Magic Item Compendium

[Marshall]

"Body slots" weren't formally introduced until the advent of d20. Before that, there were just guidelines as to what you could wear and where, and how many (one ring/hand, e.g.). I agree, though, that using ability affinities with the slots makes a bit more sense.

No it doesnt. Affinities are ONLY there to artificially create a use for the Forge Ring feat.

The MIC made them obsolete because the designers pretty much ignored them and made their own.

The designers recognized that the artificial cost inflation in the DMG was making anything but the big six COST several times its VALUE. This leads to PCs being equiped with nothing but 'Big Six' items.

Case in point: adding multiple abilities to an item is now 1.5 times the lower ability cost, instead of 2 times the higher one. This rule in particular is the largest part of my problem with the stacking abilities system - a smart player who wants an ability-boosting item will get himself something cheap, like boots of levitation, and add in a Dex bonus at cost, instead of the price of the entire item x1.5 (or the lower price x1.5, depending on which system you use).

Uh, since you dont have the rule correct to start with you cant fault the designers for your just now realizing it.
The only time an item costs 2x the base value, with the DMG calcs, is if its both the second ability AND in the wrong slot. Even slotless is only a +%50 upcharge. You ALWAYS mulitply the lower cost enhancement by 1.5 and add in the flat cost of the higher cost enhancement.

As such, this rule change means very little in the large scheme of things. In effect your only saving the upcharge on the relatively cheap base items from the MIC.

But... this book is encouraging the latter, by making everything cheaper, and making combining abilities cheaper also. Which is my second major gripe with the book - players were limited in the number of items they could have by the number of slots they had and, to a lesser degree, by their wealth, if they're made from scratch). You're still limited by slots now, but with the cheaper costs for combining things, you free up slots for other things - more magic items.

Its more a recognition that the games base assumptions include PCs having 'Big Six' items and that anything preventing gaining them had better have comparable ability or allow it altogether.
IOW, an Amulet of Health+6 is worth 36kgp, never 48kgp or 72kgp.

4,500 gp. Ability bonuses added to an item don't incur the x1.5 cost, but everything else does.

Technically, you cant add Gloves of Manual Prowess to Gloves of Dex+2. The GoMP are a specific item. However, theres nothing specific in the rules about what happens when you add to a standard enhanced item.

 

[Agamon]

If you have it, look up the vest of the archmagi (page 145). Too cool.

Very cool item and pretty funny write up.

 

[Twowolves]

Am I missing something, or is there a reason why the Spellcraft DC under the "aura" entries in the MIC just seem to be incredibly inaccurate? It's 15+spell level of highest spell effect, right? A quick glance through a few entries has that being the correct number less than 1/3 of the time!

 

[hong]

I think it's fairly clear that the intent with the rules for improving magic items is that there are 2 categories of effects: the "big six" effects (more plusses) and the special stuff (enchantments beyond just straight bonuses). An item can have one big-six effect and one special enchantment without any +50% extra cost. Adding ADDITIONAL special enchantments is what incurs the +50%.

Any other interpretation results in item prices varying depending on the order in which enchantments are added. This is counter to the basic principle in place since 3E, and which noone at WotC has ever indicated was problematic.

In fact, the same principle for pricing item upgrades is still at work. You take the price if the upgraded item was created from scratch, and subtract the price of the starting item.

 

[hong]

By the MIC, adding +2 dexterity to a pair of Gloves of Manual Prowess now costs just 4000gp instead of 4000*1.5 = 6000. But what if I already have gloves of dex and want to add the manual prowess feature (base cost 3000)? Would that cost 3000 or 4500gp?

3000 gp. The upgraded item is gloves of manual prowess, +2 Dex. Creating this item from scratch would be 3000 + 4000 = 7000. The starting item is 4000 gp. Taking the difference gives 3000.

 

[Kerrick]

Ugh. I hate it when the order you add things makes a difference. Those items *should* have the same price. Not that I'm contradicting your interpretation of the rules; I'm just expressing a desire for the rules to be otherwise.

Amen to that. That's one of my problems with epic - the ever-popular "Ftr 20/Wiz 20 vs. Wiz 20/Ftr 20" debate.

No it doesnt. Affinities are ONLY there to artificially create a use for the Forge Ring feat.

.... You're joking, right?

The designers recognized that the artificial cost inflation in the DMG was making anything but the big six COST several times its VALUE. This leads to PCs being equiped with nothing but 'Big Six' items.

I'm not sure what you're considering "artificial cost inflation". If the formulas in the DMG were pricing things too high, why didn't they just change THOSE, and reprice items in the MIC according to the new formulas, thereby a) giving us more reasonably priced non-Big-Six items, and b) giving us a new system whereby we can reprice items from other sources with a set system, instead of "Well, just eyeball it and give it a price based on its apparent value."

Uh, since you dont have the rule correct to start with you cant fault the designers for your just now realizing it.
The only time an item costs 2x the base value, with the DMG calcs, is if its both the second ability AND in the wrong slot. Even slotless is only a +%50 upcharge. You ALWAYS mulitply the lower cost enhancement by 1.5 and add in the flat cost of the higher cost enhancement.

Actually we're both wrong, but I'm closer to being right.

Uncustomary space limitation: Multiply entire cost by 1.5.
No space limitation (i.e., slotless): Multiply entire cost by 2.
Multiple different abilities: Multiply higher item cost by 2.

