Looking through the newest Pathfinder rules, I see how to craft a ring from the standard list of magic rings. However, I’m wanting to create something sort of new: a ring that gives a certain permanent spell-like enhancement. Specifically, a 1st-level cleric spell called sure casting. It grants a +5 vs Spell resistance for the next spell you cast. I’d love to have this effect permanently “on” with the ring rather than simply having it in a ring of spell storing that has to be recharged. Is there a rule that I’m missing that shows the procedure, time and cost to create this item?
The rule is quite simple, and in fact probably a lot simpler than you want. For any custom magic item (i.e., not already statted out in the books), you ask your DM, who will then determine whether the item can exist at all, what side effects (good or ill) it might have, and how much it costs. There are guidelines for the DM to follow, but they are only guidelines.
Making a ring requires the “forge ring” feat, which is a level 7 feat.
The rules say that creating a “use-activated or continuous” item costs (spell level) × (caster level) × (2,000 gp). That means that if you are the minimum level necessary to make rings (level 7), the ring would cost 14,000 GP. Then you multiply that by 4 since you’re taking an affect normally limited by rounds and making it last forever. That makes the final cost 56,000 and 56 days to create.
However, this is clearly way better than that, since what you’re actually trying to get is a “ring of +5 vs spell resistance,” and that’s far more powerful than a 1st level spell that has to be recast every time you want its effect.
So were I DMing, I’d call it at minimum an enhancement bonus similar to a +5 longsword and call it (bonus squared) x 2000 gp, or 50,000 GP. Multiplying THAT by 4 gives you a ring that is 200,000 GP and 200 days to forge.
The item you want to create is Exhibit B for why such rules should not be used - Exhibit A is the same thing, but for True Strike. 200,000 seems a reasonable estimate - a ring that granted +5 Caster Level across the board would be three times that much, so +5 Caster Level only for the purpose of penetrating Spell Resistance might be around that much.
This is an item with a Use-activated or continuous Spell Effect.
Base Price is Spell level x caster level x 2,000 gp = 1 x 7 x 2k = 14,000 gp
There’s a footnote for base price that says if a continuous item has an effect based on a spell with a duration measured in rounds, multiply the cost by 4. Sure Casting has a duration of 1 rd, so final cost is 14k x 4 = 56,000 gp.
The user still has to use the ring first as a standard action. Normally, nobody can have more than one standard action per round. He’ll have to wait till next round to cast the enhanced spell.
If you’d rather be able to cast both spells in one round, you could use Quicken Spell during Item Creation, which makes casting Sure Casting a swift action, enabling you to cast the enhanced spell the same round. That however, adds 4 to the spell level, making Sure Casting level 5.
So, total price = 5 x 7 x 2k x 4 = 280,000 gp.
The first item you’re describing is use-activated, so you wouldn’t need to apply the 4x multiplier, that’s only for items that are continuously on. You also don’t need the caster level to be 7. Sure, you need to be level 7 to get Forge Ring, but you’re still allowed to make items with a lower caster level. Sure Casting doesn’t seem to have any caster level dependent effects, so there’s (almost) no reason not to cast it with a caster level of 1.
Pathfinder is generally extremely stingy about at will abilities, so you’d probably be looking at a 5 uses per day item. By RAW, there’s no price difference between an item that can be activated at will and one that’s 5/day, but most GMs will balk at anything that has unlimited uses so I would go with that assumption. Spell Level * Caster Level * 2,000 gp = 1 * 1 * 2,000 gp, so the ring would have a market value of 2,000 gp, half that if you craft it yourself.
You still have to use a standard action to activate it each time, so it’s not too unreasonable.
If you really want to get the effect in the same round as you cast your boosted spell, then your best bet would be to have it as a quickened spell. So, you’re looking at a level 5 spell, which has a minimum caster level of 9. 5 * 9 * 2,000 gp = 90,000 gp, again half that if you craft it yourself. You use the item as a swift action, then cast your regular spell in the same round. Potentially very useful, but still limited.
If you really, really, really want an item that just gives a continuous flat +5 bonus to caster level checks you’re in the realm of GM fiat. If I were trying to price it, I’d start with the nearest comparable item, the Orange Prism Ioun stone. 30,000 gp for + 1 caster level. It’s a slotless item (which are double price), so a generic +1 caster level item, such as a ring, should have a market price of 15,000 gp. Since you just want a boost to caster level for the puposes of spell penetration and not other effects, you should probably discount it by 50%, so 7,500 gp. The established pattern is that when pricing generic stat increasing items, you square the bonus when calculating costs. So for +5 you’re looking at a market price of 5 * 5 * 7,500 gp = 187,500 gp, again half that if you craft it yourself. Which yeah, is probably about right.
