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Exile
2008-05-05, 08:07 PM
I was thinking of awarding a training session with the Sparring Dummy of the Master from Arms and Equipment guide to one of my players, who quite obviously plays a monk. For the ease of discussion, let me summarize the item by explaining that it permanently allows the character to make a 10' step whenever he might have previously been allowed to take a 5' step.

Now the item itself costs 30,000gp, which seems like an incredible amount of money for what it accomplishes (I do realize that maneuverability is key on the battlefield, but still). I think the reason it has been priced so high is that the item itself does not appear to be expended by use, and could perhaps train multiple characters.

What would a reasonable estimate of its value in training a single character be? I'm trying to keep my party fair and balanced within the guidelines of WBL. For reference, the party is currently level 6 and I'm thinking they'll be close to 8 by the time this is awarded.

Exile

sonofzeal
2008-05-05, 09:37 PM
Depends. The other reasons it's priced so highly is that 5' steps are generally treated specially in the rules (for example, no AoO), and moving 10' or more is a key to unlocking a lot of special options (the Scout's Skirmish ability for one). If your player has no abilities that are triggered by moving 10 feet, does not intend to share it, and otherwise is cheese-free... then heck, give him the training free as a quest reward!

edit - If he's merely purchasing the training, it depends on his level and liquid assets. Go upwards from 5,000 according to how overpowered the character is already, how little the money means to him, etc.

Dannoth
2008-05-06, 03:32 PM
30,000g is a steal even if it was consumable. a 10ft instead of a 5ft is amazing.

Craig1f
2008-05-06, 03:40 PM
30,000g is a steal even if it was consumable. a 10ft instead of a 5ft is amazing.

I concur. It's a steal at twice the price. If you give this monk a 60,000gp debt for getting this item, which must be paid off before he buys any other items whatsoever other than food, it would still be worth it.

Burley
2008-05-07, 08:13 AM
This is easy. Give the monk the item/ability, and cut off his arm. It wouldn't have any real mechanical value, since a monk doesn't need his arms. So... yeah... slice off a limb during training, and offset it with a total win-sause maneuver like this.

AKA_Bait
2008-05-07, 09:29 AM
Gotta agree with all the other posters. You don't need to lower the price a copper peice. It is worth it all by itself. Remember that 5ft steps don't provoke attacks of opportunity. Most mages would tear out a page from their spellbook in exchange fo rthis.

SamTheCleric
2008-05-07, 09:37 AM
Gotta agree with all the other posters. You don't need to lower the price a copper peice. It is worth it all by itself. Remember that 5ft steps don't provoke attacks of opportunity. Most mages would tear out a page from their spellbook in exchange fo rthis.

Tear out a page? I'd give the thing up entirely and start new.

Telonius
2008-05-07, 11:38 AM
Consider what this item would do to the Scout class. It's even better than the Cyran Glide Boots (14,000gp), since no balance checks would be required and there is no practical limit on uses/day. I think 30,000gp is about right, in general.

Now, if you want to give this ability to your Monk, I would use this as a plot hook. The monk gets some special training, and receives a "blessing of speed" from the guru. (Mechanically, an extra feat). However, he has to periodically perform some type of service for the guy who provides it in order for that blessing to be maintained.

Hunter Noventa
2008-05-07, 11:59 AM
The only other thing that even close to replicates this is a Stance from ToB, Press the Advatage. You have to have 9th-level initiaor and have two other manuvers from the school in order to take it. There are magic items that grant manuvers, but you can only wear one at a time.

But, the cost for enough of those items would be 24000gp. So 30000gp for a slotless non-existent (after you use it) item to grant just the stance isn't that bad.But you may want to make it expended after use.

Exile
2008-05-07, 07:44 PM
Thanks guys, theres definitely some useful advice to work with here. I think it is worth mentioning that none of my group have grasped the concept of optimizing yet, so I'm not worried about scout cross overs and the like.

Exile