Drake-helm shard prices... what?

[Werephilosopher]

I'm looking at the Drake-Helm, from the Explorer's Handbook (also here (http://eberronunlimited.wikidot.com/drake-helm)). The table at the bottom shows the prices for the dragonshards you put in the helm... but I can't see why there are seperate columns for "cost" and "dragonshard cost," both of which are different from the prices shown for each type of dragonshard. I can't tell if imbuing a new spell in a dragonshard costs money, and if so, which price to use. Can anyone else decipher this?

[Mcdt2]

Okay, so... As far as I can tell:

"Cost" on the second table is the cost of attuning a dragonshard so it can accept a spell up to that level, and "Dragonshard Cost" is the minimum value the attuned shard needs to have. I believe changing the spell stored in the shard is free, although do note it can only be done once per month.

[Cruiser1]

"Cost" on the second table is the cost of attuning a dragonshard so it can accept a spell up to that level, and "Dragonshard Cost" is the minimum value the attuned shard needs to have.
Actually the above has it reversed. "Cost" is the base value of a dragonshard that can be attuned to fit a Drake-helm. An unattuned dragonshard is like a gem commodity, and has a static value for both buying and selling (no 50% sell value as with many items). "Dragonshard Cost" is the cost is takes for a caster with Create Wondrous Item to make an attuned dragonshard magic item (using the base dragonshard "gem").

To make this simpler, just look at the table at the bottom, for the store price to buy an attuned dragonshard ready for use in a Drake-helm (most players will care about this list the most, unless they want to craft their own attuned dragonshard items). "An attuned Siberys dragonshard costs 6,000 gp (1st), 9,000 gp (2nd), 14,000 gp (3rd), 26,000 gp (4th), 35,000 gp (5th), 46,000 gp (6th), 69,000 (7th), 84,000 (8th), or 101,000 (9th)."

Note that the store price for an attuned dragonshard equals ("Cost" + ("Dragonshard Cost" x 2)). In other words "Cost" is the base dragonshard "gem" part of the attuned dragonshard, which doesn't change when selling in a store. "Dragonshard Cost" is the work the caster did to convert the dragonshard into an attuned dragonshard magic item that can fit in a Drake-helm. As with most magic items, the cost the caster spent to create the item, is multiplied by two when determining the final store price.


I believe changing the spell stored in the shard is free, although do note it can only be done once per month.
Yes, that's indeed true. :smallsmile:

[Werephilosopher]

Thanks! :smallsmile: