Skitterstep Boots
Skitterstep boots
Aura Moderate Conjuration; CL 8th
Slot Feet; Price 9,000 gp; Weight 1 lb.
Description
These vibrant boots are covered in a mismatched mosaic of colorful leather tassels. With each step the tassels sway back and forth with chaotic and unpredictable motion.
The Skitterstep Boots have the power to jump their wearer back and forth chaotically through space. Once per day as a free action the wearer can clack their heels together and select a spot they can see within 30 feet. This has no effect until the wearer ends their turn, at which point they pop out of existence and reappear precisely on the selected spot.
This effect continues for d6 rounds with the wearer selecting a new spot at the beginning of each turn and reappearing there at the end of each turn. The new spot must be a visible location within 30 feet and be at least 5 feet away from any previous spot.
If for whatever reason it is impossible to select a spot that is more than 5 feet away from a previous spot, then the effect immediately ends. When this happens, the boots overload their charge, causing the wearer to suffer 4d6 electrical damage.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, Dimension door; Cost 4,500 gp
COMMENTS FROM THE JUDGES:
JACOB: First of all, congratulations; welcome to the Top 16 of the very first DesignFinder! Great visual to start off this item, with the designer really painting a nice picture of them. The boots themselves have a fun, interesting power. It gives a player basically an extra move action for 1-6 rounds, but I think the way it does it adds some fun strategy to combat, which can too often be static. I can see a character with pounce or some other charge-based ability wanting several of these (the scout archetype for the rogue would do great with these, teleporting away at the end of each round to charge in the next). I wonder if it might need a line saying multiple uses a day of this causes some harm (to prevent having several pairs, as they’re not that expensive). On the other hand, i don’t think the damage kicker at the end is really needed. I might consider making the activation be at least a swift action, as usually items don’t get to be free activation -- as this effectively adds a move action for most characters, I think that’s a fair tradeoff.
Template wise, I see a few minor issues. The aura, slot and spells should all be lowercase, and the spell should be italicized. The name of the item in the description should also be lowercase and italicized.
KATE: I love the visual descriptions for this item. These shoes have a really interesting effect, and would make a combat more mobile and interesting. My biggest concern is that this might be a lot to keep track of during a combat, especially if the player rolled the maximum 6 rounds. Particularly with the penalty for being unable to find a suitable spot to jump to, I might try to rework the mechanics a little bit to be a little less fussy. Nice job on a interesting magic item!
MIKE: You gave these boots a wonderful description, and I can really see how they appear in my mind’s eye. This is a great interpretation of the dimension door ability, and you wisely moved away from a canned use of the spell with the boots. The random duration makes sense for the item’s chaotic nature, but, as Kate mentioned, will create extra work keeping track of the duration. I also thought you could do away with the penalty, since the random duration is enough of a limiting factor on using the boots.
Congratulations and welcome to the top 16!
REP: Congratulations! First of all, how fun to say “skitterstep.” Secondly, you took on the challenge of making teleportation object--common/much wanted and often easily broken--and made it quirkily fun and very well-balanced. Nitpick: I think the boots should really be activated as a move or standard action if doesn’t activate until on the wearer’s turn anyway. I’d like to have seen some other, clearer language as well, but solid entry regardless.
Comments
I agree on streamlining the mechanics for ease of use, like a set duration rather than d6 rounds, but totally sympathize—I frequently do similar things in my own writing!
I also think activation using something other than a free action is important, as the action economy is an important part of Pathfinder balance.
Speaking of, having the teleportation happen at the end of your turn is an elegant way to maintain the boots' usability while adhering to one of dimension door's main balancing components.
A small question, and I don't have a certain answer—do these need explicit language on being a teleportation effect or the like? Just to make it clear how something like dimensional anchor interacts with the wearer. The intent seems clear, but it might be good to spell that out.
I love teleportation magic; great work on a unique implementation of that mechanic, and good luck in the next round!