Adding Feats to a Magic Item [Archive] - Wizards Community

Adding Feats to a Magic Item [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
paulb104
01-08-08, 10:20 PM The Sylvan Scimitar, in certain situations, grants its wielder the use of the Cleave feat and deals an extra 1d6 points of damage.

The weapon costs 18,000 gp more than a +3 weapon.

Are there rules for adding a feat to a magic item?

For instance, I might want to add combat reflexes to gloves, or point blank shot to a bow, or even spring attack to boots.

Thanks!!!!
narack
01-09-08, 08:00 AM I made a post like that while ago here what i had made :

- Arm wrist of running
Allow the wearer to use the Run feat as he would have
selected it in his feat list. price (35,000gp).

- Leather armor of the journeyman
This armor provide to the wearer the following feats: Light armor proficiencies, Shield proficiencies, Martial Weapon proficiencies. The armor itself is a masterwork leather armor.
price (75,000gp)

- Pants of ridding
The wearer is considered having the feat Mounted Combat.
price (30,000gp).

The easiest way i found was to base on a similar magic item ability, but a guy suggest a nice calculation. XP of a fighter level X, where X is the level where the fighter would have all prerequisite +1 level. With that XP you can use the magic item rule for price by XP cost. Does not work each time, you still have to evaluate the price a bit. But around 20k-40k price for low level feats is a good price, it should be your range.
NOCTEBRISA
01-09-08, 09:19 AM Well,

there is a 2nd level spell that add a feat (1 hour /lev)...

and...

Use-activated or continuous Spell level x caster level x 2,000 gp2 Lantern of revealing

2 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.

Cost = 2 x 15 x 2000 = 60.000 gp.

I use 15 in caster level because this spell have a rare component, a piece of armor... but no a simple armor... a 15th figther's armor... a very rare component in my campaign.
paulb104
01-09-08, 10:42 AM Well, there is a 2nd level spell that add a feat (1 hour /lev)...

What spell might that be?

The only one I could find, via an srd search of "spell feat" is Keen Edge, which is a third level spell.
paulb104
01-09-08, 11:04 AM I'm curious about a few things...

- Arm wrist of running (35,000gp).

Body Slot Affinities say that boots are for movement. Did you multiply the entire cost by 1.5 because of uncustomary space limitation?

- Leather armor of the journeyman (75,000gp)

Light armor proficiency, ok; shield proficiency, sure. Martial Weapon proficiencies? There are twenty eight martial weapons. In essence, this item grant the wearer 30 feats.

Pants of ridding (30,000gp)
Since there's no "pants" slot in body slot affinities, was the entire cost multiplied by 2 as it was a no space limitation item?

Ignoring those particular questions...

As the Arm Wrist had one feat, and the Pants had one feat, why was their cost 5000gp different?

I see where you were going, btw, with the armor. Even so, as you saw/see it there are three feats added to the armor. The other two items have a single feat yet the price of the armor was only (roughly) double? I would have though triple...
Merestil Haye
01-09-08, 02:02 PM What spell might that be?I'm fairly sure he is referring to Heroics, but it only lasts 10 minutes per level. Heroics is in the Spell Compendium.

The correct way to price an item is to find an item that does the same (or a similar) thing and price accordingly. There are very few feat-granting items, because feats are so variable in their effect.

In the SRD, the only feat-granting items are the metamagic rods (which allow the relevant feat to be applied three times per day) and an Ioun Stone. The rods are a bit problematic to use as a basis for feat-granting items, both because of the daily use limit and because they don't do exactly what the feat does, but somewhat more.

The Dark Blue Rhomboid Ioun Stone is a slotless item that essentially grants the Alertness feat, and costs 10,000gp. Now since slotless items are double the cost of a relevantly slotted item, that suggests that a Headband of Alertness (say) would price out at about 5,000gp. That would pitch the item at around 7th level play.

It might be argued that 5k is the right price for any of the feats that give +2 to two skills, but I'm hesitant to agree to that because (quite frankly) most such feats don't offer as much as Alertness to the average PC; so I'm going to suggest that the regular price for a +2-to-2-skill feat is 2,500gp. I retain the option for charging double price (5k) for any feat giving a bonus to an exceedingly useful skill (say, Tumble or UMD) particularly if the skill has a flat DC.

