I created a new magic item for a campaign I'm running; meta-magic crystals. Essentialy a single use meta-magic rod. I'm looking for help with price and what feat and caster level such an item would require to create. I would think that there would remain the 3 levels of power lesser, normal and greater.
Director of Narrative
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This is a great idea, but I don't have any books near me to do the math. I would use items that give the benefit of a feat such as things that grant evasion, but considering the single-use part of it I would consider likening it to the Domain Draught in the DMG II. Of course with a scaling for levels of lesser, greater etc, and number of times per day use the chart for wonderous items. That of course would be the associated feat. (unless it's psionic of course)
Orogustus,
I recommend the following base for costs of your metamagic crystals, modeling the item off of the cost listing for a single use, spell completion magic item as found on page 285 in the DMG 3.5:
Spell Level x Caster level x 25 GP.
Looking at the entries for the metamagic rods they use a base caster level of 17. In addition, the power levels are broken out as follows:
Lesser can be used for spells 3rd level and lower.
Normal can be used for spells 6th level and lower.
Greater can be used for spells 9th level and lower.
The listed metamagic feats add the following to the effective spell level when used normally:
Enlarge = +1 spell level.
Extend = +1 spell level.
Maximize = +3 spell levels.
Quicken = +4 spell levels.
Silent = +1 spell level.
I would add the spell level increase to the highest level of spell each power level grants modification to.
Using the above information I would use the following costs:
Metamagic Feats w/ a +1 spell level at a Lesser power level cost 1700 GP priced as follows:
Spell Level 3+1 = 4 multiplied by Caster Level 17 multiplied by 25 GP = 1700.
Metamagic Feats w/ a +1 spell level at a Regular power level cost 2975 GP priced as follows:
Spell Level 6+1 = 7 multiplied by Caster Level 17 multiplied by 25 GP = 2975.
Metamagic Feats w/ a +1 spell level at a Greater power level cost 4250 GP priced as follows:
Spell Level 9+1 = 10 multiplied by Caster Level 17 multiplied by 25 GP = 4250.
Basically, the formulas become plug and play at this point for whatever metamagic feats are in use in your game and their effective spell level increases. If you find that the costs are too high for the crystals, you can play around with changing the caster level or the GP cost. Note that the above does not take into account the value of the gems that are used to make these items.
I hope that the above is of some use and let us know what you finally come up with.
Good gaming,
Mark
Thanks Marcos for your excellent guide lines. Those prices do seem a little high though. To off set this I am going to set the caster level at what it would take to cast the highest level spell possible as per the power level of the crystal. For example a lesser silent spell meta magic crystal, equivilent to a 4th level spell, will be CL 7. This will bring down costs nicely.
Secondly I am resticting the crystals to only raise spells effective level to 9th. Thus there will be no greater maximize, widen or quicken crystals. And the highest level quickened spells will be 5th.
So using the formula (spell level X CL X 25gp):
Silent, enlarge and entend - lesser 700gp
normal 2275gp
greater 3825gp
Empower- lesser 1125gp
normal 3000gp
greater 3825gp
Maximize and Widen- lesser 1650gp
normal 3825gp
Quicken- lesser 2275gp
normal 3825gp
This places all of these crystals on the low to middle end of the minor wounderous items table.
Thanks Marcos for your excellent guide lines. Those prices do seem a little high though. To off set this I am going to set the caster level at what it would take to cast the highest level spell possible as per the power level of the crystal. For example a lesser silent spell meta magic crystal, equivilent to a 4th level spell, will be CL 7. This will bring down costs nicely.
Secondly I am resticting the crystals to only raise spells effective level to 9th. Thus there will be no greater maximize, widen or quicken crystals. And the highest level quickened spells will be 5th.
So using the formula (spell level X CL X 25gp):Silent, enlarge and entend - lesser 700gp
normal 2275gp
greater 3825gpEmpower- lesser 1125gp
normal 3000gp
greater 3825gpMaximize and Widen- lesser 1650gp
normal 3825gpQuicken- lesser 2275gp
normal 3825gpThis places all of these crystals on the low to middle end of the minor wounderous items table.
Magic item pricing is always a little dicey, but you seem to have this one licked (pretty much since the meta-magic crystal is very similar to a scroll). The only problem is that the CL for these meta-magic spells would be the CL of the meta-magic crystal. If you are willing to live by this formula, then your maths is quite good.
I created a new magic item for a campaign I'm running; meta-magic crystals. Essentialy a single use meta-magic rod. I'm looking for help with price and what feat and caster level such an item would require to create. I would think that there would remain the 3 levels of power lesser, normal and greater.
Great Idea! I shall use these 'crystals' in my game. And I shall call them 'Orogustus Stones', if it's ok with you...
Ultradan
I'm with Ultradan - Great idea!
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The Complete Arcane had values for metamagic rods that were much more consistent (mathematically) than what was in the DMG. The following is what I came up with as far as values with metamagic rods with what I would price out corresponding one use gems at:
0-level metamagic (Energy substitution, etc.)
Lesser – 2,700 gp Lesser Gem – 125 gp
Normal – 10,500 gp Normal Gem – 486 gp
Greater – 24,300 gp Greater Gem – 1,125 gp
1st level metamagic (Enlarge spell, Extend spell, etc.)
Lesser – 5,400 gp Lesser Gem – 250 gp
Normal – 21,600 gp Normal Gem – 1,000 gp
Greater – 48,600 gp Greater Gem – 2,250 gp
2nd level metamagic (Empower, Reach spell, etc.)
