Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Suvarov454 07-15-07, 03:15 PM	Ioun Stones look really nice to me; lots of great powers, several use insight and competence bonus which stack nicely, and they don't take up a body slot. The downside is their cost which means they're only available in mid-to-high levels, at which point most monsters will have no problem hitting their AC of 24 or doing the 15 points of damage necessary to shatter them. Do any of you use them, despite their drawbacks? If so, do you try to compensate for their vulnerability (and if so, how)?
ShinAkuma2 07-15-07, 04:00 PM	I don't know that most monsters would bother to attack an Ioun Stone. Besides, isn't that a Sunder attempt, which means it provokes from nine out of ten bad guys? They might not want to give you free attacks just so they can have a chance of lowering your stats slightly.
Jay_Ibero_911 07-15-07, 04:18 PM	I don't know that most monsters would bother to attack an Ioun Stone. Besides, isn't that a Sunder attempt, which means it provokes from nine out of ten bad guys? They might not want to give you free attacks just so they can have a chance of lowering your stats slightly. That and it's sort of an unwritten rule of LG that you never sunder/destroy PC gear unless it's specifically written into the mod...
Lupo 07-15-07, 04:51 PM	That and it's sort of an unwritten rule of LG that you never sunder/destroy PC gear unless it's specifically written into the mod... i would do it as a DM, especially given the alternative, smack the squishy for a full power attack and deal some 120 hp damage or sunder the very precious ioun stone ;) for the standard squishy caster with craft wondrous items the stone is between 2000 and 18000 gp ;) ok, taking swing after swing on the stones might annoy the caster, but any critter who does so might get some response in the form of a terminal spell. so the idea of sundering ioun stones will not get a large advantage for critters to survive :) ciao martin m.
Jay_Ibero_911 07-15-07, 05:32 PM	i would do it as a DM, especially given the alternative, smack the squishy for a full power attack and deal some 120 hp damage or sunder the very precious ioun stone ;) for the standard squishy caster with craft wondrous items the stone is between 2000 and 18000 gp ;) ok, taking swing after swing on the stones might annoy the caster, but any critter who does so might get some response in the form of a terminal spell. so the idea of sundering ioun stones will not get a large advantage for critters to survive :) ciao martin m. Of course you are assuming that the guy with the stone is a squishy crafter caster, with the ability to cheaply replace the stones. For a non-caster who just bought the stone through favor/access, they can probably take a hit and dish it back, but if you sunder their stone, you've permanently cost them cash and an item, unless their happens to be a crafter at the table or an NPC in the mod who is both willing and able to repair the item per the LGCS...
dkay807 07-15-07, 09:30 PM	Ioun Stones look really nice to me; lots of great powers, several use insight and competence bonus which stack nicely, and they don't take up a body slot. The downside is their cost which means they're only available in mid-to-high levels, at which point most monsters will have no problem hitting their AC of 24 or doing the 15 points of damage necessary to shatter them. Do any of you use them, despite their drawbacks? If so, do you try to compensate for their vulnerability (and if so, how)? Ioun stones are amazing because they do not take a body slot. Oftentimes, tan ioun stone is the only way for one to get the bonus he needs. Yes, they technica,lly can be grabbed, sundered, etc, but as others have stated - there is an unspoken rule between players and judges under which ioun stone typically just don't get touched.
control freak 07-15-07, 09:45 PM	not just ion stones, i would say all gear.. unless the mod tells you to sunder
Genghis Cohen 07-15-07, 09:46 PM	I love Ioun Stones. My druid has three. The only downside is that I have to remove them when adventuring in much of Keoland. This is due to local laws and customs. In one recent mod, I had to consult with the judge, as well as with a pc (his metaorg might have compelled him to take some action) before it was established that I could use them in the mod. I recently sold my con Ioun Stone and bought a Belt of Dwarvenkind. Part of the reason was that I don't want my elven druid to be in a scenario where he has to drop his con.
_metz_ 07-15-07, 09:53 PM	This was hinted at in the above post, but if you are a wisdom based character, con Ioun stones are AWESOME.
Howie23 07-15-07, 09:54 PM	That and it's sort of an unwritten rule of LG that you never sunder/destroy PC gear unless it's specifically written into the mod... I consider the feat Improved Sunder to effectively write it into the mod. I think that if it makes tactical sense, not using it when the critter has the feat is stripping the critter of the feat. Note that I said if it makes tactical sense. The only time I've sundered otherwise was a tower shield being used as cover by the PC at the front of a column going down a 5' corridor. David
Swordlight 07-15-07, 10:01 PM	What are the best stones to use? I never tend to look into getting these since they don't stack with the enhancement bonuses for the main stat items. (Gloves of Dex, Belt of Giant Strength, etc.)