The Heroics spell grants feats. However, the feats are from a limited selection, and you must have all the prerequisites for the feat to benefit from the spell. The latter restriction (IMO anyway) makes it quite acceptable to put any of the allowable feats into an item, because in order to benefit from a feat with multiple prereqs, the creature must have those prereqs. One way or another.

The baseline cost of a continuous-function item mimicing a 2nd level spell at CL3 that lasts 10 min/level is 18k. That ptiches the item at 11th level play (give or take a bit), which is a bit high. I'd prefer it to be available at midrange (it is based on a second level spell, after all) and thus halve the cost to 9k. That puts it in around 9th level play.

Noctebrisa brings up an interesting point though. The material component may be hard to come by - although just how pricey is a suit of broken armour, and how do you work out if a creature with the appropriate number of class levels owned one?

If you decide that this counts as a costly material component, put a value to it and add 100 times that cost to the base price of the item to get the market price of the feat-granting item. This will not affect the xp cost or time to create, both of which are derived from the market price.

I'm afraid that I found Narack's items overpriced. The costs he proposes are suitable for items pitched at about 13th to 15th level play. Think about the powers characters of that level have, then ask yourself whether they would really want to invest 75k of their wealth and pay the opportunity cost of putting an item in a body-slot (and thus precluding him wearing other items in that slot) to get something that they could obtain by taking one level in any one of a number of classes.

Another issue; does the item grant the feat, or just the same sort of power as the feat? If the former, what about PrC entry requirements? I don't worry about the latter, because my answer is "Lose the requirement and lose the class powers." YMMV. If it does, you might want to take that into account when deciding if the item grants the feat or not.

In summary pricing feat-granting items tends to be one of the trickiest areas of magic item valuation, primarily because there is no one good method of evaluating the feat's power.

