Preparation, Tricks, and Strategies

Version 0.0.01 Table of ontents

Ashiel's Guide to Adventure

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Foreword: I love the nature of adventuring. Adventuring has traditionally been a very dangerous if lucrative profession. Adventurers die, and die, and die some more. Some are lucky enough to only have to die once. What separates the adventurers that make it from the ones who were ust another party that never returned! Well, I think creativity and preparation make the largest difference. I didn"t think much about this sort of thing, until #eter Stewart said the following in another thread. degrees of success. Shall you brave the dangers and come out on top, or be another tavern tale of the ones who never came back!

General-purpose Adventuring Equipment

7et 5here 8e 7ight: 5here are a lot of monsters and enemies who like to spam darkness spells &and deeper darkness(. 9reatures like tieflings, drow, shadow demons, darklings, and dark folk are notorious for this. %any people complain that this is unfair- especially since most #eter Stewart wrote: of these creatures either care nothing about the lighting $onestly some of your tactics here have given me a great condition"s drawbacks, or can see through them fine &such deal to think of for future characters. I"d be interested in a as in the case of darklings and dark folk(. So what is an general thread on purchases you think are viable or adventurer to do! needed at various levels, along with various tricks. A heightened continual flame hadn"t even occurred to me, 7ight spells &that is, the light subtype( such as light, for instance. continual flame, and daylight pierce magical darkness %y party could use some more asymmetrical means of spells that are a lower level than themselves. A good combating such problems, as right now our tendency is to adventuring tool is to have an item or two that has had a bully through them using brute force &usually taking tons heightened continual flame spell cast on it to at least :th of damage and e'pending tons of resources in the level. 5hat costs ../ gp including the material component, process(. We"re coming up on a long period though were to have it purchased by ;#9 spellcasting. Suddenly, the we"ll be able to resupply and ree)uip. :( legions of darklings and dark folk are nothing to you, as your continual torch &be it a torch, amulet, or even your So since #eter asked, here"s the beginning of a short belt buckle( shimmers and provides light that is advice column concerning *+*,#athfinder and preparing un)uenchable by spells such as darkness or deeper for adventure. I"m cool with people asking )uestions or darkness unless they are also heightened. Since spell<like advice or tips on specific things- and I"ll also answer abilities are the level of the spell they are mimicing, that )uestions concerning *+* ..' as well &though I may have means a :th level continual flame is never overpowered to reference the ../ S0* for particularly old school stuff, by a creature"s spell<like abilities. to make sure I"m not blurring too much(. 1uestions can be asked at the #ai2o thread: Ashiel"s 3uide to Adventure I"m most fond of having continual flame cast on the inside #reparation- and may be added to the guide. of a locket, so you can conceal or reveal the light easily enough, and carry it without having hands free. *isclaimer: As a simple disclaimer, I want to let everyone know that the advice below will assume that the standard 5he Science of Alchemy: Alchemical goodies can often be rules are in play. It doesn"t assume house rules or changes overlooked, but they can be pretty useful, especially at to the system. 4ust the goods, plain and simple. When low levels- but some are useful even at higher levels. 5urn there is something that is noted as working within the some vicious villains into trivial trials with a clever splash rules, but does not give guidelines for doing so- this guide of chemical supremacy= makes an attempt to figure out how you do it using the normal rules already in e'istence &such as touch attacks, Alchemical Weapons: Alchemical weapons such as splash weapons, etc(. alchemist fire or acid flasks are beautiful when used by the whole party. 5hey ignore damage reduction and If your 3% has any )uirks concerning item availability, target touch A9. 5hey"re ranged weapons, so they changes any spells, or otherwise alters something, your benefit from feats like #oint 8lank Shot, and 0apid mileage may vary. Shot. 5hey can be dual<wielded as well. 8y having your party focus<fire on a single tough creature, you can Introduction: Adventuring is a hard life. Few take up its bring them down to si2e in short order. For e'ample, call. 5hose who make it, go down as legends, and retire let"s say you"re facing down an enemy ;#9 in banded wealthy and with many ama2ing stories. 5hose who do mail and carrying a tower shield. $is A9 is easily >><>. not, inevitably forge their own stories as the ones who at ?st level. @'cellent time for a 881 wrapped in tinfoil= ust survived, or never came back, or was the one that $ave everyone toss an alchemist fire. A :<person party didn"t make it. 6es, adventuring is a hard life. A life that can easily land :dA damage on round ?, and another takes you by surprise. 5he key to surviving isn"t ust about :dA on round > &from the burning(. Sucks to be that whose muscles are largest or who knows the most spells. guy= #reparation, and clever thinking, can lead you to greater

