[3,5] AntiScrying Incense - pricing issue!

[PetterTomBos]

I've been letting my NPC's use this item (if they can afford it) in my homebrew:

AntiDivinationBox: This box is about the size of a brick. It has 3 holes in it and may be shiny if the owner is rich. Each hole may hold a piece of incense, that have it's effects, if it is lighted in a box.

AntiDivination incense: These sticks of incense protect everyone in the room (max 30' times 30') against divination spells such as scry that might be troublesome against privacy.

The idea is to make "nonScry-able" meetings be done, with something more classy than an AMF. Since these magic items are specifically targetting divinations they should be cheaper as well. Most nobles have one, as well as trusted/important scribes/etc. The appearance of the box, and smell of the incense vary with the size of the owners wallet..

How would you price these items?

[Ernir]

Hmm. I'd suggest having this replicate a spell effect, like Nondetection or (perhaps more appropriately) False Vision. Then the magic item creation guidelines can help you get a first estimate on the cost - along with things like durations and exact effects of the spell.

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

A single casting of the False Vision spell from a 9th level caster costs 700 gp (counting the 250 gp component required). I'd price something like this at...say...750-800 gp per set of sticks, as the effect is good, but not that much better than False Vision.

[Toofey]

Generally speaking, I make Minor magics 2-5% of the parties gold and anything worth having significantly more. I would also adjust it for how much you want or don't want your characters to have it.

[PetterTomBos]

A single casting of the False Vision spell from a 9th level caster costs 700 gp (counting the 250 gp component required). I'd price something like this at...say...750-800 gp per set of sticks, as the effect is good, but not that much better than False Vision.

Sounds quite spot on. I'm thinking about duration as well, as these are not meant to last for hours. I mean, for a 9th lvl. caster false vision grants the protection for 9 hours! So instead of 9h duration you get 3 castings (that force multiple CL checks..)

Cheapest version: 500 gold, lasts for 20 min.s, all CLs at minimum. The smell is noticeable, however not bad to the nose.

Or is there any items that might detect scrying, rather than locking it?

[ericgrau]

Nondetection 3 x 5 x 50 = 750 gp. Lasts 5 hours.
False vision 9 x 5 x 50 = 2250 gp. Lats 9 hours.
Extended Nondetection: 4 x 7 x 50 = 1400 gp. Lasts 14 hours.
Ya if you reduced the duration there should be a proportional decrease in cost, to a point. For a 20 minute nondetection I'd say 200 gp tops. Technically you might say 50 gp b/c it's 1/15th as long, but I think that's taking it too far. For a 20 minute false vision I'd say at most 400 gp (and technically 85, but again I think that's stretching the pattern too far).

It's cheaper to hire someone to do it, yes, but you can't always bring an NPC with you wherever you go. Incense sticks are more portable.

[Haarkla]

Sounds quite spot on. I'm thinking about duration as well, as these are not meant to last for hours. I mean, for a 9th lvl. caster false vision grants the protection for 9 hours! So instead of 9h duration you get 3 castings (that force multiple CL checks..)

Cheapest version: 500 gold, lasts for 20 min.s, all CLs at minimum. The smell is noticeable, however not bad to the nose.

Or is there any items that might detect scrying, rather than locking it?

You would not be able to get much done in a 20 minuite meeting.

I would price the box at 500 gp and the incense at 100 gps.

[PetterTomBos]

You would not be able to get much done in a 20 minuite meeting.

I would price the box at 500 gp and the incense at 100 gps.

It's fairly possible to have the most sensitive parts done in 20 min.s..

Seems fair. At least have the baseline cheapest version at 100 :)