Like I said, I could see adding ability/skill/whatever bonuses to an item with which it has an affinity for a reduced cost (adding a Dex bonus to gloves of swimming and climbing for 1.5 times the value instead of 2 times value). I also think that "the value" should be the value of the ability being added, no matter if its more or less than the existing one - if you were to add +2 Dex to any set of gloves, it would be 6,000 gp. Period.

Technically, you cant add Gloves of Manual Prowess to Gloves of Dex+2. The GoMP are a specific item. However, theres nothing specific in the rules about what happens when you add to a standard enhanced item.

Actually, you can - see below.

I think it's fairly clear that the intent with the rules for improving magic items is that there are 2 categories of effects: the "big six" effects (more plusses) and the special stuff (enchantments beyond just straight bonuses). An item can have one big-six effect and one special enchantment without any +50% extra cost. Adding ADDITIONAL special enchantments is what incurs the +50%.

Sure, if you add the Bix Six bonus into an existing item, there won't be any additional cost. If you do it the other way around, though, you're paying through the nose for it.

There's a paragraph on p. 233, right column, that says if the item you're adding occupies a body slot (boots of striding and springing, e.g.) you can add it to an existing item of that same slot (slippers of spider climbing) for 1.5 times the cost of the enchantment OR the value of the new power plus 1/2 the value of the existing item, if the new power costs more. The example they use is adding the feather falling ability to a ring of climbing - it would be 3,300 gp, the cost of the feather fall x1.5. So I was right in pricing Doug's gloves, but for the wrong reason.

Any other interpretation results in item prices varying depending on the order in which enchantments are added. This is counter to the basic principle in place since 3E, and which noone at WotC has ever indicated was problematic.

See my above explanation. I agree - it's stupid, but that's apparently how they're doing it now. I'd love to be proven wrong, though.

 

[Agamon]

There's a paragraph on p. 233, right column, that says if the item you're adding occupies a body slot (boots of striding and springing, e.g.) you can add it to an existing item of that same slot (slippers of spider climbing) for 1.5 times the cost of the enchantment OR the value of the new power plus 1/2 the value of the existing item, if the new power costs more. The example they use is adding the feather falling ability to a ring of climbing - it would be 3,300 gp, the cost of the feather fall x1.5. So I was right in pricing Doug's gloves, but for the wrong reason.

Both examples are of two non-"Big 6" abilities, and shows how it works, both ways, with two non-exception abilities. You are infering that this must be how it works with the exceptioned abilities because of a somewhat ambiguous rule explanation. I think the intent is that adding the powers either way costs the same (and yes, if you go strictly by letter of the RAW, you could argue that this isn't true, but why argue for something that you yourself agrees makes no sense?).

I'd say there will be errata to fix this soon, and if it bugs you until then, just do it the way that makes sense to you.

 

[Mistwell]

3000 gp. The upgraded item is gloves of manual prowess, +2 Dex. Creating this item from scratch would be 3000 + 4000 = 7000. The starting item is 4000 gp. Taking the difference gives 3000.

Indeed. For example, from the MIC Page 233:

You can add new magical abilities to a magic item with virtually no restrictions. The cost and prerequisites to do this are the same as if the item was not magical. Thus, a +1 longsword can be made into a +2 vorpal longsword, with the cost to create it being equal to that of a +2 vorpal longsword minus the cost of a +1 longsword (93,315 - 2,313 = 96,000 gp).

This process of subtracting the new from the old would hold regardless of which item you started with and which ability you were adding. It doesn't matter what order you do it in, you get the same end price.

 

[Archon of Light]

To me, this book not only enhances the Core Rules of DnD on it's own, but it makes it more complete than any other book released to date. You can nitpick about item costs and conversions all day long, if that's your thing. But you cannot argue the three greatest contributions to the core game that this book has to offer.

1. Magic Item Diversity: When players come across a set of magic bracers now, it's no longer either Armor or Archery. It's no longer a given that every magic bracer found will go to the character with the bow or doesn't wear armor. There are many more types of every type of item designed for every type of character caste out there.

2. Low-level Items: For years, the game struggled to provide decent and balanced items for characters at lower levels. This book has done a tremendous job in filling that particular niche in creating magic items that were not only useable and balanced for low-level characters, but also making them interesting and desireable items.

3. Item Levels: Finally, there is a measuring stick to see how these items stack up with one another, and whether your characters are either overpowered or underpowered with their personal inventories. Should you allow the 6th level Rogue in the party to have a Dagger of Venom? Is a +3 Heavy Steel Shield an even trade for a +3 Longsword? Does the 9th level Paladin already have too many 'strong' items, or would this Shield of Mercy (MIC, pg21) be appropriate for him since he doesn't have a magic shield yet? Before this book, you could get a hundred different answers to any of these questions from a hundred different people.

There is so much more to this book than just 'a big collection of magic items'. It will really enhance your gaming experience, especially if you're tired of equipping all your bad guys with the usual Ring of Protection +1, Cloak of Resistance +1, and Gauntlets of Ogre Strength. I have been utilizing this book to reconfigure and evaluate the awesome Red Hand of Doom adventure on the WoTC boards, but if there is interest, I might post it here as well.

 

[Agamon]

There is so much more to this book than just 'a big collection of magic items'. It will really enhance your gaming experience, especially if you're tired of equipping all your bad guys with the usual Ring of Protection +1, Cloak of Resistance +1, and Gauntlets of Ogre Strength. I have been utilizing this book to reconfigure and evaluate the awesome Red Hand of Doom adventure on the WoTC boards, but if there is interest, I might post it here as well.

QFT