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A Sticky %ess: 5anglefoot bags are ama2ingly good. 9huck a few of these at people or creatures you ust don"t like. It"s an auto<entangle, which is already a petty nice debuff, but also threatens to glue them to the ground, prevent them from flying, and forces tough concentration checks to cast spells. Worst case scenario, the target is still slowed by ?,> its speed. ;in as Banish: #robably the most overlooked alchemical item is the humble smoke stick. 9heap, and surprisingly effective. Cnless wind conditions are much against you, dropping one of these lets you use Stealth as if you were a ;in a 5urtle collecting bells, gain total concealment vs ranged attacks, and ruins sneak attacks. 6es, ruins sneak attacks. 6ou can"t sneak attack a target with concealment. 6ou can drop a single smoke stick at your feet and even if you"re surrounded by >/th level rogues, blind, and in the dark, you"re immune to their sneak damage. @'cellent against dirty roguish sorts, and even prevents an assassin"s *eath Attack. 8rutally efficient. A)ua Sanctum: $oly water. 5he anti<shadow. At >D gp a pop, this stuff is kind of like acid of alchemist fire for undead and evil outsiders. Incidentally, it specifically affects incorporeal creatures as well. It deals >d: damage as a ranged touch attack that doesn"t provoke attacks &see item description( if you shake the water at the enemy. >d: averages D damage, which means a ?st level party can tear a shadow apart by ust running up and splashing it with holy water. Statistically, : holy waters will outright kill a shadow &and less should force the shadow to flee for its unlife(, and frankly, ?// gp for a dead 90 . enemy seems entirely reasonable to me= 5he fact it also deals splash damage, and is party friendly is double the fun. Alchemists even get to add their Intelligence modifier to the damage, allowing them to take apart some truly nasty critters in short order. Side @ffects Include...: Antito'ins and Anti<plague are surprisingly useful. While antito'in has a hard time competing against the D/ gp potions of delay poison, it does have the advantage of being an alchemical and thus mundane item- thus it doesn"t re)uire a feat to create, and is freely available virtually everywhere ?//E of the time. It can be crafted by alchemists &either professional or the actual #9<class( for a mere ?A gp and provides a FD bonus that stacks with everything else in the game. Cnlike potions of delay poison, it cannot be dispelled or shut off in any way &dispelling the potions are only *9 ?>(, which make them useful even at levels where enemies are tossing dispel spells like rice at a wedding. Antiplague is even better, since disease can be so easily contracted, and few things give immunity to disease &it also lets those already afflicted roll twice and take the better result on their saving
Po#der $o%bs ,owder bombs are splash weapons that deliver a cloud of fine dust, flour, chalk, or similar substance. They are harmless, but can reveal the presence of invisible creatures or ob&ects. . bag, pouch, or similar vessel can be thrown as a splash weapon. 1reatures and ob&ects hit by the bomb are completely covered by the dust, and are no longer considered invisible. Invisible creatures and ob&ects caught in the splash radius are no longer considered invisible, but instead have concealment ('23 miss chance! because they are not completely covered in dust. The effects of the dust last until washed off (such as by water or prestidigitation!. 1linging dust does not prevent new instances of invisibility from functioning (such as having the invisibility spell cast on you again!, and thus must be re/dusted over again. "undane versus "agical The game assumes that natural laws are in place without there being explicit explanation for them. Forces such as gravity are merely assumed, even without explicit explanation. In essence, things that should work in real life should theoretically work in the fantasy game. That's not to say that these forces should be represented with exact scientific calculation, and many things are glossed over during the game for playability (there are no rules that express how fre uently a character needs to use the bathroom, or that they do at all, for that matter!. "f course, it should be understood that water makes you wet, dirt gets you dirty, and so forth. If something is relevant in game then you can find an in game measurement to base it on (a runaway cart may be ruled as a trample or slam attack# for example!. $o what happens when magic is introduced% Is magic outright superior to the mundane, or is it &ust different% In general, the normal laws do not stop functioning when magic is involved. $ome people have trouble with the idea that a 'nd level spell like invisibility could be overcome by a bag of flour scattered around an area# arguing that the investment of a 'nd level spell slot is worth more than a pound of flour. To this, I say ($o%). There are many things that have an Achilles' Heel, and are overcome by something that re uires less effort or investment. For example, the spell *th level spell ethereal jaunt makes you immune to almost every form of attack, but is overcome by the +st level spell magic missile. $omeone can build a grand house, but a lowly match can burn it down. That's &ust how it goes. It's this natural law that explains how the mundane can exist in a world with the fantastic. ,eople often wonder how is it that a mundane species such as humans could thrive in a world where fantastic creatures like dragons, demons, and wi-ards exist. The simplest answer is because there are other alternatives that they can find in nature. .rrows barbed with venom, alchemical concoctions, or simple ingenuity and problem solving may lead to success. In areas where dragons are common, flame/resistant building materials like stone and mud may be popular. 0here wyverns hunt humans, there may be packs of wyvern hunters who coat their arrows in powerful tran uili-er poisons that can bring them down. 0here wi-ards skulk about under the cover of invisibility, there is a fighter with a bag of flour waiting.

