Equipment

A well-equipped character can take on nearly any challenge, from surviving in the wilderness to making an impression at the king's banquet. This chapter presents all manner of mundane and exotic equipment for the PCs to purchase and use, from weapons to armor, alchemical items to masterwork tools, fine wines to trail rations. The equipment presented here should be relatively easy to find and purchase in most towns and cities, although GMs might wish to restrict the availability of some of the more expensive and exotic items.

Weapons

Adventurers are always on the look out for new or strange weapons to give them an advantage in combat.

Arrow, Blunt: These arrows have rounded wooden tips. They deal bludgeoning damage rather than piercing damage. An archer can use a blunt arrow to deal nonlethal damage (at the normal –4 attack penalty for using a lethal weapon to deal nonlethal damage).

Arrow, Flight: These arrows have light shafts and special fletchings to give them greater range. A flight arrow's range increment is 20 feet greater with longbows, 10 feet greater with shortbows. They deal damage as if one size category smaller.

Arrow, Smoke: This arrow is actually a specially-shaped smokestick that can be fired from a bow. It trails smoke as it flies, and creates a 5-foot cube of smoke where it strikes. It otherwise functions like a normal arrow in terms of damage, range, and so on.

Bardiche: The crescent axe-blade of this polearm is attached to the haft at two points: the center of the blade attaches to a socket at the top of the haft, and the lower point of the blade attaches to a secondary mount point. The blade is often very long, sometimes almost as long as the haft. You gain a +2 bonus to your CMD to resist sunder attempts against a bardiche.

Battle Aspergillum: Named for the common aspergillum, a mace-like tool used by priests to sprinkle holy water, this light mace has a hollow head and a metal plug to fit the hollow's neck. When the mace strikes a creature, holy water sprinkles out through tiny holes throughout the weapon's head; creatures subject to damage from holy water take 1 point of damage in addition to the normal effect of being struck by the mace (a nonmagical aspergillum can deal holy water damage to an incorporeal creature in this manner, even if the mace itself deals no damage). After 5 hits, the battle aspergillum is empty and needs to be refilled. Filling it with holy water is a standard action that provokes an attack of opportunity (like drinking a potion). A filled aspergillum is normally carried upright, otherwise the holy water leaks out as the weapon moves.

Bayonet: Bayonets are close combat weapons designed to fit into the grooves or muzzles of crossbows and firearms. They allow you to make melee attacks with these weapons but render them temporarily useless as ranged weapons. Attaching or removing a bayonet is a move action.

Bec de Corbin: The bec de corbin is a polearm very similar to the lucerne hammer, but the hammer head is blunt rather than spiked and the spike is stouter and more hooked. You primarily attack with the spike. You gain a +2 bonus to your CMB to sunder medium or heavy armor with a bec de corbin.

Bill: The blade of this polearm is a curved or hooked chopping blade with a spiked projection on the back of the blade. The spike is commonly used to block and parry. When fighting defensively or with full defense, this weapon gives you a +1 shield bonus to AC. A mounted opponent hit by a bill takes a –1 penalty on his Ride check to stay mounted.

Boar Spear: This spear with a spiraling blade has a metal crossbar approximately halfway down its length. If you ready a boar spear against a charge and your attack hits, you get a +2 shield bonus to your AC against that creature until your next turn.

Boomerang: The boomerang is primarily a hunting tool, but it is not uncommon for these versatile thrown weapons to be carried into battle. A boomerang is made of wood and is flat, with a long haft, a pronounced forward curve, and a sharp backward bend at the head. A thrown boomerang does not fly in a returning path; returning boomerangs are solely recreational.

Brass Knuckles: These close combat weapons are designed to fit comfortably around the knuckles, narrowing the contact area and therefore magnifying the amount of force delivered by a punch. They allow you to deal lethal damage with unarmed attacks. You may hold, but not wield, a weapon or other object in a hand wearing brass knuckles. You may cast a spell with a somatic component while wearing brass knuckles if you make a concentration check (DC 10 + the level of the spell you're casting). Monks are proficient with brass knuckles and can use their monk unarmed damage when fighting with them.

Cestus: The cestus is a glove of leather or thick cloth that covers the wielder from mid-finger to mid-forearm. The close combat weapon is reinforced with metal plates over the fingers and often lined with wicked spikes along the backs of the hands and wrists. While wearing a cestus, you are considered armed and your unarmed attacks deal normal damage. If you are proficient with a cestus, your unarmed strikes may deal bludgeoning or piercing damage. Monks are proficient with the cestus. When using a cestus, your fingers are mostly exposed, allowing you to wield or carry items in that hand, but the constriction of the weapon at your knuckles gives you a –2 penalty on all precision-based tasks involving that hand (such as opening locks).

