After a TPK I am creating a new character for Mummy's Mask.
I had already established that my old character had a girlfriend - the sorcerer daughter of the high priest of Nethys. So I am going to go with her. She is being created at 6th level and is human with the arcane bloodline. She has the traits Blood of the Pharaohs and Child of the Temple.
I have been considering whether to give her Craft Wondrous Item and have been trying to work out how magic item creation works, but the various different versions have made that tricky. I think I understand now, largely thanks to http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2k74y&page=1?Magic-Item-Creation-and-Caster -Level
To check this is what I am thinking of having her make.
Handy Haversack - requires a 5th level spell so has a minimum CL of 10 - ignoring the spell prerequiste makes the DC 20, which she can just get when taking 10.
Mnemonic Vestment - requires 4th level spell but might as well also create at CL 10 by taking 10.
She will then buy a spellbook and talk some wizards into writing spells into it for her. Whilst she could very likely talk the archetypal apprentice wizard into doing this for free for WBL purposes I assume such spells wpuld cost double what it costs to write them, e.g. 20gp for a 1st level spell.
Cloak of Resistance +1 = minimum CL 3 can be done at 15, getting the spell from the spellbook using the vestment.
Headband of Alluring Charisma +2 - minimum CL 4, Spellbook and vestment for spell, done at 15.
Page of Spell Knowledge - Shield - minimum CL 1, spelbook and either vestment or Ring of Spell Knowledge I - done at 15.
Ditto for Feather Fall
Other spells which probably wouldn't be needed in such a hurry could just go in the spellbook.
Could the resistance bonus be added to the vestment? There is a precedent for a body slot item with that bonus.
Whilst she is willing to dress like a traditional sorceress at times sometimes she would want to dress differently, and anyway it would seem cheap to always dress the same. So what would it cost to add a glamour like effect to the vestment? A continuous Disguise Self effect would cost 4,500 gp according to Table 15-29 which seems a bit high when she just wants it to affect her dress.
Handy H. - listed CL is 9th, you don't have to raise it for your own character needing 10th level to cast 5ths. Which changes nothing much because you could make it anyway.
Mnem. V - sure.
Spellbook - sounds reasonable but check, some GMs use the cost of buying scrolls as the basis for getting extra spells in a spellbook.
Other standard items - OK. You have a ring of spell knowledge?
Vest of Resistance - reasonable and actually a standard D&D 3.5 item which didn't make it into PF because it wasn't in the OGL.
Continuous Disguise Self - look up the Hat of Disguise for another item to base the cost on, or Glamered armor for another (1800 or +2700 gp respectively.) Alternately consider just buying or making Sleeves of Many Garments.
From the PRD "A creator can create an item at a lower caster level than her own, but never lower than the minimum level needed to cast the needed spell."
10th in the minimum CL for her to cast the spell. 9th is a wizard's minimum. I don't see anywhere that the listed CL is used in item creation. I think it is just a guide for ones you find. Anyway making the CL higher improves the item's saving throws so making it as high as practical makes sense.
I plan for her to have a ring of spell knowledge and a metamagic rod. They look too useful to ignore even at full price.
Sleeves of Many garments are perfect - thanks.
I am assuming that the spell stored in a Ring of Spell Kmowledge can be changed.
Given the way that increasing the CL also increases the cost of the item, "as high as practical" is usually the same thing as "as low as possible". XD Most items are assumed to have been made at the minimum caster level.
GM Rednal wrote: Given the way that increasing the CL also increases the cost of the item, "as high as practical" is usually the same thing as "as low as possible". XD Most items are assumed to have been made at the minimum caster level. That's not actually the case in general. The item creation rules only say that CL increases price for a small subset of items (spells-in-a-can, basically).
That's also consistent with the fact that cost vs CL is all over the place for published items. Compare the Jingasa of the Fortunate Soldier(5kgp, CL15) with a ring of protection +5 (50kgp, CL5).
OK, I should have written as high as practical when it makes no difference to the cost, which it doesn't for any of the items I listed.
