Magic items : what do I buy ?

[Aetol]

Hello playground,

I'm building a Warblade for an upcoming 3.5 campaign. I have a 9000 gp budget for my magic items (10k minus the basic equipment and the weapon and armor bases), but I'm not too sure of how I should allocate it. I'm considering :
- Weapon +2 (8000), Armor +1 (1000)
- Weapon +1 (2000), Armor +1 (1000), 6000 gp worth of magic items
- Weapon +2 (8000), 1000 gp worth of magic items
(The numerical bonuses are of course interchangeable with enchantments of same value)

I also have 5000 gp of pocket change that I may or may not be able to spend on additional magic items when the campaign begins.

What do you think ?

[OldTrees1]

9000 gp sounds like you are roughly 5th level.
As such you need a magic weapon (+1: 2000gp) and a way to fly(probably 2-3 Amber Amulet of Vermin: Giant Wasp from MIC for 1600-2400 gp). Then a cloak of resistance(+1: 1000gp) and magic armor (+1: 1000gp) sound reasonable. You might also want Boots of the Mountain King (MIC, 1500gp) if you expect to encounter rough/difficult terrain.

So that is roughly 7900gp

Soonish you will want a Scout's Headband (3400gp from MIC) to deal with invisible/illusions but that can wait until after the list above. Likewise some Dimension Stride Boots (2000gp from MIC) or something like them will be useful at some point for when you need tactical teleportation.

[Seruvius]

So 9000GP plus another 5000GP you are not allowed to spend on equipment because reasons?

Well as stated above, a basic +1 weapon and +1 armour is always a good place to start. I would also suggest looking at weapon and armour crystals from the Magic item Compendium. With +1 gear you can have least or lesser ones.
Some good choices include:
- Lesser Energy Protection (1500GP, MIC page 24) Limited resistance 10. Why not.
- Restful (500GP, MIC P 26) You can sleep in armour. Great for just about anyone.
- Arrow deflection (MIC 25) and Screening (MIC 26). Bonuses in AC against either ranged attacks or Touch attacks by incorporeal. Situationally amazing.

Crystal of return (least, MIC65 300GP) A feat for 300GP? hell yes! The next one up lets you pretend to be a jedi from 30 feet away. Always nice.

Generally amazing gear:
- Healing belt (750GP MIC p110) Up to 6d8 healing per day? How much is not dead worth? More than 750GP.
- Anklet of Translocation (MiC 71, 1,400 gp) Allows two 10' teleports per day, great for mobility, avoiding grapples and getting out of some nasty traps. Buy more than 1 at later levels and switch them out.
- Quaal’s Feather Token – Tree (DMG 264, 400gp) A 1-shot instant tree. That is 5-feet in diameter , 60-foot height, 40-foot diamater leafy bit. If you can't think of shenanigans with an instant tree that weighs 100+ tonnes, you aren't thinking hard enough =P

[Aetol]

I forgot to say that I'm restricted to the base game (my DM's way of warding off cheese). So MIC is out.

[OldTrees1]

I forgot to say that I'm restricted to the base game (my DM's way of warding off cheese). So MIC is out.

Well, ouch.

+1 Weapon (needed to hit incorporeal creatures)
+1 Cloak of Resistance
Masterwork Armor (magic armor is not needed yet)

leaves 5K+5K gold.

You will need to save up to buy an Broom of Flying(17K gp) or a 5x5 Carpet of Flying(20K gp). Hopefully you can wait that long, otherwise have the group buy a Wand of Fly(11250gp).

[Aetol]

Oh, and if I don't use up all the 10k I can't keep the leftover. (My DM's houserules look much weirder in hindsight...)

I guess I could take a Cloak of Resistance +1 (1k gp) and a +2 weapon (8k gp) ? (Masterwork costs are already factored in the first 1000 gp.) And maybe some minor item for a few hundred gp...

[Vizzerdrix]

A Handy Haversack is always a good investment.

[Seruvius]

Only core? Ouch. Are DMG2 items etc. Allowed or just the DMG? How about TOB items, as you are playing a Warblade.

