[Magic Item] Thumb Ring of Might

[radferth]

If a wizard in my campaign wanted to craft this item, I would probably let the 2000 gp version mentioned above cover it. However, I would limit the damage bonus to what a mighty bow of that type could do (i.e. +2 for composite shortbow, +4 for composite longbow, maybe a +1 on non-composite bows just to be nice). Sure this makes found magic bows particularly more useful, but I figure most of these would already be mighty bows (if you are going to spend the dough and xp to enchant a bow, wouldn't you want to get that extra strength bonus as well).

 

[Artoomis]

What this item really seems to do is to boost the power of magic bows. By the time you get one of these, you coudl certainly afford your own Mighty Bow, so it's not much of an issue for normal bows, except it lets any bow be Mighty - not really that big a deal for non-magic bows.

I suggest either:

It should cost quite a bit more because of the ability to improve magic bows

It's use is restricted to non-magic bows, or, in the case of magic bows, it suppresses the magic of the bow and gives it your strength bonus instead.

So, my take on this is:

Thumb Ring of Might

This item appears to be a well crafted archery thumb ring, possibly made from an exotic horn or bone. When worn it allows the users Strength bonus (up to +5) to be applied to the damage of any arrow released from a non-magical bow. The strength of the actual bow is not a factor. The bow is unharmed by this action. This adds no magical bonus to the bow or the missile.

Caster Level: 3; Prereq: Forge Ring, bull's strength; Market Price 2,500

OR

This item appears to be a well crafted archery thumb ring, possibly made from an exotic horn or bone. When worn it allows the users Strength bonus (up to +5) to be applied to the damage of any arrow released from a bow. The strength of the actual bow is not a factor. The bow is unharmed by this action. This adds no magical bonus to the bow or the missile.

Caster Level: 3; Prereq: Forge Ring, bull's strength; Market Price 10,000

The second price is four times the first due to the fact that this item actually changes the charcteristics of a magic weapon.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

And, most archers have to give up their Strength damage bonus when they start gaining Magical Bows unless they put in the effort themselves to craft them or have them crafted, or the DM is kind enough to allow them to find Magical Mighty Bows.

3E. Hard choices. Pros and Cons. This item totally bypasses that choice or that effort and is an archer's wet dream.

+5 damage is huge. It more than doubles average bow damage. Just because they added in broken rules for Mighty Bows (way too cheap), allowing a projectile weapon to add in Strength damage modifiers (as if ranged weapons do not have enough advantage already) does not mean that you should propagate that mistake to magical items.

Ah...an argument that appeals to the not so secret Balance Nazi in me.

First of all, a +5 is much better than the +4 already allowed in the rules. 2000 gp is ridiculously cheap. A mighty bow strength +5 is certainly worth 2000 in its own right. The ability to transfer that characteristic should be worth more.

Second of all, I think it is a given with the rules as written that you are crazy to expect to find magical bows that are mighty better than +2. A kind DM will let you find a number of +1 or +2 Str, but better bows seem like they should be very rare IMHO. That is part of the price you pay when you choose the archery path.

I would price this item at about 10,000 gp. And it would use a ring slot, of course.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

Sure this makes found magic bows particularly more useful, but I figure most of these would already be mighty bows (if you are going to spend the dough and xp to enchant a bow, wouldn't you want to get that extra strength bonus as well).

Finding a craftsman capable of making such a weapon in under 6 months times is non-trivial. Besides mighty +1 or +2 (or +0) is plenty strong for most heroes; take a look again at what a 25 pt. character looks like.

"Realistically" most magic weapons are personally prized weapons of notable heroes. The archer owns mighty +2 str comp bow, that is what he has enchanted to +1 enchancement when he strikes it rich. Then flaming is added later on, etc. IMNSHO, most powerful weapons would be improved upon iteratively, scraping together the cash is too daunting otherwise.

It strikes me as metagame-based minmaxing to assume NPCs will spend extra money in a manner that has little or no benefit to themselves at the time, but would be very convenient to PCs in the long run. Doesn't make sense.

 

[CRGreathouse]

Second of all, I think it is a given with the rules as written that you are crazy to expect to find magical bows that are mighty better than +2. A kind DM will let you find a number of +1 or +2 Str, but better bows seem like they should be very rare IMHO.

I don't find this assumption in the ruleset at all. In fact, one could argue the exact opposite: since the cost of "mighty" is so low compared to the cost of the enhancement bonus, wouldn't everyone who bothered to enchant a bow make it mighty first?

