Warning: Mild Runelords spoiler.
Seeing as how most of the Runelords AP has so few unique magic items that are desirable and usable by PCs, it was with some disappointment that I learnt that the nifty-sounding Robe of Runes we'd discovered would no better than a conventional Int-boosting item for my spontaneous arcane caster.
Not content to merely sell it off I'm looking to retool it so that its spell-recall and associated spell save DC increase ability are useable by a spontaneous caster. I'd be willing to pay the difference in item creation cost, if only I could figure out how much that one aspect of the Robes cost in the first place. The robes are worth 44,000 gp, 8,000 of which is the cost of the +4 Int increase, leaving 36,000 for the spell-recall and spell-save DC increase. Anyone know (or care to guess) how the item was originally priced?
Bump?
Warning: Mild Runelords spoiler.
Seeing as how most of the Runelords AP has so few unique magic items that are desirable and usable by PCs, it was with some disappointment that I learnt that the nifty-sounding Robe of Runes we'd discovered would no better than a conventional Int-boosting item for my spontaneous arcane caster.
Not content to merely sell it off I'm looking to retool it so that its spell-recall and associated spell save DC increase ability are useable by a spontaneous caster. I'd be willing to pay the difference in item creation cost, if only I could figure out how much that one aspect of the Robes cost in the first place. The robes are worth 44,000 gp, 8,000 of which is the cost of the +4 Int increase, leaving 36,000 for the spell-recall and spell-save DC increase. Anyone know (or care to guess) how the item was originally priced?
This reminds me of the analysis I did on various high end staves to determine how much the retributive strike ability was worth. In the end I failed.
The robe has 3 properties.
1) +4 enhancement to intelligence $16K
2) 4th level pearl of power (approximately, but better because it can be split up and it is only a free action to activate) $16K
3) +2 DC/TH boost for 1 round. Usable as many as 4 times per day.
remember that effect stacking adds half again cost to all but the most expensive. By the math it is $16K for effect 1 + $24K for effect 2 (1.5 x 16k) = $40K. That leaves $4K for effect 3 (already factored for effect stacking), or $2667 without)
I would say that the effect is worth more than that. With the pre-packaged specialty magic items this sometimes happens. What does that effect compare to? +2 to save DC effect is similar to a spell that has been metamagic heightened: x2. Let's see how the $2667 enhancement stacks up to metamagic rods (+2 spell level increase):
One could use robe's effect as many as 4 rounds - 8 spells if half are quickened. Versus the Rod's cap of 3.
One could boost a level 9 spell with the robe; which would take a greater metamagic rod - in this case about $73,000
The robe also grants a +2 TH that the rod doesn't.
The robe can't be disarmed where the rod can.
When utilizing the robe, you can still use a metamagic rod.
I'm not sure any of this really matters because all you want to do is make it useful for spontaneous casters.
Change the int enhancement to charisma. I don't know Pathfinder has rules for this, but the worst it should be is 'overwriting' it at a cost of $16,000.
Revise the recall power to be spell slots instead of prepared spells. Since spontaneous casters get more slots than prepared casters it is actually less powerful. I would say a worst case tax on that of 10% of the $16,000.
Thoughts?
Oh, and this is my inaugural post on the boards. Yay me.
Oh, and this is my inaugural post on the boards. Yay me.
First off, welcome to the Paizo forums! And sorry for my late reply; there didn't seem to be any progress on this thread so it fell off my radar until I decided to go looking for it.
remember that effect stacking adds half again cost to all but the most expensive. By the math it is $16K for effect 1 + $24K for effect 2 (1.5 x 16k) = $40K. That leaves $4K for effect 3 (already factored for effect stacking), or $2667 without)
We're just conjecturing so you may be correct, but the wonky 2,667 figure leads me to believe that the designer wasn't following the power-stacking guidelines when he created this item. Still, I suspect your basic figure are essentially correct. Seeing as how Pathfinder #4 (in which the robe of runes first appeared) was released nearly a full year after WotC's Magic Item Compendium; which has more relaxed guidelines for stacking basic item powers (such as ability score boosts), I suspect the designer didn't multiply the +4 ability boost base cost.
If I'm correct, the price-fixing process was rather simple and is probably as simple as:
• 16,000 for the +4 Int enhancement bonus
• 16,000 for a power roughly equivalent to that of a 4th level pearl of power
• 8,000 for the related power to boost spell save DCs.
Whether the item is over or under priced is up for debate, but it doesn't seem too far off to me considering the level at which it'll be gained.
Change the int enhancement to charisma. I don't know Pathfinder has rules for this, but the worst it should be is 'overwriting' it at a cost of $16,000.
That's not necessary; superior intelligence is a boon to sorcerers as well as wizards. Besides, I'm not trying to redesign the item, merely augment it so that my sorcerer character can fully benefit from it. The key to doing so is making the second power, that to recall cast spells, useable by spontaneous arcane casters. The third power (to augment spell save DCs) will then automatically follow suit.
So the real question is: how much would it cost a character to add the words "or had cast spontaneously" to the end of the phrase "that he had prepared and then cast"? The difference in cost between a 4th level pearl of power and a 4th level memento magica (an item from Races of the Dragon which functions exactly as a pearl of power except for spontaneous arcane casters) is 8,000 gp; that is 16,000 for the former vs 24,000 for the latter. Would it seem fair to pay a craftsman to modify the robe of runes for that amount so that it is equally usable by a sorcerer as a wizard? Thoughts?
Sounds reasonable to me.
I am surprised that the spontaneous version is more expensive than the prepared version. Spontaneous casters already have more spell per day than prepared casters. So be it.
Thanks for the welcome. :) See ya around.