[Magic Item] Thumb Ring of Might

[Darkness]

Not so easy (or at least inexpensive).

MW does not turn 50 projectiles per spell into magical ones unless there is an errata that I am unaware of. I personally have a house rule of 10 on this.

So, it must be GMW.

You're right; I missed that. Sorry.

 

[kreynolds]

But, let me ask you a question. On the modified version, what would a Ring that adds Flaming Burst or Holy to any non-magical bow be worth?

Well...

The 2000 GP that people say the Ring that adds MCB to any non-magical bow?

Way too low...

Or, would it be 8000+ GP (the + is for it applying to any bow), similar to taking a single non-magical bow up to +2 bonus?

Definately this one. Some might argue that it should be lower because you can only use it with non-magical bows, but I would argue that the price should be this high precisely because it can be used with a non-magical bow. A Flaming Burst Longbow would cost at least 18,000 (+1 weapon enhancement and +2 Flaming Burst), but a ring that bestowed Flaming Burst upon a non-magical bow would allow you to get around the requirements of having at least a +1 bow before you can apply the Flaming Burst enhancement, so this ring saves you 10,000gp. EDIT: I forgot to mention that 8,000gp would be the base and it might need to be tweaked on a case by case basis. YMMV.

 

[KarinsDad]

No it is not. It is a trivial nuisance at best. Have your party Wizard, Sorcerer, Bard or Cleric spend a mid level spell slot to cast Greater Magic Weapon on 50 arrows before you go into battle. By the time you get to a high enough level that you are dealing with significant foes who have damage reduction, this is a trivial cost in spellcasting resources, and the arrows cost no more than normal arrows.

Oh, so the party has to have one or more of these classes (or Paladin) if it has an archer type?

A Sorcerer wants to take GMW instead of Fly, or Haste, or Fireball, or Dispel Magic as one of his four 3rd level spells? Just to help out the party archer?

A Bard wants to take GMW instead of one of his five 3rd level spells? Just to help out the party archer? Maybe if he is an archer type himself, but otherwise…

The Paladin cannot do it until level 11 at the earliest. Even then, they are +1 arrows. +2 arrows at level 12, +3 arrows at level 18. Not very helpful against Stoneskin or powerful demons at equivalent levels.

That leaves Wizards and Clerics. Most of the Wizards I know would rather memorize a Fireball or Haste or Slow or something that does more than a few attacks per round. Especially since in non-DR circumstances, magic arrows will only do an extra point or two of damage if they hit. Third level spells are especially precious for Wizards.

A Cleric taking GMW is not taking Neutralize Poison or Restoration or something equally helpful in the areas where mostly only Clerics can help. Yes, the archer helped kill the Wyverns, but not before they poisoned 4 characters, 2 of whom died.

Yes, having an ally take GMW COULD happen and probably does in higher level campaigns. But, unless you know ahead of time you are running into DR creatures that this can even affect before preparing in the morning, it probably will not happen most days in most mid or lower level campaigns.

Plus, casting it the morning for a morning encounter will probably not help much late that night due to duration without the Extend feat (even higher level spell) or multiple castings.

Mostly, archers are on their own to acquire magic arrows however they do it.

 

[Artoomis]

You don't have to.

But, let me ask you a question. On the modified version, what would a Ring that adds Flaming Burst or Holy to any non-magical bow be worth?

The 2000 GP that people say the Ring that adds MCB to any non-magical bow?

Or, would it be 8000+ GP (the + is for it applying to any bow), similar to taking a single non-magical bow up to +2 bonus?

Tricky question.


I guess it woudl have to be 38,000 for flaming and 72,000 for Holy, at the least. It really dhoul be more.

Why? Becuase Flaming is +1 and Holy is +2 and it adds to ANY WEAPON, even if already magical. If we assume that you still have the +10 limit even with this item, then it should cost as least as much as it would take to add the power to a +9 or +8 weapon.

 

[KarinsDad]

Why? Becuase Flaming is +1 and Holy is +2 and it adds to ANY WEAPON, even if already magical. If we assume that you still have the +10 limit even with this item, then it should cost as least as much as it would take to add the power to a +9 or +8 weapon.

Actually, I purposely said Flaming Burst, not Flaming. So, it too is +2.

 

[kreynolds]

Why? Becuase Flaming is +1 and Holy is +2 and it adds to ANY WEAPON, even if already magical.

He specifically stated non-magical only though. What would you price for that?

 

[Artoomis]

He specifically stated non-magical only though. What would you price for that?

Hmmm.....

For non-magical only.....

The base price must certainly start out at 8,000 for +2, but then what?

Of course, normally you need a +1 to start with, so you'd spend at least 16,000 to get this property.

Some modifier for any weapon seems right, but how much? Double?

32,000

That does not seem too bad. Not too high, given what it can do, not too low, certainly, I think.

Of course, any amount is just a SWAG.

 

[KarinsDad]

Of course, any amount is just a SWAG.

Agreed. Best guess it is.

More than 8000 GP (which is the cost of adding Holy to a single non-magical weapon if that were allowed).

Hence, less than 16,000 GP for any weapon seems reasonable. Probably around 12,000 GP since it only adds in the Strength modifier the character has, not necessarily +5.

But, nowhere near 2000 GP.

 

[Artoomis]

Agreed. Best guess it is.

More than 8000 GP (which is the cost of adding Holy to a single non-magical weapon if that were allowed).

Hence, less than 16,000 GP for any weapon seems reasonable. Probably around 12,000 GP since it only adds in the Strength modifier the character has, not necessarily +5.

But, nowhere near 2000 GP.

No, you are comparing apples and oranges if you are comparing Mighty bows to Holy.

Mighty Bow: 500 GP at +4 (no +5, this item should probably max out at +4)

Holy: At least 8,000.

Even if you say a +5 Might is 1,000 gp, it's still 8 times cheaper.

 

[jontherev]

Hmm. Does anyone else think it's a little strange to allow a ring made with bull's strength to alter the molecular structure of a bow so that it can be shot with more power by those with the strength to do so? No one replied to my earlier post, so I'm thinking I must be in the minority here. Are you guys just chalking it up to "hey, it's magic, it can do weird stuff like that"? I just think there should be another spell to craft the ring with that would better explain this. After all, once a bow is made, it is what it is. Even though magic is not realistic, it still makes we wince a bit to think a ring can rearrange the atoms of any bow the wearer picks up instantaneously, when the spell used to create it is bull's strength. Would anyone care to comment on this? Am I overanalyzing this? It just doesn't make any sense to me. I'm thinking use Bull's Strength and Limited Wish, which would up the cost a bit. Something like that.