Shark Uppercut
2017-05-02, 06:27 PM
Weapon Charms and Armor Badges.
This is pretty basic, I wouldn't be surprised if other DMs have done the same. It's basically required if a character wants to keep using the same non-magic, non-masterwork weapon they started with, and not enchant it.
Make the enchantment into a thing you put on the weapon. It costs as much as adding another +1 to a weapon or armor normally would.
Each weapon has 1 slot for a charm, armor 1 slot for a badge. E.g:
Volcanic Death Weapon Charm, 2,000g. (Flaming weapon quality)
A palm-sized rat skull, eyes glow like embers, gives off faint amount of heat and smoke. Strung up on a blackened leather strap. Gives the weapon +1d6 fire damage.
Last Stand Armor Badge, 30,000g. (Pathfinder Determination armor quality)
Silver, with a sun and eight rays of light. Once a day, Breath of Life CL10 when wearer drops below 0 hp.
I also toyed around with the idea of weapons that activate a spell every time they crit. It's already a thing with 'Burst' weapons, but I wanted a system that would accept any offensive spell. I also threw in the idea that armor or shields could cast a beneficial spell on you every time an attacking enemy rolled a nat 1.
The quickest thing I could come up with was, +1 for lvl 0 or 1 spells, +2 for lvl2 spell and +3 for lvl3 spells.
In other words, a +4 sword is balanced against a +1 sword that casts Cure Serious Wounds CL7 on you when you crit.
Or +4 armor vs +1 armor that casts Cure Serious when an enemy rolls a natural 1.
Then I went crazy, and made rules for weapons that cast a spell every time they hit someone. Or armor that casts a spell every time someone misses you. Obviously, they would have to be much more expensive to be balanced. So it would go like,
+3 for lvl 0 or 1 spells and +5 for lvl2 spells.
Result: A +1 Longbow that automatically casts Summon Nature's Ally 1 CL1 every time it hits someone is a +4 weapon.
But these are pretty rough ideas.
New Weapon Enhancements:
Loner-Bane. (+1 enhancement) Is a Bane weapon against anyone without combat allies within 60ft. Someone is a "combat ally" if they are conscious, and have a present desire to help the victim. If a bodyguard doesn't know their master is being attacked, they don't count.
All-Bane (+1 enhancement) This weapon has no special effect until it is washed in a creature’s blood or essence. Afterwards, it is a Bane weapon attuned to that creature type or subtype, until it is washed in blood again.
This is just something I made to see if I could.
Master Assassin’s Crossbow: Glamered Shadowy +1 Loner-Bane Merciful Hand Crossbow, 24,850g.
Can transform to look like any small handheld item about a foot long. Gives wielder +5 Stealth, Bane is for anyone without combat allies within 60ft. When Merciful, bolts can be easily removed and don’t leave bloody wounds, just bruises.
My "Dota is so cool" stealth and counter-stealth consumables:
Smoke of Deceit, 750g. Basically an Oil of Invisibility Sphere CL5. Yes, this oil affects multiple people.
Dust of Appearance 2.0, 750g. Throwable as a Glitterdust CL3 grenade, or gently shaken out as Glitterdust CL3 without the ability to blind.
And just in general, it's fun to generate offensive potions. You can drink a potion of Haste, why not throw a potion of Slow at your enemies?
Balance-wise, I'm uncertain if a multi-target spell should still affect multiple targets when it's a potion.
In a low-level campaign that wants to avoid character death, healing and buffing potions are important. So much that I decided to give them away at double the rate! For free!
Well no, not really. Take any potion that characters are probably going to use a lot of. Swap it for a bottle with two specially salted leeches. Consuming a leech counts as drinking the potion, but also does 1 Constitution damage. E.g:
Bottle with a pair of salted leeches that suckled a Swamp Drake (Potion of Resist Acid CL3), 300g.
Slightly acidic to the touch, do 1 Constitution damage. Grown in the Great Swamp.
If your loot table has too many potions, you can get a lot of mileage from refluffing.
A 25g potion of Stabilize is actually a magical bandage. A Virtue potion is a magic fortune cookie.
My "What god's Cleric made this Potion of Cure Light Wounds?" table. Because every potion should have marks from its manufacturer, holy symbols, probably a cool bottle shape too.
Obviously, refluff as required. Roll a d53.
