Adventuring Gear

[Sadrik]

Ok so the adventuring gear section tells a lot about how the game should be played. There are a lot of mundane pieces of equipment or kits, we dont care about those. We care about acid, poison, Ritual component pouches etc.

So with that what about them?

No discussing weapons and armor.

Here is a list of my interesting things, feel free to discuss what is wrong and where corrections should/could be made:

Acid - 1d4 for 1d4 rounds
Alchemists Fire - 1d4 per round until put out
Antitoxin - poison resist and advantage on poison saves... weaker than the dwarf...
Ball Bearings - cool, I could see if they were running they would get a penalty or disadvantage on the dex save.
Caltrops - 1 damage and the move penalty is not listed like the move penalties broken up by 5' segments etc.
Healing Potion - 1d8 hp, sure...
Holy Water - 1d4 damage seems really weak, perhaps like acid for 1d4 rounds?
Hunting Trap - 1d6 damage and 1 damage when you attempt to get out and fail?
Lock - DCs do not match the DM guidelines material
Magnifying glass - advantage really?
Oil - 5 damage no die rolling?
Poison, Basic - damage is immediate and only 1d4 and only once on a failed save. This does not seem right. How does this gel with the HP explanation?
Ritual Component Pouch - cool with just through gold in the top and pulling specific components out when needed?
Tome - magical book of knowledge?
Thieves Tools - only those with trained to use them, what does that mean?

 

[Thunderfoot]

My biggest problems

Alchemist Fire, Hunting Traps and Poison.

Alchemist (Greek) Fire has always been too cheaply priced for my taste. It is highly effective and easily used for the price. Naptha (the Arabic version) was also easily used, but it's effectiveness was a lot more suspect. Maybe that's the thing I'm looking for, decreased efficacy.

Hunting Traps - Hunting traps should be useless in a dungeon setting. Setting a trap is so much more than setting the thing out. In it's proper use is needs to be baited and camouflaged. In a dungeon, the camo is nearly impossible and if the monster isn't after the bait used, it becomes useless (well not useless, but you see my point). And a booby trap should not just be a hunting trap of a different sort, but completely rigged on site. (i.e. you can't purchase a booby trap to take with you. They should be site/situation specific. But that's a personal gripe.)

Poison has always been a bit of a "sticky wicket" for me. Where do you purchase such an item, as they would be illegal for purchase in a reputable establishment? What about contracting for the purchase of such toxins, the wrong herbalist could have the party (or at least the offending PC) arrested when they come to pick it up, by tipping off the watch (and probably pocketing not only the up front fee required but also a reward to boot.)

Not that it can't and should be used, just should be handled a little more delicately than the books have ever handled it. As to how it can be fixed, I don't know. I've been trying to figure that out for over 30 years and I still don't have the answer (outside of thieves/assassins can get it through the guild and everyone else is out of luck).

 

[BobTheNob]

Honestly, my hope is that they have something REAL simple for equipment. I hate wasting time counting coppers to ensure everyone has a rope, or the thief has thief tools e.t.c. (Lets face it...when dont they?)

Im really hoping for a option for greatly simplified equipment. Like a climbers pack. It heavy and costly, but it comes with all the things one would expect. Got a rope? Yes. Got spikes? Yes/

Same thing with a trapmakers kit...dont buy traps individually, just have a kit and come up with the nature of the trap on the fly and dock the kit some charges.

Same thing with an alchemists kit.

Fiddling with equipment is such a time sink. I WANT player equipment to count, but I dont want to have to count equipment.

 

[Stalker0]

Does it actually say the poison only works one time, I had thought it applied to each attack

 

[Stormonu]

My biggest problems

Alchemist Fire, Hunting Traps and Poison.

Alchemist (Greek) Fire has always been too cheaply priced for my taste. It is highly effective and easily used for the price. Naptha (the Arabic version) was also easily used, but it's effectiveness was a lot more suspect. Maybe that's the thing I'm looking for, decreased efficacy.

Honestly, it just needs to be balanced on game use - I don't have the playtest docs in front of me, but if it just does 1d6 fire damage with some sort of range increment, it's price needs only be a bit more than if you're burning a foe with a torch - and whether that torch does 1d3 or 1d6 fire damage. "Real world" cost shouldn't even factor into the price.

Also, another issue with just about every weapon in the D&D game is scaling damage at higher levels, without getting into silly escalating gear wars. While 4E scaled alchemical fire with scaling damage versions that did increasingly larger d6 damage, it was ludicrious to have to have half-a-dozen variations simply to keep the damage relevant. Like the fact that WotC wants to keep it possible to fight orcs at higher levels - just more of them at once, I'd like to keep alchemical fire relevant without having to introduce Improved Alchemical Fire, Draconic Fire and Hellfire versions that simply deal more damage to keep it useful in the game at higher levels.

 

[Stalker0]

Im really hoping for a option for greatly simplified equipment.

They kept the 4e adventurer's kit in there which is a big step forward. Its a way of going, I have purchased the standard stuff that I need, then I can get more specific if I really need to.

 

[Thunderfoot]

Honestly, my hope is that they have something REAL simple for equipment. I hate wasting time counting coppers to ensure everyone has a rope, or the thief has thief tools e.t.c. (Lets face it...when dont they?)

Im really hoping for a option for greatly simplified equipment. Like a climbers pack. It heavy and costly, but it comes with all the things one would expect. Got a rope? Yes. Got spikes? Yes/

Same thing with a trapmakers kit...dont buy traps individually, just have a kit and come up with the nature of the trap on the fly and dock the kit some charges.

Same thing with an alchemists kit.

Fiddling with equipment is such a time sink. I WANT player equipment to count, but I dont want to have to count equipment.

I don't agree with the assume they have it doctrine (seen times where it can make a difference back in the olden days), but your kits idea, I'd buy into it in a second.

 

[MarkB]

Poison has always been a bit of a "sticky wicket" for me. Where do you purchase such an item, as they would be illegal for purchase in a reputable establishment?

I like the explanation used in the Assassin's Creed games: One man's medicine is another man's poison - it's just a matter of dosage. The same substance that can be beneficial a drop at a time may be deadly if you drink the whole vial.

 

[jadrax]

Most poisons have never been illegal for sale, even putting warnings on them is a pretty recent development. They also really do not (and never have) really made sense in relation to Hit Points. I would prefer them to be really nasty, but only work when you hit an opponent who is under half hit points.

Acid/Alchemists Fire/Holy Water to me has always seems a pretty weak option, for a one shot weapon I really want more bang for my buck than D4 damage. Again, there may be an argument for them doing little to characters who are over half Hit Points, but being really nasty if your under half Hit Points.

So Holy Water could do d4 damage to Undead and Demons, and additionally, if that Undead or Demon is under half its Hit Points total, it must make a Charisma Save, DC 15, or be destroyed/banished.

 

[Sadrik]

I like the explanation used in the Assassin's Creed games: One man's medicine is another man's poison - it's just a matter of dosage. The same substance that can be beneficial a drop at a time may be deadly if you drink the whole vial.

I agree, poison can come from a tanner very easily. A wizard would have tons of the stuff, with all the whiffs of this and pinches of that. With enough dose it would be dangerous. Same with traditional poisons too.
Poison should have an onset time, delivery method, and a dosage. More dosage should be more dangerous, this should be part of the poison rules. Somebody who drinks a bucket of weak poison is going to be poisoned more than than a tiny dose of moderate or in many cases dangerous poisons. People can die from too much water after all.