Gust of Wind

[James McMurray]

reapersaurus:If you think that a foe not being able to move towards your archer isn't worth a lot of money, there's something wrong with your thinking. A medium foe (or large flyer) can be checked fairly easily by a severe wind. A smaller foe will be knocked down or blown away. Given that the item applies to every single arrow fired by the wearer (which in this case will be 4-5 per round, soon to be 5-6) it is pretty nice.

A side not on the item (that doesn't add much to the required price, but could be useful) is that it also allows the wearer's arrows to fly without penalty in any amount of wind, precipitation, or other weather effects.

That being said, R&R's items are generally overpriced. However, I think this thing can be used in a way that will make it worth the price. and of course, it isn't as if the party is paying for it, its part a treasure that may be found.

As for why a ring does it, why not? There certainly aren't any reasons not to allow it. Not sure what a bow of Knockback is though. Maybe it would be better, but then again, the party already has a magic bow for the guy, and adding a new ability would be extremely expensive, not to mention nearly imposible to have happen from a treasure found in a haul. I suppose I could call it a bowstring instead of a ring, would that make you feel better about the item?

Ridley's Cogort: True those spells can also slow your foes, but Cloudkill is worthless against many creatures, and Wall of Force will also stop your friends from closing with the enemy as well. Not to mention the matter of unlimited uses. Unlimited uses of wall of force would cost (by the formula) 81000gp. And even then you can't create more than one per round.

 

[Shard O'Glase]

All unlimited use items should be somewhat pricy, but gust of wind just sucks. Sorry even if it were a 1st level spell it would be a rere day that I prepared that looser of a spell.

Though being able to bust it out as part of an arrow shot it really cool and much better than flaming or some other minor enchantment. But still not anywhere near 81,000 gp sheesh for that money you could probably outfit the party with rings of invisibility.

 

[James McMurray]

The ring isn't 81000, its 60,000. I think that's a fair deal for an item that casts gus of wind with every arrow you have hit. gust of wind may not be the best spell, and it certainly isn't a third level spell as written, but I'd definitely think about it if it were 2nd level.

Lets look at what it can do in different situations:

1) against large ground bound creatures: nothing

2) Against large fliers: knock them back 1d6 x 10 feet and prevent forward motion

3) against medium ground creatures: prevent forward motion

4) against small creatures or medium fliers: knock them down

5) against small fliers or tiny ground creatures: blow them away.

Plus, everyone you hit with an arror will be at -4 if they try to fire back. Seems decent enough to me.

 

[reapersaurus]

Seems decent enough to me.

hmm... i wonder what happened to my post that just got lost....?

Well.

Problems with Gust of Wind:
Against large creatures, it does nothing. Large creatures seem to be the most likely type that adventurers encounter.
Against medium ones, IF they miss their save (a paltry DC 15 Fort save), they can't advance.
But they can do everything else.
It doesn't make them lose an action, cause damage, or prevent spellcasting or special attacks in the slightest.

Against tiny creatures, why wouldn't you just fireball the little critters or something?
Compare this ridiculously overpriced item to Knockback (MoF, +3 enchantment):
taget must succeed at Fort save DC19 or be knocked BACK 10 feet (much more chance for interesting fun there).
If the save fails, another save is required DC19 or stunned for 1 round.

And I personally think that +3 is kinda steep for that enchantment, but compared to this 60000 gp ring, it's a major artifact.

Oh - I almost forgot.
Gust of Wind lasts one round, and only has a 10' wide by 10' high effect.
So even if they miss their paltry save, all they have to do to almost completely ignore the effects of the spell is move 10' to the side.

 

[James McMurray]

Well, it can affect large creatures if they are flying. Quite a few large creature fly.As for the majority of creatures being fought are large, I would have to disagree. It has been quite a while since my party fought a large creature, either int he Tomb of Horrors or the City of Moil. There are also very few large creatures in Acererak's fortress. Seems like the ring may be useful after all.

However, its biggest selling point is that it requires no action on the part of the user. Just put it on and suddenly all of your arrows gain fee effect. There are very few items that do that.

Knockback does sound fairly good, and better than this in certain instances, but since I don't use any FR stuff, its immaterial to my campaign. Even if it did, adding a +3 enchantment to this guy's bow would cost 78,000gp. Knockback is more useful against creatures, but less useful if you want to dampen your foe's light source, tip over his boat, or blow him away.

Also, fliers are knocked back 1d6 x 10 feet if they fail their save. Sure, the save is less than that of the knockback bow, but the distance is farther.

One reason you may use this as opposed to a fireball agaist tiny creatures is that it does not use up resources (other than the arrow fired). That means you've still got a fireball for blasting others later. Another reason you may not us a fireball is because you are an archer, an can't cast spells...