Pricing a magic item

[shilsen]

How would you price an item which allows use of the sending spell once per day?

I'm thinking it should use the DMG formula for command word items, which would be: Spell level (4) x caster level (7) x 1,800 divided by 5 (only usable 1/day). So that's a total of 10,080 gp.

Does that sound about right?

 

[Antoine]

The maths sound right.
With a cleric to start with.
A wizard would think of a 16 200 gp item.

 

[kreynolds]

Does that sound about right?

Yup. There's a magic item in Underdark that does the same thing, and is also priced at 10K.

 

[Philip]

So that's a total of 10,080 gp.

Does that sound about right?

Sure, for the formula. But if you compare it to some similarly priced items:

- Stone Horse, Courser
- Figurine of Wondrous Power, Bronze Griffin
- Ioun Stone of Alertness
- Cape of the Mountebank

What would you choice, if given a choice between one of these items and the Sending item? I think an item that can do Sending once a day is worth a bit less than those. I think at would price it at 6,500 gp. or so. Less than a +2 weapon, more than a Minor Circlet of Blasting.

Sending is not a powerful spel per se, but allowing it at low levels would change the way a magical-medieval worlds works too much from what we are used to.

 

[shilsen]

Yup. There's a magic item in Underdark that does the same thing, and is also priced at 10K.

Thanks for the info. Is it exactly the same, i.e. one sending per day?

Sure, for the formula. But if you compare it to some similarly priced items:

- Stone Horse, Courser
- Figurine of Wondrous Power, Bronze Griffin
- Ioun Stone of Alertness
- Cape of the Mountebank

What would you choice, if given a choice between one of these items and the Sending item? I think an item that can do Sending once a day is worth a bit less than those. I think at would price it at 6,500 gp. or so. Less than a +2 weapon, more than a Minor Circlet of Blasting.

Actually in any campaign that wasn't all dungeon crawling, I'd prefer the Sending item to the ones you have listed.

Sending is not a powerful spel per se, but allowing it at low levels would change the way a magical-medieval worlds works too much from what we are used to.

That's one of the reasons I don't want it to be too easy to purchase.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

That's one of the reasons I don't want it to be too easy to purchase.

Keep in mind that a carrier pigeon can travel one hundred miles per day (but they are only available with a little foresight). Sending spells would not change the world all that much unless you have extremely far flung political intrigue.

That Bronze Griffon makes a superb ad hoc carrier pigeon, although only twice per week. High overland speeds are pretty useful, especially if you do little dungeon crawling. It would be a perfect means to move valuable light goods about quickly.

I would price the Sending item at 8000 gp -- a modest discount from a Bronze Griffon.

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

Isn't there a medallion in the Arms & Equipment guide that lets you communicate telepathically with one person for 1 minute? I think it's pretty cheap... It may only work within a distance of 1 mile though (I don'T own A&E)

AR

 

[Philip]

Actually in any campaign that wasn't all dungeon crawling, I'd prefer the Sending item to the ones you have listed.

Considering that most campaigns have a fair amount of dungeon crawling, that was what I was aiming for. If your campaign differs significantly from the norm, then you should probably adjust prices.

Even then, my own campaign is fairly dungeon-crawling light. At a price of around 10,000 gp., a character who could reasonable afford an utility item costing that much would be at least 9th lvl.

At 9th lvl (considering reasonable fellow adventurers) it would be better to buy a scroll of sending for the wizard and let him add it to his spellbook or ask the cleric nicely to cast it for you. As soon as the spellcasters of the party can cast a certain utility spell, that utility spell becomes a lot less valuable in item form (considering that with utility spells time is rarely a factor, as opposed to combat spells).

 

[Thresher]

Reminds me of the items a dwarf cleric in our epic game made and gave to us all.

Now our adventures seem to involve getting an SMS from one of the other gimps getting in trouble...
"In pomarj, low on hp's, send cleric!"
The fighters are the worst, its like a 13yr old with a mobile phone that cant spell, though the sorc seems to manage to dump us in the deepest crap...
"Its lightning resistant! Send help, cant kill.."

 

[kreynolds]

Is it exactly the same, i.e. one sending per day?

Yup.