For the math majors...

[cZak]

Was looking at the Hand of the Oak Father (MIC 109) as a nice item to have for my character. However, I'm not particularly keen on some of the effects - Speak w/ plants - and was trying to calculate the costs less that spell.

Formula spoilered for adjudication...

1) The basis of magic item creation is Spell level x Caster level x Multiplier divided by 5 divided by uses per day
[S(pell level) x C(aster level) x M(ultiplier)] / [5 / 1]
[S x C x M] / 5

All spells are at Caster level 5; C = 5
S
2 (Barkskin - Drd2)
1 (Entangle - Drd1)
1 (Goodberry - Drd1)
3 (Plant growth - Drd3)
3 (Speak w/ plants - Drd3)
2 (Tree shape - Drd2)

#(SC x M) / 5 = 5000
[2 (5 x M) + 2 (10 x M) + 2 (15 x M)] / 5 = 5000
[10M + 20M + 30M] / 5 = 5000
[60M] / 5 = 5000
60M = 5000 x 5
60M = 25000
M = 25000 / 60
M = 416.33_



Sry, bloody 'paragraphing' doesn't seem to work in post'n...

So...
Do the numbers add up?
If I wanted to remove the 'Speak with Plants' ability, I would reduce the cost of the item by ~1250gp?

[Deathslayer7]

is this a multiple times per day ability or continuous? If multiple, how many times per day?

either way the cost for command word is this
spell level x caster level x 1800 gp
3x5x1800 gives us a base cost of 27,000 gp

to make it charges per day multiple 27,000 gp by X/5 where x is the numbers of time per day it can be activated.

That is the amount you would save if it is removed. for once per day, it would be 5,400 gp. For twice per day 10,800 gp for three times per day it would be 16,200 gp etc.

To note these are guidelines (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/creatingMagicItems.htm)for making custom magic items as by the SRD.

[Jude_H]

I thought one of the design principles of MIC was to abandon item creation guidelines and to price items according to a subjective assessment of worth.

[Deathslayer7]

possibly. I personally haven't fully read through MIC. But I really doubt that a single use of speak with plants per day is 5,400 gp worth but hey, that's the guidelines they recommend.

[ffone]

Yeah if it's MIC its price is probably not formula driven. The posted above is using the right formula, though each ability except the most expensive one will generally have a 50% price bump.

If all the abilities can be formulaically priced, one option is to formula price the whole item, and if that doesn't match the given price, scale each ability's contribution accordingly.

[Deathslayer7]

ah right. forgot about that. But even then, you have an increased cost/savings for speak with plants. :smalltongue:

[Zaq]

You may not find this helpful, but personally, I love it when items, classes, or whatever have weird and extraneous bonus effects beyond what I'm asking for. I see it as a challenge. If you look hard enough, there will be a way to bring it up in-game, and possibly even to make it useful, awesome, funny, or some mixture thereof. Sure, you're not buying the item for SwP, but since you're getting it anyway . . . well, honestly, I bet you can find a use for it. Rather than trying to surgically excise it to make the item perfectly streamlined, why not take it as a bonus and see what you can do with it? If you can't, no loss, since you still have the effects you were interested in in the first place . . . but if you DO find a use for it, not only will you probably feel smart, but it'll probably end up being at least moderately useful.

Besides, any time you can surprise your fellow players (and, depending on your group, the DM) with something like that is a good time. "Wait, you can speak with . . . huh? Really?" "Sure can! Says it right here!"