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5he %agic of the %ind: 5here"s a lot of very mundane methods for dealing with magical effects that ust re)uire Aw, ;ets: ;ets are arguably one of the strongest weapons a bit of thinking and preparation. Ine of my favorites is in the core handbook. 5hey deal no damage, but are a the bag of chalk or flour. 9halk can be purchased for ? non<magical ranged touch attack &meaning even the <: copper a piece and counts as a weightless item, and has non<proficiency penalty isn"t so bad usually( which inflicts many adventuring uses &such as marking trails and paths, the @ntangled condition on the target, and all that implies. leaving notes, drawing magic seals, etc(. 6ou can buy a 5o escape it, you must spend a full<round action to even whole bag &? lb.( of flour for only > copper pieces- which attempt to be free &either via a hard Strength check or a can be baked with some water and a fire, or fried to make *9 >/ escape artist(, which means that either an enemy a crispy food on the go. $owever, both are good for foiling has to deal with it, or waste actions to be free. $itting the invisibility. 5he invisibility rules clearly state that you can same enemy with multiple nets in the same round almost cover something invisible in substances like flour to be ensures the condition will remain for the entire able to see them &since the clinging substance doesn"t encounter- because no one wants to spend round after become invisible(. round trying to de<net themselves. First, get a bag of flour, or crush up some chalk, and fill 3host 8usting: A good investment for anyone who some cloth pouches with the flour or crushed chalk. 5ie a really hates incorporeal creatures is a F? ghost touch string or piece of cord around the edges of the cloth to net. Balued at G,/// gp, it"s not a terribly e'pensive create a small pouch filled with the appropriate powder. tool if the entire party chips in to get it. Why is this tool Simply loosen the knot and throw it as a splash weapon, so great! Well it has full effect on incorporeal and it should scatter clinging dust in a D ft. radius, foiling creatures, who auto<fail on Strength checks to move invisibility. away from you &allowing you to control how far they move away from you(, and since it counts as both 5his method is simple, effective, and cheap. It is based on corporeal and incorporeal, you can prevent them from the rule that flour and similar environmental conditions moving through ob ects while ensnared in your net. can allow you to make invisible creatures visible- but the @ntangled is also a terrible &if rare( condition for rules never specified how to do that. %erely that it could incorporeal creatures, as they rely heavily on *e'terity be done. 5his method makes use of e'isting rules and for both offense and defense &<> to attacks and <: *e' e)uipment to do so, using the rules for splash weapons. means <: to incorporeal touch attacks and <> A9( and Since not everything written here is e'plicitly covered in most thrive on improved mobility which is outright the rules &notably the delivery of the powdery substance(, denied in this case. you should check e'act methods with your 3%. I recommend the ad udication that is presented in the I"ll try the H Iron: 3olf<bagging is often a complaint by accompanying table J#owder 8ombsK. some of the casual gamers. #ersonally, I love golf<bagging. I like having that e'tra weapon on hand for a particular A #ot of $oney, A #ot of 0ain: 9lay ugs are pretty heavy occasion. @ver look at the #athfinder iconics! 7oaded with when filled, but are pretty useful. 5heir obvious use is for seemingly random assortments of weapons, with obvious carrying large )uantities of water or similar li)uids spares and backups. 3olf bagging has lots of advantages. &ideally packed on burden beasts such as mules, horses, or o'en(, but can often be adapted for adventuring purposes. 3rab a cold iron, silver &or mithral(, and maybe 5hey can ust as easily carry coins and the like, or you adamantine weapon. 9arrying them allows you to bypass could place food in them, fill them with black powder to the *0 of virtually anything. *efinitely have an make a bomb &if your campaign has such fare(, create assortment of silver and cold iron arrows &they"re cheap weapons or traps with them &fill them with spiders, and easy enough to store,carry(. It"s cheaper to carry lots scorpions, snakes, or whatever(, or even keep potted of F> weapons of different materials than it is to carry one plants in them &carrying around your own plants makes or two F. weapons, and it makes you less of a target vs the entangle spell useful in the most amusing places(. At sundering or shattering &because who bothers with that only > copper pieces, you can figure out what to do with when you"ve got a backup weapon in easy reach!(. them later. Flasks are . coppers with similar uses. 6ou can go a very long way with ust different material weapons and a greater magic weapon spell to keep your hit and damage top notch. It"s also easier to rely on special materials for all the low 90 enemies who re)uire things like silver or cold iron to hit &such as imps, )uasits, lycanthropes, or fey(. Leeping a few vipers in a state of sedation &via nonlethal damage, sleep spells, or other means( can be a good method of e'tracting lots of in ury poison for the budding assassin, alchemist, or other poison using character. 4ust milk their glands for poison daily. Finding and keeping vipers isn"t usually very difficult for adventurers. In fact, the clay pots can be useful storage devices in this case. If throws vs disease each day(.