I changed my mind about giving her a Ring of Spell Knowlege I
If you are going to make a spellbook, get a Boccob's blessed book. Holds all the spells you want, and copying them is much, much cheaper. Standard wizard tactic.
You may also want to take the feat Versatile Spontaneity, if you want maximum versatility. It allows you to prepare a wizard spell in your slots, instead of having to use the Ring (and be limited to the spell levels of the Ring). Very situational, but potential gives you all the flexibility of a wizard for lower level spells, without the restrictions of the Ring (but the Ring, esp as you upgrade it, is very, very nice).
One of the nice things about the Ring is being able to raid other spell lists. When you upgrade it to level 2, for instance, you can take a Bard scroll of Cure Light wounds, and make it a level 2 sorc spell if you need to. Use up them lower level slots!
Note: such a tactic does NOT put them on your spell list and make you able to use CLW wands freely.
==Aelryinth
pjackson wrote: I am assuming that the spell stored in a Ring of Spell Kmowledge can be changed. You are correct. It can be changed with a simple DC 20 spellcraft check. Extremely versatile tool, and better when upgraded to 2, 3 and 4th. It's basically a quickly rewritable Page of Spell Knowledge.
==Aelryinth
A blessed spellbook would be too expensive at the level she is starting - so Wealth By Level of 16,000gp. Copying low level spells is pretty cheap anyway.
With Craft Wondrous Items she can make 3 pages of spell knowledge for the price of the ring and there just aren't that many 1st level spells she needs to be able to cast more than 1/day.
The Mnemonic Vestment seems a better way to get a similar effect to Versatile Spontaneity.
I looking at if I can spare enough for a Page of Spell Knowledge with Beast Form I.
With the ring, she can cast any spell in her 1st level spellbook on demand, without needing to know the spell. Haul it out, make a dc 20 spellcraft, and zing, spell she wants.
Spell Knowledge is for extra spells that you want known ALL THE TIME. Feather Fall is a good one...you might only use it rarely, and not in combat, but when you need it, you need it now.
Pretty much anything else...shield, Burning hands, etc etc you can swap in as the occasion warrants, without tying them up with a permanent Page.
Also, if she's using the Human FC bonus, she's going to get even more perm level 1 spells.
If you have the ring, investing in Pages is kind of defeating the purpose of having enough versatility at speed to make a wizard cry. With the ring, you can literally swap spells in the middle of combat. See a spell cast, spellcraft check, cast the spell...
It's also much more useful for item creation, if the spell is lower level and you have it in your book. No need for a spellcraft penalty, and you have it available for wand making and the like. You can't Page a Bardic CLW, but you can Ring it!
==Aelryinth
SHe will only need Shield when she finds herself in melee and can't escape. In that case the round it would take to get out the spellbook and do the spellcraft check would be too long - especially with the AoOs that might provoke.
For spell creation the Menomic Vestment works for one sorcerer/wizard spell of any level she can cast, so is better than a Ring of Spell Knowledge I for item creation, even though it is only 1/day. In the future, when she can afford it, she might go for a Ring of Spell Knowledge II.
If it wasn't for Craft Wondrous Item halving the cost of the pages then I probably would have kept the Ring of Spell Knowledge I.
She is using the human FC bonus of course
So, her default carry around would be the Shield spell, swapping it out for some temporary spell when needed, then restore Shield, right?
Basic tactics. Of course, it's a Ring, not a wondrous item, and you probably can't make it yet, anyways. What you need now vs the future, etc.
And yes, a RoSK I-IV is a VERY useful tool. Especially if it lets you store 4 spells, not just a spell of level 1-4 (you'd have to stack the costs, instead of just 'upgrading').
==Aelryinth
Since pages of Shield and Feather Fall cost less than the type I ring (for her) she can have them both available all the time. The pages are in the back of her spellbook inside her handbag (handy haversack).
For crafting she gets the needed spell into her spellbook and then uses her vestment. Similarly for other temporary spells.
I am sure a ROSK is a useful tool, but it overlaps a lot with the vestment and PoSK. The extra functionality is not currently worth the cost for her.
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