Need help pricing some armor

[Mauril Everleaf]

I am playing an Archivist and I need a set of armor for him. This armor is going to stick with my character through all 20 levels of play (we are attempting to run a 1-20 campaign). This armor will stick with my character and slowly grow in strength from a simple +1 Breastplate at level 2 (where we are now) to something sufficiently epic for a 20th level character.

The rules are that every other level the armor (or other item, depending on character) gains an effective +1 enhancement. If I don't want to add something that is marked as an effective +X enhancement, but has a set cost, it can cost no more than the increase from the current effective enhancement to the next.

To make that clearer, a +1 breastplate is worth 1000 gp. At level 4, I can add either another +1 (effective) enhancement or 3000 gp of additions.

Two other rules on this. If I want to add an effective enhancement higher than +1, I have to wait several levels, but I can get it. So I can turn my +1 breastplate into a +1 ghost touch breastplate, but it would be a simple +1 breastplate until level 8, when it would gain its new ability.

The second rule is that there are no such things as "body affinity", according to my DM. I was told explicitly that my breastplate can be a +1 breastplate of intellect without it costing extra for the "intellect" not being on a headband.

So, basically, I need help upgrading my armor over the 10 levels of the armor (20 levels of the character) from my humble +1 breastplate to whatever wonder you guys can help me concoct. Prices and books from which the things come from would be handy. The closer to core the better, since the group is not heavily optimized and I am already playing the only Tier 1 class.

[jiriku]

Well, if you want great protection, and since you can stack enchantments freely, why not scale towards a suit of+5 armor of protection+5 and resistance +5? This will grant you a total +15 to AC and a +5 resistance bonus to saves. You can scale the enhancement, deflection, and resistance bonuses pretty smoothly as you gain level so the armor gains power very evenly.

As a plus, it's completely core DMG, and in fact it's only providing basic vanilla bonuses to common stats (AC and saves).

[Myrmex]

Don't bother making it any better than a +1 breastplate, since magic vestment will buff it up to +5 for you.

I would make mine a Blessed Book for Archivists, then study my ancient and mystical armor for inspiration. Ie, it's got spells on it.

[Mauril Everleaf]

Okay, so here is the "legacy" armor that I developed, but I am pretty sure I have done the pricing wrong.


L2: +1 breastplate
L4: +1 breastplate of intellect +2
L6: +1 feather falling breastplate of intellect and wisdom +2
L8: +1 feather falling spell resistance(13) breastplate of intellect +2 and wisdom +2
L10: +1 feather falling deflecting(+1) spell resistance(15) breastplate of intellect +2 and wisdom +2
L12: +1 feather falling deflecting(+1) spell resistance(15) breastplate of intellect +2 and wisdom +2
L14: +1 feather falling deflecting(+2) spell resistance(15) breastplate of intellect +4 and wisdom +4
L16: +1 feather falling deflecting(+2) spell resistance(17) breastplate of intellect +4 and wisdom +4
L18: +1 feather falling deflecting(+2) spell resistance(17) breastplate of intellect +6 and wisdom +6
L20: +1 feather falling deflecting(+3) spell resistance(19) breastplate of intellect +6 and wisdom +6

With the "body affinity" tax removed and assuming that the armor should cost the less than or equal to (level/2) bonus (e.g. level 12 should cost less than or equal to a +6 equivalent armor, or 36,000 gp).

I am pretty sure I have done my math wrong somewhere, because the way I have calculated it, I can squeeze in 8000 gp more worth of augments at level 12.

Help?

For the record, I have the armors priced as follows:
L2: 1000
L4: 3000
L6: 7000
L8: 15000
L10: 23000
L12: 23000
L14: 41000
L16: 51000
L18: 71000
L20: 92000

[Fako]

EDIT: *snip*

Ok... more tired than I thought I was. From what I can tell, your numbers are sound...

I'll take a look at this again after sleeping, but I don't see a problem with what you've got...

[Mauril Everleaf]

@Fako: Right. I have the table, but what I was saying is that my level 10 armor (+1 feather falling deflecting(+1) spell resistance(15) breastplate of intellect +2 and wisdom +2) should cost 23k gp and that my level 20 armor (+1 feather falling deflecting(+3) spell resistance(19) breastplate of intellect +6 and wisdom +6) should cost 92k gp.

I have a sneaking suspicion that I am doing my math wrong, though, and that I need to start multiplying stuff by 1.5 starting at level 6 due to the Multiple Different Abilities clause. I'm just not sure which abilities need the tax and which don't.

Multiple Different Abilities

Abilities such as an attack roll bonus or saving throw bonus and a spell-like function are not similar, and their values are simply added together to determine the cost. For items that do take up a space on a character’s body each additional power not only has no discount but instead has a 50% increase in price.

[PinkysBrain]

Spell resistance is a really bad enhancement at higher levels ... at 20 it's so far down the curve to be essentially useless. As for the 50% extra, in theory yes ... but you should really ask your DM if he wants that extra multiplier. He seems to want you to put that kind of stuff on your armour, so punishing you with a multiplier seems counter-productive.

[Mauril Everleaf]

I wasn't sure about the SR. I've never played at very high levels. Would it be better to switch it over to save boosts?

