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I hear a lot of people complaining about how expensive rings of wizardry are versus pearls of power. I needed to make a version for cantrips, so I played around with a couple formulas until I found one that I think works. I was looking at how expensive getting four pearls of power are versus the rings, how that relationship stays over levels, and when based on the new price could a player afford one.
The Logic and Math:
First, a quick recap of what each does:
Pearl of Power:
CL 17th; Slot —; Price 1,000 gp (1st), 4,000 gp (2nd), 9,000 gp (3rd), 16,000 gp (4th), 25,000 gp (5th), 36,000 gp (6th), 49,000 gp (7th), 64,000 gp (8th), 81,000 gp (9th), 70,000 gp (two spells); Weight —
This seemingly normal pearl of average size and luster is a potent aid to all spellcasters who prepare spells (clerics, druids, rangers, paladins, and wizards). Once per day on command, a pearl of power enables the possessor to recall any one spell that she had prepared and then cast that day. The spell is then prepared again, just as if it had not been cast. The spell must be of a particular level, depending on the pearl. Different pearls exist for recalling one spell per day of each level from 1st through 9th and for the recall of two spells per day (each of a different level, 6th or lower).
Price Formula: Spell Level squared times 1000 gp.
Ring of Wizardry:
CL 11th; Slot ring; Price 20,000 gp (Type I), 40,000 gp (Type II), 70,000 gp (Type III), 100,000 gp (Type IV); Weight —
This special ring comes in four varieties, all of them useful only to arcane spellcasters. The wearer’s arcane spells per day are doubled for one specific spell level. A ring of wizardry I doubles 1st-level spells, a ring of wizardry II doubles 2nd-level spells, a ring of wizardry III doubles 3rd-level spells, and a ring of wizardry IV doubles 4th-level spells. Bonus spells from high ability scores or school specialization are not doubled.
Price Formula: Unclear.
So off the bat, Pros/Cons:
Pearls of Power+Do not use any body slots
+Can be used by any prepared spellcaster, not just arcane ones
+Relatively cheap
-Take an action to grab and an action to use
-Only allows you to cast the same spell
Ring of Wizardry
+Gives you new spells
+Gives you twice the number of spells
+Does not take an action to use
-Can't be used by spontaneous spellcasters
-Takes up a body slot
-Incredibly expensive
Looking at a Wealth By Level chart, using a Wizard's 4 spells per spell level as a guide for Pearls to Rings, and assuming two situations: (A) spending all his money on pearls or rings and (B) spending all but 25% on other protective or stat-boosting gear, we get the following numbers on when a Wizard can afford each.
Type: Situation A (100% WBL)) Level can be bought (Spell Levels Behind); Situation B (25% WBL)) Level can be bought (Spell Levels Behind)
4 Pearls of Power I: A) Level 4 (1); B) Level 6 (2)
4 Pearls of Power II: A) Level 6 (1); B) Level 11 (4)
4 Pearls of Power III: A) Level 9 (2); B) Level 14 (4)
4 Pearls of Power IV: A) Level 11 (2); B) Level 16 (4)
4 Pearls of Power I (Crafted): A) Level 3 (1); B) Level 5 (2)
4 Pearls of Power II (Crafted): A) Level 5 (1); B) Level 8 (2)
4 Pearls of Power III (Crafted): A) Level 7 (1); B) Level 11 (3)
4 Pearls of Power IV (Crafted): A) Level 8 (0); B) Level 13 (3)
1 Ring of Wizardry I: A) Level 7 (3); B) Level 11 (5)
1 Ring of Wizardry II: A) Level 9 (3); B) Level 14 (5)
1 Ring of Wizardry III: A) Level 11 (3); B) Level 16 (5)
1 Ring of Wizardry IV: A) Level 12 (2); B) Level 17 (5)
1 Ring of Wizardry I (Crafted): A) Level 5 (2); B) Level 9 (4)
1 Ring of Wizardry II (Crafted): A) Level 7 (2); Level 11 (4)
1 Ring of Wizardry III (Crafted): A) Level 9 (2); Level 13 (4)
1 Ring of Wizardry IV (Crafted): A) Level 10 (1); Level 15 (4)
As you can see, by the time that he can afford each item, he is one or two spell levels ahead with pearls and up to five spell levels ahead with rings, provided he spends money on other things. Even crafting the rings as his bonded object still puts them around four spell levels behind him. By the time he CAN use them, there's not much point in doing so.
