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Message: <blockquote data-quote="rassav" data-source="post: 447834" data-attributes="member: 8586">I have wanted to do this for a long time, but not everyone is my group has regular email access.  How well does it work for you?Concerning item uniqueness, or "special items".  Each item we have created has a story associated with its creation and purpose.  I haven't included that for the Headband of Moradin's Mercy since it wasn't balance related.  It isn't just a "spell item" to the players. Item creations feats, besides Brew Potion, Scribe Scroll, and Craft Wand are pretty rare in our games.   It is a rare NPC that has any besides these three.  I don't remember seeing an NPC in an adventure or module that we have used that had Craft Wondrous Item.  I'm sure that this is primarily due to the combat focus of the published game.We are still getting used to magic being more available in 3rd Edition.  The biggest magic item related problem that I have experienced is the players being so afraid of using up scrolls or wands that they don't use them. It makes sense because NPC spellcaster's don't always have the best spells for the situation prepared.  If you had a fireball to cast, that would certainly be better than casting a dispel magic on the Headband, but sometimes you don't have a fireball prepared.  In the situation I mentioned though, the enemy cleric was out of offensive spells and used the dispel magic that he had prepared on the Headband.  A good roll took it out for 4 rounds.  The inavailability of the Headband tilted combat in the enemies' favor and the party retreated.  I did say that it didn't usually matter. I'm sorry, but I'm not following your point here.  It seems that this would be an argument for items that can Identify being readily available.  Could you clarify this please?On the subject of pricing:++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++quote:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Originally posted by rassav A question on pricing. Does the reverse also hold true? If I would never conside buying this item over three Wand of Cure Light Wounds are they to inexpensive? Or is the item to expensive?--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Ok this one is easy.Prices are ALWAYS set based on an existing scale. value is purely comparative.You have gobs of official pre priced items in the books. That is your "baseline" and other things should be priced in relation to them.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++I'm not contending that the baseline pricing is wrong.  My contention is with the seeming assumption that because buying three wands of cure light wounds isn't the option most people would take, then the price of the item is wrong.   Three first level wands could be purchased for the price of the Headband, including a combination that is more useful in some situations.  There are times when it would be much more useful to have the Wand of Cure Light Wounds and Wand of summon Monster I and Wand of Charm Person than it would be to have the Headband.  Does that mean they should cost more?I'll admit that the pricing of magic items is strange.  According to the Item Creation rules, an item that can be used once per day costs 1/5 as much as the same item that can be used on command as often as desired.  If this is the case, why wouldn't everyone just create on command items?  I suppose there could be any number of reasons.  The rules are there, no matter how strange they seem.  Please note, I am not saying that those prices have to be used or that players can create any items they want based on that formula.  The formulas are a guideline though, just like the items in the DMG.  Sometimes the formulas are right on, sometimes they are not.  That is why playtesting items is so important. We use the recommended Wealth levels, as per the DMG.  We haven't found the price difference to be insignificant.  There is still the opportunity cost and reduced flexibility that comes from buying one headband as opposed to three wands.  Remember though, that in our campaign player "original" items are not readily available for purchase.When I first saw this item I thought it was crazy, but playtesting showed us that it fit well in our campaign.  Your campaign has a different style though, so it sounds like it wouldn't fit smoothly.How do you handle magic items that give bonuses to skills in your campaign.  They have given me headaches in ours.Thanks for the feedback!  It sounds like you have a good campaign.Rassav</blockquote>

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