There is also a slight chance that my armor at each level is half the price of what it needs to be, since some people are using the weapon enhancement table for their prices.

[ericgrau]

Add natural armor along with the deflection, to save money on AC.

SR costs most of the value of your armor IIRC. I mean you're paying 60k for SR 19 at level 20 no? If you then face something that casts as a level 20 caster, it'll need to roll a -1 to break your SR. Not worth it IMO. As long as you're tacking everything else onto your armor, you might as well stick save boosts on there. But keep in mind 100k at level 20 isn't that much. If you can't fit everything on your armor, fine, buy it.

[Toliudar]

I like fortification as a developing enchantment (as a possible replacement for Spell Resistance).

[SparkMandriller]

SR 19 at level 20 means that bad dudes who are two levels lower than you still autopass. Not exactly impressed here.

[daggaz]

It doesnt matter at 20th lvl, but at 1st or 2nd lvl, it can be a world of difference. The price of a +1 breastplate is 1350 gp, not just 1000 gp. You forgot to add in the cost of masterwork and the cost of the item itself, which is not included in the enchantment cost table for either weapons or armor.

[Mauril Everleaf]

I had forgotten about the extra cash for the armor itself.

Couple of updates then. I am going to drop the SR completely. I'm switching the "deflection" bonus to AC to an "insight" bonus since it still lets me grab a Ring of Protection (or get handed one in loot) and insight fits my character concept better anyhow. Also, my budget has apparently doubled, based on the prices for weapons. So I get to spend 200k for my 20th level gear rather than 100k.

The other deal is that since the DM removed XP costs from crafting, he thinks I should use the "sell" price rather than the "craft" price.

I was also told that I can treat my breastplate as a rod for metamagic. So I would like to get an eternal metamagic "rod" of something tossed in. (You can do eternal metamagic rods, right?) Suggestions on which metamagic to use? I was thinking quicken just because it's always useful.

[Cieyrin]

I was also told that I can treat my breastplate as a rod for metamagic. So I would like to get an eternal metamagic "rod" of something tossed in. (You can do eternal metamagic rods, right?) Suggestions on which metamagic to use? I was thinking quicken just because it's always useful.

Making something eternal is essentially changing a charged item into one that can be used a certain number of times per day, so eternal in that it never officially runs out in the end. That doesn't really apply to metamagic rods, given they already have uses per day.

[jiriku]

I had forgotten about the extra cash for the armor itself.

Couple of updates then. I am going to drop the SR completely. I'm switching the "deflection" bonus to AC to an "insight" bonus since it still lets me grab a Ring of Protection (or get handed one in loot) and insight fits my character concept better anyhow. Also, my budget has apparently doubled, based on the prices for weapons. So I get to spend 200k for my 20th level gear rather than 100k.

The other deal is that since the DM removed XP costs from crafting, he thinks I should use the "sell" price rather than the "craft" price.

I was also told that I can treat my breastplate as a rod for metamagic. So I would like to get an eternal metamagic "rod" of something tossed in. (You can do eternal metamagic rods, right?) Suggestions on which metamagic to use? I was thinking quicken just because it's always useful.

An eternal metamagic rod of quicken would be worth more than your entire 200,000 gp limit. That item would be the equivalent of three epic-level feats. Set your sights a little lower.

A saving throw bonus would be highly useful to you.

[ericgrau]

I had forgotten about the extra cash for the armor itself.

Couple of updates then. I am going to drop the SR completely. I'm switching the "deflection" bonus to AC to an "insight" bonus since it still lets me grab a Ring of Protection (or get handed one in loot) and insight fits my character concept better anyhow. Also, my budget has apparently doubled, based on the prices for weapons. So I get to spend 200k for my 20th level gear rather than 100k.

The other deal is that since the DM removed XP costs from crafting, he thinks I should use the "sell" price rather than the "craft" price.

I was also told that I can treat my breastplate as a rod for metamagic. So I would like to get an eternal metamagic "rod" of something tossed in. (You can do eternal metamagic rods, right?) Suggestions on which metamagic to use? I was thinking quicken just because it's always useful.

An insight bonus isn't had so easily with standard items at that cost, so it's actually a bit abusive to the game to add it to your armor. There's just a +1 for 5,000 gp and that's it in core. No +2, etc. You could switch to natural armor or keep the deflection and get natural armor from items. But DMs are more likely to know about and give out deflection while forgetting about natural armor.

Quicken is awesome on a metamagic rod, but it's also insanely expensive. For the best bang for the buck, extend spell is one of my favorites. You can tag all kinds of buffs with it. Empower or maximize is nice too, but more expensive. Remember they're not just for damage.

[Mauril Everleaf]

...but...but that would just be too cool to quicken a spell from your chest...forever... Oh well. You can't win them all.

[ericgrau]

Lesser quicken (35,500 gp, level 3 max, 3/day) will be affordable later on. That's still something. Ask your DM about eternal stuff. Theoretically it'd be 5/3 the price, but that seems like it could be open to abuse. Normal quicken is 75.5k (level 6 max) and greater is 170k (level 9 max), btw.

But I mean at 3,000 gp for a rod of lesser extend, you can get that and have room for everything else you want on your armor.