Pricing Question

[tstewt1921]

My group is wanting to by rings of mind linking to be able to communicate no matter where the other is, as long as they are on the same plane. I put the price at 36k per ring, as the price for just a pair of friendship rings or whatever they are called is like 2k and the distance is only a mile. Does this seem fair or is there an actual item that is out there that will serve for what they need.

[tstewt1921]

Can anyone help please?

[GoodbyeSoberDay]

As you noted, the closest precedent is the Ring of Communication for 2000 gold per ring. It is based on Detect Thoughts, and I imagine longer-range communication would have to be based on Sending. The game, astutely IMO, values long-range communication much more highly than short range communication. Per the (admittedly unreliable) DMG custom magic item guidelines, a use-activated item of Sending crafted by a Cleric would cost 4 x 7 x 2000 = 56000 gold. On the plus side you could message anyone (which is why Sending Stones in the MiC are significantly cheaper than DMG guidelines for two 1/day Sending items), but on the downside you only message one person per round, not everyone in the group. The custom magic item your party proposes might be more beneficial to a party of PCs, especially considering the metagame, but a use-activated item of Sending is probably better in a general sense and so should be more expensive.

It's going to be a subjective call here, which is why you're not getting many answers. Your gut response of 36k per item sounds reasonable to me. That puts it on par with other potentially game-changing wondrous items.

[BowStreetRunner]

The normal cost would be power level x manifester level x 2000 gp for a continuous item. For a ring of mindlink this would be around 2000 gp for a single ring.

The psionic power doesn't link the wearers of two rings, it links the caster with one target, and additional targets if more power points are spent. The ring automatically considers the wearer of the other rings to be the targets. If you use a master ring (treat as the caster) in this way, then it would be the magic item with a significant cost and the other rings would just be part of a set, and have only a nominal cost associated. Remember also that the limit on number of rings that can be worn puts a tax on the wearer as it takes up a slot. You should require 24 hours to attune to any of the rings so they can't be passed around like a cell phone, as this also keeps the items in line with the uses per day of the power if manifested by a psion. The manifester level will still be 1st as long as their are no more than 2 other rings (1 power point for master and one other ring, 1 additional power point per additional ring). If you keep adding more rings however it would logically increase the manifester level to a point where the manifester would have sufficient power points per day. At 2nd they would have 6 power points (master plus up to 6 other rings) so 4000 gp for the master ring.

If you want to treat all of the rings as masters - each able to talk to one another directly instead of going through a 'hub', then price them all the same.

I'd say 36k per ring is astronomically high. 2k might be a tad low considering there is a similar item that is less potent at that price and demand would make these more valuable. A set of these at 4k per ring where all can directly communicate with the other would be entirely reasonable IMHO.

Just remember, as DM you can stipulate that market forces drive the cost higher or lower. Scarcity of psions able to create the items for instance would surely make them more rare and expensive.

[Deadline]

This sounds like Rary's Telepathic Bond.

Maybe make the set of rings cost 90,000 in total? That's the cost of a use activated item of Rary's Telepathic Bond (At CL 9). Since it takes up the ring slot, and the spell only functions for the rings in the set, a price reduction is probably in order. Maybe even cut the cost of the set in half?

[Kelb_Panthera]

Formulaic method suggests 1(power level) * 3(augmented ML) * 2K (constant value for continuous function) * 1.5(duration multiplier) = 9k for a device to link 4 characters. I could see cutting that by 50% and requiring each character to pay for one as an ad-hoc for 4500gp each.

That comes out at just a bit more than CS's aspect mirrors so it sounds right to me.