Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 mudbunny Jul 08, 2008 9:30:29	Treasures of Ashardalon Bazaar of the Bizarre 07/07/2008 - 365: The red dragon Ashardalon was legendary for being a collector of magical trinkets. Some of the most intriguing items are presented here for your edification. Dive headfirst into the hoard of Ashardalon! by Robert J. Schwalb
#2 mort_q Jul 08, 2008 9:47:52	There are some typos in the article (pointed out by Shabe at EN World). Some of the weapons have an Immediate Reaction power that triggers when you hit. You can't use an Immediate Reaction on your turn in 4e core rules. These should all be Free Actions triggered by a hit.
#3 seeker_of_truth_dup Jul 08, 2008 13:11:48	Edit: those items marked with strikethrough were fixed in the 365 compilatuion I've tried to compile a list of things that seem wrong ... did I miss anything? Errata suggestions Dragonclaw Armor - Change from immediate interrupt to immediate reaction. You can't escape a grab before you've been grabbed. Dragonrider Armor - This has no increase in cost over regular scale. It should be level 12+ if not level 13+. Also as an interrupt it can't be used on your own turn ... is this intentional? Fortified Armor - It should be explicitly stated whether the general bonus from the property stacks with the bonus granted by the daily power. Also perhaps the property bonus should be an Item bonus instead of untyped. Impaling Weapon - Should be a free action to use. Immediate reaction makes this very hard to use. Mind-Rending Weapon - Should be a free action to use. Immediate reaction makes this very hard to use. Vitriolic Weapon - This power will also hit the weapon wielder. If this is intentional it should be stated explicitly. Symbol of Courage - it's language should be more like fortified armor stating that the effect only works when the effect allows a save Symbol of the Dragon - This lists as level 3+, but is only priced at 13+ Orb of Fiery Condemnation - says Level 5+, but starts at level 15. Rod of Baleful Geas - Lists as 11+ but min level is 12. The power is very very strong for the cost. As a free action without limitations it can be used even on opponents turns. It should probably be a minor action? Rod of the Dragon's Heart - Should be a free action to use. Immediate reaction makes it harder to use, probably unintentionally. Staff of Draconic Power - The "when you would use" language is confusing. "When you use ..., do ... also." phrasing is much clearer as it's used in the PHB for similar items. Staff of Verdant Growth - The "when you would use" language is confusing. "When you use ..., do ... also." phrasing is much clearer as it's used in the PHB for similar items. Bracers of Escape - Level 7 version is nice, higher level versions cost a lot more for a fairly small increase in benefit (not sure how this might be fixed) Eyes of the Dragon - This item is very similar to the Ioun stone of true sight, but it's five levels lower. Maybe this should be in the level 26 range? Ring of Draconic Zeal - A free action with no restrictions is strong, not quite sure how this can be fully exploited with a basic attack, but I'm betting there are some strong combos with this item. Perhaps limit its use to after an attack to limit it? Ring of the Ghost Knight - The attack bonus seems too high. all the rings - Rings should have a power boost after a milestone is hit. Belt of Mountian Endurance - This is cheaper any more powerful than the level 22 verion of belt of Vigor and the bonus added is untyped. Flask of the Dragon Breath - The attack needs to state what type of action it is and what defense it attacks (Reflex?) Again the attack bonus seems high. It also needs to be clearer whether the attack can only be made once.
#4 DMaple Jul 08, 2008 16:27:17	I hope you e-mailed it to them as well. Flask of Dragon Breath - Needs to be clear it can only be used once at any point after being drunk, as written it could be argued it can be used at multiple points until the end of the encounter. The Immediate reaction with Impaling Weapon, and others I'm starting to think might have been intentional, very weird way of limiting the power, but perhaps not just a copy paste error. As I said at ENWorld (Bagpuss over there) there are other attack powers that use Free Action, Homing Weapon immediately before Impaling Weapon and Vitriolic Weapon soon after for example. So this seems intentional, I don't like it, since every other attack power trigger in the PHB of that sort doesn't use an immediate action. But perhaps it's something new, these are early days with magic items. I particular makes sense with the way Impaling Weapon and Mind-Rending are worded. One to finish at the start of your next turn (when you pull the spear out), and the other at the end of your next turn (so you can take advantage of it). I see no reason for Rod of the Dragon’s Heart to be an immediate reaction however. In any case since this is a new application of the rule about immediate actions only being able to be take during an opponents turn. I think a side bar reminding people about the limitation using on immediate action on your turn and how these weapons work would have been a good idea to include with this article. For example Impaling Weapon could be used with a Readied Attack, or Commander's Strike, not just an opportunity attack. Still nice article glad to see the return of this column considering how light we are on magic items at the moment.
#5 seeker_of_truth_dup Jul 08, 2008 17:01:45	I haven't emailed this ... I'm not sure where I should email it to. Feel free to email it if you're so inclined.
