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Allanimal
2010-08-24, 07:09 PM
Am I reading this table in the SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/creatingMagicItems.htm#tableEstimatingMagicItemGol dPieceValues) correctly?

I want to make a ring that bestows the Enlarge Person effect on the wearer 3 times/day.

From the table, it seems like
A) it is command word activated --> Spell level × caster level × 1,800 gp
B) 3 Charges/day --> 0.6*A

Enlarge person is 1st level wizard spell, so the minimum caster level is 1.

Therefore: 1*1*1800*0.6 = 1080 gp.

Question 2. If the above is true, then it also appears that the cost of a 5 times/day ring is the same as a "as many times as I can say the command word"/day ring. Correct?

herrhauptmann
2010-08-24, 07:23 PM
I think your math looks right for the first, but definitely 'yes' for the second. Custom magic items are generally broken, and the rules are easy to break.

Greenish
2010-08-24, 07:30 PM
12k is a nice bargain for an item of continuous Wraithstrike. Touch attacks om nom.

Though, those are only guidelines.

Wonton
2010-08-24, 07:31 PM
I think your math looks right for the first, but definitely 'yes' for the second. Custom magic items are generally broken, and the rules are easy to break.

Use-activated Sword of True Strike, anyone?

Jack_Simth
2010-08-24, 07:40 PM
Use-activated Sword of True Strike, anyone?Not a sword. Gloves. But yeah, that's the classic example of why the guidelines are broken.

Am I reading this table in the SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/creatingMagicItems.htm#tableEstimatingMagicItemGol dPieceValues) correctly?

Yes and no. Yes, your math is correct enough, however....
1) Re-read the title: "Estimating Magic Item Gold Piece Values"
2) Read the last paragraph under "Other Considerations" a bit further down:

Not all items adhere to these formulas directly. The reasons for this are several. First and foremost, these few formulas aren’t enough to truly gauge the exact differences between items. The price of a magic item may be modified based on its actual worth. The formulas only provide a starting point. The pricing of scrolls assumes that, whenever possible, a wizard or cleric created it. Potions and wands follow the formulas exactly. Staffs follow the formulas closely, and other items require at least some judgment calls. (emphasis added)
3) The SRD pulls from the DMG, MM, PHB (and, in the extra sections, the XPH, the ELH, and Deities&Demigods, although those extra sections are neither here nor there). The DMG and MM are intended for DM use. The PHB is intended for player use. These 'rules' you've found? They're from the DMG, and not actually intended for player use. They break easy.

Boren
2010-08-24, 08:21 PM
Use-activated Sword of True Strike, anyone?

Been there done that way over broken banned from all my games

UndeadCleric
2010-08-24, 08:52 PM
Am I reading this table in the SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/creatingMagicItems.htm#tableEstimatingMagicItemGol dPieceValues) correctly?

I want to make a ring that bestows the Enlarge Person effect on the wearer 3 times/day.

From the table, it seems like
A) it is command word activated --> Spell level × caster level × 1,800 gp
B) 3 Charges/day --> 0.6*A

Enlarge person is 1st level wizard spell, so the minimum caster level is 1.

Therefore: 1*1*1800*0.6 = 1080 gp.

Question 2. If the above is true, then it also appears that the cost of a 5 times/day ring is the same as a "as many times as I can say the command word"/day ring. Correct?

1: Yes
2: No. A 10/day ring would be 1*1*1800/0.5=3600 gold. The formula is divide by (5 divided by charges per day). 5 divided by 10 charges a day= 0.5.

PId6
2010-08-24, 11:09 PM
Not a sword. Gloves. But yeah, that's the classic example of why the guidelines are broken.
Eh, that never really seemed that broken to me. Yeah, at-will True Strike for 2,000 gp is nice for its price, but still, it costs a standard action to use and only applies to one attack. Typically, even with Power Attack, you can do more damage with two full attacks than you can by spending two turns hitting for max PA on only one. Still pretty nice since it's cheap and you sometimes get a chance to setup for it, but it's not really broken or even that overpowered. If it costed a bit more (say 6,000 gp), it's probably not even worth the price.