Chain Spear: This vicious weapon often finds its way into gladiatorial events due to its versatility. The body of the weapon is a standard short spear, primarily used for thrusting. The butt of the spear is fitted with a length of chain, often spiked, with a hook at the end. The hook and chain may be used to make trip attacks. If your trip attack fails by 10 or more, you may drop the chain spear to avoid being knocked prone.

Chakram: The chakram is a simple, elegant, and highly portable thrown weapon. It is a flat, open-centered metal discus with a sharpened edge. You can wield the chakram as a melee weapon, but it is not designed for such use; you take a –1 penalty on your attack roll with the weapon and must make a DC 15 Reflex save or cut yourself on the blade (half damage, no Strength modifier). You do not need to make this save if wearing heavy armor.

Double Crossbow: This heavy weapon fires a pair of iron-tipped bolts with a single squeeze of the trigger. Due to its size and weight, you take a –4 penalty on your attack roll if you're proficient with it, or –8 if you're not. If the attack hits, the target takes damage from both bolts. Critical hits, sneak attack damage, and other precision-based damage only apply to the first bolt. Reloading one bolt is a standard action; the Rapid Reload feat reduces this to a move action. Crossbow Mastery allows you to reload both bolts as a move action

Falcata: This heavy blade has a single sharp, concave edge and a hook-shaped hilt. Its shape distributes the weight to give it the momentum of an axe with the cutting edge of a sword.

Glaive-Guisarme: This polearm combines the blade of a glaive with a wicked hook. A mounted opponent hit by a glaive-guisarme takes a –2 penalty on his Ride check to stay mounted.

Khopesh: This heavy blade has a convex curve near the end, making its overall shape similar to a battleaxe.

Lasso: This thrown weapon is a length of rope with a simple open knot on one end that allows you entangle a foe like you would using a net. The DC to cast a spell while entangled with a lasso is 10 + the spell level being cast. An entangled creature can slip free with a DC 15 Escape Artist check as a full-round action. The lasso has 2 hit points and AC 10. It requires a DC 23 Strength check to break it. On a successful hit, the lasso tightens; to use it again you must spend a standard action sliding the knot to enlarge the loop.

Lucerne Hammer: This polearm has both a pronged hammer head for crushing blows and a spiked head for piercing and peeling armor; most attacks are made with the hammer. The long haft allows the wielder to put amazing force behind the head of this weapon. You gain a +2 bonus to your CMB to sunder medium or heavy armor with a lucerne hammer.

Mancatcher: This polearm consists of two curved metal bands that close around a target when you attack, allowing you to bind an opponent. A mancatcher is built to capture a creature of a particular size category (such as Small or Medium) and doesn't work on creatures of the wrong size. Make a touch attack to hit an opponent and a combat maneuver check to grapple him (without the –4 penalty for not having two hands free); success means you and the target are grappled. Once the target is grappled, you can perform a move or damage grapple action against him. The mancatcher has hardness 10 and 5 hit points; it requires a DC 26 Strength check to break it. If you drop the mancatcher, the target can free himself as a standard action.

Pilum: The tip of this heavy javelin is designed to break off and embed itself into a shield once it hits. Like ammunition, a thrown pilum that hits its target is destroyed. If you hit a shield-using opponent with a pilum, he loses the AC bonuses from that shield until he takes a standard action to pry the remnants of the pilum from his shield.

Sword Cane: This slender light blade lies within a wooden container that serves as both its scabbard and hiding place. You can draw the blade from the cane as a swift action (or a free action if you have the Quick Draw feat). An observer must make a DC 20 Perception check to realize an undrawn sword cane is a weapon rather than a walking stick; the DC decreases to 10 if the observer is able to handle the weapon.

Swordbreaker Dagger: You can use this dagger to disarm or sunder enemy blades by catching them in the grooves on the back of the blade and using your weapon as a lever. If you are proficient with this weapon, add +4 on your disarm or sunder attempts against bladed weapons.

Temple Sword: Heavy blades typically used by guardians of religious sites, temple swords have distinctive crescent-shaped blades, appearing as an amalgam of a sickle and sword. Many have holes drilled into the blade or places on the pommel where charms, bells, or other holy trinkets might be attached. Monks are proficient with the temple sword.

