Tomb of Horrors...we are (un)dead!

[DrizztFan24]

So I have, in my party, a human beguiler, a halfling shapeshifter druid who forgets that she has amazing spells at her disposal, and a dragon shaman that thinks he is a melee powerhouse.

We have been told that our next campaign is going to be Tomb of Horrors. No spoilers please! I am just looking for suggested equipment to buy for myself (beguiler). I have roughly 55k to play with at 11th level. I have: a circlet of int, hat of disguise, ring with +5 to jump and climb and featherfall, a ring of protection +1, Ioun Stone that gives +1 Int, a human bane rapier, and a bow.

He also has an eversmoking bottle and goggles that allow him to see throught he fog created by the bottle. He has a few misc. mundane items, and a +1 Two-Bladed sword of Ghosttouch that he looted from a baddie. His armor is also a +3 Studded Leather Armor. A few other wonderous items that don't have too much application in the dungeon.

So suggestions for gear? he has levels in assassin (6) for all the good it will do him if that will make any difference.

[Avor]

A gallon of holy water to drink.

It is better to stay dead, rather than live on as one of those abominations.

Sorry, I just hate the undead, wich is funny as our DM decided that it would be fun to force the whole party on a gaint island, full of undead, and all traped on this island by a SUPER Dragolitch, and (seemingly)friendly necomancers. I think the DM wants me to die in Arena so he can force me to play a undead character. Also, whole party is good aligned...I should stop ranting, I'm just sad I have to talk to sentient undead, and not kill them, seeing how we are traped, ****ing over-controlling DM...

[Helgraf]

So I have, in my party, a human beguiler, a halfling shapeshifter druid who forgets that she has amazing spells at her disposal, and a dragon shaman that thinks he is a melee powerhouse.

We have been told that our next campaign is going to be Tomb of Horrors. No spoilers please! I am just looking for suggested equipment to buy for myself (beguiler). I have roughly 55k to play with at 11th level. I have: a circlet of int, hat of disguise, ring with +5 to jump and climb and featherfall, a ring of protection +1, Ioun Stone that gives +1 Int, a human bane rapier, and a bow.

He also has an eversmoking bottle and goggles that allow him to see throught he fog created by the bottle. He has a few misc. mundane items, and a +1 Two-Bladed sword of Ghosttouch that he looted from a baddie. His armor is also a +3 Studded Leather Armor. A few other wonderous items that don't have too much application in the dungeon.

So suggestions for gear? he has levels in assassin (6) for all the good it will do him if that will make any difference.

If you can get anything that can give you rerolls on failed saves, take it.

Also, write your will in advance, in triplicate, and distribute the copies beforehand.

[DrizztFan24]

See I was thinking like a decanter of endless water with bless water cast into it. Its like an anti-undead cannon...but less gunpowder.

[Catch]

See I was thinking like a decanter of endless water with bless water cast into it. Its like an anti-undead cannon...but less gunpowder.

Bless Water only affects one pint at a time.

Here's the thing about the Tomb of Horrors, though: Don't expect to come out. I noticed your aversion to spoilers, but--and here's sort of a spoiler--cheating by looking ahead is about the only way to get through without losing most, if not all of your party. Everything is a lie, nothing works as you expect, and one mistake will totally kill you. I mean, the adventure is designed as one big drawn-out TPK.

So, bring some extra characters sheets.

[FlyMolo]

So I have, in my party, a human beguiler, a halfling shapeshifter druid who forgets that she has amazing spells at her disposal, and a dragon shaman that thinks he is a melee powerhouse.

We have been told that our next campaign is going to be Tomb of Horrors. No spoilers please! I am just looking for suggested equipment to buy for myself (beguiler). I have roughly 55k to play with at 11th level. I have: a circlet of int, hat of disguise, ring with +5 to jump and climb and featherfall, a ring of protection +1, Ioun Stone that gives +1 Int, a human bane rapier, and a bow.

He also has an eversmoking bottle and goggles that allow him to see throught he fog created by the bottle. He has a few misc. mundane items, and a +1 Two-Bladed sword of Ghosttouch that he looted from a baddie. His armor is also a +3 Studded Leather Armor. A few other wonderous items that don't have too much application in the dungeon.

So suggestions for gear? he has levels in assassin (6) for all the good it will do him if that will make any difference.

You can probably beat the ToH with this lot. Just remember: The actual monsters? Cr appropriate. The deathtraps? Amazingly arbitrary. Don't. Touch. Anything. Have something to bash through walls with, and something else to climb along the walls/ceiling. And use it often. Always, in fact. Rerolling failed saves is another must. And be incredibly specific in your actions. Poke everything with a sharp stick before touching. EVERYTHING. And bring a lot of sharp sticks. Bring mirrors on the end of sticks to see around corners. 12.5 foot poles. Be as paranoid as possible. Bring every mundane item in the DMG, if you can carry them all. The DMG2, maybe. Then, I think you'll be okay. Drag along a wooden doll with the same weight as you, too. Throw it into rooms first. Get a wand of animate object. Get it to touch everything(that you absolutely have to touch) first.

