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Recently, a freind of mine used an item called "ghost wire". I have never heard of this item before and couldn't find it any of my books, so I had to use some on the spot rulings as to its use. Can anyone tell me what book this item is in or if it even exists at all?

We were playing D&D 3.5e and the item was used in a similar way to garrote wire.

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Welcome to the site! Good edit, but in the future you should also include the tag for the system; I've added that for you, and now it's a good question so I've upvoted you. I'll try to see if I can find the ghost wire anywhere. – KRyan Dec 11 '12 at 6:33
What did it do exactly? I find no results at all for that item on Google. He could have just been making things up or flavouring an existing item. – Jonathan Hobbs Dec 11 '12 at 6:35
Thanks. Any info at all will be much appreciated. – Axel_690 Dec 11 '12 at 6:35
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He was hanging from the ceiling on a house breaker harness and used it like a noose. THen he fell and said the NPC could either fall with him or be decapitated. – Axel_690 Dec 11 '12 at 6:36
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Just read through the whole equipment section of The Complete Thief's Handbook (2e). Lots of good stuff, no 'ghost wire.' You are always entitled to make someone show you a rules reference. – mxyzplk♦ Dec 12 '12 at 2:27
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up vote 13 down vote accepted

I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that the item doesn’t exist. I have never heard of it; while items are certainly not my forte, I know a lot of 3.5. Furthermore, I can find nothing with a Google search: no forum discussions mentioning it, no play-by-post games using it, no illegal compendiums giving its stats when they’re not supposed to. Nothing. I could be wrong, but I will believe that when and if he produces a citation for the item.

On the other hand, there are definitely rules for garrote wire. That’s in Song and Silence; technically it’s a 3.0 book, but the garrote hasn’t been updated so that makes it legal for 3.5. It is basically a weapon that allows you to grapple and deal 1d8+Str damage with the grapple. Not really all that impressive; certainly not capable of decapitating someone.

Also, Jonathan Hobbs makes a good point in the comments: it’s pretty common in RPGs to rename or reflavor things. He may be doing that (but should have told you if that’s what it was).

The thing with the harness and using it like a noose sounds like a situational advantage he was trying to give himself: don’t let that fly. I think it’s good for a game if the players can generally assume things work by the rules (emphasis on generally though), but I doubt there is any rules for the specific stunt that he pulled. Depending on he set it up, maybe the DM might give him a circumstantial bonus or something – that’s the kind of thing that makes RPGs cool and why DMs are better than computers. But it must be the DM’s call – players don’t dictate circumstances like that (in Dungeons & Dragons, anyway; other systems allow that in specific ways, usually involving some form of resource cost to allow them to modify the environment).

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Is it possible that instead of an item the ghost wire is an enchantment (or even a spell)? Not sure if that would make it more or less likely to appear in your searches for an item. – BESW Dec 11 '12 at 6:45
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@Axel_690: Actually, if you find out where the item's from, feel free to answer your own question. That's very much allowed; StackExchange generally encourages users to continue researching questions after asking, or for experts to share knowledge by asking and answering a question. – KRyan Dec 11 '12 at 6:52
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It is more likely that "ghost wire" is a nickname for garrote wire. Because you can't see it - get it? – Jonathan Hobbs Dec 11 '12 at 6:56
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@Axel_690: Generally, it's wise (though annoying and time-consuming) to at least glance through players' character sheets to make sure you at least recognize everything on it. – KRyan Dec 11 '12 at 6:56
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@Axel_690 See KRyan's earlier advice: it doesn't exist. It's a homebrewed item. – Jonathan Hobbs Dec 11 '12 at 7:05
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