Wooden Stake: This close combat weapon is just a sharpened piece of wood. Iron spikes used as weapons deal damage as wooden stakes.

Armor

These armors follow the same rules as the armors presented in the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook.

Agile Breastplate: This breastplate is specially crafted in a manner that allows extra maneuverability for some physical activities. The armor check penalty for Climb checks and jump checks is only –1 (masterwork and mithral versions of this armor reduce this penalty as well as the normal penalty).

Agile Half-Plate: This style of half-plate is specially crafted in a manner that allows extra maneuverability for some physical activities. The armor check penalty for Climb checks and jump checks is only –4 (masterwork and mithral versions of this armor reduce this penalty as well as the normal penalty). In addition, unlike most heavy armors, the wearer can still run at quadruple speed instead of triple speed.

Armored Coat: This sturdy leather coat is reinforced with metal plates sewn into the lining. More cumbersome than light armor but less effective than most medium armors, the advantage of an armored coat is that a person can don it or remove it as a move action (there is no "don hastily" option for an armored coat). If worn over other armor, use the better AC bonus and worse value in all other categories; an armored coat has no effect if worn with heavy armor. The only magic effects that apply are those worn on top.

Quickdraw Shield, Light Wooden or Steel: This light shield is specially crafted with a series of straps to allow a character proficient in shields to ready or stow it on his or her back quickly and easily. If you have a base attack bonus of +1 or higher, you may don or put away a quickdraw shield as a swift action combined with a regular move. If you have the Two-Weapon Fighting feat, you can draw a light or one-handed weapon with one hand and a quickdraw shield with the other in the time it would normally take you to draw one weapon. If you have the Quick Draw feat, you may don or put away a quickdraw shield as a free action.

Quilted Cloth: This enhanced form of padded armor has internal layers specifically designed to trap arrows, bolts, darts, shuriken, thrown daggers, and other small ranged piercing weapons. When these kinds of weapons strike you, they tend to become snagged in these layers and fail to harm you. You gain DR 3/— against attacks of this kind. The special layers of the armor have no effect on other kinds of weapons.

Wooden Armor: This suit of leather armor has plates of fire-treated wood sewn over vital areas. Though not as effective as metal armor, it offers better protection than leather alone. Unlike metal armor, the wood is slightly buoyant, and the armor check penalty for swimming in this armor is 0.

Goods and Services

Adventurers are always looking for equipment that gives them an advantage—their very survival depends on it.

Adventuring Gear

The following special gear supplements that listed in the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook.

Backpack, Masterwork: This backpack has numerous pockets for storing various items that might be needed while adventuring. Hooks are included for attaching items such as canteens, pouches, or even a rolled-up blanket. It has padded bands that strap across the chest and the waist to distribute its weight more evenly. Like a common backpack, it can hold about 2 cubic feet of material in its main container. When wearing a masterwork backpack, treat your Strength score as +1 higher than normal when calculating your carrying capacity.

Barbed Vest: Thin leather flaps keep the hundreds of tiny, fishhook-like needles dotting the surface of this black vest from harming you while you wear it. However, any creature that injures you with a natural or unarmed attack must make a DC 15 Reflex save or take 1 point of damage. If a creature swallows you it takes 1 point of damage each round until it either spits you up, you escape, or you die (at which point the vest has sustained enough damage to no longer serve as a threat). The vest can only be worn over light armor or no armor.

Blanket: This warm, woven blanket has straps so it can be rolled up and tied.

Buoy, Common: A buoy is used to mark a specific spot in lakes, rivers, or similar bodies of water making it possible for you to return to that location a later date. Each includes a float (typically an air-filled bladder or sealed gourd), a 200-foot length of twine, and 15-pound stone used as an anchor. The float is usually painted a vivid color, and may have a small flag to attract attention. Though anchor buoys prove quite resilient to normal weather and tides, they offer little challenge to intelligent creatures determined to sabotage them.

Buoy, Superior: This buoy has a spherical or ovoid hollow metal float typically copper, a length of chain rather than twine, and a metal anchor rather than a weight. It is otherwise the same as a common buoy.

Butterfly Net: One end of this 6-foot-long pole supports a wide metal hoop covered by a thin mesh net. You can use this to sift objects out from material capable of passing through the net such as sand or water. You can also use a butterfly net to capture Fine or Diminutive creatures as if it were a net (weapon), though you don't need to re-fold the butterfly net if you miss, and you use the handle of the butterfly net like you would the rope of a net weapon.

