Back to the Classics
There are lots of classic wondrous items, which are uniquely a part of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and its predecessors, and not found—at least in quite the same way—in other fantasy media. These iconic items are part of the game’s experience, and it’s exciting when you get to use one, or at least it should be. Today’s article provides three new magic items that relate directly to some of my favorite iconic wondrous items.
APPARATUS OF THE TOAD PRICE 110,000 gp
Slot —; CL 19th; Weight 500 lbs.
Aura strong evocation and transmutation
Presumably invented by the same mad wizard that created the apparatus of the crab, the apparatus of the toad is a similar metallic magical vehicle, although these are typically made of copper and allowed to oxidize to give them a beautiful green patina. When unoccupied, it appears to be a large metal barrel big enough to hold up to four Medium creatures. Close examination, and a DC 20 Perception check, reveals a secret catch that opens a hatch at one end. Anyone who crawls inside finds 8 (unlabeled) levers, a single red button, and seating for two Medium or Small occupants. The ceiling of the interior contains a small cage with five sides, the open side being pressed against the front wall of the apparatus. Mounted to the ceiling at the top of the cage is a winch with a long coil of cable, and some sort of launching mechanism. The levers and button allow those inside to activate and control the apparatus’s movements and actions.
Operating a lever (or the button) is a full-round action, and neither the button nor a particular lever may be operated more than once per round. The more complex operations of the apparatus are outlined below.
Grappling Cable: The mechanism on the roof of the apparatus’s interior is designed to fire a grappling cable. Treat this as a ranged touch attack with a range increment of 30 feet and a maximum range of 300 feet. If the attack hits, the grappling cable latches on to its target, allowing the apparatus to attempt to initiate a grapple combat maneuver as a free action. The cable has hardness 10 and 20 hit points, and can support up to 2,000 lbs. of weight. If the grappling cable is not currently attached to anything, using the lever to retract the cable retracts the entire length. If it is attached to a creature or object, treat this as a pull combat maneuver, except that the apparatus of the toad does not need to move with the target. A creature pulled all the way to the apparatus of the toad’s space is deposited in the cage, which is large enough for two Medium creatures or one Large creature, although it is easily escaped if the apparatus’s mouth is not closed.This lever does nothing if the mouth is not open, and the mouth cannot close while the grappling cable is not fully retracted.
Horn: Pulling this lever causes a loud, ribbit-like noise to issue forth from the apparatus. The sound can be clearly heard up to 1 mile away (DC 0 Perception check).
Leap: Pressing this button while the apparatus’s legs are retracted has no effect. If the legs are extended, however, it causes them to perform a mighty leap, propelling the apparatus 100 feet vertically and 200 feet horizontally. The landing is very jarring, inflicting 1d6 points of nonlethal damage for every 20 feet of vertical drop (typically 5d6, unless the apparatus lands on a location higher than where it leaped from) to each creature within the apparatus, and inflicting half that much damage to the apparatus itself (this damage ignores hardness).
Unlike an apparatus of the crab, an apparatus of the toad is not air-tight, and if completely submerged, begins to flood. However, it can safely swim and float on top of water.When active, an apparatus of the toad has the following characteristics:
hp 150; hardness 10; speed 20 ft., swim 20 ft.; AC 20 (−1 size, +11 natural); ranged grappling cable +8 touch (grab); CMB +14; CMD 24.
Craft Wondrous Item, animate objects, continual flame, jump, creator must have 8 ranks in Knowledge (engineering).
ASTRAL BOMB PRICE 7,500 gp
Slot none; CL 12th; Weight 3 lbs.
Aura strong conjuration
These unusual leather bundles are small enough to fit in the palm of the hand, and are designed to be able to be easily thrown (range increment 10 feet). Consisting of a scrap from a portable hole and leather from a bag of holding, the bundle collapses in on itself on impact, creating an astral rift in much the same fashion that occurs when those two items are combined. Alternatively, an astral bomb can also be triggered by a command word, from up to 60 feet away.
When triggered (whether by impact or by a command word), an astral bomb creates a rip in space, opening a portal to the Astral Plane. Each creature within 10 feet of the astral bomb suffers 5d6 points of damage, and must succeed on a DC 18 Reflex save or be sucked into the vortex, being transported to a random location on the Astral Plane.
Once used in this way, an astral bomb is destroyed.
Craft Wondrous Item, plane shift, secret chest
ROD OF IOUN ASSAULT PRICE 9,500 gp
Slot none; CL 9th; Weight 5 lbs.
Aura moderate transmutation
These unusual rods are made from several spent ioun stones of various sorts, each of which is fastened together through magical means to form a single rod of many colors and a very rough, unusual shape. When wielded by someone who is currently benefitting from one or more ioun stones, the rod gives a faint hum.
As a standard action, the wielder of a rod of ioun assault can point it at a single creature within 60 feet, directing up to three ioun stones currently affecting the wielder to fly through the air like missiles and strike the target. Make a separate ranged attack for each ioun stone, each with a range increment of 20 feet. Each stone that hits deals 1d4 points of damage, plus 1 additional point of damage for every 5,000 gp the ioun stone is worth (up to a maximum bonus of +5). Whether an ioun stone hits or misses, it returns to the rod’s wielder at the beginning of the wielder’s next turn, and until that time, the wielder does not gain the ioun stone’s benefits.
Craft Rod, telekinesis