Gallery of Undervalued Magic Items

[Jason Wedel]

So I have been following the other gallery of magic items, and it got me thinking about items that people say "Terrible" that you may feel are actually well worth the cost. My thoughts is that there will be many who disagree with items on the list, but so is life. Let's not get personal, okay? Also I think some will think that an item is disrespected when it is not.

The first one I will suggest is the Robe of the Archmage

Lets take a look

Cost break down on this

16 K +4 saving throws (Cloak of Resistance)
25 k +5 Armor (Bracers of Armor)
39 k Spell Resistance (based on adding +3 to bracers)
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80 k

Not included in the above is a +1 to spell resistance and the +2 to Caster level vs spell resistance, all in one slot

all for 75 k, that seams like a good deal to me...

IF you have light armor proficiency you could make a passable simulation for ~65k, still giving up the +2 CL and 1 point of spell resistance and taking 2 instead of 1 slot (Admittedly one is armor)---However I think it would still be worth the 10k for the difference

[LarryLarry]

A few reasons why Robe of the Archmagi might not be a good deal:

Mage Armor gives +4 armor bonus and is incredibly cheap, so the +5 armor bonus really isn't very good.

If the player values the robe's effects, he likely was using other items like Cloak of Resistance to bump them up already. When selling those magic items off for half price to replace them with the robe he will lose money. Saving up for the robe while ignoring those alternative items for many levels would be an even worse idea.

Also the robe's effects can't be expanded as easily. Better to upgrade the individual items to higher bonuses later than be stuck with the robe's bonuses.

[shaventalz]

Jinaeus wrote:

A few reasons why Robe of the Archmagi might not be a good deal:

Mage Armor gives +4 armor bonus and is incredibly cheap, so the +5 armor bonus really isn't very good.

If the player values the robe's effects, he likely was using other items like Cloak of Resistance to bump them up already. When selling those magic items off for half price to replace them with the robe he will lose money. Saving up for the robe while ignoring those alternative items for many levels would be an even worse idea.

Also the robe's effects can't be expanded as easily. Better to upgrade the individual items to higher bonuses later than be stuck with the robe's bonuses.

I assume we're talking about the Robe of the Archmagi?

This is basically a set of +9.5 Bracers with other stuff. SR19 costs a +5 bonus, and +4 gives SR17. So by that calculation, yes, they're technically undercosted. However.

According to the WBL guidelines, no PC should have more than half their wealth in a single item. That means you're meant to get the robe between levels 13 and 14 at the earliest. How many casters do you generally fight that aren't a higher level than you? If you're level 14, your non-mook enemies are pretty likely to be casting at around CL16, right? Versus SR18? Congratulations, you've given them a fumble. That is NOT worth the 20% chance of having your buddy's buffs fail on you.

For a permanent armor bonus, a haramaki has no ASF or ACP, so anyone but a monk can use it without issues. That's a little over 16k for +5 AC, and it's still upgradable. Alternatively, a 1st level spell slot at this CL will give you +4 bonus all day long.

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Cost breakdown of the item:

The SR-breaking bit is basically Spell Penetration. Feats are "supposed" to cost ~5k on a properly-slotted item, and putting multiple different abilities on a single item raises most of the components' costs by 50%. Putting it in a SLOTLESS (like an Ioun Stone) just makes it 10k. The resistance bonus would normally cost 16k in a cloak, and the armor bonus is 16k or 25k (depending on whether you want to put in on "real" armor or not.) The SR, as mentioned above, is unlikely to help against the guys you care about at the level you get it. It's really only here to jack the price up and protect against low-level fireball bait.

With multiple items, no SR:
16300 armor + 16000 cloak + 7500 anti-SR = 39,800 gp (or 42300 if you go slotless on the anti-SR.)

With single item, no SR:
16300 armor + 24000 saves + 7500 anti-SR = 47,800 gp (or 56800 if you base the AC off Bracers of Armor.)

If you really want the SR, though, the price does skyrocket past the Robe of the Archmagi.

Spoiler:

Multiple items:
72250 armor&SR + 16000 cloak + 7500 anti-SR = 95,750 gp (or up to 116250 with slotless anti-SR and using Bracers of Armor for AC)

Single item:
72250 armor&SR + 24000 cloak + 7500 anti-SR = 11,6250 gp (or 121750 using Bracers of Armor for AC)

[Schrödinger's Dragon]

As was mentioned by Jinaeus, the armor bonus on the robes seems fairly easy to get elsewhere. If I get actual Bracers of Armor, I can add special effects like Spell Storing to my "armor". If I can cast Mage Armor on the regular, I get a slightly lower bonus but I get it for free and it even applies to attacks from incorporeal creatures (because force effect). If your DM allows specific magic armors to be upgraded, Djezet Skin becomes worth as much AC for a lower price (11,410 GP to make it +5 AC total, I think).

Spell Resistance always makes me wary of my allies being unable to connect with their friendly spells during a fight, though perhaps I'm being paranoid. The concern might be more justified on a martial character, since a you don't have to worry about the party's caster getting through your SR if you ARE the party's caster... But still.

The bonus on penetrating SR and the bonus to saves are the best parts of the Robe of the Archmagi, but those kinds of bonuses can be acquired elsewhere without too much trouble or cost.

In the end, I prefer the Otherworldly Kimono. Cheaper, gives a bigger caster level bonus which applies to more things, and comes with a sweet 1/day Maze effect that pushes the item's bonuses even higher.

[Jason Wedel]

Won't debate that there are some downsides to it, however I standf that it is a wonderful item (maybe not the "best" choice, but worthy of more respect than it gets.)

Having said that, what items do you feel are unfairly considered "bad"