Magic Item Pricing: Spell Completion, No Charges.

[KarinsDad]

In the context of this thread, the original poster was considering inventing a spell completion item which was: (a) a Wondrous Item, (b) required no scribing of spells, (c) required no Scribe Scroll feat, and (d) allowed unlimited charges.

That's quite obviously against the intent of the spell completion methodology. The example of the caster's shield only serves to reinforce that the only way to be a spell completion item is for the item to work like a scroll in all ways.

I do not disagree that they have no rules on this. I was merely pointing out that it is possible to have spell completion items as Wondrous Items since it was possible to add a spell completion component to a shield.

How?

Your list would change slightly: (a) is a Wondrous Item and requires Craft Wondrous Item (for unlimited charges), (b) requires scribing of spell(s) at crafting time, (c) is a Spell Completion Item and requires Scribe Scroll feat, and (d) allows unlimited charges.

There is nothing wrong with this. There are merely no rules on how to do it. But, the Caster's Shield illustrates that it can be done (Craft Magic Arms and Armor with Scribe Scroll) and there are other implications on how within the item cost lists.

The only difference is unlimited charges. Well, who cares? You activate the spell and the words show up again on the "Hand of Glory".

Unlimited charges is the same as 100 charges. Since Spell Completion Items do not have rules for multiple charges (like Spell Trigger items), the best you can do is 100 charges of a Spell Completion Item.

SL x CL x 25 GP x 100 charges

For the Unlimited Use Spell Completion Hand of Glory, that would be:

1250 GP (0th level spell) Market Value.

The Market Value for the Unlimited Use Use Activated Hand of Glory should have been 2500 GP Market Value. Not quite sure how 1000 GP came into the picture for the real Hand of Glory. Maybe the designer lowered the cost by 60% because he considered Mage Hand to have limited utility (our casters use it all of the time to carry pebbles with Light spells on them or touch a small object to another object to see if it is trapped, etc.).

Edit Note: The 1000 GP comes from the SL x CL x 2000 GP for an unlimited use use activated item. So, 100 charge equivalent costs 40 charges. Wish they would make it simple.

The extrapolation, though, is fairly simple.

I would just halve the cost due to the following lines in the item creation rules chart:

Single use, spell completion: Spell level x caster level x 25 gp

Single use, use-activated: Spell level x caster level x 50 gp

 

[Jack Haggerty]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Magic Item Pricing: Spell Completion, No Charges.

The DMG, to an extent. There is only one formula for spell-completion items and it is single use. If you wanna make a new formula, that's fine. I was just pointing out that there wasn't one for what you wanted to do.

Yep... That was my whole point. To find a good rule for pricing "non-charged" spell comletion and spell trigger items.

KarensDad is really echoing my thought and reasoning on this. Though the DMG doesn't include it, it also doesn't strictly (or even mildly) forbid it. If anything, I'm introducing a drawback to some Wonderous Items. To beat around our standard example here, consider...

Scroll of Mage Hand: 12.5 gp base price, 6.25 gp & 1 XP to scribe. Spell Activation, must have spell in spell list, and draws AoO. 1 charge.

Wand of Mage Hand: 375 gp base price, 187.5 gp & 15 XP to craft. Spell Trigger, must have spell in list, does not draw an AoO. 50 charges.

Hand of Glory: 1000 gp base price, 500 gp & 40 XP to craft. Use Activated, anyone can use it at will, does not draw an AoO. Unlimited charges.

So yes, what I'm trying to do is build something with the activation limitations of a scroll or wand, but with unlimited use. That's what Craft Wonderous Items is for... Goggles of the Night... Winged Boots... Boots of Speed... Pipes of Sounding... Cloaks of Displacement... There's lots of them already that do just that with fewer limitations than I'm proposing.

 

[kreynolds]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Magic Item Pricing: Spell Completion, No Charges.

So yes, what I'm trying to do is build something with the activation limitations of a scroll or wand, but with unlimited use. That's what Craft Wonderous Items is for... Goggles of the Night... Winged Boots... Boots of Speed... Pipes of Sounding... Cloaks of Displacement... There's lots of them already that do just that with fewer limitations than I'm proposing.

I gotcha.

 

[Cloudgatherer]

I agree with the 1500 x caster level x spell level guideline for spell trigger/completion items. No formula is perfect, but I agree that it serves as a good starting point.

Although managing the feats might get irky if we allow this. For instance, if I wanted to make a "stick of magic missles" (spell completion, limited uses per day), then is it Craft Wand or CWI. If something like this occurs, I'd require the Craft Wand feat, and double the cost of a regular old wand might be balanced (I said "might").

Later!

 

[Jack Haggerty]

Although managing the feats might get irky if we allow this. For instance, if I wanted to make a "stick of magic missles" (spell completion, limited uses per day), then is it Craft Wand or CWI. If something like this occurs, I'd require the Craft Wand feat, and double the cost of a regular old wand might be balanced (I said "might").

Later!

Ideally that item should be something other than a "stick"... Actually, that item perfectly describes the typical abilities of a Rod.

Anyway, I agree with the possible dodginess of some items. Take, for example, Chimes of Opening... Which are essentially a glorified Wand of Knock that anyone could use.

 

[Arnix]

I have already added an item similar to this into my campaign. Simple put the item allows the user to "memorize" a spell from their spell-list that they may or may not have in their spell book (read +1 spell for a sorcerer).

Using the item eats up the spell slot accordingly and may also be modified with metamagic feats.

Priced as a pearl of power (level^2*2000 gp I believe). It could probably be given the "requires specific class" limit to apply the -20% modifier to it (level^2*1600).

It is a little high in price, but for sorcerers, psions, and psychic warriors it is a great boon.