In the modern Realms it's Sun Rods... what are you... a caveman?
:P
But... seriously... I don't know why the flasks of oil were left out of the PHB (other than the dubious act of using them as petrol bombs
)... the same goes for a Crowbar.I used to have a Dwarf Rogue who used a big crowbar as a weapon (way back in the day)... he also had doorstops and tools to remove hinges... I don't see any reason why you still can't have them.
Nothing stopped a charging Orc from coming straight through a door like a tiny wedge of wood... ahhh memories...
Crowbar was missing completely, as were a lot of other useful items. 4th edition is all about the powers apparently.
Oil is in there at 1 silver a pint, and weighs 1 lb.
Ah nice. Hopefully they address a lot of the mundane equipment issues in PHB2. Otherwise I'm probably going to have to look in my old 3.5 book for the gear costs.
Most mundane equipment is just that - mundane. As it has no real bearing on the game, mechanicaly, it's sort of hand-waved away. You want to be a PC who dressed in the finest velvets, with bold/loud colors, giving off an air of wealth at all times? Great, you've got it. What's it cost vs a peasant's burlap cost?
Who cares (no, not meant to be snarky - just illustrative)? Unless you're getting a mechanical benefit for it, it can just be "assumed" as part of your character description.
One could make a case for a crowbar being a useful item (perhaps giving a +1 or +2 bonus to Athletic checks to pry things open) and *then* it should have an associated cost. Otherwise, if there's no mechanical benefit to having a crowbar, just say your character has one - maybe that's the *real* reason your dex based rogue has a "trained" athletics skill - his "crowbar" gives him a +5 to opening things.
Most mundane equipment is just that - mundane. As it has no real bearing on the game, mechanicaly, it's sort of hand-waved away. You want to be a PC who dressed in the finest velvets, with bold/loud colors, giving off an air of wealth at all times? Great, you've got it. What's it cost vs a peasant's burlap cost?
Who cares (no, not meant to be snarky - just illustrative)? Unless you're getting a mechanical benefit for it, it can just be "assumed" as part of your character description.
One could make a case for a crowbar being a useful item (perhaps giving a +1 or +2 bonus to Athletic checks to pry things open) and *then* it should have an associated cost. Otherwise, if there's no mechanical benefit to having a crowbar, just say your character has one - maybe that's the *real* reason your dex based rogue has a "trained" athletics skill - his "crowbar" gives him a +5 to opening things.
Although this approach also has its perils... if a crowbar is cheap and provides a mechanical beneift, then there is no reason not to have one (other than character concept... but some players don't have those anyway)... therefore everyone takes one.
The same should be true of light sources, but the adventurer's kit provides that... or if you're lucky you have a wizard.
I prefer to allow these things to be free and to provide the +2 discretional allowance a DM can give.
I'll give the example of the humble wooden doorstop. No matter how good the enemy is at picking locks, if you have hammered a wooden wedge under the door and wedged it shut, it ain't opening. While the enemy can still break it down, hopefully they will waste time trying to open the lock... giving you time to leg it!
No need for a cost, or even a "mechanical benefit", just a small change to the situation.
Perhaps this type of thinking comes with experience, but many DMs should know that they have the authority to give a bonus if the characters do clever things, especially with simple, effective ideas.
And just a final word on Crowbars... the City Watch often wonder why a character is carrying a crowbar... especially when they are obviously not a labourer... I'm looking at you Gnome Illusionist!
So in other words, it's ok to start out with a bag of caltrops, a couple of gallons of lantern oil, some flasks, a crowbar, a flag on a two foot rod, etc?
Best advice I can give is "expect table variation". And, expect that, the more you try to gain a mechanical advantage from not-in-the-PHB items, the more DMs will say "no".
Best advice I can give is "expect table variation". And, expect that, the more you try to gain a mechanical advantage from not-in-the-PHB items, the more DMs will say "no".
This is exactly it. I subscribe to the "once bitten... twice shy" style of play.
Once you have tried one trick on a group of monsters, don't expect the same trick to work on them again.
New monsters reset the system, but you can only have so much "stuff" to use, before you use them all up.
For example, the "doorstop trick"... it is a powerful ploy, but only works if the monsters are chasing you, there is a door, and you get a chance to close it and hammer in the stops.
That's quite a limited set of variables and assumes the monsters are going to try to open the door "like normal people", which requires an assumption on the part of the player.
Also, you need to remember, these "mechanical benefits" are only applicable outside combat, when making skill checks. In which case a small bonus for being well prepared is entirely justifyable.
But to address the remark made by @KintsuneYuri... there are a couple of "old skool" (Red Box) D&Ders that play in my groups who refuse to go on any sort of adventure without "flasks of oil, a mirror, 10' pole, 50' rope, grapnel... etc."
If they want to... I don't see why not.
I remember one skill challenge with a pit trap... the Rogue failed to disarm it... at which point one of the "old hands" gave a wry chuckle and said "this is what you need a 10 foot pole for boy..."
One trap sprung with no casualties. :P
Pfft... I'd like to see anyone try. :P Most. Unrealsistic. Piece of gear. Ever. ;)
Have you ever tried to walk around carrying a 10' pole? Have you ever tried to have one strapped to your back and then walk through dungeons or other interior spaces?
Pfft... I'd like to see anyone try. :P Most. Unrealsistic. Piece of gear. Ever. ;)
But it *is*, of course, realistic to be carrying around the pike/longspear through the same dungeon... :P