Author Topic: Magic items for melee'ers (MiM for short)  (Read 8147 times)

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Alastar

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Magic items for melee'ers (MiM for short)
« on: July 19, 2008, 02:23:48 PM »
Hello, in a current game, it has occured to me that I know NOTHING of what a level 20 melee'er should wear or have on his weapon should he be making a level 20 character with his wealth by level.

Like, nothing!

So I do what I do in those cases, and turn to the CO Boards.

The build i was asked for is the following, but suggest any good items for melee characters.

Thrikreen Psy warrior 4/Warblade 2/Bloodclawmaster 3/warblade 11
Current Items:
Belt of magnificience +6 (200 000)
Cloak of resistance +5 (25000)
6 Mwk Large Makahuitl (Dark sun campaign, the cleric has girallons blessing)
+1 Chitin Chain shirt (1000)
Strongarm Bracers (6000)


The build has the following feats that are noticeable:
Iron Heart Focus
Stormguard warrior
Battle Jump
Leap attack
Power attack
Multiweapon fighting
IMproved Multiweapon fighting
Greater Multiweapon fighting
Oversized Multiweapon fighting


So you get the general idea.

Problems so far have been with the following:

AC
Landing attacks (attack bonus)
Maybe get more jump  (poor thing has only +70, and leaping dragon stance)
Damage on individual attacks. (althought stormguard warrior is very good for that)
any other generally good item for melee characters.  This guy has over 500 000 remaining, no need to be cheap.


Thanks a lot guys.

Sunic_Flames

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Re: Magic items for melee'ers (MiM for short)
« Reply #1 on: July 19, 2008, 03:26:10 PM »
First question. Do you need bonuses to all 6 stats? Because if you only need 5 or less, the individual items are cheaper and if MIC is in these don't eat up valuable slots.

For that matter aside from the assumed allowed sources you've listed as drawing from there is no allowed book list presented.
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[/spoiler]

Alastar

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Re: Magic items for melee'ers (MiM for short)
« Reply #2 on: July 19, 2008, 03:30:36 PM »
All books allowed.

Well, lessee

Strengt for damage
Dex for AC and ref saves
Cons for HP
Int for warblade synergy (and ref saves)
Wis for Psionic Warrior
Charisma is kinda useless.

36 000x5 = 180 000 i grant you, but it frees up a lot of slots, maybe he won't take it then, I'll check.

Good point.

carnivore

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Re: Magic items for melee'ers (MiM for short)
« Reply #3 on: July 19, 2008, 04:03:00 PM »
what are his stats now?


 :D

Alastar

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Re: Magic items for melee'ers (MiM for short)
« Reply #4 on: July 19, 2008, 04:47:22 PM »
24 str 18 dex 16 cons 10 int 12 wis 8 charisma

That is after level and race bonuses, we were using 42 point buy.


Eldariel

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Re: Magic items for melee'ers (MiM for short)
« Reply #5 on: July 19, 2008, 05:08:54 PM »
Stuff I'd always have:
-Belt of Battle
-Boots of Teleportation (perhaps pimped out; if party has a Haste-happy caster, Speed-ability is not needed, but otherwise you'll want it)
-Blindfold of True Darkness (held on the forehead to pull down when you need it)
-Ring of FoM
-Any item (or mundane ability) that grants Flight; personal favourite is Celestial Armor (with the Fly-ability made usable more times per day), but any will do.
-Ring of Deflection
-Ghost Ward Armor and Animated Shield
-Vest of Resistance +5
-Depending on exact build, possibly Ring of Mental Fortitude or such.
-Eversmoking Bottle and similar generally useful items.

carnivore

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Re: Magic items for melee'ers (MiM for short)
« Reply #6 on: July 19, 2008, 06:13:48 PM »
those are terrible stats for that type of build

using a 42 pt buy.... and +6 Belt of Magnificense


34 STR: 16 +2 racial +5 levels+5 Inherent(Wishes) +6 Enhancement(Belt)
30 DEX: 16 +4 racial +4 Inherent(Wishes) +6 Enhancement(Belt)
24 CON: 14 +4 Inherent(Wishes) +6 Enhancement(Belt)
24 INT: 16 -2 racial +4 Inherent(Wishes) +6 Enhancement(Belt)
22 WIS: 14 +2 racial +6 Enhancement(Belt)
10 CHA: 8 -4 racial +6 Enhancement(Belt)

Wishes cost = 467500gp

 :D

Alastar

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Re: Magic items for melee'ers (MiM for short)
« Reply #7 on: July 20, 2008, 12:09:54 PM »
Hmmmmm good suggestions.

