Opinions on Figurines of Wondrous Power - Faerie Affair People Keep Out!

[Ninja_Prawn]

Hey y'all. I was wondering if I could get some opinions on the Figurines of Wondrous Power from page 169 of the DMG. Have you used them in your game? Are they fun? Could they be unbalancing?

I was wanting to homebrew a unique one for one of my games. It has to be rare (as opposed to very rare), but the (also homebrew) creature it contains will likely be on par with the nightmare. How can I square that circle?

[Segev]

On par with the Nightmare in what sense? Utility? How hard it hits? How hard it is to kill?

The ways to balance something that is already somewhat "balanced" by a drawback (can drag you to unwillingly to hell) means that you need to either include the same balancing drawback or replace it...and then add another if you want it to be "weaker" enough to reduce the rarity of the item.

What is the creature's purpose? The Nightmare is a mount more than a combat monster (though it is also the latter). Some of the figurines are messengers, others are pure combat machines.

[Ninja_Prawn]

What is the creature's purpose? The Nightmare is a mount more than a combat monster (though it is also the latter). Some of the figurines are messengers, others are pure combat machines.

Well, it's kind of idiosyncratic, and unique to the campaign. I'll spoiler it in case my players are reading.

So, basic info: this is for A Faerie Affair (http://tinyurl.com/jzdgoya), a game in which 3 out of 5 PCs already have flight as a racial feature. Also, one of them is a glassblower for some reason.

Recently, the party encountered a significant 'boss' villain, a drow mage, who rode a nightmare into battle.

In an unrelated development, one of the players sarcastically said this:
...also equally likely, we'll find an even cooler horse to ride. A winged unicorn made of ice that's perpetually on fire.
As an example of something that isn't very likely and I thought "I'm going to give them just that!"

So, the brain-gears started whirring, and I came up with... the drow mage is currently designing a 'Glass Alicorn' figurine as an upgrade on her nightmare. If and when the party defeats her, they will discover blueprints for it, which the glassblower can then use to make it (they've already expressed a wish to make useful items for the party). Additional benefit: it allows one of the two earthbound PCs to fly a bit, which would be nice. Problem: the party is level 3 now and I don't think they'll be any higher than 5 if/when they beat this boss. Thus the rarity can't be higher than rare, or there'd be no chance of it getting made. I'm happy to nerf the alicorn's survivability (from what the MM nightmare/unicorn get), but it's still got to have flight, damage resistances and some kind of healing magic.

I thought maybe an inverse of the obsidian steed's alignment thing might be good - I can see the evil mage scrawling notes on the blueprint about ways to circumvent it - but it'd be no impediment to my goody-two-shoes party.

So that's where I'm at. I want opinions to see how much trouble I'm brewing for myself.

[StarStuff]

I have a Ebony fly and a Serpentine Owl on two different conjurers.

If you want to see it in action, check out the other thread up today, "Why I love the conjurer wizard..."

I'd be more excited about the free flight than the nightmare. Figurines free up your concentration, or at least a target, from the Fly spell. And it doesn't demand an attunement slot. Most items that give you flight at least require attunement.

It's also a big, fat walking can of instant area denial. "I ready an action to throw my figurine at the ground when he moves towards me." "He runs out of movement and attacks your owl." At the very least, the figure is a free 19HP conjuration. With no concentration demand. He can scout, open doors, run over traps, and tell you if someone is sneaking up behind you.

TLDR: It's a sorely underappreciated item.

[Segev]

Spoilering to preserve secrecy.

The first and most obvious potential drawback is the traditional one for unicorns: purity/virginity. But the latter is obviously pretty binary, and is only a "drawback" if it is a condition that a potential user has but has reason to be in danger of losing (e.g. perhaps he's engaged) or doesn't want to advertise (see: trope - a man is not a virgin).

Note that it "not being a drawback to my goody-twoshoes party" isn't necessarily a reason it can't be a valid drawback. A glass alicorn which will refuse to work for anybody who doesn't live up to a pure and noble set of behaviors is fitting, and just because your PCs already do so doesn't mean the limitation isn't there: now they've got a greater price to pay should they ever fail to live up to what they're already self-limiting themselves to.

It could also be on a specialized diet. It has to be fed oats made of diamonds worth X gp each activation, or something.

Or maybe it does low-grade fire and ice damage to whoever rides it. Surmountable if you've got low-grade fire and ice resistance, but irritating and dangerous otherwise.

[smcmike]

I read the headline as "Fairy Affair, People Keep Out," and was shocked to realize that these forums were habited by Fey.

[Ninja_Prawn]

I read the headline as "Fairy Affair, People Keep Out," and was shocked to realize that these forums were habited by Fey.

I'm shocked that you were shocked, to be honest. :smalltongue:

[NecroDancer]

I'm shocked that you were shocked, to be honest. :smalltongue:

Honestly I had my money on Elementals

[Segev]

I'm a purely human necromancer, thank you very much.

[Ninja_Prawn]

I have a Ebony fly and a Serpentine Owl on two different conjurers.

If you want to see it in action, check out the other thread up today, "Why I love the conjurer wizard..."

I'd be more excited about the free flight than the nightmare. Figurines free up your concentration, or at least a target, from the Fly spell. And it doesn't demand an attunement slot. Most items that give you flight at least require attunement.

It's also a big, fat walking can of instant area denial. "I ready an action to throw my figurine at the ground when he moves towards me." "He runs out of movement and attacks your owl." At the very least, the figure is a free 19HP conjuration. With no concentration demand. He can scout, open doors, run over traps, and tell you if someone is sneaking up behind you.

TLDR: It's a sorely underappreciated item.

Mhm. I can see why you like them. I don't see anything here that really worries me as a DM though. If I keep the creature under control by giving it low HP and a softer attack (plus the personality/alignment thing), I'm thinking it'll be fine.

[DracoKnight]

That sounds like a fun and unique item that I'm sure your players will have fun with! In a game I play in, I recently acquired the Diamond (serpentine) Owl* at a shop for a couple thousand gold. The figures don't unbalance anything from what I can see, and they're active for, what... 10 minutes a week?? 10 minutes every couple of days??

It should be fine. I would probably use the Pegasus stats, and just fluff it however you wish. :smallsmile:

*in the game I am a cleric and the only person with resurrection spells. The DM realized he hadn't given me any magic items, compared to everyone else's many; nor had he given me any diamonds with which to resurrect people with. So the Diamond Owl is designed to make an interesting RP choice. It doesn't have the usual time restraints of the Serpentine Owl, but instead it can be used as the material component for a resurrection spell, getting consumed after the spell is cast. My character has the criminal background, so he will eventually have to ask the question of treasure or friend.