The "Price That Magic Item" Game!

[gnfnrf]

A caveat. I own MIC. I don't specifically remember how much any of this stuff costs, and I'm not looking it up, but I think I have a feel for pricing. We'll find out, I suppose.

GROUP THREE "THINGS FOR YOUR NECK"

1. Chronocharm of the Horizon Walker

Single daily usage of OK battlefield movement. Now divide by 4 cuz it's MIC. 1250 gp.

2. Scarab of Invulnerability

Mind-boggling. Must call price from the wind. 35,000 gp.

3. Brooch of Stability

750 gp.

4. Amber Amulet of Vermin, Giant Bee: Standard command action 1/day summons a giant bee, as summon natures ally spell, for 1 minute.

This is the giant bee that dies after a single attack, right? Can I ask to be paid for the item?
I wouldn't buy at any price, but the MIC probably charges 600 gp.

5. Amulet of Retributive Healing

Oops. Abstain, as I have a character who owns this one.

6. Amulet of Second Chances

I refuse to use this in a game. Not because it is necessarily too powerful, but because it would take the rest of the session to resolve, potentially. But it must be expensive, so we'll say 45,000 gp.

7. Torc of Displacement

2500 gp.

8. Scarab of Stabilization

4000 gp. (I'm bored of justifying myself)

9. Heartseeking Amulet

5000 gp.

10. Amulet of Emergency Healing

1500 gp.


--
gnfnrf

 

[two]

I think in general many of us were fairly reasonable in not underestimating. The people who are whacked out of their minds are those who actually put those prices in the book. 12k for the "Belt of I Win" is insane--I admit that not every single character in the game will buy this item first before anything else, but after a certain level, it becomes a no-brainer for everyone (and before people say it takes the Belt slot, remember the new pricing formula in MIC--you can add back your +2 Strength or what-have-you at no extra cost (except the opportunity cost of not buying 10 of these things and switching them because only one of them has +2 Strength on it too) )

I was referring to the original prices in the book, not the mostly sensible commentary from EnWorld.

 

[starwed]

4) Healing Belt - Constant +2 competence bonus to heal checks. Also, 3 charges a day a standard (command) action, spendable to heal damage with a touch, or harm undead with a touch, as follows: 1 charge 2d8 damage, 2 charges 3d8 damage, 3 charges 4d8 damage.

7x4x500, minus a bit for not doing 4d8+7. Plus a bit for the charge option thingy. I guess 12,000

Two things:

• The number of dice rolled is irrelevant. 4d8 is average healing of 18hp, and you could get that with Cure Mod at 9th level, or (out of combat) vigor at 5th level. (Wands of vigor are literally twice as good as wands of CLW for out of combat healing.)) So you're overestimating the cost even by the DMG formula. I'd say the pricing is meant to replace the wand of CLW for low level parties. (And at higher levels, the healing is pretty much gone in one encounter.) Also, unlike the wand of CLW, you're less likely to get the entire party to chip in on one of these, since it's more of an individual item.
• One thing that I'm not sure was intended; it works really well in melee against undead, because unlike the Cure spells there's no save against the damage, and you can activate it w/o drawing an attack. I think that makes it a little too good for the price.

10. Amulet of Emergency Healing: Immediate command action 3/day to provide instant healing of 1d4+5 points of damage to self or creature in 30 feet of you. Can even be used to prevent death of creature reduced to below -9 hit points, ans long as healing returns target to -9 or higher.

Since this exactly replicates a 2nd level spell at CL 5, the standard pricing formula indicates something like 10k. But I'm not sure the item is as useful by the time you get to that level, so lets call it 6k.

 

[hong]

GROUP THREE "THINGS FOR YOUR NECK"

1. Chronocharm of the Horizon Walker: Swift command action 1/day move up to half your speed as part of the same swift action used to activate the charm; this movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity; round down to the nearest 5-foot increment when relevant.

10,000 gp

2. Scarab of Invulnerability: Swift command action 1/day gives 1 round of total immunity to all forms of damage (including ability damage), from all things including weapons, spells, psionics, poison, environment, or anything else causing damage. Must wear fro 24 hours before it attunes to you and can function.