I would recommend against a +2 weapon just yet. Get a +1 and some armour with +1 light fortification first. A chance at Ignoring crits and sneak attacks is amazing. Best +1 armor enhancment in DMG in my opinion. The weapon and armour cost 4k each so cost the same as your +2 weapon for way more survivability on the frontline.

So:
+1 weapon 2k (Edit: must have had a brainfart. of course a +1 weapon is 2k and not 4k).
+1 light fortification armour 4k
+1 cloak of resistance 1k
Handy Haversack 2k
Makes 9k. I would also recommend saving up for stat boosting items and maybe buying your party healer a wand of cure light to heal you with between fights.

[Rubik]

You're not a spellcaster, so you don't need to sit around for 8 hours every day and do nothing, so invest in a ring of sustenance, along with your handy haversack. A +1 reach weapon and some gauntlets will ensure that you have everything covered on both reach and adjacent. And grab a composite longbow and arrows, too. Even if you're not proficient, a nonproficient weapon is better than no weapon. And don't forget the +1 mithril chain shirt. Best deal for armor. Are you an elf? Elves make decent warblades due to actually being proficient in bows.

[Aetol]

ToB is considered core fore the purpose of that houserule. I'm not sure about DMG2.

How do you get 4k for both the weapon and the armor ? Maybe I read the rule wrong, but it seems to me that a +1 weapon costs 2k (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicWeapons.htm) (plus cost of the masterwork weapon).

Handy Haversack is a really good idea.

I'm not an Elf. I picked a light crossbow for my backup ranged weapon, but I didn't intend to masterwork/magic it.

[OldTrees1]

Oh, and if I don't use up all the 10k I can't keep the leftover. (My DM's houserules look much weirder in hindsight...)

I guess I could take a Cloak of Resistance +1 (1k gp) and a +2 weapon (8k gp) ? (Masterwork costs are already factored in the first 1000 gp.) And maybe some minor item for a few hundred gp...

Okay, these rules are a bit weird.

Masterwork Armor, Mwk Weapon, backup Mwk weapon & stuff(K gp)
+1 Weapon(2K gp)
+2 Cloak of Resistance(4K gp)
Haversack(2K gp)
2 Tree Tokens(800 gp)
4 Cure Light Wounds potions(200 gp) so as to not forgo the last 200gp
Keep your 5K gp pocket change as a start on saving up for the Broom of Flying

[Khedrac]

You are playing a front-line melee - you cannot have too much Con.

Some would argue Strength, but I dislike having to swap gloves for a belt rather than upgrading:
Haversack is nice, but you should hav the strength not to need it.

Masterwork Armor, Mwk Weapon, backup Mwk weapon & stuff(K gp)
+1 Weapon(2K gp)
+2 Amulet of Health(4K gp)
+1 Cloak of Resistance(1k gp)

This leaves 2K to spend. Possibilities:
+1 armor (1K)
+1 shield (1k)
+1 ring of protection (2k)
Wand of Cure Light Wounds (to give to the healer) (300gp) + some potions (not just healing)
backup magic weapon (2K) e.g. a ranged weapon or a morning star (for bludgeoning and piercing)

On the "stuff" front a good supply of acid, alchemist's fire, holy water and antitoxin is always useful (check the duration on antitoxin).
Also an everburning torch.

[Aetol]

Amulet of Health sounds really good, especially since my build is suboptimal (sacrificed crunch for fluff) so I could use the extra HP.

You're right about the haversack too, though I'll need to find a way to carry 5000 GP that does not involve 50 kg of gold.

I think I'm going to settle on :
basic adventuring gear — let's say 60 at most
+1 two-handed sword — 2350
masterwork light crossbow and 50 bolts — 340
+1 mithril chain shirt — 2100
+2 amulet of health — 4000

Which leaves me with 1150 GP. This could be a +1 cloak of resistance and 3 potions of cure minor wounds, or a more comprehensive assortment of potions and others.

