craft item question, mage armor

[adrem]

hi all!

If I create an item whit 5 charge x day whit mage armor (level 1).. the cost is:

1x1x1800x(5/5)= 1800?

a wand whit 50 charges is 750mo, 5 charges/day is 1800?

and longstrider is the same cost? 1800?

[Khrysaor]

Not 100% if you picked the right formula as I dont have a book handy but it does look right to me. Reasoning for the wand vs item is that when the wand hits 0 charges it's value is 0gp. The item will have 5 charges a day forever.

EDIT: Just found the table on the PFSRD site and yes you got it right. The formula you gave is slightly off but completely synonomous in this case.

Caster level * Spell level * 1800gp /(5/number of charges)

So with 5 charges and a level 1 spell;

1*1*1800/(5/5) = 1*1*1800*(5/5) = 1*1*1800*1 = 1800gp

With 3 charges;

1*1*1800/(5/3) = 1*1*1800*(3/5) = 1*1*1800*0.6 = 1080gp

[ZomB]

Consumables: Wands, Potions and scrolls always use their respective formulas.

For a continuous item you match against the most expensive formula on the list. Mage Armor gives a +4 Armor Bonus so a continuous effect Mage Armor would use the armor bonus formula = armor bonus squared * 1000 = 16000 GP.

For charges per day items its a gray area so a DM might insist you base it off the armor bonus formula or might let you use the command word spell formula.

Wand of Mage Armor (50 charges) = 750 gp
Continuous Mage Armor slot item = 16000 gp

Command word Mage Armor item = DMs call

[Pinky's Brain]

The guidelines are broken when used as is ... to pull what are in effect houserules out of thin air and pretend they come from text is only useful if you can convince your DM.

There is no right answer, guidelines will never become rules no matter how much arbitrary BS is pulled from thin air.

That said, in my opinion the charge/day command word based item formula is balanced.

[adrem]

ZomB wrote:

Consumables: Wands, Potions and scrolls always use their respective formulas.

For a continuous item you match against the most expensive formula on the list. Mage Armor gives a +4 Armor Bonus so a continuous effect Mage Armor would use the armor bonus formula = armor bonus squared * 1000 = 16000 GP.

For charges per day items its a gray area so a DM might insist you base it off the armor bonus formula or might let you use the command word spell formula.

Wand of Mage Armor (50 charges) = 750 gp
Continuous Mage Armor slot item = 16000 gp

Command word Mage Armor item = DMs call

16000??

pass, I craft pearl of power.. and when I'm 5 or 6 level whit 3 or 4 pearl of power I have mage armor for all day :D

[Dragonchess Player]

adrem wrote:

hi all!

If I create an item whit 5 charge x day whit mage armor (level 1).. the cost is:

1x1x1800x(5/5)= 1800?

a wand whit 50 charges is 750mo, 5 charges/day is 1800?

and longstrider is the same cost? 1800?

That is correct for X per day command word items. Note however the difference between command word (activated by anyone without needing Use Magic Device) and spell-trigger (must be on the character's spell list to activate without needing Use Magic Device).

Also, the 5 times per day item never "runs out" of magic; it can be used up to 5 times every day for as long as it's in the character's possession. A 50 charge item, on the other hand, can only be used 50 times before becoming non-magical. If both the times per day item and the charged item are used 5 times each day, the charged item will no longer work after 10 days, while the times per day item will keep working.

[Dragonchess Player]

adrem wrote:

ZomB wrote:

Consumables: Wands, Potions and scrolls always use their respective formulas.

For a continuous item you match against the most expensive formula on the list. Mage Armor gives a +4 Armor Bonus so a continuous effect Mage Armor would use the armor bonus formula = armor bonus squared * 1000 = 16000 GP.

For charges per day items its a gray area so a DM might insist you base it off the armor bonus formula or might let you use the command word spell formula.