Chalkboard: A wooden frame approximately the same size as a large book surrounds this thinly sliced piece of polished black stone. Rubbing a simple damp cloth over the slate erases anything scribed with chalk on its surface.

Chest: The common wooden chest comes in several sizes, including small (2 cubic feet, 1 hit point, Break DC 17), medium (4 cubic feet, 15 hp, Break DC 23), large (6 cubic feet, 30 hit points, Break DC 29), and huge (8 cubic feet, 50 hit points, Break DC 35). Most include a simple inset lock.

Earplugs: Made of waxed cotton or cork, earplugs give you a +2 circumstance bonus on saves against effects that require hearing but also cause a –5 penalty on hearing-based Perception checks.

Hourglass: The standard hourglass takes 1 hour to empty the sand from the upper chamber; larger and smaller timers exist which mark off time in increments as short as 6 seconds.

Iron Spike: This foot-long iron spike is used to keep doors open or closed and to secure ropes for climbing. Hearing a spike being hammered in requires a DC 5 Perception check.

Magnet: Handheld magnets are relatively weak and are mainly used to detect or pull iron, mithral, or adamantine at a short range. This hand-sized horseshoe magnet can lift up to a 3-pound iron weight.

Marbles: Like caltrops, marbles can be used to slow down opponents. One 2-pound bag of marbles covers an area 5 feet square. A creature entering a square with marbles scattered on it must make a DC 10 Reflex save or fall prone (the creature's stability bonus to trip applies to this save). Any creature moving at half speed or slower can pick its way through a square of marbles with no trouble.

Paper: Ordinary paper typically measures 9 inches by 6 inches and is unsuitable for making magical scrolls. It has hardness 0, 1 hit point, and break DC 5.

Periscope: This 2-foot-long metal tube has right angles at each end with mirrors inside; if you look in one end, you can see out the other end, allowing you safely peer over obstacles, around corners, or into small spaces your head wouldn't fit. When using a periscope, the end of the tube counts as a Diminutive object, making it much less likely an observed creature notices you; if you have total concealment from the creature except for the end of the periscope, use the tube's Diminutive size modifier for your Stealth instead of your own size modifier. Distortion from the mirrors gives you a –4 penalty on Perception checks while looking through the periscope. Though the tube is fairly sturdy (hardness 5, 2 hit points), the mirrors inside are fragile (hardness 1, 1 hit point), and any damage that gets through the tube's hardness applies to the tube and the mirrors.

Poison Pill Ring: This ring has a tiny compartment under the setting, typically used to hold poison. Opening and closing a ring is a move action; doing so unseen requires a DC 20 Sleight of Hand check.

Powder: Powdered chalk, flour, and similar materials are popular with adventurers for their utility in pinpointing invisible creatures. Throwing a bag of powder into a square is an attack against AC 5, and momentarily reveals if there is an invisible creature there. A much more effective method is to spread powder on a surface (which takes 1 full round) and look for footprints.

Rice Paper: This variety of paper is made of rice or tree bark. It has hardness 0, 1 hit point, and break DC 2.

Rope, Spider's Silk: Rare to virtually nonexistent on the surface world, spider's silk rope is woven of strands of silk from monstrous spiders by goblin slaves in the employ of the drow. As such it is commonly used by the dark elves, though shorter spider's silk rope scraps (generally no more than 10 feet long) frequently appear among goblins. Spider's silk rope has 6 hit points and can be burst with a DC 25 Strength check.

Scroll Case: A leather or wooden scroll case easily holds four scrolls; you can cram more inside but retrieving any of them becomes a full-round action rather than a move action. You must destroy the scroll case to damage its contents (hardness 2 for leather or 5 for wood, 2 hit points, Break DC 15). A scroll case is not water-tight.

Signal Horn: Sounding a horn requires a DC 10 Perform (wind instruments) check and can convey concepts such as "Attack!", "Help!", "Advance!", "Retreat!", "Fire!", and, "Alarm!" The report of a signal horn can be clearly heard (Perception DC 0) up to a half-mile distant. For each quarter-mile beyond, Perception checks to hear the horn suffer a –1 penalty.

Smoked Goggles: These spectacles have lenses made of smoked glass that help protect against creatures with gaze attacks. You are always treated as averting your gaze when dealing with gaze attacks, and you gain a +8 circumstance bonus on saving throws against visual-based attacks (any attack that a blind creature would be immune to). You have a –4 penalty on Perception checks while wearing the goggles, and all opponents are treated as having concealment (20% miss chance).

