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View Full Version : [3.P] Golden Acorn of Squirrel Friendship



Cieyrin
2019-06-11, 03:21 PM
https://i.imgur.com/9xY8GXp.jpg
Golden Acorn by Calsidyrose (https://www.flickr.com/photos/calsidyrose/6239252577)
Golden Acorn of Squirrel Friendship
Aura faint varies; CL 3rd
Slot none; Price 12,636 gp; Weight -.
Description
A golden acorn of squirrel friendship appears to be an acorn made of solid gold. On command, the acorn attracts 1d3 squirrel swarms (treat as monkey swarms (Bestiary 2 pg. 212)), if any squirrels are within 520 feet. Normal squirrels get no saving throw against this ability, but animal companions, familiars, and similar unusual animals may resist with a Will DC 13 save. The squirrels have a friendly attitude towards the caller, will answer the caller's questions about the nearby area as if the caller and squirrels shared a common language, and will follow the caller's spoken commands, provided they are not suicidal or obvious harmful, though a DC 15 Diplomacy or Handle Animal check will convince them to do something very dangerous. The squirrel swarms stick around for 3 minutes before dispersing.
If the squirrels are under the control of another creature, add the HD of the controller to the DC to persuade the squirrels. Once control is assumed, another check is required each round to maintain it if the other creature is actively seeking to reassert its control.
Each time the caller attracts squirrels in a 24 hour period after the first time, they call 1 less swarm of squirrels and the DC to persuade the squirrels to do something very dangerous increases by 5. If this results in no swarms being attracted, the caller has drawn the ire of the squirrels and no squirrels will answer the acorn's call for 1 week. During this time, there's a 10% chance each day that when the caller passes through squirrel infested areas to be pelted by acorns and sticks for 1d6+3 nonlethal damage (Reflex DC 13 for half damage). Once this happens in a day, there's no further chance of a squirrel bombardment that day.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, charm animal, speak with animals, summon swarm; Cost 6,318 gp

Change Log
- Finalized Price (for now)
- Changed swarm from rat to monkey swarm
- Added language for the cases of unusual squirrels
- Properly credited the image

Cieyrin
2019-06-11, 06:56 PM
I'm a bit on the fence on the price and keep juggling it about. Here's how I got to the price above.
My starting place was the Pipes of the Sewer (1,150 gp) and the Ring of Animal Friendship (10,800 gp). Squirrels and rats are pretty similar stat-wise, so it was pretty easy to use a rat swarm and just sub in squirrels. Summon Swarm summons rat swarms, so that was a no brainer. I wanted them to be your friends instead of a ravaging horde, so Charm Animal came in, and making them listen to you so they can do things besides cause a panic in a cafe, hence Speak with Animals.
According to Magic Item Creation, at-will spell abilities are priced as (1,800 x CL x SL); furthermore, when you have a suite of similar abilities, the most expensive spell is full price, the next most expensive is 75% price and any further ones are 50%. Hence, Summon Swarm is (1,800 x 3 x 2) = 10,800 gp, Charm Animal is (1,800 x 3 x 1) x .75 = 4,050 gp, and Speak with Animals is (1,800 x 3 x 1) x .5 = 2,700 gp, for a total of 17,550 gp.
Now, price modifiers, which are tricky. It's a slotless item, so that price gets doubled (35,100 gp). It requires a skill to use well, so that's a 10% discount (35,100 x .9) = 31,590 gp. It's uses per day is a bit wonky, as you get at least one use, 3 if you're lucky, 2 on average, so (31,590 x (2/5)) = 12,636 gp.
If you do a straight comparison with those starting items, it's around the price of having both. That said, I think the Ring is a bit over-priced, as a wand of Charm Animal at CL 3 is 2,250 gp and practically does the same thing; putting the Acorn at the same price range means, unless a GM places it in a horde, your typical PC isn't going to be able to reasonably afford one till the 7th-9th level range, which makes me think I should reduce the price. It's definitely better than the Pipes, I think, but it seems more reasonable to get into the hands of PCs at 4th-5th level, when it's cool and useful, which means putting it in the 3-5k gp range. I'm open to opinions on what it should be priced at.