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someone has a viper familiar, you could ust ask nicely for venom. 5hat"s 3ood Food, I 3uarantee: 5his isn"t )uite hardcore adventuring gear, but I"m kind of a sucker for a bit of role< play. I generally like my characters to cook, and trail rations suck &sure they"re filling but nuts, dried breads, and erky would get very old after a while(. I always liked the idea of having a nice stewing fire, cooking the days catch and en oying the )uiet peaceful aspect of the great ourney that is adventuring- so let"s talk about food. 5rail rations are e'pensive. D silver pieces per day for ? pound of food. 5hat"s like paying MD/ bucks a day to avoid starving. Incidentally, #athfinder and the ..D S0* also lack the item descriptions for this food source, so we really have no idea how long they last, or what"s in them &#athfinder hints at what appears to be small pieces of meat or maybe dried orange slices, cheese, and bread- but only through an art piece in the book(. So my characters typically pack their own meals. A whole loaf of bread is > coppers &?,> lb.(, ?,> lb. hunk of cheese is ? silver, and a ?,> lb. chunk of meat of my choice is . silver pieces &good god meat is e'pensive, isn"t it!(. I can get ?,> a pound more food for less than the cost of a trail ration. In fact, I could probably eat the whole week off a loaf of bread, chunk of cheese, and meat. 8uy an iron pot to round out your collection. 6ou can also buy poor meals &bread, baked turnips, onions, etc( in bulk and fill some ugs with stew. In your classic :<person adventuring party that includes ? cleric and ? wi2ard, you"re good to go on food now. 5he cleric can both infinitely cast create water and purify food and drink, while the wi2ard brings prestidigitation to the mi'. 5he cleric can prevent the food from going bad or spoiling indefinitely. 5he wi2ard can make the food taste like anything, and can turn the water to wine without the alcohol &he can change the taste and color(. I reali2e my micromanagement as a player might be a bit e'treme, but I have a subtle en oyment of whipping the iron pot off my mule or o', throwing together a stew, garlic bread, a few seasonings, and a fire. If I"m playing a wi2ard it"s doubly great, since I can take ?/ on a 9raft &%eals( check and en oy the subtle satisfaction that my food rocks socks.
Pre%ade Adventure (its General Purpose and ooking $ome players have little interest in micro/managing every bit of food and spices they're carrying, but the idea of carrying supplies for cooking on the go may still appeal to them. The same can be said about all kinds of interesting items used on an adventure. 4ere are some pre/compiled kits for such players. Their costs are calculated based on the core rulebook. Adventuring Kit: This kit includes basic adventuring e uipment that might be carried on your person. The kit includes the following items (and their uantity!5 backpack (+!, bell (6!, bedroll (+!, winter blanket (+!, candle (+2!, chalk (+2!, fish hook (+2!, flint and steel (+!, bullseye lantern (+!, small steel mirror (+!, pint of oil (+!, signal whistle (+!, soap (+!, torch ('!, waterskin (+!, whetstone (+!. Cost: '' gp, ' cp# Weight: '2 lb (7 weight if designed for small characters!. Adventuring Kit, Ultimate: This kit includes virtually everything that you may need during your typical adventuring career# and includes e uipment you may not even reali-e you need yet. $uitable for the most prepared (or paranoid! owner8 This kit includes + ox trained for war (knows the tricks attack, down, stay, heel, work, and has been trained to fight unusual creatures! wearing leather barding and saddlebags# as well as the following e uipment that is being carried by the ox5 blanket, winter (large si-ed for ox! (+!, block and tackle (+!, crowbar (+!, fishing net, '9 s . ft. (+!, grappling hook (+!, &ug, clay (+2!, ladder, +2 ft. (+!, pick, miner's (+!, pole, +2 ft. (+!, ram, portable (+!, rope, hemp (92 ft.! (+2!, sack, empty (+2!, shovel (+!, sledge (+!, tent (+!, and torch (+2!. Cost: +96 gp, 9 sp, 9 cp# Carrying Capacity: light load (*22 lb.!, medium load (+,'22 lb.!, heavy load (+,:22 lb.!, push;drag (<,222 lb.!# Current Load: =<+ lb. Cooking Kit: This kit includes an iron cooking pot, a cooking pan, wooden roasting sticks, four wooden bowls, flint and steel, a knife (dagger!, and a mixture of spices (such as an ounce of cinnamon, peppper, ginger, and salt!. >verything you need to cook on the go. Cost: ' gp, = sp# Weight: +2 lb.