String or Twine: Sold in balls or spools of 50 feet, string and twine are useful for rigging traps and alarms and are a vital component of grappling bolts and arrows. String or twine has hardness 0, 1 hit point, and Break DC 14.

Swarmsuit: These heavy and overlapping layers of clothing, coupled with a wide hat outfitted with a dense, veil-like netting around its brim makes it all but impossible for Diminutive and Fine creatures to make physical contact with your body. Wearing a swarmsuit cuts your speed in half, but gives you DR 10/— against swarms of Fine creatures and DR 5/— against swarms of Diminutive creatures.

Tattoo: The cost of a tattoo depends on the quality, size, and number of colors used. A coin-sized tattoo in blue ink that will blur over a decade may cost 1 cp, a hand-sized one in black ink that won't fade costs 1 sp, and a tattoo covering an entire back takes several sessions and costs 10 gp. Each additional color costs as much as a single tattoo of its size.

Tent: Tents come in a variety of sizes and accommodate between one and 10 people. A small tent holds one Medium creature and takes 20 minutes to assemble, a medium tent holds two creatures and takes 30 minutes, a large tent holds four creatures and takes 45 minutes, and a pavilion holds 10 creatures and takes 90 minutes (two Small creatures count as a Medium creature, and one Large creature counts as two Medium creatures). Pavilion tents are large enough to accommodate a small fire in the center. Packing up a tent takes half as long as assembling it.

Weapon Cord: Weapon cords are 2-foot-long leather straps that attach your weapon to your wrist. If you drop your weapon or are disarmed, you can recover it as a swift action, and it never moves any further away from you than an adjacent square. However, you cannot switch to a different weapon without first untying the cord (a full-round action) or cutting it (a move action or an attack, hardness 0, 0 hp). Unlike a locked gauntlet, you can still use a hand with a weapon cord, though a dangling weapon may interfere with finer actions.

Whistle, Signal: With a DC 5 Perform (wind instruments) check you can use a whistle to signal the same sorts of situations as signal horns. A whistle's piercing report can be clearly heard (Perception DC 0) up to a quarter-mile away. For each quarter-mile beyond, Perception checks to hear a whistle suffer a –2 penalty.

Silent whistles that only animals and other creatures with keen hearing can hear also exist.

Special Substances and Items

Any of these substances can be made by a character with the Craft (alchemy) skill.

Alchemical Grease: Each pot of this slick black goo has sufficient contents to cover one Medium or two Small creatures. If you coat yourself in alchemical grease, you gain a +5 alchemical bonus on Escape Artist checks, on combat maneuver checks made to escape a grapple, and to your CMD to avoid being grappled; this lasts 4 hours or until you wash it off.

Alchemical Solvent: This bubbling purple gel eats through adhesives. Each vial can cover a single 5-foot square. It destroys normal adhesives (such as tar, tree sap, or glue) in a single round but takes 1d4+1 rounds to deal with more powerful adhesives (tanglefoot bags, spider webbing, and so on). It has no affect on fully magical adhesives, including sovereign glue.

Alchemist's Kindness: Favored by young rakes and others of means, this is a crystalline powder resembling salt. Mixed with water, it makes a fizzing cocktail that eliminates the effects of a hangover within 10 minutes of drinking it.

Alkali Flask: This flask of caustic liquid reacts with an ooze's natural acids. You can throw an alkali flask as a splash weapon with a range increment of 10 feet. Against non-ooze creatures, an alkali flask functions as a normal flask of acid. Against oozes and other acid-based creatures, the alkali flask inflicts double damage.

Antiplague: If you drink a vial of this foul-tasting, milky tonic, you gain a +5 alchemical bonus on Fortitude saving throws against disease for the next hour. If already infected, you may also make two saving throws (without the +5 bonus) that day and use the better result.

Bladeguard: This clear resin protects a weapon from harmful attacks from oozes, rust monsters, and similar effects that corrode or melt weapons, rendering the weapon immune for 24 hours. One pot can coat one two-handed weapon, two one-handed or light weapons, or 50 ammunition items. Applying it takes 1 full round. Immersing the weapon in water or similar liquid washes it off.

Bloodblock: This gooey, pinkish substance helps treat wounds. Using a dose gives you a +5 alchemical bonus on Heal checks for providing first aid, treating wounds made by caltrops or similar objects, or treating deadly wounds. A dose of bloodblock ends a bleed effect as if you had made a DC 15 Heal check. When treating deadly wounds, using a dose of bloodblock counts as one use of a healer's kit (and grants the +5 bonus stated above).

