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Cicciograna
2008-11-03, 01:31 PM
Okay, maybe somebody of you has seen this post elsewhere on the Net: that's just because I posted it on another forum, but I had few answers, since it's about a 3.5 object and everybody si so excited about the 4ed...so I hope you won't get angry about a re-posting here on GITP...

One of my players wants to create a magical device acting like a bug, to drop in the lab of a wizard and eavesdropping him. He's a bit low on cash, so I put some limitations on the object, and made up this.


Magical Bug

This small object (a crystal, a scarab, a brooch, or even a stone) works as an eavesdropping device, specifically attuned to a particular target. It must be attuned to the target: the person who wants to eavesdrop (let's call him th "wielder") has to pronounce a command word and then it has to make the Bug "hear" the target voice. The wielder knows if the Bug has succesfully attuned to the designated target. Once attuned, the Bug can be left anywhere, set in a chandelier, hanged to a wall, used to craft the floor of a room, etc., but when it hears the voice of the target it activates: it transmits the target voice (and any sound in the surroundings) to the wielder as per the spell Clairaudience, and up to 10 mins per charge. It has 10 charges, that refill every day.

Moderate Divination; CL 10th; Craft Wondrous Items; Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, Price: 17000 mo.

I put many limitations on this object. It doesn't work continuously, and every time it works, it's just for 10 minutes; it is attuned to a single person, so if this object is left in one room, and the target is not present, it's useless; it has to be attuned, and this could not be simple.
I think the pricing is correct, given that I checked this page first:
Random Encounters: Nasty Surprises - Part 4 (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20040301a)
and the Eavesdropping weapon enhancement is way far better.
Give me your advice on what do you think of this item and how to improve it, if needed.

hewhosaysfish
2008-11-03, 02:22 PM
Do you have Spell Compenium or Complete Adventurer?
Because there's a spell in them (well, I know it's in SC and I'm told it's in CAdv) called listening coin.
You cast it on a pair of coins, one of which becomes the bug and other becomes the receiver. I can't remember how long it lasts (and I don't know how long you want to use it for) but it could maybe be useful to you.

Cicciograna
2008-11-03, 02:38 PM
Quite interesting: I could change the spell prerequisite from Clairaudience to this... Unfortunately it's only a Bardic spell, so it would be a little bit hard to get it...anyway, it's duration is 1 hour/level.

The magic device would so become like this:


Magical Bug

This small object (a crystal, a scarab, a brooch, or even a stone) works as an eavesdropping device, linked to another object of the same type and specifically attuned to a particular target. It must be attuned to the target: the person who wants to eavesdrop (let's call him th "wielder") has to pronounce a command word and then it has to make the Bug "hear" the target voice. The wielder knows if the Bug has succesfully attuned to the designated target. Once attuned, the Bug can be left anywhere, set in a chandelier, hanged to a wall, used to craft the floor of a room, etc., but when it hears the voice of the target it sends a warning to the wielder via the link: it transmits the target voice (and any sound in the surroundings) to the wielder through the link as per the spell Listening coin, up to 11 hours per day.

Moderate Divination; CL 11th; Craft Wondrous Items; Listening coin, Price: 17000 mo.

But maybe the price now is a bit too low...even if it's attuned to just a single target...

Riffington
2008-11-03, 03:12 PM
I don't see why you couldn't create it with Clairaudience/Clairvoyance (seems like you could do it either way).
By DMG rules, your cost is too low. I personally would make it only cost 5000 gp though, since it's something that can get stolen extra-easily (after all, anyone who finds it would consider themselves justified in taking or destroying it).

Cicciograna
2008-11-03, 03:33 PM
By DMG rules, your cost is too low.

DMG rules don't always work. A quick example? Boots of Levitate. The DMG says they cost 7500 gp, while, following its rules for creating Wondrous items they would cost:

2 (spell level) * 3 (caster level) * 2000 (use-activated - it would seem a command word object, but it has de facto unilimited charges) * 2 (duration 1 min/lvl) = 24000 gp

a little bit more than the 7500 gp of the DMG. So while the cost for the Bug would be higher than the rule-calulated one, I think that a break in price is needed, since while calculating price I suppose that WotC staff considered the real utility of the object, and not simply its price by rules.


I don't see why you couldn't create it with Clairaudience/Clairvoyance (seems like you could do it either way)

And indeed it seemed to me a good idea: personally I don't like the huge amount of Complete something manuals that WotC published, so I decided to ban them and give my players the opportunity to pick bits of these manuals and let me scrutinize them; player's proposal can be accepted or rejected, but I never check these manuals, so I didn't know the Listening coin spell.
Probabily I will stitch with my first idea and go for the Clairaudience, but I'll keep the Listening coin option in mind. My first concern is that, in both cases, the price could be too low (or too high).