Roleplaying Guide

Forgetton Realms - Goods & Services (Adventuring Gear)

Forgetton Realms
Goods & Services
Adventuring Gear

Adventurers face all sorts of challenges and difficulties, and the right gear can make the difference between a successful adventure and failure. Most of this gear is basic equipment that might come in handy regardless of your skills or class.

Aspergillum: This lightweight metal device looks like a small club or a light mace. Each contains a reservoir that can hold up to 3 pints (three flasks) of holy water. By shaking the aspergillum as a standard action, you can sprinkle one flask of holy water on a target within melee reach. This action is a ranged touch attack (which does not provoke an attack of opportunity). An aspergillum does not require any proficiency to use. Many adventurers prefer using an aspergillum to dispense holy water rather than throwing or pouring out the contents of a flask.

Backpack: A leather pack carried on the back, typically with straps to secure it.

Bandoleer: This leather belt has loops or pouches for carrying small items (up to dagger size). It is usually worn across the chest. It holds eight items.

Bandoleer, Masterwork: This well-crafted bandoleer holds twelve items.

Bedroll: Adventurers never know where they're going to sleep, and bedrolls help them get better sleep in haylofts or on the cold ground. A bedroll is bedding and a blanket thin enough to be rolled up and tied. In an emergency, it can double as a stretcher.

Blanket, Winter: A thick, quilted, wool blanket.

Caltrops: Caltrops resemble large metal jacks with sharpened points rather than balls on the ends of their arms. They are essentially iron spikes designed so that one point is always facing up. You scatter them on the ground in the hope that your enemies step on them or are at least forced to slow down to avoid them. One bag of caltrops (the 2-pound unit listed on Goods and Services) covers an area 5 feet square. Each time a creature moves into an area covered by caltrops (or spends a round fighting while standing in such an area), the creature may step on one. The caltrops make an attack roll (base attack bonus +0) against the creature. For this attack, the creature's shield, armor, and deflection bonus do nor count. (Deflection averts blows as they approach you, but it does not prevent you from touching something dangerous.) If the creature is wearing shoes or other footwear, it gets a +2 armor bonus to AC. If the caltrops succeed at the attack, the creature has stepped on one. The caltrop deals 1 point of damage, and the creature's speed is reduced by one-half because its foot is wounded. This movement penalty lasts for 1 day, until the creature is successfully treated with the Heal skill (DC 15), or until it receives at least 1 point of magical curing. A charging or running creature must immediately stop if it steps on a caltrop. Any creature moving at half speed or slower can pick its way through a bed of caltrops with no trouble.

The DM judges the effectiveness of caltrops against unusual opponents. A giant centipede, for example, can scramble among the caltrops with no chance of hurting itself, and a fire giant wearing fire-giant-size boots is immune to normal-size caltrops. (They just get stuck in the soles of his boots.)

Candle: A candle clearly illuminates a 5-foot radius and burns for 1 hour.

Case, Map or Scroll: A capped leather or tin tube for holding rolled pieces of parchment or paper.

Chain: Chain has a hardness of 10 and 5 hit points. It can be burst with a Strength check (DC 26).

Crowbar: An iron bar for levering things open.

Flask: A ceramic, glass, or metal container fitted with a tight stopper. It holds 1 pint of liquid.

Flint and Steel: Striking the steel and flint together creates sparks. By knocking sparks into tinder, you can create a small flame. Lighting a torch with flint and steel is a full-round action, and lighting any other fire with them takes at least that long.