Handy Haversack: Seven Trinkets
Have some extra gold in your purse? You’d be surprised how little can stand between you and that second Prestige Point. I’m blessed to come from a lodge where our Venture-Captain reguarly resolves entire encounters with a single offbeat item. And I’m going to try to share as many of them as I can, in conveniant clumps of ten! Some of these are rare gems. Others I’m using to showcase uses or builds. And some are items so near and dear to my heart that I just can’t resist giving a sales pitch.
Dream Journal of the Pallid Seer
For 600 GP you get to reroll a lethal save, or force an enemy to reroll a lethal attack. This does require a scenario with travel time, or some other way to deal with fatigue. The best part? While each Dream Journal only works once, you can save your old ones to pass out to the rest of the party. Just keep track of which PCs have read which Dream Journals! Using this item does require a copy of Pathfinder #27: What Lies in Dust, from the Council of Thieves AP, but it’s a fabulous adventure.
Spring-Loaded Wrist Sheath
Buy them. They are only 5 gp and are amazing. How amazing? I usually buy enough to pass them around the party incase not everyone has them. Some people call them “cheesy”, but it makes sense that everyone should have on or two things they can grab without much effort. I’ve used them for Scrolls of Planeshift, Wands of Cure Light Wounds, Oil of Daylight, Feather Tokens or just a Masterwork comb for laughs. Pro-tip: roll them up and stuff them inside of other spring-loaded wrist sheaths so you can pass them out to the party at the start of the scenario…as a swift action!
Tunnel Creeper
For 350 gp this hole is anything but a money-pit! Hey, don’t laugh; By RAW a Pit-Trap costs around 10,000! In all seriousness, there are so many challenges you can completely bypass with an “instant hole”, whether your breaking-in, escaping or just suspect the exit to the dungeon is right on the other side of that one wall…also makes for great instant-traps!
Feather Token (Tree)
The best 400 gp you will ever spend. It won’t always end encounters. It won’t always be the perfect escape button. But seeing the resulting chaos from a sudden-tree will always be the highlight of my night, and if you can’t figure out what to do with a landscape altering item like this, you aren’t trying hard enough. I’ve seen it used against a dragon’s breath weapon. I’ve seen it launch enemies who thought they were safe sniping from a platform. I’ve even seen it used as a less conventional means of…yes. It does make a fantastic emergency escape button, but many of its less convential uses will encounter table variation.
Bear Trap
At only 2gp the Bear Trap is a bargain. If you have enough strength or a pack animal, I suggest carrying a few dozen at a time. Even in higher tiers a DC20 Strength Check is quite a task, especially if your being attacked as soon as you step in the darn trap. And even if you make the Perception check, most enemies are unlikely to check for traps a second or third time…and even if they do, you can likely use the time it takes them to look for traps to reposition your party for the ultimate ambush.
Net
It’s weird including a core item on the list, but for 20 gp it’s totally worth carrying one “just incase”. Entangling a swimming or (poor) flying creature is brutal. Feel free to take the -4 penalty for nonproficiency; it’s a touch attack!
Angel Quill Arrowhead
Ever encounter an enemy with DR in a tier 1-5 Scenario? Sure, every party will have one or two characters who remember their arsenal of special material sidearms. But for 10 gp you can be the hero of the party and effectively do 5 damage per attack to an enemy who could be otherwise invincible! The item is fantastic for “pet classes”, who rarely have the requisite cold iron/silver/adamantine weapon ready to bypass that DR with their flurry of natural attacks.