creating a "Stone of Silence"

[Neverwill]

Below is a request for a new wondrous item from one of my players:

Stone of Silence
The item is a stone with intricate gold inlaid carvings, fitting comfortably into the palm of a hand. The magical silence would last 3 minutes per day broken up however the user chooses. The stone would have to be held to be activated, but can be moved after activation. The stone must be held for the effect to be dispelled. Faint Illusion; CL 4th; Craft Wondrous Item, silence; Price 4,800 gp;Weight 1 lb.

I find that incredibly overpowered (and cheap) - not to mention numerous questions regarding the details of its use (Can I deactivate it when not in possession of the stone? Can someone else pick it up and deactivate it?, etc.). I also don't feel comfortable about only allowing the effect to be dispelled if it's in possession by the user.

What do you guys think?

 

[Infiniti2000]

The "broken up" is very questionable. There's no good guideline for pricing that. Even the boots of speed or similar items aren't a good guideline. Especially for 3 minutes, which is an extremely long time in terms of combat rounds. Having it usable N/day for 3 minutes at a pop is eminently more reasonable, and more easily priced.

 

[cmanos]

Below is a request for a new wondrous item from one of my players:

Stone of Silence
The item is a stone with intricate gold inlaid carvings, fitting comfortably into the palm of a hand. The magical silence would last 3 minutes per day broken up however the user chooses. The stone would have to be held to be activated, but can be moved after activation. The stone must be held for the effect to be dispelled. Faint Illusion; CL 4th; Craft Wondrous Item, silence; Price 4,800 gp;Weight 1 lb.

I find that incredibly overpowered (and cheap) - not to mention numerous questions regarding the details of its use (Can I deactivate it when not in possession of the stone? Can someone else pick it up and deactivate it?, etc.). I also don't feel comfortable about only allowing the effect to be dispelled if it's in possession by the user.

What do you guys think?

Held to be activated would imply, held to deactivate. I don't particularly care for that activation. Gets totally around the command word aspect of wondrous items. If that is what he'd like, I would make him have the Silent Spell feat. And remember a CL4 item only needs a Caster Level Check with a DC of 15 to dispel. I would definitely allow anyone else to pick up the stone and deactivate it. I think he needs to be a bit more explicit as to the activation/deactivation system. Holding could mean anyone holding it. He activates it and throws it, an enemy picks it up and it deactivates it. If he means activating and deactivating at will, I'd make him make a Use Magical Device or Caster Level check to deactivate it. No, the mage who activated it would not be able to deactivate it if he were not in possession of it, but anyone else that happened to pick it up would, unless a UMD or Caster Level were needed to deactivate it.

I think what he is trying to do is make a magic item that he can activate and throw to minimize spellcasters abilities. Not a bad idea as there is nothing in the rules for it. Does the DMGII go into more details about how to come up with CL and cost for magic items? I know there are several I have suggested and been told 'can't be done' as there is nothing specifically in the rules stating it can be done.

I don't like the 'broken up however the user likes'. I would say 3x a day for no longer than one minute or until deactivated.

For reference - Elixer of Sneaking, a one time, personal only item, has a CL5.

 

[dcollins]

I find that incredibly overpowered (and cheap) - not to mention numerous questions regarding the details of its use...
[/size]

Sounds like you don't like it. Easy, you should trust your gut and just say "no". You need to invoke a Variant rule before PCs are allowed to invent new items in the first place, anyway. See also http://superdan.net.home.comcast.net/dndfaq3.html

 

[Shadeus]

Held to be activated would imply, held to deactivate. I don't particularly care for that activation. Gets totally around the command word aspect of wondrous items.

This was my initial thought too. But a command word in a zone of silence doesn't make much sense! I would agree with cmanos here though and go with 3/day with a 1 minute use time.

 

[TheGogmagog]

I would keep away from breaking up the time also. For comparison, you have a wand of silence. It requires a caster (I think every caster gets silence) or UMD to activate. It lasts 3 minutes and is dismissable by the caster. This dismissal does not require touching or verbal command, just a standard action to concentrate.

Being a wonderous item, it allows a non caster to use it. The rest of the effects remain the same, 3 min is mininmum caster level duration, and it can be dismissed with a standard action of concentration.

The largest advantage of the item is a non-caster can activate and deactivate it, allowing the casters to cast thier more powerful spells. I would probably allow the item, but might require double the cost if I can't find another item that casts silence.

 

[dedicated]

Caster level fourth is pretty low for a wondorous item...

but yeah, don't let him break it up as he wills, he did not price it like that

wait... how that price break up, it's giving me a headache to find out

 

[DreamChaser]

i'd go with command word to activate and no way to deactivate it before the time expires.

This is a caster killer so the price should be inflated appropriately. x2 or x3 would be fair, i think.

I agree that the caster should have Silent Spell to reflect that at points during the creation of the item, they would be using magic in the presence of a silence effect.

Just my thoughts.

DC

 

[Ovinomancer]

I also do not agree with the pricing, but not for the reasons listed above.

To start, the formula for 'estimating' the cost of a command word activated item is (spell level) x (caster level) x (1,800gp). If you could use it once per day, that total would be divided by 5 ( or 5/number of daily uses). It does not occupy a body slot, so we double the cost. All in all we have ((SLxCLx1800)/5)x2 or 5,760gp. For a single use of up to four minutes. That already is above the players suggested cost.

Now he wants to have this duration broken up into any number of smaller increments. No formula. Tough call. I would lower the caster level to 3 and double the cost. Somewhere around 8640, probably round that up to 8750gp. That seems good for me. This second bit is, of course MHO.

I would like to take this opportunity to point out that silence is a emanation. This means that it will not pass anything that blocks line of effect, which is anything that is solid. Like a wall of rice paper. Or a pocket. Don't worry about the enemy having to deactivate it, a standard action, just have the move equivilent it into a pocket or belt pouch and, poof, no more silence!