Magic Item Property: Add 1 Surge ??

[Istar]

There are a lot of items out there that have a property that add 1 surge.

Now what happens if at higher level you stack up on a few of them as they only cost 5,000 gold.

Say you have a short rest, can you put one of these on, you get an extra surge and take it off again, you have same amount of surges ?

Maybe not, or this is a wrought.

How about then, you have zero surges left.
But the party are thinking of doing on last fight.

You put on the belt, gain a surge and use it, then take off the belt.
You are then on no surges still, as you cant be on negative surges.

Maybe you use 3 of these belts to get you back to full health for the battle.

I mean your still going into a fight with no surges, but least you are on full health.

And maybe you have Epic Trick L26 Utility, and can bring all your surges back at some stage in the next battle.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

I think my answer is that as a DM I simply wouldn't let a PC benefit from more than one such item in a given day. By RAW its exploitable, so are a lot of other items though.

 

[Phaezen]

This would fall under the "bag of rats" clause.

As to how I would rule it in my game, you can't get the same bonus from two of the same magical item, even if you wear them at different times during the day.

 

[Istar]

This would fall under the "bag of rats" clause.

As to how I would rule it in my game, you can't get the same bonus from two of the same magical item, even if you wear them at different times during the day.

I think both of you are right.

I am thinking one of each item, I think there are 2 cheap belts, cant remember the name.
Just get them and keep em in the bag of holding.
And if you are desperate with no surges.
Pull them out and get use of 1 type of that magic item.

I think thats pretty reasonable.

 

[MrMyth]

I'm a little confused by the question here.

Are you referring to an item like the Iron Ring of the Dwarf Lords, which says, "Property: Gain one healing surge"?

If so, when you put on the item, you gain one surge. If you take off that item, you lose that surge - so you can't just trade in and out multiple ones to gain more surges.

If you are at 0 surges and use the item... I imagine the DM could well declare you to be at -1 surges. Which doesn't directly hurt you in any way, just keeps the math correct if you later gain more surges. I see nothing to indicate this wouldn't be the case.

Other DMs might declare that if you lose a surge when you have 0, you take damage equal to your surge value. Others might let this trick work, assuming that if you are out of surges anyway, you have a good chance of dying in any fight.

 

[twilsemail]

I had a player try something like this. Seeing it coming, I ruled that players spend healing surges to regain hitpoints. if they have 9 and have spent 9, they're at 0. If they toss on the belt and they spend another, they're at 0. If they take off the belt, they've spent 10 and have 9. There's a deficit that needs to be filled (by HS value damage).

Is this RAW? Nope. It makes sense to me though so it how I'm running with it. After hearing the ruling the player decided on a different item.

I thought it'd be a pretty neat rescue idea in the end. Carry the belt around and toss it on someone you know needs it.

 

[the Jester]

Say you have a short rest, can you put one of these on, you get an extra surge and take it off again, you have same amount of surges ?

In my campaign, if something like this ever comes up I have the pcs track surges spent. Their surges available might go up or down, but at a certain point, they're out. If they use an item to gain an extra surge and then remove the item when they are out of surges, they'll lose hps equal to their surge value.

 

[Christian]

Here's another alternative: apply that bonus to the number of healing surges acquired from an extended rest while wearing the ring. So nothing happens (to your surge total) when you put it on; but the next time you are restored to your maximum total, that total is increased.

 

[BobTheNob]

In my campaign, if something like this ever comes up I have the pcs track surges spent. Their surges available might go up or down, but at a certain point, they're out. If they use an item to gain an extra surge and then remove the item when they are out of surges, they'll lose hps equal to their surge value.

Booya!

Players inisist on bag of rats...you know, those things that work by RAW yet are in no way in the spirit of the game (i.e. they only work because the designers havent considered the implications yet), and you respond by finding a way of slapping em on the wrist for doing so. Bravo.

A DM is many parts, and getting tough on BS like this is one of them.

 

[circadianwolf]

I had a player try something like this. Seeing it coming, I ruled that players spend healing surges to regain hitpoints. if they have 9 and have spent 9, they're at 0. If they toss on the belt and they spend another, they're at 0. If they take off the belt, they've spent 10 and have 9. There's a deficit that needs to be filled (by HS value damage).

While it's true that it isn't RAW in this case, nearly every power or ritual that requires spending a surge or losing the surge does specify that if you have no healing surges remaining, you take damage equal to your healing surge value.