Remove ads

Scaling Up

Reader mode
TypoNinja said:
Defending explicitly states it still stacks despite still sharing a bonus. General vs Specific means you can indeed stack them.


Defending


A defending weapon allows the wielder to transfer some or all of the sword's enhancement bonus to his AC as a bonus that stacks with all others. As a free action, the wielder chooses how to allocate the weapon's enhancement bonus at the start of his turn before using the weapon, and the effect to AC lasts until his next turn.

It's hilariously impractical though. The two sets of defending spikes alone are 3/4ths' of a characters expected wealth, the enchanted armor and shield are the remaining 1/4, and we still have the other magic items to buy.

Not to mention you don't have a magic weapon, so while you might be a hell of a tank, everything will just ignore you because you're about as threatening as a wet paper bag. Tossing a net over you and walking around seems like the play of choice.

And you have zero money left over for utility magic items.

This is pure theory crafting, you can't realistically do this in game. It's just fun to see its possible. :D
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

The key is the bit that says "before using the weapon". You might have a magic sword of Geewizbang and two sets of Defending Spikes +9. But, will the GM let you use the Defending spikes on your shield if you're attacking with your sword rather then doing a shield bash? Or the spikes on your armor if you're not grappling? After all, you aren't using those 'weapons' this turn, are you? And it only lasts one turn at a time.

Sure, feel free to shield bash and grapple that great wyrm dragon so you can get an extra 18 AC, I'm sure this is going to go well for you. :) I'm sure that'll make a huge difference with it's +37 to-hit. Oh, wait, you're grappling the Great Wyrm, so it has a to-hit of +62. :p
 
Idea for the Summer of Madness.

We saw the cast of Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid introduced in an omake of dubious canon.

Well, why not have Ultimate Shortstack Ilulu pay a visit to Brockton Bay?
 
Heh. You know, I just realized that this fic's Tiamat has sort of ended up displacing the canon Tiamat from my mind. Whenever I see Tiamat in any D&D-related settings, I keep on expecting a re(ally ti)red former incarnation of evil, and then see a perfectly ordinary incarnation of evil instead.

Kryslin, do you mind if I use this idea of "Tiamat got tired of being an evil bitch and decided to go neutral" if I ever end up DM-ing a D&D game? Not entirely similar to yours, but in general. Because at this point I'm not convinced that I'd be able to do a proper Chaotic Evil Tiamat instead of your version.
 
TypoNinja said:
D&D deities at their core are basically just extremely high level, 40-80 levels vs a typical PC doing 1-20. The more powerful deities also pick up some custom abilities not really duplicated elsewhere, but generally their power is based on the fact that they just outclass(literally, more class levels, ha!) everything else by so much.

Once you break out the Epic Level Handbook though, that distinction vanishes like a fart in the wind. Gods are big fish in a small pond. Things like the Astral Dreadnaught, or the Hecatoncheires which literally exists to kill off entire pantheons by it self, the Xixecal is downright cuddly, and its a walking ice age, that gets to summon white dragons for backup.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

The one that got me was the Atropal, an undead fetus created by a goddesses' miscarriage or abortion. I never could understand how that one got past the editors. :wat2:
 
Yea, that's pretty damn dark, especially for pre Book of Vile Darkness days. And the BoVD came with a content warning!

Actually even with the BoVD stuff, I think that's still in the running for the biggest piece of squick. Most of the BoVD stuff is just general adult themes like sex and drugs that got left out of base material, and the usual horror tropes of torture and body modification.
 
By the time you're up there, wouldn't dragons want personalized hammerspace instead of belts or similarly insecure containers?

Anyway, everyone knows 3.x fails the harder you go past the 'sweet spot' of around 8th level or so.
 
DestinyPlayer said:
Heh. You know, I just realized that this fic's Tiamat has sort of ended up displacing the canon Tiamat from my mind. Whenever I see Tiamat in any D&D-related settings, I keep on expecting a re(ally ti)red former incarnation of evil, and then see a perfectly ordinary incarnation of evil instead.

