Help me break in my 3.5 books! (3.5 Q&A)

[drnuncheon]

Staffs got good!

Wow!

Wow!

(posting this here because it seems like the best place w/o starting a new thread)

DMG p 243:
"Staffs have immense utility because they pack so many capabilities into one item and they use their wielder's ability score and relevant feats to set the DC for saves against their spells. Unlike with other sorts of magic items, the weilder can use his caster level when activating the power of a staff, if it's higher than the caster level of the staff."

Staffs just became good.

Well. You still have to be a mystic theurge to get full use out of a lot of them, but still...

Wow!

 

[Plane Sailing]

Wow!

I concur - Staves were looking pretty feeble before, because by the time you could make them the DC's were all so low that it wasn't worthwhile.

I'd not got around to reading the magic items section yet, but there are apparently some little joys in there.

- so, if you've got the books with you - any changes to rings to make it worthwhile being able to forge them?

 

[herald]

Re: Staffs got good!

Wow!

Wow!

(posting this here because it seems like the best place w/o starting a new thread)

DMG p 243:
"Staffs have immense utility because they pack so many capabilities into one item and they use their wielder's ability score and relevant feats to set the DC for saves against their spells. Unlike with other sorts of magic items, the weilder can use his caster level when activating the power of a staff, if it's higher than the caster level of the staff."

Staffs just became good.

Well. You still have to be a mystic theurge to get full use out of a lot of them, but still...

Wow!

Nice!

 

[rendarkin]

Lich changes?

What's the cost for becoming a lich (particularly the cost for the phylactery)? And what is a lich's damage reduction listed as? (I think the rest stayed more-or-less the same...)

(The phylactery used to take 11th level caster, Craft Wondrous Item feat, 120,000 gp, and 4,800 xps, if I recall)

Many, many thanks.

 

[drnuncheon]

- so, if you've got the books with you - any changes to rings to make it worthwhile being able to forge them?

Other than being able to use those last two slots? The only other thing I can see is that rings do not have a 'body slot affinity', so one could put whatever effect they wanted into a ring without having to worry about it costing extra.

J

 

[drnuncheon]

Re: Lich changes?

What's the cost for becoming a lich (particularly the cost for the phylactery)? And what is a lich's damage reduction listed as? (I think the rest stayed more-or-less the same...)

(The phylactery used to take 11th level caster, Craft Wondrous Item feat, 120,000 gp, and 4,800 xps, if I recall)

The phylactery is the same, and the DR of the lich is 15/bludgeoning and magic.

J

 

[drnuncheon]

Would it be too much to ask for the new/changed skill synergies?

They do have them all in a handy table...

Handle Animal -> Ride & Wild Empathy (class feature of druids & rangers)
Knowledge (arcana) -> Spellcraft
Knowledge (architecture) -> Search for secret doors/compartments
Knowledge (dungeineering) -> Survival (underground)
Knowledge (geography) -> Survival to avoid getting lost or avoid hazards
Knowledge (history) -> Bardic knowledge checks
Knowledge (local) -> Gather Information
Knowledge (nature) -> Survival (aboveground natural environments)
Knowledge (nobility) -> Diplomacy
Knowledge (religion) -> Turn Undead (class feature)
Knowledge (planes) -> Survival (other planes)
Search -> Survival (tracking)
Survival -> Knowledge (nature)

The rest are all as in 3.0, I believe.

 

[rendarkin]

Re: Re: Lich changes?

The phylactery is the same, and the DR of the lich is 15/bludgeoning and magic.

J

Thanks! That DR *is* hilarious. I love it and can't wait to use it!

But, damn, I had hoped they had changed the cost of the phylactery. I'm assuming the average gold per level for PCs and NPCs didn't change in 3.5, right? Otherwise an NPC can't *afford* a phyl until 18th level and a PC not until 14th level, so no point in an 11th level minimum caster level.

 

[drnuncheon]

Re: Re: Re: Lich changes?

But, damn, I had hoped they had changed the cost of the phylactery. I'm assuming the average gold per level for PCs and NPCs didn't change in 3.5, right? Otherwise an NPC can't *afford* a phyl until 18th level and a PC not until 14th level, so no point in an 11th level minimum caster level.

The tables look the same to me.

But remember, you're making it for yourself - so you only need half the price for materials, meaning it's in reach of a 16th level NPC or an 11th level PC.

And, you could always ignore the NPC guidelines - those are for typical NPCs, after all, not liches.

J

 

[rendarkin]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Lich changes?

But remember, you're making it for yourself - so you only need half the price for materials, meaning it's in reach of a 16th level NPC or an 11th level PC.

And, you could always ignore the NPC guidelines - those are for typical NPCs, after all, not liches.

J

Well, that's not quite right. "The phylactery costs 120,000 gp and 4,800 XP to create" sys the 3.0 SRD. 120,000 gp isn't the market price, it IS the crafting price.

(which is another odd thing since the 4,800 is 1/25th of 120,000, further suggesting that maybe 120,000 gp was supposed to be the market price, as per the magic item creation rules)

Of course you can ignore the NPC guidelines, but I like playing by-the-book when possible (especially at, say, cons) so the idea that no 11th level liches is strictly by-the-book says to me that maybe liches should have a higher minimum level (like they used to) or a cheaper phylactery.

Ah, well, as they say, no biggie. Thanks again!