Help with Magic Item Creation


Homebrew and House Rules


Hi, I'm trying to create an item and the rules are kicking my butt, can anyone walk me through this and/or check my work?

Chalice of Purity
On command, and liquid placed in this chalice is purified as by <purify food and drink>. Twice per day, it can also be used to convert 1 pint of water into holy water as by <bless water>.
Faint transmutation; CL 1st; Craft Wondrous Item, bless water, purify food and drink

How do I price this item? I think...:

Effect one, purify food and drink
0.5 x 1 x 2000 gp = 1000gp (I think as an instant spell, there is no modifier as per footnote 2.)

Effect two, bless water 2/day
1 x 1 x 2000 gp = 2000gp
2 Charges per day = Divide by 2.5 (5 divided by 2 = 2.5)
2000 divided by 2.5 = 800

Now... the part that gets to me.

Multiple difference abilities: Multiply lower item cost by 1.5 (800 x 1.5 = 1200 gp)

Item cost: 1200 + 1000 = 2200 gp?
Item Cost to Create: 1100 gp?

EDIT: I know I don't have the price for the base listed, I'm more concerned with getting the magic part right. :)


First, you need the feat: Craft Wondrous item.

If you have that you need to buy the materials. The material always cost 1/2 the market price (what you would pay to get the finished completed usable item in a shop).

With your feat and a quiet area to work, you enchant a mundane item, into a magical tem.

After you spend 1 day (8 hours) per 1000 gold of the market price enchanting the item, you make a spellcraft check. The DC of the check is determined by the caster level of the item, and any prerequisites you DON'T meet.

For your item, the DC would be 5+1 (the item's CL is 1) if you don't have access to the spells bless water or Purify food/drink, then the DC would be +5 (+10 if you don't have either spell). You can get access to the spell either from you, you friends, or even wands/scrolls/ or potions (although it seems silly to use up a magic item to make a magic item). So if you don't have those spells, the spellcraft DC would be 16. I believe both of the spells are 0 level cleric or Druid spells, it should be easy to have a friend cast them for ou. In which case ou would need to make a DC 6 spellcraft check.

There are other rules, but those are the basics.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Firstly, command activated uses 1,800 gp as the multiplier, not 2,000.

So, Purify F&D would be 0.5x1x1,800 = 900.

Assuming that the Bless Water effect is also command activated:

1x1x1,800 = 1,800 gp divided by 5/2 = 720 gp

Cheaper gets x1.5: 720x1.5 = 1,080

Sum is 1,980.

That's it from the tables. Next step is to compare this item to other items in the game to see if the price is right. It's a smidgeon cheaper than the unlimited-use command activated Horn of Fog, so I'd probably let it run at the calculated price.


Since bless water has got costly material component (25 gp) you need to take that into account (see note 4 in the table).

In your case that amounts to 25*50 = 1250 gp.

While I cannot find the rules text to support it, this cost is normally not halved when creating magic items.


It's only supposed to have 2 charges of bless water per day, but yes, it's command activated.

However, the purify food and drink ability is continuous use, it should work automatically each time the chalice is filled. This is why I used the 2,000gp multiplier...

But I see where I should have used 1800 for the bless water enchantment.

So...:
Purify Food and Drink (continuous effect) = 0.5*1*2000 = 1,000 (and has no material component.)
The 'charges' for continuous use: 0.5*1*750 = 375 x 2 = 750
So a continuous Purify Food and Drink (CL 1) effect costs 1,750 gp

Bless Water (2/day) = 1*1*1800 = 1800/2.5 (5/2) = 720
The 'charges' for 2/day uses: 25*50 = 1250 (25 gp material component x 50 charges, since the item can be used day after day.)
So the cost to use Bless Water 2/day unlimited = 1,970 gp

Multiply lower cost by 1.5: 1,750*1.5 = 2,625 gp.

Grand Total: 4,595 gp (Plus the cost of the Chalice)

Ok, if I got it right this time... that's a darn expensive cup.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Generally speaking, the cost of the item to be enchanted is subsumed in the cost to craft of the item, so the cost of the chalice is already included.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Forgot one: non-slot item, so double the final price.

Purify Food and Drink: 0.5x1x2,000 = 1,000 gp.

(Not sure where you're getting "charges for continuous" use from)

Bless Water 2/day: 1x1x1,800/(5/2) = 720.

Lower cost at x1.5 is 720x1.5 = 1,080.

Current total: 2,080 gp.

Material component cost: 1,250 gp (you only need to pay for 50 components, not 75 which you would by including this earlier)

Current total: 3,330 gp.

Non-slot item (entire cost x2 - though whether this should come before material components is open to debate): 6,660 gp (if this happens first, it's 4,160 + 1,250 = 5,410)

Still expensive.


So I don't need to worry about charges for a continuous use item? (Unless the item has a material component?)

Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder First Edition / Homebrew and House Rules / Help with Magic Item Creation All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.
Recent threads in Homebrew and House Rules