Just for fun: favorite consumables?

[Zaq]

What are some fun experiences you've had with consumable items? Ideally single-shot stuff. Not necessarily what's the most OP (yes, yes, we all are firmly aware of the nonsense you can theoretically do with a candle of invocation or dust of sneezing and choking), but just ones that you've had fun experiences with.

Thematically, I adore potions. I just love the imagery they conjure up in my head. Truth be told, I rarely use 'em because of how mechanically suboptimal they are the majority of the time (so pricey! So low-strength! Such inefficient action economy!), but I love 'em regardless. I did once get to experience a campaign in which the climactic session had us in control of an artifact-level vehicle that could, among other things, benefit from a potion "fed" to it (with some appropriate adjustments as needed), which was an absolute blast to have a a full on Mario Kart-style death race. (Updraft is darned amusing when fed to a full-speed wagon!)

I once used the "iron door" you can pluck off a robe of useful items to stall a crushing-ceiling deathtrap long enough for the party to find a way out, which was great.

Oddly enough, I've seen relatively few scrolls actually used in-game. I'm not going to say it never happens—there's been times when a specific problem has an obvious solution spell that just doesn't happen to be in the repertoire of anyone in the party—but I haven't personally experienced it as often as one might expect. Mostly it's restorative stuff like rezzes or break enchantment or whatever.

My group is aware of the reputation that Quaal's feather tokens carry, but we've never really used 'em much. The possibilities are funny, though.

Your turn now. What consumables do you tend to carry around? Anything unusual you've done with them? Weird anecdotes or entertaining new uses?

[Unavenger]

This was 5e so I won't spend much time on it, but one of the GGR backgrounds starts with some blubber from a magical creature. One of the other players threw it to make a staircase slippery, and I promptly lit it on fire. And so, team slipperyfire was born.

Back in 3.5:

One of my DMs allowed homebrew, and I played an adventurer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?471934-The-Adventurer-3-5-class-PEACH) with all of the "Your bag is better" talents - at fifth level, I pretty much had summon tree (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#tree) as a 1/day spell-like ability. The DM was pretty lenient on what specifically the tree could do, so we had instances where it would sprout in the middle of a building and tear up the ceiling.

We also had an incident where I pulled out a bunch of candles and we used them to jam a door shut (by melting the wax onto it), and we had a session where we managed to get through an inordinate amount of wine.

I also had the ability to take wands from the bag (unfortunately this usually meant I was backup cleric, but I had some fun with an army of unseen servants, an army of horses, an army of floating discs... entangle was a fun one too). At 13th level came sovereign glue, and we used that mainly to stick people to things they didn't want to be stuck to.

Despite having a listed price (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/wealthAndMoney.htm), the DM denied my attempt to pull a chicken out of the bag. Commoners get all the good features, I tell you!

[Oberron]

I've always was a fan of feather tokens.

[Elkad]

Expansion tattoos are a group favorite.
300gp isn't cheap for 30min of size large, but it's worth it when you know you can clear several rooms during the duration.

[Falontani]

I love the Skull Talismans. Played a Death Master that enchanted the skulls of humanoids, turned them into undead using corpsecrafter, destruction retribution, and deadly chill. Each human skeleton could be a bomb that dealt 1d6 negative within 10 ft, and 5d6 half cold half negative within 20 ft. Each bomb cost 25 gp for corpse, and 266 gp for the bomb effect. I had some really powerful skeletons with more powerful ones, but essentially, it was a lich's playground.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

When I play a psion of high enough level, I make sure to have both quintessence (http://www.psionics.info/powers/quintessence/) and soul crystal (http://www.psionics.info/powers/soul-crystal/). Every night before falling asleep, I dump the remainder of my power points into them.

Giving the whole party access to psionic powers via soul crystals is pretty darned nifty, I tell you, and quintessence is useful for so many things (including storing soul crystals for future use).

[Coventry]

I've always was a fan of feather tokens.

Second vote for the feather tokens. Swan Boats aren't just for sailing, in a pinch they are barricades that block roads, terrain that you can hide behind, or siege ammunition when dropped from on high.