Wand of Mage Armor (50 charges) = 750 gp
Continuous Mage Armor slot item = 16000 gp

Command word Mage Armor item = DMs call

16000??

pass, I craft pearl of power.. and when I'm 5 or 6 level whit 3 or 4 pearl of power I have mage armor for all day :D

Note that the pricing for continuous items should always use the top of Table 15-29 if they grant bonuses. The 16,000 gp market price for a continuous +4 armor bonus is exactly the same as bracers of armor +4.

The command word/times per day item is less expensive because the spell effect must be specifically activated (it's not "always on") and only lasts for a set time (usually determined by caster level) per activation.

With pearls of power you still have to prepare mage armor in one of your 1st-level spell slots. Depending on how long you expect to be in danger, a command word mage armor (CL 2) 4 times per day item (market price 2,880 gp) will protect you for 8 hours per day (four 2 hour spell effects) at a lower cost than three pearls of power (1st).

[adrem]

Dragonchess Player wrote:

With pearls of power you still have to prepare mage armor in one of your 1st-level spell slots. Depending on how long you expect to be in danger, a command word mage armor (CL 2) 4 times per day item (market price 2,880 gp) will protect you for 8 hours per day (four 2 hour spell effects) at a lower cost than three pearls of power (1st).

if I pay 2800, I presume I'm a minimum 4th level. a 3th level have a maximum of 3000 gp.

If I'm a 4th level, I take 5 pearl of power and protect me for 16hours. and I pay only 2500.

[Khrysaor]

adrem wrote:

Dragonchess Player wrote:

With pearls of power you still have to prepare mage armor in one of your 1st-level spell slots. Depending on how long you expect to be in danger, a command word mage armor (CL 2) 4 times per day item (market price 2,880 gp) will protect you for 8 hours per day (four 2 hour spell effects) at a lower cost than three pearls of power (1st).

if I pay 2800, I presume I'm a minimum 4th level. a 3th level have a maximum of 3000 gp.

If I'm a 4th level, I take 5 pearl of power and protect me for 16hours. and I pay only 2500.

The reasoning behind chosing the item vs the pearls is as noted by Dragonchess Player already. With the item you free up a 1st level spell slot. With the pearls you must be a prepared caster and memorize the spell for them to work. The pearls will still grant you more utility as you can use them for other spells but you still lose one 1st level slot to mage armor in this way. Obviously not that big of a deal as you scale and the duration gets that much longer you will need less pearls to perpetuate the effect. This will probably be the best way to go until you can afford bracers AC5+ as long as you can live without that 1st level spell slot.

[Dragonchess Player]

adrem wrote:

Dragonchess Player wrote:

With pearls of power you still have to prepare mage armor in one of your 1st-level spell slots. Depending on how long you expect to be in danger, a command word mage armor (CL 2) 4 times per day item (market price 2,880 gp) will protect you for 8 hours per day (four 2 hour spell effects) at a lower cost than three pearls of power (1st).

if I pay 2800, I presume I'm a minimum 4th level. a 3th level have a maximum of 3000 gp.

If I'm a 4th level, I take 5 pearl of power and protect me for 16hours. and I pay only 2500.

A pearl of power (1st) has a market price of 1,000 gp. If you want to compare apples to apples, a 4th level wizard can craft three pearls of power for 1,500 gp (four castings of mage armor for a total of 16 hours, must prepare mage armor as one of your 1st level spells) or the mage armor 4 times per day item for 1,440 gp (four activations of mage armor for a total of 8 hours, all of your 1st level spell slots are free for other spells). Considering that a 4th level wizard can only prepare, at most, 5 1st-level spells (if the wizard has a 20-21 Int; i.e., started with a 19-20 Int at 1st level), plus one more if a specialist, the need to tie up 1/5th (or more) of your possible 1st level spells with mage armor may not be worth having the effect up for 16 hours instead of only 8 hours.

[adrem]

8hours and 5 spells vs 16 hours and 4 spells.

I prefere 16 hours. and when I'm 5th level is 20hours, when I'm 6th I use only 2 pearl of power and one is free for other spell..