What is the reasonable value of this ring

[Shallown]

I don't have my books available right now so I thought I would ask for some help. Using the SRD I got this porice for this ring.

Ring of Skills
Pick 4 Skill and add +5 to each one.
The skills may be changed once every 24 hrs. (in this case midnight)
If they are not changed then they defualt to those previously chosen.

+5 to a skill cost 500gp (Skill bonus squared times 25gp)
Each additional +5 cost 1000 gp
for a sub total of 3500

Since the skills may be switched at will (Some what)
I doubled the price to 7000

Does that sound reasonable?

I just need an idea for the value. A character was gifted with this ring and I like to keep track of characters total magic item values to keep things in check. Since I can easily start to hand out too much. Check and balance system for me.

Thanks

Later

 

[Spatzimaus]

No, it doesn't sound reasonable to me, but it's not because you used the equations wrong or anything.

Being able to pick which 4 skills is HUGE. One of the fundamental drawbacks to +skill items is that the creator is required to have ranks of the skill in question. Since, more often than not, you'll be boosting skills the creator didn't have, that right there should at least double the price.
Then, you're allowing them to change which skills are modified from day to day. I'd double price again for that (and not this pansy double double=triple, I'm talking a true doubling)

On a larger scale, though, +skill items are REALLY horribly underpriced, because things that swing a d20 DC by even 1 or 2 have a huge impact on the odds of success, especially for skills that use opposed rolls (Hide, Move Silently, etc.) A while back, there was a good thread on possible house rules to make +skill items more balanced.

Think of it this way: which would you rather have, +5 to four skills or +2 to all skills? A ring that gives +2 to all skills (luck bonus) costs 10,000. Most characters would prefer your item, even if they didn't get to change the skills from day to day. So, I wouldn't price it less than that; personally I'd go 15-20k.

 

[aRogueByAnyOtherName]

I would have to agree that ring is extremely powerful especially if used correctly, there isn't even a spell or feat equivilent. I wouldn't have the value under 20,000.

 

[MissingDividends]

can i use it in my campaign...btw there was a thread realted to this (but a different item) that had an equasion for figureing something like this out...

according to the post it woulkd go something like: price = ((5 squared)x25gpx1)+((5 squared)x25gpx2)+((5 squared)x25gpx3)+((5 squared)x25gpx4) quadruppled for the changeability+the fact that the user might not have skills...

wich simplifies to 5 squared times 25 times 10 times 4

which is alot of money... 25,000 to be exact

edit: simplification

 

[kreynolds]

One of the fundamental drawbacks to +skill items is that the creator is required to have ranks of the skill in question.

Not always. See the the ring of Chameleon Power, Jumping, Boots of Elvenkind, Striding and Springing, Circlet of Persuasion, Cloak of the Bat, Cloack of Elvenkind, Gloves of Swimming and Climbing, Goggles of Minute Seeing, Lens of Detection, etc, etc.

 

[MerakSpielman]

I'd make it change skills randomly, and have the character not be aware which skill was increased.

 

[LightPhoenix]

Here's how I would do it:

39 skills, not counting Craft, Profession, Knowledge, or Speak Language.

+5 skill bonus = 500 gp, * 39 = 19,500 gp.

Now, the place where you have to decide is how much to arbitrarily increase the price because you can choose which four skills. I've listed some above.

Double - 39,000 gp
Triple - 58,500 gp
Quadruple - 78,000 gp
Quintuple - 97,500 gp

Personally, I would go somewhere between triple and quadruple.

 

[Spatzimaus]

Not always. See (insert long list here)

You're right, I shouldn't have said "always". However, most of the ones that don't require skill ranks require a spell that provides a similar effect. My point was, most skill-bonus items have some sort of skill-specific requirement, and if this item is without one, it becomes far too strong IMHO.

One thing to remember here is how opposed rolls work. Let's say you and I have exactly counteracting effects, so that it's a straight opposed roll. Maybe I have Hide +8 versus your Spot +8. This gives me a 47.5% chance of winning, 5% chance of a draw, and 47.5% chance of you winning.

Now, I provide a +5 bonus to my roll.
I win 70% of the time, 3.75% draw, 26.25% I lose. So, it went from a 1:1 split to more than a 2.5:1 just from a +5 bonus.

By picking 4 skills commonly used in opposed checks, a +5 bonus REALLY shifts the relative balance in a lot of skills, even for people untrained in those skills.

 

[Guilt Puppy]

First, I'm having trouble picturing this item (like, what one would be if you handed it to me in the real world, how it would work, et cetera)... It seems a little game mechanic focused (like the creator was basing it on the d20 system rules, rather than some in-game necessity or innovation.)

Anyway, the 20-30k range sounds OK to me (equations be damned!) but then I don't try exceedingly hard to balance item prices or even party gold (Boots of Striding and Springing are still just 2500gp in my game).

I'd personally change the ring, however, to have four charges per day, and a charge may be expended to assist you with a task... This boils down to a +5 bonus to the requisite skill check (effects last an hour if the task is ongoing, or the same sort of task -- searching, let's say -- is done repeatedly). I'd keep the same price, seeing as it has less long-term use, but more utility (seeing that you can use it as the situation demands)... It's really not worth much less than the current item written. This is both a bit more realistic (IMO) and a bit more internally balanced -- as others have suggested, that ring is going to vary a lot in worth, and be open to exploitation as it's written.

 

[kreynolds]

Oh, come on. It wasn't that long.

My point was, most skill-bonus items have some sort of skill-specific requirement, and if this item is without one, it becomes far too strong IMHO.

I agree with you on this. I don't have a problem with a magic item providing bonuses to multiple but specfic skills. But an item like this is hard to imagine. The way I see it, the bonuses to the skills are going to be one of two things; specific and set or completely random (per person, not per placement on your own finger, so you couldn't put it on and take it off until you get a combination of skill bonuses that you like).