Casting Plaster: This white, dry powder mixes with water to form a paste, which hardens over the course of an hour to create a solid material. It can be used to make casts of footprints or carvings, fill in gaps or cracks in walls, or (if applied over a cloth wrapping) create a splint for a broken bone. Hardened plaster has hardness 1 and 5 hp per inch of thickness. A 5-pound clay pot of plaster can cover about five square feet of flat space to a depth of one inch, five Medium forearm or lower-leg casts, or two full-arm or full-leg casts.

Flash Powder: This coarse gray powder ignites and burns almost instantly if exposed to flame, significant friction, or even a simple force such as throwing it against a floor (a standard action). Creatures within the 10-foot-radius burst are blinded for 1 round (Fortitude DC 13 negates).

Light Detector: This hand-sized metal plate is covered with a thin layer of light-sensitive transparent paste. If exposed to light, the paste darkens and becomes opaque, depending on the amount of light. Bright light causes it to fully darken in 1 round, normal light in 3 rounds, dim light in 10 rounds. It is mainly used by creatures with darkvision to determine if creatures have recently passed through an area carrying light. The plate is sold wrapped in a thick black cloth to prevent accidental light exposure from ruining the plate.

Liquid Ice: Also known as "alchemist's ice," this sealed jar of crystalline blue fluid immediately starts to evaporate once opened. During the next 1d6 rounds, you can use it to freeze a liquid or to coat an object in a thin layer of ice. You can also throw liquid ice as a splash weapon. A direct hit deals 1d6 points of cold damage; creatures within 5 feet of where it hits take 1 point of cold damage from the splash.

Nushadir: Normally stored in the form of small, salty pellets in a dry container, this reagent can be mixed with a flask of water and stored safely. Nushadir neutralizes acid; a vial of pellets or a flask of nushadir-water is enough to render a cubic foot of acid safe to touch in 1 minute, though this is usually too slow to prevent damage from a thrown vial of acid or the contents of a large monster's gullet. Nushadir vapors are slightly irritating to the eyes, nose, and mouth, causing nausea for 1d4 rounds after close exposure (Fortitude DC 10 negates).

Smelling Salts: These sharply scented gray crystals cause people inhaling them to regain consciousness. Smelling salts grant you a new saving throw to resist any spell or effect that has already rendered you unconscious or staggered. If exposed to smelling salts while dying, you immediately become conscious and staggered, but must still make stabilization checks each round; if you perform any standard action (or any other strenuous action) you take 1 point of damage after completing the act and fall unconscious again. A container of smelling salts has dozens of uses if stoppered after each use, but depletes in a matter of hours if left opened.

Smoke Pellet: This small clay sphere contains two alchemical substances separated by a thin barrier. When you break the sphere, the substances mingle and fill a 5-foot square with a cloud of foul but harmless yellow smoke. The smoke pellet acts as a smokestick, except the smoke only lasts for 1 round before dispersing. You may throw a smoke pellet as a ranged touch attack with a range increment of 10 feet.

Sneezing Powder: This coarse yellowish-red powder is a splash weapon that causes uncontrollable sneezing for 1d4+1 rounds. Anyone standing in the square of impact must succeed on a DC 12 Fortitude save to resist the powder, while those in adjacent squares must make DC 8 Fortitude saves. Creatures affected by sneezing powder must make a DC 10 Fortitude save every round for the duration or be staggered until their next turn.

Soothe Syrup: This sweet and wholesome-tasting blue liquid creates a sense of warmth and comfort. Soothe syrup coats your stomach and makes it much more difficult for you to succumb to queasiness. For 1 hour after drinking soothe syrup you gain a +5 alchemical bonus on saving throws made to resist effects that would make you nauseated or sickened.

Weapon Blanch: These alchemical powders have a gritty consistency. When poured on a weapon and placed over a hot flame for a full round, they melt and form a temporary coating on the weapon. The blanching gives the weapon the ability to bypass one kind of material-based damage reduction, such as adamantine, cold iron, or silver. The blanching remains effective until the weapon makes a successful attack. Each dose of blanching can coat one weapon or up to 10 pieces of ammunition. Only one kind of weapon blanch can be on a weapon at one time, though a weapon made of one special material (such as adamantine) can have a different material blanch (such as silver), and counts as both materials for the first successful hit.

