Pricing a magical ring.

[Jondor_Battlehammer]

I had an idea for a magical ring that granted an enhancment bonus of +1-5 to any weapon weilded in that hand.

Pro's,

Any weapon you use is magical.

Difficult to be disarmed.

Great in a low magic world, where one item substitutes for many.


Cons,

Any weapon you use is magical.

Only mele weapons. Not thrown daggers or arrows.

Does not stack with current enhancments.

Takes up a valuable ring slot.

Abuse factor is great. Got a +1 Keen Vorpal Holy Dragon Bane mercurial heavy great sword? Now it is +5 as well. An epic weapon in non epic hands.


I see alot of reasons to simply price it as a magical sword. Between the drawbacks and the high level requirement to craft rings, it could balance out. Ofcourse doubling the cost would not be out of line either.

A balancing factor would be that the ring could not push a non epic weapon beyond +10 total enhancement. The question then is how to decide which enhancements are lost, and if they could be swapped out during a battle.

Thanks all!

 

[Wee Jas]

I would say this is basically a ring of Permenant Greater MAgic Weapon. I would not allow it to work on already magical weapons.

I'd guess somewhere around 50,000 for a price if it was a wonderous item but rings usually are a bit more expensive.

 

[kreynolds]

If it can't affect already magical weapons, I would price it as this (bonus squared x 2,000gp +30%). So, a +2 ring would be 10,400gp.

 

[Wee Jas]

I was think more like a permenant 3rd lvl spell placed on an item. Cloak of Displacement 50% is 50,000. So if the ring was a GMW with a +5 bonus I think its comparible. And VERY useful!

 

[kreynolds]

I was think more like a permenant 3rd lvl spell placed on an item.

But its not a 3rd level spell. Not any more. You're taking Greater Magic Weapon, using that spell level to get your price, but then your hamstringing the spell by saying it won't work with magic weapons (when it normally overlaps), and you don't seem to take into account the weakened spell.

And VERY useful!

Oh, I think its useful, but I don't think its THAT useful. If it doesn't work with magic weapons, then it usefulness is greatly reduced. It makes a great backup weapon out of just about anything, but that's about it.

 

[Wee Jas]

An enhancement bonus does not stack with a masterwork weapon’s +1 bonus on attacks.

You are correct. I was thinking the spell only worked on nonmagical weapons. Still... I'm unsure GMW would make a +1 vorpal weapon +5.

So I say... weapon held has the GMW cast on it. 50,000 at least for the ring.

A +5 Weapon is 50,000 gp + masterwork weapon. This makes ANY weapon you hold +5.

 

[kreynolds]

Still... I'm unsure GMW would make a +1 vorpal weapon +5.

It would. Vorpal is a magical enhancement, not an enhancement bonus. There's a difference.

So I say... weapon held has the GMW cast on it. 50,000 at least for the ring.

A +5 Weapon is 50,000 gp + masterwork weapon. This makes ANY weapon you hold +5.

Well, actually, the prices I was thinking about are more expensive than yours then. It would look something like this...

+1 ring = 2,600gp
+2 ring = 10,400gp
+3 ring = 23,400gp
+4 ring = 41,600gp
+5 ring = 65,000gp

...this is assuming it doesn't affect magic weapons. If it did, then I agree that it should be priced higher, as the GMW spell. That would net you something like this...

+1 ring = 30,000gp
+2 ring = 36,000gp
+3 ring = 54,000gp
+4 ring = 72,000gp
+5 ring = 90,000gp

That would get you a use-activated, unlimited charges Ring of GMW that fully affects all weapons.

 

[Wee Jas]

+1 ring = 30,000gp
+2 ring = 36,000gp
+3 ring = 54,000gp
+4 ring = 72,000gp
+5 ring = 90,000gp

Thats fair.

Abuse factor is great. Got a +1 Keen Vorpal Holy Dragon Bane mercurial heavy great sword? Now it is +5 as well. An epic weapon in non epic hands.

Still.. a +1 Vorpal weapon would not be turned into a +5 vorpal weapon with the +5 ring.

 

[kreynolds]

Thats fair.

If it can affect magic weapons, then yes, I agree. It might even be a little low for some DMs.

Still.. a +1 Vorpal weapon would not be turned into a +5 vorpal weapon with the +5 ring.

Then you need to lower the price if you're going to remove functions of the spell, because that's how GMW works.

 

[AuraSeer]

kreynolds is correct about GMW; its bonus does overlap that of already magic weapons. This is why it's so heavily used by high-level parties. You can wield a +5 vorpal dancing longsword (effective bonus: +14), for the low low price of 200,000 gp and a 3rd-level spell slot. Cheap!

You might argue that the spell is overpowered, but that's a whole other question. This is how it works as written, and AFAIK there has been no correction.