Unlimited magic missiles?

[Doug McCrae]

the real problem is the precedent. if you can make a headband of level 1 magic missile that fires off every round if you want it to, why couldn't you make a glove of disintegrate that fires every round if you want it to? (5 * 9 * 1800 gp = 81,000 gp). Even at that price it is too cheap.

Disintegrate is a 6th level spell so it'd be 6 * 11 * 1800 = 118800gp or 59400gp and 4752xp. Still pretty good though.

 

[Nifft]

It's an excellent item. Every NPC should have one. And forest critters.

"You startle a squirrel in the woods!" *rolls dice* "You take 8 points of Force damage! Mua-ha-ha!"

-- N

 

[argo]

I dunno about that. The Body Slot Affinities section on page 288 of the DMG details the rules to use if a PC tries to create a Hat of Spider Climbing or some such.

No, it details the guidlines that a DM can use to help him determine what the price for such an item might be should he desire to have one in his world/permit a player to make one.

There is a reason why the rules for pricing new magic items appear in the Dungeon Masters guide and not the Players Handbook.

If you, as a player, want an item you are going to have to negoitate with your DM for it.

 

[Terwox]

It's not that broken.
However... just use a wand.
5 level magic missile (or negative energy ray) wand is 3,750gp. It's in the rules, you won't have people yelling at you that it's broken, and for the price you stated you could get more than 100 charges, which you would only use if you were trying to be something akin to a magic missile machine gun.
As an added bonus, you could carry a wand in each hand! (Not that you could USE them both in the same round or anything, but if one gets sundered, wah-nah-nah, you've got another wand to get sundered the next round too!)

Oh, but yeah, that fits the item creation guidelines, except for the part where it says "Don't do stuff that goes against what we all know makes sense."
Sadly, we all don't agree on that stuff, so this probably won't fly.
You could probably get a wondrous item that did something like a wand if you paid a lot more it, there are guidelines for this (somewhere,) and I've allowed it in my games before. Something like paying 4x but using the wrong feat nets you a similar item to a wand. Or maybe it was 2x. I dunno.

 

[hong]

Using Craft Wondrous Item is it possible to make an item that can cast Magic Missile (or whatever spell) an unlimited number of times per day?

Using the DMG table 7-33:

Headband of Mucho Damago
On command, casts Magic Missile at level 5 (3 missiles, for 1d4+1 damage each)

Cost = 1 (1st level spell) * 5 (caster level) * 1800 = 9000gp or 4500gp and 360xp.


This seems much too good.

An average of 10.5 points damage per round is not that great. There are all the advantages of magic missile to consider, but still, it's not something I see being used a lot past about 12th level or so.

 

[Nifft]

My favorite part of these incessant posts is how they skip the first rule for custom magic item creation, and jump right to the fall-back guidelines. (Granted, the guidelines are in a table, and tables are pretty.)

Many factors must be considered when determining the price of new magic items. The easiest way to come up with a price is to match the new item to an item that is already priced that price as a guide. Otherwise, use the guidelines summarized on Table: Estimating Magic Item Gold Piece Values.

-- N

 

[Abisashi]

Consider the military ramifications of a stick of unlimited fireballs (caster level 5), for only three times the cost. Not only do you invalidate contemporary military tactics for troops (they need to be dispersed now), but you can also destroy fortresses with ease (20 minutes to destroy a 10-foot thick stone wall; this drops to 95 seconds if you can make acidballs). Even a stick of Melf's Acid Arrow (created at caster level 3, the minimum, for a cost increase of only 20% over the magic missile stick) is very powerful, allowing even a 1st level warrior to pick off enemy officers in a minute each, at most.

Even with only 1st level spells, you can do incredible damage. For the same price as the magic missile stick, you can have a Burning Hands flamethrower - 15' cone of death, anyone? The magic missile stick isn't terrible, either.

So, while an item of unlimited magic items is relatively useless for an adventurer who can afford it, it is insane in the hands of the military. Limited-use items will have to be replaced at least once a war, but unlimited-use items can continue to stockpile.

There are also the non-military applications to consider; Create Food and Water, anyone? Unlimited use items are Magitech, and will completely change the campaign world.

 

[Darklone]

Well, if you allow that item, you will probably allow to increase the casterlevel later...

Craft me an use activated item with Cure Light Wounds please. Hmm. Nah. Take Cure Moderate Wounds.

 

[Staffan]

Eberron has an item (well, class of items) called the Eternal Wand - basically, wands that instead of having charges get two uses per day. They can only hold arcane spells (no divine), but can be used by anyone who can cast arcane spells (which is a big in-setting thing, because there's an NPC class that can cast a small number of arcane spells - sort of the NPC-class version of the Adept).

 

[uzagi_akimbo]

But I want it allowed - I'm a player. Though I was thinking of going with Negative Energy Ray as the spell, which isn't nearly as good (3d6 at 5th level, ranged touch attack, will save for half), cause I think it's a lot cooler.

Negative energy ray isn't nearly as good ?
Now, lets think that over, please. While it has shorter range (close) and needs a ranged touch to hit (ray), it also has the added advantage of being able to score a critical (ok, not that good), but it becomes extremely powerful in the hands of a necromancer or someone with the "Lich Touched" (? - the one previewed in dungeon 111, turning a character into a semi -undead healed by negative energy ) , who suddenly not only has a unlimited shots offensive weapon in his hands, but also an "unlimited healing" item for his undead (or even himself )..... So he can kill/fry any small stuff without even wasting any of his own arsenal at leisure, and save his more potent magics for the big menaces.... Sorry - that is major gain in power. 9000gp won't do for that at all .

So even if it does not appear "overly broken" for magic missiles, it may become very much so for some dual-purpose spells... Or something like a wand of unlimited "Invisibility"... or "Haste"...



And basically - it is the GM's choice, it his campaign after all.