere of holy water, which bursts on impact and deals 2d4 points of damage to undead, evil outsiders, and elementals with the [fire] subtype (in addition to the arrow's normal damage).
A gold-tipped arrow that reproduces the effect of a sunrod on impact.
A clear-tipped arrow that reproduces the effect of a shatter spell on impact (unattended objects only).
An arrow tipped with a grappling hook that magically trails silk rope until it strikes a target.
An arrow with wide fletching that will speak (or whisper, if chosen upon drawing the arrow) a message of up to 25 words that you speak to it before firing the arow.

You can spend two charges to draw forth any of the following arrows:

A +1 arrow with any of the following properties: corrosive, distance, flaming, frost, knockback, seeking, shocking.
A blue-fletched arrow that deals no damage to its target, instead healing it of 1d8+5 points of damage. If fired at an undead creature, this arrow instead deals 1d8+5 points of damage (instead of the arrow's normal damage).

Gandar's quiver also functions as an efficient quiver.

Did I miss any critical effects or open any easy abuse cases? More importantly, did I hit my target price range of 8000-9000 gp?

The only advice I would give is to make the knock back arrow have a boxing glove on the end of it.

Also, what happens to the rope from the rope one? That is a TON of potentially free rope considering range increments...

Can the arrow types be combined by spending more points?

[AvatarVecna]

The only advice I would give is to make the knock back arrow have a boxing glove on the end of it.

Also, what happens to the rope from the rope one? That is a TON of potentially free rope considering range increments...

Can the arrow types be combined by spending more points?

No need to make a new kind of arrow: the boxing glove arrow is just a more cartoon-ish version of the non-lethal, bludgeoning arrows presented in RotW.

[GreatDane]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone!

Looks good!
You should check out the ammunition in the A&EG and on pfsrd. You might get more ideas.
I'll point the player in that direction. I expect him to eventually try to add new kinds of arrows to the quiver; this is just a start.


No need to make a new kind of arrow: the boxing glove arrow is just a more cartoon-ish version of the non-lethal, bludgeoning arrows presented in RotW.

The only advice I would give is to make the knock back arrow have a boxing glove on the end of it.

Also, what happens to the rope from the rope one? That is a TON of potentially free rope considering range increments...

Can the arrow types be combined by spending more points?
Heh. That would be entertaining.

As for the rope, that's exactly the kind of thing I was hoping you guys would catch. I'll add a line stating that the rope lasts two hours (10 minutes/CL).

Arrows can't be combined out of the box, but I intend this item to eventually be improved. I hope the player thinks of that.

[Zaq]

If it's not too late for a suggestion, I think he should be able to spend a charge to make an arrow out of a special material (specifically silver/cold iron/adamantine). DR makes archers unhappy, after all, and while a well-prepared archer always has a handful of each of those arrows on hand already, it's not always possible to be as well-prepared as we'd sometimes like.

Also, you're the GM, so if you're not going to be dumb about it then it doesn't matter, but if you want to be very picky about how these things work, you should add a clause saying that the grappling hook arrow sticks in the surface you fire it into, rather than being broken as normal for a magical arrow. (This doesn't mean that it can necessarily be retrieved and reused, but there IS a general rule that magical arrows are destroyed upon hitting their target. Since you're the GM and you're not planning on parsing it that way, it's a moot point, but I feel compelled to point it out.)