Maginomicon
2015-01-23, 12:51 PM
Basically, a psicrown is an item that adds a number of powers to your psionic repertoire, but whenever you manifest them the manifester level is that of the psicrown (or higher, if your own manifester level is higher) and the power points must come from the psicrown’s own reserve. When that reserve runs out, the psicrown is useless.
You use the psicrown's manifester level or your own manifester level (whichever is higher) when determining how many points can be spent on a power, and you choose how many power points get spent on the power.
The stated rules for crafting a psicrown are as follows:
The cost of the materials is subsumed in the cost of creating the psicrown:
375 gp × the level of the highest-level power × the manifester level,
+ 75% of the value of the next highest-level power (281.25 gp × the level of the power × the manifester level),
+ 50% of the value of any other powers (187.5 gp × the level of the power × the manifester level).
Unless otherwise stated, a psicrown has power points equal to 50 × its manifester level when created.
Psicrowns are always created with full power points.
The minimum manifester level of a psicrown is 8th. The manifester level of a psicrown cannot be more than five levels higher than the minimum manifester level for the highest-level power in the psicrown.
Alternatively, if you want to have a higher manifester level in the psicrown, you must pay for the psicrown as if the highest-level power is one level higher for each additional two manifester levels you want.
Crafting a psicrown takes one day for each 1,000 gp in its base price. To craft a psicrown, you must spend 1/25 of its base price in XP and use up raw materials costing 1/2 of its base price.
First off, we have to acknowledge that #1 and #6 are confusingly worded regarding the material costs. #1 says they're subsumed (included within) the cost of creating the psicrown, whereas #6 says you must use up raw materials costing 1/2 of its base price. These don’t actually contradict, as what #1 is really saying is that the materials cost is the cost of creating the psicrown (just like when crafting other items).
However, these rules don’t tell you anything about what the base price of the psicrown actually is. Since the Creating Psionic Items article uses the same wording for psicrowns as dorjes, it would be implied that the base price is double the materials cost. That is, it would imply that the market price constant is 750 gp, like that of a dorje. This might not actually be true.
One of these two statements must be true, and I can prove it. Either...
The stated creation prices are actually for calculating the base price, OR
The market prices for every listed psicrown should be double what they stated.
Either way, the proof that one of those two statements must be true is the same, and is as follows:
We first have to understand item #5 above. The text for creating dorjes uses the same wording, although they include an example.
“The manifester level of a dorje cannot be more than five higher than the minimum manifester level to use the power it contains.”
“Alternatively, if you want to have a higher manifester level in the dorje, you must pay for the dorje as if the power was one level higher for each additional two manifester levels you want. For example, energy missile is a 2nd-level kineticist power with a minimum manifester level of 3rd. If you wanted to make a dorje of energy missile with a manifester level of 8th (five higher than the minimum), you would pay for the creation of the dorje as if energy missile was a 5th-level power.”
The 2nd quote here is ambiguously worded, and I suspect that the author didn’t realize that they had accidentally used an example which implied that you're using one pricing method or the other (that is, use the “+5 ML limit” rule in the first quote, or the alternative in the second quote). What we have to ask though is “Why would the author use the word ‘alternatively’?” If you start using just “an alternative” pricing method, then two identical magic items would have different prices. One way to get around this confusion is to infer that the “alternative” crafting method raises the power’s level for the purposes of manifesting it, but with that +5 ML cap, you’re only able to raise the power’s level by 2, so that’s not much of a benefit.
I like to break down the market price of an item and try to understand how it was calculated. Here’s the calculation I used that matched the market price for the Astral Legion psicrown (ML 18, market price 47,250 gp):
375 gp × 7 × 18 = 47,250 gp
You’re probably wondering where I got those numbers. The Astral Legion psicrown’s only power is astral construct, a 1st-level power with minimum of ML 1. Imagine that you can increase the manifester level of a dorje or psicrown by 5 without any additional costs (other than paying for it as a 1st-level power with ML 6). This is the “+5 ML cap”. What if you could then further increase the ML by using the “alternative” method?
2nd-level power, ML 8
3rd-level power, ML 10
4th-level power, ML 12
5th-level power, ML 14
6th-level power, ML 16
7th-level power, ML 18
Thus, 375 gp × 7 × 18.
