Practical Magic – The Supply Pouch, Rod Of Residence, and Bottled Hedge Wizard

For today it’s a few items that are going to turn up with some upcoming characters – in this case some rather high-end utility magic.

 

Rod Of Residence: This elegantly-inscribed silver rod is studded with runes picked out in tiny emeralds. When it is used to sketch the outline of a door, whether in the air or against a surface, it opens a door to the pocket dimension associated with the rod. The door may be given any desired appearance, ranging from a simple crack in the surface on up to an elaborate storefront. Either way, it may be opened or sealed as needed.

Palatial Residence: Spacewarp Spell Template (The Practical Enchanter), with Barriers, Increased Size, Furnished, Supplied, Supportive, Stable, and a Mobile Entrance (with an “Optional Appearance” flourish) linked to the Rod. Base level 9, takes a full minute to cast (-1), requires a jewel-encrusted golden key (worth 4000 GP) as a focus (-1), for a net level of seven. (Spell Level 7 x Caster Level 13 x 400 GP One Use/Day (lasting up to twenty-six hours – more than enough to make it continuous) = 36,400 GP. Secondarily includes a Master’s Badge (The Practical Enchanter again; an item that provides swarms of helpful Unseen Servants) effect that only works within the residence (+2400 GP) Note that “dispelling” the place from the outside will simply close the doorway for a bit. Net total; 39,000 GP.

The Rod of Residence provides a comfortable mobile home and meals, as well as plenty of storage space, for a high level character on the go.If you want, you can also stash a small horde of endangered villagers there while you deal with the attacking monster horde (or whatever). It doesn’t, however, actually change the dynamics of high-level play very much; once you can get yourself a Portable Hole out of petty cash… storage space really isn’t a very big problem any more.

It does, however, provide an easy explanation for those disappearing magic shops that tellers of tales are so fond of throwing in to explain where some eccentric item came from though.

Basic D20 presents us with the Robe of Useful Items – which, at a cost of 7000 GP can produce anywhere from about 50 GP worth of items up to over 10,000 GP worth of handy mundane items (although, thanks to the randomization of what comes in a particular robe, the average is about 500 GP – as determined by a tedious, if very straightforward, calculation). Shrink Item allows you to carry along vast quantities of stuff if you want – but you still have to buy it. Of course, an adventurer who is short of mundane gear is not doing well at ALL.

For those who want even more utility, we have the…

Supply Pouch: A Supply Pouch offers access to the goods and services typical of a small town without actually having to have the town handy or to take the time to go shopping. It allows the user to simply produce some 750 GP worth of such goods and services over a period of time – although how often depends on the type of pouch.

Limited Wish L7 x L13 x 2000 GP + (50 x 1500 GP) = 257,000 GP x .4 (One subdividable charge per day) x .2 (only usable to produce items and services with a maximum total value of 750 GP – 50% of the cost of the spells 1500 GP material component) x.8 (only items and services which could be obtained in a small town – for example, no spellcasting services of above level three. Actual magic items cost double their base price, withdrawing cash is triple price – and generally comes in the form of gems rather than coins) = 16,450 GP.

Ad Hoc Adjustment: If limit is actually weekly, x.5 (8225 GP). If Monthly, x.25 (4100 GP), and if Yearly .125 (2050 GP). That gives us…

• Dragonscale Adventurer’s Pouch/Dilithium Express Card (Daily) 16,450 GP.
• Bejeweled Noble’s Pouch/Executive Credit Card (Weekly) 8225 GP.
• Leather Merchant’s Pouch/Business Credit Card (Monthly) 4100 GP.
• Cloth Yeoman’s Pouch/Pre-Paid Store Gift Card (Yearly) 2050 GP.

If someone just HAS to have one suited to an epic-level type, upgrading to three subdivideable charges per day – 2250 GP worth of stuff per day – raises the cost to 33,000 GP.

For those who wish to be constructive in dungeons…

• Door and suitable framing, with bar, installed to fit 10 x 10 area: Wooden (Hardness 5, 10 HP) 10 GP, Reinforced Wooden (Hardness 5, 20 HP) 40 GP, Iron (Hardness 10, 60 HP) 500 GP.
• 10 x 10 Wall: Masonry (2′ thick, hardness 8, 180 HP, Break DC 25) 250 GP, Packed Earth (3′ Thick, Hardness 2, 30 HP, Break DC 19) 10 GP, Wood (1′ Thick, Hardness 5, 120 HP, Break DC 26) 100 GP.
• Dig out 10 x 10 x 10 cube of: Earth 5 GP, Clay/Rocky Soil 15 GP, Stone 50 GP. Yes, you can put holes under creatures, but it’s only a DC 16 Reflex save to avoid falling in. Just as bad, going more than fifty or sixty feet down in earth tends to lead to the walls collapsing before anything can fall that far, leaving any possible victims landing on a pile of soft earth about sixty feet down for 3d6 damage.
• Build a Well (5 x 5, 100 feet deep) 200 GP. It comes with rope, winch, and bucket. While fitted stones hold the well open, trying to open one under someone allows them a DC 11 reflex save to jump away in time – which is unlikely to catch anything of the least importance.
• Build a Trail 1 GP/100 Feet. This means clearing out the trees and brush, and enough leveling to let a small wagon get dragged through.
• Build a Road: 1 GP/30 feet, x5 for difficult terrain. x2 for Gravel, x3 for Cobblestones, x5 for a solid base and mortared stones.
• Build a Bridge: 5′ x 5′ section: Rope-and-Board 2 GP, Wood 10 GP, Stone 25 GP, Iron 150 GP.
• You can also buy “Spellcasting Services” – pulling a variety of minor spells out of the pouch to help out. Unfortunately, they are cast at the caster level you pay for up to a maximum of the pouches caster level, not just at the caster level of the pouch. It’s much more effective than trying to dig pits under people though.

Yes, this is considerably better than the “Everfull Purse” minor artifact. Of course, if the players actually want to break the system instead of having fun with it, d20 offers a LOT of ways to do that – and fiddling around with a once-per-day Limited Wish item is hardly the most effective way to do that.

Now, for those who want to have even more utility magic, we can add a function:

Bottled Hedge Wizard

• Sentient Item: Rank 3 Imbued Spirit, 5000 GP, Int 12, Wis 16, Chr 14, Speak and Read (Common and Celestial), Telepathy with Owner, Heal Skill +12, Feats of Material Link and Hedge Wizardry. Ego 11, Lawful Good.
• Three Extraordinary Powers:
  • Bestowed Hedge Wizardry: As long as the user carries the item, he or she gains access to the Hedge Wizardry feat. (Surprising Mastery/Hedge Wizardry (Complex Mental Feat, No Prerequisite Feats, Requires that the “caster” already possess the feat (-1 spell level), Spell Level 2 x Caster Level Three x 2000 GP Unlimited-Use Use-Activated x .6 (only while someone is carrying the pouch) = 7200 GP. (Note that the Hedge Wizardry feat includes both access to the Hedge Wizardry spell list and the ability to make “conjures” – minor items of practical magic).
  • Lesser Hedge Magic: Bestows (or uses itself at Caster Level Nine) Sorcerer-Style Spell Slots 12 x L0 (Level Squared x 1500 GP x.5 (Hedge Magic Only) = 4500 GP) + 7 x L1 (same formula for 5250 GP) = 9750 GP.
  • Greater Hedge Magic: Bestows (or uses itself at caster level nine) Sorcerer- Style Spell Slots 3 x L2 (same formula, for 9000 GP) = 9000 GP.

Net Cost: 30,450 GP.

If you REALLY want to get elaborate, add a Bottled Hedge Wizard to an Epic Supply Pouch, for a net cost of 64,000 GP – and the ability to casually meet the mundane needs of a fair-sized town.

The Hedge Magic spell list is most unlikely to break the game – although a clever player will certainly find all kinds of uses for it – but between it and the basic functions of the supply pouch a character who’s so inclined will have an immense array of ways to be comfortable, accomplish minor tasks, and help out when Fireballs are utterly useless.