Lesser – 13,500 gp Lesser Gem – 625 gp
Normal – 54,000 gp Normal Gem – 2,500 gp
Greater – 121,500 gp Greater Gem – 5,625 gp
3rd level metamagic (Maximize spell, Delay spell, etc.)
Lesser – 27,200 gp Lesser Gem – 1,260 gp
Normal – 108,000 gp Normal Gem – 5,000 gp
Greater – 243,000 gp Greater Gem – 11,250 gp
4th level metamagic (Quicken spell, Twin spell, etc.)
Lesser – 46,000 gp Lesser Gem – 2,130 gp
Normal – 184,000 gp Normal Gem – 8,520 gp
Greater – 414,000 gp Greater Gem – 19,170 gp
5th level metamagic (Fortify 5 levels, Heighten 5 levels, etc.)
Lesser – 70,200 gp Lesser Gem – 3,250 gp
Normal – 280,800 gp Normal Gem – 13,000 gp
Greater – 631,800 gp Greater Gem – 29,250 gp
6th level metamagic (Persistent spell, etc.)
Lesser – 100,000 gp Lesser Gem – 4,630 gp
Normal – 400,000 gp Normal Gem – 18,520 gp
Greater – 900,000 gp Greater Gem – 41,670 gp
I based the gem values as a potion instead of as a scroll. If you feel that a scroll would be closer to accurate, you should simply divide the gem values by 2.
To further understand how I came up with the values for the crystals -- I took a known item that was usable 3 times/day (boots of teleportation) and took the ratio of values between that and an equivalent potion of teleportation and came up with (around) 21.6 which is what I divided the base values of the rod by. Hope my math is correct.
I came up with the metamagic rod values when I was creating the magic item generator and wanted to “create” some metamagic rods that were not in the DMG. As I was doing this, I found the DMG values were full of inconsistencies so I went with the values from the Complete Arcane and was able to come up with a more consistent formula. Not sure if this helps or not. Good luck with this (and it is a really great idea by the way).
Bill
The Complete Arcane had values for metamagic rods that were much more consistent (mathematically) than what was in the DMG. The following is what I came up with as far as values with metamagic rods with what I would price out corresponding one use gems at:
0-level metamagic (Energy substitution, etc.)
Lesser – 2,700 gp Lesser Gem – 125 gp
Normal – 10,500 gp Normal Gem – 486 gp
Greater – 24,300 gp Greater Gem – 1,125 gp1st level metamagic (Enlarge spell, Extend spell, etc.)
Lesser – 5,400 gp Lesser Gem – 250 gp
Normal – 21,600 gp Normal Gem – 1,000 gp
Greater – 48,600 gp Greater Gem – 2,250 gp2nd level metamagic (Empower, Reach spell, etc.)
Lesser – 13,500 gp Lesser Gem – 625 gp
Normal – 54,000 gp Normal Gem – 2,500 gp
Greater – 121,500 gp Greater Gem – 5,625 gp3rd level metamagic (Maximize spell, Delay spell, etc.)
Lesser – 27,200 gp Lesser Gem – 1,260 gp
Normal – 108,000 gp Normal Gem – 5,000 gp
Greater – 243,000 gp Greater Gem – 11,250 gp4th level metamagic (Quicken spell, Twin spell, etc.)
Lesser – 46,000 gp Lesser Gem – 2,130 gp
Normal – 184,000 gp Normal Gem – 8,520 gp
Greater – 414,000 gp Greater Gem – 19,170 gp5th level metamagic (Fortify 5 levels, Heighten 5 levels, etc.)
Lesser – 70,200 gp Lesser Gem – 3,250 gp
Normal – 280,800 gp Normal Gem – 13,000 gp
Greater – 631,800 gp Greater Gem – 29,250 gp6th level metamagic (Persistent spell, etc.)
Lesser – 100,000 gp Lesser Gem – 4,630 gp
Normal – 400,000 gp Normal Gem – 18,520 gp
Greater – 900,000 gp Greater Gem – 41,670 gpI based the gem values as a potion instead of as a scroll. If you feel that a scroll would be closer to accurate, you should simply divide the gem values by 2.
To further understand how I came up with the values for the crystals -- I took a known item that was usable 3 times/day (boots of teleportation) and took the ratio of values between that and an equivalent potion of teleportation and came up with (around) 21.6 which is what I divided the...
That much for a SINGLE use? It seems pretty steep, given the fact that they're worthless to someone who can't cast spells.
Just a thought.
Ultradan
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That much for a SINGLE use? It seems pretty steep, given the fact that they're worthless to someone who can't cast spells.
Just a thought.
Ultradan
Make sure that you are looking at the right "column" (this doesn't really support columns). The lesser and normal values for the most part are less or rather close to Orogustus' values. The ability to apply a metamagic feat to a 9th level spell should be rather costly since the only way to do it normally is through epic rules.
Also -- again -- I based these as a potion rather than a scroll. If you feel that they are too high, you should divide the values in half.
These crystals are an excellent idea! I'm definitely going to try to work them into my campaign. Hurray for consumable magic items! Big time kudos all around. ^_^
Wow, I'm glad to have been able to contributed an idea to other peoples campaigns. I didn't have the sources for all those other meta magic feats on hand but they make excelent additions. I still like the idea of limiting these crystals power to not producing effective spell levels over 9. But then I have never played an epic level campaign.
Orogustus stones does have a better in game ring than meta-magic crystals. I may just use it as well. Although Orogustus serves as my campaign worlds formost living wizard. Think "elminster/ mordinkainen" with a dark twist.