Kryslin, do you mind if I use this idea of "Tiamat got tired of being an evil bitch and decided to go neutral" if I ever end up DM-ing a D&D game? Not entirely similar to yours, but in general. Because at this point I'm not convinced that I'd be able to do a proper Chaotic Evil Tiamat instead of your version.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

No, I don't mind. Just remember my take on Tiamat, it doesn't matter if she has followers or not for her power; She's still just as powerful because her power is all from her. Also...."PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWERS... and all the headaches and problems that go with them."
 
Kryslin said:
No, I don't mind. Just remember my take on Tiamat, it doesn't matter if she has followers or not for her power; She's still just as powerful because her power is all from her. Also...."PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWERS... and all the headaches and problems that go with them."
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
My take on the idea would probably be before she finally fully broke down and went to see Bahamut for help, so during the campaign she'd be just a wanderer, going from place to place not knowing where to go or what to do, with everybody else in the world only knowing that she's suddenly disappeared and nobody knowing where or why. But yes, she'd be exactly as powerful as she was while still being the Goddess of Evil.
 
Kryslin said:
@DestinyPlayer : Sounds good. Have fun, and if I'm still around, I'd like to here how it goes. :)
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Unfortunately it'd probably take a while before I consider a D&D campaign. My current project is a Godbound campaign that is a direct offshoot of the D&D campaign I'm currently playing in, and not only do I have to prepare it, I also have to wait until the D&D campaign is over before it can start, and our poor GM's been having life issues for the last year or so. We get a few sessions every now and then, but then he gets fished in the face again >>
 
DestinyPlayer said:
Unfortunately it'd probably take a while before I consider a D&D campaign. My current project is a Godbound campaign that is a direct offshoot of the D&D campaign I'm currently playing in, and not only do I have to prepare it, I also have to wait until the D&D campaign is over before it can start, and our poor GM's been having life issues for the last year or so. We get a few sessions every now and then, but then he gets fished in the face again >>
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Well, if its any consolation, I doubt the last couple of years have been very kind to anyone's gaming schedules, so at least you've got company!
 
TypoNinja said:
Edit: the dice roller won't let me cast Vengeful Gaze of God. My spell is so powerful the 4th wall broke it.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Anydice.com says that'll tend to come out between 1320 and 1520, tho with the very high number of dice, rolls that distant from the average of 1420 will be rare. I will say that it took a bit longer than average to generate the graph, but did it.
 
Alkiera said:
Anydice.com says that'll tend to come out between 1320 and 1520, tho with the very high number of dice, rolls that distant from the average of 1420 will be rare. I will say that it took a bit longer than average to generate the graph, but did it.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Yea the dice roller in my phone gives up the ghost at 100 dice at a time too.

400+ dice is kind of an absurd number. Even the rule book recommends just taking the average for large roles just for sanity sake.

*shakes immense dice cup*

"Do I hear thunder?"
 
Just A Dude said:
The ring that provides permanent True Strike (aka, +20 Insight bonus to every attack) is such an egregious example, however, it's called out in the crafting rules as something for the GM to slap you over if you try.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Wraithstrike is more effective anyway :p

But seriously, yea, everybody overlooks the the final clause in pricing custom magic items.

SRD said:
Not all items adhere to these formulas directly. The reasons for this are several. First and foremost, these few formulas aren't enough to truly gauge the exact differences between items. The price of a magic item may be modified based on its actual worth. The formulas only provide a starting point. The pricing of scrolls assumes that, whenever possible, a wizard or cleric created it. Potions and wands follow the formulas exactly. Staffs follow the formulas closely, and other items require at least some judgment calls.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

You're always supposed to adjust the price if an item is just too cool for its price point.

Unlimited use items that duplicate 1st level spells are the usual culprit here since the formula for that is (Cost) x spell level x caster level. At most levels that provides a nice multiplier, at first level 1x1 means no multiplier and a rather cheap item. And there's some really nice 1st level spells. Grease OP.

So while your ring of True Strike is technically cheap as hell, its clearly too awesome so its price is going higher enough that you'd consider buying other things.

FYI that's my personal benchmark for balance. As soon as you start considering other options you've hit the sweet spot. It's good, but not good enough to make you go for it in all cases. Other things are also tempting choices, which is what you want. If you'd always take it its too good, if you'd never take it needs a buff until you would take it.
 
