Questions on makeing a Ring of Ghostform

[skymage]

I'm trying to make a ring of ghostform a level 5 spell from tome and blood that allows the caster to become incorporeal for 1 min/level and there are 4 versions i want to make.

the first ring is a normal ring of ghost form. according to tome and blood it should be spell level 5 * caster level 9 * 2000 gp for 90000 gp for a use activated magic item with no apparent
uses/day so i assume that there is no duration it's incorporeal or not.

the second ring is the same except that is 5 uses/day and would cost 18000

the third would be a 5 use/day activation is a free action which i don't know how to value.

and the forth would be the same as the third but with duration reduced to 1 min or caster level 1 but still a free action.

I'm the DM and i can't really decide how much these should cost. The most important thing is the forth ring cause that is the version the PC wants and i want him to be able to get it.

i can't find an item that is on the same power level as this one so i have no real place to start other then the tome and blood item creation chart

so are all use activated items a free action to use or are they a standard action do you chose at creation if they are a standard action how much to make it a free action

all opinions are welcome but if you site something from a book please include the exact name of the book and the page number if it's not too much trouble

 

[DarkJester]

First and second ring would both cost 90K, 5 times a day is priced the same as limitless.

Third ring would cost a fortune, quickened ghost form is a 9th level spell.

Fourth ring you couldn't do, has to at least have the caster level of the minimum to cast the spell.

 

[twjensen]

Why not?

I don't see a problem with the forth ring. Are there not wands of magic missile caster level 1? But the minimum caster level to make a wand is 5th. Just because a level 1 character can't make the item does not imply that the item cannot be made at "caster level 1" by a mage of sufficient level to make the item.

But if it were my campaign, I might just reduce the duration without any cumbersome explanations. Explanations just invite rules-lawyering. Just present the item and what it does and stay mum on how it works.

Now let's talk price. Formulas are for rules lawyers and players. DMs should price items based on what level of party might conceivably have the item. A ring of ghostform would break the game for a 1st level party. I use the treasue values per encounter table from the DMG, page 170. The earliest a party can get an item is 2x the number presented there (some encounters have "double standard" treasure). The latest a party typically wants an item is when the standard encounter gives a reward far in excess of the value of the item.

I'd price the 5x per day ring at 23,000, IOW a suitable reward for a party 13-16th level.

Since higher level parties typically go longer between rest periods, 5x per day no longer looks like "whenever" so I'd price the "whenever" ring at 33,000 GP, for a suitable reward to a 14-17th level party.

The third ring I'd price at 27,000 GP just to get it away from the 13th level party but without putting it out of reach for the higher level groups.

The forth ring I'd only consider if I had an underpowered character whose player was really trying for a specific role-playing theme and I'd price it somewhere between 18,000 and 23,000 and *still* keep it out of reach until 13th level.

What I'd consider doing for an untested item is waiting until the party is average 15th level, then give out the item and see how it plays. Then you can decide where in the price range (22,000 - 44,000) the item really should be.

 

[Immortius]

The reason for not having the forth ring at caster level one is that Ghostform is a level 5 spell, not because the ring feat is inaccessible. Magic missile, on the other hand, is a 1st level spell.

 

[Lela]

The reason for not having the forth ring at caster level one is that Ghostform is a level 5 spell, not because the ring feat is inaccessible. Magic missile, on the other hand, is a 1st level spell.

And, while the rules state that you can lower the effective caster level below your own, you cannot lower it below the point that would allow you to cast the spell. So no Fireballs that do 1d6 damage and no Ghostform caster level 1 spells (or even caster level 8).