I'm not sure if this has been covered already, but I believe the new slotting for physical stat and mental stat boosting items strongly favours casters.
I can't comment on the new slotting because I'm AFB right now, but I have always thought that RAW slotting was in need of a change. It really put the screws to any Cha based character due to the Cloak of Resist/Cloak of Cha problem. Wis based characters have a similar issue with Periapt of Wis/Amulet of Nat Armor, which might have been intentional but I don't think so given that everyone has the Amulet of Health/Amulet of Nat Armor problem. Item slots as a whole are arbitrary BS, case in point; Gauntlets of Ogre Power/Girdle of Giant Strength. Yeah, there's a reason I don't bother with slots anymore.
TS
Under 3.5, Belt of Gian Strength +4 plus Gloves of Dexterity +4 and Amulet of Health +4 cost 48000gp... under the item cretion rules a Belt of Strength/Dexterity/Constitution +4 acomplishes the same thing as the three older items, uses only one slot and costs 64000gp. The extra 16000gp cost frees up two body slots and so is worth it in my opinion.
how about stat items and rings of protection/ amulet natural armor not take up 'slots'.
leave those for more interesting but less vital magic items
Under 3.5, Belt of Gian Strength +4 plus Gloves of Dexterity +4 and Amulet of Health +4 cost 48000gp... under the item cretion rules a Belt of Strength/Dexterity/Constitution +4 acomplishes the same thing as the three older items, uses only one slot and costs 64000gp. The extra 16000gp cost frees up two body slots and so is worth it in my opinion.Ideally there would be an item right out of the book that prevents this imbalance, without having to use that work around. I'm not even sure if the PRPG system would 'allow' such a thing. I know the game's customizable, but that's not a good excuse for poor design and imbalances. Heck, to some people this may not even seem like an imbalance.
Jason stated that this was possible in another thread and that the addition stat boost cost +50% each... heck, if you a a wizard and have a Bound Staff you could even enchant a +6Int/+6Con/+6Dex onto the staff (in addition to whatever other crazy things you want) without having any Craft Feats for a measly
((36000)+(36000*1.5)+(336000*1.5))*2*.24= 72000gpThen add in the Powers of the robe of the Archmagi
(75000gp*2*.25)= 37,500
Then add in +5 Defendin
(72000gp*.25)=18000
That's a grand total 127500gp.
A sorceror would have to take two different feats and spend 117000gp to get a staff of power. granted the Staff of Power has rebutitive strike and has 10 charges to spend vs the 1 spell (any in your spell book) of this bound item. But it don't cost that much more to add three Save or Something-really-bad-happens-to-you spells (one based on will, one on refelex, and on on fortitude)to the staff for the wizard. Maybe 150,000gp total for 11 powerful spells, effectively +12AC, Bonuses to Saves, SR18, etc. And a 15th level wizard can have that money to spend. This is not even the most cost effective broken staff i can think of.
No..i am not advocating people do this...i am pointing out the wording in Bonded Item along with the magic creation rules is over the top to good. Yes I am harping on this... and the multiple stat boost in one item is too cheap imho even without the bonded item rule...
Almost makes you want to bring back the xp cost factor. (But not quite).
So, I have a question . . . for the sake of backwards compatibility, couldn't we say that some items have two associated slots? In other words, the old 3.5 items aren't harder to make or exceptions, and if you want to craft a headband or belt to do the job, you can, but if you find gauntlets or a cloak from 3.5 material, it still works fine, still cost the same amount, etc.
So in this case, you would just be adding a slot affinity instead of changing old ones . . . I'll admit, there could be problems I'm not seeing with this, but I don't see any, and it seems to bridge the backwards compatibility issue as well as future developments to free up slots.
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I do like this new system for a lot of the reasons listen in the book, it does help limit the christmas tree effect to some degree(by only having so many stat buffing items) while also allowing for ways that those stats can be filled.
If you read through the item creation rules, it is not impossible to create an item for a slot that doesn't cover what it was designed for(Boots of Dex for instance), only that it costs a bit more to do. Just as the poster above pointed out that you can make a multi-stat buffing item for just a bit more in cost.
I don't see the issue with this in any way. -Everyone- not just fighters are going to want Con and Dex items anyway, and casters are likely to be the only ones who really need to worry about mental stat items(beyond the thought that you might get a couple bonus skills or a small boost to a will save). So having to pick and choose what items you get affects everyone.
If the characters feel that the have to have higher stats in your campaign, it can be solved easily enough either through a slightly higher point buy or just by letting them pay for it to make the addition. Item creation rules seem much more lax over all now, so it doesn't seem unlikely that they will be able to(and its much more likely that someone in the group will take some of the craft skills now, since they can use them on the go).