Let me reiterate. Don't. Touch. ANYTHING. Nearly everything is trapped. Make sure to tie yourself off before adventuring down any hallway. Or room. Or antechamber. Etc. Etc. The normal useable-by-someone rules do not apply here. Expect arbitrary death on every level.

[Avor]

Hey I got an idea, shape stone, get the hell out!

Also, my favourite feats, Nimbus of Light, Holy radiance, out of the Book of Exalted deeds, light is your friend, and it will do 1d6 to undead near you per round.

[Aquillion]

10 foot poles. Lots of 10 foot poles. Trust me.

A bag of tricks, for trying to find traps.

Anything that can improve your saves -- the best Cloak of Resistance money can buy, a luckstone, a pale green ioun stone, etc.

Since you're a beguiler, anything that improves your rogue-type skill checks. (A luckstone, again. A pale green ioun stone. Masterwork tools. A Lens of Detection for your search checks.)

[streakster]

You, my friend, shall die often. Adjust to that now.

If your DM allows custom items, consider making an item of Augury.

You: "Mother, may I take one step forward?"
DM: "...woe."
You: "Hallway's trapped, guys."

[Aquillion]

Also: Your character should have 17 identical siblings, each of whom has taken the exact same paths in training you have, has aquired exactly equivilent items, and has advanced at exactly the same rate. If you die, one of them will inevitably step in to avenge your death.

...but definitely the Lens of Detection. It's fairly cheap, and a +5 untyped bonus to Search checks will never get old. In many cases (not just in the ToH), a search check can mean the difference between smooth going and disaster.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

Masterwork items for every skill you have. Are you Evil? Bring Commoners. Are you Neutral? Bring Commoners and pay their widows well. Are you Good? Don't be. The ToH will kill you in that case.

Also, treat this like it's Call of Cthulhu. Expect to be screwed. Hear that laughter? That's the DM, and he is amused by your suffering.

[thubby]

bags of caltrops+animate object. send the gleeful little barbs off into the corridors and all throughout the dungeon. its a good way to find the basic traps.

[The_Werebear]

Buy 55k worth of sheep. Herd them into the dungeon. You will have to do this repeatedly to get all the traps.

Alternately- Buy a wand of Knock, Detect Traps, and Antimagic Field. That won't stop all the traps, but it will knock the worst of the magic ones down.

Give a high level cleric locks of hair in advance, with instructions to cast Resurrection on you all if you haven't returned by a specific time.

Buy immunity/Resistance to as many effects as you can. Poison, disease, Negative Energy, Mind Affecting.

Finally, I reiterate FlyMolo's point- DON'T. TOUCH. ANYTHING. Even if you have poked it several times with a stick. Even if the rest of the party is doing it.

[Turcano]

Bring scrolls of shatter and command, at least five of each. Also, there's a lot of poison, bring something (preferably a lot of somethings) to fix that. Also, some way of seeing through illusions; those are just as common. You have a ghost touch weapon; that's good. Oh, and bring a few ten-foot poles, if you haven't already.

I'm not familiar with the beguiler class, but someone in your party needs very high ranks in Disable Device, Open Lock, Search, and Spot, or a way to emulate those ranks.

Also, some cryptic advice, if you want it:

Spoiler

Show

Green is the color of death.
Try to avoid going through anything you can't see through.
Pull on things the way you want them to go.
Some traps hide the way forward.
Corpses are a sign of danger. (Okay, greater danger.)
Touch silver to silver, gold to gold.
If you think you've reached the end, you probably haven't.

[Khanderas]

Finally, I reiterate FlyMolo's point- DON'T. TOUCH. ANYTHING. Even if you have poked it several times with a stick. Even if the rest of the party is doing it.

Comon... all the cool kids are poking that jade statue of a multiheaded god.
Dooo eeeet

[MorkaisChosen]

I haven't seen it, so this isn't a spoiler, but if there's a "normal" way for adventurers to do things? Don't do it. For example, everyone knows about 10-foot poles and how to use them.

THIS INCLUDES THE DESIGNERS OF THE TOMB OF HORRORS.

[Zenos]

Remember to summon fiendish monkeys to open doors whilst you're standing as far away as possible.

[Dr Bwaa]

Bring a monk with a wheelbarrow

[DrizztFan24]

Is the dungeon going to take longer than a day? if so then I plan on getting either a wand or scrolls of rope trick or a portable hole with a bottle of air.

man, there is no way i am buy a green ioun stone...30k for a +1, or 25K for a +5 cloak of resistance.

[Dr Bwaa]

Is the dungeon going to take longer than a day?

Yes.

Also

Spoiler

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Bring a Golembane Scarab. 2500gp wondrous item; negates all construct and golem DR. This is just a great item anyway.

Bring a bag of tricks (or several). it's cheaper than 55k of sheep.
Cloak of resistance is the way to go. Give one to everyone in the party.
Finally, I can't agree more with FlyMolo; bring every mundane item you can think of, and use them cleverly. Many problems can be bypassed this way.

Also, if you really want to be tricky, have someone get Arcane Sight permanized. When I ran it for my friends this one hacked the game more than anything else.

