Here's the idea for the item: something you can wear (a bracelet or amulet, I figure) that counts as a familiar location for those who want to teleport to you. It provides no teleport effect of its own; you just count as a place your friends have studied carefully, so they can teleport to you.
How do I calculate the cost of such a thing?
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Well, the first way to price something is by looking at the closest similar item.
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Which I'm not sure there is, really, given that kind of effect. I feel like it's most similar to a good Divination spell, though, so go with that as your base?
Such a piece of equipment has definite potential for abuse, though. For example, training a bird to fly into an otherwise-secure area with the bracelet and teleporting to sneak in. I would definitely suggest some kind of limit that makes it harder to get around the normal, fully intended limits of teleporting.
Thanks. I hadn't thought of that. What I was mostly thinking of was, "Why isn't this a standard book item? Why don't all wizards want to be able to teleport to where their parties are if they get stranded?"
This thing is _kind of_ like a bracelet of friends, but I don't think it should cost anything close to that much. The bracelet uses the most powerful teleport magic in the CRB. My widget is just a homing device.
(Oh, and as limits, go, I'm debating about how tricksy I want to make this item. Let's say you need to know its command word in order to teleport to it. Then let's say the bad guys let this item slip into enemy hands, so they can unerringly teleport to the PCs whenever they feel like it. Mwa ha ha ha ha....)
Situations you hadn't thought of are the number-one reason to be careful when designing items that let you circumvent normal limits. XD
Personally, I'd probably price it as a continuous Scrying effect, since that's what gaining information on the area around a character is most like. At-will scrying DOES have an item - the Cauldron of Seeing (yeah, I did find something after I searched a bit) from the Advanced Player's Guide. That gives us a price of 42,000 GP. ...Since it's just for teleport, and not fully seeing everything at-will, I'd be comfortable dropping the price by a quarter for a final result of 31,500 GP.
I had started there too, but that seems like a pretty hefty price tag for something that doesn't actually _do_ anything. The cauldron allows you to scry; this doesn't. The bracelet of friends allows you to teleport people; this doesn't. This is just a magical welcome mat.
Hence the price reduction. XD The benefits for creative users mean it should still be fairly costly - and pricing by similar items first is the correct method.
I totally get what you're saying. But it just doesn't seem similar to me -- no more similar than a spare key is to a welcome mat.
GM Rednal wrote: Such a piece of equipment has definite potential for abuse, though. For example, training a bird to fly into an otherwise-secure area with the bracelet and teleporting to sneak in. If the bird is your familiar you don't need a magic bracelet to do this.
Wizard wrote: Empathic Link (Su): The master has an empathic link with his familiar to a 1 mile distance. The master can communicate empathically with the familiar, but cannot see through its eyes. Because of the link's limited nature, only general emotions can be shared. The master has the same connection to an item or place that his familiar does. Given that, I wouldn't make the price astronomical, though it should reflect the fact that normally you'd have to risk your familiar to pull this off.
Maybe have some kind of reverse effect possible? That is, once you're attuned to the device, you can teleport (blind) to wherever it is... but anyone who has it can teleport (blind) to you, too. Makes some tricks riskier, enables others.
Oh, and it should stipulate that you still have to be on the same plane.
Fuzzy-Wuzzy wrote: GM Rednal wrote: [...] For example, training a bird to fly into an otherwise-secure area with the bracelet and teleporting to sneak in. If the bird is your familiar you don't need a magic bracelet to do this.
I don't think anything about the bird _or_ the bracelet would be necessary here. If you know where to send the bird, you know where you want to teleport. If the location is dimensionally locked or otherwise teleport-proofed, then you can't 'port in bird or no bird.
Fuzzy-Wuzzy, how would you design this item? How would you calculate a cost?
If you are using Dimension Door, a continuous status effect should give you what you need plus some added benefits. It would cost 12,000 GP by pricing rules and I could see reducing that if you only wanted to have it relay relative direction and distance. Not sure if that would be sufficient for Teleport though.
Magnus Arcadian wrote: Fuzzy-Wuzzy wrote: GM Rednal wrote: [...] For example, training a bird to fly into an otherwise-secure area with the bracelet and teleporting to sneak in. If the bird is your familiar you don't need a magic bracelet to do this.
I don't think anything about the bird _or_ the bracelet would be necessary here. If you know where to send the bird, you know where you want to teleport. If the location is dimensionally locked or otherwise teleport-proofed, then you can't 'port in bird or no bird.
Fuzzy-Wuzzy, how would you design this item? How would you calculate a cost? Just knowing where you want to teleport is insufficient to arrive on-target. If you want to appear in the throne room of a castle you've never been in, you'll have trouble teleporting there even if you're looking at the outside of the castle. Your familiar pokes around a bit, finds it, communicates back to you (by whatever means) that it's there, now you can teleport very reliably.
Isn't there some mid/high-level sorc/wiz spell that you cast on an ally that lets them summon you at any later time? I could swear I've read such a spell but I can't remember the name.
Ignoring spells for the moment, the 20-25k range "feels right."
BTW I really like the idea of this item.
Signifier Rally lets you teleport a group of allies to you if that's what you were looking for Fuzzy-Wuzzy
For design purposes I would include smaller sub ammulets/bracelets for the people who want to know where you are. Most items existing of similiar type include that kind of thing. In addition to giving a clear cut method of who can and can't teleport to you, it also adds a nice defined weakness. As for the spell I would base it on Status but price it a bit higher for balance. I agree with Fuzzy's 20,000 estimate for value
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I'd make it an even 5k and call it a day. I'd also make a greater version for 10k if it made the teleport automatically successful and allowed a caster level check to overcome teleport traps/anti-teleport zones.
Ravingdork wrote: I'd make it an even 5k and call it a day. I'd also make a greater version for 10k if it made the teleport automatically successful and allowed a caster level check to overcome teleport traps/anti-teleport zones. This is much closer to the price range I had in mind.
I had given some thought to just creating a new spell to get done what I wanted to get done, but Dastis, looks like you found something close to it. Signifier's Rally seems to duplicate the bracelet of friends pretty well, without resorting to 9th level magic.
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