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nonsi
2018-12-06, 02:34 PM
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I came across this old adventure called "Temple of Death" ("Master of the Desert Nomad" series) and found two interesting items in it. They seem very useful and I'd like to stat them.
I'd stat them myself, but others here would probably do a better job than I would.
I played with the wording a bit, for simplification and better coherency.




Amulet of Finding
Anyone who wears one of these amulets may see through the amulet of any person who is wearing another.
The master has several of these amulets and keeps his amulet in a cloth bag around his neck, so that others will only see blackness at the other end, if they discover the power of the amulet (which they must guess). He uses these amulets to keep himself informed. If one of the characters finds and wears an amulet, the Master will be able to keep track of the group’s progress, and the party will not be able to surprise any of his followers.


House of Zebulon
(stupid name, I know :smallbiggrin:)
This is a small stone cube, painted with a door and windows.
When the owner desires, he may cause a doorway to appear. Stepping through this doorway carries the person and anyone or anything with him inside the cube to a small apartment of six rooms. Here the person may stay for as long as he wants. He may leave the house at any time by stepping out through the same door.
Once a week, he may project the doorway to any location he is familiar with (effectively a one-way Greater Teleport for multiple passengers).

jqavins
2018-12-06, 04:44 PM
What system?

nonsi
2018-12-06, 05:03 PM
What system?

Originally BECMI (an adventure module for char-levels 6 - 10), but I'm aiming at 3.5e.

nonsi
2018-12-08, 05:48 AM
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I wonder, is there no spell in 3.Xe that creates a portable lodging/sanctum?

BWR
2018-12-08, 03:22 PM
The items seem rather self-explanatory to me. Maybe add something about needing to concentrate for the amulet to work, but other than that I don't see what more needs to be said about them.

nonsi
2018-12-08, 03:37 PM
The items seem rather self-explanatory to me. Maybe add something about needing to concentrate for the amulet to work, but other than that I don't see what more needs to be said about them.

Ok, maybe I didn't properly explain myself.

What I want to know are:
1. The required spells.
2. Minimum caster level.
3. Prices.

jqavins
2018-12-10, 08:42 AM
I wonder, is there no spell in 3.Xe that creates a portable lodging/sanctum?Don't Tiny Hut and Secure Shelter still exist? (Leomund's so and so back in the good old days.)

Vogie
2018-12-10, 09:47 AM
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House of Zebulon
(stupid name, I know :smallbiggrin:)
This is a small stone cube, painted with a door and windows.
When the owner desires, he may cause a doorway to appear. Stepping through this doorway carries the person and anyone or anything with him inside the cube to a small apartment of six rooms. Here the person may stay for as long as he wants. He may leave the house at any time by stepping out through the same door.
Once a week, he may project the doorway to any location he is familiar with (effectively a one-way Greater Teleport for multiple passengers).

This looks like an interesting variant of the Rod of Security, which I believe also existed in 3.X. You get a small apartment or bungalow instead of a minor demiplane, and then you can use it all the time provided you use it as a camp (instead of 1/week), but you have a weekly portal to some place.

nonsi
2018-12-10, 02:06 PM
This looks like an interesting variant of the Rod of Security, which I believe also existed in 3.X. You get a small apartment or bungalow instead of a minor demiplane, and then you can use it all the time provided you use it as a camp (instead of 1/week), but you have a weekly portal to some place.

Hmm. On one hand, Rod of Security has the highest price of all suggested rods. OTOH, 61,000 for that is practically no-brainer cheep. On another angle, I don't see any connection between Gate and a pocket paradise.
I hate the way 3e handwaves magic items. Not providing a formula for magic items is straight forward laziness on the part of WotC designers.

I'd be a lot more content if there was a spell that did what the proposed cube does.

noob
2018-12-10, 02:29 PM
Hmm. On one hand, Rod of Security has the highest price of all suggested rods. OTOH, 61,000 for that is practically no-brainer cheep. On another angle, I don't see any connection between Gate and a pocket paradise.
I hate the way 3e handwaves magic items. Not providing a formula for magic items is straight forward laziness on the part of WotC designers.