5he *9 to climb a knotted rope with something to brace against &such as a wall, cliff, etc( is *9 /. *9 D with either no wall or no knots, *9 ?/ if both. %ost people can hit those *9s taking ?/ even with pretty bad check penalties. A guy or gal in plate mail can shimmy up such a rope without even having ranks in 9limb, while only taking ?/. 6ou can even tie the rope to yourself to avoid falling if you are distracted.

0opes and 9hains @'cite %e: 0opes are useful for way too many things &but that is the point of rope, right!(. $emp rope is for adventurers on a budget, and its only real drawback is it"s very heavy for its length. At low levels, I prefer packing anywhere between D/ to >// feet of this stuff, and carrying it on a pack animal like an o' &its 3rappling $ook! *oes Improved 3rapple help!: 5he weight means nothing to ol" Samson the o'(. Silk rope is grappling hook is a surprisingly useful piece of e)uipment. more e'pensive but weighs a lot less, and is a bit stronger. It has no obvious effects noted in its description, but @'cellent stuff for characters who need to carry a bit on instead e'plains that it is a A9 D attack roll to chuck a hand themselves in the ol" handy haversack. grappling hook at a suitable spot to anchor it &such as a ledge, utting rock, whatever(. $owever, its real use is 9hains are often overlooked. 5hey"re even heavier than hidden in the 9limb rules. When connected to a rope, you hemp rope and much more e'pensive &it costs ?D/ gp for can turn impossible to climb areas into trivial endeavors. D/ feet of the stuff, and it weighs ?/ lbs. for D/ ft. as well(,

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but it"s good stuff if you really need the e'tra durability. Cnlike ropes, chains have a hardness of ?/, D $p, and *9 >A break test. It makes it harder for enemies or natural environments to severe your life<line. I"ve had players whose ropes were destroyed by the splash<damage of acid flasks &the dwarf cleric was climbing out of a burning pit, and the party was pulling him up, but kobolds were across the pit, chucking acid flasks at the party. 5he ? point of splash damage ate through the rope, and our dwarf cleric tumbled back into the burning pit(. 8oth ropes and chains are also a good method of setting up makeshift traps. While I don"t believe it"s covered in the core rules, a pair of hiding characters between two trees with either a rope or chain wrapped and covered by some leaves or the like should almost certainly send a rider or a charging horse to the ground. ;ot sure how individual 3%s would rule it, but it seems to me like an area &the length of the rope between two points( trip attempt with a huge bonus to 9%8 vs running or charging creatures &easily F?/ and maybe even F>/(. 3ood means to base a low<tech mechanical trap on as well, methinks. A ;ote In #otions: #otions and oils have a bit of a stigma among many of us gamers. All too often, potions are associated with healing &it"s their most common use in computer 0#3s(- but you can go to almost any pen + paper gaming forum and learn that healing is usually a waste of actions and,or supplies. 5his association causes a lot of people to overlook the benefits of potions and oils. 5he mental progression goes something like this: if potions heal, and healing is inefficient, then potions must be inefficient. 5his is an easy but incorrect assumption to make. In truth, potions and oils are inefficient at healing, but that is only because the spells they carry are inefficient at healing. 5here are many spells that are work great or even better as potions or oils- making them highly attractive to players and ;#9s alike as tools for adventuring.

