Understanding the "Adding/Improving common item effects" chart from the MIC

[Justyn]

So, WotC's explanation doesn't help me much, so I'd like to ask some place I can feedback from:

How am I supposed to read this thing? Say, I want to have a set of clothes (let's say it's an Explorer's Outfit, because 10gp is a nice, round number), enchanted to have a +8 AC bonus and a +5 deflection bonus; how much would it cost? Just the cost of the highest bonuses added with the highest priced bonus increased by 150% (43,010gp)? Would I need to pay for every step along the way?

Seriously, I'm confused: can someone please help me?

[Keld Denar]

Check out the table on page 234. It has a list of "common" effects, and locations where you can put them. As long as you are upgrading an existing magic item with one of these enchantments in one of the indicated slots, there is no 50% markup. Simply sum the cost of the two together and that is the total.

+AC has affinity to Body, so you could add it to your "Armor" slot, which can be a suit of armor, or could be something like a robe or explorers outfit.

+Deflection also has an affinity to Body, so yuo could also add it to your "Armor" slot.

If you took a plain, non-magical t-shirt, you could enchant it with +8 AC for 64,000g. This is standard. If you then took that t-shirt of armor and added +5 deflection, it would cost you an additional 50,000g, for a total price of 114,000g. You wouldn't have to pay the normal 50% increase to add one to the other because they have affinity, according to the table on page 234.

Another example. MIC has an item called a Circlet of Rapid Casting. It costs 15,000g and goes in your head slot. If I wanted to upgrade mine with +2 Int, per the rules in the MIC it would cost me an additional +4,000g. The rules in the DMG would cost me 6,000g (which has the 50% increase for combining slots). Thus, according to the MIC, my new Circlet of Rapid Casting of +2 Int costs 19,000g total.

[tyckspoon]

The 'Common Magic Effects'- saves, AC boosts, and stat boosts- do not have the 150% surcharge. The costs are the same as the core items that have the same effects- Armor is based on Bracers of Armor, saves on Cloak of Resistance, Deflection AC on Ring of Protection, etc; if you had your Clothes of Armored Protection made in one go, it would cost the same as +8 Bracers of Armor and a +5 Ring of Protection (so 64k+50k= 114,000.) If you got there incrementally, by upgrading a lesser version of the item.. you'll still pay the same in the end, but you wouldn't have to spend it all at once; that's what the table is showing you. When you upgrade an item, you only have to pay the difference between what you want and what is already there. (You *will* get the right price for your item if you just add up all in-between steps on the table, but it's the long way to get there.)

[Kalim]

Is your example purely an example, or something you want to do? Glamored armor might be much more affordable. xD

The way I like to think of it, Gloves of Dexterity +2 are quite useful to a lowish level character, but also quite boring. Glove of the Master Strategist is a very cool glove, but you'll be missing out on that +2 Dex.

What the rules let you do, in essence, is pay the price for both, and get both effects. So your Glove of the Master Strategist now also gives you a +2 enhancemenet bonus to Dexterity.

I really like when DMs green flag that MIC rule, since it lets you get all the fun magical items without missing out on stat bonuses.