I always like playing characters that make stuff, so I have put wayyyyy too much time into pricing custom magic items. I have spreadsheets.
Garula, you make a valid point about not needing to cast Sure Casting at lvl 7 during item creation, but SC does have a duration of 1 round, which is why the x4 multiplier applies. Use-activated and continuous use items cost the same to construct. We assumed that category because the OP said he wanted to craft a ring. A wand with 50 charges would only cost 750 gp. I also forgot about minimum caster level of 9 to use the required 5th level spell slot for the Quickened version of SC. A wand couldn’t store Quickened SC, since lvl 4 is the max it can store.
It may seem overbalanced to be able to use a 1st level spell to make the next spell +5 vs SR, but there’s a 1 round delay. A lot can happen in 1 round. The intended victim or the caster might be dead by then.
So, that revises my previous calculation of a regular Ring of Sure Casting to 1 x 1 x 4 x 2k = 8000 gp. The Quickened version would be 5 x 9 x 4 x 2k = 360,000 gp.
Well, I don’t think I’ll be trying for a quickened version.
It’s interesting how calculations based on different starting assumptions are all getting about the same final answer, here. That might mean that Pathfinder is actually fairly well-calibrated.
Yup, seems to work.
D&D/Pathfinder Economics still make my eye involuntarily twitch. The numbers are stupid if you consider any reasonable dollar value for a gold piece. But that’s another thread.
The calculations I’ve seen generally come out to somewhere in the vicinity of 1 GP : $200. Which would mean that even a single minor magical item is worth about as much as a nice house. But I’m not convinced that that’s all that stupid: For comparison, in The Lord of the Rings, Bilbo’s mithril shirt is stated to be worth more than the entire Shire.
Those multipliers are specifically only for continuous effect items. From the PFSRD, “If a continuous item has an effect based on a spell with a duration measured in rounds, multiply the cost by 4. If the duration of the spell is 1 minute/level, multiply the cost by 2, and if the duration is 10 minutes/level, multiply the cost by 1.5. If the spell has a 24-hour duration or greater, divide the cost in half.” The items we were describing were not continuous, they were use activated. All that ring lets you do is cast a spell X times per day. Yes, use activated and continuous items use the same base calculation, but those duration cost multipliers are specifically for continuous items.
And you can’t do that anyways, Sure Casting isn’t simply a duration duration spell, it burns itself out after the first spell you cast. An always on effect based on Sure Casting would just affect the first spell you cast per day and remain inert the rest of the time.
Actually, rather than a ring you’d probably be better off grabbing a Piercing Metamagic Rod.
Thanks for ppointing out the Piercing Metamagic Rod. Just the kind of thing I need and much less costly.
D&D and Pathfinder economics are quite bad, but not quite as bad as I originally thought. At least if you ignore the cost listed for hirelings.
Any character should be able to use the Profession skill untrained, so an unskilled worker should make about 5 gp per week, and a typical skilled worker about 10 gp per week. I thought this article does a pretty solid job of making economic sense out of the rules.
Just reading the descriptions like a lawyer, bro. It says Duration: 1 round in the spell description, even though the amount of time that elapses can be much longer. Same with spells that have a permanent effect, but are listed as Duration: Instantaneous. Those descriptions matter for things like item creation, even if the actual intent and effect is different from what’s in print.
I agree the OP is better off with a limited charge item, but he asked about a ring, and I assumed that meant he wanted a continuous effect item, like a Ring of Protection. Plus, I certainly don’t know everything about Pathfinder, even though I’ve been playing it for years. It never occurred to me to look at Metamagic Piercing.
That’s what makes Pathfinder such a Sword of Damocles. A lot of players hate the massive volumes of rules, and find them frustrating to sort through. Even after years of playing, it’s impossible to know everything. And yet, it makes so much sense in the end.
Yeah, I want a ring that just plain makes every spell piercing with no effort or delay on my part. BUT I’ll take a Piercing Metamagic Rod since the ring looks way over the top to craft and the rod will still let me power up three spells a day. When combined with my spell penetration feat it gives a total of +7 against SR.