Okay, so what about psicrowns with multiple powers? We simply apply the above logic again, but only to the highest-level power in the bunch. For example, let’s take the Great Dominator psicrown (ML 15th, market price 45,000 gp). Its powers are:
psionic charm (1st-level power)
psionic suggestion (2nd-level power)
psionic dominate (4th-level power)
The minimum manifester level of the highest-level power in the psicrown is ML 7. Add 5 to that for “free” (getting ML 12). Then we increase it with the “alternative” method:
5th-level power, ML 14
6th-level power, ML 16
We stop at ML 15, but it’s still treated as a 6th level power because we went above ML 14. We use the same ML 15 for all of the other powers, albeit with the power levels in their costs remaining where they were originally:
psionic dominate : 375 gp × 6 × 15
psionic suggestion : 281.25 gp × 2 × 15
psionic charm : 187.5 gp × 1 × 15
Altogether:
(375*6*15)+(281.25*2*15)+(187.5*1*15) = 45,000 gp
Many of the listed psicrowns have a manifester level that doesn’t go higher than 5 more than the minimum manifester level of the highest-level power in the psicrown. For these cases, you simply increase the manifester level to the specified ML and don’t use the “alternative” crafting method at all (because it’s not necessary). Let’s take the Temporal Juggler psicrown (ML 17, market price 95,625 gp) as an example here:
timeless body (9th-level power) : 375 gp × 9 × 17
temporal acceleration (6th-level power) : 281.25 gp × 6 × 17
time hop (3rd-level power) : 187.5 gp × 3 × 17
Altogether:
(375*9*17)+(281.25*6*17)+(187.5*3*17) = 95,625 gp
Remember that the minimum manifester level of a psicrown is ML 8, so even the cheapest psicrown imaginable still has to be augmented to ML 8 to be legal. It’s also important to note that psicrowns apply their cost progression in order by power, not by level group, so if you have a psicrown with a progression of 4th/4th/4th/4th, the 100% cost applies to the first power, 75% cost applies to the second, and 50% cost applies to the rest, even though they’re all the same power level.
Okay, so we’ve proven that one of those two statements that I mentioned above must be true. Personally, I don’t think the designers intended for the “alternative” crafting method to increase the power’s actual level for the purposes of manifesting it. After-all, it does say in the dorje “alternative crafting” example “...you would pay for the creation of the dorje as if the highest-level power is...”. I think they just created the “alternative” method so that a dorje or psicrown with more than 5 ML above the minimum is more costly, but not impossibly expensive. Plus, it would be inconsistent to their overall balancing style for other item creation feats to give crafters a way to simply increase an item's power's level. Considering how prohibitively expensive psicrowns are anyway, I’m going to assume that the listed prices of psicrowns should remain the same, and that the listed crafting costs are actually for calculating the base cost (market price).
In any case, despite psicrowns being created with all of their power points, I would figure the same kind of logic that’s used to justify “used wands” (Magic Item Compendium p128) can be used to justify used psicrowns. Simply divide the market price by the number of power points it contains to determine the cost of that psicrown with only one power point. Then, multiply that number as-needed until you’re at the price that fits your character’s budget.
You use the psicrown's manifester level or your own manifester level (whichever is higher) when determining how many points can be spent on a power, and you choose how many power points get spent on the power.
The stated rules for crafting a psicrown are as follows:
The cost of the materials is subsumed in the cost of creating the psicrown:
375 gp × the level of the highest-level power × the manifester level,
+ 75% of the value of the next highest-level power (281.25 gp × the level of the power × the manifester level),
+ 50% of the value of any other powers (187.5 gp × the level of the power × the manifester level).
Unless otherwise stated, a psicrown has power points equal to 50 × its manifester level when created.
Psicrowns are always created with full power points.
The minimum manifester level of a psicrown is 8th. The manifester level of a psicrown cannot be more than five levels higher than the minimum manifester level for the highest-level power in the psicrown.
Alternatively, if you want to have a higher manifester level in the psicrown, you must pay for the psicrown as if the highest-level power is one level higher for each additional two manifester levels you want.
Crafting a psicrown takes one day for each 1,000 gp in its base price. To craft a psicrown, you must spend 1/25 of its base price in XP and use up raw materials costing 1/2 of its base price.
First off, we have to acknowledge that #1 and #6 are confusingly worded regarding the material costs. #1 says they're subsumed (included within) the cost of creating the psicrown, whereas #6 says you must use up raw materials costing 1/2 of its base price. These don’t actually contradict, as what #1 is really saying is that the materials cost is the cost of creating the psicrown (just like when crafting other items).
However, these rules don’t tell you anything about what the base price of the psicrown actually is. Since the Creating Psionic Items article uses the same wording for psicrowns as dorjes, it would be implied that the base price is double the materials cost. That is, it would imply that the market price constant is 750 gp, like that of a dorje. This might not actually be true.
One of these two statements must be true, and I can prove it. Either...
The stated creation prices are actually for calculating the base price, OR
The market prices for every listed psicrown should be double what they stated.
Either way, the proof that one of those two statements must be true is the same, and is as follows:
We first have to understand item #5 above. The text for creating dorjes uses the same wording, although they include an example.
“The manifester level of a dorje cannot be more than five higher than the minimum manifester level to use the power it contains.”
