Rkhet said:
About the halberd: I'm thinking of outfitting a large number of guards with this, so it needs to stay affordable to be realistic. What can I do to reduce the cost to, say, 5000gp? Reduce the maximum spell level of the scroll?
Ok, the closest thing we have to go on for comparison is:
Caster’s Shield: This +1 light wooden shield has a small leather strip on the back on which a spellcaster can scribe a single spell as on a scroll. A spell so scribed has only half the base raw material cost. Experience point and component costs remain the same. The strip cannot accommodate spells of higher than 3rd level. The strip is reusable.
A random caster ’s shield has a 50% chance of having a single medium scroll spell on it. The spell is divine (01–80 on d%) or arcane (81–100).
A caster’s shield has a 5% arcane spell failure chance.
Moderate abjuration; CL 6th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Scribe Scroll, creator must be at least 6th level; Price 3,153 gp (plus the value of the scroll spell if one is currently scribed); Cost 1,653 gp + 120 XP.
If we break down the cost we have a +1 Light Wood Shield = 1,153gp
Thus they have assigned a cost of 2,000gp for the ability to Scribe up to a 3rd level spell on the item as if it were a scroll, and at a -50% gold cost to the scroll cost.
For the weapon version, we would go with the core weapon + this enchantment.
Halberd = 10gp
Masterwork = +300gp
+1 Shock = +2 enhancement = +8,000gp
Base Weapon = 8,310gp
+Scroll Ability = +2,000gp = 10,310gp
However, you want to cut costs. So first thing is drop Shock, dropping the total cost to 4,310gp.
However, you want the ability to store any Scroll, not just limited to 3rd level. To do this I would increase the cost of the core enchantment by x2 for 6th level spells, then again x3 for 9th level spells - thus 12,000gp to store a 9th level spell. This brings the weapon back up to 14,310gp.
To lower this again, we could assume that the original enchantment used the wonderous equation of "Spell level x caster level x 2,000 gp" and used a 1st level spell equivalent. If you wanted this ability to function once, and only once, you could instead use the wonderous equation for single use items, making it "Spell level x caster level x 25 gp".
This would then alter the price as follows:
Halberd = 10gp
Masterwork = +300gp
+1 enhancement = +2,000gp
Base Weapon = 2,310gp
+Scroll Ability (single use) = +25gp = 2,335gp
+Scroll Ability to 6th level spell (single use) = +50gp = 2,385gp
+Scroll Ability to 9th level spell (single use) = +150gp = 2,535gp
This would give you a +1 Halberd that can store 1 spell of any level as a scroll (at 50%gp scroll cost), but cannot be re-imbued with another scroll once used. Once the spell-completion item has been used, the item remains a +1 Halberd.
On a side note, I personally think is the wrong type of weapon to build as this is a spell-completion item, and it sounds as if this is intended for a bunch of low level guards, which will not work.
Spell Completion: This is the activation method for scrolls. A scroll is a spell that is mostly finished. The preparation is done for the caster, so no preparation time is needed beforehand as with normal spellcasting. All that’s left to do is perform the finishing parts of the spellcasting (the final gestures, words, and so on). To use a spell completion item safely, a character must be of high enough level in the right class to cast the spell already. If he can’t already cast the spell, there’s a chance he’ll make a mistake. Activating a spell completion item is a standard action and provokes attacks of opportunity exactly as casting a spell does.
{emphasis mine}
The "mistake chance" isnt SRD, so I dont have it handy, but if I remember correctly, it is quite steep.
The best thing for low level guards would be a Halberd of Spellstoring, but you are back up to a minimum of 8,310gp.
Here's another one from the drawing board:
A gorgeous signet ring, which by worksmanship and gems alone is worth 50,000gp. Acts as an Alarm ring, and can deactivate Alarm rings (making them removeable without breaking the magic) at will. Can only be used by people of the royal bloodline. Constricts and cuts off a finger when worn by anyone else. Shatters and deals 10d6 damage to anyone attempting to use UMD on it and fails. A hefty penalty on the UMD check of anyone attempting to use it (since it's an Epic game, I'm thinking -30.)
This sounds like a minor Artifact.
At the easiest core it is base 50,000gp +
Command Word = Remove Curse (4) x CL 7 x 1,800 gp = +50,400gp
Continuous = Alarm (1) x CL 1 x 2,000 gp = +2,000gp*1.5 (multiple use) = +3,000gp
Use Activated = Shrink Item (3) x CL 5 x 1,000 (limited use) = +15,000gp*1.5 (multiple use) = +22,500gp
Use Activated = 10d6 damage (3) x CL 5 x 1,000 (limited use) = +15,000gp*1.5 (multiple use) = +22,500gp
UMD Penalty = Bonus squared (900) x 100 gp = +90,000gp
So just as a rough ballpark off the top of my head on these, we're looking at approximately 238,400gp.
JMHO.YMMV.
