Item Creation

[MithrasRahl]

Are there any supplemental rules about making spells on an item swift?

For example, if I make a Brooch of Shield (3 charges per day of caster lvl 1 Shield), is there any monetary modifer I can attach to it to make the casting of Shield a swift action?

Also, If I'm creating an item with a lvl 1 Ranger spell, is the minimum caster lvl required 4?

 

[Mystern]

i would say that a caster of the appropriate level could apply the quicken spell metamagic feat but that then adds 4 to the spell level which adds to the caster level significantly. if you look in the players handbook under the equipment it lists how much it costs to hire a caster. fx a brooch of shield to be used as a quickened spell would be a level 5 spell instead of a level one spell thus needs to be cast by at least a level 5 wizard with the appropriate craft skill. so in general, it would cost the amount required to cast the spell (450 for 1x/day, 500 for 2x/day, and 600 for 3x/day) plus the amount required to craft the item (i would say as a general rule multiply the spell cost by 10). thus, 4500 for 1x/day 5000 for 2x/day 6000 for 3x/day
as for your second question it depends on the spell. if it can be cast by a wizard use the wizard caster level if it can be cast only by a ranger i would say it would be cheaper to find a wizard who has taken the feat to be able to cast the spell.

 

[udalrich]

That would actually require a 9th level wizard to cast the 5th level spell. (4E isn't here yet.) However, the cost of hiring someone to cast the spell isn't normally considered, unless your crafting the item yourself but need an NPC to come and collaborate on the spell.

By the rules, I don't think there is a way to make a custom item that uses less than a standard action to activate. Recalculating the cost based on a quickened spell is a reasonable first estimate, but it changes your 3/day shield item from about 1000 gp to almost 50k gp. It also bumps the duration from 1 minute to 9, but that's probably only rarely going to matter.

I'd look at existing items and see what the implied cost factor for swift activation appears to be. The only one that I see in the SRD is boots of speed, which grant Haste for 10 rounds at 12k in cost. A CL 10, 1/day item with a standard action to activate would be 1800*3*10/5 = 10800. So it looks like for that, you instead use the cost for a continuously active cost (2000 instead of 1800) and ignore the factor for a continuous use item based on a rounds/level duration spell (x4). Based on that, it looks like for about 4.5x the cost, you can activate it as a free action and split the uses between multiple invocations. Compare this with other items costing 4-5k and see if the effect is similar.

 

[Jhaelen]

Are there any supplemental rules about making spells on an item swift?

For example, if I make a Brooch of Shield (3 charges per day of caster lvl 1 Shield), is there any monetary modifer I can attach to it to make the casting of Shield a swift action?

I'd like to point out that there are - to my knowledge - no rules at all about wondrous item creation costs.
There are only guidelines, those in the DMG and those in the MIC.
The latter which I'd consider to supersede the ones in the DMG don't even try to provide a table with associated cost modifiers. Instead item creation costs are purely determined by judging the item's power level and comparing it with existing similar items.

 

[MithrasRahl]

So a Brooch of Shield with 1 use per day at a 1 CL would be 360 gold, right?

Is there any logical way, that a standard DM would accept, for me to find a (wondrous item) of Arrowmind at a 1 CL, or would it have to be at least 4?

 

[Elethiomel]

So a Brooch of Shield with 1 use per day at a 1 CL would be 360 gold, right?

Is there any logical way, that a standard DM would accept, for me to find a (wondrous item) of Arrowmind at a 1 CL, or would it have to be at least 4?

I don't know where you are getting the number 4 from. A level 4 ranger has caster level 2.

 

[UltimaGabe]

So a Brooch of Shield with 1 use per day at a 1 CL would be 360 gold, right?

Is there any logical way, that a standard DM would accept, for me to find a (wondrous item) of Arrowmind at a 1 CL, or would it have to be at least 4?

As Elethiomel said, the minimum caster level for a level 1 Ranger spell is 2 (since the lowest class level they can cast spells at is 4, and their caster level is always half their class level).

 

[irdeggman]

Spell Compendium now says:
"Activating a spell completion item, activating a spell trigger item, or drinking a potion is a standard action even if the spell from which the scroll, potion, or item is made can be cast as a swift action, In other words, it takes a standard action to drink a potion of quick march, even though casting the spell itself requires only a swift action."

So I think that you are back to a standard action for activating the spell from the item. Even if it is a wondrous item to activate the spell makes it one of the aformentioned types.

 

[Elethiomel]

Spell Compendium now says:
"Activating a spell completion item, activating a spell trigger item, or drinking a potion is a standard action even if the spell from which the scroll, potion, or item is made can be cast as a swift action, In other words, it takes a standard action to drink a potion of quick march, even though casting the spell itself requires only a swift action."

So I think that you are back to a standard action for activating the spell from the item. Even if it is a wondrous item to activate the spell makes it one of the aformentioned types.

No it doesn't. Spell trigger items are wands and staffs. Spell completion items are scrolls and the like. Potions are potions. Wondrous items are none of those types.

 

[irdeggman]

No it doesn't. Spell trigger items are wands and staffs. Spell completion items are scrolls and the like. Potions are potions. Wondrous items are none of those types.

Yes and no.


Wands and staves are always spell trigger items but not all spell trigger items need be wands or staves.

Potions are use activated items (like most wondrous items by the way).

Wondrous items are broader and can be of any activation method. Types (in the wondrous item text) refers to type of items (i.e., tied into the craft feats) not the activation method.

WONDROUS ITEMS
This is a catch-all category for anything that doesn’t fall into the other groups. Anyone can use a wondrous item (unless specified otherwise in the description).
Physical Description: Varies.
Activation: Usually use activated or command word, but details vary from item to item.

The four ways to activate magic items are described below.
Spell Completion:
Spell Trigger:
Command Word:
Use Activated: