Thursday, January 22, 2015

Pathfinder Item: Cuirass of Distortion


The voters and judges have spoken and the 32 contestants of RPG Superstar 2015 have been announced. Unfortunately, while my item made it past the mid-voting cull that eliminated nearly half of the less popular entries, it wasn't strong enough to make it all the way. This result is about what I expected; given the competition I was up against and the short turnaround which fell at a poor time for me, I felt my item was solid but lacked the "mojo" of a top 32 entry. That said, it was good practice and there's always next year. You can see my entry, the cuirass of distortion, below the cut, plus a few comments on feedback I've received.

Cuirass of Distortion
Aura moderate conjuration; CL 9th
Slot armor; Price 43,165 gp; Weight 8 lbs.

Description
The plates of this +2 lamellar cuirass appear to change color depending on the viewer’s orientation. Whenever the wearer is attacked, the armor distorts space around it, diverting blows through short-range portals. This displacement grants a 20% miss chance on all attacks against the wearer. In addition, if the attacker is within 30 feet of the wearer, attacks that miss due to this effect are redirected by the spatial distortions, hitting the attacker instead. The redirected attack automatically hits, but does not deal any critical hit or precision damage.

Three times per day, instead of redirecting an attack, the wearer can redirect himself as an immediate action. The wearer is instantly transported to a space adjacent to the attacker and receives an attack of opportunity against the attacker. The attacker is considered flat-footed to the wearer for the purposes of this attack.

Construction
Requirements Craft Magic Arms and Armor, dimension door; Cost 21,665 gp


Comments on this item have pointed out two primary flaws. First, I severely underestimated the value of the attack redirection and teleportation abilities. On reflection, I'd guess it needs to cost at least 50% more, though I would want to work out the math to be sure. The other flaw is the auto-hit nature of the attack redirection; it should offer either a Reflex saving throw or some mechanic to determine an attack bonus for the redirected attack.

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