$ug 0angers + #aladins: 5he magic item creation rules state that the market price of an item is based on the lowest caster level that a spell can be cast at. 5his causes the market price for )uite a few utility and healing spells to be lower, because classes like #aladins and 0angers *o you see what I see!: 8ullseye lanterns are cool. 5he cast them as low level spells with an e)ually low caster #0*,S0* doesn"t ade)uately describe them, but they"re level &a #aladin"s caster level is e)ual to class level<.(. 5his lanterns with polished steel mirrors for sides, which can counts for all the usual items &oils, potions, and scrolls( as be placed in an up or down position. Csing these mirrors, well as other magic items as well. 5his is helpful for your if one shutter is opened, then you get a concentrated average adventurer, who can"t afford to spend .// gp on a beam of light that e'tends a in a A/ ft. cone of light, with potion that only heals ?d: ability damage, but might be another A/ ft. of dim light &double effective bright light for able to afford one for D/ gp low<light vision creatures(. Alternatively, all shutters can be opened for it to provide light in a >/ ft. radius like a First Aid: While healing hit point damage is difficult and normal torch or lantern. $ave a :th level continual flame inefficient with potions and scrolls- ability damage and spell cast on a wick or candle and place it inside the some other ailments are more reasonable. 5he following lantern &no longer is their line of effect for the continual are reasonable investments that are great for preparing flame to be dispelled, hurray( to have an infinite duration for adventures: deeper darkness piercing flashlight of epic proportions= scroll of delay poison &97 ?st, >D gp( scroll of lesser restoration &97 ?st, >D gp( It"s not 8aby<Iil &unless you"re a sick bastard(: 7amp oil is potion of delay poison &97 ?st, D/ gp( fairly cheap, and can be used for a variety of purposes. 5he most obvious would of course be setting things on potion of lesser restoration &97 ?st, D/ gp( fire. A single flask can fill a D ft. s)uare with oil and burns for two rounds. *rop a few of these in spaces you don"t *elay poison makes you immune to poison for ? hour, but want swarms moving through and have your party"s does not remove any effects the poison already applied wi2ard use spark, prestidigitation, or ray of fire to ignore &such as ability damage(, while lesser restoration can it. It burns for > rounds. Inly the worst of meta<gaming restore ?d: points of ability damage and cures Fatigue. 3%s would ever suggest that a tiny swarm &such as 8oth are good tools to keep around in case you end up in a beetles, spiders, and so forth( would ever cross a burning spider infested forest, or some other situation where you space to attack the party- and most animals have a natural might end up poisoned, fatigued, or ability damaged. 5he aversion to fire. It"s cheap enough to carry in large scrolls are a good bet with any divine caster in the party. )uantities &like clay ugs(, and could be used to set traps, or maybe even something really bi2arre like fuel your We *on"t ;eed %agic Swords: %agic weapons are lamps. e'pensive. 5he cheapest of them are >,.// gp. 5hat"s a lot of coin to be dropping on what is only a F? damage over Magic Items Oils, Potions, Scrolls, and any masterwork weapon. Sometimes you need that little F? to overcome some damage reduction, or hit incorporeal Wands foes. Worry no more. 4ust go on using your masterwork

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weapon, and carry an oil of magic weapon with you for the odd emergency. 5here are several e'cellent methods to get potent weapons on the cheap as consumables. $ere are a few: Iil of magic weapon &97 ?st, D/ gp( Iil of bless weapon &97 ?st, D/ gp( Iil of shillelagh &97 ?st, D/ gp( Iil of magic fang &97 ?st, D/ gp( Iil of abundant ammunition &97 ?st, D/ gp( Spells like magic weapon, magic fang, and shillelagh turn weapons into F? weapons for ?/ rounds, allowing you to damage incorporeal creatures and pierce armor class. Shillelagh is a personal favorite because it makes a club or staff deal >dA damage in addition to being a F? weapon. 