Adding a feat to a magic item

[Kalendraf]

BTW Kalendraf, hope I wasn't stepping on your toes here; knowing there weren't hard fast rules in the DMG I thought it might be helpful to all involved to do a little more research.

No problem. I was going to probably wind up posting something similar (and likely make the initial post in the rules forum too), since I wasn't find a lot of information to work with.

Considering how integral feats are to 3e/3.5 and how you can find items for almost everything else (stats, skills, etc), I do find it quitte strange that there aren't better guidelines in the DMG's optional magic crafting rules for adding feats to items. I see this is one of the weakest parts of the game, either forcing DM's to use little more than the "official" items listed in the DMG, or making them wander thru a perplexing and incomplete set of guidelines to attempt to make other items. The magic crafting guidelines in 3e/3.5 is very, very kludgey at best.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

Maybe the designers wanted to keep feats special. Tacking on a bunch of magic items that duplicates feats could undermine the feat system (it's a lot easier to get new magic items than it is to get new feats).

 

[Kalendraf]

it's a lot easier to get new magic items than it is to get new feats

I think my players would disagree since my world is a bit lower magic than average...

Maybe the designers wanted to keep feats special. Tacking on a bunch of magic items that duplicates feats could undermine the feat system

IMHO, they could simply write better rules to handle it. If the price was high enough, it would at least still allow the case of feats on items, but make such items prohibitively expensive to craft. They could also have some rule that limits the number of feats on items to a very small number. Instead, they gave us pretty much zilch, leaving DMs like me to wander in the dark, hoping to avoid being eaten by a grue.

Now, where did I put that trusty brass lantern...

 

[Vlos]

One thought would to be search for a spell similar to the Feat. I think there is a spell which augments your next summon spell. I can't find it in the SRD, but I believe there is one in one of the FR products.

The 10k per feat doesn't seem that bad, at low levels, but once you get to higher levels this can quickly become a problem. Players with lots of money can quickly create things that bypass the normal rules. I would also somehow compute the cost by factoring in the levelin which you could acquire the feat as well. Even then, it can get out of hand. For example a staff which grants Power Attack would only cost, what 20k?

As for the metamagic rods, yes they are very flexible in that they can be used to make any spell more powerful. But you could use them as the base, maybe cutting the cost in half (max) and applying the same rules, lessor for 1-3 Summon spells, etc.

 

[Kalendraf]

One thought would to be search for a spell similar to the Feat. I think there is a spell which augments your next summon spell. I can't find it in the SRD, but I believe there is one in one of the FR products.

That is worth exploring. I have access to all the complete books and I own a few other d20 books. There might be a spell like that in one of them that is comparable.

The 10k per feat doesn't seem that bad, at low levels, but once you get to higher levels this can quickly become a problem. Players with lots of money can quickly create things that bypass the normal rules. I would also somehow compute the cost by factoring in the levelin which you could acquire the feat as well. Even then, it can get out of hand. For example a staff which grants Power Attack would only cost, what 20k?

I agree that it could be a problem. The characters in this particular campaign aren't exactly swimming in gold at this point, so it might not be as big an issue here, but I could certainly see how it could become a problem, especially in other campaigns.

Maybe there could be a rule to restrict how feats would apply to items - for example, a character could only benefit from a limited number of them, or only specific body locations could have them along with the limits of how many can be on that item. Of course, now we're treading even deeper into the houserule zone which wasn't my goal here.

As for the metamagic rods, yes they are very flexible in that they can be used to make any spell more powerful. But you could use them as the base, maybe cutting the cost in half (max) and applying the same rules, lessor for 1-3 Summon spells, etc.

This is more along the lines of what I was originally considering. In fact, the half-cost was my first idea considering this only applies to specific spells. However, I'm not sure I like following the lesser/normal/greater spell mechanic for this. However, their might be another way to handle it...

Given that the staff will have 50 charges, 1 charge could Augment Summoning on a 1st-3rd level spell, 2 charges augment a 4th-6th level spell and 3 charges augment a 7th-9th level spell. In this case, I'm thinking this single ability could cost 4500 gp, which is half the price for a fully charged Lesser Empower Metamagic Rod.

Too low priced? Too high priced? Let me know what you think.

 

[Vraister]

I have another idea. I saw once a ranking for feats from roughly 6 to 14, where 10 is an average feat, 6 a weak feat and 14 a strong feat.
I would square these and multiply with 100. So your item would cost somewhere between 3600 and 19600.
If your feat has prerequisites I would add the value of the feats and then square and multiply with 100.

You could also value each feat as a 10. Makes it easier.

Basicly items with a feat with no or only weak and few prerequisites are cheap but items at the end of a feat chain are really expensive.

Vraister

 

[the Jester]

Personally, the first thing I'd do with a feat-granting item's prerequisites is include the feat.

In other words, you want a staff that grants Augment Summoning- find someone with the feat to help you make it.

 

[Kalendraf]

Personally, the first thing I'd do with a feat-granting item's prerequisites is include the feat.

In other words, you want a staff that grants Augment Summoning- find someone with the feat to help you make it.

Maybe I'm missing something, but how does this help in determining the cost?

 

[ElectricDragon]

If the person making the staff has the feat, it may or may not add to the cost. In the SRD there are both types of items. Here are a few.

Gloves of Arrow Snaring: (does not require the feat, Snatch Arrows, to make)

Dark Blue Rhomboid Ioun Stone: (does not require the feat, Alertness, to make)

Rod of Flailing: (does not require the feat, Two-Weapon Fighting, to make)

Golem Manual: (does require the feat, Craft Construct, to make)

Incense of Meditation: (does require the feat, Maximize Spell, to make)

Metamagic Rods (All): (does require the specific metamagic feat to make)

There are examples of feat-generating items in the SRD, you just have to look closely for them. I am sure there are more; this is just from a quick perusal.

Ciao
Dave

 

[jmucchiello]

Actually, you should look at what the feat does and see if you can simulate it. Aug Summoning gives your conjured critters +2 Str and +2 Con. That sounds like 1/2 Bull's Strength and 1/2 Bear's Endurance. Cast automatically on the conjured critter. So I'd price it as a 2nd level spell * the staff's caster level * 1800 gp (use activated). I would also require Craft Wondrous Item since the effect is not a spell cast from the staff but as part of the staff's activation.