Uses for Ectoplasmic Trinket

[heavyfuel]

You can find the power here: https://www.d20pfsrd.com/alternative-rule-systems/psionics-unleashed/psionic-powers/e/ectoplasmic-trinket/

So, what is this cantrip talent good for? I know that as an 'at will' ability acquired at lv 1 it isn't supposed to be powerful, but I can't think of anything that costs less than 1gp that I would want for just a minute before it disappears.

I guess in a game where the DM is giving you very tight resources you could use it to create ammunition, but these are the minority.

Maybe a few items from the adventuring gear section, but why not just buy them and have them with no strings attached?

Anyway, can anyone think of uses for it?

[Psyren]

It's just a cantrip version of the 1st-level power Ectoplasmic Creation and added restrictions.

Some simple items that might prove useful include making a lockpick, a bowl, a pot, flint + steel, a vial, a hand mirror, or a sponge. Note also that while you can't make material components, foci are not forbidden, so you could make a wooden holy symbol for your cleric friend who got theirs lost or sundered.

Useful complex items might include a spyglass, a child's toy, or a small instrument like a flute (though I might be misremembering the cost of some of these.)

Lastly, the fact that it disappears fairly quickly might actually prove useful. Consider making a pot of ink for example, and using it on self-effacing forgeries to avoid discovery.

[Jack_Simth]

Nice little one minute timer. Make a bucket. Put a real rock on top. Walk away. A minute later, the rock clatters to the ground. Great for getting a guard to go where you were, rather than where you are.

[heavyfuel]

Some simple items that might prove useful include making a lockpick, a bowl, a pot, flint + steel, a vial, a hand mirror, or a sponge.

Useful complex items might include a spyglass

Lockpicks are interesting due to them being strictly better than improvised tools in situations you'd need them. Flint and Steel is nice, but even better is a Tindertwig!

Also, I think you're really misremembering the price of a Spyglass (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0423.html) :smallbiggrin:


Nice little one minute timer. Make a bucket. Put a real rock on top. Walk away. A minute later, the rock clatters to the ground. Great for getting a guard to go where you were, rather than where you are.

That's a really cool idea!!

Hope more ideas come up!

[Selion]

Uhm... Soap, beer, coffee, a very little umbrella, candles for birthcake...
...
Condoms (one minute duration should be enough)

[Psyren]

Condoms (one minute duration should be enough)

You might want to spring for Ectoplasmic Creation for that one :smalltongue:

[heavyfuel]

You might want to spring for Ectoplasmic Creation for that one :smalltongue:

I hesitate to ask and derail my own thread, but which vegetable matter are you using for it?

[Psyren]

I hesitate to ask and derail my own thread, but which vegetable matter are you using for it?

It says "organic matter" actually; look up what ancient prophylactics were made of.

[heavyfuel]

It says "organic matter" actually; look up what ancient prophylactics were made of.

Huh, this is very true. I assumed it worked like 3.5's Minor Creation, which specifies vegetable matter

[Zaq]

Sounds like basically shapesand. Slightly more limited than shapesand, but also doesn’t require you to carry around heavy jars of sand on your low-STR manifester.

This is basically a discount utility belt. You don’t know what you need until you need it, but then you have it.

EDIT: Does PF have Sleight of Hand? I just had a sudden giggle at the idea of slipping created components into an enemy caster’s spell component pouch, since attempting to use the created trinket as a spell component causes automatic spell failure. (This is superior to just using Sleight of Hand to steal said caster’s component pouch mostly because it’s funny, dammit.)

[Psyren]

Sounds like basically shapesand. Slightly more limited than shapesand, but also doesn’t require you to carry around heavy jars of sand on your low-STR manifester.

This is basically a discount utility belt. You don’t know what you need until you need it, but then you have it.

EDIT: Does PF have Sleight of Hand? I just had a sudden giggle at the idea of slipping created components into an enemy caster’s spell component pouch, since attempting to use the created trinket as a spell component causes automatic spell failure. (This is superior to just using Sleight of Hand to steal said caster’s component pouch mostly because it’s funny, dammit.)

Sleight exists but, component pouches being what they are, they contain every component you'd be trying to approximate. So at best you could argue this gives them a chance to pull the wrong one. But given that the caster normally pulls the right component with 100% accuracy every time, that suggests that component pouches are perfectly organized, and therefore the component they're reaching for is in a specific place within the pouch. Logically, that place is a small sub-pocket whose location within the pouch is known only to the caster. Even if you got lucky and attempted this trick in the correct sub-pocket of the pouch to begin with, that location would already be occupied by the component you're trying to approximate.

Note that all of the above assumes a single component pouch too.

[Elkad]

I hesitate to ask and derail my own thread, but which vegetable matter are you using for it?

Version I'm reading says "any non-living", but even if you did have that restriction...

Latex is vegetable matter (traditionally from rubber trees, but also dandelions and many other plants).

There is another 1-minute use case there as well. When you don't want to wear one, but a condition of.. uh.. access, is being seen to put one on.


Other similar uses.
Balloons that don't litter the countryside.
Rubber overshoes that last just long enough to cross a puddle.


Many variants of the bucket trick above, including fuses. Make a simple oil lamp. Fill with real oil. Light. When the lamp disappears, the flaming oil spreads everywhere. Bonus edition: make the oil too, then when the Fire Marshall investigates later, he won't find any trace of accelerant. Timers for more complex mechanical traps as well.

Get a real mug with a small hole near the lip. Fill hole with ectoplasmic matter. Watch your friend spill ale down his shirtfront when it turns into a dribble-mug 1 minute later. Or just make the whole mug, if you want a bigger mess.
Fill a mug with ectoplasmic ale. Drink. Repeat. Impress your friends with your near-endless capacity.

Get down a cliff. (or the party up a cliff, if only part of it can climb/fly) 50' of rope fits in a cubic foot (probably more actually, but then you hit the 1gp limit). Tie quickly, descend quickly. Same for detaining someone briefly to make your escape. Tie them up, or make a temporary bar or piton to hold the door shut, and get your head start. Same with extending the rope you have, if you don't have enough. Note, if you want your real rope back, put the temporary one first, it will disappear and your real rope will fall (hopefully not with you still on it).

Get past a mechanical trap without disarming it. Jam the trigger mechanism with a created object.

Put out a fire. 8 gallons of water should do a decent job, and you won't have a muddy mess afterwards.

Pay for cheap items. Entrance to the circus, a toll bridge, food from a street vendor in a crowd, etc. Depends on if the created item can pass a brief inspection - or is it shimmering ectostuff?

Oh, and read any of a million Prestidigitation threads for creation uses.