“Alternatively, if you want to have a higher manifester level in the dorje, you must pay for the dorje as if the power was one level higher for each additional two manifester levels you want. For example, energy missile is a 2nd-level kineticist power with a minimum manifester level of 3rd. If you wanted to make a dorje of energy missile with a manifester level of 8th (five higher than the minimum), you would pay for the creation of the dorje as if energy missile was a 5th-level power.”
The 2nd quote here is ambiguously worded, and I suspect that the author didn’t realize that they had accidentally used an example which implied that you're using one pricing method or the other (that is, use the “+5 ML limit” rule in the first quote, or the alternative in the second quote). What we have to ask though is “Why would the author use the word ‘alternatively’?” If you start using just “an alternative” pricing method, then two identical magic items would have different prices. One way to get around this confusion is to infer that the “alternative” crafting method raises the power’s level for the purposes of manifesting it, but with that +5 ML cap, you’re only able to raise the power’s level by 2, so that’s not much of a benefit.
I like to break down the market price of an item and try to understand how it was calculated. Here’s the calculation I used that matched the market price for the Astral Legion psicrown (ML 18, market price 47,250 gp):
375 gp × 7 × 18 = 47,250 gp
You’re probably wondering where I got those numbers. The Astral Legion psicrown’s only power is astral construct, a 1st-level power with minimum of ML 1. Imagine that you can increase the manifester level of a dorje or psicrown by 5 without any additional costs (other than paying for it as a 1st-level power with ML 6). This is the “+5 ML cap”. What if you could then further increase the ML by using the “alternative” method?
2nd-level power, ML 8
3rd-level power, ML 10
4th-level power, ML 12
5th-level power, ML 14
6th-level power, ML 16
7th-level power, ML 18
Thus, 375 gp × 7 × 18.
Okay, so what about psicrowns with multiple powers? We simply apply the above logic again, but only to the highest-level power in the bunch. For example, let’s take the Great Dominator psicrown (ML 15th, market price 45,000 gp). Its powers are:
psionic charm (1st-level power)
psionic suggestion (2nd-level power)
psionic dominate (4th-level power)
The minimum manifester level of the highest-level power in the psicrown is ML 7. Add 5 to that for “free” (getting ML 12). Then we increase it with the “alternative” method:
5th-level power, ML 14
6th-level power, ML 16
We stop at ML 15, but it’s still treated as a 6th level power because we went above ML 14. We use the same ML 15 for all of the other powers, albeit with the power levels in their costs remaining where they were originally:
psionic dominate : 375 gp × 6 × 15
psionic suggestion : 281.25 gp × 2 × 15
psionic charm : 187.5 gp × 1 × 15
Altogether:
(375*6*15)+(281.25*2*15)+(187.5*1*15) = 45,000 gp
Many of the listed psicrowns have a manifester level that doesn’t go higher than 5 more than the minimum manifester level of the highest-level power in the psicrown. For these cases, you simply increase the manifester level to the specified ML and don’t use the “alternative” crafting method at all (because it’s not necessary). Let’s take the Temporal Juggler psicrown (ML 17, market price 95,625 gp) as an example here:
timeless body (9th-level power) : 375 gp × 9 × 17
temporal acceleration (6th-level power) : 281.25 gp × 6 × 17
time hop (3rd-level power) : 187.5 gp × 3 × 17
Altogether:
(375*9*17)+(281.25*6*17)+(187.5*3*17) = 95,625 gp
Remember that the minimum manifester level of a psicrown is ML 8, so even the cheapest psicrown imaginable still has to be augmented to ML 8 to be legal. It’s also important to note that psicrowns apply their cost progression in order by power, not by level group, so if you have a psicrown with a progression of 4th/4th/4th/4th, the 100% cost applies to the first power, 75% cost applies to the second, and 50% cost applies to the rest, even though they’re all the same power level.
Okay, so we’ve proven that one of those two statements that I mentioned above must be true. Personally, I don’t think the designers intended for the “alternative” crafting method to increase the power’s actual level for the purposes of manifesting it. After-all, it does say in the dorje “alternative crafting” example “...you would pay for the creation of the dorje as if the highest-level power is...”. I think they just created the “alternative” method so that a dorje or psicrown with more than 5 ML above the minimum is more costly, but not impossibly expensive. Plus, it would be inconsistent to their overall balancing style for other item creation feats to give crafters a way to simply increase an item's power's level. Considering how prohibitively expensive psicrowns are anyway, I’m going to assume that the listed prices of psicrowns should remain the same, and that the listed crafting costs are actually for calculating the base cost (market price).
In any case, despite psicrowns being created with all of their power points, I would figure the same kind of logic that’s used to justify “used wands” (Magic Item Compendium p128) can be used to justify used psicrowns. Simply divide the market price by the number of power points it contains to determine the cost of that psicrown with only one power point. Then, multiply that number as-needed until you’re at the price that fits your character’s budget.