I tried a couple ways of pricing them, including using mnemonic enhancer as a guide. It needed to be more than 4 pearls of power but not too much so, as too high a price makes them less-than-useful by the time you get them.
My final result: (Spell Level + Next Highest Spell Level)/2 squared * 1000 gp * 4.
Using the 'bonus spell' formula from the CRB as a base, increasing the spell level by 1/2 to account for flexibility, then multiplying the result by four to account for the four spells per level, the final result is this:
RoW 0: 1000 gp (100% WBL: Level 2 (*1), 25% WBL: Level 4 (*2))
RoW I: 9000 gp (100% WBL: Level 5 (2), 25% WBL: Level 9 (4))
RoW II: 25000 gp (100% WBL: Level 8 (2), 25% WBL: Level 12 (4))
RoW III: 49000 gp (100% WBL: Level 10 (2), 25% WBL: Level 15 (5))
RoW IV: 81000 gp (100% WBL: Level 11 (2), 25% WBL: Level 17 (5))
RoW V: 121000 gp (100% WBL: Level 13 (2), 25% WBL: Level 18 (4))
RoW VI: 169000 gp (100% WBL: Level 14 (1), 25% WBL: Level 19 (3**))
RoW VII: 225000 gp (100% WBL: Level 15 (1), 25% WBL: Level >20)
RoW VIII: 289000 gp (100% WBL: Level 16 (0), 25% WBL: Level >20)
RoW IX: 361000 gp (100% WBL: Level 17 (0), 25% WBL: Level >20)
Crafted:
RoW 0: 500 gp (100% WBL: Level <2 (*1), 25% WBL: Level 3 (*2))
RoW I: 4500 gp (100% WBL: Level 4 (1), 25% WBL: Level 7 (3))
RoW II: 12500 gp (100% WBL: Level 6 (1), 25% WBL: Level 10 (3))
RoW III: 24500 gp (100% WBL: Level 8 (1), 25% WBL: Level 12 (3))
RoW IV: 40500 gp (100% WBL: Level 9 (1), 25% WBL: Level 14 (3))
RoW V: 60500 gp (100% WBL: Level 10 (0), 25% WBL: Level 15 (3))
RoW VI: 84500 gp (100% WBL: Level 12 (0), 25% WBL: Level 17 (3))
RoW VII: 112500 gp (100% WBL: Level 13 (0), 25% WBL: Level 18 (2))
RoW VIII: 144500 gp (100% WBL: Level 14 (-1***), 25% WBL: Level 19 (1**))
RoW IX: 180500 gp (100% WBL: Level 14 (-2***), 25% WBL: Level 20 (0**))
*Cantrips aren't really 'behind'
**Higher levels make 'spell levels behind' tricky
***At this point, you can make the rings before you can cast the spell. No effect.
(Neat little graph of the prices: Link. Red is Rings of Wizardry, Blue is four Pearls of Power, and Green is one Pearl of Power.)
Now they are still too expensive to be a side item, but if you craft them or have them as your big-budget item, they are affordable. Compared to 4 PoP, a ring of the same level is just slightly behind (ranging from 125% more at spell level 1 to 11% more at spell level 9). Sorcerers and maybe arcanists get a major savings though: after spell level 2 the rings become cheaper and cheaper to get versus pearls of power (-9.3% @ spell level 3 to -25.7% @ spell level 9). I went ahead and did the math on higher and lower levels of Rings of Wizardry because that's why I was doing this in the first place.
So those are my thoughts on repricing the rings. What do you think?
Seems legit.
Now lets talk about unlockable leveled items. It will appear to be just the zero level item if non magically detected, but detect magic will show what it really is. Legend lore will give you the unlock.
For example, killing or controlling a creature or person with a spell unlocks that spell level in your ring of wizardry. It has to be the spell that puts it over the top. For example, a magic missile that brings them to 0 or less hits either fatal or subdual. If the vendor has any idea there are greater powers, I would add at least 10,000 sale value. What say you?
Question... Where do you find that RoW gives you new spells, and that they do not help spontaneous casters?
Question... Where do you find that RoW gives you new spells?
