Pricing an item effect

[SevenSir]

I've given an item to my Cleric (4th level) that allows him to "pray," once per day, to replace one of his prepared spells with another that would fit in that slot (equal or lower level, I said). He makes a wisdom check to get the spell he wants, against a DC that varies from request to request. His "prayer" can be anything from a free action to a 10-minute meditation. The more appropriate the deity finds this exchange, the lower the DC.

As another bit of flavor, the Circlet of Divine Favor also gives him a +2 luck bonus to all saves. When a deity takes the trouble to bestow this nifty gadget upon one of his servants, he is showing that

I like this item because it will improve in usefulness as he levels up, rather than being something he looks to replace. It would be just great if, at level 12 or so, he found himself Held, and could drop a prepared level-6 spell to quicken a Remove Paralysis. His comrades might turn to him after the battle and say "how'd you...." His response of course, would be that his god is good to him, and can supply what he needs.

In any case, I don't know how to price this ability to exchange an unused spell. I've priced the +2 luck bonus to all saves at 6000 gp, (bonus squared * 1500 gp). As a luck bonus, it is beter than a resistance bonus (heck, they're a dime a dozen) but it is not as all-encompassing as the luck bonuses granted by some other items (Staff of Power also gives a bonus to AC, Stone of Luck gives one to chacks).

A pearl of power (renew one used spell up to a certain level, once per day) costs [spell level squared * 1000 gp]. The Circlet of Divine Favor isn't limited by spell level, so this isn't a great basis for comparison. Unfortunately, the "level independent" aspect of this new item is one of the things that makes it so nice, without overbalancing my cleric's abilities.

 

[AuraSeer]

My gut feeling is that this is somewhat more useful than a pearl of power. A pearl only lets you retrieve a spell you cast already. This item basically gives you spontaneous casting of any spell, exactly when you need it most. The huge boost in flexibility makes up for the fact that it doesn't actually increase the number of spells you can cast per day

Since the item can technically work on any spell level, you should price it as for 9th. That's the limit of the item's power, even though your cleric can't access all that power quite yet.

A 9th-level pearl is worth 81,000 gp. Since this item is a little better, call it 90,000 gp. However, a pearl is a slotless item (double price), while a circlet takes up the Helmet slot; therefore I'd price this power at 45,000 gp.

For the luck bonus to AC, call it 12,000 gp (double price for a secondary unrelated power).

Total market price: 57,000 gp.

 

[SevenSir]

Wow, that's a lot more expensive than I thought it should be. Spontaneous casting, I guess, but to get a spell instantaneously (free action of prayer), the player would need to roll a very good Wisdom check.

The idea for the circlet came after the party had just finished a dungeon. The dungeon was located underneath a temple to a good deity, and the organization in charge of the temple was unaware of its presence. When the baddies came to recover the materials in the dungeon, which was once a church dedicated to an evil god, they had to get rid of the cleric in the temple above. The evil cleric was using semi-nuetral mercenaries, and to maintain their support he Cursed the cleric rather than killing him. The Curse knocked the good cleric down to 3 intelligence, and he became, hmm, rather...challenged. Think "can I pet the rabbits, George?" or maybe Flowers for Algernon's Charlie Gordon. Anyway, after clearing the dungeon and eliminating the threat, the part had to deal with this cleric, who they had above in his temple. Fortunately, the cleric could prepare a few spells, and it was the right time of day for him to do so. He deduced that ability damage was to blame for the Cleric's affliction, but didn't know that Lesser Restoration wouldn't be sufficient to help the poor guy. For situations when he'd be unable to prepare a new spell, and something conditional like Remove Curse or Restoration is necessary, I decided to give him the Circlet of Divine Favor.

I'll be very difficult about what sort of spell can be requested successfully. If he wants to pull a Flame Strike out of thin air, he'd better not have any wounded comrades that he ought to be attending to. The important thing to remember is that by using the Circlet, he gains a channel to his god, not a completely flexible spell-exchange system. He won't be able to lose Hold Monster for Summon Monster IV just because he thinks his target would pass a will save.

If I can't justify lowering the price just by making things hard on the user, I'll limit the level of the spell to be swapped. That would decrease it significantly. Also, this item only works for clerics of a specific deity, and can only be created by them. Isn't there a market price decrease for that? I know that's semi-benificial (can't be used against you if stolen, etc.) but it would still drive down a market price.

Because I'm generally a little stingy with the treasure, I had a price of under 20,000 gp in mind.

At level 3rd and lower spells, it would cost 9,000 for the spell exchange ability, plus 12,000 for the save bonus, divided by two for taking up a slot. That would by 10,500 gp. That's much more to my liking. Maybe with another division for being a limited-use item, it could go down to 5,250 gp.

A side issue: are halved halvings handled the same as doubled doublings? If it's half off for taking up a slot, and half off for being class-and-deity restricted, would it be one-fourth price or one-third?

