Hey, all,
I'm trying to add a bit more flavor into our game, and since my PCs are in an underground campaign at the moment, I figured I'd give them a chance to kill and skin a... "NotDisplacer Beast," which is a totally custom monster that doesn't violate ANY copyright rules or anything like that.
I'm wondering what you all think some of this notdisplacer beast hide should be worth with the below stats.
Thanks, and cheers,
Brogue
This rare hide is found only from NotDisplacer Beasts, cunning and vicious predators that stalk the lightless undergruond caverns of the world. A single large Notdisplacer beast provides enough hide to make a single suit of leather, studded leather, or hide armor, provided it is skinned properly (DC 20 Craft (Armor, Leatherworking, Skinning) or similar check). NotDisplacer beast hide seems to shimmer slightly when viewed in different types of light, but it has no benefit if not enchanted. For each point of armor enhancement a suit of armor is given, that armor also grants its wearer 10% concealment, stacking up to a maximum of 50%. In addition, it grants a +2 bonus on stealth checks for each point of enhancement bonus the armor has. A single Displacer Beast hide is worth ??? gold.
Anyone? At all? :(
The stealth bonus is easy to figure just use the skill bonus formula, for a concealment stack effect you are looking at a very steep price IMO. That is fairly huge, compare that to say adamantine which reduces damage by a few points. You are negating all damage 50% of the time at a +5 bonus. The problem is there becomes no reason to not just get enhancement bonus, it gives you a better AC and a superior defense ability (better than any other armor enhancement ability).
Basically it is broken, and trying to price a broken ability is very very subjective...
A catching cape is a consumable, use-activated item that costs 200gp and grants 20% concealment. A constant-use magic item would be about 40 times as expensive, so call it 8,000 gp. Raising a bonus from a +2 to a+5 typically raises the price by about 25/4, call it six-plus.
So your NotDisplacer Beast hide would be worth roughly 50,000 gp.
Alternatively, you're creating a constant-use Displacement effect. Third level spell, fifth level caster would mean about a 30,000 gp item. This second calculation is of course much less accurate than the first (witness the Sword of True Strike). But I think this gives us an idea of the ballpark, and they both agree.
A catching cape is a consumable, use-activated item that costs 200gp and grants 20% concealment. A constant-use magic item would be about 40 times as expensive, so call it 8,000 gp. Raising a bonus from a +2 to a+5 typically raises the price by about 25/4, call it six-plus.
So your NotDisplacer Beast hide would be worth roughly 50,000 gp.
Alternatively, you're creating a constant-use Displacement effect. Third level spell, fifth level caster would mean about a 30,000 gp item. This second calculation is of course much less accurate than the first (witness the Sword of True Strike). But I think this gives us an idea of the ballpark, and they both agree.
Having said that, there's an actual Cloak of Displacement you could use. 15 rounds a day, costs 50,000gp.
Hm, very good points, both of you, thank you. And always a pleasure, Orfamay Quest.
Those are solid prices to start from. I don't know why I hadn't even though about comparing it to those existing items. It just hadn't occurred to me because I as in a "this is armor" mindset, and I wasn't thinking about wondrous items. Plus I always forget about the Cloak of Greater Displacement since it's a trap.
I'll probably tone down the percentage (a lot) to bring the price in line, but this is a solid baseline to start from. Thanks so much, guys. :)
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In order to keep it from being too broken or costing a king's ransom to buy (and thus making it nearly impossible to sell for a fair price), I would use dragonhide armor as a guideline. With dragonhide, the armor, though it may itself be immune to the energy type of the original dragon, it does not confer this ability upon the wearer, even when enchanted. However, such energy resistance (not full immunity) can be enchanted into the armor at 25% reduced cost.
By the same token, don't give armor made from the hide of a displacer beast the abilities of a displacer beast when enchanted. Just give it the stats of, say, leather armor and the appropriate +1 to +5, depending on the enchantment. However, just as with the dragonhide, allow the Shadow enhantment (and the improved versions thereof) to be enchanted into the armor at a 25% reduced cost. That'll give you your Stealth bonuses. And allow Displacement to be cast onto the armor, along with Permanency. Since Displacement isn't on the normal Permanency spell list, I wouldn't give it a reduction in cost like with the Shadow properties, but I would allow it to hold a permanent displacement spell (subject to Dispel Magic as normal, of course), due to the nature of the creature it comes from. Using other spells on the list as a guideline, casting permanent displacement should cost at least 7500 gp, and that's if you're casting the spells yourself. If you're hiring someone to cast them for you, then it'll be an additional 600 gp, or 8100 total. Assuming 8100 gp for that, and the lowest of the Shadow enchantments, and the requisite +1 enhancement bonus to enchant it with anything, and the masterwork cost, you would be looking at right around 12,100 gp (1,000 for +1 plus 2,812.5 for Shadow [not a plus-equivalent property] at 25% discount plus 8100 for permanent displacement plus 150 masterwork cost) plus base armor cost, if you're having someone else do the work, less if you're doing it yourself. That would give you +1 Shadow armor [+5 Stealth] with (dispellable) permanent displacement. With Improved and Greater Shadow properties, you can raise the Stealth bonus to +10 or +15 respectively, at considerable extra cost.
Remember, its only the hide, it's not the whole creature, and it is the magic of the entire living creature that gives it its abilities, not just the skin, so the skin should only naturally hold a hint of the original creature's power, hints which can be later expounded upon with the use of armor property enhancements and spells.