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Headband of Momentary Defiance

This one is very low-priced. I think the going rate for feats is about 2,000gp, and this duplicates one of the luck feats from Complete Scoundre. In addition, the restoration mechanic is odd and doesn't seem to match the item.

Headband of Momentary Defiance

Wow, very small cost on a reusable item! The holy water is an odd vehicle for recharging it as well, since the Headband has a very arcane feel to it. I think this might be better as a permanent item with a much higher price tag on it.

Thanks for the feedback! :) As I guessed, price might have been an issue. I will admit that I was deliberately aiming for a low-cost magic item that a PC could pick up at 2nd or 3rd level, and scaled it accordingly.

Since a 1/day use-activated magic item that replicated a 1st-level spell costs about 400 gp, and since the basic effect is based on just one aspect of the protection from evil spell, supression of mental control, broadened to include all mind-affecting effects, but non-automatic (only activates if a second saving throw succeeds) and with a significantly reduced duration for most characters (1 round per point of Charisma bonus), and since the recharge is not automatic, I thought a ballpark number of 500 gp would be okay.

The use of holy water in the recharge mechanic was meant to make the recharge come with a cost (25 gp), and to relate somewhat to the base protection from evil spell.

But, I guess the fact that I needed to explain so much about my item means that I need to do better next time. :p

Here's mine. Not flashy, but useful IMO.

Torque of the Ermine

I think the concept is good, but I don't really like the automatic success. Perhaps a better approach would be to negate the opponent's size bonus to grapple checks? That will help even the playing field somewhat with larger opponents, without completely eliminating the danger.

Here's mine:

Headband of Momentary Defiance

This strip of white silk is marked with crimson runes. It activates automatically whenever its wearer fails a saving throw against a hostile mind-affecting effect. The wearer gains an additional, immediate saving throw with the same bonus and against the same DC as the original, failed saving throw. If he succeeds on this second saving throw, the mind-affecting effect is suppressed (but not removed) for a number of rounds equal to his Charisma bonus (minimum 1 round). The time during which the suppression effect is active counts against the duration of the mind-affecting effect. The suppression effect ends if the wearer fails a saving throw against another hostile mind-affecting effect.

The headband is expended after it has been used once, its runes fading to dull red. However, it may be restored by soaking it in a vial of holy water. After 8 hours, the headband absorbs the holy water and its runes turn crimson again.

These items were first developed by a race of extraplanar humanoids to assist them in their battles against the psionic overlords who had previously enslaved them.

Faint abjuration; CL 5th; Craft Wondrous Item, protection from evil; Price 500 gp.

I wonder if it got nixed because the price was too low, or perhaps for the allusion to the illithid/gith conflict.

Bear in mind that this was one of the earliest PrCs in 3e. The impact of the lost caster levels was probably not realized at that stage.

Something along the lines of TPK, but perhaps in completely the opposite direction.

I often see posts along the lines of: I pit monster A (CR X) against a party of Xth level characters and it was a total cakewalk/I ended up with a TPK. [Insert optional "The CR system sucks." comment here.]

How about a page focusing on one monster at a time, detailing how strong or weak it is against each of the core classes, the spells, abilities and tactics that would be effective (or not) against it, and the tactics (or lack of them) that would make it a more reasonable challenge for its CR.

As a general rule of thumb, I would say that a solo PC can handle challenges roughly as well as a 4-PC party 4 levels lower. However, this only provides a starting point, as a solo PC's capabilities tend to be more narrowly focused. When using an adventure designed for a party of PCs, it would be best to mentally walk through all the challenges to see if the PC in question has a chance (and how good a chance) of overcoming them. Adapting the adventure would almost certainly be necessary.

I would interpret it to mean that the caster level increases although the spells per day would not increase. As you have pointed out, in order to cast 10th level spells, you need Improved Spell Capacity, which requires you to be 20th level in a spellcasting class which means that you do not get any additional spells per day when your caster level increases.