artifact cost?

[inuyasha]

ok so this may sound wierd, but i am in a high level party (20th) and i am wondering, if you were to convert minor and major artifacts into regular magic items (do a whole bunch of math) and figure out what the cost range is for the average minor and major artifact, what would it be?

[Cog]

The price would be whatever you figured it out to be. The point of artifacts is that they aren't supposed to be mere purchases; they're components of the plot, not of the characters. They have no printed price for a reason, and if you were to try to determine a value, you'd have to sit down and do it individually for each; there's no magic formula.

[inuyasha]

ok :smallbiggrin: so basically just the equivilent of very very expensive?

[Gavinfoxx]

'This is a unique, priceless item that goes for whatever the market can bear'

Also

'Particular favors and jobs and such'

[Alaris]

ok :smallbiggrin: so basically just the equivilent of very very expensive?

Extremely.

You could technically calculate the cost (most likely) using the "Create your Own Magic Item" rules in the DMG, but it would be different for each item. And likely well over 200,000 GP (The highest cost for a standard, non-artifact item, I believe).

[Gavinfoxx]

Remember, artifacts aren't artifacts because they are powerful or useful or anything like that.

You could, for example, make a custom magic item using the various item creation rules that most characters of mine would want far, far, far more than any written up artifact I have ever seen in D&D 3.5e.

What artifacts are, and do... is they are entirely unique items that break the rules of how magic items are supposed to work! That is what makes them artifacts.

[Xefas]

You could technically calculate the cost (most likely) using the "Create your Own Magic Item" rules in the DMG, but it would be different for each item.

Some more easily than others. For instance, a Philosophers Stone could probably be safely priced at ~33,000gp. That's roughly the price of its single-use True Resurrection power, and you stand to make a little less than that using its metal transmutation power (which means, if you craft a Philosopher Stone, since its half the market price, you'd be making a profit, but it costs you XP).

But, say, a Sphere of Annihilation would be much harder to put a price on. It's a nearly indestructible blob of "no-save-you-just-die" (and can't be raised), and anyone can use it, unlimited times per day, at no cost.

[ericgrau]

I think for at least some you could find a reasonable price in line with other items based on their abilities. But it would be so expensive that you may not be able to find a buyer. Nor someone willing to sell one.

Some lesser artifacts are perhaps worth less than 200k, even.

[Starbuck_II]

Remember, artifacts aren't artifacts because they are powerful or useful or anything like that.

You could, for example, make a custom magic item using the various item creation rules that most characters of mine would want far, far, far more than any written up artifact I have ever seen in D&D 3.5e.

What artifacts are, and do... is they are entirely unique items that break the rules of how magic items are supposed to work! That is what makes them artifacts.

Well, Sword of Kas is just an epic sword combined with Belt of Str...nothing really special/rule breaking.