Longspear of the Minor Invoker

[Quidam]

I've an item in mind that I'd like opinions on when it comes to market value.

1) +1 longspear
2) tip can shed light as the spell on command
3) tip can fire magically conjured sunrods 3/day which last 1 round per caster level of the user
4) if someone has the apropriate feat, the spear can be crafted as a staff with up to three first level spells.


I like the idea of giving the staff-like qualities of users DC & caster level and a custom item seemed a good way to do it.

Maybe restrict it further? Have there be one for each of the spell schools and only spells from those schools can be put in the apropriate staff or something.

Thoughts?

 

[Slapzilla]

Love #1, #2 and #4 (Evocation spells I presume). Don't get #3, though. They don't last long enough to be useful.

Magic Weapons are 2,000+Masterwork component+weapon cost. Something like 2,155 in this case.

Figure out the cost of making a Light Staff and add the spell cost to it. (375gp x spell level (0lvl counts a 1/2) x caster level (min 8th), so 1,500 with 50 charges...double it for at will gives you the cost to create, (3,000) so double that for market price... 6,000+2155... 8,155gp).

If it can handle being made into a staff with 3 1st level spells, well, the item is already prepped for it being that it is a staff of light. The player just has to add them and pay for them on his/her own.

The sunrods might be a major creation spell Sor/Wiz 5. 30,000gp market for that but modified for 3/day and round/level, I think 15,000gp is right. I get my numbers from DMG 285 and 287.

1. So, The item is a weapon and a staff. The weapon costs 2,155 gp.
2. The most expensive spell effect is the sun rods. 15,000 gp.
3. The second most expensive is the light spell at will. A zero level spell. Usually the next highest level spell is 75% of it's normal cost and ensuing ones are 50%. If this is ready for three 1st level spells, then it is only a minor fudge to call the light spell one of the 50% ones. Just remember to cost the first of the spells put into it at 75% and the other two at 50%. So, light spell at will in this case be 3,000 gp.

Add them up to be a whopping 20,155gp. Add 4,500 gp + materials for the first of the 1st level spells and 3,000 gp + materials for each of the next two.

Pretty expensive, but a cool item.

 

[Quidam]

If it can handle being made into a staff with 3 1st level spells, well, the item is already prepped for it being that it is a staff of light. The player just has to add them and pay for them on his/her own.

The sunrods might be a major creation spell Sor/Wiz 5. 30,000gp market for that but modified for 3/day and round/level, I think 15,000gp is right. I get my numbers from DMG 285 and 287.

Thanks for the response.

The sunrods idea was thrown in there for flavor, and I doubt the effect is worth 15kgp. Since the idea is to get this into the hands of lower level characters, let's just drop that.

The tricky bit is something I see I neglected to mention. I want to lower the minimum caster level of spells put into staffs from 8 to 1, making it cheaper. In compensation the level of spell to be put into the staff can't be higher than 1.

Rather than houseruling staff creation, I thought a custom item might be the best way to introduce such functionality into the game. Being able to use the users DC & caster level is a nice effect, but the current pricing of staffs puts it out of the hands of any but higher level characters.

So-

1: +1 longspear, allowing you to threaten while still having your spell trigger item in hand

2: Light at will

3: The ability to have up to three first level spells crafted into it with a caster level of one.

I guess I'm just trying to get people's ideas on how valuable that last bit is.

 

[Slapzilla]

I don't think #3 adds any extra cost to the item. Especially if you wish it to be a specific 'restricted' slot(s) for 1st level spells only. So, 2155gp for the weapon and 1500 (or 750 at 50%. Just remember to cost full for the first 1st level spell, 75% for the second and 50% for the third) for the light at will... 3,655 (or 2,905) gp.

User's DC and caster level is what make staffs cool, and expensive. Your judgment call seems reasonable, and of course, entirely yours.

 

[Meeki]

Are those 3 spells at CL 1 at will?

 

[Evilhalfling]

The tricky bit is something I see I neglected to mention. I want to lower the minimum caster level of spells put into staffs from 8 to 1, making it cheaper. In compensation the level of spell to be put into the staff can't be higher than 1.

Many 1st level spells don't scale past 5 (Ray of enfeeblement, shocking grasp)
mage armor and mount work best at level 8, and magic missle scales to 9th. A caster level higher than 10 is only really useful vs MR or dispels. So if you stopped the staff scaling at level 10 you could charge less normal staves, make the staff more useful in the hands of apprentices than masters, and not really change effectiveness.

an ever-burning torch + magic weapon light = light at will = 100 gp + magic weapon (2355)
5th level caster 750x5=3750+.75*3750+.5*3750 = 8437, total 11,000gp.
3rd level caster 7500gp ;
1st level caster 4000gp = this seems far to cheap to me, just based on useability.

7500 is about half a charaters wealth at 6th level or a little more than the total expected award between 6th and 7th.
If you want to give it to PCs earlier you can leave it with only 1/2 charges, or make all spells cost 2 charges. 4550 for 25 spells? nearly the same cost as 25 scrolls cast at 3rd, a +1 weapon & a light stone (4330)