_metz_ 07-15-07, 10:09 PM	What are the best stones to use? I never tend to look into getting these since they don't stack with the enhancement bonuses for the main stat items. (Gloves of Dex, Belt of Giant Strength, etc.) Dusty rose: +1 Insight bonus to AC Pink Rhomboid: +2 Con (very useful for those with a periapt of wisdom) Orange Prism: +1 caster level (this one is crazy good) Pale Green Prism: +1 competence bonus on attack rolls, saves, skill checks, and ability checks (competence which is awesome)
control freak 07-15-07, 10:32 PM	does the orange one affect spells/day
bitznarf 07-15-07, 10:44 PM	No, just your caster level, nothing else.
Frumpkis 07-15-07, 11:42 PM	What are the best stones to use? I never tend to look into getting these since they don't stack with the enhancement bonuses for the main stat items. (Gloves of Dex, Belt of Giant Strength, etc.) Some people might call this cheesy, but picking up a dark blue rhomboid stone gets you the Alertness feat - which then allows you to use the Not This Time! player reward card.
ShinAkuma2 07-16-07, 12:18 AM	Some people might call this cheesy, but picking up a dark blue rhomboid stone gets you the Alertness feat - which then allows you to use the Not This Time! player reward card. Next time I go to Bissel with money, my Monk is doing this. I don't think it's cheesy at all, any more than having a familiar grant you Alertness.
LGMoses 07-16-07, 12:28 AM	i don't think i could ever every justify an enemy monster attacking a PC's Ioun stone. Even if it was an intelligent enemy of some sort, he'd know that attacking the ioun stone would grant him no advantage other than really ******* off the person who bought it, which is dumb. I could see monsters disarming/sundering focuses for spells, component pouches, wands, other stuff like that but Ioun stones? thats just dum:P
KarmaInferno 07-16-07, 07:18 AM	Getting killed actually helps you in the long run in a Living setting. Losing equipment mechanically hurts worse than dying. :D In any case, sundering Ioun stones to me will cause unnecessary amounts of ill will and negative reactions from player (and I do mean players, not their characters). It smacks of just plain meanness. It's one thing to sunder that big sword that's being swung around, but that tiny rock that's not doing anything immediately obvious to you? Note that I can see some opportunistic NPCs using a net or something to STEAL the stones, possibly to sell elsewhere. I recall an adventure ages ag (not LG) where some street urchins would attempt to do just that and run away. Made for quite the amusing scramble to chase the thieves through alleyways and streets in fearful hope of not losing those precious precious stones. But in this case, the PCs have the chance of getting the stones BACK, which kinda puts the onus of loss on their own choices and actions, rather than the mod or GM being the one at fault. -karma
solbergb 07-16-07, 10:04 AM	Ioun Stones look really nice to me; lots of great powers, several use insight and competence bonus which stack nicely, and they don't take up a body slot. The downside is their cost which means they're only available in mid-to-high levels, at which point most monsters will have no problem hitting their AC of 24 or doing the 15 points of damage necessary to shatter them. Do any of you use them, despite their drawbacks? If so, do you try to compensate for their vulnerability (and if so, how)? I use them. I have yet to have anyone waste an attack on them, because the alternative is that my monk rips their head off. Generally they are focused on hurting or disabling my monk, not wasting actions on one of the least important of his magic items. A cloak is more vulnerable than an ioun stone and often more important to the character.. You don't see a lot of sunder attempts on them either. Unintelligent monsters don't sunder gear except weapons or whatever if they have imp sunder and it's part of their instinctive tactics. Intelligent monsters wouldn't want to "sunder the loot" any more than PC's do unless it is the only way to win a fight. No matter what your shape or form, Ioun stones are useful to you, and the advantage they provide is so marginal compared to the cost of a combat action that I have a hard time imagining any circumstance where an enemy would actually want to sunder one.
Mommy was an Orc 07-16-07, 10:22 AM	No matter what your shape or form, Ioun stones are useful to you, and the advantage they provide is so marginal compared to the cost of a combat action that I have a hard time imagining any circumstance where an enemy would actually want to sunder one. From a tactical standpoint(though it would be extraordinarily mean and I really can't see doing it as a DM), an opponent who knows he's about to die could threaten to Sunder one via Readied Action.
KarmaInferno 07-16-07, 11:12 AM	That's not a 'tactical' action. It's a "I'm about to die so I'm going to be spiteful" action. -karma
bitznarf 07-16-07, 11:25 AM	Think of it more like taking a hostage karma.
Mommy was an Orc 07-16-07, 11:31 AM	That's not a 'tactical' action. It's a "I'm about to die so I'm going to be spiteful" action. -karma The Ioun Stone only gets destroyed *if* the party decides to do something that provokes the readied action. Same kind of tactical action as an overwhelmed BBEG grabbing a hostage and threatening to kill them unless the party lets him go. Not as effective as grabbing a hostage for all kinds of reasons and not very player friendly, but if you were fighting an enemy that seemed determined to kill you, knew you could neither kill any of your targets nor could you permanently harm them in any way, you're telling me you wouldn't try to force a standoff?
blood_kite 07-16-07, 11:56 AM	From a tactical standpoint(though it would be extraordinarily mean and I really can't see doing it as a DM), an opponent who knows he's about to die could threaten to Sunder one via Readied Action. Then one character could ready an attack against any action the opponent made, as soon as the opponent's ready goes off and he tries to sunder the ioun stone the character's ready goes off and he drops the opponent before he can attack. That kind of hostage taking doesn't work too well once you are in initiative against 4-6 opponents who can ready against your ready and then trip your ready. If you take your ready 3-5 readies go off against you, if you don't take your ready you get dropped.
solbergb 07-16-07, 12:30 PM	Hostage taking (in any form) in LG is "poorly modeled by the rules". The initiative system doesn't work well with it. It is guaranteed to cause the game to immediately degenerate into a rules argument. This is the primary reason I don't tend to reach for it as a DM tactic, rules arguments are boring. The enemy in that situation will at my table usually either try to flee or beg for its life. If the PC's ignore him and cut him down, the table now has admitted to being nastier than many heroes like to see themselves, and that's a bit of roleplay too. I've had a lot of success with begging for life actually, especially with chaotic bad guys who "give up" their employer for some offer of protection or escape from their boss as part of the deal. Roleplay is more fun than rules arguments in my experience. This often ends up with the bad guy left with a dagger in the wilderness, or geased to go after a common enemy or mark of justiced or other unpleasant thing that still beats being slaughtered out of hand. A couple of times the bad guys ended up better off than they would have been if their plans had succeeded. (one captain type betrayed his crew and his employer, and worked with the PC's to sail, navigate and "launder" the ship in exchange for a share of the sale price, getting to keep his spellbook and a promise to report him as dead and to let some pelorites ATTEMPT to convert him to a better lifestyle....the ship didn't belong to him...for starters...and his emplobut as the alternative was instant death..well...he got creative)
Mommy was an Orc 07-16-07, 12:58 PM	Then one character could ready an attack against any action the opponent made Which triggers the readied action before the character readies the attack...bye-bye ioun stone...
Mommy was an Orc 07-16-07, 01:01 PM	Hostage taking (in any form) in LG is "poorly modeled by the rules". The initiative system doesn't work well with it. I think the 'DM being viewed as a jerk' is the larger problem. As I noted in the first post, I really couldn't see myself doing it as DM.
KarmaInferno 07-16-07, 03:29 PM	The Ioun Stone only gets destroyed *if* the party decides to do something that provokes the readied action. Same kind of tactical action as an overwhelmed BBEG grabbing a hostage and threatening to kill them unless the party lets him go. Not as effective as grabbing a hostage for all kinds of reasons and not very player friendly, but if you were fighting an enemy that seemed determined to kill you, knew you could neither kill any of your targets nor could you permanently harm them in any way, you're telling me you wouldn't try to force a standoff? This only works if the party knows that the guy is threatening to sunder the stone in order to get them to stop attacking. "Stop this attack or the pretty flying rock gets it!" Upon which the party member just has to grab the stone and stow it while the rest of the party unloads on the guy. Most players I know react poorly to ultimatums. -karma
Mommy was an Orc 07-16-07, 03:49 PM	This only works if the party knows that the guy is threatening to sunder the stone in order to get them to stop attacking. "Stop this attack or the pretty flying rock gets it!" Upon which the party member just has to grab the stone and stow it while the rest of the party unloads on the guy. Yes, of course, he says something - that still doesn't help your party member with the stone go before the bad guy's readied action goes off.
