Spellbook of Hundred-Handed Might (3.5e Equipment)
Spellbook of Hundred-Handed Might: As the ancient and cachectic sellspell you have hired makes the final arcane gesture and falls silent, your feel you body warp and change, stretching you into a massive, many-headed monster before fusing you make into the semblance of your human form. Outwardly unchanged, you move through the cluttered study with a new cautious delicacy, as you feel the power of the ancient hecatoncheires surge within you.
This is a combination of two spells which, when combined and made permanent give a character a cheap, untyped Strength bonus.
- Sources
- Game Rules Elements
Girillion's Blessing
Fuse
Permanancy (x2)
The extra arms granted by this spell are of limited usefulness, as they cannot make attacks. But combined with a Fuse Arms spell, also from Savage Species (Clr 3, Sor/Wiz 3, pg 66) the extra arms can be merged back into the original pair, granting a +4 untyped Str bonus to the the primary arms for every four caster levels (so, a 16th-level caster would create four extra pairs of arms, which would fuse and vanish, granting a +16 untyped Str bonus).
Both Fuse Arms and Girallon's Blessing can be made permanent by means of Permanency (min CL 13th, XP cost 1,500). Using a 16th-level caster for all spells, the total cost for a permanent untyped +16 Str bonus would be (1,280gp 480gp (Girallon's Blessing) + 480gp (Fuse Arms) + (Permanency) + 1,280gp (Permanency) + 7,500gp (NPC XP cost) + 7,500gp (NPC XP cost) = 18,250gp. Only Huge creatures can get 4 extra pairs of arms, so the Polymorph spell is included, although a psionic character might use an augmented Expansion power or a Large PC could simply use an Enlarge effect. This size change need not be permanent: once the extra arms are fused, the character no longer has them, so he or she no longer needs to be Huge.
A Polymorph spell, if needed, will add at least 280gp to the cost, or 480gp if you use the same 16th-level caster needed for Girallon's Blessing and Fuse Arms (the CL 16 is not needed for Fuse Arms',' either, strictly speaking, but is recommended to discourage casual dispelling.
Gameplay notes: Obviously, this is an optimization, in the sense that for less than the price of a +5 Belt of Giant Strength, you can buff your strength by +16 (and to add insult to injury, you can stack it with a Belt of Giant Strength or other enhancement bonus). The advantages to the character are obvious; but there may be an advantage, too, to allowing this finesse (which is fully compatible with RAW) if yours is a campaign in which mid-level spellcasters start to outshine the fighting classes, who gradually devolve into meat shields as their offensive powers pale in comparison to spells. This modification will put off for a long time the day when a sword-swing or arrow is an insignificant addition to the party's attacks. Fighting classes with more impressive attacks but 3/4 BAB can benefit even more -- profiting less from the additional damage and more from the +8 to hit.
- DM Counters
Dispel Magic.
CL ;
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