 

[bret]

I would discount it a little bit, but not much.

They are swapping a spell rather than getting an extra casting of the same spell. I would still say it is very valuable.

Why do you need a price? It isn't like the PC should swap the item with someone else. If it is just for trying to see if the party is balanced, then price as if it was a Peal of Power for the highest level spell they can cast. It isn't like they could actually store and use a 9th level spell in it when the best they can cast is 2nd level spells.

 

[SevenSir]

It's true that I don't expect him to part with the Circlet, but there are a few reasons I may still need the price. For one, I don't want any of my PCs to feel like they're getting the short end of the item stick. If I have a good price for every item I give them, especially the ones that are only useful to one, I can ensure that they won't get disgruntled.

For the second reason, I need to give more information from my world. The cleric is from one of the dominant good orders. His church, while not strictly hierarchical, is well organized. It forms something of a coalition of clerics, who are often compelled to carry out certain orders from other clerics with more influence. One of the biggest functions of this coalition is to ensure the effective distribution of magical items, especially those particualr to the coalition's god. Any good character with a good enough reputation can approach the coalition and ask to "borrow" an item. Depending on the cost of the item and how much the clerics trust the person in question, they will request a deposit of gold or some other valuable item. They may even charge interest. They will always want to know what the item will be used for, and because they serve the divine, it is known to be very foolish to try and deceive them.

I created this function of his church for two reasons. First, it gives some good backbone to his religious order and grounds him in the world. Though they are good, the clerics of this god are always on the lookout for ways to add to the coalitions store of items. They believe the rightful place for any item is within the hands of one who serves their god, though they do not acquire these items dishonorably.

The other reason it's nice to have this institution in my world is that it gives my players a means of getting items for a certain quest together that are specific to the quest. They may lose a little gold in the bargain, but they're much better off than if they had gone to the market and bought the item at full price, only to sell it back at half price later.

Because the coalition functions like a big, divine item library for its clerics and thier parties, my cleric may turn the Circlet in some day, and when he does I'll need to know how highly the coalition should value it, and what he'd reasonably be able to ask for in return. The prestige he earns from finding an item for his church is proportional to that item's value.

 

[SevenSir]

Now I'm resolved on the Circlet, but...

Well, I've decided to limit the circlet's effectiveness to spells of 5th level or lower. A minor circlet, with a +1 luck bonus to saves, will also be available for exchanging spells of up to 3rd level, and more major circlets would also be reasonable items, with a 7th level circlet giving +3 to saves and a 9th level circlet giving +4.

In reconsidering the comparison between the Pearl of Power and my Circlet of Divine Favor, I've decided that having to check for the success of the exchange makes the circlet half as effective.

Pricing on the Medium Circlet of Divine Favor is as follows:

5th level Pearl of Power: 25,000 gp
divide by two because a pearl is slotless: 12,500
divide by two because the circlet sometimes won't do as it's told: 6,250 gp
add 6000 gp for the +2 luck bonus to all saves: 12,250 gp
FINAL PRICE with DM fiat for round numbers: 12,000 gp

Now, fortunately for my players and unfortunately for me and the people who read this (thanks!) I have a new idea for another item. This one's worse. I've learned a little from this circlet pricing about how to make tenuous but effective comparisons to core items, but I don't know how I'd going to price this one.

Cloak of the Armadillo: this cloak is constructed of light grey patches of thick cloth, though it is not a heavy garment. The pattern of the patches resembles the hide of an armadillo, but most people have no knowledge of such an exotic animal. The powers of the cloak may be used twice per day, when the wearer charges and enemy. If the user elects to expend one of cloak's daily charges as part of a charge or partial charge action, the folds of the cloak draw themselves around him and make him appear larger. The wearer may, as a free action, attempt to Bluff the target of his charge to make him lose his Dex bonus to AC. If the cloak's wearer hits with his attack at the end of the charge, his opponent must make a Will save (DC 10 + damage done) or be shaken for 1d4 rounds. This is a Compulsion and Mind-Affecting Fear effect, and any foe who saves successfully is immune to this aspect of the cloak's power for the rest of the day. If the wearer makes a critical hit on this attack for x2 damage, the cloak's charge expended in this charge is replaced. If he crits for x3 damage, the cloak recoups 2 charges, effectively gaining one, and so on. Caster Level: 5th?; Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, Doom, Cause Fear or Scare; Market Price: ?????

Yes, this is a bit of a nod to M:tG. I'm an ex-Cardflopper.

 

[SevenSir]

Oh and I'm also considering having the Cloak give a continual circumstance bonus to bluff checks made to cause a foe to lose his dex bonus. Such a bonus could be priced using the guidelines in the DMG. It would follow the formula [bonus squared * 20 gp] but a reduction might be resonable because this affects only a narrow application of the Bluff skill.