Tools and Skill Kits

These items are particularly useful to characters with certain skills and class abilities.

Abacus: This device helps users perform mathematical calculations.

Alchemist's Kit: An alchemist with an alchemist's kit is assumed to have all the material components needed for his extracts, mutagens, and bombs, except for those components that have a specific cost. An alchemist's kit provides no bonuses on Craft (alchemy) checks.

Alchemist's Lab, Portable: This compact version of a full-sized alchemist's lab provides a +1 circumstance bonus on Craft (alchemy) checks.

Anvil: While anvil sizes vary depending on the type of smithing for which they are used, all anvils have the same basic shape and construction. Blacksmith anvils are typically much heavier and larger (100 pounds) than farrier anvils (50 pounds), and they in turn are much bigger than silver- or goldsmith anvils (10 pounds). Many metalworking tasks are impossible without the proper anvil.

Astrolabe: This device consists of a flat disc upon which two other discs are mounted. The mounted discs can rotate on a central axis, allowing them to spin and move as days pass. The bottom disc represents the latitude of the user; the upper disc represents the sky, and is filled with astronomical features. Anyone can be shown how to use an astrolabe at night to determine the date and time (which takes 1 minute). An astrolabe grants a +2 circumstance on Knowledge (geography) and Survival checks to navigate in the wilderness (and on Profession [sailor] checks to navigate at sea).

Balancing Pole: These flexible poles range from 15–30 feet in length and, when used properly, help you keep your balance when crossing narrow walkways. Using a balancing pole grants you a +1 circumstance bonus on Acrobatics checks made to traverse a narrow surface.

Bear Trap: Although intended for trapping large animals, bear traps work as well for trapping humanoids or monsters. The hinged jaws of the trap are attached to a chain, which in turn is secured to a spike driven into the ground to ensure that the victim cannot simply crawl away. Prying open the jaws or pulling the spike from the ground requires a DC 20 Strength check.

Bear Trap CR 1

Type mechanical; Perception DC 15; Disable Device DC 20

Effects

Trigger location; Reset manual

Effect Atk +10 melee (2d6+3); sharp jaws spring shut around the creature's ankle and halve the creature's base speed (or hold the creature immobile if the trap is attached to a solid object); the creature can escape with a DC 20 Disable Device check, DC 22 Escape Artist check, or DC 26 Strength check

Bellows: Bellows are useful for starting fires, providing a +1 circumstance bonus on appropriate Survival checks.

Cauldron: This iron pot may have a hook for hanging over a fire, but versions intended for traveling usually have three or four legs to let it stand over a fire. It holds approximately one gallon, and can be used for cooking, potion-making, and other similar activities.

Compass: An ordinary compass that points to the magnetic north pole grants its user a +2 circumstance bonus on Survival checks made to avoid becoming lost. It also can be used to grant the same bonus on Knowledge (dungeoneering) checks made to navigate underground.

Drill: A drill can create a 1-inch-diameter hole in stone, wood, or metal as a standard action. Harder materials wear down or break the drill more quickly. Hearing the sound of drilling requires a DC 15 Perception check.

Footprint Book: This 50-page tome contains accurate drawings of various common animal, humanoid, and monster tracks, as well as notes on stride length, tread depth, and similarly useful information. The book gives you a +2 circumstance bonus to identify a creature by its tracks, though the use of shoes makes identifying many humanoids difficult or impossible. Though the book can't help you identify unique individuals, it can help you tell an ogre footprint from a troll footprint, or an elf's track from an orc's. Books sold in different areas may have different footprints, depending on what creatures are common to that location.

Fortune-Teller's Deck: This deck of illustrated cards is used by those in tune with the spirit world to predict the future—and by charlatans to take money from gullible or desperate people. A common deck only has simple drawings on parchment scraps or simple wooden plaques. A quality fortune-teller's deck is usually of quality wooden plaques with painted color images; it is suitable as a focus for the augury spell, and provides a +1 circumstance bonus on Profession (fortune-teller), Profession (medium), and similar Profession checks. A masterwork fortune-teller's deck may be wood, ivory, or even metal, with painted or carved images and often highlighted with gold inlays or tiny gems; it has all the benefits of a quality deck, except it provides a +2 circumstance bonus on the listed skill checks.

Leeching Kit: This sturdy ceramic jar has a heavy lid with a few tiny holes to let air in. It is normally half-filled with water and contains four adult leeches, each about 6 inches long. A leeching kit grants a +2 circumstance bonus on Heal checks to treat poison. Used for medicinal bloodletting, a leech can survive for 6 months between feedings.

