Caltrop alternatives

[Theodred theOld]

Does anyone know of anything that works like caltrops would but deals more than 1 damage? I need to beat DR 1 to poke the party berserker. In this situation the "caltrops" are the trigger and the berserker is the trap. They need to be able to be hidden in a few inches of water for this to work.

[The Fury]

Delayed Blast Fireballs?

[Broken Crown]

How about d4s?

(They're very caltrop-like, and it stands to reason that they would do d4 damage.)

On a more serious note, there are the Spike Growth (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/spikeGrowth.htm) and Spike Stones (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/spikeStones.htm) spells.

[Iain]

Magic caltrops +1 ?

[Inevitability]

1. Be/Find a Warmage.

2. Have the Warmage take Extra Spell to get Caltrops added to his spell list.

3. Have the Warmage cast Caltrops, which benefit from Warmage's Edge. As a result, each caltrop will deal several points of damage.


Downside: the caltrops go away quickly, so perhaps Persist and/or Extend the spell?

[Curmudgeon]

How about caltrops with Magic Weapon cast on them for +1 to hit and damage? You'll need to do each caltrop separately, which means calculating how many of them constitute a 2-lb. bag. My guesstimate is 6-7. (Iron is fairly dense but soft. For the spikes to be both long enough to go through a boot sole and strong enough to not be folded over by the weight of the person instead, you're not going to get many in 2 lbs.)

[Mehangel]

Because there was no tag, I assume this is 3.5, however just in-case Pathfinder content is allowed, I would like to mention the item: Vicious Caltrops (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/equipment---final/weapons/weapon-and-armor-accessories#TOC-Caltrops-Vicious), which does 1d2 instead of just 1 damage and also has an increased bonus to attack.

[Sheogoroth]

Spell Traps (http://www.d20srd.org/indexes/traps.htm)

Make self-resetting burning hands traps-the definition for what IS a trap is very loose and the size or means of distribution of a trap is very loose. Keep them in a bag of holding and they won't trigger at your presence.

Just make the Caltrops themselves traps, each one inflicts burning hands when someone gets within 5' of them(make it 10 if you REALLY want to see sparks fly). Sure, you have to create each caltrop individually at 2500 apiece, but caltrops are small, so we can reasonably expect someone to trigger 3 per square, putting out 15d4, reflex for half. If they make every save, they're still taking 15 damage average for every square they move in.

[ahenobarbi]

Does anyone know of anything that works like caltrops would but deals more than 1 damage? I need to beat DR 1 to poke the party berserker. In this situation the "caltrops" are the trigger and the berserker is the trap. They need to be able to be hidden in a few inches of water for this to work.

Are you a DM and are trying to get Frenzied Berserker to kill other party members? If so please reconsider. Firstly this is a very nasty move. Secondly it's very likely to happen anyways, without you trying to make it happen.

[Inevitability]

How about caltrops with Magic Weapon cast on them for +1 to hit and damage? You'll need to do each caltrop separately, which means calculating how many of them constitute a 2-lb. bag. My guesstimate is 6-7. (Iron is fairly dense but soft. For the spikes to be both long enough to go through a boot sole and strong enough to not be folded over by the weight of the person instead, you're not going to get many in 2 lbs.)

I'm fairly sure caltrops don't count as weapons.

[Theodred theOld]

Are you a DM and are trying to get Frenzied Berserker to kill other party members? If so please reconsider. Firstly this is a very nasty move. Secondly it's very likely to happen anyways, without you trying to make it happen.
Not kill. Just maim. Seriously though, this is about attrition. The party has a plan in place to stay out of said berserkers way if he goes postal so I'm attempting to run down their resources by forcing them to deal with him. The whole party has access to flight except the berserker. If that isn't enough a well placed grease spell will sort him out quickly enough. I also feel that I should point out that the current campaign I'm running started at 1st level and the party is currently 11th level. In all that time we've never once lost a PC in combat. Not to say that we haven't had any deaths, but they were all prearranged and requested by the player in order to roll up a new sheet.

[Darrin]

Emerald Caltrops (166 GP, A&EG p. 106). +1 to attack/damage and 1d6 acid damage.

Blasting Pellets (50 GP, Races of Stone p. 159). DC 15 Ref save or take 1d6 sonic damage.

[Theodred theOld]

Emerald Caltrops (166 GP, A&EG p. 106). +1 to attack/damage and 1d6 acid damage.

This should do the trick. Thanks :D

[Starbuck_II]

Blast discs from Magic Item Compendruim?

Exploding Spikes as well in MIC?

Glyph Seal or Greater Glyph Seal (1000 GP/4000 GP, MIC p. 161) makes a much better re-usable "land mine" style trap. They can be set to trigger by height/weight, creature type/subtype, alignment, religion, etc

Explosive Pack (200 GP, Secrets of Sarlona p. 138): Set to go off with a 1-10 round delay. Doesn't do fire damage... I think it does bludgeoning/piercing? Can't recall the specifics.

[Curmudgeon]

I'm fairly sure caltrops don't count as weapons.
Emerald Caltrops are expressly stated to be weapons. They're in most ways like regular caltrops, and use the regular caltrop rules, except they turn to acid when stepped on.

[Yahzi]

I'm fairly sure caltrops don't count as weapons.
I think it would be a truly odd call to not allow Magic Weapon to affect a caltrop. For that matter, it ought to work on a tree branch.

[Uncle Pine]

A Magic Missile trap (LI 1) would also work.

Or a Shalantha's Delicate Disk charged with Magic Missile carefully placed on the floor.

Or a disposable 1st level spellcaster (turned into a caltrop) casting Magic Missile during his surprise round.

[Inevitability]

I think it would be a truly odd call to not allow Magic Weapon to affect a caltrop. For that matter, it ought to work on a tree branch.

I think the tree branch example would work if you treat it like an improvised club or something.

Maaaaaybe it'd work the same for caltrops, but I think it is kind of hard to get those to count as anything. Even when they do, there is no damage roll and as a result no extra damage.

[Curmudgeon]

Even when they do, there is no damage roll and as a result no extra damage.
Sure there is. You can roll your 1d1, though most people just take the average. :smallwink:

[Inevitability]

Sure there is. You can roll your 1d1, though most people just take the average. :smallwink:


If the caltrops succeed on the attack, the creature has stepped on one. The caltrop deals 1 point of damage, and the creature’s speed is reduced by one-half because its foot is wounded.

Nothing about a damage roll here.

[Curmudgeon]

Nothing about a damage roll here.
There's also nothing to exclude a snake from being slowed by a caltrop "because its foot is wounded". So you're claiming that feet aren't required, but damage dice are? Some people don't seem to appreciate my sense of humor.

[Afgncaap5]

Nothing about a damage roll here.

So, would a shuriken thrown by a halfling be affected then? There's no damage roll in that case either.

Now, the curious thing about caltrops is that there's no *attack* roll for them, I think, so one might argue that because you don't "attack" with it it's not a weapon... but I think you can technically attack with anything as an improvised deal, so we're starting to get into weird system areas, I think.