Things like...
#1: Aegis of Recovery
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| Hold person you say? Hold on, I got a bonus for that. |
The aegis of recovery, located in Ultimate Equipment, is an item that tends to be undervalued. Its main function is that it provides a +2 bonus on saves made against a lot of ongoing effects after you fail your first save. This includes against poisons, daily saves versus disease, and against spells like hold person. Where it can really be a life saver, though, is that if you're ever brought below 0 hit points the aegis crumbles to dust, and heals you for 2d8+3 points of damage. For 1,500 gold, that can pull your butt out of the fire when it matters.
There's also a greater version of this item, which provides +5 bonuses and heals you for 5d8+7 points of damage. It costs 3,750 gold, but if you find one, you may as well hang onto it. Just in case.
#2: Trollblood Elixir
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| Even prestidigitation can't make this taste good. |
Trollblood elixir, as the name suggests, is a thick, viscous, disgusting liquid. However, it can be just the thing if you find yourself sitting next to a severed limb, or lingering on death's welcoming mat.
Found in the Giant Hunter's Handbook, trollblood elixir runs you about 4,550 gold pieces, and it's a one-shot item. However, once you finally toss it back, it gives you fast healing 5 for one minute (or the equivalent of 50 hit points worth of healing). You aren't feeling good while it does its thing, but that's a small price to pay. More important than the total amount of healing, though, it can reattach severed limbs if they've been cut off for less than an hour, which can be just what the cleric ordered if you fail the wrong save against some seriously nasty stuff at higher levels.
While not practical for cuts and scrapes, this is one of those things you either acquire just in case.
#3: Boots of The Earth
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| These boots were made for stomping! |
One of the most ridiculously valuable items for its cost, boots of the earth are found in Inner Sea Gods. These dwarven boots have marble soles, and as a move action the wearer can plant their feet to draw strength from the earth beneath them. This grants them a +4 bonus against trip, bull rush, and reposition combat maneuvers, but more importantly it grants them fast healing 1. As long as you keep your feet planed and stay conscious, these bonuses keep going.
These boots only cost 5,000 gold pieces, and that is a steal for what they do.
#4: Gorget of Umbral Hunger
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| All right, it doesn't heal THAT much. |
Coming in at 6,500 gold, the gorget is not a great value for your money if you're buying it in a shop. If you come across it in a treasure hoard, though, it can be something worth hanging onto. Found in Merchant's Manifest, the gorget activates when it's in an area of dim light, or darkness. It grants the wearer fast healing 1, but it can only heal 20 points of damage per day before it's exhausted.
Not ideal, but since it will heal damage from any source (unlike a lot of other items that grant you temporary fast healing but which are shut off by things like cold iron or silver), and dim light is easy enough to find, it can be useful. Maybe not as good as the other entries on the list, but worth thinking about all the same.
#5: Determination Armor
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| I am here to kick ass, and chew bubblegum. And I'm all out of bubblegum. |
I first came across the determination armor enchantment back when it was in the Advanced Player's Guide, and it's one of those things almost no one gets to use. After all, it costs you 30,000 gold, and that's on top of the other enchantments your armor has to have. However, this enchantment gives you a once-per-day breath of life spell that goes off when you get downed.
Ask any group that needed that spell, but didn't have it, how critical this can be to stopping the tide of battle from turning against you. Now imagine having it on-hand as a get-out-of-boned-free card once per day. It's an expensive insurance policy, but one you're glad to have when you really need it.
That's all for this week's Crunch installment. Hopefully it helps some of the groups out there trying to keep their HP up so they can press on in the face of hardship! If there are any I missed (magic items specifically, not spells and class features) feel free to leave them in the comments below!
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Fantastic write-up on these! Thank you for putting it together and for sharing it.
ReplyDelete1. Aegis of recovery - the value of the item is a 1/use emergency heal for, on average, 12 points of health. Just 12. That won't be worth much in combat and, after a few levels, may virtually guarantee your character is killed by healing you just enough to bring you up so the monster attacks you for another round. It also takes up the valuable neck slot which means you're not benefiting from an amulet of natural armor or other items. It also has the drawback of being a resistance bonus so it doesn't stack with the cloak of resistance.
ReplyDeleteThis item is best used at low levels - say 1-5, and the price suggests that you'll probably only see it used from level 4-5.
The greater aegis of recovery now is 3750g, and heals you for an average of 25 hit points. That's arguably more worthwhile but again, it's taking up the neck slot. As such, this is best done as a magical tattoo and if that's not an option then it's not worth losing out on the other neck options.
2. Trollblood elixir - this is expensive for a 1/use item that requires actions to activate. (move action to retrieve, standard to apply) 750 gold gives you a wand of cure infernal wounds. Each charge is, effectively, 10 hp and that makes each wand worth 500 hitpoints of healing. You can purchase six wands for the price of one trollblood elixir. That nets you 50hp vs 3000hp. Ahh, but we're talking out of combat healing here. Still, let's be honest. By the time you're willing to pay almost 5k for a single use consumable, the healing from trolls blood each turn won't be high enough to be worth spending a round activating it.
Detatched limb? That's only 910g if you purchase a casting of regenerate in town. Or wait! Purchase a cracked pearly white spindle ioun stone for 3,400. Now you have permanent regenerate to apply to any potentially lost limbs without taking up an item slot and some very slow healing. And you still have enough left for a wand of infernal healing. Granted, you need someone in the party who can activate it, but the party that can't is rare indeed.
3. Boots of the earth - no complaints here. This is hands down the best out of combat healing item (as long as you ignore the pfs rule, that is). Fantastic for just about any game.
4. Gorget of Umbral Hunger - 20 hp a day in dim light. This is more expensive than the boots, less effective, just a straight up downgrade. It's based off infernal healing, but it's a long way from being cost efficient.
5. Determination Armor - so expensive for what it does! Saving yourself in a pinch is very valuable, but hopefully not something that we need often. The lesser talisman of life's breath, 3500g, can perform the effect once after which it crumbles to dust. It does take up the amulet slot, but as it's a talisman it can be paired with two other talismans for a greater range of protection than, say, the gorget. There is also this interesting item from the healer's handbook, the phoenix feather. The phoenix feather has a variety of uses. The primary one relevant here is that if you would take damage that would reduce you to negative hit points, you can activate the phoenix feather as a free action to reduce the damage by up to 5d8+9 points. It's a slotless magic item that costs 4500g, but has some other nice effects as well for the higher level adventurer.
My suggestion here would be to start off with the phoenix feather if you can wait for the extra gold. If you see a LOT of knockouts in your game then the determination armor may be a worthwhile enchant - especially if someone can do it at cost. The phoenix feathers, however, will remain potentially useful throughout your adventuring career for their save effects. Also better if you can have them crafted. And, of course, the boots of the earth for your non-emergency healing.
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ReplyDelete