[Kelb_Panthera]

I forgot to say that I'm restricted to the base game (my DM's way of warding off cheese). So MIC is out.

This is an absolutely terrible way to avoid cheese. It's widely known that the PHB and DMG are two of the greatest sources of game wrecking material of any book that was printed for the system.

Banning source books instead of individually problematic options is just plain lazy and largely ineffective since the core rule books usually remain untouched.

Get a candle of invokation, gate in a solar and wish for 25000 gold when the game starts and use that to buy whatever you need. Start with a mess of scrolls of wall of iron, get your party's spellcaster to activate them for you and sell the crap ton of iron that results from such for even more gold then point out this is all core, smack him with ToB and tell him to pull his head out of his *bleep* and stop screwing the non-casters with BS source restraints.

I know that's being aggressive and disruptive well out of proportion with what the guy likely deserves but such lazy DM'ing kinda irks my nerves. I have work and family too. If you've got time to game at all, you've got time to learn the system.

[Aetol]

Calm down. First, I've been looking forward to that campaign for some time, so I'm not breaking it. I can live with restricted options, and as you can probably tell from this thread I don't really know what I'm missing anyway. Second, he's fairly new at DMing and he probably couldn't spot everything game-breaking before it entered the game if he tried to. I can't fault him for taking a "better safe than sorry" approach, even if it's a misguided one.

[Kelb_Panthera]

Calm down. First, I've been looking forward to that campaign for some time, so I'm not breaking it. I can live with restricted options, and as you can probably tell from this thread I don't really know what I'm missing anyway. Second, he's fairly new at DMing and he probably couldn't spot everything game-breaking before it entered the game if he tried to. I can't fault him for taking a "better safe than sorry" approach, even if it's a misguided one.

Being new to the game is certainly a mitigating factor. That being the case I -strongly- urge your DM not to be afraid to try new things.

The way the game is built makes it such that there's nothing that cannot be countered in one way or another and often in ways far simpler than you would think. More importantly, after 15 years the community has spotted -all- of the issues and potential issues the game has to offer. If something is giving you or him a hard time, all you've got to do is ask and we'll be happy to help.

[Killer Angel]

Hello playground,

I'm building a Warblade for an upcoming 3.5 campaign. I have a 9000 gp budget for my magic items (10k minus the basic equipment and the weapon and armor bases), but I'm not too sure of how I should allocate it. I'm considering :
- Weapon +2 (8000), Armor +1 (1000)
- Weapon +1 (2000), Armor +1 (1000), 6000 gp worth of magic items
- Weapon +2 (8000), 1000 gp worth of magic items
(The numerical bonuses are of course interchangeable with enchantments of same value)

I also have 5000 gp of pocket change that I may or may not be able to spend on additional magic items when the campaign begins.

What do you think ?

Choose the option "magic weapon +1". At that point, mandatory link (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?187851-3-5-Lists-of-Necessary-Magic-Items). Pick Core items, and you'll be fine.

[Khedrac]

Amulet of Health sounds really good, especially since my build is suboptimal (sacrificed crunch for fluff) so I could use the extra HP.

You're right about the haversack too, though I'll need to find a way to carry 5000 GP that does not involve 50 kg of gold.

I think I'm going to settle on :
basic adventuring gear — let's say 60 at most
+1 two-handed sword — 2350
masterwork light crossbow and 50 bolts — 340
+1 mithril chain shirt — 2100
+2 amulet of health — 4000

Which leaves me with 1150 GP. This could be a +1 cloak of resistance and 3 potions of cure minor wounds, or a more comprehensive assortment of potions and others.
OK let's start with 5000gp

5000gp = 500pp = 10lb if carried in coin.
Gems are often a good way to carry hundreds of gp value and sell at full price not half price.