I agree that 2,000 is too low (because it allows a greater bonus than the existing maximum), but I don't think it's too far out of line. In pricing, it should be close to other ways to accomplish the same effect. A non-mighty bow with this ring is not as good as a mighty bow with one more point of enhancement (costing 4000x+2400 gp, where x is the non-mighty bow's enhancement). Thus, the cost should be based on the 'default' enhancement:
0: 2400 gp
1: 6400 gp
2: 10400 gp
etc.

Tweak the resulting number based on the lower value of the +5 allowed Str and the utility and transfering the bonus.

 

[Lord Ben]

Make the prereq of a caster with 20str and it's a bit more rare.

If it were just "max str bonus on the weapon" I'd make it 3000gp or so. If they actually want to make it as a 5 str bonus I'd make it maybe 12,000 or so.

 

[KarinsDad]

A non-mighty bow with this ring is not as good as a mighty bow with one more point of enhancement (costing 4000x+2400 gp, where x is the non-mighty bow's enhancement). Thus, the cost should be based on the 'default' enhancement:
0: 2400 gp
1: 6400 gp
2: 10400 gp
etc.

With one exception.

The ring is not bound to one single bow.

It can be used with any bow, hence, it should be worth about equivalent to what your chart indicates based on default enhancement.

Also, where did you get your equation?

It should be 2000xx + 2400 GP, correct?

0: 2400 gp
1: 4400 gp
2: 10400 gp
3: 20400 gp
4: 34400 gp
5: 52400 gp (if +6 magic +5 mighty composite longbows existed)

So, your ceiling for a single specific "average worth" (i.e. on one particular bow) is less than 20,733 GP (on average). Granted, this is a ceiling, so if we were talking a single bow, it should be less than this number. Since we are talking any bow, however, you have to increase the cost back up some to balance out the utility.

So, 20,000 GP seems reasonable since a) you will not use this on +3 or higher bows that often (limitation) and b) you can use it on any bow (advantage). These tend to cancel out, especially as archers gain levels and acquire better bows.

Also, the only reason people think it should be fairly cheap in the first place is due to the broken linear mighty bow creation rules.

 

[Metalsmith]

most powerful weapons would be improved upon iteratively, scraping together the cash is too daunting otherwise.

It strikes me as metagame-based minmaxing to assume NPCs will spend extra money in a manner that has little or no benefit to themselves at the time, but would be very convenient to PCs in the long run. Doesn't make sense.

It's called planning ahead. Where do you think NPC's get the money to construct Castles, Keeps and Shrines, ect...

It's also called Bartering. "Whoo Weee!, Dem James Gang Bandits were shure tuff fellas! Now what the Heck am I going to do with 8 suits of Chain Mail +1?" My bow Betty Sue is looking a little worn out, maybey I should re string her or have one of those Mage types see if they can stiffen up her Draw a little. Either she's getting weak or I'm gittin Stronger... needs a little more Umph!"

Page 52 DMG 12th Level NPC fighter STR 18. Looks like he could benifit from a Mighty +4 bow. At 4th Level he would have been shopping for a +3 Mighty Bow.

Metalsmith

 

[Cloudgatherer]

I still say it should be cheap. 10K or 20K is still way out of line IMO.

If I'm reading this correctly, this ring does one thing: turns the bow into a MCB +5. Now that doesn't add +5 to damage, it only does if you have 20+ Strength! Do all archers have such a stat in Strength? (Depends on level, I would think).

Considering the magic item takes up a fairly valuable slot on a character (ring), and given its limited scope (augmenting a bow), I would not price it much higher than a few thousand (as already recommended).

Although this does bring up an interesting HR discussion.... how much would/should it be to "upgrade" a bow's mighty composite ranking? Probably done via magic, Craft Magic Arms and Armor, and whatnot. I'd say a flat rate (+X GP cost) instead of +X modifiers....

Just some thoughts.

 

[Metalsmith]

Make the prereq of a caster with 20str and it's a bit more rare.

Rare! Bah, just polymorph other into a Troll and start making magic items.

Or Buy them from Semi-Friendly Ogre Sorcerers.

Heck my Sorcerer Doomsday is just itching to get to 9th Level to cast Polymorph Other on himself to turn into a Troll. Will prolly stay that way as long as possible. The party will have to stock up on extra rations to feed him.

Metalsmith