# Robe of Useful Items: pit & window?



## heirodule (Jun 20, 2007)

I was looking at the robe of useful items, and noticing a "window" was on the list of possible items. I thought "how useless, to pull a framed window out." Then i noticed another item was a 10x10 pit. Ok, that must mean that you can pull out the "pit" and it appears in the floor where you designate.

I guess the window works the same way. Right?

On what thickness wall? [it says 2 feet deep, so I know this]

Can you put on into an adamantite wall?

What if you put a pit on a 2 foot thick floor?

What if you put a pit on some important item?

Can you put a pit on a section of floor where someone or and object is standing?


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## lukelightning (Jun 20, 2007)

Yup. It's great for getting through walls (up to 2 feet deep).  I might rule that windows have to be put on walls and the pit on the floor, and that you can't just use the pit on a wall to make a 10' hole in it.


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## Ambrus (Jun 20, 2007)

This is certainly a magic item that is open to many possible interpretation. Here's my take on it.







			
				heirodule said:
			
		

> I guess the window works the same way. Right?



I'd say so. The pit must be placed on a horizontal surface while the window must be placed on a vertical surface. That's how they are distinguished from each other.







			
				heirodule said:
			
		

> On what thickness wall? [it says 2 feet deep, so I know this]



Yup.







			
				heirodule said:
			
		

> Can you put on into an adamantite wall?



There's nothing that limits the materials of the wall's construction in the item description so I'd say so. 







			
				heirodule said:
			
		

> What if you put a pit on a 2 foot thick floor?



It'd simply create a hole through the floor. If the floor below is less than 10 feet below the level of the floor onto which you first place the pit I'd say that the magic involved continues downwards until a depth of ten feet has been reached. So in effect, the pit might create two holes in two floors of a building if they were only eight feet apart from each other.







			
				heirodule said:
			
		

> What if you put a pit on some important item?



A pit must be laid on any horizontal surface large enough to contain it; that is, anything that extends beyond 10 feet in width and length on the horizontal plane and otherwise able to act as a stable base onto which to anchor the pit. Note that creatures, even if large enough to meet the size requirements, are not surfaces and so cannot anchor pits upon their bodies.







			
				heirodule said:
			
		

> Can you put a pit on a section of floor where someone or and object is standing?



Before it is placed on the ground the "pit" is actually a fabric patch removed from the robe. It cannot be settled onto the ground properly if there is something covering the ground, such as an object or creature.


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## heirodule (Jun 20, 2007)

You could put the pit patch under a large table, between the legs though.

I'm feeling very Wyle E. Coyote here....


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## Ambrus (Jun 20, 2007)

heirodule said:
			
		

> You could put the pit patch under a large table, between the legs though.
> 
> I'm feeling very Wyle E. Coyote here....



I'd say that the patch unfolds to its full ten foot square size after being torn from the robe. Like a portable hole, the pit won't come into being until its entire surface is laid flat upon the ground. Nice try Mr. Super-genius.


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## The Blow Leprechaun (Jun 20, 2007)

Ambrus said:
			
		

> I'd say that the patch unfolds to its full ten foot square size after being torn from the robe. Like a portable hole, the pit won't come into being until its entire surface is laid flat upon the ground. Nice try Mr. Super-genius.



You could lay most of it out on the floor except for one small fold, and when somebody steps out onto it, _then_ pull it completely flat!


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## Ambrus (Jun 20, 2007)

The Blow Leprechaun said:
			
		

> You could lay most of it out on the floor except for one small fold, and when somebody steps out onto it, _then_ pull it completely flat!



An interesting idea and, in keeping with what I've said before, as a DM I'd probably allow such a tactic myself.

That's why it'd be important for the DM to figure out exactly how this unique item functions before introducing it in-game. A clever player can't help but come up with devious new uses for a magic item while a ill-prepared DM might instinctively veto all such clever ideas; rendering the item largely useless and the game less fun.


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## Nail (Jun 20, 2007)

Ambrus said:
			
		

> ....while a ill-prepared DM might instinctively veto all such clever ideas;...



Let's hope not.

The Robe of Useful Items uses _fabricate_ as it's base spell.  The robe is activated by the removal of small cloth patches.  Given those two peices, you might say that the window or pit is transmuted from the wall or floor, and has the same limitations as the spell.

For example, an adamantine wall is a "mineral", so the window would be smaller than normal (as per the spell description, 10-->1 reduction).


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## Ambrus (Jun 20, 2007)

The item describes the exact dimensions of the window it creates. I'd find making ad-hoc changes to those dimensions unnecessary and difficult to justify. The prerequisite spell is fabricate because its the closest analogy for the robe's powers in the Player's Handbook and I don't believe it should be used to change the robe's stated abilities. That's just me though.


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## mvincent (Jun 20, 2007)

Something I didn't see addressed yet:
Lets say a magic item or holy relic is buried 5' below the surface that you put the pit over?

I would rule that the dirt around it is removed (similar to how a fabricate spell might do so), but  magic item or holy relic would be untouched (and would fall to the bottom of the pit)... so the pit could theoretically be used as an excavation tool.


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## The Blow Leprechaun (Jun 20, 2007)

mvincent said:
			
		

> Something I didn't see addressed yet:
> Lets say a magic item or holy relic is buried 5' below the surface that you put the pit over?
> 
> I would rule that the dirt around it is removed (similar to how a fabricate spell might do so), but  magic item or holy relic would be untouched (and would fall to the bottom of the pit)... so the pit could theoretically be used as an excavation tool.



Per the fabrication spell, magic items cannot be transmuted, so I think I'd agree with you in this case. Were it just a suit of nonmagical armor or somesuch, I think I'd lean towards it getting transmuted along with the dirt/wood/whatever it's buried in.


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## Pielorinho (Jun 21, 2007)

IMC, I'd say (in response to any player questions) that they are unable to find any reliable research on how the item works, but they're welcome to be the pioneers in such research.  I'd then make rulings on the fly, based on how cool I thought it was.  I'd remind players that magic like this is tricky and weird, and something that works in one circumstance may not work in another for reasons difficult to detect.

In other words, I'd jealously guard my right to approve stuff that's fun and veto stuff that's dreary.

Daniel


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