Basic adventuring gear - this is likely to be more than 60gp
everburning torch: 110gp
antitoxin: 50gp - +5 on fort saved v poison for 1 hour.
acid: 10gp - aoe damage for swarms
alchemist's fire: 20gp - for swarms, has ongoing burn and excellent against spiders webs.
holy water: 25gp - aoe vs undead
tinderwtigs: 1gp - you are an adventurer, you can afford the cost of a guaranteed ignition source
tanglefoot bag: 50gp - heavy (4lb) and you usually have something better to do, but can be awesome if used at the right time. Perhaps get your ally to throw it?

Also get yourself a morning star (probably masterwork).
Swarms are not an uncommon opponent for a low-mid level party - a lot are immune to weapon damage, and those that are not take half damage from slashing and piercing. This is when you really need the acid/fire and the morning star is about as useful as your greatsword (you can wield it 2-handed, or use it with something else in the other hand). Plus disarming happens - always carry a backup (or 2).
For your second backup get a reach weapon - if there's another fighter it means you can both fight in single file.
(My main melee was know to pass her ghost touch glaive to other party members while casting sheltered vitality on them if they were better in melee than she was - DM's tended to call fights at that point.)
Also consider getting a silver weapon and a cold-iron weapon. Substance DR is not yet very common, but if you run into it someone will need the weapon. Even if you are better off powering through the DR with your greatsword and manoeuvers, it will help if you can lend your allies something useful.

Crossbow is nice, but I am not sure I would bother with 50 bolts, you are unlikely to use it that often. Start with 20 perhaps?

Think about getting a wand of enlarge person (possibly one with limited charges). A lot depends on if you think you can get the party mage to use it on you at the correct times.
A wand of Cure Light Wounds is almost a no-brainer, even for non-casters - pass it to the party cleric or ranger and then they can keep you topped up between fights. (Yes ranger 1 can use wands of CLW.)

Depending on how well you know the DM's play style, think about the basics - food, clothing and a bedroll. Most DMs tend to make it so you have enough food and can ignore tracking it, but some, especially new DMs, do want it tracked "in case" (they have yet to learn that finding/inventing the rules for when you run out is a pain and best avoided).

One last, if anyone in the party has handle animal (and even if they don't) at low level a riding dog (or 2) can save your butt. Just give the command that makes them follow and defend a person at the start of the day (repeat until it works) and you are good to go. (Said melee had two that had attack trick twice, they came in really useful when the party was fighting two mummies - one of them stopped to kill one of the dogs when my character was a 5' step away on about 5 hp...)

[Aetol]

OK let's start with 5000gp

5000gp = 500pp = 10lb if carried in coin.
Gems are often a good way to carry hundreds of gp value and sell at full price not half price.

Platinum (coins or ingots) was what I had in mind, but 5 kg is still a lot. And I couldn't find anything about gems in the SRD. (EDIT : here it is (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/treasure.htm). Not very helpful for using them as currency though.)
Maybe I should ask the DM if there are such things as letters of credits ?


Basic adventuring gear - this is likely to be more than 60gp
everburning torch: 110gp
antitoxin: 50gp - +5 on fort saved v poison for 1 hour.
acid: 10gp - aoe damage for swarms
alchemist's fire: 20gp - for swarms, has ongoing burn and excellent against spiders webs.
holy water: 25gp - aoe vs undead
tinderwtigs: 1gp - you are an adventurer, you can afford the cost of a guaranteed ignition source
tanglefoot bag: 50gp - heavy (4lb) and you usually have something better to do, but can be awesome if used at the right time. Perhaps get your ally to throw it?

Actually "basic adventuring gear" meant bedroll, food, and so on. 60 GP is a high-end estimate. What you're describing would be comprised in the 1150+ GP left over.


Also get yourself a morning star (probably masterwork).
Swarms are not an uncommon opponent for a low-mid level party - a lot are immune to weapon damage, and those that are not take half damage from slashing and piercing. This is when you really need the acid/fire and the morning star is about as useful as your greatsword (you can wield it 2-handed, or use it with something else in the other hand). Plus disarming happens - always carry a backup (or 2).
For your second backup get a reach weapon - if there's another fighter it means you can both fight in single file.
(My main melee was know to pass her ghost touch glaive to other party members while casting sheltered vitality on them if they were better in melee than she was - DM's tended to call fights at that point.)
Also consider getting a silver weapon and a cold-iron weapon. Substance DR is not yet very common, but if you run into it someone will need the weapon. Even if you are better off powering through the DR with your greatsword and manoeuvers, it will help if you can lend your allies something useful.

