UltimaGabe
First Post
Hey, everyone. I recently picked up Magic of Eberron, and I have to say, it's a great book. Lots of flavor, lots of good mechanics, good explanations of things that weren;t completely explained in the Campaign Setting book. Introduced a new race, the Daelkyr Half-Blood- a balanced race, in my opinion, since they don't get very much, really, aside from being Aberrations. Anyway, it was this race that made me notice something that seems kinda... well... broken?
You see, in the book, they introduce several new Symbionts (for those not Eberron-savvy, Symbionts are living creatures that attach themselves to a host, usually dealing some initial ability damage, but providing them with some sort of a benefit, and thus act as a piece of equipment from that point on- although if you're not Eberron-savvy, you probably won't be able to help much with this thread). Most of them are cool- I really like the Spellwurm and the Crawling Gauntlet- but one of them, the Throwing Scarab, seems kinda... ridiculously broken at first glance. First off, it costs less than any other Symbiont (1,000 gp, as opposed to a range from 2,000 gp to Artifact level), and it's probably the least noticeable, since it usually appears as some sort of jewelry. But its benefit is that once per round, the bearer can spend a free action to grab a piece of crystal off the scarab's carapace (which then regenerates, so that it can be used forever, just once per round). If thrown, it deals 1d6 points of slashing damage (19-20/x2), and then it "dissolves inside the target, dealing 1d6 points of acid damage". So, basically, once per round, you can use the item to throw a greatsword, except that half of the damage is acid (which is much better in almost every case). Oh, and it counts as a magic weapon for purposes of overcoming damager reduction.
Does this send up any red flags? First off, it's a throwing weapon. They don't say "it deals 1d6 points of damage plus your strength modifier", but it IS a throwing weapon, and if I'm not mistaken, unless mentioned otherwise (like the shuriken), all thrown weapons deal your strength modifier in addition to the base damage. So a person with a 16 strength would deal 2d6 + 3 damage, every round, forever. With a 19-20 crit, too. They don't specify whether the Acid damage is multiplied on a crit- although the way it's presented, it could very easily be seen as additional damage dice (like a Flaming weapon), so I'd venture to say that it's probably not multiplied. But still. 2d6 + strength modifier damage- that's more than any other medium-sized throwing weapon. AND it overcomes magic DR. And half of the damage is acid.
And keep in mind, this thing only costs 1,000 gp. (Although, if you're a Daelkyr Half-Blood, you start with one for free.) There's no sort of proficiency required, as far as I can tell, and so anybody could use one. A 1st-level character could have one of these, and use it at will. Didn't everyone make a big deal about the Warlock? This thing, at first level, can do more than a Warlock ever could, regardless of class.
Anyone notice this? Anyone thing it's kinda weird? Any thoughts? The book is amazing, as are all of the other symbionts- but this one thing kinda stands out and annoys me.
You see, in the book, they introduce several new Symbionts (for those not Eberron-savvy, Symbionts are living creatures that attach themselves to a host, usually dealing some initial ability damage, but providing them with some sort of a benefit, and thus act as a piece of equipment from that point on- although if you're not Eberron-savvy, you probably won't be able to help much with this thread). Most of them are cool- I really like the Spellwurm and the Crawling Gauntlet- but one of them, the Throwing Scarab, seems kinda... ridiculously broken at first glance. First off, it costs less than any other Symbiont (1,000 gp, as opposed to a range from 2,000 gp to Artifact level), and it's probably the least noticeable, since it usually appears as some sort of jewelry. But its benefit is that once per round, the bearer can spend a free action to grab a piece of crystal off the scarab's carapace (which then regenerates, so that it can be used forever, just once per round). If thrown, it deals 1d6 points of slashing damage (19-20/x2), and then it "dissolves inside the target, dealing 1d6 points of acid damage". So, basically, once per round, you can use the item to throw a greatsword, except that half of the damage is acid (which is much better in almost every case). Oh, and it counts as a magic weapon for purposes of overcoming damager reduction.
Does this send up any red flags? First off, it's a throwing weapon. They don't say "it deals 1d6 points of damage plus your strength modifier", but it IS a throwing weapon, and if I'm not mistaken, unless mentioned otherwise (like the shuriken), all thrown weapons deal your strength modifier in addition to the base damage. So a person with a 16 strength would deal 2d6 + 3 damage, every round, forever. With a 19-20 crit, too. They don't specify whether the Acid damage is multiplied on a crit- although the way it's presented, it could very easily be seen as additional damage dice (like a Flaming weapon), so I'd venture to say that it's probably not multiplied. But still. 2d6 + strength modifier damage- that's more than any other medium-sized throwing weapon. AND it overcomes magic DR. And half of the damage is acid.
And keep in mind, this thing only costs 1,000 gp. (Although, if you're a Daelkyr Half-Blood, you start with one for free.) There's no sort of proficiency required, as far as I can tell, and so anybody could use one. A 1st-level character could have one of these, and use it at will. Didn't everyone make a big deal about the Warlock? This thing, at first level, can do more than a Warlock ever could, regardless of class.
Anyone notice this? Anyone thing it's kinda weird? Any thoughts? The book is amazing, as are all of the other symbionts- but this one thing kinda stands out and annoys me.