King Kashue 07-16-07, 04:35 PM	Yes, of course, he says something - that still doesn't help your party member with the stone go before the bad guy's readied action goes off. The player doesn't need to do anything... BBEG readies to sunder the ioun stone if someone attacks him... Ioun Stone Player readies to grab the stone if the BBEG attempts to sunder it... Party member does something, triggers BBEG's readied action, which then triggers Ioun Stone Player's readied action...Following the readied action rules, Ioun Stone Player's action takes place first, so the stone isn't there when BBEG attempts to sunder it. If the DM is going to manipulate readied action rules, the players should do it right back (and since the party has up to 5 readied actions (5 + 1 player to trigger the chain) they can trigger off of the BBEG's ready, they have a distinct advantage)...
KarmaInferno 07-16-07, 04:39 PM	Yes, of course, he says something - that still doesn't help your party member with the stone go before the bad guy's readied action goes off. Eh. Just have the party delay til the stone is safely put away. At that point the bad guy has lost his readied action and must wait til his next turn starts, but still has up to five attackers smacking him before he gets to move. -karma
Genghis Cohen 07-16-07, 04:47 PM	Some people might call this cheesy, but picking up a dark blue rhomboid stone gets you the Alertness feat - which then allows you to use the Not This Time! player reward card.My druid just bought a dark blue rhomboid ioun stone for that very reason. It also means that he walks around with +26 Listen and +27 Spot checks, so he really didn't need the Alertness feat for the bonuses.
Mommy was an Orc 07-16-07, 05:22 PM	The player doesn't need to do anything... BBEG readies to sunder the ioun stone if someone attacks him... Ioun Stone Player readies to grab the stone if the BBEG attempts to sunder it... If that's his ready, why can't the Ioun Stone Player simply full withdraw from him and let the others destroy him? Any Ready the BBEG does has to prevent all actions that could destroy the hostage situation. Allowing the PC to put it away is something that the BBEG has to prevent as part of the Ready.
Howie23 07-16-07, 05:25 PM	Allowing the PC to put it away is something that the BBEG has to prevent as part of the Ready. This has been a very flexible Ready.. :) David
Mommy was an Orc 07-16-07, 05:59 PM	This has been a very flexible Ready.. :) David I haven't specifically defined the Ready other than say Ready to Sunder the Ioun Stone. People assuming I meant if he was attacked need to look a little more carefully...him saying that he plans to sunder it if attacked doesn't mean that's the terms of the Ready either...
Howie23 07-16-07, 06:05 PM	I haven't specifically defined the Ready other than say Ready to Sunder the Ioun Stone. People assuming I meant if he was attacked need to look a little more carefully...him saying that he plans to sunder it if attacked doesn't mean that's the terms of the Ready either... That's exactly my point. You haven't specified it, but have used it to respond to multiple triggers. David
Mommy was an Orc 07-16-07, 06:53 PM	That's exactly my point. You haven't specified it, but have used it to respond to multiple triggers. David They're all the same trigger. Someone attacking him or the character stowing away the Ioun Stone - each is attempting to disrupt the hostage situation. Ready allows conditions, not condition. The problem with picking conditions is that you greatly increase the chances of the Ready going off before you want it to go.
King Kashue 07-16-07, 06:57 PM	They're all the same trigger. Someone attacking him or the character stowing away the Ioun Stone - each is attempting to disrupt the hostage situation. Ready allows conditions, not condition. The problem with picking conditions is that you greatly increase the chances of the Ready going off before you want it to go. And as long as the Ioun Stone Player's only trigger is "If the BBEG tries to sunder" then it doesn't matter... At some point, the party can trigger one of the many conditions the BBEG has set, and at that point, the Ioun Stone Player's action triggers and thus protects the Ioun Stone...
Howie23 07-16-07, 08:24 PM	They're all the same trigger. Someone attacking him or the character stowing away the Ioun Stone - each is attempting to disrupt the hostage situation. Ready allows conditions, not condition. The problem with picking conditions is that you greatly increase the chances of the Ready going off before you want it to go. I shall have to remember to add the condition, "...or the bad guys take any action that I don't like..." to my readies. ;) David
Mommy was an Orc 07-16-07, 08:44 PM	I shall have to remember to add the condition, "...or the bad guys take any action that I don't like..." to my readies. ;) David Just replace ioun stone with NPC hostage who will ruin the AR if she dies. If a player started saying, hey, I'll move up to the NPC with my move action, then ready to strike him if he swings at the NPC, you well know the rest of the party will try to stop them from doing that. It isn't any action you don't like. With some specific exceptions, it is any action.
Mommy was an Orc 07-16-07, 08:46 PM	And as long as the Ioun Stone Player's only trigger is "If the BBEG tries to sunder" then it doesn't matter... At some point, the party can trigger one of the many conditions the BBEG has set, and at that point, the Ioun Stone Player's action triggers and thus protects the Ioun Stone... And if the Ioun Stone Player tries to take an action to ready, he triggers the Readied Action...so it turns into a pile of dust.
solbergb 07-16-07, 09:35 PM	/me looks up at the last page of discusssion. Remember how I said this was poorly modeled in the rules and causes an instant rules argument? I feel my point has been thoroughly demonstrated here. I will stick with my "flee or surrender/bargain" tactics thanks. They lead to either a fun chase scene or a fun roleplay session. Not a rules argument like "hostage situations" devolve into.
LGMoses 07-17-07, 12:53 AM	Which triggers the readied action before the character readies the attack...bye-bye ioun stone... i remember an example in the dungeon master's guide of mialee wanting to shoot a beholders eye with a ray attack as the ray turned to fire in her area because she knew the ray firing near her meant the antimagic field was not on her. The guide calls for a dex check to see who goes first in this tense situation. So a dex check could resolve that ready-tastrophe you have set up. tsk tsk, trying to stack readied actions.... remember we're not playing magic here :P
King Kashue 07-17-07, 01:14 AM	And if the Ioun Stone Player tries to take an action to ready, he triggers the Readied Action...so it turns into a pile of dust. Readying itself is not an action... Are you suggesting one of the BBEG's conditions is "If the Player with an Ioun Stone Readies an action"? :rolleyes:
blood_kite 07-17-07, 01:41 AM	Actually, readying is a standard action. I'm still wondering about the wording of the BBEG's ready. "Sunder the Ioun Stone if anyone attempts to take any action I think is intended to stop me from sundering?"
Mommy was an Orc 07-17-07, 08:01 AM	Actually, readying is a standard action. I'm still wondering about the wording of the BBEG's ready. "Sunder the Ioun Stone if anyone attempts to take any action I think is intended to stop me from sundering?" Yes, Readying is a standard action and should usually be a pretty obvious - the archer knocking an arrow to his bow to shoot the next spellcaster as an example. "If anyone attempts to take any action(in the D&D sense of the word) other than non-spellcasting talking, I Sunder the Ioun Stone. The one exception to this Ready is if one of my enemies describes what they're going to do and I okay that specific action."
solbergb 07-17-07, 10:15 AM	I'm pretty sure that ready wouldn't work at many tables if a player tried it. That's way too complex a set of conditions. We're not doing a sending here or wording a wish. If I was the DM I'd just say "your readied action goes off" (because even things like backing away would be interpreted as a threat). Which would result in a dead sunderer if he's outnumbered 4-5 to one and he's holding a magic item hostage to try to stay alive. As this is not a great way to accomplish the goal of staying alive....find another way. It's hopeless anyway. The owner of the stone won't let the sunderer steal it, and the second he's out of reach, an infuriated party is going to kill him. Seriously, the way I resolve "ready action standoffs" when they come up as a GM is take everybody out of initiative once a round has passed with no actions and reroll it once someone decides to act. Initiative is the mechanic for comparing reflexes, not mere dex checks. This is heroic fantasy - the bad guy may simply not be able to move the dagger fast enough to cut the throat before Inego Montoya disarms him or whatever.
KarmaInferno 07-17-07, 10:28 AM	"If anyone attempts to take any action(in the D&D sense of the word) other than non-spellcasting talking, I Sunder the Ioun Stone. The one exception to this Ready is if one of my enemies describes what they're going to do and I okay that specific action." To this I say, "Okay. Go ahead. I'll take the item repair costs out of the overcap." If someone is going to be cheese-monkey enough to pull a "I ready this action to go off if anything I don't like happens", I feel zero guilt about pulling every cheese tactic and grey-area rule that I can possibly think of. -karma
Mommy was an Orc 07-17-07, 11:47 AM	I'm pretty sure that ready wouldn't work at many tables if a player tried it. That's way too complex a set of conditions. We're not doing a sending here or wording a wish. If I was the DM I'd just say "your readied action goes off" (because even things like backing away would be interpreted as a threat). Which would result in a dead sunderer if he's outnumbered 4-5 to one and he's holding a magic item hostage to try to stay alive. So a cop can't get the drop on a criminal and say, "Halt or I shoot." in d20? It simply isn't a complex set of conditions in real life - if you had given a police officer more than sufficient reason to shoot you, he got the drop on you, and he said halt or I shoot, you don't think it is clear what actions would trigger the Readied Action and which ones would not? Would you start backing away without telling the cop first? The only difference between what the cop is doing and what the BBEG is doing is that he's threatening the ioun stone instead of you. And there are distinct circumstances when as a player, you want and ought to be able to say to someone, "Halt or I shoot/swing/cast.", use the Ready Action, and have it be effective.
