How much should it cost to make this item?

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Thingamabob of Moderate Healing
On command, this thingamabob allows the bearer to use the magic of the spell Cure Moderate Wounds, instantly healing 2d8+3 hit points.

Faint conjuration; CL 3rd; Craft Wondrous Item, Cure Moderate Wounds; Price 10,800gp(?)

As far as I can tell, because it's a second level spell being cast by a 3rd level caster, and the power of the item is activated by a command word, the market price should be 10,800gp.

2 * 3 * 1,800gp = 10,800gp. Yep.

Compare it to just buying wands of CMW:

2 * 3 * 750gp = 4,500gp.

In other words, you'd have to use this item more than 120 times (for a total of 240d8+360 HP of healing) before it became more price effective than just buying wands.

It is, honestly, not as far out there as some people are making it out to be.

 

[Infiniti2000]

It is, honestly, not as far out there as some people are making it out to be.

I think it's further, honestly. IMO, it has a bigger impact that just an adventuring group's healing resource. Throw this item into probably any city and it has an almost incalculable affect. Add in an infinite cure disease item, neutralize poison item, etc. Granted, D&D has never sufficiently handled such messes as this item can create, so YMMV, but there you have it. Another e.g. the decanter.

 

[Wish]

Given that your player is considering Forge Ring as one of the crafting feat options for this, you're playing a fairly high level campaign. I don't see unlimited low level healing as a problem for such a game. Even at 2d8+3 (average 12) it's not fast enough to matter a bit in combat, so it's basically an out of combat device. You could buy 13 wands of lesser vigor for about the same price, with a healing output of around 7200 hp. Your PC would have to use this ring 600 times to get ahead in cash terms. That's a lot. He'll probably do it, if the campaign goes long enough, but it's not like the thing will pay for itself tomorrow.

And, as others have noted, at will healing already exists in the game, particularly at higher levels. In addition to the dragon shaman and binder, the celestial mystic comes to mind, as does the feat that lets you turn CLW into a spell-like ability usable at will.

 

[Nefrast]

I suppose DMs which allow this also allow cheap rings of true strike and such things too, do they? The pricing rules just don't work in many many cases. I know there are some fixes especially for the true strike example, but still, magic item rules in D&D are a big mess and the formulas should not be followed blindly, in my opinion the pricing of items is downright broken and highly inconsistent.

If you really allow such a ring for only 10000 gold pieces, how can you justify the price for a regeneration ring? I see there a great imbalance.

Also it strikes me as wrong to just think about the value of an item in the context of fights. Items are not automatically useless in non-fighting situations. Items are not only for PCs, other creatures use them too. When allowing new magic items (or finding the right price) one should also account for the impact the item has between encounters, how does it change the world, what impact will it have on the economy, does it causes big shifts in power groups, etc.

And the existence of per-will healing in some splash books should not be taken as a cheap excuse for allowing cheap Thingamabob of Moderate Healing for everyone. Instead such cases should alert everyone. For example a binder able to heal unlimited in a city with conflicting temples can have the potential to cause dramatic changes. Or imagine how valuable such a person would be for parties in a war. You want him either in your army or dead, you would never allow him to be able to help the enemy. I now understand why binders are so shunned and often even hunted down. ;-)

But in the end, of course, it highly depends on the kind of game you play. If you more or less just care about party fighting and not really care about the complicated implications of dropping such bombs into a living ever-changing world with power hungry groups, with wars, economies, churches, etc., then it seems you are fine with unlimited healing (and many other unlimited spells). For example for hack&slay styles, it can be very practical to not have to care about long resting phases between heavy fights, which only slow down your pace.

 

[Deset Gled]

One of my players is considering creating an item with the following characteristics, using either Craft Ring or Craft Wondrous Item. Since he doesn't know which route he intends to take, we'll just call it a thingamabob, for now.

Monte Cook gave an exact example of this case before (can't remember the exact source). When asked if a player can create an item of infinite Cure X Wounds, his answer was "as long as you're DM isn't paying attention". Obviously, you're paying attention, so the item cannot be created.

 

[frankthedm]

Still, it seems like the item as written (though apparently OK by the rules) would make any character wielding it effectively invincible, right?

Wrong. Here is the RAW on magic item pricing.

Not all items adhere to these formulas directly. The reasons for this are several. First and foremost, these few formulas aren’t enough to truly gauge the exact differences between items. The price of a magic item may be modified based on its actual worth. The formulas only provide a starting point. The pricing of scrolls assumes that, whenever possible, a wizard or cleric created it. Potions and wands follow the formulas exactly. Staffs follow the formulas closely, and other items require at least some judgment calls.

Pricing a magic item is not G.U.R.P.S. character creation.

 

[Bad Paper]

Nice one, Bad Paper.

err, thanks, but it's just math. There is no other way to reflect instantaneous items in the Guidelines. Charges per day is how I do almost all of my homebrew items, even those pesky Boots of Expeditious Retreat. I wasn't being snarky. This, I consider snarky:

Yes! Use cure minor wounds instead! It's a lot cheaper, if slower. But, hey, if you plan to use it out of combat, who cares how long it takes?

but again, it's just math.

 

[Quidam]

When creating new magic items, the first rule of valuation is to take a look at a similar item and price it accordingly. I would suggest taking the lack of any such items as an indication the designers thought cure spells would be best placed in wands & staffs.

If you really want to have fun with the pricing suggestions, try a ring of true strike.

Some items were just not meant to be.

edit: d'oh! way late to the party! sorry for the redundancy.

 

[Diirk]

You're on the right path, but you have forgotten to add in the charges-per-day calculation.

Let's try this again: (spell level) * (caster level) * 1,800gp, divided by (5 divided by charges per day)

So 2*3*1800/(5/14400) = 31,104,000gp. You are aware that there are 14,400 standard actions in a day, right?

31.1 million gold pieces for 172,800 hit points per day. This thing becomes cheaper (cost per hit point) than a wand of cure moderate wounds by its third day of (constant) use.

Charges per day is optional... if it doesn't have a limited number of charges per day, you don't add in the calculation. Good thing too, seeing as charges per day over 5 works out more expensive than an unlimited use item...

That being said, they're just guidelines... unlimited use healing items are fairly obviously broken. Tell them to invest in a bunch of wands of cure light wounds instead.

 

[Infiniti2000]

err, thanks, but it's just math. There is no other way to reflect instantaneous items in the Guidelines. Charges per day is how I do almost all of my homebrew items, even those pesky Boots of Expeditious Retreat. I wasn't being snarky.

I didn't actually think you were. I was being sincere in my compliment. I don't remember seeing anyone else call out the number of standard actions per day as a guideline for pricing items.

This, I consider snarky:but again, it's just math.

Not snarky, just helpful. You do agree that cure minor wounds is almost as useful and yet cheaper, right?