-Tarlane
I'm not even sure if the PRPG system would 'allow' such a thing.
It's specifically permitted in Pathfinder Alpha 2's magic item creation rules to create an item in a non-standard slot for +50% cost, to enchant an item already taking up a slot with another power for +50% cost, or to create a zero-slot item for +100% cost.
And it's my bet that we will see multi-stat items in later versions of Pathfinder. Str/Con belts, for example.
Uh... according to the Alpha 2 release, wearing the item for 24 hours makes the enhancement bonus permanent. So just get one of each belt/headband, wear each one for 24hrs in a rotation, then shove 'em in your closet. Voila, problem solved.
I don't believe it was intended to work that way. The item description says that after 24 hours they become a permanent bonus as opposed to a temporary bonus, however, I am given to believe this is only for stacking purposes. IE, after 24 hours you can stack a Cat's Grace spell with the effects of the DEX-boosting belt.
The Glossary notes on Ability Bonuses say that, while the effects become permanent, you should also note the changes separately "in case they are removed." I could be misinterpreting this, but I believe this means "in case the item giving the bonus is removed," elsewise I don't know why the effects would be any more likely to disappear.
Uh... according to the Alpha 2 release, wearing the item for 24 hours makes the enhancement bonus permanent. So just get one of each belt/headband, wear each one for 24hrs in a rotation, then shove 'em in your closet. Voila, problem solved.
Did Jason make a note that this was a rule change, rather than just a clarification? I still haven't read up on this issue, but my suspicion is Jason wants to simply clarify that until the item is worn for 24 hours, it doesn't grant bonus spell slots. I could be wrong but I don't think he intends that enhancement bonuses should be permanent, grant skill points or that they should stack with each other.
TS
Grr post got eaten :-(
As a DM I am in favour of anything that limits the availability of ability enhancing items.
I'll site a +6 Constitution bonus as an example, at 36,000Gp you get an item that under 3.5 gives you the equivalent of a toughness feat at every level and an improved great fortitude. I can't find any other item that does so much for so little cost.
I like the new rules for the following reasons:
1) Players who want to spend their ill gotten gains on multiple ability increasing items can do so, but it will cost them more. This will punish them slightly for going down this route and reward those who go for less obvious items. A belt that adss +6 to Stength and Constitution will cost 90K, this is 18k more than under the old rules. While 8k is not a lot to high level characters, it is enough to make an small impact.
2) It will allow some of the cooler less worn items to come into play.
As a house rule I am currently allowing Gauntlets of Ogre power +2 and Gloves of Dexterity +2, only because they are iconic and the group already has them. I am limiting it to a +2 bonus on those two items alone.
I feel opinions on this rule change will be down to individual styles of playing and Dming, but I give it a 2 thumbs up.
As a house rule I am currently allowing Gauntlets of Ogre power +2 and Gloves of Dexterity +2, only because they are iconic and the group already has them. I am limiting it to a +2 bonus on those two items alone.
No house rule is needed since the alpha2 allows these items to exist. The difference between now and before is that the Gauntlets of Ogre Power are more expensive.
As someone who plays a caster somewhat frequently, I have to disagree with the premise of the OP.
A Wizard will want a high Int. Also, a bump to Wisdom doesn't hurt (Will saves are nice to have bonuses to against things like Mind Fog and other nasty spells). Then for the physical attributes, Con is a must, but so is Dex. No armor means Dex is important. In addition, ranged touch spells require Dex (and a low BAB means bumping Dex up is important).
So 2 physical and 2 mental bumps. Granted, this is still better than my rogue who wanted a bump to 3 physical and the 2 mental (although just a bump to Wisdom is all that's necessary). And yes, I've play tested this and it worked fine.
Here's the part of the alpha system I don't understand. You can modify equipment by adding stat bonuses or other bonuses to things. (Similiar to the MIC rules, but more expensive). If you can add +2 Dex to gloves of Storing in Alpha rules... they why do the ability boosting items need to be limited to 2 slots? Just don't hand out ability boosting gear and let the players customize as they want to. What's wrong with a Monk's Belt with +4 Con? Or a Robe of the Archmagi with +2 Int?
The limitation to only 2 locations is completely unnecessary in allowing players to use both stat boosting gear and other more interesting pieces of equipment. For example, I have a level 11 Wizard/Master Specialist/Iot7V with 3 veils from the MIC... one has a bonus to Int, one has a bonus to Con, and another has a Natural armor bonus added. I also have bracers of entanglement (also MIC) with dex added to them. My character has all sorts of interesting abilities from the magical items he's carrying, while not suffering from being underpowered by not having ability scores high enough to keep up with the challenges of the game.
That system works well, imo... alpha seems to go overboard on trying to reach the same result.