I think he means gives more spell options, eg:
Let's assume a 7th level universalist wizard with 18 INT, he has 4+INT 1st level spells per day, which in this case is 5 1st level spells per day. He has Endure Elements, Identify, Mage Armour, Shield and Silent Image prepared.
A. The Wizard has 4 pearls of power (which costs 4000gp). With Pearls of power he can cast any of the 5 spells again, using up a pearl of power each time.
B. The Wizard has a Ring of Wizardry 1 (which costs 20 000gp). With the ring he has those 5 spells prepared and has 4 open spell-slots in which to prepare more spells (any spells he has on his spell-list). <- I believe this is what he meant by "new" spells.
... and that they do not help spontaneous casters?
Not sure on this one, as far as I can tell they DO work with spontaneous casters.
Seems legit.
Now lets talk about unlockable leveled items. It will appear to be just the zero level item if non magically detected, but detect magic will show what it really is. Legend lore will give you the unlock.
For example, killing or controlling a creature or person with a spell unlocks that spell level in your ring of wizardry. It has to be the spell that puts it over the top. For example, a magic missile that brings them to 0 or less hits either fatal or subdual. If the vendor has any idea there are greater powers, I would add at least 10,000 sale value. What say you?
That would fall under either 'scaling magic items' from Pathfinder Unchained (which scale automatically with level) or 'Weapons of Legacy' from back in 3.5 (which require investing money/feats/spell slots/skill points/hit points/etc. and using rituals to level the item). Pricing something like that gets really tricky on making sure that you can get it at the levels you need, but would be rather straightforward otherwise.
If it is a scaling magic item, then it would probably fall under the 'Wonder' category, which means that it takes up 30% of your WBL. Even if you are meaning that every time you unlock a new level you lose the previous one, then the ring price will quickly outstrip your WBL. The level 1 magic missile would unlock that RoW I, placing the ring at 9000 gp. By scaling magic item rules, you would get that around level 8 normally (30% WBL=9900 gp). Using all of your WBL would place it about 5th level (out of 10500 gp WBL).
Having each level stack scales it quicker than you could keep up with. You can afford a 0-level ring around level 2 or 3, but add on the 1.5x multiplier for multiple abilities and a level 0 and 1 ring would cost 14500 (level 6), a level 0 to 2 ring would cost 40000 (level 9), a level 0 to 3 ring would cost 101500 gp (level 12)...
You could argue that since it is all the same effect, it does not warrant the 1.5x multiplier (which is actually waived in scaling magic item rules when the item grants similar effects). If you add on the restriction that you need to be a wizard to use the ring, that reduces the price by 30%. Requiring the wizard to perform a 'quest' to unlock each feature further reduces the price by 30% by the cursed item rules. Plugging those back in: Level 0 ring 400 gp (level 2/level 1 with the 'Rich Parents' trait), level 0+1 ring 4000 gp (lvl 3 + 1000 gp), level 0-2 ring 14000 gp (level 6), level 0-3 ring 33600 gp (level 8 + 600 gp).
So just by being able to cast those spells would place you several levels ahead of WBL using these prices. If instead you have to cast the next highest spell to unlock a new level of the ring (kill using magic missile = gain 0-level ring, kill using acid arrow = gain 1-level ring, etc.), you are around WBL with the reductions.
The price of the ring itself using scaling magic item rules is whatever the market value of the ring is at that character's level. This keeps a character's WBL normal. Just imagine that the merchant knows that he can get more for it than you are selling it to him, but is trying to maximize his profits by not paying you 'fair' price.
As for appearing to be a non-magical item, check out Dynamic Item Crafting from Pathfinder Unchained. There's a section dealing with perks, quirks, and flaws that don't change the item's market value but grant minor effects. The perk 'unassuming' makes the item appear non-magical. Alternatively, add +500 gp to make it an intelligent item with the unofficial 'secretive' quality.
Weapons of Legacy rules I am not too familiar with though. You'd have to look up the rules yourself for that one.
Question... Where do you find that...they do not help spontaneous casters?
That was a typo when I was writing it that I forgot to correct when I was formatting. There was something in one of the threads mentioning the distinction between a prepared caster's 'spells per day' and a spontaneous spellcaster's 'spell SLOTS per day' that turned out to be an artifact from 3e.
Normally WBL only applies when a new character enters the game at 2nd level or higher. I never considered that or losing the lower spell levels.