1-3 Zeus
4 Hera
5 Heracles
6-7 Poseidon
8-9 Hades
10 Hermes
11-12 Apollo
13-15 Artemis
16 Athena
17 Aphrodite
18 Ares
19-20 Dionysus
21-23 Odin
24-25 Thor
26 Baldur
27 Aegir and Ran
28 Frey
29-31 Freya
32 Heindallr
33-34 Hel
35-36 Loki
37 Njord
38 Skadi
39-40 Tyr
41 Surt / fire Jotuns
42 Thrym / frost Jotuns
43 Utgard-Loki / mountain Jotuns
44-48 Someone who worships angels in general
49-53 Someone who worships demons in general
Similarly, my "Whose Cleric made this Incense of Meditation?" table. Roll a d4.
Aesir/Vanir incenses are usually alpine, woodsy or ocean-spray scents. Brown, red or metallic wax/incense melted onto an animal tooth or horn.
Olympian incenses are usually citrus, lemony or mahogany scents. Several bundled bundled turquoise, green or yellow sticks.
Demon lords / Abyss worship incenses are usually spiced, if not sulfurous, mildewy or rotten scents.
Angel executives / Heaven worship incenses are usually flowery or fruity scents or frankincense and myrrh. Cylindrical candles or crumbled potpourri.
I also make variant Riding Dogs and Heavy Warhorses, because I wanted animals that aren't animal companions to have some personality. And yes, they do have minor magic powers. Will post them later when I have time.
Lastly, I have races too. They're not that important because they're somewhat customized for my campaign world's backstory. I added and subtracted until everything had around 10 race points.
Dwarves don't have Hardy. Defensive Training and Hatred are keyed to Dragons. Like gnomes they have minor SLA's if their Cha is 11, they get Know Direction, Mending and Resistance.
Elf Magic only gives +1 to beat SR, but also gives +1 to fire magic DCs. Like gnomes they have minor SLA's if their Cha is 11, they get Flare, Light and Purify Food and Drink.
Drow have Fire Vulnerability instead of Light Blindness, 60ft Darkvision, no Poison Use or SR.
"Orcs" and "Half-orcs" use Tiefling stats, because they drank demonic blood and I recycle from Warcraft, sue me. All 10 races of PF Tiefling exist, they're the 10 orc tribes. Also +2 Survival.
Gnolls get Scent, and since it's PF we don't have to worry about Monstrous Humanoid racial HD.
This is pretty basic, I wouldn't be surprised if other DMs have done the same. It's basically required if a character wants to keep using the same non-magic, non-masterwork weapon they started with, and not enchant it.
Make the enchantment into a thing you put on the weapon. It costs as much as adding another +1 to a weapon or armor normally would.
Each weapon has 1 slot for a charm, armor 1 slot for a badge. E.g:
Volcanic Death Weapon Charm, 2,000g. (Flaming weapon quality)
A palm-sized rat skull, eyes glow like embers, gives off faint amount of heat and smoke. Strung up on a blackened leather strap. Gives the weapon +1d6 fire damage.
Last Stand Armor Badge, 30,000g. (Pathfinder Determination armor quality)
Silver, with a sun and eight rays of light. Once a day, Breath of Life CL10 when wearer drops below 0 hp.
I also toyed around with the idea of weapons that activate a spell every time they crit. It's already a thing with 'Burst' weapons, but I wanted a system that would accept any offensive spell. I also threw in the idea that armor or shields could cast a beneficial spell on you every time an attacking enemy rolled a nat 1.
The quickest thing I could come up with was, +1 for lvl 0 or 1 spells, +2 for lvl2 spell and +3 for lvl3 spells.
In other words, a +4 sword is balanced against a +1 sword that casts Cure Serious Wounds CL7 on you when you crit.
Or +4 armor vs +1 armor that casts Cure Serious when an enemy rolls a natural 1.
Then I went crazy, and made rules for weapons that cast a spell every time they hit someone. Or armor that casts a spell every time someone misses you. Obviously, they would have to be much more expensive to be balanced. So it would go like,
+3 for lvl 0 or 1 spells and +5 for lvl2 spells.
Result: A +1 Longbow that automatically casts Summon Nature's Ally 1 CL1 every time it hits someone is a +4 weapon.
But these are pretty rough ideas.
New Weapon Enhancements:
Loner-Bane. (+1 enhancement) Is a Bane weapon against anyone without combat allies within 60ft. Someone is a "combat ally" if they are conscious, and have a present desire to help the victim. If a bodyguard doesn't know their master is being attacked, they don't count.