I'd be a lot more content if there was a spell that did what the proposed cube does.
There is formulas but often the magic items deviate from those a lot.
The rod of security was probably overpriced that much for the immortality effect.
You can become a lich or live in a pocket paradise forever.
which one would you pick?

Son of A Lich!
2018-12-11, 12:43 AM
I had a villain send a goblin assassin into a Castled city with 4 rods of security, once.

Each had a battalion of necromancers, wights and Zombies inside.

Wasn't pretty for the City.

Rods of security are a little cheap for their utility, IMHO...

nonsi
2018-12-11, 03:31 AM
I had a villain send a goblin assassin into a Castled city with 4 rods of security, once.

Each had a battalion of necromancers, wights and Zombies inside.

Wasn't pretty for the City.

Rods of security are a little cheap for their utility, IMHO...

The way you describe things, it's crazy cheep.
You were definitely too lenient. The "pocket paradise" should be something that's created per activation - at the point of activation, not something that's preserved and re-accessible from multiple places.
The multiverse doesn't reserve reusable pocket realities for anyone to hijack.

noob
2018-12-11, 06:12 AM
I had a villain send a goblin assassin into a Castled city with 4 rods of security, once.

Each had a battalion of necromancers, wights and Zombies inside.

Wasn't pretty for the City.

Rods of security are a little cheap for their utility, IMHO...

your necromancer cheated:


When the rod’s effect expires or is dispelled, all the affected creatures instantly reappear in the location they occupied when the rod was activated. If something else occupies the space that a traveler would be returning to, then his body is displaced a sufficient distance to provide the space required for reentry. The rod’s possessor can dismiss the effect whenever he wishes before the maximum time period expires, but the rod can only be activated once per week.

Is the only clause that makes you get out of the pocket paradise



The rod’s possessor can dismiss the effect whenever he wishes before the maximum time period expires, but the rod can only be activated once per week.
So you can possibly plane shift to exit the pocket paradise and have the rod outside of it but the creatures will not appear near the rod if you dismiss the effect: they will appear at the place where they were at the moment of the activation of the rod.

Of course when misinterpreting the rules a lot of things are very powerful.
If you misinterpret the rules about improvised weapons and says your spoon deals 10000d10000 it is going to be cheap for the power it holds.

nonsi
2018-12-11, 10:06 AM
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Ok. I came up with the following spell to explain "House of Zebulon".



Zebulon’s Portable Safe Haven
Transmutation
Level: Mage 7
Components: V, S, F
Casting Time: standard action
Range: Touch
Duration: 24 hours
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
Zebulon was a paranoid and recluse mage. Barely surviving the betrayal of a close friend whom he thought he could trust with his life, he lost all faith in others.
Being an admirer of Leomund’s work for years, he came up with a spell that could assist him in avoiding others on one hand, and provide the liberty of not being confined to a specific location on the other. Eventually, he used this spell so often that he decided to create a magical cube that contained a permanent mobile home.

This spell transforms a 4” cube-shaped section inside a solid object into a dimensional pocket space.
The object must contain a representation of a door – either painted or carved. Touching the door and uttering the password chosen by the caster transports you inside. The inside is revealed to be a 20’ high, 30’ x 30’ lodging, divided and furnished as the caster sees fit, but no room can be less than 10’ x 10’.
Entrance to the pocket space is strictly voluntary and one may only enter alone.
The dimensional pocket space is isolated from the outside world, so no eavesdropping is possible upon the occupants (visual, auditory, telepathy, crying etc.). Furthermore, if the object is to be moved or even shaken, those inside feel nothing – as far as they’re concerned, they keep standing on solid ground.
When the spell effect expires, all the creatures and objects that have entered instantly reappear in front of the object’s door. If something else occupies the space that a traveler would be returning to, then he is displaced the minimum distance to provide the space required for reentry. Until then, an occupant can simply step outside via an inner door.
The effect lasts for the duration of the spell, or until the object is physically broken to expose the affected section. Dispel Magic and Anti Magic don’t end or suppress the effect, but the latter prevents the possibility of entering or leaving the pocket space

noob
2018-12-11, 10:56 AM
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Ok. I came up with the following spell to explain "House of Zebulon".



