Favorite Mundane Items?

[Ascension]

So, you've bought all the stuff your build needs in order to function properly, but you've still got gp in the bank and room in your Handy Haversack... Where do you turn first? What are your favorite mundane items? What are the best uses/abuses you've found for them?

How 'bout it, folks?

[Talic]

Sleep-smoke. Waterdeep handbook. For a measly 25gp, you get a 2 round knockout gas at a DC 15 fort save. decent at low levels, and still that 5% shot at higher ones. One of the cheapest semi-effective poisons out there.

Also, I'm a fan of Caltrops. Good for dissuading fast moving followers.

[Dode]

straps from my weapon to my arm so I can drop it on a free action, move 30ft, pull something else out and use that all in one round without actually dropping anything.

[Icewalker]

Oooh, Oooh, 10 ft. pole. Because I found an awesome use for it (other than poking things to see if they are traps): a material component! It's the material component for a homebrew spell I made for my campaign world:


Reform Mast
Conjuration (creation)
Level: Sea Mage (Ship Mage) 5
Components: S, V, M
Casting Time: 3 full rounds
Range: Touch
Target: One broken mast, touched

You touch the inner wood of a broken mast, and over the course of three rounds, a new intact mast, complete with sails, is reformed and attached to the stump of the old.

Material Component: Ten-foot Pole, scrap of sailcloth

[Farmer42]

11' Pole. Because 10' is just too short. Also, bayonets.

[Skjaldbakka]

I am a fan of alchemist's fire and everburning 'anything but torch'. Like an everburning belt pouch. Turn inside out to provide light, and it hangs on your belt. When you are walking aorund in town with the flaming portion inside, it is an easily stolen item that detects as magical - making it a good decoy for your bag of holding.

Also, rope- because nobody ever has enough rope.

I usually just buy the adventurer's kit.

[Breaw]

I'm going to have to go with 10 foot rat.

10 foot pole with rat attached to the end. Might want to bring some spare rats.

[Xefas]

Chalk. It's only 1cp a piece, if I recall. My players never pick up anything beyond what they need to function- hell, they'll go to the ends of the earth just to get Rings of Sustenance so they don't have to keep track of food.

But me...when I actually get to play in a one-off or whatever, my character always uses up some loose change to pick up chalk. Over the years, I've been surprised just how many tricks it can foil and how many times the answer is "Oh wait, I bought that chalk". It isn't insanely useful, don't get me wrong, but paying a couple coppers out of your 10,000gp dragon hoard is nothing for an adventurer and it might just save your ass some day. A worthy investment.

[Tyrael]

Steel tongs. Seriously, these are vital, essential, and have about a million different uses for the adventuring soul in a dungeon (especially so for the rogue). See a trap? Poke it with your tongs. Grab the mystical statuette that glistens with a strange slime? Get it with your tongs. Coin lying inside a statue's invitingly open mouth? Bust out the tongs. This expands to poking anything that needs to be poked, grabbing things without touching them, doing delicate work with switches, etc, etc. I forget where the tongs come from. It's not PHB...

Rubber Balls (Dungeonscape). My character uses these as brightly-painted juggling balls and uses Sleight of Hand to pick up a few extra GP in cities. In dungeons, he throws them at anything and everything suspicious. Dark mysterious corridor? Throw a ball down it and listen. Giant hole? Drop a ball. Suspicious floor mosaiac? Chuck a ball at it. Hit a switch? Lob a ball. Want to set a trap off? Time for some balls (both literally and figuratively).

Beyond Rubber Balls and Steel Tongs, I always grab myself a Backpack, Bedroll, Silk Rope, Grappling Hook, Belt Pouches, Crowbar, etc.

[DrowVampyre]

Pitons: all sorts of uses, from climbing, to blocking doors shut, to making anchor points for simple traps, to stabbing that sneaky little kobold in the head when he tries to steal your stuff.

Marbles: because what else makes that poor 20th level fighter flatfooted for your happy little rogue for under 1gp? Also, great for checking slopes, slowing down pursuit, or as a diversion while you wait for the wizard to prep his spells in the morning.

