I am commissioning a magical staff for my summoner.
I want the following battlefield control spells:
- black tentacles
- obsidian flow (UC)
- sleet storm
What is the market price of this staff?
I'm having trouble determining the answer myself because black tentacles and obsidian flow are treated as 3rd-level spells for summoners, but 4th-level for everyone else.
I thought there were rules governing a class-based order of operations (of sorts) when doing the calculations for final market price, but I can't seem to track them down at the moment.
don't know where the exact rules are but if you check out the pricing structure for potions you may be able to extrapolate the price differences. e.g. a ranger 1st level potion is more expensive than a wiz 1st level potion etc.
a ranger 1st level potion is more expensive than a wiz 1st level potion etc.
Yes, but that's only true because the ranger's spell must have a higher caster level. A wizard can cast a 3rd-level spell as early as CL 5th. A ranger on the other hand would have to be CL 10th before he could cast a 3rd-level spell.
Summoners (and bards and inquisitors) can only cast lower-level spells (6th-level or less), but otherwise have full caster levels (1-20).
That means their introduction potentially changes the price of many magical items unless there is a general rule somewhere preventing it.
a ranger 1st level potion is more expensive than a wiz 1st level potion etc.Yes, but that's only true because the ranger must have a higher caster level.
Summoners can only cast lower-level spells (6th-level or less), but otherwise have full caster levels (1-20).
That means their introduction potentially changes the price of many magical items unless there is a general somewhere preventing it.
i wrote ranger i should have said look at price of bard potions in comparison
0st level wiz = 25, bard = 25
1st level wiz = 50, bard = 50
2nd level wiz = 300, bard = 400
3rd level wiz = 750, bard = 1050
The table does me little good, as it is referencing creation costs, not market prices.
It can cost different amounts to make something (depending on who makes it), but the market price is always the same regardless of who makes it.
EDIT: Maybe my second line above isn't true after all. Item creation feats make it clear that you must use up raw materials worth half the base price--which seems to imply that there is no variability in costs or prices between classes at all.
You commisioned the stave, your not creating it yourself. Easiest way is to go with "a wizard did it" and use the standard pricing.
The table does me little good, as it is referencing creation costs, not market prices.
It can cost different amounts to make something (depending on who makes it), but the market price is always the same regardless of who makes it.
by that logic then you use the wizard costing because staves existed in core book before summoners.
however if you look at half the staves their prices don't match the calculated values for a wizard craft anyway, so its screwy no matter what you do.
don't forget the item crafting caveat rule, that item cost should balance against existing items of similar power over the cost calculated from the equations provided.
Unfortunately, the rules do state that you use the lowest possible CL / spell level combination to set the market price.
Unfortunately, the rules do state that you use the lowest possible CL / spell level combination to set the market price.
Awesome! Where?
EDIT:
Since different classes get access to certain spells at different levels, the prices for two characters to make the same item might actually be different. An item is only worth two times what the caster of the lowest possible level can make it for. Calculate the market price based on the lowest possible level caster, no matter who makes the item.
I find this to be most interesting as it seems to contradict many item creation feats, which seem to imply that both the market price and creation costs are set, not variable.
Unfortunately, the rules do state that you use the lowest possible CL / spell level combination to set the market price.
Actually, now that I think about it, it seems to be based strictly on the lowest caster level, not the lowest spell level.
That means that a character cannot buy a staff of summon monster VIII for the price of a 6th-level spell staff just because it was made by a summoner.
Though I wonder what you should do in the case of the staff in the OP, where the CL ends up being the same between a 4th-level wizard spell and a 3rd-level summoner spell (7th)?
Yes, but the lowest caster level is related to the lowest spell level. For example... Wands of lesser restoration. The market price is set by Paladins, since it's a first level spell for them. That's why I said it's unfortunate :-)
I mean, I would have to read everything over again... But at one point I got into this same argument about wands of lesser restoration and was begrudgingly weakly convinced on this.