Favourite item description

Remove all ads!

I'm curious, with so many items in that game, I wonder what are your favourite item descriptions? Not favourite item mind you, I'm thinking of the stories, names and descriptions.

I'm quite partial to "How To Be An Adventurer" (1st and 2nd Ed.):

"Face It, You're Actually Neutral Evil."

This line is just too good and it's so true!

 

The description for Cera Sumat is nice, but oh so long.

 

That throwing axe which does bludgeoning damage since its hilt hits first, it is hillarious IMHO.

But I agree 'How to be An Adventurer' is the best!

 

You mean "Haft Over Head"? It's quite good actually.

I also like a lot the description for the "Hammer of Luzerne" a halberd which makes it even funnier when you consider that contrary to previous Infinity Engine games, there is no weapon restrictions on clerics anymore.

 

I also like the description for the "How To Be An Adventurer" book the most, it's a pity that the book is quite useless.

 

Gives you what...10 K xp?? I hardly call that useless!! My ECL handicapped characters sure thank me for that book!

 

You get the next level faster but you get less fighting XP afterwards.

With some party compositions it can be useful using it, like in a party with 5 non-ECL characters and a drow.
But if you have an aasimar and 5 non-ECL characters using the tome will even slow down level progression when you play the intended way.

 

K, then don't hit the Level Up button immediately, if that's a concern. 10K free XP (or 100K in HOF, IIRC) can never be a bad thing.

 

This can be considered game mechanics abuse and therefore cheating.
If you allow level-squatting you can reach the XP cap so fast that the book is useless, surely not worth spending money.

 

So true, which is why I'd simply level up and to heck with the consequences.

That said, K, I actually read in the DM's guide in a section on item making and spending XP on making items, some language that actually sounded suspiciously similar to delaying one's character from levelling up. The reason was that a character could never expend XP making an item if it would drop them below their current level's minimum. OTOH, it also suggested that if the character intended on making an item that would bring it below a level minimum, it was not required that the character level up immediately. I don't own the DMG and didn't read everything, but there does seem to be some flexibility about when one must level up in PnP.

All that said, I do agree that level squatting is game mechanics abuse. I believe that I've said before that if I was coding the game engine, I'd have based the game's XP system not on actual character level, but its apparant level, based on the character's XP. That is, if a character had enough XP to be level 10, but was only level 8, I'd have the engine treat the character as level 10 for XP award reasons. Such a system would prevent level squatting.

 

In HoF the book gives 20,000 XP. If I'm not mistaken.

Don't hijack this thread!

I'm a bit surprised that we only mentioned four items so far:

-How To Be An Adventurer
-Cera Sumat
-Haft Over Head
-Hammer of Luzerne
...

 

I like "Cera Sumat" and its medallion best. Pale Justice comes the second.

 

Are BG items allowed in this thread?

 

^I don't think so, and IIRC, there is no Pale Justice in IWD2...oh no, or is it?

 

Haft Over Head is pretty funny! And I know we're not talking about BG items here, but I like Lilacor's description the best.

 

@Silverstar
I thought IWD1 items are allowed here.