Sunrods: Sure, an everburning headband is nice for your normal light needs, but when you're staring at that pool in the Underdark, you don't want to toss them willy nilly into the water. Sunrods are perfect for that, or for use as a signal flare when tied to an arrow shaft.

Spork: Yeah, I know, it's not in any book, but I doubt there's a DM out there that won't let you make one...and being able to brag that you killed a dragon with a spork (even if it was already at -9) is worth more than any epic weapon in sheer free-drinks-at-the-tavern awesomeness. :belkar:

[Mystral]

The ladder. Just break it down and sell the parts as 10 foot poles for profit.

[Chronicled]

I really like the mundane items in Dungeonscape, especially the chalk that can only be seen with a DC 30ish search check... or by looking through a specially-tinted lens. Since I *have* had NPCs change the chalk markings we'd made (in this case, to ambush friendly NPCs who were our reinforcements), this gets bought. Or, a small pot of paint and a brush.

Manacles. A really good pair should be carried by everyone, they've actually got a lot of use. Dungeonscape even has a pair of adamantine ones, and you can bet that they'll come in handy (even though they cost something like 2k). See a pair of interesting statues by that next door? Try cuffing their arms/legs to each other. If they come to life and attack, they're hosed for mobility. If they don't, oh well.

Hacksaw. Another frequently forgot, very handy item. Rules for them are in Dungeonscape, but even if you don't use that book it's a good thing to carry.

Bag of puppies + scroll of haste. Need to make sure all the traps in a room were disarmed? ...I jest, I jest.

[Kurald Galain]

The water clock.

Because it's just completely awesome that a thousand-gold-piece too-heavy-to-carry monstrosity like this finds it way into so many equipment lists.

[AslanCross]

They aren't really individual items, but the "Party Member-in-a-box" kits from Dungeonscape look pretty neat.

[Turcano]

The water clock.

Because it's just completely awesome that a thousand-gold-piece too-heavy-to-carry monstrosity like this finds it way into so many equipment lists.

Seriously, for that kind of money, you could make a custom magic item that would do the same thing, with no margin of error, and would weigh almost nothing.

Anyway, I'd have to go with either hearthfire or blasting pellets.

[senrath]

The water clock.

Because it's just completely awesome that a thousand-gold-piece too-heavy-to-carry monstrosity like this finds it way into so many equipment lists.

One of my friends brought that along once. We couldn't figure out how he was so much over his heavy load until we looked at his items carefully...

Anyway, on topic flour is awesome. Need to find an invisible enemy? Throw the flour around. Need to stick something together? Just add water. Need an explosive? Stuff as much flour as you can into a small barrel, seal, and heat.

[bugsysservant]

Anyway, on topic flour is awesome. Need to find an invisible enemy? Throw the flour around. Need to stick something together? Just add water. Need an explosive? Stuff as much flour as you can into a small barrel, seal, and heat.

I had thought that flour had to be in cloud form before it was explosive.

[Hal]

Soap. If you have a GM who pays attention to stuff like this, he's going to ding you in Charisma checks when you come in from the wilderness after three weeks of rough travel and no one brought soap or more than one set of clothing. Ew.

Mirrors. Why poke your fragile, squishy head around a corner when you can look using a mirror?

Caltrops are seconded. If you have a GM who likes to throw mounted chargers at you, they will save your life in ways you can't even imagine. If you're a sorcerer/wizard, there's no reason not to take the spell.

Map/scroll case. Again, the utility of this depends on how picky your GM is and how often he throws fire at you.

Holy symbol. You don't have to be a cleric to be religious in-game. Fools plenty of people, though.

[raygungothic]

I like mundane items - with the proviso that Heward's Handy Haversack is an incredible force multiplier for them. There are a lot of things that are really not worth carrying if they take up space or are a fiddle to get to, but become wonderful in odd situations if they don't and are readily available. If that spare heavy blanket can be dropped down a shaft on a pursuer and buy you one precious round it was totally worth it. You can always throw it out when you want to take the dragon's hoard home!