A morningstar in backup is a good idea... but I don't think I'll go beyond that and carry a comprehensive armory with me, it strains credibility more than what I'm confortable with. As for silver/cold-iron, I'm on a budget so that'll be for later.


Crossbow is nice, but I am not sure I would bother with 50 bolts, you are unlikely to use it that often. Start with 20 perhaps?

Noted.


Think about getting a wand of enlarge person (possibly one with limited charges). A lot depends on if you think you can get the party mage to use it on you at the correct times.
A wand of Cure Light Wounds is almost a no-brainer, even for non-casters - pass it to the party cleric or ranger and then they can keep you topped up between fights. (Yes ranger 1 can use wands of CLW.)

A wand of Cure Light Wound would be more cost-efficient than potions, indeed (And less prone to be smashed, too). On the other hand, potions can be used to heal the cleric if he goes down...


One last, if anyone in the party has handle animal (and even if they don't) at low level a riding dog (or 2) can save your butt. Just give the command that makes them follow and defend a person at the start of the day (repeat until it works) and you are good to go. (Said melee had two that had attack trick twice, they came in really useful when the party was fighting two mummies - one of them stopped to kill one of the dogs when my character was a 5' step away on about 5 hp...)

I'll think of it, if I can squeeze that in my budget.

So, we have :
+1 two-handed sword — 2350
masterwork morningstar — 308
masterwork light crossbow and 20 bolts — 337
+1 mithril chain shirt — 2100
+2 amulet of health — 4000
everburning torch — 110
wand of cure light wounds or 15 potions of cure light wounds — 750
Leaves 45 GP for basics, and maybe one or two cheap useful items.

Maybe there are some things of higher priority than the everburning torch or all-masterwork backups ?

[Khedrac]

So, we have :
+1 two-handed sword — 2350
masterwork morningstar — 308
masterwork light crossbow and 20 bolts — 337
+1 mithril chain shirt — 2100
+2 amulet of health — 4000
everburning torch — 110
wand of cure light wounds or 15 potions of cure light wounds — 750
Leaves 45 GP for basics, and maybe one or two cheap useful items.

Maybe there are some things of higher priority than the everburning torch or all-masterwork backups ?

Everburning torch - probably at the top of your priority list unless you can see in the dark.
Is anything more important than masterwork backups? - very probably if you are cash strapped. As for other materials do remember that cold iron is just double base price (it only gets expensive when enchanted) and silver is +20gp for a light weapon (I would go for silver first).

On the healing front I would go for a wand and potions, just not for that many potions. Do try to get a couple of cure moderate potions (300gp each so perhaps only 1) - they are not as cost efficient, but if you find yourself needing to drink one in-combat the cure light is a joke. Also cure light tends to stabilize without making people conscious, a cure moderate should wake them up.

Consider swapping the masterwork on the morning star for a potion of Cure Moderate.

Looking at your armor, there is a large tendency for people to go straight for chain shirts and enchant them or switch to mithral as you have done.
Personally, for a major melee type like a warblade I would not bother with a mithral chain shirt! If you want to stick in light armor save up for a mithral breastplate. On a chain shirt mirthral is a lot of cost to save a little weight and armor check penalties. My melee-bruiser was a favored soul/barbarian in mithral plate (where those barbarian levels came in useful - still 30' move).

Good luck

[Aetol]

Everburning torch - probably at the top of your priority list unless you can see in the dark.

I do have low-light vision, but I was thinking I'd need a source of light for complete darkness. But maybe that's an occasion rare enough to only warrant cheaper, mundane solutions.


Is anything more important than masterwork backups? - very probably if you are cash strapped. As for other materials do remember that cold iron is just double base price (it only gets expensive when enchanted) and silver is +20gp for a light weapon (I would go for silver first).

