Unusual item, needs pricing

[Dhavaer]

Tattoo of the High Forest
An intricate pattern of ink covering the body from head to toe, High Forest Tattoos are only given to, and only function for, elves. The tattoos give a deflection bonus to AC equal to the wearer's character level when the wearer is unarmoured, and count as protective clothing regardless of the climate (they give a +5 bonus agianst exposure to cold weather as a cold weather outfit, for instance).
The tattoos take up the vest/vestment/shirt, robe/armour, bracers/bracelets and boots/shoes magic item slots.
Abjuration (strength varies); CL equal to wearer's character level; shield of faith, 8 ranks Craft (tattooing); Price ?

[Triaxx]

Naked elf? Should cause horror.
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How about (1000xChL+100) Plus 150gp for the special inks?

On the other hand, this is almost like giving the character itself an enchantment, so perhaps pricing it as such? (Feel the power of my +3 elf.)

[Dhavaer]

I don't see how increasing the price based on character level would work; it's not as though it gets taken away if you don't pay for it when you level.

[DracoDei]

Well, it might have its protective value set to at the level it was 'scribed' at or the characters current level, whichever is lower... and it should be 'upgradable' in that case, by paying the difference.

[Roderick_BR]

A magic item that rises in power according to the character level? Hard to indicate a price really.

... I can play a wizard elf that uses no armor, and gets a +20 deflection bonus on level 20!?

Better set a specific bonus, like a ring or bracers, and don't let it rise with the character's level. No magic item works like that.

[Armads]

How about it granting a +1 only at 1st level, costing 400 gp (or 1/5th the cost for a ring of protection of the equivalent bonus). Then it costs gp to 'awaken' it, so that it grants a higher bonus (again, at 1/5th the cost of a ring of protection of the same bonus, since it consumes so many slots).

So a +20 version of that item would be 160 000 gp.

[Jack_Simth]

A magic item that rises in power according to the character level? Hard to indicate a price really.

... I can play a wizard elf that uses no armor, and gets a +20 deflection bonus on level 20!?

Better set a specific bonus, like a ring or bracers, and don't let it rise with the character's level. No magic item works like that.
The closest item would be the Monk's Belt - but it doesn't scale nearly as much, and is based on a mental stat, not on character level.

A fixed price isn't going to work very well for this one as statted out, I'm afraid.

[InaVegt]

It should be well beyond the wealth by level of any character.

Let's see, a deflection bonus of +20 would be 20² × 2000 = 800000 gp (beyond the WBL of a 20th level character), a deflection bonus of +10 would be 200000 (beyond the WBL of a 10th level character).

I say, consider it an artifact or weaken it down.

[Dhavaer]

I say, consider it an artifact or weaken it down.

+1 per 2 levels, minimum 1?

[InaVegt]

+1 per 2 levels, minimum 1?

How about just a flat bonus, and having the possibility of improving it later on, to a new flat bonus.

See, at 1st level this thing (with the new weakened bonus) would still be worth more than WBL (2000), it's beneath WBL at the following levels: 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 and up, so it difinately should not be sold beneath level 11, I still think it should cost at least the level 20 bonus (200000 gp), making it so a 15th level character could theoretically buy it, even so, I would still say this is artifact level.

[Triaxx]

I was assuming it would have to reapplied, rather than merely upgraded, hence the price based on the bonuses given.

[mabriss lethe]

As it stands it should cost..godalmightyexpensive. Not to mention the fact that it's pretty overpowered. You could try breaking it down another way.

It's based on the spell "shield of faith". Turn the tattoo into a conduit for that spell. Say....

3 times per day, command word, no body slot used. Caster level is fixed at time of creation, though the difference can be paid to have the tattoo "touched up" up to the wearer's character level.

If I have my math right, it would wind up costing 2160 gp per caster level

You'd get a +2 to +5 deflection bonus to AC for a number of minutes equal to caster level. You still have access to all body slots. not too shabby.

Depending on the type of character involved. You might replace this with Mage armor. Same price since they're both 1st level spells. Grants a straight +4 Armor bonus, but lasts for 1 hour/level. Better for say, a monk or full arcane spellcaster. And there's really not much point in boosting it past caster level 8, since then you could just say the magic word at 3 points during the day and have that protection on you 24/7. Over all, Spend less gp, get a decent bonus. Good deal for a naked elf in the wilderness.

My 2 cents.