(3.5 Magic Item) I'll be positive, you be negative (PEACH)

[DracoDei]

Another spin-off from my twin wing-dragons, Castor and Pollux.

Arc Vest
This vest has threads of copper and mithril woven into it, and tiny adamintine beads are scattered about it.
Once per round if two of these are activated (a standard action) within 30 feet of each other at the same moment (usually requiring a readied action on the part of one of the activators, but the Gemini Strike feat may also be used) it produces an arc of electricity between the two that deals 15d6 damage. A reflex save may be made against a DC of 14+ the average of the wearers dexterity modifiers for half damage. This expends one charge from each vest. Alternatively, a wearer may drain all current charges to produce a standard lightning bolt that deals 3d6 damage per charge so expended. In such a case the DC is a static 14. They have 3 charges, and recover one charge per 2 hours. They must be worn to be activated in either mode.
Strong Evocation; CL 15th; Craft Wondrous Item, Lightning Bolt; Price 20,250 gp each.

Arcing Armor/shield
This armor or shield enchantment creates effects that are equivalent and cross compatible with those created by an Arc Vest and with other arcing armor and shields in every way. This enchantment may only be placed on armor that contains at least as much metal as studded leather (so no leave-weave, leather, padded, hide, dragon hide, etc etc etc), or on metal shields or tower shields that include metal in their construction.
Strong Evocation; CL 15th; Craft Wondrous Item, Lightning Bolt; Price 25,250 gp each.

[Reaper_Monkey]

Love the idea of this, although the practicality of both having to activate at the same time might be a bit of a nuisance at times.

Maybe having the ability to activate out of sync (maybe even chance of failure to activate at the same time) but then the other person takes a small shock as well? That'll be entertaining when the players first discover its function =D

Other than that, I'm not too good at pricing magical items, so I cant really help out on that front sorry. But the premise is a good one, even if it'd be used very rarely and only for specific goals as it requires two people to wear them instead of other items.

[Cieyrin]

Why does the Arc do 15d6 and the full discharge does a maximum of 9d6? that seems odd to me. Is it b/c both Arc Vests lose a charge, as opposed to one vest losing all its charges?

[DracoDei]

Regarding practicality of getting the synchronization right:
I don't specifically mention this here, and I only mention it in terms of Castor and Pollux specifically in the feat description, but this is designed to synergize with the Gemini Strike (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=116900) feat that I posted within a few minutes of posting this feat... I need to figure out how to clarify that better. Besides which, replace "inconvient" with "rewards good tactical thinking" and you have it closer to the way I view these things.


Regarding (15d6)x3 vs (3 to 9d6)x2:
That is part of it, but mostly it is so it isn't COMPLETELY useless your partner is incapacitated or otherwise unavailible.

Regarding slots:
Actually, now that I think about it/remember, this should ALSO be availible as an armor enchantment, perhaps at a slightly increased cost. I actually had it working that way for Castor, until I decided that the arcane spell failure chance wasn't worth it.
Any suggestion for how much more the armor enchantment should be? Would making it only work on armor that contains at least as much metal as studded leather (so not Padded, Leather, or Hide) be reasonable? What about as a sheild enchantment (for metal shields only)?

[DracoDei]

Have now added physical description, clarification (at least somewhat) of the synergy with Gemini Strike, and rules for weapons and armor. Does the 5,000 GP increase to get it as armor or a shield look right? Castor and Pollux use Bracers of Armor so that was why the original version was a vest rather than say, studded leather.

[Cieyrin]

If you associated it to an equivalent bonus, you could have their bracers house the ability instead of enhancement bonus to armor, as per the Arms and Equipment Guide. I'd imagine either +3 or +4 would get you the cost you're looking for, as the equivalent +1 arcing armor (or bracers, as it were) would be 16000 or 25000 gp.

Them's my 2 coppers. Take as you will.

[DracoDei]

Nah, it definitely needs to be a static cost in my mind... like Silent Moves and Acid Resistance. It doesn't synergize directly with any other property of the armor, so it isn't really the sort of thing that should be expressed in an equivalent enchantment bonus (or whatever that gets called).