While it's cheap, cold iron seems very situational. As for silver, my character is in fact a lycanthrope so I'd rather avoid it for RP reasons.


On the healing front I would go for a wand and potions, just not for that many potions. Do try to get a couple of cure moderate potions (300gp each so perhaps only 1) - they are not as cost efficient, but if you find yourself needing to drink one in-combat the cure light is a joke. Also cure light tends to stabilize without making people conscious, a cure moderate should wake them up.
Consider swapping the masterwork on the morning star for a potion of Cure Moderate.

I'll see what I manage. A shame there aren't cheaper wands with less charges.


Looking at your armor, there is a large tendency for people to go straight for chain shirts and enchant them or switch to mithral as you have done.
Personally, for a major melee type like a warblade I would not bother with a mithral chain shirt! If you want to stick in light armor save up for a mithral breastplate. On a chain shirt mirthral is a lot of cost to save a little weight and armor check penalties. My melee-bruiser was a favored soul/barbarian in mithral plate (where those barbarian levels came in useful - still 30' move).

A breastplate was my first thought too (and would fit my character concept a bit better), but a +1 mithral chain shirt is superior to a mithral breastplate in every respect, and twice as cheap.
To start with a mithral medium armor I'd have to give up something else important. And since mithral is described as "very rare" by the rules, I'm afraid buying one during the campaign might be a bit more difficult than just gathering the cash.

[Evolved Shrimp]

I'll see what I manage. A shame there aren't cheaper wands with less charges.

There are, if memory serves. As far as I can recall, wand prices are proportional to the number of charges left. So a wand with 25 charges would be half the price of a new one.

Whether such used wands are available depends, of course, on your DM...

[Rubik]

More importantly, after 15 years the community has spotted -all- of the issues and potential issues the game has to offer.I'm pretty sure we're still coming up with new stuff, actually. That's what happens when you're dealing with thousands upon thousands of pages of rules that all fit together in weird and wild ways.

[Khedrac]

I do have low-light vision, but I was thinking I'd need a source of light for complete darkness. But maybe that's an occasion rare enough to only warrant cheaper, mundane solutions. Even low light can be a huge advantage. Makes it a bit more of an option than a must-have.


While it's cheap, cold iron seems very situational. As for silver, my character is in fact a lycanthrope so I'd rather avoid it for RP reasons.Totally agree.


I'll see what I manage. A shame there aren't cheaper wands with less charges. as Evolved Shrimp says, there should be.


A breastplate was my first thought too (and would fit my character concept a bit better), but a +1 mithral chain shirt is superior to a mithral breastplate in every respect, and twice as cheap.
To start with a mithral medium armor I'd have to give up something else important. And since mithral is described as "very rare" by the rules, I'm afraid buying one during the campaign might be a bit more difficult than just gathering the cash.I agree that a mithral chain shirt is much much better than a breastplate. but my point is that it isn't really better than a chain shirt for you - so save 900gp and just go +1.
Yes, there are many better things than AC, but a chain shirt is a really weak starting point for a melee character to build their AC from. Making it mithral will just make you less likely to trade it in if something else drops. Note, this is just my opinion, both the Warblade and the Crusader in the campaign I run current use chain shirts - I think to avoid the movement speed decrease. Mithral chain shirts are for characters who really need to get rid of the armor check penalties, and for casters who have additional ways of mitigating the ACF.

[Vizzerdrix]

Haversack is nice, but you should have the strength not to need it.


Strength has nothing to do with it. Getting what you need in hand without drawing an attack of opportunity is very important to a melee, especially if he need to swap out weapons or grab a potion.

[Aetol]

I agree that a mithral chain shirt is much much better than a breastplate. but my point is that it isn't really better than a chain shirt for you - so save 900gp and just go +1.
Yes, there are many better things than AC, but a chain shirt is a really weak starting point for a melee character to build their AC from. Making it mithral will just make you less likely to trade it in if something else drops. Note, this is just my opinion, both the Warblade and the Crusader in the campaign I run current use chain shirts - I think to avoid the movement speed decrease. Mithral chain shirts are for characters who really need to get rid of the armor check penalties, and for casters who have additional ways of mitigating the ACF.

