Non Adventuring Magic Items

[kmdietri]

In my current campaign the characters have decided they want to take the winter off and start a mine in the mountains near by (their all dwarves). So I've looked up the old 2 E mining rules and converted them for them and told them they'll need a smelter. After reading the smelter they began to enquire about making a magical one that melts the metal without using up any coal and thereby eliminating the cost per day to operate. So I looked up some spells to try and figure out the cost for a magic smelter. I came up with this for pricing:

Ghorus Toth's Metal Melt: lvl 4

I figured it would have to be a use activated item:
lvl of spell x lvl of caster x 2000

That would mean that it would have a market value of 56,000 gp

I'm wondering since it is a non-adventureing type item should the cost of it be reduced. It does exactly what the spell says, melts metal, but unless they're going to carry a struggling bad guy in all his armour and drop him in the smelter it seems it's use is quite limited.

I'm thinking of cutting the price in half or even further.

Any thoughts?

 

[Staldin*Freefall]

I wonder if there's a price cut for stationary magic items.

 

[kmdietri]

After looking throught the Magic of Faerun book and seeing Tongs of the Armourer and Hammer of the Weaponsmith and noticing that they have full prices for the bonuses they give it might be a bad idea to reduce it.

I'm thinking that might be part of the idea. I mean if it was economical why wouldn't everything just be made magical.

I guess I'll see how much whining there is when I tell them the costs.

 

[Staldin*Freefall]

I would think being unable to tote the darn thing would be a big cutback on price. But right now I'm too lazy to go sift through the DMG in search of anything else immobile to work from.

Hmm, an item that takes up a slot. . . in your house.

 

[StealthyMark]

Actually, in Song and Silence was an example of a "sickbed", which casts Endurance on anyone who lies down on it. It was priced like ...a trap. Your smelter seems quite similar (location-trigger, automatic-reset).

 

[Rashak Mani]

Well what an adventure... to MINE !! I do suppose its only to get them some steady cash for the future ? Or will the mine be attacked by monsters ?

Well the item only smelts ? Make it 10,000 cheaper would be my take...

 

[CRGreathouse]

According to the DMG (page 149), a typical smith is paid 4 sp per day, or just under 150 gp per year. I don't think many smiths could hope to afford a device costing 373 years' labor...

I'd set its price to 1,000 gp and make it decidedly non-portable.

 

[chilibean]

Why not just use the heat metal spell?

2d4 points of fire damage per round will eventually melt anything.

Now it's just 2 x 3 x 2k = 12k gp.

It's still terribly expensive, but then no regular smith could ever afford one. Perhaps a large dwarven smithy that's underground and sick of the goblin raiders plugging their chimneys and smoking them out, most wouldn't be able to afford it unless they are able to consistently make masterwork items.

 

[Wippit Guud]

Well what an adventure... to MINE !!

Yeah, I bet someone said that about the dwarvs mining in Moira once, too...

 

[Artoomis]

Full price.

That's why everyone does not have one.