Zebulon’s Portable Safe Haven
Transmutation
Level: Mage 7
Components: V, S, F
Casting Time: standard action
Range: Touch
Duration: 24 hours
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
Zebulon was a paranoid and recluse mage. Barely surviving the betrayal of a close friend whom he thought he could trust with his life, he lost all faith in others.
Being an admirer of Leomund’s work for years, he came up with a spell that could assist him in avoiding others on one hand, and provide the liberty of not being confined to a specific location on the other. Eventually, he used this spell so often that he decided to create a magical cube that contained a permanent mobile home.

This spell transforms a 4” cube-shaped section inside a solid object into a dimensional pocket space.
The object must contain a representation of a door – either painted or carved. Touching the door and uttering the password chosen by the caster transports you inside. The inside is revealed to be a 20’ high, 30’ x 30’ lodging, divided and furnished as the caster sees fit, but no room can be less than 10’ x 10’.
Entrance to the pocket space is strictly voluntary and one may only enter alone.
The dimensional pocket space is isolated from the outside world, so no eavesdropping is possible upon the occupants (visual, auditory, telepathy, crying etc.). Furthermore, if the object is to be moved or even shaken, those inside feel nothing – as far as they’re concerned, they keep standing on solid ground.
When the spell effect expires, all the creatures and objects that have entered instantly reappear in front of the object’s door. If something else occupies the space that a traveler would be returning to, then he is displaced the minimum distance to provide the space required for reentry. Until then, an occupant can simply step outside via an inner door.
The effect lasts for the duration of the spell, or until the object is physically broken to expose the affected section. Dispel Magic and Anti Magic don’t end or suppress the effect, but the latter prevents the possibility of entering or leaving the pocket space
having items differing sightly from the spell is not disallowed(example: bags of holdings are not summoning secret chests)
So you could have just went and used mordenkainen manor: it would have just made the item a bit more expensive.
or you could have made your item priced around rope trick since rope tricks features a quite similar way of working.
Or as rope trick + secret chest since it can hold items as well.
there is so many spells creating secret spaces.
there is an extradimensional cavern spell which is identical to your spell except the kind of surface used is limited(only rocky stuff or something like that) and it creates a cavern instead of a lodging and it is one level lower.

nonsi
2018-12-11, 12:39 PM
having items differing sightly from the spell is not disallowed(example: bags of holdings are not summoning secret chests)
So you could have just went and used mordenkainen manor: it would have just made the item a bit more expensive.
or you could have made your item priced around rope trick since rope tricks features a quite similar way of working.
Or as rope trick + secret chest since it can hold items as well.
there is so many spells creating secret spaces.
there is an extradimensional cavern spell which is identical to your spell except the kind of surface used is limited(only rocky stuff or something like that) and it creates a cavern instead of a lodging and it is one level lower.

1. If you're talking about Pocket Cave from Champions of Ruin, it's a 5th level spell and the exit point is always the entry point.
2. Going for Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion would limit such item to very high levels and I see no reason why mid-level players shouldn't be able benefit from such an option.
3. Nice interpretation regarding combining Rope Trick + Secret Chest. I personally think that Rope Trick being a 2nd level spell is outrageous. Still, it could be a viable solution even if one was to elevate Rope Trick to 5th level.

