[MIC} Adding common effects to magic items

[Kat']

I'm a bit startled by said rule and by the ridiculously low costs that come with it. Basically, to add a +6 enhancement bonus to an existing magic item, take said magic item (beware of slot compatibility), find a suitable magic user, pay him 20.000 (!!!) and live with it. So I can take, say, a Hand of the Mage, the cheapest Throat slot item there is, and add +6 Wisdom to it for mere 20k??? What's the point in ever again using the much more expensive Periapts of Wisdom? Or take a Braid of Dire Shifting (wow, 100 gp, I sure can't afford it) and never use it, just throw in 60k, and now it provides +6 to all mental attributes.

Am I missing something, or are we making magic items extremely cheap around here?

 

[Jhaelen]

Am I missing something, or are we making magic items extremely cheap around here?

You are missing something. What you are missing is that 20,000gp is the cost of upgrading an item with a +4 bonus to an item with a +6 bonus.

If you're starting with an item without any bonus it costs 4,000gp + 12,000gp + 20,000gp = 36,000gp.

 

[Rackhir]

Well you see, it's because the 3E magic items aren't compatible with the 4E rules, so they're getting sold cheap because WotC wants to get rid of them.

Seriously though, I think Jhaelen has it correct.

 

[krupintupple]

i'd say that all these redefined rules allow is for a PC to be able to improve an existing item at the same cost, rather than have a run-around where he loses time and money, such as the case of selling your old periapt of wisdom +2 for half (2000gp) cost to buy a periapt of wisdom +4 (16,000gp). this new system merely allows for you to heap an additional 12,000gp onto your preexisting periapt +2 and turn it into a periapt +4, but without the previously mentioned annoyances.

FYI, if the rule did say, as the OP suggested, that 20,000gp gives you +6 to any stat, i'd say it's the DMs call whether he wants silliness like that in his campaign. some might, but most probably wouldn't.

 

[Runestar]

You miss the point of the new MIC rules.

Previously, the major stat boosters were deemed to be so crucial to your character that it was unfathomable that you would want to use any other magic items. If not for this rule, MIC would be largely useless, since it would not matter how useful a belt of healing or battle is - at the end of the day, I would still opt to wear a belt of str over one. Likewise, a monk who wanted to wear an amulet of mighty fists often had to agonize over whether to use it over a periapt of wisdom or NA+5.

The new rules allow you to both benefit from the basic items (cloak of resistance, +6 stat gear etc) and still be able to use other magic gear. Instead of having to choose between a belt of battle and belt of str+6, I can now have both at no additional charge. Likewise, I can have amulet of mighty fists+5 which also grants +6wis and +5NA without having to pay extra.

In a way, it is like having your cake and getting to eat it too. It might seem like power-gaming, but considering how reliant on eq 3e PCs were, it really is the best compromise there is. Now your PCs can get to use "fun and exciting" magic items without worrying that they are too weak because they shunned the basic stat-boosting eq (which the game assumes that you have).

 

[Kat']

Ah, I missed the part about the costs stacking. Well I'm fine with that, then. Thanks all for your answers!

 

[nathreet]

That's a cool point about the MIC and +X items not interferring with others. Now I feel safer using a similar idea in a game. I was afraid of imbalance.