solbergb 07-17-07, 12:26 PM	If you say "Halt or I sunder" then I assume any action at all beyond talking is going to trigger the ready. Which with 4-5 other players twitching to act almost certainly result in a sunder attempt and a dead sunderer. Which is not what the NPC is trying to achieve, which makes it a low probability tactic, at least at my tables. Frankly "Halt or I sunder your headband of intellect" will work better. Or boots of speed or belt of strength. They're all actually more vulnerable than ioun stones to sunder, having less hardness/hitpoints and having lower AC vs sunder. Ioun stones are more vulnerable to being disarmed/grabbed. Grabbing one and attempting to run off with it is a tactic I could see, as part of an escape strategy. Except that wasting an action to do so will greatly increase the odds of the escape failing. Some criminals are stupid though.
Mattastrophic 07-17-07, 12:48 PM	Heh, I'll have to start casting Veil with a bunch of Nystul's Magic Auras more. "What did you say you were trying to sunder? Well, that's unfortunate, because I don't appear to be wearing one, do I?" -Matt
GeorgeFHarris 07-18-07, 11:11 AM	Heh, I'll have to start casting Veil with a bunch of Nystul's Magic Auras more. "What did you say you were trying to sunder? Well, that's unfortunate, because I don't appear to be wearing one, do I?" -Matt If you ever get access to the dull grey stones (burned out), they still float around, but don't do anything. Paint them pretty colors, and then the sunderer has to get lucky to hit a "good" stone. GH
LGMoses 07-18-07, 12:14 PM	if someone did try to sunder one of these stones floating around someones head, instead of it being hit into dust wouldn't it just go flying like a baseball and thereby decreasing greatly the damage done to it as the force would be spent instead to make it fly like a baseball?
solbergb 07-18-07, 12:26 PM	D&D doesn't use action/reaction physics :) and actually, even if it did use such physics a lot would depend on how much the magic that spins it anchors it, plus the speed and force of the blow, the geometry of the weapon and how brittle the stones are. (try hitting a lightbulb thrown at you with a bat. If you don't hit the metal bit on the bottom, it'll shatter. Baseballs are pretty resilient) The AC/hp are a ghestalt of the speed it moves and how it reacts to being struck. One would presume a non-shattering blow would just alter its orbit some (knocking it out of orbit is a disarm attempt).
dkay807 07-19-07, 07:06 PM	If you say "Halt or I sunder" then I assume any action at all beyond talking is going to trigger the ready. Which with 4-5 other players twitching to act almost certainly result in a sunder attempt and a dead sunderer. Which is not what the NPC is trying to achieve, which makes it a low probability tactic, at least at my tables. Frankly "Halt or I sunder your headband of intellect" will work better. Or boots of speed or belt of strength. They're all actually more vulnerable than ioun stones to sunder, having less hardness/hitpoints and having lower AC vs sunder. Ioun stones are more vulnerable to being disarmed/grabbed. Grabbing one and attempting to run off with it is a tactic I could see, as part of an escape strategy. Except that wasting an action to do so will greatly increase the odds of the escape failing. Some criminals are stupid though. Can you imagine a Fire Giant swinging for someone's BOOTS trying to break them, while the wearer is standing there thinking "what the hell is this guy doing?" What a funny mental image. Anyone, player or NPC, trying to sunder anything other than a held item such as a weapon, shield, potion, wand, etc. is just silly and it's something I never do as a DM and as a player I make quite a stink when a DM tries it.
Rinian2 07-25-07, 10:23 AM	I like Ioun Stones too. It is my firm belief that they are, at least a little, kind of almost living things. I hope you don't think this is spamming but I created a PrC devoted to these wonderous items. There's a link to the archive of the Centre of Many Circles in my sig.
Morgen 07-28-07, 08:11 PM	Why would a monster what to swing at an AC of 24 just to rob me of like a +2 bonus to my charisma, when they could just swing at my nice soft AC of like 11-13 and clobber the crap out of me? Oooh, my save DC's go down by one! Horrible! ;P