I've read the combining rules for PF and understand that it's 1.5x the price for combining items and 2x the price for slotless items. It's a bit different from 3.5, but mostly the same.
Are there any limits to this at all?
Based on the wording on altering existing magic items there is a clear purposeful balance on magic item slots:
Allowing a character to alter or craft an item for one of these underused slots is allowing the character to bypass built-in choices between popular items.
Some of the magic items in the standard rules are deliberately assigned to specific magic item slots for balance purposes, so that you have to make hard choices about what items to wear.
I find situations like this entirely possible:
As long as someone is crafting, you don't have to worry about only having 2 ring slots. You can combine a Ring of Sustenance and Regeneration to be the most awesome survival item ever, and still have a ring slot open. You could make add a Phylactery of Channeling to your mental headband. You could add they tiny rings onto each other (Feather Falling, Counter-Spelling, Protection, skill enchancements, etc), and make an awesome ring of power
In a 3.5 game I also had several boots combined (quicksilver, anklet of translocation, etc) which let me move around with little problem. It was a bit OP imo.
Now these situations are usually limited by cost and time. Unfortunately time doesn't matter in our case as we're playing Kingmaker where there are basically no time restrictions. The cost factor is lessened significantly as a PC has all the crafting feats due to a homebrew artificer so the feat investment is minimal (as it also has really really good casting).
I would be more comfortable allowing combinations to cap at 2 items combined per slot and preventing slotted items to be made slotless except in rare cases. This doesn't please my player.
Big 6 items like Cloak of Resistance shouldn't could toward the limit imo(though stat belts/head pieces probably should? *shrug*)
How have you handled this? Any rules or suggestions would be appreciated.
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I've found cost to be very effective as a limiter. Most players I know would not like to halve their wealth allotment just to remove slot restrictions from the game.
In other words, if they want to blow all their funds making the One Ring, I'm fine with it. If I'm playing in a game where the GM disallows combining items completely, I'm fine with that too, but it excludes large swaths of interesting items if the players feel the need to stick to the Big Six.
I agree on big 6 items like Cloak of Resistance (Added a note on that). I have no problem with combining good items with mundane math items like cloak of res.
The Half wealth argument breaks down due to crafting and low cost items. You can effectively have +2 to all skills for VERY minimal extra costs for instance. (400*1.5 = 600/2= 300 each additional +2 skill item)
Mostly what I've found combining items to be used for is to slap something cheap (hello Feather Step Slippers/Boots of the Cat) onto what you actually want/need to keep up. This gives you the flavorful/useful ability you want along with whatever +X item you need to keep up. I absolutely agree, cloak of resistance + some other cloak probably shouldn't increase the cost of either, same with the belts (ultimate equipment did quite a few examples).
I agree these are legit cases. My concern is stacking lots of skill bonuses and maybe other low cost things.
I've found cost to be very effective as a limiter. Most players I know would not like to halve their wealth allotment just to remove slot restrictions from the game.
In other words, if they want to blow all their funds making the One Ring, I'm fine with it. If I'm playing in a game where the GM disallows combining items completely, I'm fine with that too, but it excludes large swaths of interesting items if the players feel the need to stick to the Big Six.
In the OP's case though the character in question is a crafter. He can build it himself at half the cost... so in effect he is getting it for the price a normal purchaser would. Obviously he isn't going to want to do this for all his gear, but certain ones? Yes, cost isn't a huge factor in this case.
As far as I know there are no limits. Crafters have a way of optimizing their gear that is really only counterable by straight up GM fiat.
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Obviously he isn't going to want to do this for all his gear, but certain ones? Yes
Oh you underestimate PCs: Pretty much everything they have is crafted. :P
The problem is I gave a lot of straight gold which I shouldn't have.
what do you do with masterwork tools? They're 50 gold (unless a different one is printed) and give you +2 to a skill
Masterwork tools have a set number of skills that they can apply to. I have previously allowed MW tools for those not on the list, but those should probably be magic items from here on out. The bonus is competence so it doesn't stack with magic items - no problems here.
Unless everyone has a "superpowered item slot" where all the broken items go, they're not exactly breaking the game by taking things that already exist and putting them together.
Skill items don't exist - though arguably should. They have a standardized pricing.
Would "gloves of mighty fists" be any more powerful (slot changing)?
If done for fluff reasons? No. If done for slot reasons? Yes:
Some of the magic items in the standard rules are deliberately assigned to specific magic item slots for balance purposes, so that you have to make hard choices about what items to wear.
+1 Shadow Slick Jousting armor is already allowed by the rules, and that's just +skill stacking.
It has 2 skills, sure. There are other items with 2 skills. I've never seen higher.
Update on MW tools per this thread: http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2ql8z?Masterwork-Tools
They aren't all a flat +2 and shouldn't be a flat +2. They are however a circumstance bonus instead of a competence bonus.
There are many listed here as well: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/equipment---final/goods-and-services/books-paper-wr iting-supplies#TOC-Book
I feel weird about the books as well.
If you find any specific item a problem, just don't allow it.
If you want more general rules that can provide a limitation, you could require research time and gold for any custom magic item, this would slow it down.
You could increase the DC to craft by 5 for any added effect/each combined magic item. This would make combining a couple cheap things pretty easy still in most cases, but adding a dozen things to a single ring would be impossible for all but the most skilled crafters.
In general, I haven't had any problems with this. But I do limit custom skill boost items to +2.
so all we need is "it's 50 gp unless one exists and it provides a +2 on the relevant skill checks".
Actually this is entirely wrong.
Individual GMs may want to allow masterwork tools for other skills at the listed cost. The circumstance bonus for such a tool should never be more than +2. The tool should either have a limited number of uses (such as the disguise and healer's kits) or only apply to certain aspects of the skill (such as the balancing pole's bonus on Acrobatics checks to traverse a narrow surface or the magnifying glass's bonus on Appraise checks for detailed items
But this is fully covered in that other thread - we shouldn't continue discussing that here.