Speaking of healing belt...

[Vahktang]

Everlasting rations
Everful mug

Yes, the ring of sustanance is a little bit more expensive, and does more stuff, but with these items you can feed people along the way, too.
monsters attacking just for food.
Prisoners or relaseed slaves.
All of my heroes buy it, asap.

 

[Evilhalfling]

a second vote for augment crystals - fieldslaying proved very popular, aligned good and +1d6 dmg? in a "raid on the hells" arc the party had 3 in use.

Badge of valor? - its part of a set, but it adds +1 to bardic inspire courage for approx 2k, add it to the spell "insperational boost" and 'song of the heart' feat make inspire courage a powerhouse.


Best movement item I found was the chronocharm that 1/day allows a 1/2 move as an immediate action that did not provoke AoO's. Priceless for a PC beguiler, it was used nearly every session, for virtually nothing. The Chronocharm that allows a standard action monster summoning would have been great as well, but the beguiler was collecting the set, and never had it individually identified.

 

[Jhaelen]

The artificer's monocle is the answer to all your magic item identification needs. It'll pay off in no time.

 

[Carpe DM]

Magic Item Compendium might be worth buying, since the focus of that book is low-cost magic items. And there are a lot that are pretty awesome.

Here are some of our favorites for cheap cheap cheap:

1. Wand of Omen of Peril. "Is it time to buff up?"
2. Level 1 pearls of power. 1000 gp for an extra first-level spell slot? Bang for buck, best magic item in the game. Just keep buying them. Seriously. It's never bad to have more.
3. Wand of Lesser Vigor. Duh.
4. Ephod of Authority. +1 turning level, 800 gold. Nice.
5. Potions. Enlarge person, true strike, message. It's all good.

For a healer (which I play) the amulet of retributive healing is good, the armband of maximized healing is awesome. Scepter of the Netherworld and Rod of Defiance are pretty good too, when added to the Ephod.

 

[FalcWP]

Oh, another one I just thought of, for anyone using Divine feats:

Reliquary Holy Symbol. 1,000 gp, and if you're relying on Divine feats, its pretty much an automatic 2 extra Turn Attempts. Well worth it.

 

[Bad Paper]

Potions. Enlarge person, true strike, message. It's all good.

erm, no, you can't have potions of personal-range spells, so a potion of true strike is not, in fact, good, else I would load up on potions of shield.

 

[Hypersmurf]

erm, no, you can't have potions of personal-range spells, so a potion of true strike is not, in fact, good, else I would load up on potions of shield.

I like the sound of the Potion of Message, though, since the drinker is effectively both the caster and the target of the spell.

He can have a whispered conversation with himself that only he can hear... as long as he doesn't get much more than a hundred feet away from himself.

-Hyp.

 

[Elemmakil]

He can have a whispered conversation with himself that only he can hear... as long as he doesn't get much more than a hundred feet away from himself.

-Hyp.

I was about to call "broken" until I read the bit about it failing if he gets too far away from himself. It's a good thing that the designers put in that limitation.

Who wouldn't want a potion that allows them to talk to themselves? It's almost as good as the ability to talk to small, burrowing animals.

Really, I used to think that potions and limited use items were awesome. My opinion has changed somewhat recently, partially due to the influx of good per-day items in the MIC.

 

[Hypersmurf]

I was about to call "broken" until I read the bit about it failing if he gets too far away from himself. It's a good thing that the designers put in that limitation.

I guess it's just as well Sending is 4th level - too high to be a potion. A Potion of Sending would let you send yourself a message anywhere on the same plane, and maybe even on a different plane!

-Hyp.

 

[Elemmakil]

I guess it's just as well Sending is 4th level - too high to be a potion. A Potion of Sending would let you send yourself a message anywhere on the same plane, and maybe even on a different plane!

-Hyp.

OHMYGOD! There's a PrC in Magic of Faerun that allows you to make potions out of spells higher than the normal cap! I'm totally banning Sending, even if it limited to 25 words.

Can anyone think of good spells to put into potions (other than sending) that break the normal limit of 3rd level? Although these items would be difficult to acquire, some may be quite powerful. Something in the polymorph group (always a good bet for broken-ness)? Stoneskin? Mnemonic Enhancer (a one-use Pearl of Power)? Greater Heroism? It's too bad that Tensor's Transformation won't work... Hey, look, my rogue gained fighter BAB. Fortunately, this massive bonus is balanced out by the loss of spells. Shame, that. I feel like a cleric.

More good spells: Mind Blank, Foresight, and Energy Drain. OK, maybe not the last one.

You know, that "no self-only spells" limitation in potions really is a pain. I can't come up with anything really good potion-wise.

Alternate potion idea: use a class that has the spell at a lower level, a la Telflammar Shadowlord. The Chameleon could really come in handy here.