Quick magic item pricing question.

[UltimaGabe]

Let's say you're trying to make a slotted item that allows the wearer to use Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, Detect Magic, Detect Poison, Message, Light, Mending, Create Water, Know Direction, Ghost Sound, and Read Magic, all at will, all at caster level 1?

Once you've gotten that figured out, would the cost change if it were a held item, such as a rod?

 

[the Jester]

Let's say you're trying to make a slotted item that allows the wearer to use Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, Detect Magic, Detect Poison, Message, Light, Mending, Create Water, Know Direction, Ghost Sound, and Read Magic, all at will, all at caster level 1?

Once you've gotten that figured out, would the cost change if it were a held item, such as a rod?

Well, it's slotless.

Regarding your thread's title: there are no quick magic item pricing questions...

 

[IamTheTest]

Well in fairness the question was pretty quick...the answer however...

 

[ceratitis]

do you have any idea how much such an item would cost??
by the rules for every added ability the cost multiplies, it would cost a bomb. and double that for a slotless item.
would a rod be slotless? i mean it has to be hand held right?

 

[akbearfoot]

Well, it's slotless.

Items that must be held to activate are not consodered slotless.....Slotless items can be used as long as they are somewhere on your person, in a pouch, backpack, etc.

Please don't tell me you think rods staves wands scrolls and potions can be activated from inside a backpack!

I dislike the idea of making an item that can do all these things at will....maybe 3 times per day per spell....or activated 5x a day and you pick which spells to use as needed. Infinite use magic items are, frankly, flawed as far as pricing goes.

My book is not next to me though, so I can't come up with a price from memory...I dont remember how they priced items of 0th level.

 

[UltimaGabe]

I dislike the idea of making an item that can do all these things at will....maybe 3 times per day per spell....or activated 5x a day and you pick which spells to use as needed. Infinite use magic items are, frankly, flawed as far as pricing goes.

Not necessarily. For items that heal damage or produce effects with a crucial duration, maybe, but for an item that produces such minor effects (such as this item, which can only use 0-level spells) it's hardly too powerful. The less powerful the effects, the less flawed the pricing is.

That being said, I'm asking what the guidelines in the DMG say about an item of this pricing. And the guidelines show how to make items that use these spells at will. (They also show how to make them usable a certain number of times per day.) I'm quite well versed in the pricing of magic items, and I'll do a little bit of the math for you guys. A slotted item of command-word activation for a 0-level spell would cost 900 gp (1800 base cost x spell level of 0.5 x caster level of 1). However, I've never been clear as to how to price additional effects onto magic items. My group I used to play with simply had each additional effect's cost doubled (the equivalent of having an additional, slotless item), but it came to my attention that this may not be correct (as I recall some chart somewhere saying something about 1.5x for similar effects, and 1.75 for different effects, or somesuch), which makes a lot of sense, considering it's easier to disarm or destroy one item with multiple effects than to disarm or destroy several items.

Also, I've never been clear on whether or not a held item is considered slotted or not. So far I've been inclined to say yes (since, as akbearfoot said, it has to be held, and therefore takes up part of what you can hold/wear, unlike an Ioun Stone), I just wanted to make sure.

So, since nobody felt it was worth trying to figure out the math, let me just shorten the question: How are additional effects priced? Double? 1.5? 1.75?

 

[kreynolds]

So, since nobody felt it was worth trying to figure out the math, let me just shorten the question: How are additional effects priced? Double? 1.5? 1.75?

If the powers are considered "similar", then the item's "first power" is it's most expensive power. The second power costs 75% the normal cost, and the third and additional powers cost 50% the normal cost.

A bit on what "similar" is: "Powers are “similar” when they have the same basic theme and either cannot be used at the same time, or if used at the same time, would not bring any special benefit to the user. A staffs multiple spell powers are considered similar."

If the powers are not considered similar, the item's "first power" is it's most expensive power. Additional powers are 150% the normal cost.

Make sense?

Personally, I would consider your item's powers similar and just call it a day. I have always loved utilitarian 0-level items, and have always assumed that such items are the crux of Red Wizard magic item trade domination. Being affordable, they get the trade domination going early in those folks without hundred's of thousands of coin. As for the price of your item, a strick reading of the pricing guidelines would be...

Slotted spell-trigger item (similar powers) (i.e. staff)
1st power: 375 gp
2nd power: 281 gp
9 additional powers at 187 each: 1,683 gp
2,399 gp

Slotted command-word item (similar powers) (i.e. wondrous item)
1st power: 900 gp
2nd power: 675 gp
9 additional powers at 450 each: 4,050 gp
5,625 gp

I would say a rod that _must_ be held in hand to use it would be priced as the slotted command-word item. Now, as to whether or not 2000+ or 5,000+ gp is worth this item, I would say yes. This would be a fantastic item for moderately wealthy households to have. Lots and lots of handy uses.

 

[ceratitis]

mmm isnt as pricy as i thought, have the price rules changes in the last year and a half? its been a while since i worked any prices. what i used to to is figure out what price range seems fair and see how close the price rules got to it then come up with reasons to lower it to what i felt was fair.

 

[blargney the second]

6k sounds about right for a magic Leatherman. It doesn't have a bottle opener - that's the real kicker.

 

[kreynolds]

mmm isnt as pricy as i thought, have the price rules changes in the last year and a half?

There was a small change in 3.5, yeah, but mostly in regards to multifunction items. Costs went down, for the most part.