Actually it being non-sloted should double the price - the reduction in price for multiple abilities is for abilities that normally don't occupy body slots. You are creating item that is more powerful than regular ones because it does not occupy the slot and adds multiple abilities that don't happen on the same item so you should pay x1.5 for each additional ability.
Sooo, IMO it should be:
+1 dodge bonus: 2,500 (personally I reserve dodge bonus to AC on items to unique items provided by GM and don't allow them on items created or purchased)
+1 deflection to AC: 2,000 x 2 for non-sloted (this bonus normally goes into ring slot) x 1.5 (because you are trying to put ability that normally appear solo to another ability) = 6,000
+1 enhancement to natural armor: 2,000 x 2 for non-sloted (this bonus normally goes into neck slot) x 1.5 = 6,000
+1 shield bonus: 1.000 (regular shield and armor bonuses are closer to bonus squared x 1,000, it can be debated however) x 2 for non-sloted (you are keeping you hand free, which is worth as much as slot) x 1.5 (again for extra ability packed into single item) = 3,000
For a total of 17,500, with possible other modifiers, like the alignment reduction (which should not reduce price at all, that was thoughtless modifier on the developers part). It's still cheaper than +4 which would cost 32,000 for deflection or enhancement to natural armor.
+ 4 AC, +2 touch, +3 Flat footed.
at 2000 it sounds like munchkining to me.
Staffan is more lenient at magic item pricing than me. Maybe except when it comes to shield bonus on items.
Some of the experienced DM's here might be able to help me out here, please check if this object can actually be created. Thanks! :D
OK, breaking it down.
Rune of AC
Aura: Abrujation, mainly
Cl : 1
You have to be at least 3rd level to create a Wondrous Item. Min CL is 3.
Slot: -
That's double the cost there and then.
Price: 2318,75
Weight: -
Lets check this first:
Description:
This thassilonian rune gives +1 deflection bonus, +1 natural bonus, +1 dodge bonus, and +1 shield bonus to AC.
Construction:
Craft Wondrous Item;shield of faith; shield; barkskin; Cost 1159,375 gp;
Thassilonian rune: cost /2:
Er, where did this rule come from?
no slot: 100% - 75% - 50% - 50%...
Multiple similar abilities - not sure if this counts but if it does.
Other considerations: the wearer must be neutral-good for this rune to work: -30%
Hang on, Thassilon was an evil empire of sins. Why this alignment restriction?
+1 shield bonus (100% 2500)
+1 dodge bonus (75% 2500)
+1 natural bonus (50% 2500)
+1 deflection bonus (50% 2000)----------------------------------
6625gp
Looks about right if you rule that the different bonuses are similar enough.
/2 (rune price)
Can't find this rule still.
-30% (aligment)
Really doesn't make sense to me.
2318,75 gp
I make it 6625gp x 2 = 13250gp which is very, very good for a +4 AC item.
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 8
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Remember that the guidelines for pricing magic items are just that...guidelines.
The number one way to price a magic item is to compare it to the magic items that already exist.
So, compare your item to other items that increase AC:
ring of protection +4 = 32,000 gp
amulet of natural armor +4 = 32,000 gp
bracers of armor +4 = 16,000 gp
ring of force shield = 8,500 gp (only a +2 shield bonus)
dusty rose prism ioun stone = 5,000 gp (only a +1 insight bonus)
Your item is as good as or better than each of those items, especially since it doesn't fill a magic item slot. If you dropped the dodge and shield bonuses, it'd still be the equivalent of two 2,000 gp items.
So there's absolutely no way that item should be 2,300 gp.
It might be possible to make, but at that price it's not balanced. All of the Thassilonian runes given as examples are quite expensive, the cheapest is 36000 gp. The section on magic item prices starts with this:
"Many factors must be considered when determining the price of new magic items. The easiest way to come up with a price is to compare the new item to an item that is already priced, using that price as a guide."
A rune that gives energy resistance 10 to 2 different elements costs 45000gp. A ring that gives energy resistance 10 to one element costs 12000, adding a second resistance to that ring would cost 12000 + 1.5*12000 = 30000. So, a rune should probably cost roughly 1.5 times as much as a ring that did the same thing, which makes sense since a ring can be stolen, but no one can steal a rune. A rune may not take up a traditional slot, but since you can only have one, it makes sense to price it as though it takes up a proverbial 'rune slot' with each additional ability costing more, rather than less.
So, shield bonus +1 2500gp
dodge bonus + 1 2500*1.5=3750gp
natural armor bonus +1 2000*2=4000gp
deflection bonus +1 2000*2.5=5000gp
Total 15250gp, if it were priced like a ring, except that a ring that increases your AC by +4 (ring of protection +4) costs 32000gp, so we look back at that first paragraph on pricing "The easiest way to come up with a price is to compare the new item to an item that is already priced, using that price as a guide." Now, having four different bonus types may make it slightly more likely that those types will overlap with other protections, so being slightly cheaper might make sense, so split the difference and call it 25000gp if it were priced like a ring.
But as we've seen, runes cost roughly 1.5 times what rings do, so a decent final cost might be about 35000gp. Comparing that to the prices of other runes, and we see a Rune of the Inscrutable One costs 36000, and it's the cheapest rune they have listed, so that's probably in the ballpark.