8less weapon is ideal against any an all evil creatures, as it makes the weapon hit as both a F? weapon, a good<aligned weapon, and causes the weapon to auto<confirm critical hits against evil creatures. Abundant ammunition doesn"t actually enhance a weapon, but instead can be applied to a )uiver or similar- allowing you reuse certain special ammunition, such as adamantine, cold iron, or silver arrows. Ine of the ma or benefits of carrying a few oils of these spells as opposed to stocking up on actual magic weapons is the fact you can choose what to apply them to. 6ou may find that you need a F? longbow to shoot a flying wi2ard under the effects of a protection from arrows spell- or you may reali2e that you need a F? longsword to overcome the damage reduction of something with *0,magic and slashing- and so forth. 6ou can also apply the magic weapon or abundant ammunition to a )uiver of arrows and have multiple ad acent archers draw arrows from the same )uiver. 9ontains Stimulants: Ikay, we all know abusing steroids is bad- but potions and oils are a great alternative to getting beefy really, really fast. #otions or oils can be applied to a willing or unattended target by someone other that the the target of the potion or oil. In other words, you can turn your party barbarian into a lubed up engine of super destruction in short order. $ave everyone apply an oil to the target during the same round. $ere"s an e'ample of how this simple but effective tactic works. We have a Dth level party that consists of a barbarian, cleric, paladin, ranger, and wi2ard. 5hey are ambushed by a pair of wyverns with dangerous attacks and poison tails. *uring the first round of a tough combat, the wi2ard casts haste on the whole party. %eanwhile, the cleric, ranger, and paladin apply an oil of enlarge person, oil of delay poison, and oil of grease on the barbarian, resulting in the barbarian becoming immune to poison, large si2e &with increased reach(, and granting him a F?/ bonus against the wyverns" grab attempts to start grappling with him. 5he barbarian immediately rushes into the wyverns to lock them into melee, dealing far more damage, and safe knowing that he is immune to their poison, or them grabbing him and flying off with him. In the above e'ample, the party used . ?st level oils, valued at ?D/ gp for the whole lot. A very fair e'penditure to fight off a pair of wyverns, and the barbarian got very powerful very )uickly. #otions and oils can allow classes who can"t usually buff allies to provide some )uick boosts. If their party was fighting demons, the barbarian may have been applying oils on the #aladin instead, since the #aladin has spells and abilities for fighting evil demons. Alternatively, everyone"s first action in a combat may be to drink a potion before enemies get on top of them. If you are facing monsters like succubi or vampires, you might want to have your entire party gulp down a potion or oil of protection from evil to ward against mind control- or at least have a character with a good will<save &like the #aladin( apply an oil to someone without a good will save &like the 8arbarian( to protect against such attacks.
+ , A- .h/ 0o 1ou 2ike Potions so "uch3 I've noticed that a lot of players and ?@s alike tend to forget about consumables like potions, oils, and scrolls# for both the ,1s and A,1s. . lot of people look at consumables as wastes, since you use them then they're gone. $o a friend of mine, after seeing good use of consumables in practice during one of my games, asked where I learned to use potions so deviously. The truth is that I learned it from one of my favorite computer games, Baldur's ?ate by Bioware;Black Isle, which came out around +<<:. The game was set in the Forgotten Cealms, and used the 'nd >dition Dungeons E Dragons system for its rules. 0ithout giving anything important away (you must play this game!, the first game is a low level adventure that takes you from +st to about <th level or so, counting the expansion pack. There is a lot of adventuring in rural settings, and you see lots of modest si-ed villages and towns. In general, the first seems like a low/magic game done right (there's not a whole lot of casters, and you en&oy your +2 longsword Varscona a lot!. The games are very tactical. 0hile most A,1s typically had mundane weapons and armor (even for fairly high level ones!, they tended to kick my butt ferociously. .fter getting trashed by the bad guys uite a bit, I reali-ed it was because they were using potions# which were often available in shops E temples. I started using potions and such more often (you find lots of them in the game!. Aothing uenches the thirst for battle like a potion of cloud giant's strength or cuts like an oil of speed.

