Babelfish!

[Bad Paper]

A DM recently introduced a Babelfish (as in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) into our group, as a magic item. We're having difficulty pricing it. It could be anything from 1,500gp to 90,000gp. At first she wanted it to be a continuous tongues that did not occupy a body slot! whew!

So let's say that it's just like the book, and it merely allows you to understand any spoken language, not speak it, or read it, or write it. This is like a toned-down comprehend languages spell, but you don't have to touch the being speaking to understand it. Here is where I noticed the spell differs from the helm of comprehending languages and reading magic. (Is this an error? Should the helm require physical contact?)

So that would make it half as effective as a 3,000gp item, or if it doesn't occupy a body slot, half of a 6,000gp item. But realistically, the game gives far more weight to verbal communication than to the written word, so can you really say it's half?

What if the helm of comprehending languages and reading magic requires the speaker to be touched? Then the Babelfish becomes half of a tongues spell, and suddenly we're talking about part of a 45,000gp item, or 90,000gp if it doesn't occupy a body slot!

Brainstorm: what if it's a symbiotic being, like in the book? I don't remember how it survived; presumably it eats brainwaves or something. What if it simply drained 1hp/day or so?

Thoughts?

 

[reanjr]

I think the formulas for magic item creation are absolutely worthless.

For an item like this, it's very dependent upon how important language barriers are in the game. If language is something that is a backdrop, and almost everyone speaks common, I'd make it around 4,000gp. On the other hand, if it is a spy based game with people using foreign languages often to avoid people eavesdropping, then price it somewhere around 30,000gp.

 

[Psimancer]

I would price it based on Tongues, a 2nd level spell cast by a 4th level Bard (2x4), continuous (x2,000gp), x1/2 (comprehend only, not speak) with no item slot (x2), for a total cost of 16,000gp.

 

[focallength]

yeah I agree with 16,000 its a fairly unique yet powerful item and having it not take up a slot is at least a x2 multiplier. Now if you tried to create a towel that would be at least a 200,000 gp item, those things do everything.

 

[Pielorinho]

Consider also that language in the game is vastly oversimplified for gameplay reasons. Most members of a race speak the same language, unlike earth, where a relatively small area may contain hundreds upon hundreds of different languages. "Common" ought, by all rights, to be a pidgin--a very crude protolanguage invented by merchants and soldiers so they may communicate with one another, but wholly unsuitable for discussing such abstract concepts as moral precepts, prophecies, or relationships.

In a world with more realistic languages, it might be sensible to introduce a low-cost magic item allowing a Tongues effect in order to keep the gameplay smooth. I had one in a game once that comprised two patches that would adhere to the forehead and allow telepathic communication between the wearers of the patches over close range; I then felt free to have a world with hundreds of cultures, secure that the PCs could still manage higher-level interactions with the cultures via the patches.

Daniel

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

In my setting, the only "common tongue" is a very basic sort of sign language called "Traders' Tongue". It has its roots in my campaign history as a means of communication used by rebels who overthrew their oppressors and was called "Traitors' Tongue". There is no common spoken language across regions, so every character has to spend language slots to learn a language other than their native, regional one.

 

[Bad Paper]

OK, so 16k seems closer to what this thing is. (Had forgotten that tongues is actually a second-level spell!) 8k if it occupies a body slot.

1) What if the Babelfish-item drains 1hp/day? How would that affect price?
2) Ancillary: does a Helm of Comprehending Languages and Reading Magic require the user to touch a creature to understand it?

 

[Quidam]

1) What if the Babelfish-item drains 1hp/day? How would that affect price?

Beware of using drawbacks that would hardly be noticed to modify an item's price. I would consider such a drain flavor only- not nearly enough of an issue to warrant a price reduction.

 

[Crothian]

1) What if the Babelfish-item drains 1hp/day? How would that affect price?

Is it just damage or a permanent hit point loss?