All-Bane (+1 enhancement) This weapon has no special effect until it is washed in a creature’s blood or essence. Afterwards, it is a Bane weapon attuned to that creature type or subtype, until it is washed in blood again.
This is just something I made to see if I could.
Master Assassin’s Crossbow: Glamered Shadowy +1 Loner-Bane Merciful Hand Crossbow, 24,850g.
Can transform to look like any small handheld item about a foot long. Gives wielder +5 Stealth, Bane is for anyone without combat allies within 60ft. When Merciful, bolts can be easily removed and don’t leave bloody wounds, just bruises.
My "Dota is so cool" stealth and counter-stealth consumables:
Smoke of Deceit, 750g. Basically an Oil of Invisibility Sphere CL5. Yes, this oil affects multiple people.
Dust of Appearance 2.0, 750g. Throwable as a Glitterdust CL3 grenade, or gently shaken out as Glitterdust CL3 without the ability to blind.
And just in general, it's fun to generate offensive potions. You can drink a potion of Haste, why not throw a potion of Slow at your enemies?
Balance-wise, I'm uncertain if a multi-target spell should still affect multiple targets when it's a potion.
In a low-level campaign that wants to avoid character death, healing and buffing potions are important. So much that I decided to give them away at double the rate! For free!
Well no, not really. Take any potion that characters are probably going to use a lot of. Swap it for a bottle with two specially salted leeches. Consuming a leech counts as drinking the potion, but also does 1 Constitution damage. E.g:
Bottle with a pair of salted leeches that suckled a Swamp Drake (Potion of Resist Acid CL3), 300g.
Slightly acidic to the touch, do 1 Constitution damage. Grown in the Great Swamp.
If your loot table has too many potions, you can get a lot of mileage from refluffing.
A 25g potion of Stabilize is actually a magical bandage. A Virtue potion is a magic fortune cookie.
My "What god's Cleric made this Potion of Cure Light Wounds?" table. Because every potion should have marks from its manufacturer, holy symbols, probably a cool bottle shape too.
Obviously, refluff as required. Roll a d53.
1-3 Zeus
4 Hera
5 Heracles
6-7 Poseidon
8-9 Hades
10 Hermes
11-12 Apollo
13-15 Artemis
16 Athena
17 Aphrodite
18 Ares
19-20 Dionysus
21-23 Odin
24-25 Thor
26 Baldur
27 Aegir and Ran
28 Frey
29-31 Freya
32 Heindallr
33-34 Hel
35-36 Loki
37 Njord
38 Skadi
39-40 Tyr
41 Surt / fire Jotuns
42 Thrym / frost Jotuns
43 Utgard-Loki / mountain Jotuns
44-48 Someone who worships angels in general
49-53 Someone who worships demons in general
Similarly, my "Whose Cleric made this Incense of Meditation?" table. Roll a d4.
Aesir/Vanir incenses are usually alpine, woodsy or ocean-spray scents. Brown, red or metallic wax/incense melted onto an animal tooth or horn.
Olympian incenses are usually citrus, lemony or mahogany scents. Several bundled bundled turquoise, green or yellow sticks.
Demon lords / Abyss worship incenses are usually spiced, if not sulfurous, mildewy or rotten scents.
Angel executives / Heaven worship incenses are usually flowery or fruity scents or frankincense and myrrh. Cylindrical candles or crumbled potpourri.
I also make variant Riding Dogs and Heavy Warhorses, because I wanted animals that aren't animal companions to have some personality. And yes, they do have minor magic powers. Will post them later when I have time.
Lastly, I have races too. They're not that important because they're somewhat customized for my campaign world's backstory. I added and subtracted until everything had around 10 race points.
Dwarves don't have Hardy. Defensive Training and Hatred are keyed to Dragons. Like gnomes they have minor SLA's if their Cha is 11, they get Know Direction, Mending and Resistance.
Elf Magic only gives +1 to beat SR, but also gives +1 to fire magic DCs. Like gnomes they have minor SLA's if their Cha is 11, they get Flare, Light and Purify Food and Drink.
Drow have Fire Vulnerability instead of Light Blindness, 60ft Darkvision, no Poison Use or SR.
"Orcs" and "Half-orcs" use Tiefling stats, because they drank demonic blood and I recycle from Warcraft, sue me. All 10 races of PF Tiefling exist, they're the 10 orc tribes. Also +2 Survival.
Gnolls get Scent, and since it's PF we don't have to worry about Monstrous Humanoid racial HD.