Diplomacy Smackdown

[kreynolds]

So basically a 4th or 5th level character can use Craft Wondrous Item to create an Amulet of Gather Info +20 for 8,000 gold and suddenly become a schmoozing wonder?

Yes. They make it. You approve it or don't.

Or a 3rd level wizard can create an Amulet of Spellcraft +10 for only 2,000 gold

See previous answer. (you're catching on quick)

Or he can create an Amulet of Concentration +10 for only 2,000 gold

See previous answer. (very good. keep it comin')

Or he can create an Amulet of Search +10 for a rogue to always find traps with a take 10, or an Amulet of Disable Device to always disable traps, or an Amulet of Escape Artist +10 to easily escape any grapples, etc., etc.

Damn. You're good. By the way: See previous answer.

Is this right?

Yes.

Seems quite unbalanced to me for the price.

Then change the rules. No biggie.

One of the things that I've seen around here is the idea that the prereq for a skill bonus granting magic item that the caster has at least half the ranks in the skill to grant said bonus.

Nobody said you would find these things at Wal-Mart, by the way.

 

[kreynolds]

This is not correct.

Yes it is.

These "rules" are presented as Guidelines in the Dungeons Master Guide.

They are rules, but they are also guidelines, meaning they are rules that are easily adjusted for your own purposes, and the designers knew that you would do so in some way or another at some point in your DMing career.

And being "guideline rules", where do you get off telling me that I'm wrong, since I'm building an item within the confines of the "guideline rules"?

A smart DM knows when a magic item is a bad idea or a good idea. Use good judgement, and the "rules", as you call them, work just fine.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I think the PsiH has good guidelines for skill boosting.

You need half the ranks to make an item.

So if someone makes a +100 amulet of Lying, the crafter better have 50 ranks in Bluff. Even if you had someone else make it for you, do you really think they have that many ranks in Bluff?

I don't think a metallic dragon will make one for you. And a chromatic dragon will just eat you.

 

[Al]

I think the PsiH has good guidelines for skill boosting.

You need half the ranks to make an item.

So if someone makes a +100 amulet of Lying, the crafter better have 50 ranks in Bluff. Even if you had someone else make it for you, do you really think they have that many ranks in Bluff?

I don't think a metallic dragon will make one for you. And a chromatic dragon will just eat you.

Well, that's ok then- you can only make +46 Amulets of Lying

Seriously, though, (and call me a nasty DM for all I care) I get very skeptical about certain items which give obscene bonuses to skills: particularly social skills. A Potion of Glibness can enable an average goon to go around bluffing most people that he's a lamassu polymorphed into...(etc.) And in the hands of skilled bluffers, it just becomes ridiculous. Funnily though, I don't have the same problem with other skills. A Ring which allows you to jump to over the castle's walls seems heroic; one that allows you to convince the king that you're his wife just seems stupid.

 

[kingpaul]

So basically a 4th or 5th level character can use Craft Wondrous Item to create an Amulet of Gather Info +20 for 8,000 gold and suddenly become a schmoozing wonder?

I don't have my DMG in front of me, but IIRC, Boots of Jumping have a prereq of 5 ranks of Jump, and it gives a you a +10 on Jump skill checks. You could use that as a base and require creators to have 1/2 the bonus in ranks of a skill before they add it to said item.

 

[Thanee]

Well, that's not much of a restriction anyways, as you could simply hire someone with the ranks to help in the creation process.

I just checked my own character, just for curiosities sake, and all the +skill items I made, except a single one (which gives +10 to swim, I only have 3 ranks there), would work under this rule!

Bye
Thanee

 

[Kershek]

Well, that's not much of a restriction anyways, as you could simply hire someone with the ranks to help in the creation process.

I just checked my own character, just for curiosities sake, and all the +skill items I made, except a single one (which gives +10 to swim, I only have 3 ranks there), would work under this rule!

Ok, I understand how someone with the required spell could help in potion creation, but how can someone with 5 ranks of Jump who just happens to be in the room help in item creation?

 

[Vaxalon]

A fresh toenail, a snip of hair, and finally the object is jumped on by the subject.

Voila!

 

[Hypersmurf]

Reminds me of the Boots of Elvenkind thread from some months back...

The DMG requires that the creator must be an elf. This seems a touch restrictive, but I didn't think it fair that any crafter could make them just by having an elf hanging around while he worked.

So my rule - the Boots can be made either by elves, or from elves.

Then, of course, there's the Sylvan Scimitar and the Dwarven Thrower...



-Hyp.