A better net

[0bsolete]

My spear and trident player (see the Two Hands for a Spear thread in this forum) realized something today. To break out of a net, a 25 strength check is needed, or a knife. He realized that past the first couple levels, a net would become little more than a very minor annoyance to many of the enemies he will face. In fact, a net, even enchanted can be broken by the first ogre he runs across, which could easily be before level 3. So at later levels, if he decides to spend 25000 to enchant his net, it might be dead in only a couple fights.

I have to admit, this seems to me, to be a very very large hindrance. I mean, its the equivalent of realizing as you pick up that holy avenger, that it most likely won't last a full week. I don't want to do that to my player, but what can I do? Any help here?

 

[blargney the second]

The MIC has a glove of endless javelins. You might use that as a starting place for a custom magic item.

 

[Shallown]

Allow metal or steel nets making it much more durable and not neccessarily a lot heavier then when they can afford it adamantine.

This would solve most if not all their problems. Nets are not overly powerful any ways So I don't see it as game breaking.

Later

 

[Shape D.]

You could go with a "Net of Entaglement"

Rope of Entanglement

A rope of entanglement looks just like any other hempen rope about 30 feet long. Upon command, the rope lashes forward 20 feet or upward 10 feet to entangle a victim. An entangled creature can break free with a DC 20 Strength check or a DC 20 Escape Artist check.

The rope has AC 22, 12 hit points, and hardness 10, and it has damage reduction 5/slashing as well. The rope repairs damage to itself at a rate of 1 point per 5 minutes, but if a rope of entanglement is severed (all 12 hit points lost to damage), it is destroyed.

Moderate transmutation; CL 12th; Craft Wondrous Item, animate objects, animate rope, entangle; Price 21,000 gp; Weight 5 lb.

It's pricy, but it's got hardness, an ac and a few hitpoints......I'd change it to a break dc of 25 to match a regular net though.

 

[0bsolete]

Would it be overpowered to create a magic net which could not be permanently broken maybe? Basically something that repaired itself? I mean, I don't want my player feeling useless after the first ogre because a decision he made that felt right for his character and that went with the concept, just happened to be easily breakable.

And about what level of an item would this be?

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

I like the suggestion to use the gloves of endless javalins as a guideline for a new item. I believe that's in the Array of the Manticore? Just something that spawns +1 nets at will to use. Maybe give them a short duration, after which they vanish. Or say they last x rounds, except for the last net conjured, which lasts indefinitely (or until another net is created). Something like that.

 

[Animal]

or hint him to get a wand of mending. 50 charges for only 375 gp.

 

[0bsolete]

or hint him to get a wand of mending. 50 charges for only 375 gp.

Mending fixes only very small things. A hole in a wineskin, a chain link that broke and either way, a magic items properties aren't restored. I need a method to allow my player to continue playing his character and still have his concept possible past level 5 without carrying 25 normal nets when everybody else is sporting increasingly awesome magic items.

 

[Deset Gled]

Giving a magic weapon an enhancement bonus increases its hardness and HP (by 2 and 10, respectively). Logically, one would expect that this would correlate to an enhancement bonus increasing the break DC of weapons like the net as well. The fact that this isn't stated anywhere is probably an oversight.

From the Equipment section of the SRD, a hemp rope has 2 HP and a DC 23 for the burst check. A silk rope has 4 HP and a burst DC of 24. Following this ratio, adding a +1 enhancement to a net would add 5 to the break DC, which seems like a reasonable house rule. Another house rule to use in combination with this to make nets cheaper would be to have them enhanced as ammunition (50 nets in a shot) rather than as a single item.

Also, the 3.0e martial arts sourcebook Beyond Monks made an Unbreakable weapon enhancement. It basically made a weapon impervious to all normal damage; it could only be destroyed by a Limited Wish, Wish, Miracle, or similar spell. I've used it before for characters that had a weapon with significant RP significance. Of course, there was nothing in place to stop a targeted dispel from surpressing the unbreakable property for a few rounds...

 

[Wednesday Boy]

Arms and Equipment (3.0 sourcebook) has the Force Web; a +4 Net made from force (to trap incorporeals) and has a hardness of 10, 30hp, an Escape Artist check of 20 and a Break DC of 40. But it costs 72,320 gp.