I expect to use a lot of Tiger Claw maneuvers (it's thematically appropriate and there's the Tiger Blooded feat) which means lots of Jump checks. So speed decrease and armor penalty are a big deal.

[Kelb_Panthera]

I'm pretty sure we're still coming up with new stuff, actually. That's what happens when you're dealing with thousands upon thousands of pages of rules that all fit together in weird and wild ways.

When's the last time you read anything genuinely new? It's been more than a while for me.

Pathfinder stuff, sure, but it's still in print. Pathfinder has diverged pretty notably from it's slightly tweaked SRD roots at this point though. It's no more the same game than d20 star wars or d20 call of cthulu by now.

[Rubik]

When's the last time you read anything genuinely new? It's been more than a while for me.

Pathfinder stuff, sure, but it's still in print. Pathfinder has diverged pretty notably from it's slightly tweaked SRD roots at this point though. It's no more the same game than d20 star wars or d20 call of cthulu by now.Were you aware of the "ready an action to ready an action" glitch? I wasn't.

[Aetol]

Back on topic, please !

Here's what I got now :
+1 mithral chain shirt — 2100
+1 two-handed sword — 2350
light crossbow and 20 bolts — 37
morningstar — 8
+2 amulet of health — 4000
wand of cure light wounds, 30 charges — 450 (If the DM accepts that I got a second-hand wand)
potion of cure moderate wounds x2 — 600

Total : 9545 ; 455 left.

So after buying basics (clothing, camping gear, a lantern...) I have 400+ GP for antitoxin/acid/etc, and maybe some other potion (invisibility could be useful in a pinch ?). If need be the wand can be downgraded to free up more gold.

[Rubik]

When's the last time you read anything genuinely new? It's been more than a while for me.Polymorph Any Object can create life out of (basically) nothing, right? So regular PAO on a rock, followed by a PAO from a device (from Ravenloft: Legacy of the Blood) to cast a nonmagical PAO on the new body, and mind-swap with it using True Mind Switch or something.

Tada. New, young adult body. It lasts forever (barring outright death), and it cannot be dispel'd, disjunction'd, AMF'd, or dead magic zone'd.

Repeat whenever your age category gets too high for your liking. Full, honest-to-gods immortality without actually hurting anyone (except a rock, which doesn't count).

[Arbane]

A morningstar in backup is a good idea... but I don't think I'll go beyond that and carry a comprehensive armory with me, it strains credibility more than what I'm confortable with. As for silver/cold-iron, I'm on a budget so that'll be for later.


Don't forget a dagger. EVERYONE needs a knife.

[Rubik]

When's the last time you read anything genuinely new? It's been more than a while for me.

Pathfinder stuff, sure, but it's still in print. Pathfinder has diverged pretty notably from it's slightly tweaked SRD roots at this point though. It's no more the same game than d20 star wars or d20 call of cthulu by now.A manifester with access to Supernatural Transformation (Psionics) can gain huge amounts of pp with dips. Since all manifesting classes (and racial manifesting, a la illithid) fold into "psionics," all of your MLs for all of your manifesting classes will equal your HD. At level 20, all of your MLs for any class you dip one level in will be 20, meaning your bonus pp will be based on your ML of 20, not 1. So your Int is 40 (which is easy) and you're a psion 20, and you're going into epic. Under normal circumstances, you would cap out at (343 + 150 = 493), and gaining a level of, say, lurk, would give you piddling pp for being ML 1. But with Supernatural Transformation, suddenly you gain +150 bonus pp because your ML is 20+.

And if you take the Lost Traditions feat, you can take ardent, psywar, wilder, or any number of other manifesting classes and change the key manifesting score to Int for another +150 bonus pp for every dip. This number only goes up when you further boost your Int score.

Note that the above may require the Magic Mantle to work.