Map Maker's Kit: This small kit contains a simple slate with a grid carved into its surface and a number of different colored pieces of chalk. Anyone using this kit to draw a map as they travel receives a +2 circumstance bonus on Survival skill checks to avoid becoming lost.

Portrait Book: This 100-page book contains face drawings of male and female dwarves, elves, gnomes, half-elves, half-orcs, halflings, and humans. By selecting an appropriate drawing and adding hair, beard, or other small features such as moles or scars, even a poor artist can quickly create a reasonable likeness of a specific person—for example, an inquisitor making wanted posters of a half-elven witch.

Pulley: A simple block-and-tackle pulley, when properly secured, adds a +5 circumstance bonus on Strength checks to lift heavy objects. Securing the pulley requires 1 minute.

Saw: You can insert a saw between a door and its frame to cut through wooden bolts or bars, dealing 5 hit points per round plus your Strength modifier to the sawed object as a full-round action. Hearing the sawing requires a DC 10 Perception check. Saws used to cut ice on rivers have a point on the end to break through the ice before cutting.

Sextant: A sextant is used to determine your latitude. A sextant grants a +4 circumstance bonus on Survival checks made to navigate while above ground.

Symptom Kit: This small wooden box has many tiny compartments filled with items useful if you want to feign a sickness as well as a handy reference book outlining common indicators for some of the more feared virulent diseases. The kit includes such things as false pustules, pills that cause the person chewing them to foam at the mouth, and herbal concoctions designed to induce fevers or vomiting. Using a symptom kit grants you a +5 circumstances bonus on Disguise checks made for the purpose of simulating illness. A symptom kit is exhausted after 10 uses.

Traveling Spellbook: A traveling spellbook is lighter and less cumbersome than its full-size counterpart. It has 50 pages.

Clothing

The following items may supplement other outfits.

Cleats: Useful on any terrain where traction may be a concern, cleats are shoes with spikes or hooks attached to the soles. Cleats reduce the penalty for walking over slick surfaces by 50%; for example, walking across ice normally costs 2 squares for every square of movement, but with cleats it costs only 1.5 squares for every square. Cleats cause damage to any type of finished flooring.

Furs: The most basic of cold-weather gear, animal furs serve to keep their wearers warm. Wearing enough fur to cover the body provides a +2 bonus on Fortitude saves to resist cold weather. This does not stack with any bonuses gained from the Survival skill.

Hot Weather Outfit: Covering your body from head to foot in light, airy cloth keeps you cooler than baring your skin to the sun. This outfit typically consists of a loose linen robe and either a turban or loose head covering and veil. The outfit provides a +2 bonus on Fortitude saves to resist warm or hot weather. This does not stack with any bonuses gained from the Survival skill.

Snowshoes: These high-tension nets of rope or sinew in wooden frames which are lashed to the feet spread your weight across the snow, making you much less likely to break through the crust and rendering walking much easier. Snowshoes reduce the penalty for walking through heavy snow by 50%; for example, if moving through snow normally costs you 2 squares of movement per square traveled, snowshoes reduce this cost to 1.5 squares per square traveled.

Animal-Related Gear

The following animal-related items can be found in most cities.

Animal Harness: This leather or hemp harness allows a holder to restrain and control a domesticated animal. Ready-made harnesses are available in most markets for common domesticated animals such as cats, dogs, horses, and oxen, but harnesses can be made for nearly any creature.

Cage: This secure, portable enclosure is used to hold creatures—generally animals, but a large enough cage can hold anything. Cages are made from iron, wood, or bamboo, depending on local customs and available materials.

Dog Sled: This sled is several feet long and is designed to be pulled over snow and ice by a team of trained riding dogs. Most sleds have runners at the back for a musher to stand on. A dog sled can carry up to the carrying capacity of all the dogs that pull it.

Entertainment Items

Means of cheating at games always seem to be of interest to some adventurers.

Loaded Dice: Most loaded dice are weighted—a heavier substance is included opposite the desired number. You can spot marks from tampering with a die in this fashion with a DC 15 Appraise or Perception check. Higher-quality dice (such as wooden dice carved around a naturally heavy inclusion) have DCs ranging from 20 to 30.

Marked Cards: Whether bent, colored, or scratched, marked cards allow an informed user to know what's on the front of the card by viewing the mark on the back. Realizing that the cards are marked requires a DC 25 Perception check.