Althought, Dark sun has no mithril, so i don't really see the point of having so high a dexterity score.

But more importantly, how does one raise the chance to hit, or attack bonus of a high level fighter.

I suggested getting diamond mind weapons, since he's often in stance of alacrity, a very useful stance for him since he has a lot of swift actions to use.

Great suggestions all eldariel, keep em coming.

Sunic_Flames

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Re: Magic items for melee'ers (MiM for short)
« Reply #8 on: July 20, 2008, 03:55:35 PM »
You could use Bracers of Armor and a Monk's Belt if you're gonna have high stats all around.

Other than that... there's blowing feats on the Melee Weapon Mastery chain. *shrugs*
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[spoiler]
Sunic may be more abrasive than sandpaper coated in chainsaws (not that its a bad thing, he really does know what he's talking about), but just posting in this thread without warning and telling him he's an asshole which, if you knew his past experiences on WotC and Paizo is flat-out uncalled for. Never mind the insults (which are clearly 4Chan-level childish). You say people like Sunic are the bane of the internet? Try looking at your own post and telling me you are better than him.

Here's a fun fact: You aren't. By a few leagues.
[/spoiler]

SorO_Lost

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Re: Magic items for melee'ers (MiM for short)
« Reply #9 on: July 22, 2008, 04:42:46 AM »
Some suggestions.

Weapon
+5 Adamantine Collision Parry (+8, psionics) + class focused stuff
Gives +5 to attack & +10 to damage. +1 insight on saves too.

Armor
+5 Adamantine Vengful Soulfire (BoED) Soul Forged (DMII) Feeler Plate (underdark) (+8)
+13 AC, -10% to concealment if they are within 5ft., DR 3/-, +1 moral to saves, +2 to resist trip/rush, +2 moral to attack & damage if they tried to hurt you last round.

Pick up a Tooth of Savok (ToM) to maintain your speed.
Consider +2~+3 defending armor spikes as well.


Shield (or buckler)
+5 Mithral Soul Forged (DMGII) with a Lesser Crystal of Arrow Deflection (MiC)
+2 to resist trip/rush, +5 AC vs ranged attacks.

Neck
Ask your DM will let you merge a Heartseeking Amulet (MiC) & Bead of Adaptation, then tack on Natural Armor +4.
You can make X attacks per day as touch attacksm +4 natural armor, and the 9k to always have a source of air while becoming immune to gas related stuff is nice.

Bracers
Ask your DM if you can merge a Bracers of Blinding Strike (MiC) & Counterstrike Bracers (MiC), then tack on +6 Empyreal Armor to them.
3/day extra attack, free attack when they miss 3/day, and +6 to all saves.

Gloves
+1 Eager Warning Initiative Gauntlet of Dex +6 (MiC, OA)
+9 to initiative, +6 dex.

Grafts
If your nongood then a Strong Leg (FF) // +2 inherent to con for 8k (tome costs 55k)
Any undead arm (LM) // +4 inherent to str (128k value).
Gleaming Scales (DM) // +1 to natural armor and resistance to any element 5.

If you have a decent cha score or willing to buy a +6 item, Frightful Crest (DM) and a Veil of Allure (SS) can used for a DC 10+1/2HD+2+ChaMod fear aura.

Other
Shoulders: Wings of Flying // fly 60ft (good)
Shirt: Shirt of Wraith Stalking & Resistance +5 (MiC) // ignore zombies for 6k, sure why not.
Boots: Steadfast Boots // +6 to resist trip/rush.
Tools: Masterwork tools of every skill you use.

