Rod of Lordly Might using Adventurers Vault ideas

Prism · Oct 5, 2008

Since one of my 3.5 PC's has a rod of lordly might and at some point soon we will convert the campaign to 4e I have decided to put some ideas down about a conversion using some of the ideas in adventurers vault. Its a bit of a work in progress and any input would be great

I'd like to try and stick fairly closely to the 3.5 version but also use 4e ideals of simplification and trying to make sure the various ablitites have a purpose. To be honest in 3.5 more than half of the rods power are pretty useless at the level you get it

Firstly its name - On paper i'll be calling it a mace of lordly might (though in game play I'll still call it a rod ). My main idea is to break it into its individual components of 4 weapons and then add the spell like abilities to the various forms as either properties or daily powers

So to review the 3.5 version we have a +1 flaming longsword, +2 light mace, +3 spear (short or long), +4 battle axe, hold person (touch), fear (10' range), a vampiric touch (2d4), a ladder (50'), door opener (str +12), and a depth sense and compass

I'll work out the bits seperately with costs and levels and then try and combine it together and give the combined item a level and cost

Prism · Oct 5, 2008

Longsword

This one is easy, +1 flaming longsword with a daily that does 1d6 fire plus 5 ongoing fire damage (save ends) - PHB 234

Now I have to question whether anyone would actually use this form in 4e. Its only equal to a 5th level item in a much higher level weapon. Its worth an extra 10 points of damage against trolls and the like (what else is there?) but I suppose the sword has always been the weak option and it doesn't add much to the cost really (1000gp). Are there any creatures vunerable to fire?

Prism · Oct 5, 2008

Mace +2

No nobody would ever use the mace surely as it stands so I wanted to combine one of the spell like abilities into it. The one of the three I reckon most suited is the hold person effect. The immobilized and restrained conditions seem a close match though of the two restrained seems a better match due to its granting combat advantage and giving -2 to attacks. The immobilized seems more appropriate for pinning, poisoning, web, nets etc

In adventurers vault there are three items of interest that I can find

Skewering weapon +2 - daily immobilize (save ends) 8th level
Cold iron +2 - daily immobilize (save ends) 8th level
Earthbreaker +2 - daily restrain (save ends) 8th level

The last two actually have other benefits too but they are fairly conditional and losing them would not drop this to a level 7 item IMO

So I reckon a +2 mace with a daily restrain (save ends) to represent the old hold person on a touch attack is about right. 8th level 3400 gp

Prism · Oct 5, 2008

Spear +3

The spear in 3.5 isn't too bad. It can be used one or two handed, can have reach, can be used as a lance and can be thrown. The downside is lower damage. In 4e spears can't be thrown anymore and there is no lance so again I would like to promote its use with a nice ability. The vampiric effect on the 3.5 rod seems a nice enough fit. I can quite picture a spear head with gouges along its length to drain extra blood on a big hit

Adventurers vault vampiric weapon has a daily that does extra damage and gives the wielder the hit points. For a +3 weapon it does 2d8 rather than the original 2d4 in the 3.5 version. It also does less damage on a crit but again the extra damage is transfered to the wielder. So I would say its a bit better than the 3.5 version. Its a 14th level power and costs 21000

Prism · Oct 5, 2008

+4 battleaxe

The idea here is to make this the biggest hitter as it should be but make sure it isn't the most obvious choice for all situations. So its just a +4 magic weapon - no dailies - nothing fancy. Straight out of the PHB this is a level 16 item costing 45000

Prism · Oct 5, 2008

The fear effect.

In 3.5 its a 10' range by viewing it once a day enemies only. This equates pretty well to a daily burst 2 enemies only in 4e

Again in adventurers vault there are a few related items

Mask of terror is a blast 5 using INT, WIS or CHA +3 and its effect is -2 to hit until the end of next turn

Ring of dread is a single creature attack range 5 using Intimidate (it also gives a +2 bonus to intimidate) and its effect is -2 to all defenses (save ends)

Dread helm gives +4 to intimidate and is a single creature ranged 5 attack using intimidate and its effect is -2 to attack and defense until the next round

Of all of these I like the mask of terror effect the best. Its multiple creatures and has a pretty simple effect which is short lived. The CHA +3 attack is either a little worse or a little better than an intimidate check based upon whether its trained but I think the intimidate check is more suited for this kind of item. And its always good to reward skill training

So basically a mask of terror with an intimidate check rather than stat +3 check and a burst 2 not blast 5. Level 14 21000

Prism · Oct 5, 2008

50' ladder

Can bear 4000 pounds.

A 4e rope of climbing can reach 50' and hold 2500 pounds but needs somewhere to tie. Its DC 10 to climb. Level 10 5000gp

A flying hook (adventurers vault) can reach 20 squares and carry 3000 pounds. It can also drag things to you. Its a DC 10 climb. Level 15 25000 gp

A 4e ladder would be 50' long, carry 4000 pounds and be DC 0

I would say the ladder is better then the rope as it doesn't need something to tie to but limited when being used to climb distances greater than 50'. A rope could still be used to climb down part of a longer drop. The hook can cover twice the distance but seems a little overpriced compared. I guess I'll go for a level 12 item at 13000gp. See if it makes much difference when I total up

Prism · Oct 5, 2008

Right, the door bashing

I have saved this one to the end on purpose. I couldn't think of a way of working out the benefit of a +x bonus to bash a door without something to compare to. Looking at some of the head slot items in adventurers vault a +2 bonus to a check like this is about lvl 5, a +2 flat to a skill is lvl 6 and a +2 to 2 skills is lvl 7. Some items which allow very specific checks with a skill allow for up to +5 for a level 7 item. So I'm going to guess - and go for +4 for a level 8 item

However I don't think this should be a skill boost. It should be something that is about +4 better than the wielder. Now assuming the wielder is about 18th level based on the cost so far, and they started with 16 strength (since they are into melee) and have increased their strength to about 20 (its prob a bit higher) then they will have a +14 strength check.

So I'm going for +4 higher than that for a cost of a level 8 which is 3400. So +18 Strength check to open doors. Its a bit weak that it won't scale but to be honest I doubt doors cause much problem at this level