Level Up (A5E) Magic Item Pricing Concerns

[Legendweaver]

Two (non-magic) AoE items I mentioned elsewhere:

Blackpowder: For 140 gp, anyone (caster or no) can deal 3d6 force + 3d6 fire in a 30 ft. sphere, vs. 175 gp. via a 3rd level fireball spell scroll only a spellcaster can use. There's no cap on the max damage you can deal with black powder, but at least there's 1/r^2 falloff as the number of charges grows.

Unstable Arcanum: You can create an arbitrarily large AoE for 120 gp per 2d10 force damage. Unlike black powder, though, damage grows linearly, so for example, for 1200 gp, anyone (caster or no) can deal 20d10 force damage in a single action, and for 12,000 gp, you can deal 200d10 force damage (not a typo!) in a single action. This stuff has no weight, either, so there's really no limit to how much damage you can do...just don't get hit with a spell while you're carrying it! =D

 

[Stalker0]

Unstable Arcanum: You can create an arbitrarily large AoE for 120 gp per 2d10 force damage. Unlike black powder, though, damage grows linearly, so for example, for 1200 gp, anyone (caster or no) can deal 20d10 force damage in a single action, and for 12,000 gp, you can deal 200d10 force damage (not a typo!) in a single action. This stuff has no weight, either, so there's really no limit to how much damage you can do...just don't get hit with a spell while you're carrying it! =D

So a mere ~27,000 gp to one shot the tarrasque on average, and ~54k to night guarrantee it. Hell not even in high end legendary weapon territory yet!

 

[Raelysk]

Two (non-magic) AoE items I mentioned elsewhere:

Blackpowder: For 140 gp, anyone (caster or no) can deal 3d6 force + 3d6 fire in a 30 ft. sphere, vs. 175 gp. via a 3rd level fireball spell scroll only a spellcaster can use. There's no cap on the max damage you can deal with black powder, but at least there's 1/r^2 falloff as the number of charges grows.

Unstable Arcanum: You can create an arbitrarily large AoE for 120 gp per 2d10 force damage. Unlike black powder, though, damage grows linearly, so for example, for 1200 gp, anyone (caster or no) can deal 20d10 force damage in a single action, and for 12,000 gp, you can deal 200d10 force damage (not a typo!) in a single action. This stuff has no weight, either, so there's really no limit to how much damage you can do...just don't get hit with a spell while you're carrying it! =D

Well, both explode at the beginning of your next turn, so good luck either running yourself from blast or keeping enemy inside blast zone
And if you want to throw it somewhere - good luck throwing multiple charges when you don't even have an action

Yeah, that's pretty powerful, but I don't think it's OP in any way.

Arcanum is a bit more broken, but you are quite vulnerable while carrying it, and it's even harder too keep target inside blast area.

 

[Faolyn]

As for the tarrasque, don't forget that it will make its save (Legendary Resistance) and will immediately start regenerating unless you have a handy wish available.

 

[Legendweaver]

Hahaha I'm glad the mitigating factor in balance here is that the Tarrasque can't be actually be one-shoted!

But just in case it's not obvious, I'll point out the relative easy of getting around the listed "limitations"

• One round delay: Basic stealth overcomes this fairly simply, and a 2nd level invisibility makes it basically ironclad, since triggering the charge is neither an attack or spell (unlike a fireball spell, which would reveal you). And in some situations, the delay's actually a huge advantage because it can be used to stack up damage in the first round - for example, by setting it just behind a closed door with enemies on the other side, igniting it, and opening the door...thereby luring your foes run right into your trap without even costing you an action, and effectively doubling first round damage. Or teleporting a pile of pre-activated explosives 1000 miles away right into the enemy's camp without ever exposing yourself to danger.
• Throwing: Alternatives include strapping it to a pet, mount, or trained animal, having one PC ignite and the other throw, launching it with a siege weapon, or dropping it from the air.
• Keeping your enemy fixed in place: Stealth, ambushes, and ruses all solve this restriction pretty neatly, as do various control spells.
• Transport (Unstable Arcanum): A Bag of Holding solves these issues neatly.
• For black powder in particular: As written each player in the party could set their own 4-charge batch to get around the 1/r^2 falloff - either vastly increasing the effective area, or layering damage on top of one another.

 

[Darkwynters]

So I had a gamer who wants to buy a weapon +3. The party is around 14th level and they have around 8K each. I guess 8000 GP is a lot… just feels like a weapon +1 is 500 GP (uncommon)… weapon +2 (rare) is 3000 more… but a weapon +3 is only 5000 GP more (very rare).

 

[Daraniya]

This thread is to look for any magic item prices that seem off to people. Though we did a big round of this in the playtesting, with so much to go through it would make sense that some prices slipped through the cracks.

This thread will definately need discussion as the prices of items can be a very personal reflection of how you run games.

My first one:

Amulet of Health (5k) - For most of my players, cons of 14 are normal, so this is granting +2 fort saves and +2 hp per level, and on the right players its +3 and +3 hp per level. That seems too much for just 5k.

take the crafting section, stat out the weapon, and give a hefty 20% markup?

 

[hipster_benches]

We just found this last night while my players were shopping for magic items. +2 Full Plate is listed as 24,000 gp, but the Celestial Aegis, Infernal Carapace, and Frost Giant's Plate are all cheaper, despite also being +2 full plate with additional benefits. Celestial Aegis and Infernal Carapace are both 17,500 gp, and Frost Giant's Plate is 16,500 gp. What am I missing here?

I almost wonder if the listed price is meant to be added to the 24,000 gp for the normal +2 Full Plate. It makes more sense, and still keeps them in the price range for very rare magic items, but I haven't found anything in the text to indicate that's how you're supposed to determine the price for them.

 

[xiphumor]

Adjacent topic, but it’s been pointed out that 200 gold / casting is a bit steep for Tiny Hut. A Luxurious inn stay for 10 creatures would be 30
gold, so I’d say 50 gold per casting would be better.

 

[Faolyn]

Adjacent topic, but it’s been pointed out that 200 gold / casting is a bit steep for Tiny Hut. A Luxurious inn stay for 10 creatures would be 30
gold, so I’d say 50 gold per casting would be better.

Of course, luxurious inns can't be found in the middle of the wilderness, which is the main draw of the spell. Plus, the hut counts as a haven. Personally, I wouldn't have the component be consumed. Or I might have the component be changed to be a certain number of Supply, which are consumed.