Help me with item creation costs

sithramir

First Post
My player is going to make a necromancer. I informed him of the awesome mystic theurge class for it and he liked the idea.

He is making this new character into my campaign at 9th level right now. Here is what he has asked of me:

First, i want to make an item (probably amulet) that would allow me to use the 2nd level arcane spell "disguise undead" at will. (I think it's from T&B; if not, then it must be from FR.) Normally an "on command" item costs cstr lvl X spl lvl X 1800gp, but this spell is one i might be using simultaneously on multiple targets. It seems a little overpowered for me to be able to cast such a spell whenever i want: (imagine if the spell were "bull's strength" instead: the whole party would be constantly bull-strengthed) -- but this is not a combat spell, so maybe it's okay. Do you think there should be a daily limit on such an item? If so, five seems
like the obvious choice, but then the item wouldn't really serve my purose since the spell only lasts 30 minutes. (If the price would help you decide how powerful you think it should be: 2 X 3 X 1800 = 10,800 -- but since i'm making it myself during character creation, it would be 70% of this or 7,560.) My other option would be to have it work on just one undead at a time, which would not be as exciting for me, but might do just fine.

Second, i need to hire other mages to cast a couple of the spells for me for items i'm making. I'm thinking a spell cast by a shadowweave caster might cost twice as much as one cast by a weave caster, but maybe it should be more like five or ten times as much. This seems unlikely though, since the demand for shadowweave items is relatively small, just like the supply.
Also, i might know a few shadowweave users who might cut me a break since i'm one myself. What do you think the cost to me for such shadowweave casting should be?

So what do you guys think of that item? What could be done with it? I'm very bad at the item creation costs. I think having him be able to disguise undead at will from it is overpowerful. I see no problem with him being able to do it several times per day as it doesn't last long or maybe on one creature for a long period of time or something. But what would the real costs of this item be? It seems to me like it should cost a lot.

Secondly, Is there a basis for shadowweave item creation costs that I missed? I know for most items it woldn't be a big deal but for items that duplicate spells they would be as shadow spells and hence would be in some ways much more powerful. Any ideas? Suggestions?

Thanks
 

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Actually, if his character is the one crafting it, it will be even less than 70%. To start, it will be at 50%. Basically, his character wealth isn't hit by the item's market value. It's hit by the item's creation cost.

Also, with a duration measured in 10 minutes/level, the 3.5 DMG states that the total cost should be multiplied by 1.5 if its a continuous item. However, such an item, and even the spell, only applies/functions for one undead creature at a time. So more castings, or more items, would normally be required to affect more than one undead creature. If this item is to basically function like an unlimited charged wand though, that's cool, but you'll need to take that versatility into consideration.

As mentioned above, the creation formula yields a fairly low result, but this is largely due to the limited duration. While the low cost may make such an item appear very attractive and cheap, it's a pain in the rear to use. Think about it. If you need to disguise five undead creatures, you have to reactivate the item five times every thirty minutes that you wish to keep them disguised.

Anyways, the end effect isn't that awesome, since all it takes is a simple Will save to disbelieve it when the undead creature is interacted with.

So, according to the 3.5 DMG, the formula would be 2 x 3 x 1800 x 1.5, which would give a total of 16,200 for a command-word activated magic item that contains unlimited charges of disguise undead at 3rd-caster level, requiring a standard action to activate and speaking of a word per use and per undead creature.

I think that's fine. Besides, to give you a comparison, a fully charged wand of disguise undead would only cost you 4,500gp (2 x 3 x 750). So, this item is more than three and a half times the cost of a wand.

Seems fair to me. :cool:
 

Maybe you should consider the cost of a Mass Disguise Undead, which would become a 6th level spell, looking at other 'Mass' spells.

This would crank up the price to 178,200 gp.
 

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