Are there cases where an item that could conceivably be wearable be slotless? Like something you would only wear for a few minutes and then take off? When the item does not give any kind of constant statistical bonus? Or should ALL wearable items take up a slot?
I can't really think of any, though I could see a case where a slotless item could at times be worn in a slot (for example, I played with an item that I ended up not using that was slotless -- it was meant to be held up to the face, so I debated saying it could also be attached and worn in xxx slot, which would allow the character to still have two free hands).
Something you only wear for a few minutes and then take off would probably be bad design, as it means you're basically getting two magic items in that slot when it's meant to be limited to one. I think you'd be better off simply making it a slotless item that can be used 1/day (or whatever).
Depends on your definition of wearable. A handy haversack is wearable, but having it take up a slot would make no sense. Same with an efficient quiver. The key with those items is that they do things in and of themselves. They confer no bonuses, abilities, or effects on the "wearer", and would function just as well attached to a saddle or stuffed in an underwear drawer.
I could see some items not taking up normal "slots" -- the traditional "Kneepads of Allure," for example, don't exactly take up a "feet" slot, but there's no "kneepad" slot that I'm familiar with. I don't know what slot a set of earrings would take, and of course magical fingernail polish wouldn't prevent someone from wearing gloves.
Consumables don't usually take up item slots; my Eye Shadow of Burning Gaze is better treated as a potion than as a face slot item.
Basically, "item slot" is a game-mechanical limitation. The exact description of an item is mostly fluff. If I want to define a magic item as a clothespin that you pin to your nose to prevent the sickened condition for up to 1 minute per day, it's really up to me to define whether that would "tie up" the face slot or not. Really, I could also define it as occupying the feet slot. But I think it would make the most sense as a short term slotless item that happens to be used in in a way that involves the face.
Whenever you want it to be.
-Ben.
You got a point, Jacob and Nazard. So a wearable slotless should be something you can use when not wearing it. In a sense, you are not really wearing a bag of holding or an efficient quiver -- you're carrying it in a way that leaves your hands free.
I got another question, but I'll throw it here instead of making a new thread:
If you have an item with two related spell-like effects activated with the same command word, do you treat them separately and add their price? In other words, the formula is
<spell level A> x <CL A> x 1800 + <spell level B> x <CL B> x 1800
NOT (<spell level A> x <CL A> + <spell level B> x <CL B>) x 1800
Look for an example of that in the PRD.
Also look and see if both effects could be managed by one spell or SLA. Wondrous items are wondrous because they make things like haste do a little more than what the spell does by itself.
But as far as a baseline for your price...your first option is better.
(Spell Level A * CL A * 1800) + (Spell Level B * CL B * 1800)
Not sure if this is quite what you're looking for, but from the PRD:
Multiple Similar Abilities: For items with multiple similar abilities that don't take up space on a character's body, use the following formula: Calculate the price of the single most costly ability, then add 75% of the value of the next most costly ability, plus 1/2 the value of any other abilities.
So far, I haven't had luck finding an example in the PRD of a item with two spell-like effects activated by a command word. However, I just realized that the two formulas presented are actually equivalent.
1800*a*b + 1800*x*y = 1800 * (a*b + x*y)
I feel embarrassed for not catching that. I suppose it might be reasonable to consider the two spell-effects as a single spell if they have related enough effect.
Things to be cautious of:
When you're making a worn item unslotted, you're making it more powerful, because it no longer needs to compete with other items for that slot. That's no big deal if the item doesn't grant a benefit from being worn. In that case, it's not worn in a mechanical sense, you could say, more of carried (in a fashion that happens to be wearing it on your belt). But imagine, say, if we took the old periapt of wisdom, re-implemented as an unslotted item. Suddenly, it's a way to get your Wisdom bonus without having to conflict with all the other headband slots you might want. This makes it strictly more powerful.
Many unslotted items have no slot because they need to be held or manipulated to work, so they're carried and then used in your hands, no big deal.
Powerful is nice, but your have to jack the price up to compensate, and that can put the item out of reach of the characters who wish they had it.
As far as multiple effects with a single command word, what you're doing is offering a chance to break action economy. For an extreme example, imagine three items competing for the same slot; the first cool item allows you to cast haste on yourself as a standard action, the second cool item allows you to cast divine power on yourself as a standard action, and the really cool item allows you to cast both divine power and haste on yourself in one standard action. The really cool item will always be chosen, because it lets you do two things at once.
In general terms, this means that if you're providing multiple effects in a single action, you should jack up the price to compensate. The longer-term the effects are, the less this matters; there's little practical difference between activating endure elements and longstrider as two standard actions instead of one, because those are going to be activated when you get up in the morning and last all day. But a pair of 1 round / level effects? Activating both simultaneously is huge.
One possible guideline you could use for guesstimating the price differential is looking at the Alchemist discovery Combine Extracts; that lets you put two extracts into one flask, breaking action economy the same way, but requires an extract slot 2 levels higher than the most powerful of the two extracts.
The really cool item will always be chosen, because it lets you do two things at once.
The correct way to price such an item is as if one of the effects was Quickened. And to also ensure that your swift action is consumed.