I tried to create a custom magical item. I'd love this board's opinions and advice on it. Thanks for your time!
Dark Thirst
Aura: moderate necromancy; CL: 4
Slot:none; Prize:20.305; Weight: 3lb.
This polished lenght of ebony, studded with the fangs of slain vampires acts like a +1 vicious terbutje, while also granting to its wielder some of the life-drinking capacities of its former kin. Each time an oponent is reduced to negative hit points by an attack made with this weapon, it cast death knell upon said opponent (DC 14).
+2 equivalent +8k
use-activated death knell (taken from witch) spell level 2*minimum cl 3*2k= 12k
Should this be cl 4, as that's the minimum to craft a +2 weapon, and thus cost 4k more? Also, is the DC correct (10+spell level 2+minimum score bonus +2?
Total: 20.305
The way you worded it, the weapon would benefit from the death knell effect, not the wearer (which is probably what you intended).
This item does not pass the bag of rats test. Nothing stops you from continuously killing innocent pets to gain the benefits of death knell all day long.
When creating a magic weapon, make sure that the cost of a weapon's special abilities don't vastly outweigh the cost for enhancement bonuses.
Mechanically, this is a +1 vicious spell-storing terbutje, with death knell permanently stored in the weapon, and triggered conditionally upon felling a foe.
That would mean it's a +1 enhancement, with +2 worth of special abilities, meaning the CL would be at least 6 (3 x the greater), and would have a base cost of 18,305gp (+3 total enchantment). Considering this is actually more powerful than that, because of not needing to cast death knell into the spell-storing weapon, this should bump the CL up a few levels, as well as bump the cost up quite a bit. I'd price it closer to 30,000gp, which would still be less than a full +4 enchantment.