[Faily]

I've always was a fan of feather tokens.

Second vote for the feather tokens. Swan Boats aren't just for sailing, in a pinch they are barricades that block roads, terrain that you can hide behind, or siege ammunition when dropped from on high.

Thirding. I love stocking up on Feather Tokens.

Tree token has served as an express elevator when we quickly needed to escape a pit that magically aged us.
I've left a Wizard almost frothing at the mouth over continued use of Fan Token to remove his Fog and Cloud spells.

[Vizzerdrix]

I will always be a fan of alchemicals. Everything from acid flasks, to healing salve, to eggshell grenades, to shapesand.

[mabriss lethe]

feather tokens are great. I also like Oil of Animate Dead just for the giggles, but my all time favorite consumable is Marvelous Pigments.

[ericgrau]

I love marvelous pigments too. I sometimes forget it's a consumable because I often keep plenty on hand for a limitless supply.
Dust of disappearance for a whole party "I win" button that even magical means like true seeing won't thwart it. It's expensive though and there are other ways to beat invisibility, so it's fair.
I haven't tried it yet but whip feather token seems reasonably priced for the levels when it is useful. Makes a battlefield-control-over-time effect that anyone can use.
Wand of invisibility, or invisibility spamming in general (like on a spontaneous caster) to bypass challenges.
It's not normally a consumable but at epic level I defeated an encounter by feeding an elephant figurine of wondrous power to a foe. So it was only used once. Likewise had a staff and some wands for daily buffing. And only 1 level of wizard. Epic characters are rich.
Bane arrows of common monster types, like undead. Different metal types for DR too.
*Every* level 1 utility scroll in PHB and spell compendium. 1-4 copies of each. Some caster level 3 like tenser's floating disk and summon monster I. Depending on level, some level 2 spells too. Since these oddball situations usually only happen once per campaign if ever, spam them willy nilly and replenish as needed. The amount of versatility and ready-for-everything-ness is crazy. It's like a 60's Batman utility belt.


Hmm, that's all I remember and can find from skimming. Similar to the scrolls I've had characters pick up a variety of cheap wondrous items. But not all are expendable and/or ones that I actually used or think I could use when the right character comes. Like sovereign glue is a given (indestructible glue, what's not to love?) but I've never actually been in a situation where I could use it. The 1 round application time is annoying. I'll still probably pick it up every time it's within a high level budget because some day it will be epic and lolzy, but it's not a priority.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Power stones of level 1 powers are cheap, only 25 gp each, and effectively give you a 1/day additional power known. And according to CPsi, you can manifest using your own power points to use your own ML with them. Since even low level powers retain viability into epic due to augmentation, you can basically have all of the 1st level powers from your class's power list on your list of powers known, which is quite nice. At higher levels, this extends to 2nd and 3rd level powers, too, because they're quite affordable by then.

[StevenC21]

I'm a big fan of Luhix (BoVD).

Slap some on a weapon for a free Save-Or-Die on every hit.

[Mordaedil]

I've been playing a lot of sorcerers lately and I've found a lot of fun playing with wands. There's nothing quite like putting all of those utility spells on wands while you put the more check-heavy spells into your repertoire.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

I've been playing a lot of sorcerers lately and I've found a lot of fun playing with wands. There's nothing quite like putting all of those utility spells on wands while you put the more check-heavy spells into your repertoire.Wield an elvencraft longbow and add a bunch of wand chambers to it. You can have one on each quarterstaff end, one for the bow, and one on any other weapon you can add to it (such as a bayonet; I believe there's a blade you can add to just about any weapon that acts as a dagger, though I don't recall the name of it).

[The Viscount]

I always like the pellet of liquid sunlight from Complete Scoundrel. Granted, I typically keep one because it's cheaper than an everburning torch and provides light, but it's nice knowing that if push comes to shove you can throw it at vampires.
Bonus points if you yell something about unleashing the power of the sun. Or negative points, depending on your group's relative nostalgia or disdain for Sunny D.

[ezekielraiden]

I'm a fan of dweomer's essence in Pathfinder. It may be a tad expensive at 500 gp/use, but +5 on spell penetration checks is enough of a godsend that it can be worth thinking about.