Anyway, the primary advantage I see with my proposed spell, is not being restricted to item crafting to gain that special benefit. I'm aware that this makes the Trojan Horse scenario a bit more straight forward, but it's minor when Dim. Door, Gaseous Form, Invisibility, Fly, Passwall, and Scrying are available.

noob
2018-12-11, 05:45 PM
1. If you're talking about Pocket Cave from Champions of Ruin, it's a 5th level spell and the exit point is always the entry point.
2. Going for Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion would limit such item to very high levels and I see no reason why mid-level players shouldn't be able benefit from such an option.
3. Nice interpretation regarding combining Rope Trick + Secret Chest. I personally think that Rope Trick being a 2nd level spell is outrageous. Still, it could be a viable solution even if one was to elevate Rope Trick to 5th level.

Anyway, the primary advantage I see with my proposed spell, is not being restricted to item crafting to gain that special benefit. I'm aware that this makes the Trojan Horse scenario a bit more straight forward, but it's minor when Dim. Door, Gaseous Form, Invisibility, Fly, Passwall, and Scrying are available.

So if I am moving around the cave and making people enter periodically then they can hold hands while in the cave and when the spell ends all the people ends up at different places.
Really fun.
Could I possibly use that to have an "at home" restaurant where everyone can exit back to his home and that I can dispel immediately when people starts fighting?

nonsi
2018-12-12, 08:13 AM
So if I am moving around the cave and making people enter periodically then they can hold hands while in the cave and when the spell ends all the people ends up at different places.
Really fun.
Could I possibly use that to have an "at home" restaurant where everyone can exit back to his home and that I can dispel immediately when people starts fighting?

If you're talking about Pocket Cave, then the cave is temporary and has one passage that serves as both entrance and exit.
Magnificent Mansion works the same way ("has a single entrance on the plane from which the spell was cast").
With my proposed spell (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=23563364&postcount=14), the entrance is fixed on the object, so while it's mobile compared to normal space, it's immobile compared to the pocket space.

noob
2018-12-12, 01:14 PM
If you're talking about Pocket Cave, then the cave is temporary and has one passage that serves as both entrance and exit.
Magnificent Mansion works the same way ("has a single entrance on the plane from which the spell was cast").
With my proposed spell (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=23563364&postcount=14), the entrance is fixed on the object, so while it's mobile compared to normal space, it's immobile compared to the pocket space.

Move the wall on which the entrance is.
It is said the entrance is on the surface on which you cast it but not that the surface becomes impossible to move.

Son of A Lich!
2018-12-12, 01:47 PM
your necromancer cheated:

Huh... Its been a while since I've used a rod of security (I don't believe they've been republished in 5e, and I never played 4th). I guess it has always been home-brewed and I never noticed.

I don't remember if it was the same group or another, but I DM'd for a Party that used it to cross a desert (Or a demi-plane of fire? Or something to that effect...) where the party hid inside while the Ranger crossed the open environment. I remember it being after the Sandstorm book was released, and I think it was a plane for a Mummy Lord, but the idea was that they didn't have enough heat protection to go around all day and the "Ranger" (I don't remember what his literal class was) was immune to the area's effects.

I think I let it slide then and always thought of it as a "Magic School Bus" since then.

Thank you, I didn't know that. Who knew DMing meant you had to read books!?

nonsi
2018-12-14, 06:18 PM
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Ok. I think I have a solution for Amulet of Finding to cover all the angles.



Null Aura
Illusion
Level: Wizard 5
Components: V, S
Casting Time: standard action
Range: Touch
Target: One item carrying magical effects
Duration: One lunar cycle
Saving Throw: None
SR: No
This spell shields a number of items no greater than the caster’s Int-bonus from magical scrutiny of all kinds, except the most potent of divinations.
Detection spells of mid-low levels are completely blind to the object and its powers/effects.
This spell’s deception is penetrated by Greater Arcane Sight, True Seeing and Vision.