#6 DMaple Jul 08, 2008 17:54:30	Might be worth waiting awhile with all the new one's popping up on that thread at ENWorld. But when you are ready to send it, I would send it to... [email]dndinsider@wizards.com[/email] with "Treasures of Ashardalon Feedback" in the title. That will probably get to the right people. If you could ask they include my suggestion of a side bar if they really mean to use immediate reactions for some many things that can be triggered in the player's own turn, by the player's actions; that would save me a post.
#7 seeker_of_truth_dup Jul 08, 2008 18:31:24	Might be worth waiting awhile with all the new one's popping up on that thread at ENWorld. But when you are ready to send it, I would send it to... [email]dndinsider@wizards.com[/email] with "Treasures of Ashardalon Feedback" in the title. That will probably get to the right people. If you could ask they include my suggestion of a side bar if they really mean to use immediate reactions for some many things that can be triggered in the player's own turn, by the player's actions; that would save me a post. Thanks ... I'll give it a couple days (maybe a bit longer if things are still active) and then shoot off the email including your suggestion.
#8 Titanium_Dragon Jul 08, 2008 23:23:00	I mostly like the items from this month's Bazaar of the Bizzare, but the rings failed at being rings. Rings get better after the first milestone; neither of the rings in this article do so. This is bad. The Belt of Mountain Endurance is also rediculously overpowered by comparison to the Belt of Vigor; regardless, though, it should be an item bonus. It also steps on the toes of the Dragonborn racial ability, which I think is the REAL problem with it. All in all, not a great piece of design work. Flask of the Dragon's Breath should simply make the attack as part of the action of drinking it; that way you don't have to keep track of it more than for normal magical items. There's no reason to make it function otherwise. Incidentally, I think the Ring of the Ghost Knight has two problems. It should attack AC, not fortitude; its attack bonus is too high for a vs Fortitude attack. I think the bigger problem with it, though, is the fact that it gives you the ability to make an attack as a minor action for the rest of the combat AND a +2 bonus to AC (plus the ability to Hide while standing in plain sight).
#9 DMaple Jul 09, 2008 7:17:41	(Snipped a load of stuff I agree with) Incidentally, I think the Ring of the Ghost Knight has two problems. It should attack AC, not fortitude; its attack bonus is too high for a vs Fortitude attack. I wonder if it shouldn't be half level +5, at 24th level that would be +17 typically level 24 creatures have defenses in the low 30's that would mean a 15 or so to hit. At level+5 it almost sure to hit every time. I'd imagine if you are giving an extra attack option to a character it should be weaker than their main attack chance. I think the bigger problem with it, though, is the fact that it gives you the ability to make an attack as a minor action for the rest of the combat AND a +2 bonus to AC (plus the ability to Hide while standing in plain sight). I suspect it could be testing how pets might work.
#10 fodigg Jul 11, 2008 14:19:02	You know, I'm coming to really like getting articles before we get the full mag. I think it's going to really improve the game that these things get a little pre-launch public exposure for playtesting.
#11 seeker_of_truth_dup Jul 11, 2008 14:37:19	You know, I'm coming to really like getting articles before we get the full mag. I think it's going to really improve the game that these things get a little pre-launch public exposure for playtesting. I agree 100%. I n case of this particular article I think one more read-through by an editor would have done a lot of good. Having 10s of thousands of eyes looking for problems and playtesting the rules can't be matched.
#12 fodigg Jul 11, 2008 14:42:06	I agree 100%. I n case of this particular article I think one more read-through by an editor would have done a lot of good. Having 10s of thousands of eyes looking for problems and playtesting the rules can't be matched. It's a bit of a switch for me as I was originally like "so wait, I have to trust your schedule and get the magazines bit by bit?" Compared to the benefit of community-playtested material though...I can wait.
#13 DMaple Jul 12, 2008 17:07:28	Ignore my earlier post about being half level. It's clear from the DMG it should either be level+5 vs AC or level+3 verse other defenses.
#14 seeker_of_truth_dup Aug 01, 2008 18:11:33	I'm really dissapointed in the number of errors that made it into the compiled issue. I went to the trouble of compiling a list of problems and emailing it in and still many were not addressed (some were).
#15 fodigg Aug 06, 2008 9:54:51	I'm really dissapointed in the number of errors that made it into the compiled issue. I went to the trouble of compiling a list of problems and emailing it in and still many were not addressed (some were). Where is the compiled issue? I could only find the TOC linking to individual articles.
#16 WolfStar76 Aug 06, 2008 10:45:04	The image for the TOC says "Download Complete Issue Now!" - if you click on the image, you get the full issue.
#17 fodigg Aug 15, 2008 18:33:56	I bumped into Ken Troop at Gencon and, upon his request, passed this thread along to him.