Spells
Take a rank in UMD and pick up a +10 UMD item (10k). You can then try to use permanency on Arcane Sight & See Invisibility. Search WotCs forums for Polymorph ideas.

Arcane Sight instantly locates anything holding a magic item within 5ft and all magical traps.


Throw on the rest of the power 7 and stock pile everything that looks like you could use it.

Super cheap note
[SPOILER]
Negating (epic) is a +5 enchantment which means you can afford it pre-epic. It makes a targeted dispel check with a +20 bonus on every magic weapon that hits you.

Using it may cause book-to-the-head headaches so bring aspirin.[/SPOILER]

Edit - for more ideas check here.
http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=350.0
« Last Edit: July 22, 2008, 04:45:09 AM by SorO_Lost »
Tiers explained in 8 sentences. With examples!
[spoiler]Tiers break down into who has spellcasting more than anything else due to spells being better than anything else in the game.
6: Skill based. Commoner, Expert, Samurai.
5: Mundane warrior. Barbarian, Fighter, Monk.
4: Partial casters. Adapt, Hexblade, Paladin, Ranger, Spelltheif.
3: Focused casters. Bard, Beguiler, Dread Necromancer, Martial Adapts, Warmage.
2: Full casters. Favored Soul, Psion, Sorcerer, Wu Jen.
1: Elitists. Artificer, Cleric, Druid, Wizard.
0: Gods. StP Erudite, Illthid Savant, Pun-Pun, Rocks fall & you die.
[/spoiler]

Uriel_Ventris

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Re: Magic items for melee'ers (MiM for short)
« Reply #10 on: July 25, 2008, 09:43:06 PM »
Some suggestions.

Weapon
+5 Adamantine Collision Parry (+8, psionics) + class focused stuff
Gives +5 to attack & +10 to damage. +1 insight on saves too.

Collision < Merciful+Vicious. 3d6 (average: 10.5) vs 5 for the same price. And if you are going to have a UMD-user, why not also invest in Greater Magic Weapon? Let's you load up on all sorts of other special abilities.

Quote
Armor
+5 Adamantine Vengful Soulfire (BoED) Soul Forged (DMII) Feeler Plate (underdark) (+8)
+13 AC, -10% to concealment if they are within 5ft., DR 3/-, +1 moral to saves, +2 to resist trip/rush, +2 moral to attack & damage if they tried to hurt you last round.

Pick up a Tooth of Savok (ToM) to maintain your speed.
Consider +2~+3 defending armor spikes as well.

Consider Mountain or Battle Plate if you are going to use the Tooth. And again, UMD-user = Magic Vestment.

Quote
Shield (or buckler)
+5 Mithral Soul Forged (DMGII) with a Lesser Crystal of Arrow Deflection (MiC)
+2 to resist trip/rush, +5 AC vs ranged attacks.

Quote
Neck
Ask your DM will let you merge a Heartseeking Amulet (MiC) & Bead of Adaptation, then tack on Natural Armor +4.
You can make X attacks per day as touch attacksm +4 natural armor, and the 9k to always have a source of air while becoming immune to gas related stuff is nice.

Make it a Hand of Glory while you are at it. And add the Warning (MIC) ability to boost your flat-footed AC.

Quote
Bracers
Ask your DM if you can merge a Bracers of Blinding Strike (MiC) & Counterstrike Bracers (MiC), then tack on +6 Empyreal Armor to them.
3/day extra attack, free attack when they miss 3/day, and +6 to all saves.

Add Strongarm, and use bigger weapons without penalty. And make them Wand Bracers (Dungeonscape), so they can hold you wands. ;)

Quote
Gloves
+1 Eager Warning Initiative Gauntlet of Dex +6 (MiC, OA)
+9 to initiative, +6 dex.

Add the Gauntlets of War ability, for +3 damage if you worship a deity of War. Not hard if you are a melee character. :p

Quote
Grafts
If your nongood then a Strong Leg (FF) // +2 inherent to con for 8k (tome costs 55k)
Any undead arm (LM) // +4 inherent to str (128k value).
Gleaming Scales (DM) // +1 to natural armor and resistance to any element 5.

