Wayfinder

[keeper2161]

How do wayfinders work? If you use the random table do you just put a random stone in a wayfinder and boom magic happens? Can you just buy a the cheapest stone, buy a crap ton of wayfinders, and then see what each one does? Is there a gold price for augmenting? If so where does it say?

[Coventry]

How do wayfinders work? If you use the random table do you just put a random stone in a wayfinder and boom magic happens? Can you just buy a the cheapest stone, buy a crap ton of wayfinders, and then see what each one does? Is there a gold price for augmenting? If so where does it say?

The resonant power from the random chart here (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/r-z/wayfinder-standard/) is comes from the Ioun stone, not from the Wayfinder. So that single cheap stone you buy ... will resonate the same way no matter which wayfinder you put it in.

There are wayfinders other than the basic 500 gp variety listed in the sidebar of that page. They can get expensive.

[keeper2161]

Forgive me but I am having a hard time understanding how the resonance works. If you combine a ioun stone with a wayfinder the ioun stone gets an additional buff. The first way is every ioun stone has a secondary buff that is only unlocked by putting it into any wayfinder. The second method is more chaotic. That every ioun stone has a random buff that is different with every wayfinder. Is that the way it works or am I missing something?

[Coventry]

That every ioun stone has a random buff

Yes! When the stone is first created, roll on the random resonance chart, and write down what the resonance power is


that is different with every wayfinder

No. The Ioun stone's hidden power is still the same thing. All the wayfinder is doing is allowing the owner to access the power.

As an analogy, there is a safe with a treasure inside (the resonance power). The character has no idea what that power is until she gets the safe open. But no matter how she opens the safe (using a key, using a combination, or cutting a hole in the side), the contents of the safe are still the same.

In a game where wayfinders are common, what you described has a couple of downsides. The first is that it is a ton of paperwork for the DM to keep track of all of the combinations that have been tried. That is time and effort that could be spent adventuring, instead. The second is that it increases the power of the ioun stone. A dedicated player will be able to get the exact resonance bonus in time. What's the point of having a random chart if the player ultimately gets to choose the power?


HOWEVER, having said that ... if your DM really wants to play things where the wayfinder also affects the resonance power, I see that it opens up one role playing opportunity: consider a case where wayfinders are rare and hard to come by, then the adventure can drive itself : PC: "I really want bonus X from this stone, but none of the wayfinders I have access to grant that power with this stone. Where can I find more wayfinders to try?" DM: "well, you've heard rumors that there is a stash of old wayfinders hidden over in this crumbling castle ..." PC: "Time for a side quest!"

[Albions_Angel]

You seem to contradict yourself at the end there.

I thought (as you seem to suggest in the first part of your post) that Ioun stones each had a different random power.

So you might have 1 Orange Ioun stone with a hidden power to give you +1 Res on all saves. While another Orange Ioun stone causes feedback and destroys the Wayfinder.

Those stones ALWAYS have the same ability. The first will always grant +1 Res regardless of the Wayfinder its in. The second will always destroy the Wayfinder.

But then you say they can serve as a plot hook where PCs go hunting for the right Wayfinder to cause their current stone to manifest a different hidden ability. Surely you meant go on a quest to find the same colour stone with a different ability inbuilt?

[Coventry]

You seem to contradict yourself at the end there.

Ah, drat. I edited that a few times, and omitted part of the thought. I am solidly in the Pathfinder's "rules are guidelines" camp when I DM a game, so I wanted to explore what could happen if the resonant power did change for each wayfinder, after all. That was when I thought of a situation where that might help the game by providing a plot hook that is being driven by a player.

It starts with the DM being willing to deal with all the paperwork, and occurs when a player has an ioun stone but does not have a wayfinder that grants the resonant power she wants. Then, dangling a "there is a stash of wayfinders over there" plot hook can work as I described at the end of my previous post.

I would not do that in my own game, but once I thought of it, I thought it appropriate to mention.