[Thac0 Redeye]

Wield an elvencraft longbow and add a bunch of wand chambers to it.
Where are the rules for the wand chambers?

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Where are the rules for the wand chambers?Dungeonscape, should be. Note that there's a feat that allows you to use a wand as if it were a dagger, and wands are the right shape to install a wand chamber on, so feel free to install a wand chamber on your wand so you can cast while you cast.

[Zaq]

Dungeonscape, should be. Note that there's a feat that allows you to use a wand as if it were a dagger, and wands are the right shape to install a wand chamber on, so feel free to install a wand chamber on your wand so you can cast while you cast.

Yo, say what, dawg? Wands as daggers? What book is that feat in?

[Eldariel]

Hmm, most fun, huh? I wouldn't know, but a few times I remember fondly:
- We were fighting a massive incorporeal storm elemental (that snuck into our camp in the middle of the night and woke us all up with a thunderclap, long story) and getting our asses handed to us. Cue Portable Hole in Bag of Holding and a portal appeared. Since the Elemental was bigger than the gate but vapory, the DM ruled that the core chunk of it was drawn to the Astral Plane and only a small elemental remained for us to beat up on. A very expensive, literal lifesaver.
- Riding Feather Token: Trees saved us during a race to the top of the Yggdrasil.
- Candle of Invocation. No, not the Gate-function (though that would off course be more or less omnipotent), the "prepare spells as if you were a Cleric two levels higher than you are"-one. It's quite the fun one if a tad powerful; but it only applies as long as the Candle is burning (and in our ruling, you in its presence) so it's best used for downtime spells and all-day buffs. So...what's a level 13 Cleric to do when faced with an army of evil creatures of all strokes coming to reclaim an artifact that would allow them to remake the world? Well, of course burn a candle, cast Earthquake at a canyon to slow down the advance of said army, withdraw and begin casting Greater Planar Allies for Planetars for which go on to cast their own Earthquakes to further rain rubble on the army.
- Golden Desert Honey. Standard action SNAs are pretty cool as a Druid. Or a Mystic Ranger Saarvith raining Orglashes on the PCs from atop a Dragon. :smallbiggrin:

EDIT: Oh yeah, and the Tan Bag of Tricks is something we've had a lot of fun with. Everything from random horses making a racket on the roof to distract people to getaway rides and even a Rhino Wallbuster. Mostly distraction, utility and combat use though. We ran it as having a limit of a total of 50 animals in addition to the weekly limit making it a consumable.

[Malphegor]

Scrolls are kind of awkward to use. On the one hand, hey, a spell I don't need to prepare! On the other hand, if it's a spell you haven't learnt yet, you're better off studying that scroll and scribing it into your spellbook, destroying it.

Now, that said, I'm a big fan of torches. They illuminate, yes, but also work as an weapon (dealing same damage as a gauntlet so 1d3 bludgeoning damage from a Medium-suited torch), plus 1 burning damage. They're surprisingly light (1lb each), cheap (cheaper than a 1d4-dealing dagger, technically, and only 1 damage lower!), can deal burning damage, and can set things on fire!

Sunrods are cool, literally, (I always think of them as glowsticks, even if they're described as metal rods), but torches will always set a flame in my heart.

[mabriss lethe]

Also fun: Grell crystal, a dirt cheap material that can be used to make all sorts of permanent fortifications, shelters, or even weapons and armor. Best describes as "dehydrated walls"

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Yo, say what, dawg? Wands as daggers? What book is that feat in?I misremembered slightly. It was Dorje Blade (http://dsp-d20-srd.wikidot.com/dorje-blade). Dorjes are the psionic equivalent of wands (same size, shape, and everything, but made from psionic crystal).

Dorjes are consumables, right? And you're still using a consumable item, albeit not in a consumable way.

Could you combine this (and wand chambers) with the Wandstrike (http://dnd.arkalseif.info/feats/complete-arcane--55/wandstrike--3088/index.html) feat? How would that work, exactly? You'd probably need the Magic mantle for that, either way.