Wayne Rhodes wrote: I would personally prefer a straight +3 saves on the beads or +3 and something other than free movement
Maybe add free movement to the kilt instead
I like this an an additional solution to the kilt/bead debate.
Atm, this bead will be the auto BIS for now (until TPTB get squirrelly and make a bead that boosts a stat, and then we will go further down that rabbit hole). I’m totally okay with a +2 saves and free movement, or even just +2 to saves If the bead is meant to be a small bonus slot and not go the way of the pants. If the intend is to use the slot more liberally, than this bead will go the way of the dragon tooth amulet and medallion of Greyhawk, and just be outclassed by the newest stuff.
The kilt as is will be argued against the other kilts, and I see that as problematic as the eldritch should, on its own, be demonstratively better. That said, with the bonuses going haywire and being a +6 (and let’s be honest - any with a high end build can skirt the negative in lieu of maxing their desired stat), it’s hard to balance this. I don’t think it’s okay to talk about the eldritch set bonus as that isn’t an automatic - it’s dependent on someone having other exceptionally high end, multi-year tokens, and I don’t think that is a healthy way to examine it. The highest of the high collectors might have these in spades, but most folks in the mid tier/mid tier+ aren’t going to have access to those - but the kilt being a 3 year was the most attainable of the eldritch transmutes. The ring and boots both meet or exceed the totals of the components that went in to make them, and both of those eldritch items are noticeably better and universal. I think the only reason the kilt is different is because it is the only item that deals with core stats and therefore changes the way a character drives.
So, as stated, maybe leave the kilt as presented, with the +4 to your choice, +5 HP, and then add either free movement here, or the proposed +1 to hit (which kind of splits the bonus of both the Dex and Str and acts as a middle ground). Heck, I could even see it being ‘between STR, DEX, and CON. Add +4 to one, add +2 to another, +5 additional HP.’
Or even +4 to one, +2 to the others (which eliminates the need of the 5 hp and would grant save bonuses and other downstream boosts).
This might not mitigate the root bonus of the URs (which again, barrelbane is still an issue imho, but so are the others with some focused builds), but this might fix how it appears at its core, for a token that should absolutely be the BiS.