[Tam_OConnor]

Have someone pick up a level of warlock for baleful utterance. It'll save you all the shatter spells you would otherwise use. Other than that, I agree with everyone above. But instead of a herd of sheep, I'd use earth elementals. Because it's stylish.

[The_Werebear]

But imagine the fun of sheep. Send one in. 15 seconds later, there is terrified bleating and a shreds of wool and blood fly out of the entrance. Send in another one. Channel Xykon. Laugh maniacally.

Sheep are very cheap. You can have hundreds of thousands of them. I think they take up more space than the actual dungeon has. So long as they don't fall into the demon's mouth, it will be fine. Best of all, your DM will probably weep when you mention what you spent your money on.

[DrizztFan24]

So my list of gear so far
I have 55298 gp to spend

Lots of telescoping rods
Lens of detection
Scarab of Golembane
Plenty of small mirrors
Vest of Resistance +5
A container of Keoghtom's Ointment (remove disease and cures poisons)
Permanent arcane sight
Rod of Ropes (anti trap with the grappling hook)
One of those cool Hewards bed rolls

Maybe items
Cloak of Arachnida
Decanter of Endless water that shoots blessed water
Eyes of the Eagle
Goggles of Minute Seeing
Hand of Glory

Items the rest of the party needs to pick up
Druid nabs some light pellets and a Vest of Resist
Dragon Shaman nabs a Myrland's spoon and a Vest of Resist

So I have 1,298 gp left and still need a cloak of arachnida

Hmmm potions of neutralize poison and a periapt of health or the Ointment?
What do you think are the chances of having 14k loaned to me?

[chevalier]

10 foot poles. Lots of 10 foot poles. Trust me.

This was going to be the first thing I would recommend. They will save your life.

Also, remember curiosity killed the cat. If it is fascinating and draws you in and you just have to figure out what it is and why...it's a trap.

(Why do players not use "the adventurer's friend", the 10-foot pole, anymore? Maybe it's specific to my crew, but back in the ol' 2nd edition days, that was practically the first thing my peeps bought--then torches and bedrolls and "iron" rations, etc.)

[Citizen Joe]

I want to say there is some sort of cleric spell that lets you monitor the health of your allies. Hook that up to a bunch of either summoned creatures, or 'canaries' and send them ahead on specific actions. If they suddenly disappear from the biomonitor, don't do what they were sent to do. Ah yes, Status spell, Clr2. If someone absolutely MUST go through a doorway, archway, hole, whatever... make sure they have status up plus some sort of method of communicating back. If it is a death trap, the cleric will see them wink off the grid. If they get teleported someplace, he'll know the direction. At that point, it is probably safer to tunnel through to said person.

Actually, Deathwatch is pretty good too... since it will pick out all creatures within a 30' cone emanation and tell you their condition. It doesn't actually say anything about having to SEE the creature, so some hidden creatures sort of get revealed.

Actually, maybe one of the best things to do would be to have one guy not have a character but instead play the summoned creatures.

[DrizztFan24]

No cleric
Just shapeshifter druid who likes to play melee and ignore her spells, a dragon shaman who thinks hes an unbeatable powerhouse (both played by people under the age of 14, my bro and sister), and me...the beguiler...who realizes he cant do jack squat with his spells vs most undead.

[Dr Bwaa]

Instead of a Hand of Glory, buy a Hand of the Mage for Mage Hand at will. anything that will let you manipulate things at a distance, go for it.

Make sure someone has a couple Wands of Cure Light. wicked cheap, and makes sure people don't have to actually PREPARE healing spells (and if something doesn't kill you right off the bat, it never will, so you'll have time to heal afterwards (well, hopefully. maybe before you go to bed in your Rope Trick)).

I don't remember what it's called, but there's some kind of magic rope that can go out and tie itself to things, and untie itself, etc. Very handy; I think it's about 3k but I don't remember where it is.

[DrizztFan24]

that rope is in the DMG, i looked at it and the attacking rope but I don't have enough cash after spending it on everything else to keep me alive to keep the rest of the party alive. Maybe someone else will be interested in buying one....or a cloak of arachnida for everyone

[FlyMolo]

No cleric
Just shapeshifter druid who likes to play melee and ignore her spells, a dragon shaman who thinks hes an unbeatable powerhouse (both played by people under the age of 14, my bro and sister), and me...the beguiler...who realizes he cant do jack squat with his spells vs most undead.

The ToH isn't hard because the monsters are hard. It's a trap. The whole tomb is a trap. Take NOTHING for granted. The floor? A trap. The walls? Ditto. The ceiling is an illusion, there's a bunch of spikes up there. Don't. Assume. Anything. Even innocuous things like "This floor couldn't possibly suddenly vanish, exposing a pit of acid, while the ceiling becomes a fireball emitter." Because stuff like that happens. More than once. Be prepared.

The way to win at the ToH is to act like a paranoid Boy Scout.

[Citizen Joe]

The way to win at the ToH is to act like a paranoid Boy Scout.

Actually, the trap to it is that even if you go through the whole thing and somehow survive, you still get pretty much nothing for your effort. I mean do you really have a reason to even go in? Why not just seal the whole thing up?