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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