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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MerricB" data-source="post: 3395104" data-attributes="member: 3586">It's a little more complicated than that. The cost isn't just in the gold spent; it's also on the action used to activate the item, and on the slot needed to use it.Using magic to overcome challenges - as shown in your wand of enemy detection example - is a quite different issue. The pricing of wands needs to be appropriate to the spells that can cast them; thus you're not going to get a wand of enemy detection until you can cast the spell as well (and possibly not for a couple of levels later).No, the problem with many items comes down to the slot it uses. Why wear an amulet of proof against poison when the amulet of natural armour is just far better in most circumstances? At this point, the gold cost of the amulet is irrelevant. To fix this, you need another solution. You can see one solution in the augment crystals: you augment the amulet of natural armour with a crystal that gives proof from poison. Another solution is to have a dual-amulet: it gives natural armour *and* proof from poison, and at a reasonable cost.That's the slot problem.The next problem is the activate action problem. You only have a certain number of actions each combat before the combat ends. If the magic item's ability is weaker than your other options, why would you use it? That's the problem identified by Andy for the rod of grievous wounds.(Incidentally, magic items normally become obsolete as you level up. A wand of fireballs just doesn't cut it at high levels. A Ring of the Ram probably is obsolete at the moment you can craft it. The best part of the redesign to staves in 3.5e was that they pay attention to the caster level of the user, rather than the staff).One-shot items (potions and elixirs, especially) pay a lot more attention to their actual *gold cost* Limited-use as well. The formula for wands is really wacky in D&D - it's great for a general formula, but should a wand of cure moderate wounds really cost six times the cost of a cure light wounds wand? Probably not. D&D really needs case-by-case adjucation of magic item cost... which is why there isn't a new set of formulas in the MIC.Cheers!</blockquote>

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