40,000 gp (80,000 gp if it was an immediate action)

3. Brooch of Stability: 1/day when your HPs drop to -1 or lower, automatically stabilize (assuming damage was not enough to kill you).

1000 gp (60,000 gp if it also worked if damage would have killed you)

4. Amber Amulet of Vermin, Giant Bee: Standard command action 1/day summons a giant bee, as summon natures ally spell, for 1 minute.

Can't remember how tough a giant bee is. I guess 4000 gp, since it can't be that tough.

5. Amulet of Retributive Healing: Swift command action 3/day, next effect you use before end of your turn that heals another creature's damage also heals you the same amount (as long as you could be healed by that same effect). If effect heals multiple creatures, you still only get healed one time.

30,000 gp. Great for tank clerics who have heal.

6. Amulet of Second Chances: Swift command action 1/day to undo all events of your current turn and begin the turn again. Includes moving self and creatures back to positions of start of turn, removing damage and conditions, and in all other ways resetting the turn. Affected creatures remain aware of the now non-existent turn, but free to make new choices in new turn.

200,000 gp, possibly banned. Effectively a save-and-reload item.

7. Torc of Displacement: Immediate mental action grants concealment for 1 round of a percentage based on charges you use. 3 charges/day, renews at dawn, spendable as follows: 1 charge 20% miss chance, 2 30%, 3 40%.

5000 gp. Nifty but not overpowered.

8. Scarab of Stabilization: Constant if drop below 0 hp but still alive, auto stabilize. One time use secondary power, if drop below -10 hp become -1 hp instead and stabilize (scarab crumbles to dust if secondary ability used).

10,000 gp, just for the secondary effect. Or maybe 1,000 gp if I'm running a tough game and don't want lots of deaths.

9. Heartseeking Amulet: Swift command action 3/day to make next single melee attack made within that turn a melee touch attack.

100,000 gp. Stupidly broken with ToB maneuvers and anything that stacks damage multipliers on a single attack (eg charging Power Attack smite).

10. Amulet of Emergency Healing: Immediate command action 3/day to provide instant healing of 1d4+5 points of damage to self or creature in 30 feet of you. Can even be used to prevent death of creature reduced to below -9 hit points, ans long as healing returns target to -9 or higher.

5000 gp. Nice early on, but eventually you'll be fighting stuff that can take you to -30 in one hit.

 

[Wolfwood2]

Before estimating prices, let me first note that the amulet necklace slot is a pretty valuable one. You could have an amulet of natural armor or an amulet of health in there, both of which increase survivability. Divine casters will want to use the necklace slot for a periapt of wisdom. Most of the items below are useful only in the middle of the battle, so it's not like you can put them on out of combat to use only when you need them.

Sure you could have the effects you want enchanted for other slots, but as far as 'found' items go, it's still a safe bet the necklace slot will have a lot of competition.


1. Chronocharm of the Horizon Walker: Let's say 1500 gp. It's useful, but only functioning 1/day is a heavy limitation.

2. Scarab of Invulnerability: Pretty nice. Still, only once a day and you have to wear it all the time to get it to work. Call it 12,000 gp.

3. Brooch of Stability: Cute very low level item. 400 gp.

4. Amber Amulet of Vermin, Giant Bee: Call it about the same as a gray bag of tricks. 900 gp.


5. Amulet of Retributive Healing: Hmm, difficult to price. Call it... 2000 gp? Sure you've got the, "You could use this with Heal" at higher levels, but you've also got, "I want a periapt of wisdom" at higher levels.

6. Amulet of Second Chances: I'm not sure what "your current turn" means. Does it shift everything back by one round, or (as I suspect) does it only undo the results of your standard + move action that you took that round? So like if you fireball a devil and it laughs because it's immune to fire, you use your swift action to go back and choose to cast another spell instead?

Assuming you can only undo your own move + standard action, it's not so bad. You're not actually getting any extra actions and it doesn't allow you to reroll a saving throw or anything like that. In fact, the reroll ability of a luckblade is probably a good point of comparison. Call it 16,000 gp.