What about the "30% reduction for alignment restriction?" It doesn't pass the key rule of having a comparable price to similar items. Other runes don't have anything like that, so the new one probably shouldn't, either. Very very few items have alignment restrictions. Since I suspect you're designing the rune for your NG character, it's a cost that's not really a cost at all, so it really shouldn't make the item any cheaper.
Staffan is more lenient at magic item pricing than me. Maybe except when it comes to shield bonus on items.Technically, a Shield bonus would fall under "other", which carries a factor of 2,500 gp. That said, I believe that was something the 3.5 designers forgot about in the update - in 3.0, shields provided an armor bonus rather than a shield bonus, with a special rule that armor bonus from shields stacked with armor bonus from armor. Had they been on the ball, they would probably have priced shield bonus at x1,000 gp.
Only now I noticed that due to the change of the way the shield worked between 3.0 and 3.5, there still is no line in magic item pricing about enhancement bonus to shield bonus.
I always counted such bonuses as (unlisted on the table) enhancement to shield bonus with base shield bonus +0, in the same way as I treated bracers of armor as giving enhancement bonus to armor bonus with base armor bonus 0, thus both giving 1,000 x bonus squared price. Of course this is personal interpretation and I understand your position as equally valid.
However, I wouldn't use both x2 for a slotless item and x1.5 for multiple abilities on the same item. The x1.5 is there to compensate for using multiple abilities in a single slot, and if it's slotless anyway there's no point to that increase.
Did I mentioned that you are more lenient with magic item pricing? ;)
You reasoning again is as valid as mine. I just first check if the item should be slotted, determine the price of the slotted item and then double the price for removing the need for a slot. I know that some GMs would pick my interpretation and some would favor yours.
@Staffan, its not cheaper than four different +1 items (12750 > 9000)its the (specific aligment/class.) that gives the item a big discount.
Then, you all should agree then that the "mage armor potion" (50gp) its the most unbalanced thing EVER, specially if you are playing a monk.
+4 AC (not just armor bonus, it doesnt have penalties and protects from incorporeals) 1/hour for 50gp. GG
A potion is a consumable that requires that you know the actual spell before you can make it, requires a move action to get it out and a standard action to drink, and is a one shot deal.
oh, now that we are touching woundrous item and AC, tell me why this item is wrong:
Aura: Abrujation
Cl : 3
Slot: bracelet
Price: 1800
Weight: ?Description:
Bracelet that casts shield on command wordConstruction:
Craft Wondrous Item; shield; 900gp;
command word: Spell level x caster level x 1,800 gp
1x1x1800gp
This is not a "command word" but a "Use-activated or continuous" at the very least. Look at the examples. For "command word" the example is the Cape of the montebank which allows you to use dimension door once per day, where as continuous uses lantern of revealing which has unlimited uses per day.
Really this item should use the AC bonus rules, since this is the equivalent of a +4 bracers of armor that stake with every other armor. A +4 shield bonus item is one of the best items in the game and tend to crop up every so often on the boards. the minimum price should be about 16k, which is the same as a +4 bracers of armor.
It actually is a command-word. And it's definitely not worth 1,800 gp.
For one thing, since the caster level of the item proposed is 3, the price, if you ignore the first rule of magic item creation and instead just use the guidelines, would instead be 5,400 gp.
So, this item will give you, as a standard action, +4 AC for 3 minutes, since the CL is 3. You can do this as many times as you want, and since 3 minutes is *definitely* within "prebuff" territory, it's basically going to always be up.
So, once again ignoring the first rule of item creation, the guideline gives us the AC bonus (4) squared, for 16, multiplied by 2,500 gp. Since a user using this item would not be using a shield anyways, it doesn't get a discount for it being a more "common" bonus type. The end result here is 40,000 gp, which is far more reasonable than 1,800 gp. This is a third more than an amulet of natural armor +4, and a little bit more than bracers of armor +6.
Since it's mechanically similar to the amulet of natural armor, in that it uses up a slot to give a bonus to armor that the wearer wouldn't be getting normally and is effectively unlimited (except for those rare surprise situations), I'd probably price it close to that. The +4 is 32,000 gp for always on +4 to AC.
I'd place it somewhere around 26k.
If you look at the section of the book on pricing items. pg 549 of the CRB, the second sentence under Magic Item Gold Piece Value it says The easiest way to come up with a price is to compare the new item to an item that is already priced, using that as a guideline. This clearly implies that if your item is significantly better than an existing item and is much cheaper, chances are you are pricing it incorrectly. Lets compare your original item to the items in the book that it replaces.'
So Ring of Prot +1, 2000gp, Amulet of NA +1, 2000gp, Bracers of armor +1, 1000gp. I can't think of an item that gives +1 dodge bonus, mostly because it stacks with itself and it likely considered over powered to the developers, that said the closes I can get to it is a dusty red ioun stone +1 insight bonus (unusual bonus type unlikely to come up) 5000gp (doubled b/c no slot).
So these 4 items take up 3 slots and cost a total of 10,000gp. Your item takes of zero slots. This is nice b/c it clears up room for a periapt of health and a ring of sustenance and bracers of archery. so your item is 1/5 the cost and frees up 3 slots.