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Archives of Nethys

Pathfinder RPG (2nd Edition) Pathfinder RPG (1st Edition) Starfinder RPG

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GameMastery Guide / Rewards / PCs Controlling Rewards

Making Magic Items

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 116
In every campaign, there comes a time when the PCs are no longer satisfied with the magic items available to their characters. Whether looking for a power to complement their skills, a new twist on an old favorite, or just the sheer joy of invention, creating a new magic item opens up new venues for a PC. It is also a great way to leave a mark on the campaign—after all, even the oldest magic items were once new to the world.

Pricing a magic item is more art than science. Guidance on item pricing is given in Table 15–29 in the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook, but a trip through the magic item section shows the formulas are often not applied exactly. An example is the ring of invisibility, with a calculated price of 10,800 gp, but a book value of 20,000 gp. This is because the at-will nature of the ring offsets the biggest drawback of invisibility, namely that it ends after attacking. When pricing new magic items, watch out for any item that counteracts a basic weakness of an ability, class, or spell.

The best test for item pricing is to compare it to “must have” items in the game, like weapons, armor, and stat-boosting gear. Also compare it to other items that share the same slot, and items with similar powers. As a rule of thumb, if you’d take the item in a heartbeat over a more expensive standard item, it is probably too cheap. And if you’d never consider taking a 10,000 gp ring over a belt of physical might +2 or even a +2 battleaxe, it might just be overpriced. However, it is safer to price items too high rather than too low. After all, the PC gets a new, custom magic item out of the arrangement, and that’s worth paying a bit extra.

Ad-Hoc Pricing

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 117
If there’s no effect in Table 15–29 that matches the new item’s powers, try looking through existing magic items for something that’s close. For example, Seltyiel wants to add the bladethirst ability to his longsword, a power he’s come up with that lets him draw the weapon as a free action. This is essentially the Quick Draw feat, but tied to a single weapon. Even though it’s a weapon enhancement, Seltyiel wants it as a flat cost, like adding fire resistance to a suit of armor. Looking over the ability, the GM decides that this fits well, since it doesn’t really scale up with a more powerful weapon. Gloves of arrow snaring are a 4,000 gp item that grants a feat, so the GM uses this as the base price. Multiple different abilities on a magic item would normally increase this cost by 50%, but since the Quick Draw feat would allow drawing items other than just a single weapon, the GM splits the difference and makes it a 5,000 gp weapon enhancement.

Keeping the Balance

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 117
Watch out for magic items that provide benefits beyond the calculated price. Keep an eye toward preserving the existing power level of magic items in the game.

Disadvantages That Aren’t: Be wary of items that are designed with a class or alignment restriction in order to lower the price. Since the item’s restriction doesn’t restrict the character who is going to use it, it isn’t really a drawback at all and shouldn’t reduce the price.

Slotless Items: The Pathfinder RPG is designed with assumptions about how many magic items a character can reasonably use at the same time, requiring players to make hard choices about which magic items their PCs acquire. Slotless items like ioun stones are usually either relatively low-powered or specialized in purpose. Think carefully before allowing a new magic that essentially duplicates an old one, but without using up an item slot.

Good Item, Bad Formula: Take a look at what the magic item actually does, and compare it to the formula used. Consider tweaking the cost or powers to match the provided benefit. A ring that provides mind blank calculates to 153,000 gp, while one that casts mind blank once per day (at 24 hours per use) comes out to 55,080 gp. In truth, there’s not a large difference in utility between the two items, and the first ring is a better fit for the theme of continuous mental protection.