[3.5] Item For a Favored Soul

[Thurbane]

So, most of the rest of the party have picked up some decent items as treasure.

The Paladin has a +1 Morphing Stunning Surge greatsword [18,350gp]; Ranger has The Energy Bow (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ask/20061227a) [22,600gp], and the Warmage/Sand Shaper has a Belt of Magnificence +2 [25,000gp].

I'd like to drop some loot for the party's favored Soul (NPC): https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1069993

He already has a sword and armor; boots, amulet and one ring. He casts off Int (Lost Tradition), if that matters. Primarily a buffer, healer and secondary melee type.

What would you suggest as an item for this character in the 18,350 - 25,000gp range? An item that would benefit the whole party would be nice.

Cheers - T

[PrismCat21]

My first thought was a Homebrew WarWeaver's cloak, that let him cast a single spell on multiple willing creatures.
Either a set number of times per day, a cap for max level of spell, or charges equaling the amount of spell levels that could be cast through it.
.
An official item... nothing comes immediate to mind. I may search a bit later.

[Fizban]

Hmm, well seeing Divine Insight I already have one idea for a small item- Third Eye: Improvise is handy if you like to bust out skills you aren't trained in.

No Death Ward or head item yet, so a Phylactery of Virtue (from the Vestements of Divinity set) might be handy. You could pile on more of the set to hit the desired value, since an inquistor would probably appreciate a Sense Motive bonus from the Cord of Favor. Actually the whole set together is under your limit, and the full set bonus is +1d6 melee damage vs evil. I see the character isn't listed as good, but bonuses vs Evil are always handy what with undead and fiends preying on anyone.

That might be a bit too many effects if the rest of the party is relying on fewer items, but the main big ticket items for eating large chunks of gp are the weapon and armor, which you've said are fine right now. You could so one of the safer rest items like a Cloak of Shelter from Arms and Equpment Guide, but forcing one party member to "pay" for something that's only a shared effect isn't nice. Same deal with the Portable Hole. An "early" Cloak of Resistance +4 or Headband of Int +4 will fill up 16k, but is just off when the armor isn't even +3 yet. Really that's the main thing here, a gear list that's looking for incremental upgrades and filling out slots doesn't want one more big item.

There's mobility items. Cloak of Mysterious Emergence from Dragon Magic is one of the more efficient personal teleportation items at 13k. Winged Boots, Broom of Flying. Vision items, Goggles of Draconic Vision (MiC) are a bunch of stuff on top of the usual Darkvision, when humans don't have any vision modes.

Figurines of Wondrous Power are something that mechanically are more of a party-wide benefit, but in terms of ownership feel a lot more important than the ability to put a roof up. There's mobility again with the Bronze Griffon and Ebony Fly, the Ivory Goats are pretty underwhelming unless you need to Fear a small army, and of course the Obsidian Steed includes planar travel. The Marble Elephant has seemed well liked whenever I see it come up, being usable 3 times in a row if desired within the overall monthly cooldown, and 17k is also close to your range.

A lot of people go gaga for miss chances and Minor Cloak of Displacement is 24k. Ring of X-Ray vision at 25k, might be something an inquisitor could go for, Invisibility and Evasion also in range. Let's see, Greater Boots of the Mountain King (MiC) for the daily Stoneskin.


The given price range is actually pretty restrictive, since it's higher than +4 on the 1k multiplier quadratic items, but the character already has all the 2k multiplier quadratic items. Everything else either aims for 10-15k most of the time so they're more affordable/swappable, or is a much huger endgame item.


Edit: Hadn't noticed before that this is an NPC. In that case, player pride in personal items isn't required. The Cloak of Shelter then is a pretty useful party benefiting effect, with Secure Shelter 1/day and an Alarm'd tent whenever you want it.

Doesn't quite hit the gp range though, so how about adding a Banner of Law (Heroes of Battle), for 24/7 protection against mind control? Technically it's supposed to be mounted on a weapon, and putting a banner on a greatsword would be silly, but you can just let him put it on a short shoulder-frame pole instead (a historical method of carrying unit flags). Or the Standard of the Galloping Steed if the party likes charging. I also like the Guardian's Lantern from the Cityscape Web Enhancement, which is another sort of vision item- while active (1 hour per day in 10 min increments) the bearer can see weapons and invisible things within the light's radius.

Other weird items. Waterskin of Deluge creates Flashfloods as the spell, or Bottle of Endless Sand does what you'd expect, which the Sand Shaper might appreciate (Sandstorm). A set of Aspect Mirrors could be interesting, depending on what NPCs they might be friendly with (Complete Scoundrel). Greater Gate Compass points to any place you could target with a Greater Teleport (Planar Handbook). Rod of Flame Extinguishing seems pretty weak, until you realize it never has to roll, recharges daily, and has a large charge pool (DMG).

[Troacctid]

I'm a fan of the third eye sense for super-scouting and scrying. Ring of invisibility and carpet of flying are classic as well. Healing nodules could be an interesting choice if he's interested in grafts.

[PunBlake]

I'd go with a Ring of Enduring Arcana (CM) and Int +2. It'll help with more spell slots and help prevent buffs from being dispelled. Price: 20,000g.
Upping it to Int +4 raises the price to 28,000g, which is unfortunately just a bit out of range.