Bag of Amazing Stones

[trtl]

A homebrew magic item I made to sprinkle some treasures around a dungeon. I'm particularly proud of this one so I thought I'd share.

Bag of Amazing Stones. (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CIMHau4aXmYf8VeTbQIMv8an1pp9jpS4ZJOOZCuy7KI/edit?usp=drivesdk)

[Greywander]

This is kind of a neat sounding item. Does it have infinite stones? Some of them seem kind of strong, but I suppose that's balanced out by most of them being middling or useless. I might also say that the stones only activate once (i.e. once you know what a stone does, you can't reuse it). Also, I'd be cautious of cases where the party could pull out and throw stones repeatedly until they get the one they need (kind of tricky, as an ambush would be ruined by e.g. the shrieking stone).

I might also consider adding some rules regarding how far you can throw the stones, and if an attack roll or saving throw is required. Some stones might require an attack roll, others a saving throw, but you could standardize it in the general rules (e.g. "treat the stone as an improvised thrown weapon with a range of 20 feet dealing 1d4 bludgeoning damage on a hit"). Some effects might not require you to hit a creature, only that the stone lands in their space.


Meteor Stone
...make a DC 15 saving throw...
What kind of save? DEX?


Boulder Stone
On a hit, the boulder has 8d6 damage dice...
This is worded a bit awkwardly. First, what am I rolling? Is this a STR attack? DEX? I assume it's a ranged attack, but is it a weapon or spell attack? Is it an attack with a ranged weapon, or an improvised weapon? Do I add my proficiency bonus?

Second, what kind of damage? Bludgeoning, I assume. When you say "it has X damage dice," are you treating it like a weapon? Do I add my STR or DEX mod to the damage roll? Why not just say, "On a hit, the boulder deals 8d6 bludgeoning damage to the target"?


Fire Stone
When the stone strikes something...
...it deals an additional 1d6 fire damage...
What do I roll for this? Is it an attack? A saving throw? Does it just automatically hit?

What is this "additional" damage? In addition to what? Does it deal improvised weapon damage on top of the fire damage?


Oil Stone
Same as above. Also, I might add something to specifically say that the oil is flammable, or give it a similar effect to the Grease spell.


Shoving Stone
Same as Fire and Oil Stones. Also, you say it "pushes the object back," but then go on to talk about pushing creatures. This might seem nitpicky, but it's not. "Object" and "creature" aren't just colloquial terms, they actually have legal definitions within the rules, and a creature is not an object. Lastly, does this require an attack roll to hit, then a STR save to resist the shove?


Smoke Stone
Mostly fine, just the same issue about "when it strikes something".

I think you get the drill for the rest of these. I don't have any nitpicks for the remainder aside from what I've already expressed above.

Also, what, uh... what happens if you upend the bag?

[trtl]

Thanks for the critique.

I'm really bad at spelling out rules since I'm used to creating things that no one but myself will ever read :smallbiggrin:

I tried to edit a couple things based on your critiques, I also decide to nerf the meteor stone a little.

Thoughts?

[Greywander]

Thanks for the critique.

I'm really bad at spelling out rules since I'm used to creating things that no one but myself will ever read :smallbiggrin:
No biggie, this is a common problem when editing your own work. You know what it's supposed to be, so you don't see the issues. It's only when someone else looks at it and doesn't understand how to use it that issues like this come to light. With practice, you'll get better at wording mechanical effects. It helps if you look for similar effects in the existing rules and just copy them verbatim. In this case, you might look at how alchemist's fire or vials of acid are handled when thrown, as they seem to share a similar concept (throw an item at a target and create an additional effect if/when it hits).


I tried to edit a couple things based on your critiques, I also decide to nerf the meteor stone a little.

Thoughts?
Looks a lot better.
I'm a bit surprised the Smoke Stone has to hit a target to work, since it doesn't affect the target directly. Is this intentional?
I don't know that the Meteor Stone needed to be nerfed, since you've limited the number of stones. And typically, a small numerical tweak doesn't change much; if something is too weak or too strong, you usually need to change how it works, or else change the numbers a lot. Take the Mind Sliver cantrip that was in a recent UA, for example: the issue was that it was an INT save (which are often pretty weak on monsters) and gave a penalty to it the target's next save. Adjusting the damage wouldn't have made Mind Sliver balanced, it really needed to change to a WIS save or lose the penalty to saves, or become a 1st level spell instead of a cantrip.

Also, I just assumed this was for D&D 5e, but it seems you don't have the thread tagged for a specific system or edition.