Wave those Wands: Wands are kind of like bulk<purchase scrolls, but they"re easier to use. Ine of the best things about wands is that they don"t care about the level of their caster, and you can use them freely if the spell in them is

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on your class spell list. 5his makes wands, both purchased and crafted e'cellent resources for your party. It"s also a big plus for classes like #aladins and 0angers, who can use a variety of useful wands without trouble, ust as easily as your party"s clerics and druids. So why is this important! 8ecause the folks who wrote the Summoner ignored the ripple effects. 9ore casters such as clerics, druids, sorcerers, and wi2ards can now legally buy wands and scrolls of these spells and use them with no trouble, craft some of their own items at a new lower caster and spell level to save in cost, and in some cases 6ou 3# for your $#: %any e'perts on *+* have long since scribe scrolls into their spell books for less money. determined that for pure gold to hit point ratio, a wand of cure light wounds cannot be beat. At ND/ gp for a brand $ere"s an e'ample: Summoners get haste as a >nd level new D/ charge caster level ? wand, it heals an average of D spell, at :th caster level. A whole spell level and caster hp per chage, or >D/ hp worth of healing. 5hat"s about . gp level before the original sorcerer,wi2ard casters do. ;ow, per hit point, which beats out potions and scrolls handily. a 97 :th wand of haste is legal, and costs only A,/// gp, as opposed to the 97 Dth wand of haste that cost ??,>D/ gp 8est yet, half of the classes in the core rulebook that can originally. Several items are now incorrectly priced in the use one of these wands without fail. 8ards, 9lerics, *ruids, core rulebooks &such as boots of speed, which were ?>,/// #aladins, and 0angers, can all use a wand of cure light gp, but now should cost only G,/// gp(. 7ikewise, you can wounds- leaving only 8arbarian, Fighter, %onk, Sorcerer, now get summon monster B &traditionally a Dth level spell( and Wi2ard re)uiring Cse %agic *evice checks. into a wand &limited up to :th level spells(, along with any other spell listed in the :th level summoner spells above. If you have a caster with 9raft Wand, you can craft these for half price, setting the cost of healing to ?.D $p healed. Since this is advantageous to those on a budget or looking to stretch the distance of their last gold piece, I"m listing 5hank the Summoners: Summoners have discounted a ton the costs for these spells as scrolls, wands, and potions, of spells for other casters who share the same spells with since they have some slightly unusual caster levels. them. %agic item prices are set on the lowest caster level #otions,Iils: >nd level &:// gp(, .rd level &?,/D/ gp( that a spell can be cast at. When creating magic items, you Scrolls: >nd level &.Do gp(, .rd &D>D gp(, :th &?,/// gp(, Dth can intentionally craft items at a lower caster level, as &?,AD/ gp(, Ath &>,:// gp( long as it is at the minimum caster level that the spell can Wands: >nd level &A,/// gp(, .rd level &?D,ND/ gp(, :th level be cast. 8ecause summoners were given spells at lower &./,/// gp( levels than they should have been, we now have access to the following spells at much cheaper costs when making + , A- .hat 0o 1ou Think About Su%%oner Spells3 or buying magic items &original level, original caster ?etting spells earlier and cheaper than in core leaves a bad taste level(: in the mouths of some gamers. $ome would consider the >nd 7evel &97 :th(: haste &.rd, Dth(, phantom steed &.rd, Dth(, summoner's effect on magic items a game abuse# while some slow &.rd, Dth(, and wind wall &.rd, Dth(. would see it as &ust another side effect of an evolving game. rd th th th . 7evel &97 N (: black tentacles &: , N (, charm monster th th th th th &: , N (, dimension door &: , N (, dimensional anchor &: , ,ersonally, I don't really like it, but included it for completion's Nth(, fire shield &:th, Nth(, minor creation &:th, Nth(, stoneskin sake. I've checked out the rules for magic item creation, and &:th, Nth(, summon monster IB &:th, Nth(,wall of fire &:th, Nth(, whether I like it or not, that's the way it is. The summoner's silly th th and wall of ice &: , N (. spell list creates odd ripple effects in the rest of the system. :th 7evel &97 ?/th(: baleful polymorph &Dth, Hth(, contact $ome magic items are no longer correctly priced, some magic other plane &Dth, Hth(, insect plague &Dth, Hth(, mage"s faithful items can now be crafted more cheaply, and so on and so forth. hound &Dth, Hth(, magic ar &Dth, Hth(, ma or creation &Dth, Hth(, 0hile it's not something I'm particularly fond of, I haven't overland flight &Dth, Hth(, lesser planar binding &Dth, Hth(, th th th th banned the summoner or the changes from my games# but I have summon monster B &D , H (, teleport &D , H (, and wall of considered altering the summoner's spell progression to be a stone &Dth, Hth(. proper full progression. It's stupid to give a class a secondary th th th th th D 7evel &97 ?. (: banishment &A , ?? (, creeping doom &N , spell progression if you're &ust going to load them down with th th th th th ?. (, greater dispel magic &A , ?? (, ethereal aunt &A , ?? (, higher level spells at the usual caster levels. 0hat's the point of planar binding &Ath, ??th(, simulacrum &Nth, ?.th(, spell turning giving the class 'nd tier casting if you're not giving them 'nd tier &Nth, ?.th(, summon monster BII &Nth, ?.th(, greater teleport spell access as well% @ost of their spells (especially the good &Nth, ?.th(, and wall of iron &Ath, ??th(. ones! don't allow saving throws, making the level of the spell itself meaningless as far as balance is concerned. Ath 7evel &97 ?Ath(: binding &Gth, ?Dth(, dimensional lock &Gth, ?Dth(, discern location &Gth, ?Dth(, dominate monster &Hth, For now, I would &ust caution any designer, be they homebrewer ?Nth(, incendiary cloud &Gth, ?Dth(, ma2e &Gth, ?Dth(, greater or professional writer, against pulling this stunt again. Be wary planar binding &Gth, ?Dth(, protection from spells &Gth, ?Dth(, of what you're doing before you do it. Don't make a class like th th th th summon monster BIII &G , ?D (, sympathy &G , ?D (, and this again. >ither give them bard casting or wi-ard casting. Don't th th teleportation circle &H , ?N (. force wi-ard casting into a bard's spell slots. It's &ust stupid.

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We Still have #aladins and 0angers: At least #aladin and 0anger spells aren"t as cra2y as summoner spells, but we can still thank them for their subtle spell list. 5he spells delay poison, lesser restoration, and resist energy are all great spells to have in a wand, and all three cost ND/ gp for D/ charges. #aladins also give a uni)ue gift to the budding adventurer. Wands of holy sword. 5hese wands are costly, at ./,/// gp for D/ charges, but they turn any melee weapon into a FD holy weapon that produces a magic circle against evil for ?. rounds. A fair purchase for a lower level #aladin, or for anyone with significant investment in the Cse %agic *evice skill. For rangers, a scroll &ND/ gp( or wand &>>,D// gp( of instant enemy can turn a battle really fast, since it allows you to declare any enemy your favored enemy. It"s almost like declaring a smite evil, but for rangers. It"s ;ot 5hat $eavy: A worthy mention for potions, scrolls, and wands is the spell ant haul, introduced in the Advanced #layer"s 3uide. 5he spell triples the target"s carrying capacity, and is absolutely disgusting when applied to an o' or similar beast of burden &your typical o' with ant haul can carry ?,G// lbs as a light load, .,A// lbs as a medium load, D,:// lbs as a heavy load, and can push or drag up to >N,/// lbs(=