If you have a decent cha score or willing to buy a +6 item, Frightful Crest (DM) and a Veil of Allure (SS) can used for a DC 10+1/2HD+2+ChaMod fear aura.

Other grafts to consider: Flexible Spine, Silthilar Bones/Muscles/Tendons, Chitin Plating, Rudimentary Eyespots. Those all net you: +4 on Initiative checks, +4 on Balance/Escape Artist/Tumble checks, +4 to natural armor (non-enhancement), and a +4 on Spot checks, plus unflankability. :D

Quote
Other
Shoulders: Wings of Flying // fly 60ft (good)
Shirt: Shirt of Wraith Stalking & Resistance +5 (MiC) // ignore zombies for 6k, sure why not.
Boots: Steadfast Boots // +6 to resist trip/rush.
Tools: Masterwork tools of every skill you use.

Add to the shirt: Vagabond (Complete Champion).

Make sure to have either a Heward's Handy Haversack, or a Belt of Pouches. Sometimes you aren't going to have the time to root around looking for the tools.

Quote
Spells
Take a rank in UMD and pick up a +10 UMD item (10k). You can then try to use permanency on Arcane Sight & See Invisibility. Search WotCs forums for Polymorph ideas.

Arcane Sight instantly locates anything holding a magic item within 5ft and all magical traps.

If you are going to focus more on UMD-use, you should look into getting staves for some of the spells that you want. Ask your DM if you can get 10-charge staves for single spells. Depending on the spell, this will run anywhere from 600gp (1st-level spells) to 11475gp (9th-level spells). You could also find out if single-use staves are available, as these would be even cheaper.

AfterCrescent

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Re: Magic items for melee'ers (MiM for short)
« Reply #11 on: July 26, 2008, 02:21:11 AM »
Collision < Merciful+Vicious. 3d6 (average: 10.5) vs 5 for the same price. And if you are going to have a UMD-user, why not also invest in Greater Magic Weapon? Let's you load up on all sorts of other special abilities.
You mean make a weapon that can't kill? That's a grand idea. :rolleyes
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SorO_Lost

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Re: Magic items for melee'ers (MiM for short)
« Reply #12 on: July 26, 2008, 07:20:53 AM »
Consider Mountain or Battle Plate if you are going to use the Tooth. And again, UMD-user = Magic Vestment.
idk, having a semi-nondispelable source of armor that I'm not limited to 50 times per adventure with cool abilities seems better to me.

Wand of Magic Vestment (cl 20) 50 charges: 45,000gp, grants a +5 bonus.
Can be dispelled, requires holding on to that UMD booster, not dependent on having to wear already-sunder-proof armor.

+5 SoulFire: 49,000gp, grants a +5 bonus and makes you immune to death effects & negative energy.
If it is dispelled it returns to normal after 1d4 rounds, can have other abilities, can support armor crystals without worrying about them shooting them selves out when the spell ends. Drop Soulfire and its cheaper too.

The UMD booster I spoke of can be sold off to recover the gp, passed around the group, or just plain ignored if the spellcaster in the party has Chain Spell. His role is the meleer, not artificer or rogue-using-low-charge-staffs. In fact, if you really wanted to go the magic vestment route, just have the cleric DMM up some Chain Spell powers.

Make it a Hand of Glory while you are at it. And add the Warning (MIC) ability to boost your flat-footed AC.
See gloves as I already mentioned Warning, I just did it on the right type of item...

Add the Gauntlets of War ability, for +3 damage if you worship a deity of War. Not hard if you are a melee character. :p
And to that I add it only works for the deity's favorite weapon.

Other grafts to consider: Flexible Spine, Silthilar Bones/Muscles/Tendons, Chitin Plating, Rudimentary Eyespots. Those all net you: +4 on Initiative checks, +4 on Balance/Escape Artist/Tumble checks, +4 to natural armor (non-enhancement), and a +4 on Spot checks, plus unflankability. :D
Books? The unflankable thing sounds nice.

Add to the shirt: Vagabond (Complete Champion).
Oooh, nice find. +1 luck to saves for 6k instead of having to pick up a luck stone for 20k.