And lastly, no item should grant Dodge bonuses to AC, so no item should ever be allowed to replicate the Dodge feat. If you do allow it, please recall that Dodge bonuses stack with each other and price appropriately.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
paulb104 01-08-08, 10:20 PM	The Sylvan Scimitar, in certain situations, grants its wielder the use of the Cleave feat and deals an extra 1d6 points of damage. The weapon costs 18,000 gp more than a +3 weapon. Are there rules for adding a feat to a magic item? For instance, I might want to add combat reflexes to gloves, or point blank shot to a bow, or even spring attack to boots. Thanks!!!!
narack 01-09-08, 08:00 AM	I made a post like that while ago here what i had made : - Arm wrist of running Allow the wearer to use the Run feat as he would have selected it in his feat list. price (35,000gp). - Leather armor of the journeyman This armor provide to the wearer the following feats: Light armor proficiencies, Shield proficiencies, Martial Weapon proficiencies. The armor itself is a masterwork leather armor. price (75,000gp) - Pants of ridding The wearer is considered having the feat Mounted Combat. price (30,000gp). The easiest way i found was to base on a similar magic item ability, but a guy suggest a nice calculation. XP of a fighter level X, where X is the level where the fighter would have all prerequisite +1 level. With that XP you can use the magic item rule for price by XP cost. Does not work each time, you still have to evaluate the price a bit. But around 20k-40k price for low level feats is a good price, it should be your range.
NOCTEBRISA 01-09-08, 09:19 AM	Well, there is a 2nd level spell that add a feat (1 hour /lev)... and... Use-activated or continuous Spell level x caster level x 2,000 gp2 Lantern of revealing 2 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. Cost = 2 x 15 x 2000 = 60.000 gp. I use 15 in caster level because this spell have a rare component, a piece of armor... but no a simple armor... a 15th figther's armor... a very rare component in my campaign.
paulb104 01-09-08, 10:42 AM	Well, there is a 2nd level spell that add a feat (1 hour /lev)... What spell might that be? The only one I could find, via an srd search of "spell feat" is Keen Edge, which is a third level spell.
paulb104 01-09-08, 11:04 AM	I'm curious about a few things... - Arm wrist of running (35,000gp). Body Slot Affinities say that boots are for movement. Did you multiply the entire cost by 1.5 because of uncustomary space limitation? - Leather armor of the journeyman (75,000gp) Light armor proficiency, ok; shield proficiency, sure. Martial Weapon proficiencies? There are twenty eight martial weapons. In essence, this item grant the wearer 30 feats. Pants of ridding (30,000gp) Since there's no "pants" slot in body slot affinities, was the entire cost multiplied by 2 as it was a no space limitation item? Ignoring those particular questions... As the Arm Wrist had one feat, and the Pants had one feat, why was their cost 5000gp different? I see where you were going, btw, with the armor. Even so, as you saw/see it there are three feats added to the armor. The other two items have a single feat yet the price of the armor was only (roughly) double? I would have though triple...
Merestil Haye 01-09-08, 02:02 PM	What spell might that be?I'm fairly sure he is referring to Heroics, but it only lasts 10 minutes per level. Heroics is in the Spell Compendium. The correct way to price an item is to find an item that does the same (or a similar) thing and price accordingly. There are very few feat-granting items, because feats are so variable in their effect. In the SRD, the only feat-granting items are the metamagic rods (which allow the relevant feat to be applied three times per day) and an Ioun Stone. The rods are a bit problematic to use as a basis for feat-granting items, both because of the daily use limit and because they don't do exactly what the feat does, but somewhat more. The Dark Blue Rhomboid Ioun Stone is a slotless item that essentially grants the Alertness feat, and costs 10,000gp. Now since slotless items are double the cost of a relevantly slotted item, that suggests that a Headband of Alertness (say) would price out at about 5,000gp. That would pitch the item at around 7th level play. It might be argued that 5k is the right price for any of the feats that give +2 to two skills, but I'm hesitant to agree to that because (quite frankly) most such feats don't offer as much as Alertness to the average PC; so I'm going to suggest that the regular price for a +2-to-2-skill feat is 2,500gp. I retain the option for charging double price (5k) for any feat giving a bonus to an exceedingly useful skill (say, Tumble or UMD) particularly if the skill has a flat DC. The Heroics spell grants feats. However, the feats are from a limited selection, and you must have all the prerequisites for the feat to benefit from the spell. The latter restriction (IMO anyway) makes it quite acceptable to put any of the allowable feats into an item, because in order to benefit from a feat with multiple prereqs, the creature must have those prereqs. One way or another. The baseline cost of a continuous-function item mimicing a 2nd level spell at CL3 that lasts 10 min/level is 18k. That ptiches the item at 11th level play (give or take a bit), which is a bit high. I'd prefer it to be available at midrange (it is based on a second level spell, after all) and thus halve the cost to 9k. That puts it in around 9th level play. Noctebrisa brings up an interesting point though. The material component may be hard to come by - although just how pricey is a suit of broken armour, and how do you work out if a creature with the appropriate number of class levels owned one? If you decide that this counts as a costly material component, put a value to it and add 100 times that cost to the base price of the item to get the market price of the feat-granting item. This will not affect the xp cost or time to create, both of which are derived from the market price. I'm afraid that I found Narack's items overpriced. The costs he proposes are suitable for items pitched at about 13th to 15th level play. Think about the powers characters of that level have, then ask yourself whether they would really want to invest 75k of their wealth and pay the opportunity cost of putting an item in a body-slot (and thus precluding him wearing other items in that slot) to get something that they could obtain by taking one level in any one of a number of classes. Another issue; does the item grant the feat, or just the same sort of power as the feat? If the former, what about PrC entry requirements? I don't worry about the latter, because my answer is "Lose the requirement and lose the class powers." YMMV. If it does, you might want to take that into account when deciding if the item grants the feat or not. In summary pricing feat-granting items tends to be one of the trickiest areas of magic item valuation, primarily because there is no one good method of evaluating the feat's power. And lastly, no item should grant Dodge bonuses to AC, so no item should ever be allowed to replicate the Dodge feat. If you do allow it, please recall that Dodge bonuses stack with each other and price appropriately.