Anyway, favourites. Apart from the usual standards (rope, chalk, camping equipment, rubber bouncy balls...) I like to carry

- Telescoping twelve-foot pole, from Dungeonscape. It's that crucial two feet longer... if you need it... but can be six-foot if you're trapped in a confined space or something.
- Bottle of fine wine. It can be a gift... a bribe... it can aid diplomacy... it can get a guard drunk enough to make mistakes... or you can restore your own party's morale with it! Not bad for a few gp.
- A chain and a piece of rope each cut to a length light enough to move with Mage Hand. (A 50' rope isn't).

I like this thread.

[senrath]

I had thought that flour had to be in cloud form before it was explosive.

It does, yes. But if I remember correctly, heating the barrel will cause it to rupture from the built up pressure, dispersing the flour and causing an explosion once the dispersion is in the "correct" amount. I might be wrong, though.

[Fitz]

To back up the religious symbol

I was running for a party, they run into a shadow, the cleric botchs the turn result (level 2 party) , the swashbuckler steps forward, brandishes his holy icon, and rolls a natural 20 for bluff. Shodow rolls a nat 1. I spend 5 mins checking if the Shadow should be effected , find no reason it shouldn't and embarresed Shadow gets slaughtered by magic attacks before it realises (only took 1 round to kill the cowering shadow with magic weaponed arrows)

odd, but cool

Fitz

[Attilargh]

I usually just buy the adventurer's kit.
I read that as "the adventurer's kilt" and went "Hmm, I want one."

Twine's nifty. And really, any mundane item from Iron Kingdoms Character Guide. Ohh, and the potion belt from Forgotten Realms. At least if I can put flasks of Alchemist's Fire in it.

[Tengu]

Bringing a ten-foot pole to a dungeon always seemed extremely silly in my book - try turning around, running or fighting in a narrow corridor with something like that! Just throw rocks and pieces of rubble to check for traps, or use the already mentioned telescopic pole (which is a brilliant idea), or something. I hate the ten-foot pole as much as hiring NPCs for no other reasons than to have cannon fodder at first level.

[SamTheCleric]

A sack full of chickens... for when the evil caster decides to use Circle of Death.

When you hear a distinct *BAKAAAAAAAW* and a puff of feathers... you know it just hit the fan.

[sonofzeal]

1) Soap. Soap has saved my character's life at least once, and is likely to do so again

2) Marbles. Significantly better than caltrops IMO (no damage, but DC 15 Balance and the enemy counts as balancing and hence probably loses dex-to-AC. Like Trip in a can.)

3) Stilts. Significantly better than 10' poles (in that they come in all heights and you can balance on them too).

4) Chalk. Good for markings, can be easily crushed and thrown the mark invisible things or to check for illusions, same as flour.

5) Rubber Balls. Trapchecking, distracting NPCs, plus hours on hours of mindless entertainment! What's not to love?

[ChazFox]

1) Soap. Soap has saved my character's life at least once, and is likely to do so again.


Intriguing. I'd like to find out more about this incident :smallbiggrin:

Personally I haven't used enough Mundane items in my short time having played DnD to be able to say, but I'll probably use my marbles next time. :smallamused:

[Enguhl]

Too many! My DM's always yell at me because my equipment lists are just a sheet or two of notebook paper. I pretty much (for characters of level enough to get Heward's Handy Haversack) carry close to 100 mundane items.
But favorites:
Rubber ball!
Chalk
Fish-hook/needle
Thread/Twine
Belt Pouches

[Roderick_BR]

vOil, alchemist fire, acid, thunderstone, caltrops, tanglefoot bags, rope, holy water.
All the good stuff. You just never know when you need to deafen a caster, tangle that thing running over you, make a fire, or burn a hole into something.
Holy water is just to waste zombies when they are not within range. And are emergency water when you are thirty, although it tastes funny.
And rope is never too much.

[Chronos]

Bringing a ten-foot pole to a dungeon always seemed extremely silly in my book - try turning around, running or fighting in a narrow corridor with something like that! Just throw rocks and pieces of rubble to check for traps, or use the already mentioned telescopic pole (which is a brilliant idea), or something. I hate the ten-foot pole as much as hiring NPCs for no other reasons than to have cannon fodder at first level.I'm glad I'm not the first one to say this. A ten-foot pole is the one piece of mundane equipment I never get, at least not until I have a portable hole to store it in. I mean, have you ever carried a real ten-foot pole around? Incredibly awkward, even just outdoors. Now try it in narrow dungeon corridors.