You mean make a weapon that can't kill? That's a grand idea. :rolleyes
Not just a weapon that can't kill, but one that undead & constructs are immune to. You take an untyped 1d6 damage per attack while using it too.

« Last Edit: July 26, 2008, 08:05:58 PM by SorO_Lost »
Tiers explained in 8 sentences. With examples!
[spoiler]Tiers break down into who has spellcasting more than anything else due to spells being better than anything else in the game.
6: Skill based. Commoner, Expert, Samurai.
5: Mundane warrior. Barbarian, Fighter, Monk.
4: Partial casters. Adapt, Hexblade, Paladin, Ranger, Spelltheif.
3: Focused casters. Bard, Beguiler, Dread Necromancer, Martial Adapts, Warmage.
2: Full casters. Favored Soul, Psion, Sorcerer, Wu Jen.
1: Elitists. Artificer, Cleric, Druid, Wizard.
0: Gods. StP Erudite, Illthid Savant, Pun-Pun, Rocks fall & you die.
[/spoiler]

Uriel_Ventris

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Re: Magic items for melee'ers (MiM for short)
« Reply #13 on: July 27, 2008, 06:18:33 AM »
Consider Mountain or Battle Plate if you are going to use the Tooth. And again, UMD-user = Magic Vestment.
idk, having a semi-nondispelable source of armor that I'm not limited to 50 times per adventure with cool abilities seems better to me.

Wand of Magic Vestment (cl 20) 50 charges: 45,000gp, grants a +5 bonus.
Can be dispelled, requires holding on to that UMD booster, not dependent on having to wear already-sunder-proof armor.

You're under the assumption that everything you encounter is going to hit the group with a *possibily Greater* Dispel first round. Sure, the DM might get peeved from you having all sorts of nice items, but the focus of his tactics shouldn't be that same thing every.single.time.

Armor can't be sundered at all...

Quote
+5 SoulFire: 49,000gp, grants a +5 bonus and makes you immune to death effects & negative energy.
If it is dispelled it returns to normal after 1d4 rounds, can have other abilities, can support armor crystals without worrying about them shooting them selves out when the spell ends. Drop Soulfire and its cheaper too.

The UMD booster I spoke of can be sold off to recover the gp, passed around the group, or just plain ignored if the spellcaster in the party has Chain Spell. His role is the meleer, not artificer or rogue-using-low-charge-staffs. In fact, if you really wanted to go the magic vestment route, just have the cleric DMM up some Chain Spell powers.

If you absolutely have to have the armor crystals, you can get by with +3. It's just doesn't make sense to have the 'fighter' take ranks in UMD if he's not going to use them to the full capacity of a non-artificer.

DMM: Chain Spell is far more effective than having the meleer even sink the ranks in UMD.

Quote
Make it a Hand of Glory while you are at it. And add the Warning (MIC) ability to boost your flat-footed AC.
See gloves as I already mentioned Warning, I just did it on the right type of item...

Warning (pg. 46) and the Necklace of Warning (pg. 118) are two very different things. ;)

Quote
Add the Gauntlets of War ability, for +3 damage if you worship a deity of War. Not hard if you are a melee character. :p
And to that I add it only works for the deity's favorite weapon.

I admit that I missed that part. :-[

Quote
Other grafts to consider: Flexible Spine, Silthilar Bones/Muscles/Tendons, Chitin Plating, Rudimentary Eyespots. Those all net you: +4 on Initiative checks, +4 on Balance/Escape Artist/Tumble checks, +4 to natural armor (non-enhancement), and a +4 on Spot checks, plus unflankability. :D
Books? The unflankable thing sounds nice.
Quote

All from Lords of Madness. Grafts start on page 215. Look under the Silthilar section.

Quote
Add to the shirt: Vagabond (Complete Champion).
Oooh, nice find. +1 luck to saves for 6k instead of having to pick up a luck stone for 20k.

Much better deal.

Quote
You mean make a weapon that can't kill? That's a grand idea. :rolleyes
Not just a weapon that can't kill, but one that undead & constructs are immune to. You take an untyped 1d6 damage per attack while using it too.