Use-activated Wraithstrike is, however, a different animal entirely.

Andion Isurand
2010-08-25, 12:52 AM
There needs to be a cost modifier associated with each individual spell, listing the types of items it can be used for and how much to multiply the cost by... similar to the way Monte Cook does it in Arcana Evloved.

Jack_Simth
2010-08-25, 07:19 AM
Eh, that never really seemed that broken to me. Yeah, at-will True Strike for 2,000 gp is nice for its price, but still, it costs a standard action to use and only applies to one attack. Typically, even with Power Attack, you can do more damage with two full attacks than you can by spending two turns hitting for max PA on only one. Still pretty nice since it's cheap and you sometimes get a chance to setup for it, but it's not really broken or even that overpowered. If it costed a bit more (say 6,000 gp), it's probably not even worth the price.
Use-activated (2,000 gp base), not command-word (1,800 gp base). Doesn't take a standard action, it auto-activates when you attempt an attack roll, just like the +X enhancement on your sword. Applies to all attacks.
Use-activated Wraithstrike is, however, a different animal entirely.Same beast, really, although with Wraithstrike being a swift-action to begin with, going with a Command-word is much simpler.

Boren
2010-08-25, 09:59 AM
Use-activated (2,000 gp base), not command-word (1,800 gp base). Doesn't take a standard action, it auto-activates when you attempt an attack roll, just like the +X enhancement on your sword. Applies to all attacks. Same beast, really, although with Wraithstrike being a swift-action to begin with, going with a Command-word is much simpler.

Indeed I don't remember what wraith strike dose however once in a game I was in that had gone epic my 29th level physic warrior had a true strike, deep impacting sword. there wasn't much I couldn't hit.
It was after that when we as a playing group to ban use activated true strike.

PId6
2010-08-25, 10:44 AM
Use-activated (2,000 gp base), not command-word (1,800 gp base). Doesn't take a standard action, it auto-activates when you attempt an attack roll, just like the +X enhancement on your sword. Applies to all attacks.
It seems a bit determined by interpretation on what the "use" of the item is.

This type of item simply has to be used in order to activate it. A character has to drink a potion, swing a sword, interpose a shield to deflect a blow in combat, look through a lens, sprinkle dust, wear a ring, or don a hat. Use activation is generally straightforward and self-explanatory.

...

Unless stated otherwise, activating a use-activated magic item is either a standard action or not an action at all and does not provoke attacks of opportunity, unless the use involves performing an action that provokes an attack of opportunity in itself. If the use of the item takes time before a magical effect occurs, then use activation is a standard action. If the item’s activation is subsumed in its use and takes no extra time use activation is not an action at all.
I think there's quite a bit of leeway in the argument that the "use" of a glove is to swing a weapon with it, as opposed to, say, putting it on (almost certainly a standard action). Sword of True Strike makes more sense for that logic though.

Diarmuid
2010-08-25, 10:48 AM
And with regards to Command Word activated Wraithstrike, even if the spell being replicated is a Swift, isnt activating a command word item itself a standard?

Caphi
2010-08-25, 10:53 AM
Am I reading this table in the SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/creatingMagicItems.htm#tableEstimatingMagicItemGol dPieceValues) correctly?

I want to make a ring that bestows the Enlarge Person effect on the wearer 3 times/day.

From the table, it seems like
A) it is command word activated --> Spell level × caster level × 1,800 gp
B) 3 Charges/day --> 0.6*A

Enlarge person is 1st level wizard spell, so the minimum caster level is 1.

Therefore: 1*1*1800*0.6 = 1080 gp.

Question 2. If the above is true, then it also appears that the cost of a 5 times/day ring is the same as a "as many times as I can say the command word"/day ring. Correct?

Since the caster level is 1, it would be a single turn of enlargement. But yeah.

Greenish
2010-08-25, 11:04 AM
Since the caster level is 1, it would be a single turn of enlargement. But yeah.Enlarge Person has a minute per level duration. So 10 turns.

Caphi
2010-08-25, 11:38 AM
Enlarge Person has a minute per level duration. So 10 turns.

Oh, wow. Apparently I can't remember things anymore.