Rejoice, ye monks!

[John Q. Mayhem]

WotC has declared the amulet of mighty fists overpriced, citing an alleged "uncustomary item slot."

You can reasonably assume that a pair of gauntlets of mighty fists ought to have the same base cost and market price as the amulet (6,000 to 150,000 gp), depending on the enhancement bonus the item provides. The +1 version (6,000 gp) has a monetary cost to create of 3,000 gp (half the base price) and an experience cost of 240 XP (1/25th the base cost).

On the other hand, a +1 magic weapon (such as a +1 spiked gauntlet) costs only 2,000 gp (for the magical enhancement). Another quick look at the table on page 288 of the Dungeon Master's Guide shows that the amulet slot is best for items that involve protection and discernment, not attack, so it's a good bet that the amulet's price already had an adjustment for an uncustomary item slot. That makes sense, because almost any creature can wear an amulet or necklace and the amulet works on unarmed attacks and natural weaponry. The amulet of mighty fists probably also is intended for familiars and animal companions as well as monks.

That uncustomary item slot adjustment is x 1.5 (see Table 7-33), so the base cost and market price for the gauntlets would be 4,000 gp (6,000/1.5). The item should have the same caster level as a magic weapon with the same enhancement bonus (3 x the bonus), and it would require the Craft Wondrous item feat.

 

[kigmatzomat]

Actually, they state the cost is abnormally high because it is an amulet and amulets do not typically have any impact on attacks. The same multiplier should apply if you had an Amulet of Springing and Striding, for instance. RotG simply applied the RAW in what should not be a surprise to anyone.

 

[smetzger]

WOTCs math is wonky.

Why isn't it (1^2)*2000 * 1.5 = 3000gp ?

Why do they mention 6000gp / 1.5 ? So the new way to price stuff is to look at the cost of the book and DIVIDE by the special circumstance ?

 

[dcollins]

The argument being made (under 3.5 guidelines) is this:

Gauntlets (destructive power affinity: accurate) could probably be priced at 4,000 gp (ballpark double of a +1 magic weapon).

That would imply: Amulet (protection/discernment affinity: inaccurate) would then be priced at 4,000 x 1.5 = 6,000 gp. And hey, that's what it is in the book.

Skip is back-calculating from an inaccurate affinity item back to an accurate affinity item that, in this case, is the "new item". He suggests that a robe of mighty fists would also be 6,000 gp. At the end he says this:

DMs who just aren't inclined to give the monk a break on such items might want to charge 6,000 gp for the amulet or gauntlets and 9,000 gp for the robe or the vest. I think that's excessive, and I suspect that most players would, too.

 

[Nail]

dcollins: Any chance of the Sage forwarding articles to you for "clarity checks" before he publishes them?

 

[Thanee]

WOTCs math is wonky.

Why isn't it (1^2)*2000 * 1.5 = 3000gp ?

Why do they mention 6000gp / 1.5 ? So the new way to price stuff is to look at the cost of the book and DIVIDE by the special circumstance ?

The amulet does not only apply to a single weapon, that's why it is more expensive.

Twice the cost of a single weapon, if you figure in the x1.5 factor for the body slot.

Bye
Thanee

 

[dcollins]

Nail:

 

[Shin Okada]

In 3.0e FAQ,

Although a nonmonk wearing a pair of gauntlets is still considered unarmed (see the next two questions), a monk wearing gauntlets is using a weapon. A monk cannot use any of her special unarmed attack abilities (unarmed damage, stunning attack, and so on) when using a weapon. A monk can use her unarmed attack rate with a special monk weapon, but gauntlets are not a special monk weapon. A monk wearing gauntlets does not provoke attacks of opportunity when striking an armed foe with gauntlets. The monk deals the same damage as any other character of her size (1d3 points of damage for a Medium-size character). The monk would get the benefits of any magical properties the gauntlets might have.

If this is still true, if a monk has a gauntlet of mighty fist, he relies on it's magical power when attacking, and yet does not use that hand for attacking. Seems .... very silly.

 

[smetzger]

The amulet does not only apply to a single weapon, that's why it is more expensive.

Twice the cost of a single weapon, if you figure in the x1.5 factor for the body slot.

Bye
Thanee

So, fists count as a double weapon?

 

[dcollins]

Shin: Remember that you've got weapon-style gauntlets (presumably heavy and armored, like +1 gauntlets) and also wondrous-item-style gauntlets (presumably light like a glove, such as gauntlets of ogre power).

I've presumed that the FAQ entry is talking about the former, while the ROG article is talking about the latter.