You can make the damage lethal, you know. And there's ways to get around taking the damage.

SorO_Lost

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Re: Magic items for melee'ers (MiM for short)
« Reply #14 on: July 27, 2008, 06:19:21 PM »
DMM: Chain Spell is far more effective than having the meleer even sink the ranks in UMD.
All from Lords of Madness. Grafts start on page 215. Look under the Silthilar section.
Will they sounded awesome until I seen the rot away part. Since Flexible Spine replaces my spine in 2d4 days it rots away leaving me spineless (and dead) unless I have access to regeneration. And even if I did, it is 91k for a +4 bonus to three skills and initiative. I should have remembered the 'if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is' saying.
Tiers explained in 8 sentences. With examples!
[spoiler]Tiers break down into who has spellcasting more than anything else due to spells being better than anything else in the game.
6: Skill based. Commoner, Expert, Samurai.
5: Mundane warrior. Barbarian, Fighter, Monk.
4: Partial casters. Adapt, Hexblade, Paladin, Ranger, Spelltheif.
3: Focused casters. Bard, Beguiler, Dread Necromancer, Martial Adapts, Warmage.
2: Full casters. Favored Soul, Psion, Sorcerer, Wu Jen.
1: Elitists. Artificer, Cleric, Druid, Wizard.
0: Gods. StP Erudite, Illthid Savant, Pun-Pun, Rocks fall & you die.
[/spoiler]

AfterCrescent

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Re: Magic items for melee'ers (MiM for short)
« Reply #15 on: July 27, 2008, 06:26:15 PM »
@Uriel: How do you propose to make the damage lethal when the ability of the weapon specifically make all damage from it non-lethal?
The cake is a lie.
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Uriel_Ventris

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Re: Magic items for melee'ers (MiM for short)
« Reply #16 on: July 27, 2008, 08:30:29 PM »
DMM: Chain Spell is far more effective than having the meleer even sink the ranks in UMD.
Its not ranks, just a rank. Everybody should have a rank in UMD as an emergency backup for wands of CWL/Vigor. Even a 8 cha fighter with a single rank in UMD has a 50% chance to trigger any wand or lock it up with repeated tries outside of combat. Something like that at the cost of a skill trick is worth it for everyone right?

You're kidding, right? An 8 Cha fighter with a single rank needs a nat 20 before other modifiers.

Quote

You're assuming that they roll a 20 here. With those bonuses, they have a 55% chance of using a wand, and even less than that to first decipher and then use the scroll.

Quote
All from Lords of Madness. Grafts start on page 215. Look under the Silthilar section.
Will they sounded awesome until I seen the rot away part. Since Flexible Spine replaces my spine in 2d4 days it rots away leaving me spineless (and dead) unless I have access to regeneration. And even if I did, it is 91k for a +4 bonus to three skills and initiative. I should have remembered the 'if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is' saying.

Are you  planning on playing a living, corporeal creature? If so, they don't rot away. Read more carefully.

And the bonus (keyword here: racial) stacks with pretty much anything else you are going to find to boost those skills/initiative.

Quote from: Lords of Madness, Pg. 216
Silthilar grafts function only when applied to a living corporeal
creature; applied to any other creature, they rot away
over the course of 2d4 days.

@Uriel: How do you propose to make the damage lethal when the ability of the weapon specifically make all damage from it non-lethal?

Let's look at the ability.

Quote from: SRD
Merciful: The weapon deals an extra 1d6 points of damage, and all damage it deals is nonlethal damage. On command, the weapon suppresses this ability until commanded to resume it. Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the merciful effect upon their ammunition.

Faint conjuration; CL 5th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, cure light wounds; Price +1 bonus.

Emphasis mine. You can actively suppress the non-lethality of the damage.

