Shapechanging Ring, what level?

[Weiser_Cain]

What level character could have a ring that granted gills and a mermaid tail?

[Chronos]

Well, the lowest level spell which could do that would be Alter Self. That's a second-level spell, with a minimum caster level of 3, and a duration of 10 min/level, so the Magic Item Creation Guidelines would suggest a price of 18,000 GP for a ring of continuous Alter Self. Assuming that it's no more than 1/3 of a character's total wealth by level, you'd be looking at about 11th level before it'd be reasonable.

On the other hand, that's for a ring that could turn you into any sort of humanoid, even the likeness of a specific person. If you only want to be able to grow the tail and gills, and to retain your own features otherwise, the price would be significantly less. The rules don't explicitly cover this case, so any advice I or others could give you for the price of such an item is totally a matter of opinion (as opposed to only mostly a matter of opinion, for using the guidelines). But I, personally, would rule such a ring to be worth about 2,000 GP, making it suitable for a 5th-level character.

[Titanium Dragon]

Well, the lowest level spell which could do that would be Alter Self. That's a second-level spell, with a minimum caster level of 3, and a duration of 10 min/level, so the Magic Item Creation Guidelines would suggest a price of 18,000 GP for a ring of continuous Alter Self. Assuming that it's no more than 1/3 of a character's total wealth by level, you'd be looking at about 11th level before it'd be reasonable.

On the other hand, that's for a ring that could turn you into any sort of humanoid, even the likeness of a specific person. If you only want to be able to grow the tail and gills, and to retain your own features otherwise, the price would be significantly less. The rules don't explicitly cover this case, so any advice I or others could give you for the price of such an item is totally a matter of opinion (as opposed to only mostly a matter of opinion, for using the guidelines). But I, personally, would rule such a ring to be worth about 2,000 GP, making it suitable for a 5th-level character.

2000 GP is way low for that; consider a potion of water breathing is 750 gp, and that doesn't even confer swim speed.

[Randel]

There is the Pearl of the Sirines (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#pearloftheSirines) a wondrous item that grants underwater breathing and a swim speed for 15,300 gp.

I don't think it uses a body slot so you could probably just take it, stick a little loop of metal on it to wear on your finger, and modify it to turn your legs into a tail when underwater and it would be just what you need.

[Chronos]

Hmm, good points. I was basing my estimate on working down from a full Ring of Alter Self. But Alter Self is a broken-enough spell that it probably skews the estimates.

If we instead work off of the very similar Pearl of the Sirines, there would probably be some discount for making it a slotted item (approximately a factor of two, since making a normally-slotted item unslotted doubles the cost), so we'd be looking at about 8,000 (good for a 7th or 8th level character).

[Weiser_Cain]

There is the Pearl of the Sirines (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#pearloftheSirines) a wondrous item that grants underwater breathing and a swim speed for 15,300 gp.

I don't think it uses a body slot so you could probably just take it, stick a little loop of metal on it to wear on your finger, and modify it to turn your legs into a tail when underwater and it would be just what you need.

Thanks everyone.
Caster lever 8? Can I assume an 8th level character could posses this? Does making it a ring lessen or heighten it's value?

[Titanium Dragon]

Thanks everyone.
Caster lever 8? Can I assume an 8th level character could posses this? Does making it a ring lessen or heighten it's value?

Lessen; ring slots are valuable, and according to those people, it is a slotless item, which means it wouldn't consume an item slot at all - slotless items are always vastly better than slotted ones, hence why Ioun Stones are so sought-after (and Tomes of X, which grant permanent bonuses to your stats without having to be worn).

[CASTLEMIKE]

Thanks everyone.
Caster lever 8? Can I assume an 8th level character could posses this? Does making it a ring lessen or heighten it's value?

The Craft Ring feat requires the crafter to be L12+ to take the feat with very few exceptions in game. I like basing it on Alter Self for the mechanics. Remember it could be prorated down to 1/day for 20% of the cost of a continuous item.

Suggested Wealth by level is 27,000 gp at L8 so probably only doable if your PC can find an NPC crafter with the feat and fund the 50% market enchanting and experience costs along with doing him a favor or two for the DM or purchasing or acquiring a prorated item. (Craft Wondrous Items is only CL3+ which is nice for the pearl so I don't recommend going the ring route without an NPC crafter) consider a Amulet, Armband, Bracelet, Necklace or similar Wondrous item.

[Weiser_Cain]

Yeah, not making the ring just giving it to the character.

[Cuddly]

Thanks everyone.
Caster lever 8? Can I assume an 8th level character could posses this? Does making it a ring lessen or heighten it's value?

Caster level refers to the power of the magic that went into making the item for the purpose of adjudicating effects that affect said item. For instance, a caster level 8 ring is more likely to have its effects suppressed by a Dispel Magic than a caster level 18 ring. The caster level has no effect whatsoever on who is allowed to use the item.

[Behold_the_Void]

If it eliminates your ability to walk on land and breathe air, you may be able to shave a bit off the price.

[Weiser_Cain]

Wouldn't that be a cursed item?

[The_Snark]

Not if you can take it off at will, no.

[Admiral Squish]

I'm quite interested in the verdict on this, as I'm having nearly to opposite problem. My nonhuman character wants to look human, but disguise self only does so much, so I'm looking for an item of a similar nature to solve the repetitive 'chased out of towns with pitchforks' issue.

[shadowdemon_lord]

Both your problems sound like story problems to me. Who cares how much either item costs, you as the DM ultimately determine how useful (or useless) it's going to be. Also WBL mainly has to do with combat effectiveness in 3.5, so unless you intend on having a lot of combats where going underwater could be used to the PC's advantage, it's not so much of a concern. If you want your PC's to have an item that makes them look human well then voila, it just so happens they found such an item while fighting some Sahuagin who had been using the item to gather better info on the ships they raided. If you want your landlubbers to have an underwater adventure, hey whaddya know some minor noble just so happens to have interests underwater, and he wants a team of highly skilled mercenaries to do something in regards to those interests. Said noble just so happens to have some cool rings that grant you gills and fins, and will lend/give them to the PC's so they may complete his mission.