Pathfinder 1E How should I treat a zippo style lighter?
BigVanVader
First Post
Do you need it to have stats? If you're the DM, you could just have it be a plot point, if they're out of fuel for it.
BigVanVader
First Post
Well, wouldn't they be comparable to matches? Maybe they last longer or shorter, depending on how lighters work in real life? (I have no idea.)
Maybe the advantage is, you can always light a lighter if it has fuel, whereas with matches you have to be all careful about the wind and the rain and stuff?
Maybe the advantage is, you can always light a lighter if it has fuel, whereas with matches you have to be all careful about the wind and the rain and stuff?
Whizbang Dustyboots
Gnometown Hero
It runs off of a cantrip, making it an unbelievably cheap and reliable wondrous item, which fits.
(That said, I have to imagine Ye Olde Wizarde would be more likely to just make a self-lighting pipe, but that has a different sort of style to it.)
(That said, I have to imagine Ye Olde Wizarde would be more likely to just make a self-lighting pipe, but that has a different sort of style to it.)
Puxido
First Post
...What?
Oh, disregard that. I thought you said CatNIP at first, not canTRIP. Makes a whole lot more sense now. But I feel that makes the item a little op though. (edited)
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BigVanVader
First Post
Yeah, I'm not such a fan of technology being powered by magic. I like to give wizards and magic classes as little credit as possible for anything.
Whizbang Dustyboots
Gnometown Hero
Pathfinder has a cantrip that does exactly what we're talking about here: Spark. If having that on demand is overpowered for your campaign, I'd drop the whole Magical Zippo idea entirely. But all we're really talking, effectively, is flint and steel with panache.
Frankly, a non-magical one would be a much bigger headache, both for the character to use and the player to abuse. It will take your players about 30 seconds to identify it as a low-powered incendiary hand grenade, as opposed to the magical version, which won't have a fuel source attached.
BigVanVader
First Post
Yeah, but that can be countered by just telling Randy to knock it off, then throwing his dice across the room so he has to go get them.
skotothalamos
formerly roadtoad
Zippos don't go out until you close the lid and suffocate the flame. Unlike the Bic style, you don't have to hold down a safety to keep the flame burning. Once you light the wick, it keeps feeding fuel until the flame goes out. (which is technically slightly after the lid closes, so there will be the smell of unburnt fuel if you reopen it). However, unlike a Bic, the fuel is actually absorbed into cotton balls inside the lighter, so it's less of an explosion hazard.
The technology isn't that far-fetched for the average fantasy-medieval setting, where wick-based oil lanterns and flint-and-steel are both considered common items. The Zippo is just a thumbwheel of metal that strikes a piece of flint, creating a spark that ignites the fuel-soaked wick. The machining for the thumbwheel might be the toughest part, though if you allow gunslingers, you're probably fine.
You'll get a week to ten days out of the fuel, whether you use it or not, thanks to the fact that they're not airtight and the fuel evaporates.
I don't know Pathfinder well enough to give you game stats, though. :/
The technology isn't that far-fetched for the average fantasy-medieval setting, where wick-based oil lanterns and flint-and-steel are both considered common items. The Zippo is just a thumbwheel of metal that strikes a piece of flint, creating a spark that ignites the fuel-soaked wick. The machining for the thumbwheel might be the toughest part, though if you allow gunslingers, you're probably fine.
You'll get a week to ten days out of the fuel, whether you use it or not, thanks to the fact that they're not airtight and the fuel evaporates.
I don't know Pathfinder well enough to give you game stats, though. :/
