Overlooked, underappreciated, magic items

[Jack Simth]

Well, this is actually a psionic item, but it has come to my attention that the psychokinetic weapon quality doesn't suck as much as I thought it did. Mostly because it says: "This extra damage is ectoplasmic in nature and is not affected by damage reduction." And really, 1d4 DR-penetrating damage isn't bad.

I also have a penchant for throwing Quaal's Feather Token (Tree) at people, and in our last gaming session, someone in my party used a tanglefoot bag to help stop a vrock dance. And as for the mithral buckler, it's a great place to put permanencied symbol of death and permanencied symbol of insanity...

Naw - Permanent Heightend Symbol of Persuasion. No need to cover it in civilized areas .... where you might get ambushed.... because it doesn't really hurt much of anything. And, you know, if someone joins your party later on, you don't need to worry about it taking out that party member - at worst, they will just keep setting it off, and be gosh darn friendly all the time (useful if there is a character in the party that is constanly being mean to the spellcaster: DM: "No, you can't do that - you've been charmed (for the fifth time today....) and must act Friendly towards him. The rest of the party? That's up to you - why do you ask?").

 

[Plane Sailing]

Considering that we just got hammered by a clay golem and have no way of healing the damage we took from it (and guess what, no magic adamantine blunt weapons around), a GolemBane scarab looks like fantastic value for money...

 

[isoChron]

A Lyre of Building is wonderful powerful item. My group sold it nonetheless it saved their hide at the next market.

 

[Testament]

Pearl of Power I, especially with the WRONGWRONGWRONG 1st level Orbs in the Complete Conjurer.

Hat of Disguise is a DM's nightmare in Urban games. All of a sudden you look like someone else. For 2K, it's a bargain.

A Dwarf with a Ring of Sustenance is a great security system at night.

Brooches of Shielding are nice, but compete for a very valuable magic item slot.

 

[Staffan]

Pearl of Power I, especially with the WRONGWRONGWRONG 1st level Orbs in the Complete Conjurer.

I assume you mean Complete Arcane, in which case I have to ask what's wrong with the Lesser orbs. They do 1d8/odd level energy damage, require a ranged touch attack to hit, and have Close range. Compare to Magic Missile, which does (1d4+1)/odd level Force damage, automatically hits, has Medium range, and can be split up between targets. The Orbs do 1 point more damage per die, but run the risk of missing (OK, they also have a chance to crit, but that chance is usually less than the risk of missing), have a shorter range, are subject to energy resistance, and don't automatically affect incorporeal targets. That's a lot of tradeoffs for a measly point of damage per two levels.

The only problem I have with the Orbs is that someone apparently misplaced them in the Conjuration school. They are clearly Evocations (except maybe Orb of Acid), and should allow SR.

 

[VirgilCaine]

*foundly remembers winning an epic level tournament with some Dust of Wheezing (or whatever its called, the stuff that stuns you, no save) as an Iajitsu Master against a monster that would have killed me in a 'fair' fight... and the subsequent ban on the item*

It's strange. I can't find it in the SRD anymore. It was a NASTY cursed item though.

 

[Darmanicus]

Forgot the name of the armour now but it can be found in BoED and makes you immune to all death/negative energy/stat drain effects IIRC.

 

[Plane Sailing]

The only problem I have with the Orbs is that someone apparently misplaced them in the Conjuration school. They are clearly Evocations (except maybe Orb of Acid), and should allow SR.

I'm pretty sure that is why he referred to it as "complete conjurer", since that book managed to give the Conjurer superior blasting power to the evoker...

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Weasels go 'Pop'...ferrets go 'Poit.'

Exactly!

 

[Bad Paper]

I am going to agree and say that Golembane Scarab is topnotch. Possibly too powerful, even, but xlnt value for the money.

Now back to our previously hijacked thread...

I'm pretty sure that is why he referred to it as "complete conjurer", since that book managed to give the Conjurer superior blasting power to the evoker...

My PC is an evoker, thus: yes I am more than a little annoyed at the appearance of the slightly broken Orb spells. Orb of Sound? What in tarnation is that? No, seriously: the spell is a Creation. Sound is an energy. No sense. I HATE that! I'm still bitter that Mage Armor is a conjuration, and now they make this greater-magic-missile "Orb of Force" thing a conjuration as well.

The saving grace for the 4th-level Orb spells is that they are 4th-level, comparable in damage to 3rd-level evocations. The fact that they don't allow saving throws is a good thing (for evokers), as it means conjurers are burning a 4th-level spell slot without getting that +1 on the save DC. The primary Broken aspect is that the Orbs (like most conjurations) don't allow spell resistance, implying that the conjurer conjures up a material object (not an energy) and flings it at his target.

I work in a chemistry lab; I can imagine an orb of acid, like a water balloon full of HNO3, sure, but an Orb of Electricity? If it can be conjured, then it can be manufactured. Why can't alchemists make flasks of Electricity? Maybe they can throw batteries at demons..?