TOPIC: Is the Black Pearl Worth the Slot?

So starting to gear up the party for this year and as I looked at past year's modules, there was no note of any monster having Magical Modifiers to hit the players.

So, if no encounter has that attribute to remove from an attack against a player, is there no value in having the Ioun Stone: Black Pearl equipped?

I know it was there for Smoak to mess with the Players, but has it ever applied to a player's advantage?

(Note: I have never done Grind, so I am not sure if it ever applied there)

I don't really use it anymore. This is one of those tokens that requires so many people being on the ball about modifiers that it's never actually applied. I much prefer things like the faceted Amber I'm responsible for making the modification of my own. I guess my answer is no it's not worth it there better choices.

Considering all the modifiers that can be in force anymore I am considering making a little cheater card. I have a laminate machine so a quick print out, turned into a card, with my damage mods might come in handy.

cdsmith wrote: Considering all the modifiers that can be in force anymore I am considering making a little cheater card. I have a laminate machine so a quick print out, turned into a card, with my damage mods might come in handy.

Ahh, but it is not a modifier to you, its a modifier when they strike at you with an attack. You have no way of knowing what that number is, other than when you are targeted and you have to ask the DM, each time, if they removed the attackers "magical bonus" to hit.

The problem is looking at the modules this last year, there was no monster with a listed Magical Attack Bonus (unless I am reading something wrong), nor the year before or the year before that.

So, if there is never one listed in the module, is there one ever listed for the DM's that does not make the module. If not, then this scenario never applies and you can drop this particular Ioun Stone from the list of those hovering around a player's head.

I also no longer use it any more.

As far as I can recall, there has never been a player use for the Black Pearl in the main adventures.

I can tell you for a fact that there have been a few cases where the Black Pearl has had a use in past Grinds. And I actually often design the monster stats so that cornercase tokens have a use!

For the record, my preferred Ioun Stone build is:

1. Topaz Trilliant (UR)
2. Beryl Prism (R)
3. Faceted Amber (R)
4. Onyx Cube (Volunteer UR) or Onyx Sphere (Volunteer R)
5. Environment-specific slot. This year will probably be the Emerald Cube (U) but in the past I've used the Topaz Sphere (R) for 2012, the Emerald Prism (R) for 2011, and sometimes the Iridescent Spindle (R).

I believe the only case were this could have come up would be with a PC getting charmed and attacking the other PCs or it could have been used in the Bar Brawl Golden Ticket.

Mostly useless.

I'll have it ready for true grind though

Incognito wrote: For the record, my preferred Ioun Stone build is:

1. Topaz Trilliant (UR)
2. Beryl Prism (R)
3. Faceted Amber (R)
4. Onyx Cube (Volunteer UR) or Onyx Sphere (Volunteer R)
5. Environment-specific slot. This year will probably be the Emerald Cube (U) but in the past I've used the Topaz Sphere (R) for 2012, the Emerald Prism (R) for 2011, and sometimes the Iridescent Spindle (R).

I'll be using the same setup. My #4 before was Spindle but that will be moved to adventure specific slot now.

Its a fairly new slot and we're allowed many so there arn't too many hard choices yet. I suspect this will eventually change.

greyseer wrote: Is the Black Pearl Worth the Slot?

In my opinion, no.

Unless I know specifically that it could be useful*, I don't see myself ever equipping one.


*E.g., if Incognito says he's going to make it useful in Grind

I would say if you are Ioun poor then it doesn't hurt to include. My party will likely rocking it because we do not currently have 5 better Iouns. It is a slot(s) that will be one of that last that we probably upgrade.

I think the emerald cube obsoletes it as a default with the exception of specific cases in which the use of the pearl may be warranted.

Disbeeleaf wrote: I think the emerald cube obsoletes it as a default with the exception of specific cases in which the use of the pearl may be warranted.

I don't understand this statement at all.

Emerald Cube
If outdoors, the wearer gains immunity to hold and slow spells or effects, as well as spider’s webbing or similar sticky substances.

Black Pearl
Negates most magical To Hit bonuses that an opponent may have when attacking the owner. The following To Hit bonuses are not affected by this item:
Natural Strength for melee attacks
Natural Dexterity for missile attacks
Effects of bardsong
Special abilities specified on the character card (e.g., a fighter’s weapon focus)

valetutto wrote: I'll have it ready for true grind though

Druegar wrote: *E.g., if Incognito says he's going to make it useful in Grind

Well, there *have* been cases where it has a use in Grind. I can't promise that it will *always* be useful in Grind though.

In particular, there have been a few cases where some monsters have had the "True Strike" spell, which grants a very large attack bonus to their next attack. On lower levels, the Black Pearl negates the attack bonus completely and on higher levels, it significantly reduces (but does not completely negate) the attack bonus.

There have also been a few cases with "Bull's Strength" spells, where the Black Pearl would negate the + hit bonus (but not the + damage bonus). Sometimes monsters have had "Bless" (or equivalent "Desecrate") spells.

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For the Iridescent Spindle, the 2011 Grind had several encounters which were underwater.

Also, occasionally you come up against a Stinking Cloud or Ghast stench, and if you remember to use the Iridescent Spindle and remember not to breath, you can either be immune (lower levels) or get a saving throw bonus (higher levels).

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For Grind, I explicitly try to include a variety of effects so that many tokens have uses. I try to utilize many of the status effects:

Paralysis
Curse
Disease
Stun
Sleep
Fear
Poison
Charm
Confusion (even before this year's Ring of Direction)
Petrification (though I use this one sparingly since Stone to Flesh scrolls were last printed in 2007)


Different special attacks/defenses:

Gazes (Scroll of Gaze Reflection & Spectre's Spectacles)
Invisibility (Lenses of Clear Sight & Scroll of Faerie Fire)
Illusions (Lenses of Clear Sight & Scrolls of Detect Invisibility/Life)
Damage Reduction (Ring of Intrusion)
Magic Resistance (Rod of Disjunction)
Death effects (Amulet of Warding)
Surprise (Ring of the Eye / Charm of Awareness)
Regeneration (Law Runestone)
Silver vulnerability (even before this year, with the Masterwork Silver Dagger, Silver Sickle and +1 Silver Rapier)


In the past, I've also had special uses for:

Bone Scroll Case
Small Steel Mirror
Alchemist Pouch
Smokestick / Scroll of Obscuring Mist
Scroll of Purify Water / Faerie Water
GP
Ring of Feather Fall / Cloak of Gliding
Ring of Regeneration
Necklace of the Ash
Harpy Claw Amulet