Let me repeat that: Simple is better.
Whispering Watcher
Aura faint divination; CL 3rd
Slot —; Price 1,200 gp; Weight 1/2 lb.
Description
This silver statuette, usually crafted in the shape of a crouching pseudodragon, quivers subtly when touched.
Three times per day as a standard action, when holding the statuette in hand, the user can mentally command it to open its mouth and emit powerful but inaudible vibrations in a 30-foot-radius burst. This is a sonic effect.
The air ripples around solid and liquid matter caught in the burst, making any invisible corporeal creatures and objects appear as blurred, indistinct shapes for three rounds. Affected creatures gain no bonus on Stealth checks for being invisible, but for all other purposes they are still considered invisible.
The vibrations do not affect visual figments like they affect real objects and creatures, and therefore, all creatures within line of sight receive a Will save to disbelieve any such illusions within the burst.The judges' and guest judges' comments:
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, detect magic, ghost sound, see invisibility; Cost 600 gp
Neil Spicer (RPG Superstar 2009, Contributor), Wed, Dec 8, 2010, 04:33 AM
Well.
It's tight design according to the item's theme. It's a low-level item,
which are often some of the hardest to do. It only works 3 times per
day for only 3 rounds at a time, so it's not overpowered really. The
"sonar" effect is a bit jarring to me. I'd imagine sound waves would
need to be continuously generated for it to keep revealing invisible
creatures (but maybe not illusions). But I guess the one thing I don't
really like about it is that the invisible creatures that get revealed
only lose their Stealth bonus. So, they still get to attack you with a
+2 bonus and ignore your Dexterity modifier to AC? To me, the item
doesn't go far enough if that's all it does. Kinda lacks mojo. Although
the illusion-revealing element brings it back a bit.
Weak Reject from me.
Ryan Dancey (The Most Dangerous Man in Gaming), Wed, Dec 8, 2010, 07:25 AM
I like it. Mechanically there have always been problems with invisibility and seen vs. unseen combatants in 3.x
Keep
Sean K Reynolds (Developer), Wed, Dec 8, 2010, 11:37 AM
Technically
this is a SIAC, but I like the sonic aspect of it, which makes it more
than a simple SIAC. It's smart that this only affects corporeal
creatures. The no-Stealth-bonus bit that leaves the other invis rules as
a little odd (I would have liked a callout about miss chances and
such), but I think it's neat.
Keep!
Neil Spicer (RPG Superstar 2009, Contributor), Wed, Dec 8, 2010, 12:55 PM
You
know the more I think on this item, the more I wished they'd used
mage's faithful hound in the construction of it. That way, the see
invisibility thing would have been built into the spell effect. And the
bark of the dog would explain the sonic highlighting of invisible
enemies. And what dog is going to be fooled by an illusion? They follow
their nose to know what's interesting or not. So, I think the designer
missed a golden opportunity to really bring this item home by making the
stauette a dog using that spell in the construction. That kind of
synergy would have won me over.
Mark Moreland (Developer), Sat, Jan 8, 2011, 07:22 PM
it's
an interesting concept, and I like that it doesn't allow a save to
avoid, but it seems like glitterdust or see invis, as 2nd level spells,
would work just as well, and not have the strange effect on invisible
creatures in terms of what benefits they get and which they don't. I
don't think it's necessarily a bad item, but I also don't think it's one
of the strongest. If the other three of you felt strongly to keep, I'd
go along, but otherwise I say weak reject.
Alexander MacLeod (RPG Superstar 2008 Top 16, 2010 Top 4), Fri, Jan 14, 2011, 05:57 PM
If
the ripples cause things to appear blurred, why not have the item
change all invisibility spells into blur spells right out? That would
save all the trouble of removing only part of an effect.
Matt Goodall aka One (RPG Superstar 2010), Mon, Jan 17, 2011, 03:50 AM
The
name of this item is not really what it does. Maybe Keening Watcher?
Invisibility has a fair amount of rules attached to it, and you need to
play by those rules. I would prefer a blur effect, like the other
judges. I don’t really get what the effect does to visible solid
creatures in the area. Would this have any effect on hiding creatures? I
like that it can reveal illusions but creatures would have to know what
the air moving strangely around something means before they would get a
new save to disbelieve. I would also prefer the statue keep making
vibrations for a duration, with an emanation instead of a burst. The
in-game problem is that this has a very weak effect even for its cost.
I like that you got the template right, and I like the visual of your item.
I hope that you have a chance to compete in the next round.
Jim Groves aka Watcher (RPG Superstar 2010 Top 4), Tue, Jan 18, 2011, 07:10 AM
Kudos on using my name! :D Unfortunately, that doesn't count for much.
Also, I like your description. Not too long and gets to the point while at the same time actually being descriptive.
Matt
has really touched upon this for me; I think you needed to sit down
with the invisibility rules and really worked through the interactions
and different rules that come with it. I get that you wanted to
temporarily disable the invisibility without nullifying it completely,
but what you have needs some tweaking.
Having
said that, I do believe you had your 'thinking cap', because you
addressed corporeal invisible creatures versus the incorporeal ones. The
clue about illusions is also nicely done. I think you were on the right
track!
My hope is that you wont remain hidden, and are able to progress to further Rounds. Thank you for this credible effort!
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