Level Up (A5E) Unreasonable Price

FatPandaMonk

Villager

• Dec 29, 2021

• #1

So what's the point of this item? When it would be useful for a PC to have it they couldn't afford it and it is unlikely a GM would drop that in random loot for low tier play. At the point a PC could afford it or party loot is likely to have items in that range it's pointless, you can have items and spells to just fly. It also doesn't do enough to rationalize that price, this is not worthy of being a very rare item worth 25K. It' a grappling hook crossbow with a long rope that can reel itself back up, that's it. A mundane crossbow and an unseen servant can do that. This should be 250 gold at most.

 

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W'rkncacnter

Hero

• Dec 29, 2021

• #2

honestly, i don't even know why this is a magical item at all. it sounds like a masterwork weapon that should be, like you said, 250 gold at most

 

Faolyn

(she/her)

• Dec 29, 2021

• #3

It allows for 120 feet of movement with a bonus action, and the rope is very difficult to break--certainly few mundane forces are going to be able to break it. It's actually pretty good. I don't know if it's Very Rare/25,000 gp worth of good, but I can see it as Rare instead of Very Rare. It would be better if it were hand-mounted, but that should be a quick fix.

 

S

Stone Dog

Adventurer

• Dec 29, 2021

• #4

I don't know about rarity or price value, but it is pretty clearly a cinimatic Bat-Man level grappling gun that doesn't care a bit for physics or sense.

120 foot range and it just sticks to whatever you shoot it at and zips you 120 feet as a bonus action. It doesn't care how much you weigh, it doesn't care if your perch is a load bearing structure, it doesn't even care if the perch is a surface that a speartip can latch onto. It just gives you 120 feet of mobility that if you had nothing better to do you can use once per round. Shoot a perch, move 120 feet, rewind the line, next round do it again. That is crazy levels of utility and no modern device could possibly do it, let alone some crossbow and a ghost with a -4 Strength modifier.

I can't comment on its price point or rarity value, which may be overpriced for the levels it can be expected to be found at, but this is absolutely magical nonsense and in no way mundane.

 

S

Smackpixi

Hero

• Dec 29, 2021

• #5

What stone dog said, also,

 

tetrasodium

Legend

Supporter

Epic

• Dec 29, 2021

• #6

I'm going to agree with others & second that the bat-grapple is incredibly good & gets even better the more a GM allows a player to think/maneuver beyond a 2d grid into a 3d world. Imagine the punisher with spiderman's maneuverability. In that light the price is entirely justified IMO

 

S

Smackpixi

Hero

• Dec 29, 2021

• #7

I think for 25k though, very rare, something for level 11+, should be able to just use an attack, rather than an action, to fire it.

 

S

Sword of Spirit

Legend

• Dec 29, 2021

• #8

Is it better than flight though? That was one of the OPs points that seems forgotten.

It does have a pretty good range if viewed as movement. Compared to flight, it seems like it could be worth it if it always hit (no attack roll required), and only took a bonus action to completely use in a round (fire and reel). At that point it would be flight that in exchange for requiring:
-Your bonus action
-A target to latch onto
-Only moving in a straight line
...gives you:
-120' of movement.

Personally, I don't think that's good enough, assuming LevelUp still has the DMG flight items at their O5e rarity (haven't got to magic items yet, so I don't know). In any event, that should be the point of comparison--existing items with similar effects rather than cool factor. Otherwise the bag of holding and folding boat (and lots of utility items by my preferences) would be Legendary for coolness.

 

S

Smackpixi

Hero

• Dec 29, 2021

• #9

Fly requires a MU to use their action, if baddies at a distance, MUs are people we’d like to hit this round. melee tank has spare action to use. Double distance of fly. Moves instantly. can’t be knocked out of sky. No concentration issue.

taking an action to use, and not just being a weapon, I agree, devalues it some, but, we’re debating between rare and very rare at this point imho.

I mean even, what’s the value of a limitless fly scroll? More than 250. value of a ring of flying?

 

Last edited: Dec 29, 2021

S

Stone Dog

Adventurer

• Dec 29, 2021

• #10

Of the magic items that let you fly that I can find with a simple Find for fly in the PDF...

Air Charms just cast fly once.
Amber Wings are more like a complicated Feather Fall since you can't go up.
A Broom of Flying requires attunement, has a weight limit, and is slower.
Bubble Wands are really slow.
Carpets of Flying are pretty good, but have weight limits and slow down the bigger they are.
Wings of the Bat require attunement and you need both arms to flap.
Ebony Flies are pretty neat, but only usable for six hours every third day.
A Flute of the Wind only casts Fly.
A Sylph Cloak requires Attunement and only works once per long rest.
Winged Boots require attunement and are good for two hours in ten minute increments.
Wings of Flying require attunement and are good for an hour every 2d6 hours.
Cloak of the Devouring King requires attunement and has... let's just say other issues.

And the Fly spell requires concentration with a speed of 60 feet.

Really, for what almost amounts to a short range teleport that you can use all day every day with a really low AC and fairly generous circumstances to make it stick, it is a pretty good item.

And having a knockdown effect tacked onto it is kind of fun too.

I'm kind of leaning towards worth it.