TypoNinja said:
Unlimited use items that duplicate 1st level spells are the usual culprit here since the formula for that is (Cost) x spell level x caster level. At most levels that provides a nice multiplier, at first level 1x1 means no multiplier and a rather cheap item. And there's some really nice 1st level spells. Grease OP.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Funny, I don't know many first level casters that can create items, and even then it's usually just one-shot scrolls. If the caster happens to be, say, 10th level then the final cost should be (Cost) x 10. And, yes, this does make sense as higher level casters would be perceived to be able to make higher quality items and thus demand a higher fee.

It's amazing how a simple reinterpretation of the rules can rebalance things, isn't it? Suddenly, it's easier to try to find/loot magic items or spend XP crafting your own then to buy bespoke gear. As it should be.
 
Jacen1 said:
Funny, I don't know many first level casters that can create items, and even then it's usually just one-shot scrolls. If the caster happens to be, say, 10th level then the final cost should be (Cost) x 10. And, yes, this does make sense as higher level casters would be perceived to be able to make higher quality items and thus demand a higher fee.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Uhh no, its spell level x caster level, but 'caster level' is variable, up to the maximum the caster actually possess. The rules actually state that its minimum caster level required unless otherwise specified. So a 3rd level spell would require a 5th level caster and be 3x5. A first level spell can be cast by a first level caster so 1x1 it is. A 20th level wizard makes a scroll, it works exactly the same as if a 5th level wizard made the same scroll, unless you pay extra for the extra power.

You can deliberatly upscale your item if you want (usually for increased effects), but its relatively rare. Wands of fireball default to 5d6, wands of rope trick default to 3 hours. Though that's an example of one you want to pay extra to upscale, since you want your pocket dimension to last all 8 hours of your overnight rest.

You'll note that every listed magic item has a minimum caster level for its creation, that's the lowest level it can be created at, and lets you work out how to reverse engineer an item if you want to get a cheaper version of something that's usually multi-function.


Jadesteele said:
Is that the same as 'The city between the walls of reality', or is that somewhere else?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
It's a planar metropolis, its a pocket dimension the size of a city instead of a planet, and its just got one big ass trade hub city, and a bunch of portals of various types, as well as those who are powerful enough to transport themselves.

It's an Epic shopping district, with sentients from all over creation visiting, and even the beat cops are 35th level characters because that's what's needed to keep order in a city that attracts Epic characters for customers.
 
Last edited:
The thing is that while technically a player *could* make an item for every slot that provides +10 untyped defense bonus... no DM with even one working braincell would let that through. Not only would it be prohibitively expensive, but the DM would be well within their rights to decide that's actually impossible and instead have everything come up as a cursed object instead.
 
There is an easy way to make cheap items in 3.5, assuming your GM doesn't think it all the way through.

Somehow, and Ive never figured out how, it's cheaper to make a magic item with limits. The four limits mentioned in the DMG are alignment, class, race and required skills.

So, go and commission your item, and add all the restrictions. Each restriction added goves a 10 to 30 percent discount on the price. Note that as each discount is added, the next doscount is less effective.

Say you create a +1 short sword of poisonous woulding for the rogue. For ease of example we'll say would have cost 1000gp. Add alignment restriction to CN only. Take 30 percent off, to 700gp. Now, rogues only, take off another 20 percent. Only humans, must have 10 ranks in craft bowyer.

In the end, you have a weapon that can only be used by a human CN rogue with a bow making hobby, for an insanely cheap price.

Unfortunately, my current GM is wise to those games.
 
@ForestGardener : Yeah, I was getting ready to ask about stopping the D&D game mechanics derail before a Mod gets upset with us, Thank you.

After Empire 24, things will be kind of disjointed until I cover a few bases, probably as Interludes. These will be interlude style pieces, possibly three or four.

The next chapter begins, not with and dark and foreboding storm, but a bright, sunny morning...
 
To be honest, what magical items would best fit our newly-dragoned dragons? Insect Swarm amulet? Ring of Regeneration? Hat of Disguise (that doesn't work, but everyone is too terrified of the giant dragon to admit they're shopping for a cute dress)?
 
Reader mode
You must login or register to reply here.
Remove ads
Back
Top