Pricing custom magic items

[Patlin]

I'd be interested in opinions as to whether I've correctly used the guidelines for pricing magic items on the following custom item, as well as opinions as to whether the final result is an apropriate price for the item itself. Here's the Item:

Goggles of Shrinking
Upon donning the goggles, the wearer shrinks in the manner described in the reduce person spell. Additionally, while worn the user can use the goggles to cast Shrink Item twice per day. Caster Level: 5.

Price Calculations:
Reduce Person, Use Activated: Spell Level 1 * CL 5 * 2,000 gp = 10,000 gp
Shrink Item 2/day: Spell Level 3 * CL 5 * 2 / 5 = 10800 gp
Lower priced ability (reduce person) * 1.5
Subtotal: (10,000*1.5)+10,800=25,800
Uncustomary Space Limitation: 25,800*1.5 = 38,700

Closest wonderous item by price: Scarab of Protection

So, even assuming I haven't missed a modifier somewhere, I realize it's fairly easy to abuse the heck out of this part of the rules. Have I done so here, or is 38,700 gp a fair price for such an item?

 

[wuyanei]

Seems about right.

At that price, characters will unlikely be able to afford the item until around 13th level (assume the characters will have no item worth more than 1/3 their total wealth. 110000 gp / 3 ~ 36666 gp), which is about right for the effects that the goggles offer.

If you have priced the reduce person effect at 1st level, I would suggest adding a x4 modifier for limited duration --> permanent. However, as you already have a x5 modifier due to the caster level, I don't think that and additional x4 is neccessary.

Happy gaming!
Yanei Wu

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Whenever pricing an item with multiple, separate abilities, I find it easiest to first make multiple itemss and then mash them together.

So, what we really have here are two item: goggles of reduce person and goggles of shrink item.

Goggles of Reduce Person: Spell Level * Caster Level * 2,000gp * Time Factor * Chakra

This item is going to be priced as a continuous spell effect, and therefore you need to take the normal time units of the Reduce Person spell into account. For a 1 minute / level spell, that's a factor of x2. So, for our goggles of Reduce Person:

1 * 5 * 2,000gp * 2 * 1.5 = 30,000gp

Goggles of Shrink Item: Spell Level * Caster Level * 1,800gp * Charge Factor * Chakra

You've got two charges, so the above works out to be:

3 * 5 * 1,800gp * (2/5) * 1.5 = 16,200gp

This leads us to:

Goggles of Shrinking Self and Others: Primary Ability + Secondary Ability * 1.5

30,000gp + 16,200gp * 1.5 = 54,300gp

Note that it is never cost effective to add a bad chakra secondary ability to an item. It is, in fact, cheaper to make a slotless item with the same powers (slotless = 2 < secondary bad = 1.5 * 1.5 = 2.25).

At a x2 modifier for your secondary ability (in effect creating two items: goggles of shrinking and a pearl of shrink item), your total is 51,600gp.

 

[Cabral]

Personally, I dislike the Chakra system but here's how I'd price it, with Chakras:

reduce person
Spell level: 1
Caster Level: 5 (assumes you can't set a lower caster level for part of an item)
Use activated: 2,000 gp (command word activated would be 1,800 gp an allow the goggles to be constantly worn)
Uncustomary Space limitation: 1.5

1*5*2000*1.5 = 15,000 gp

shrink item at will
Spell level: 3
Caster level: 5
command word activated: 1,800
2 charges per day: *2/5
Uncustomary Space limitation: 1.5

3*5*1,800*2/5*1.5 = 16,200 gp

According to the chart: Since it has multiple different abilities, muliply the higher cost by 2 (don't ask me why)
15,000+16,200*2= 47,400 gp

According to the sidebar on page 282: Since it has multiple different abilities, muliply the lower cost by 1.5
15,000*1.5+16,200= 38,700 gp

Incendently if you split the item up into two items with the shrink person at will in a no-slot command word activated item the cost is:
1*1*1800*2 + 3*5*1,800*2/5*1.5 = 19,800 gp

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

reduce person
Spell level: 1
Caster Level: 5 (assumes you can't set a lower caster level for part of an item)
Use activated: 2,000 gp (command word activated would be 1,800 gp an allow the goggles to be constantly worn)
Uncustomary Space limitation: 1.5

You didn't include the factor for the spell's duration. A constant version of a 1 minute / level spell should be more expensive than a constant version of a 24 hours / level spell, given that both should be equally balanced within the same spell level.

According to the chart: Since it has multiple different abilities, muliply the higher cost by 2 (don't ask me why)

That's an old version of the chart.

 

[Cabral]

Right. x4 for 1 min per level (which only applies for use activated/continuous)

so prices are:
1*5*2000*1.5*4 = 60,000 gp!
16,200 gp is correct
skip the chart
60,000+16,200*1.5= 84,300 gp !!!

Because the duration isn't taken into account in the command word activated version, I'd price it as continuous (At will) so:
1*1*2000*2*4 + 3*5*1800*2/5*1.5 =32,200 gp

Honestly, I don't think, in this case, that splitting it in two items like this makes it less valuable (since the reduce person caster level is only used for duration which is irrelevant in an at will item) than the combined item above. Therefore, I'd say those goggles are worth 32.2k (assuming no more missed multiples or bad math )

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

x2 for 1 minute per level. x4 for 1 round per level.

 

[Patlin]

Hmm. Some of those calculations are alarming. I must admit, I made no attempt to min/max the item for price. I came up with an idea that seemed sort of cool and tried to calculate the price from there.

There's essentially no difference between caster level 1 and caster level 5 (except for a targetted dispell magic) where reduce person is concerned. That could easilly cut the price from the 60,000 that Cabral suggests to 12,000. [Edit: 6,000 with Patryn's correction.] Also Patryn's demonstration that it would be more effective to create a totally seperate and slotless "shrink ray" item for the Shrink Item effect is interesting.

Thank you all for answering my original question as to whether I was using the item pricing rules correctly, I see that I left out some important bits. The impression I'm getting overall is that pricing magic items really belongs more in the category of art than of science. While I realize this is now in jeopardy of being a "house rules" sort of question, does anyone have an opinion on how much the item ought to cost on more of a gut level?

Or am I wrong for thinking that it's a bit silly to save a lot of money by chopping the item up into two items and then lowering the caster level?

 

[Cabral]

x2 for 1 minute per level. x4 for 1 round per level.

I knew there was a reason I added the mistake disclaimer at the end. I usually don't make this many mistakes pricing an item ... or maybe I just don't know it

 

[helium3]

Thank you all for answering my original question as to whether I was using the item pricing rules correctly, I see that I left out some important bits. The impression I'm getting overall is that pricing magic items really belongs more in the category of art than of science. While I realize this is now in jeopardy of being a "house rules" sort of question, does anyone have an opinion on how much the item ought to cost on more of a gut level?

Pricing magic items cannot be done by RAW, if that's what you're concerned about. The RAW specifically states that the DM has to use his or her brain when pricing items. Case in point, a ring of true strike. Ask yourself how much that sucker should cost vs. how much the rules tell you it should cost.

I've always found that a good rule of thumb is to ask yourself if all of your players would want to purchase an item for the price you're thinking. If so, it's probably too cheap.