Back on topic, one that I've never seen on any official list, but which has negligible weight and cost: Burrs. They're great for attaching spells to. Good luck getting that Silence spell past the enemy caster's will save... But if you cast it on a burr, then you just need to make a touch attack to stick it to him.

[SilverClawShift]

I've never had a character who didn't start with chalk, rope, and a flask of holy water.

Later, I always invest in some chain of various length and padlocks of various quality. Quite useful, that stuff is.

[Indon]

I'm a fan of the Signal Whistle - it's a whistle, for signaling things. :P

Though my favorite is something I rarely use for campaigns, the spyglass. By strict RAW it's quite useful... but really only for strict RAW. Other than that it's just nifty to have a spyglass.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

Underdark Sunglasses. 10gp to eliminate the one drawback your race has. Yes please. :smallbiggrin:

Vial of Oil. Prep it early, and you've got cheap Alchemist's Fire.

The highest quality lock you can afford, just in case.

Chain and/or rope.

2 sets of clothing that fit your adventurer and one that is from a completely different occupation. (Why no officer, I haven't seen a Fighter, Wizard, Rouge and Cleric traveling this way. Me, I'm a monk, she's a noble, he's her bodyguard, and he's an entertainer, but if we see them, we'll let you know):smallwink:

Acid. Shatter in a bottle.

[Collin152]

The Inanimate Carbon Rod.
In Rod we Trust.

[DrizztFan24]

Do commoners count as mundane for setting off traps? :smallamused:

I always liked acid flasks for getting rid of those pesky locks you just can't quite pick.

[Collin152]

Do commoners count as mundane for setting off traps? :smallamused:

Are they enchanted commoners?

[DrizztFan24]

Are they enchanted commoners?

Nope, just regular commoners...those enchanted ones are way too spendy for work as untrappers.

[Funkyodor]

The commoners probably eat too much to be considered useful as trap sweepers. But, with adequate ranks in Diplomacy, you can convince them there is candy around. Like an easter egg hunt!

But seriously. I'm a big fan of the simple alchemical items. Flash pellets (Complete Adventurer), thunder stones, Sun Rods, and smokesticks. Wish they turned some of the miscellaneous magic items into somewhat weakened alchemical products and/or you could combine some of the effects to make a Thunderous Flashy Smoke Stick. That would be sweet and somewhat cheap compared to making a consumable magic item equivalent. Or make a cheapend Necklace of Fireball that only did a 10 foot radius burst for 1D6 increments and a maximum of 5D6.

And make sure that if you get a Holy Symbol, grab 5 or 6. If you're in a bad situation, it's always better to have more deitys to call on.

[Collin152]

Nope, just regular commoners...those enchanted ones are way too spendy for work as untrappers.

So, just using intimidate then? That works just as well.

[senrath]

Don't forget to get some manacles. They really come in handy when no one has that many ranks in Use Rope :P

[Ralfarius]

A chicken. It provides companionship, is an excellent conversationalist, and if things get desperate it makes a fine meal. You can lead one around on a leash!

Just make sure it doesn't end up on your head.

[Pocketa]

Oooh, Oooh, 10 ft. pole. Because I found an awesome use for it (other than poking things to see if they are traps): a material component! It's the material component for a homebrew spell I made for my campaign world:


Reform Mast
Conjuration (creation)
Level: Sea Mage (Ship Mage) 5
Components: S, V, M
Casting Time: 3 full rounds
Range: Touch
Target: One broken mast, touched

You touch the inner wood of a broken mast, and over the course of three rounds, a new intact mast, complete with sails, is reformed and attached to the stump of the old.

Material Component: Ten-foot Pole, scrap of sailcloth

Dude: that seriously rocks. I can't beleive somebody else didn't come up with that. I mean, I can, 'cause you rock, but dude! RAW!

[Squash Monster]

Commoner with the Chicken Infested flaw. Infinite supply of trap-tripping chickens.