7. Torc of Displacement: Displacement for only 1 round? Call it 2,000 gp.

8. Scarab of Stabilization: One time lifesaver? Call it 6000 gp.

9. Heartseeking Amulet: Ah, power attack fodder! Let's say 8000 gp, it's it's probably not as consistently useful as a belt of strength +4 but mildly better than gauntlets of strength +2.

10. Amulet of Emergency Healing: Immediate healing, but not a lot of healing. Call it 4000 gp.

 

[Mistwell]

Before estimating prices, let me first note that the amulet necklace slot is a pretty valuable one. You could have an amulet of natural armor or an amulet of health in there, both of which increase survivability. Divine casters will want to use the necklace slot for a periapt of wisdom. Most of the items below are useful only in the middle of the battle, so it's not like you can put them on out of combat to use only when you need them.

Fortunately the rules for adding those common types of bonuses to an existing item have changed, making it less expensive to do so.

Because this is an issue likely to come up for a lot of items, I'll give a brief run-down on those rules.

Adding Common Item Effects to Existing Items

One of the most frustrating roadblocks to using interesting, unusual magic items is that they take up body slots that you need for an ability-boosting item (such as gauntlets of ogre power), a ring or protection, or another must-have item. To address this issue, Magic Item Compendium presents official rules for adding common item effects to existing magic items.

Table 6-11: Adding/Improving Common Item Effects presents a list of common item effects, from ability score enhancement bonuses to energy resistance, and the price to add that effect to an item.

The table also indicates the appropriate body slot (or slots) for each effect. For example, you can add an enhancement bonus to Charisma only to an item that occupies the head or shoulders body slot (such as a headband or cloak). A DM can choose to deviate from this guideline, but should avoid nonsensical combinations (such as gloves that provide a bonus to Wisdom).

Adding one of these effects to an existing item works much like creating an item from scratch. The crafting character must meet the given prerequisites, must expend gold equal to one-half the price and XP equal to 1/25 the price, and must spend 1 day per 1,000 gp of the price.

Example: Lidda has a pair of boots of striding and springing, and she wants to add a Dexterity bonus (rather than buying gloves of Dexterity). Her friend Mialee isn’t around, so Lidda must track down a stranger to do the work. She pays the wizards 4,000 gp, and four days later her boots now also grant her a +2 enhancement bonus to Dexterity. When Lidda later decides to improve the bonus to +4, she manages to talk Mialee (who has the Craft Wonderous Items feat and knows the cat’s grace spell) into performing the work. After spending eight 8-hour days of work and expending 6,000 gp of components (likely supplied by Lidda) and 480 XP, Mialee succeeds in increasing the +2 enhancement bonus to Dexterity to +4.

http://img220.imageshack.us/my.php?image=03242007231138mt4.jpg

 

[Hypersmurf]

Does the Amulet of Second Chances have wording to cater for the fact that the swift action to use the Amulet is an 'event of your current turn', and therefore after the charge is spent, the spending of the charge is undone and you're left with an Amulet that still has one charge left for the day?

-Hyp.

 

[Mistwell]

Does the Amulet of Second Chances have wording to cater for the fact that the swift action to use the Amulet is an 'event of your current turn', and therefore after the charge is spent, the spending of the charge is undone and you're left with an Amulet that still has one charge left for the day?

-Hyp.

No. But, I think that's pretty darn obvious. It functions once a day, not an infinite number of times a day.

 

[Cheiromancer]

I'm too lazy to check, but are any of the participants in this contest really, really good at guessing the MIC prices? Or any group of them?

If so, it would be awesome if they would start to MICify some of the items in the DMG. Drop the prices of items that are too expensive, raise the prices on the ones that are too cheap, and so on.

 

[Mistwell]

I'm too lazy to check, but are any of the participants in this contest really, really good at guessing the MIC prices? Or any group of them?

If so, it would be awesome if they would start to MICify some of the items in the DMG. Drop the prices of items that are too expensive, raise the prices on the ones that are too cheap, and so on.

Once this game peters out (and it seems to be starting to do that with this group), I plan on tallying up some scores and seeing who were particularly good at guessing.