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#1 Kevin_Andrew_Murphy May 24, 2007 13:15:45

After reviewing the Magic Item Compendium's section on adding enhancements to existing items, I devised some extensions and extrapolations which I plan to use for my game and hope will be useful for yours as well. Currently there's no way listed to transfer enchantments from item to item short of an artificer smashing an item for XP and recrafting a new item or else just using a Wish or a Miracle. That's both illogical and messy if you want to keep the same enchantment. With the following rules, the same base enchantment can be transfered, enhanced, slotted, unslotted or multislotted, or even warped into a slightly different form. Take for example the Guantlets of Ogre Power (+2 Strength 4000GP, hand slot), the Belt of Giant Strength (+4 Strength 16000 GP, +6 Strength 36000 GP, waist slot), and the Pale Blue Ioun Stone (+2 Strength, 8000 GP, unslotted). They're all based on Bull's Strength. Moreover, back in 1st ed, there was a neat bit where the bonus from the belt and the guantlets stacked. Since the Magic Items Compendium now has recreated "item sets," it's within the spirit of the game to rule that they still can, using the following formula: Take the highest costed item in a set (Belt of Giant Strength +4, 16,000GP), calculate how much it would be to raise it to the next enhancement bonus (+4 to +6, 20,000GP), halve that (10,000GP) and deduct the cost of the lowest costed item in the set (Guantlets of Ogre Power +2, 4000 GP) for a final cost of the bonus that only appears when both items in a set are worn (6000GP). This hidden extra value is divided equally between the items of a set, so a pair of Guantlets of Ogre Power +2 that stack with a Belt of Giant Strength +4 for a total strength bonus of +6 when both items are worn are worth 7000GP and 19,000GP respectively, or a total of 26,000GP for the set (and a savings of 10,000 GP over a pair of guantlets or belt that give a +6 alone). Note: Yes, this formula can be applied to bonuses of +8 or above, but it requires an epic level character to pull this off at epic prices (though the discount still applies). The same magics can also be transfered, split or combined. One Pale Blue Ioun Stone (+2 Strength, 8000 GP, unslotted) can be turned into two pairs of Guantlets of Ogre Power (+2 Strength, 4000GP, hand slot) and vice versa, or a pile of stones and guantlets could be used to make a Belt of Giant Strength or to add a strength enhancement to a belt that already had other magical powers. To transfer the magics requires no additional gold or XP and takes half the time it originally did to craft the base item or enhancement. However, the individual transfering the magics must have the requisite Item Creation Feat for the item in question, usually Craft Wondrous Item, Craft Magical Arms and Armor, Craft Rod or Forge Ring, as well as the appropriate level, requisite spells and other requirements, and make a Spellcraft check, difficulty 20 + the caster level of the spell. For example, if Miallee has Craft Wondrous Item, she can transfer magics and bonuses between a Cloak of Resistance and Vest of Resistance, but would be unable to affect a Ring of Protection unless she also had Forge Ring and somehow was able to cast Shield of Faith. Artificers may emulate spells and additional requirements as usual with a Use Magic Device check, this in addition to the Spellcraft check to transfer. Failure destroys the magic being juggled. Items which are part of Item Sets cannot be stripped of their enhancements beyond the baseline described in the Magic Items Compendium. For example, A Crown of Flames from the Regalia of the Phoenix must remain at bare minimum a Crown of Flames, even if the user has no use for +2 Charisma and Fire Shield once a day. Similarly, iconic items can't be stripped beyond their base either -- a Rod of Splendor must remain a Rod of Splendor. However, with DM permission and common sense, it is possible to meld complementary magics, such as combining the magics of a Rod of Splendor with a those of a Talon Scepter, with some additional enhancement such that when the Crown of Flames (+2 Charisma) is combined with the Rod of Splendor/Talon Scepter (+4 Charisma), the owner gains a total of +6 Charisma. Refashioning Items: Some items, notably the Seven Veils, are not style or gender appropriate to certain characters, and even a Hat of Disguise cannot prevent embarrassment when someone with a Gem of True Seeing sees the bearded archmage decked out in a skirt and tiara. To recraft a magic item into a more desirable fashion requires an individual with the appropriate Item Creation feat, at least one rank in the appropriate craft skill per 10,000 GP value of the item (rounded up) or Skill Focus in the appropriate craft, and one day per 10,000 GP value (rounded up) or use of a Fabricate spell. Racial bonuses to crafts and all other similar bonuses, such as the ones granted by the Mark of Making, the Magecraft spell, bardic Inspire Competence or simply masterwork tools, count as ranks in the skill. Changing an item into a radically different material, such as turning a leather headband into a golden crown, requires both Craft Leatherworking and Craft Metalworking. Refashioning can be done concurrent with enhancing. Item Base Values, or, "If a Mordenkainen's Disjunction hit, what would your outfit be worth?": Simple answer -- one dime. Assume that the average outfit consist of cap, cloak, robe, belt and shoes. A peasant's outfit is worth one silver, so divided by five, each of those is worth two coppers, and a single sandal is worth a copper. A traveler or artisan's outfit is worth ten times that, so a single shoe is worth a dime. A royal outfit is worth 200 GP, so a slipper fit for a princess is 20 GP, or 40 GP for the pair or for any other item of truly sumptous clothing with fur, embroidery and semiprecious stones. Jewelry is the same -- all that's needed for a magic ring is a plain metal band worth one copper. Of course, most wizards opt for something fancier and that's what's left if the item is disjoined from the magic. In the case of high ticket expendible items, such as Rings of Wishes and Helms of Brilliance, what's left behind after the magic's left can be as little as a cheap tin ring or a paper party crown or as much as a lavish memento advertising the services of the wizard or guild who crafted the original item. The Trouble with Pairs or "I found a single Guantlet of Ogre Power in the stomach of an infernal crocodile. What can I do with it?": By the rules, you need both mates of a pair of gloves, guantlets, boots, slippers or bracers for the magic to function. In reality, gloves get lost. If you find one of a pair, you can use it as a focus to scry for the mate. Artificers cannot dismantle it for XP -- they need both for that -- nor can they make it a new mate. One however is enough to study the design and make a new set. Note: as there is currently a single Glove of Storing that takes the hand slot, and a single Wand Bracelet that takes the arm slot, and both could by the new Magic Item Compendium rules take buffing enchantments, so you could make a single glove, bracer or boot that would hold all the magic with a nonmagical mate. However, this is likely not done as much because the nonmagical one wouldn't have any of the resizing enchantments -- but it is an option. Hence, magics may be transfered to a single glove, bracer or boot or split out to a pair, as above. Warping Enchantments: A Cloak of Charisma +2 and a Circlet of Persuasion are both based on Eagle's Splendor. With a Spellcraft check, DC 20 + the caster level, an individual with the appropriate Item Creation feats and spell in question can warp the spell energy to the other form, paying the difference in XP and gold or leaving a resevoir of unused potential to be used for further enhancements. Similarly, the energy type of a Ring of Energy Resistance could be switched or a wand's command word changed (though the original command word must still be known). Artificers can emulate the spell with Use Magic Device as per usual.