Costs related to magic items producing spell effects

[Plecak]

Dear all,

I would like to create a ring producing the Shield spell effect:
- use activated,
- activation is not an action (a thought),
- unlimited uses per day.

According to the rules, the ring should cost 24000gp: spell level (1) x caster level (12) x 2000gp - the Forge Ring feat is available to characters of at least 12-th level. However, caster level requirement for, for example, a Ring of Animal Friendship is only 3. It is the same for the Ring of Chameleon Power. How is that possible?

Moreover, the costs of these rings do not seem to follow the rules: the cost of a Ring of Animal Friendship should be 6000gp: spell level (1) x caster level (3) x 2000gp.

What is wrong with these rules and how much would a ring producing the Shield spell effect really cost?

Thanx in advance.

 

[Pinotage]

Dear all,

I would like to create a ring producing the Shield spell effect:
- use activated,
- activation is not an action (a thought),
- unlimited uses per day.

According to the rules, the ring should cost 24000gp: spell level (1) x caster level (12) x 2000gp - the Forge Ring feat is available to characters of at least 12-th level. However, caster level requirement for, for example, a Ring of Animal Friendship is only 3. It is the same for the Ring of Chameleon Power. How is that possible?

Moreover, the costs of these rings do not seem to follow the rules: the cost of a Ring of Animal Friendship should be 6000gp: spell level (1) x caster level (3) x 2000gp.

What is wrong with these rules and how much would a ring producing the Shield spell effect really cost?

Thanx in advance.

Well, you have to note that the creator of a particular magical item can set the caster level to whatever he wants. So while you need CL 12 for Forge Ring, you can still create a lower caster level for the ring if needed. Note that higher caster levels in the item also determine the duration of each activation.

This is also a classic example of where the item creation rules fail. Shield grants a +4 Shield bonus to AC, which is a force effect. The closest item to this is the Ring of Force Shield, which costs 8500 gp for +2 AC. I'd price this at something similar to the Ring of Force Shield, in other words, roughly bonus squared x 2. For +4 bonus, that'd be 32000 gp, which is the same price really as a Ring of Protection +4.

Pinotage

 

[Plecak]

I am not sure about that. A ring of Force Shield requires a 5th level spell, Wall of Force, to produce. And its price, according to the rules, should be 90000gp (9th level caster + 5th level spell), not 8500gp (it is to cheap).

Another example is a Ring of Invisibility. It should cost 12000gp (3rd level caster + 2nd level spell), but it costs 20000gp (it is to expensive).

 

[akbearfoot]

You are confusing an item's prerequisites with an items functions.

A magic item only uses the spell-based costs if they actually generate the spells as part of their use. And even this only comes into play after you do the 'compare with similar items' method.


An item that casts shield at will is equivalent to having a+4 ring of protection, and should thus be priced exactly the same.

Otherwise everyone would have non-slotted items of mage armor and shield for like 4k each for a permanent +8 armor class.

 

[Haffrung Helleyes]

I think the calculation is a little more complicated than that.

What the item does is allow someone to give up a ring slot to:

1) have something roughly equivalent to a +3 mithril twilight buckler (+4 shield bonus to AC, no ASF, very low weight)

2) be immune to magic missiles

+3 twilight is a +4 ability, worth about 16K
immunity to magic missiles is worth about 4K, since it never runs out unlike the brooch of shielding (though in my experience the regular brooch has enough charges to last the campaign).

The PC is losing a ring slot and gaining a free hand, which is a net gain IMO . However, the ring can't be further enchanted and the buckler can , which is a net loss.

But it's use activated w/no action, which presumably means that this shield bonus would be kept even when a normal shield bonus wouldn't.

We don't have any guidelines for what these tradeoffs are worth; it's ultimately a DM judgement call. But I would put its value at approximately 30K.

Keep in mind that as a DM you want to avoid the situation where at high levels this item is such a good deal that every high level fighter ditches their shield, gets a 2 handed weapon, and buys this ring. That's why you don't price it cheap, like the ring of animal friendship.

Ken

 

[Mistwell]

Find a similar item in the Magic Item Compendium and price it off of that.

The item creation rules in the DMG are nearly useless. Nice idea, but it didn't ever really function well.

 

[Dross]

A couple of other things to remember.

Sometimes you shouldn't base the cost solely on the spell level. Take for example True Strike placed in a ring. Many* people don't price it at caster level 1 x spell caster 1 but by the bonus it provides (+20 to hit)

Other benefits like concealment not counting need to be factored in.

Also benefits not tied directly into the items (free hand as pointed out) should be included in the cost (DM call usually).

I've seen costing for a ring of True Strike be 200,000gp (up to 300,000), but by the guidelines it'll be 2,000gp.


Many = more than 1 Less than all, I don't have numbers but I've seen it often