AfterCrescent

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Re: Magic items for melee'ers (MiM for short)
« Reply #17 on: July 27, 2008, 08:32:19 PM »
Emphasis mine. You can actively suppress the non-lethality of the damage.
And the extra 1d6. I.e. You either do nonlethal with the weapon or have wasted a +1 enhancement. Either way, it's a bad choice.
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SorO_Lost

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Re: Magic items for melee'ers (MiM for short)
« Reply #18 on: July 27, 2008, 09:22:45 PM »
You're kidding, right? An 8 Cha fighter with a single rank needs a nat 20 before other modifiers.
No I'm not kidding. Outside of battle, which btw, is the place I'd cast permanency on my spells or do emergency restorations on the other spellcasters after running away, you can take two whole minutes out of the one thousand four hundred forty minutes you have daily and see if you can get your item to work. Only Activate Blindly has a mishap chance so feel free to spam 'try again's.

8 cha & 1 rank in UMD rolls a...
1: The item locks up until tomorrow.
2~19: Nothing happens.
20: Wand or scroll works.
Note - emulating an ability score allows try again as well, you can emulate up to a score of 15 for 5th level spells.

When it comes to the scroll of permanency, you already know what is on the scroll and what it does. Who needs to decipher it?

Edit - In case you run down the road it has to be done. I'm sure you can accept aid other actions for deciphering it. After all, the guy who made it may very well be the guy helping you understand it. Its 3sp per hire, which means for 45sp (4.5gp) you can have a whole +30 via aid other on your UMD to decipher assuming the people you hired made their checks (and they can try aid other on each other as they go)

« Last Edit: July 27, 2008, 09:41:49 PM by SorO_Lost »
Tiers explained in 8 sentences. With examples!
[spoiler]Tiers break down into who has spellcasting more than anything else due to spells being better than anything else in the game.
6: Skill based. Commoner, Expert, Samurai.
5: Mundane warrior. Barbarian, Fighter, Monk.
4: Partial casters. Adapt, Hexblade, Paladin, Ranger, Spelltheif.
3: Focused casters. Bard, Beguiler, Dread Necromancer, Martial Adapts, Warmage.
2: Full casters. Favored Soul, Psion, Sorcerer, Wu Jen.
1: Elitists. Artificer, Cleric, Druid, Wizard.
0: Gods. StP Erudite, Illthid Savant, Pun-Pun, Rocks fall & you die.
[/spoiler]

Uriel_Ventris

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Re: Magic items for melee'ers (MiM for short)
« Reply #19 on: July 27, 2008, 10:10:37 PM »
And the extra 1d6. I.e. You either do nonlethal with the weapon or have wasted a +1 enhancement. Either way, it's a bad choice.

Aside from undead/constructs, what difference does lethal/non-lethal damage make? Knocking out a monster/NPC ends up being the same thing as killing them in the grand scheme of things.

At least this way you would have the option of interrogation.

My point was that Collision is a poor use of +2 in special abilities. Even elemental damage (such as acid/sonic if you worry about resistant/immune monsters) is better than the flat +5. Even force damage is cheaper than an extra +5 damage.

If you are going to use a +2 special ability, you might as well get Holy.

You're kidding, right? An 8 Cha fighter with a single rank needs a nat 20 before other modifiers.
No I'm not kidding. Outside of battle, which btw, is the place I'd cast permanency on my spells or do emergency restorations on the other spellcasters after running away, you can take two whole minutes out of the one thousand four hundred forty minutes you have daily and see if you can get your item to work. Only Activate Blindly has a mishap chance so feel free to spam 'try again's.

8 cha & 1 rank in UMD rolls a...
1: The item locks up until tomorrow.
2~19: Nothing happens.
20: Wand or scroll works.
Note - emulating an ability score allows try again as well, you can emulate up to a score of 15 for 5th level spells.

When it comes to the scroll of permanency, you already know what is on the scroll and what it does. Who needs to decipher it?

Edit - In case you run down the road it has to be done. I'm sure you can accept aid other actions for deciphering it. After all, the guy who made it may very well be the guy helping you understand it. Its 3sp per hire, which means for 45sp (4.5gp) you can have a whole +30 via aid other on your UMD to decipher assuming the people you hired made their checks (and they can try aid other on each other as they go)

You still only have a 5% chance of activating the wand. Not the 50% chance you purported.

And, if you are running away enough to need to 'fill in' for the primary spellcasters, you/they are doing something wrong.