Pielorinho
Iron Fist of Pelor
FWIW, I agree the spell isn't overpowered, but the item should be expensive.
If you play the spell as written, the evil subtype isn't what matters; it's purely the alignment of the opposing creature that comes into play. In my campaign (and, I'd venture, most campaigns), the majority of battles are against evil critters: attacks by animals and neutral beasts and the like are the exception rather than the rule. Since the powers don't work in some cases, when pricing it, I'd be willing to know 20% off the value of any power that depends on alignment.
A ring of protection +2 costs 8,000 gold; given the limitations here, put it at 6,400. This is gonna end up as a secondary power (since it's not IMO the most expensive one); double the cost to 12,800
A cloak of resistance +2 costs 4,000 gp; as a secondary power on an item, the cost is doubled to 8,000 gp. Put it at 6,400 as well, since it's limited in efficacy.
Not being touched by summoned creatures? That's a hard one to price, since there's no similar effect in an existing item. The closest I can come is the brooch of shielding, which completely negates one of the most common spells in the game for a limited period of time. That item costs 1,500. This power is considerably better, inasmuch as it doesn't ever expire and it protects against 18 spells instead of 1 spell. I'll guesstimate the value at 10,000 gp to be protected from summoned creatures. Since some summoned creatures can get past it even if they're evil (based on non-natural-weapons attacks or SR), I'll knock 30% off the cost, down to 7,000. Since it's a secondary power, bump it up to 14,000.
Finally, protection from certain charm/dominate spells isn't matched by any other item AFAIK. The closest I can think of is a ring of mind shielding, which is less useful (it protects against detect thoughts, discern lies, etc.) and costs 8,000. Let's say 10,000 for this power; since it's unlimited, there's no discount. Since it's the most expensive power, don't double the cost.
12,800
+6,400
14,000
10,000
=42,800 gp estimated value for all these abilities.
Frankly, I think it's underpriced if anything, so we'll bump the value up to 43,000.
If I were you, I'd go back to the player, tell him the estimated value of the ring, and ask him whether you want him to take that value into consideration when handing out treasure -- in other words, as long as his treasure amount is so far above the recommended amount for a character of his level, the party will get correspondingly meager treasures until they've reached the suggested levels again. Alternatively, you can limit the ring's powers in multiple ways until his total treasure amount is more in line with what a character at his level should have.
I think you did err, but twice: once on giving him the ring, and once (though not very badly) on not understanding how the ring worked as you described it. Since he didn't catch your second error, however, until much later, you don't need to do an intrusive retcon at this point; instead, you need to fix your first error first.
Daniel
If you play the spell as written, the evil subtype isn't what matters; it's purely the alignment of the opposing creature that comes into play. In my campaign (and, I'd venture, most campaigns), the majority of battles are against evil critters: attacks by animals and neutral beasts and the like are the exception rather than the rule. Since the powers don't work in some cases, when pricing it, I'd be willing to know 20% off the value of any power that depends on alignment.
A ring of protection +2 costs 8,000 gold; given the limitations here, put it at 6,400. This is gonna end up as a secondary power (since it's not IMO the most expensive one); double the cost to 12,800
A cloak of resistance +2 costs 4,000 gp; as a secondary power on an item, the cost is doubled to 8,000 gp. Put it at 6,400 as well, since it's limited in efficacy.
Not being touched by summoned creatures? That's a hard one to price, since there's no similar effect in an existing item. The closest I can come is the brooch of shielding, which completely negates one of the most common spells in the game for a limited period of time. That item costs 1,500. This power is considerably better, inasmuch as it doesn't ever expire and it protects against 18 spells instead of 1 spell. I'll guesstimate the value at 10,000 gp to be protected from summoned creatures. Since some summoned creatures can get past it even if they're evil (based on non-natural-weapons attacks or SR), I'll knock 30% off the cost, down to 7,000. Since it's a secondary power, bump it up to 14,000.
Finally, protection from certain charm/dominate spells isn't matched by any other item AFAIK. The closest I can think of is a ring of mind shielding, which is less useful (it protects against detect thoughts, discern lies, etc.) and costs 8,000. Let's say 10,000 for this power; since it's unlimited, there's no discount. Since it's the most expensive power, don't double the cost.
12,800
+6,400
14,000
10,000
=42,800 gp estimated value for all these abilities.
Frankly, I think it's underpriced if anything, so we'll bump the value up to 43,000.
If I were you, I'd go back to the player, tell him the estimated value of the ring, and ask him whether you want him to take that value into consideration when handing out treasure -- in other words, as long as his treasure amount is so far above the recommended amount for a character of his level, the party will get correspondingly meager treasures until they've reached the suggested levels again. Alternatively, you can limit the ring's powers in multiple ways until his total treasure amount is more in line with what a character at his level should have.
I think you did err, but twice: once on giving him the ring, and once (though not very badly) on not understanding how the ring worked as you described it. Since he didn't catch your second error, however, until much later, you don't need to do an intrusive retcon at this point; instead, you need to fix your first error first.
Daniel