Sensory Conduits
Divination
Level: Wizard 4
Components: V, S, F (see below)
Casting Time: standard action
Range: Touch
Target: See below
Duration: 24 hours
Saving Throw: None
SR: No
This spell requires two or more (up to the caster’s Int-bonus) amulets – each with a reflective lens-like surface (https://cs1.livemaster.ru/storage/49/82/ff61050f5dd2b5552b8dc9cd3bdq--jewelry-sagaan-toli-amulet-pendant-melong-shaman-039-s-mirror.jpg) (a precious metal, actual mirror, pearl, gemstone with a uniform texture etc.).
Anyone who wears one of these amulets may see and hear through the amulet of any person who is wearing another.
If someone was to place a worn amulet in a bag or under heavy clothing, sight through their amulet becomes impossible and the sounds are transferred muffled.


Sensory Conduits of the Master Spy
Divination
Level: Wizard 7
Duration: One lunar cycle
This spell is an improved version of Sensory Conduits.
One of the amulets serves as the master amulet. It can access all the other amulets and none of them can access it.
Furthermore, the amulets transfer smell as well.

Debihuman
2018-12-23, 06:27 PM
A quick Google search led me to this: http://www.pandius.com/x5_3econ.html

Amulet of Finding: This appears to be a well-made, silver amulet in the shape of a silver skill. When the proper command word is spoken, this amulet allows its wearer to see through the eyes of other amulets of its kind by concentrating, as if through the clairvoyance spell.

The Master has one of these items, and keeps his amulet in a cloth bag around his neck. Thus, he is able to see through the eyes of other amulets of finding, but other amulet-wearers will only see blackness at the other end.

Faint divination; CL 5th; Craft Wondrous Item, clairvoyance/clairaudience; Price: 60,000 gp

House of Zebulon: this powerful magic item resembles a miniature cube-shaped house, about two inches square, and carved out of white marble. If the proper command word is spoken, a doorway will appear adjacent to the holder of the cube. This doorway is the portal to an extradimensional space inside the cube, and it remains open until a separate command word is spoken to close it.

The interior of the cube is a well-furnished and comfortable house with six rooms. While the supply of air in the cube is infinite, creatures staying in the cube must carry their own food and water inside. Otherwise, creatures can live comfortably in the cube for any length of time.

Creatures can exit the cube at any time, simply by walking out the door. Once per week, an occupant of the cube can project the doorway of the cube to any location known, allowing the occupant to travel back and forth across great distances.

Strong conjuration; CL 13th; Craft Wondrous Item, Mordenkainen's magnificent mansion, greater teleport; Price: 163,000 gp.

I hope this helps.

Debby

nonsi
2018-12-24, 02:54 AM
A quick Google search led me to this: http://www.pandius.com/x5_3econ.html

Amulet of Finding: This appears to be a well-made, silver amulet in the shape of a silver skill. When the proper command word is spoken, this amulet allows its wearer to see through the eyes of other amulets of its kind by concentrating, as if through the clairvoyance spell.

The Master has one of these items, and keeps his amulet in a cloth bag around his neck. Thus, he is able to see through the eyes of other amulets of finding, but other amulet-wearers will only see blackness at the other end.

Faint divination; CL 5th; Craft Wondrous Item, clairvoyance/clairaudience; Price: 60,000 gp

House of Zebulon: this powerful magic item resembles a miniature cube-shaped house, about two inches square, and carved out of white marble. If the proper command word is spoken, a doorway will appear adjacent to the holder of the cube. This doorway is the portal to an extradimensional space inside the cube, and it remains open until a separate command word is spoken to close it.

The interior of the cube is a well-furnished and comfortable house with six rooms. While the supply of air in the cube is infinite, creatures staying in the cube must carry their own food and water inside. Otherwise, creatures can live comfortably in the cube for any length of time.

Creatures can exit the cube at any time, simply by walking out the door. Once per week, an occupant of the cube can project the doorway of the cube to any location known, allowing the occupant to travel back and forth across great distances.

Strong conjuration; CL 13th; Craft Wondrous Item, Mordenkainen's magnificent mansion, greater teleport; Price: 163,000 gp.

I hope this helps.

Debby


Thanks :smallsmile:

While my approach to magic items is quite different from 3e's (closer in spirit to the one given in the BECMI D&D Rules Cyclopedia), I do find several things here that I can use.