help me create, then price, this wondrous item

I have an elven cleric of Corellan (in FR) who is making silver broaches for our party, the Silver Swords. Naturally, each broach will be a likeness of Sahandrian. The one I'm working on right now will be mine, and it will allow the use of Wieldskill-- a lvl. 1 spell that gives you +10 to one skill for 1 min/level.

I want to tie it to the phases of the moon, being a moon elf with a crescent moon holy symbol 'n all. That's where design, (and pricing) get complicated. It would grant more uses during favorable moon conditions, and perhaps act at a stronger caster level during those times as well.

so, the phases:

0. New Moon

1. Waxing Crescent

2. First Quarter

3. Waxing Gibbous

4. Full Moon

3. Waning Gibbous

2. Last Quarter

1. Waning Crescent


things I haven't figured out yet:
1. how these phases tie in to the 3 tenday per month calendar of Forgotten Realms. Seems like a calendar designed for ease of play rather than off the moon; I can't find anything in the Campaign Setting that mentions the moon.

2. If the broach will get stronger the closer the moon is to full, or if the "gibbous" phase between the two quarters inhibits its function. the rationale behind the second option is that the gibbous part is like a dark crescent; maybe it's a superstition held by worshippers of Corellan or something.

Regardless, it would not function for 24 hours during the New Moon.

Well I know nothing of the FR moon cycles etc, however the concept you are after is something that waxes/wanes with the moon cycles.

Initially I thought it might be something that would cost 75% or 50% of original estimated price since it can't be used on a new moon (assumption about the 0 you placed there), however this would be balanced out in the long term by the maximum uses available on the full moon (4).

So I took a stab from another angle ...
ASSUMPTION: a phase lasts for 3 nights

you wish to use this amulet over a period of 8 moon phases (24 nights) ... for a total of 48 uses. That averages to 2 per day. I would cost this as command word. It is ulimited uses but then limited to 2 per day (on average).

The only problem I see is an amulet is not associated with skill enhancement, however a shirt is. This increases the cost of the item.

So ... if I've not screwed this up ...

Command Word Version
1 x 1 x 1800 (Wieldskill at bare minimum level)
* 2/5 (2 charges per day on average)
+50% for non-affinity
------------
1080 gp

The flavour text would state you could use it a maximum number of times equal to the moon phases you gave in your post.

Now if it were usable only at night it would be 75% to 50% cheaper.

D

This is just a general observation on the balancing of "only usable during ... " or "gets a bonus when ... " magic items and special abilities:

Most of the time, in a typical campaign, players can arrange timing around abilities or items with those limitations. Accordingly, any discount given should usually be much less than what folks might initially think.

For example, assume a magical sword that is +5, but only at night. Many DMs or players would discount such a sword 50 percent or more, on the theory that night-time is roughly 50 percent of the day. This overlooks the fact that a player can easily schedule fights or dungeon crawls during night-time hours, planning to rest during days. The drawback, though real, is nowhere close to 50 percent. IMO, such a sword should be discounted no more than 20 percent ... maybe even less.

As I said ... just an observation.

wilder_jw said:

This is just a general observation on the balancing of "only usable during ... " or "gets a bonus when ... " magic items and special abilities:

Most of the time, in a typical campaign, players can arrange timing around abilities or items with those limitations. Accordingly, any discount given should usually be much less than what folks might initially think.

For example, assume a magical sword that is +5, but only at night. Many DMs or players would discount such a sword 50 percent or more, on the theory that night-time is roughly 50 percent of the day. This overlooks the fact that a player can easily schedule fights or dungeon crawls during night-time hours, planning to rest during days. The drawback, though real, is nowhere close to 50 percent. IMO, such a sword should be discounted no more than 20 percent ... maybe even less.

As I said ... just an observation.

Click to expand...

Well, what if there are other restrictions already? What is the party already has a PC with a +5 Heavy fortification tower shield, which is only magical during the day?

My point is that these kind of discounts should, in a way, be tailored to each party. That said, a market price is what the average person will pay. So it seems almost impossible to figure out. Ever wonder why there are no + (an odd number) stat items? It's because they help some more than others.

This moon item would be great for a group that can take any time off it likes (as in, the DM, ah - I mean the world, has not put very many time limits on them) and doesn't mind scheduling adventures around the lunar cycle.

I guess what I'm saying is that it might end up more a pain than people want. Non-constant magic replenishment cycles (cycles other than X/day or X/week and the like) are very, very hard to price. It's a can of proverbial worms that WOTC has kept out of for a while.

So, long story short, I would think about it having charges. Maybe 50 charges, but you can recharge them all by doing some ceremony under the full moon. You could even make the recharging ceremony drain Exp and gold (conveniently the same amount as making a first level wand perhaps???).

Then, just slap on a restriction about it not working during the new moon (define that better too) and be happy.

That's my two yen

-Tatsu