Toolsetting Cast Spell Items (Pricing!)

[AcadiusLost]

So, I've been exploring how the toolset arrives at a "Base Cost" for Cast Spell type items lately, and had some breakthroughs. ALFA generally uses a set of tables for it's Cast Spell Item pricing (Potions, Scrolls, Wands, Rods, Staves, Miscellaneous Items), which is derived directly from 3.5E Dungeon Master's Guide pricing. The challenge has been reconciling those numbers with the wildly variant numbers that appear in the toolset when you actually attach the "Cast Spell" properties to an item.

I've a few rows left to edit, but I should soon be in possession of a set of 2da files we can incorporate into the haks, which will give most all items using the Cast Spell itemproperties the correct pricing without a lot of number-juggling in the toolset. This will almost certainly require some rejuggling of prices on existing items for sale in the mods, but should make things significantly easier for builders down the line.

So far I've got this done for most every spell of 0th to 3rd level, I'll go back for the higher-level ones in a second pass later (4th+ level spell scrolls and items ought to still be pretty rare in ALFA AFAIK). These changes haven't gone in yet, we will try to have a set of repriced ABR scrolls/potions/etc ready to cooincide with the hak update that will bring these 2das in.

Scrolls: When the Base Item Type is set to Scroll, and a "Single Use" Cast Spell itemproperty is added, it will price to the canon/ALFA formula:
Spell Level x Caster Level x 25 gp

Potions: When the Base Item Type is set to Potion (or Potion (usable on others)), a Single-Use Cast Spell itemproperty will price to the canon/ALFA formula:
Spell Level x Caster Level x 50 gp

Wands/Staves: When the Base Item Type is Magic Wand or Magic Staff, and a Cast Spell (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 charges per use), the item will price using Spell Trigger pricing. Important: The item should also be set up with restrictions on class, based on which classes get that particular spell in their lists (Wizard/Sorc only for Fireball, etc). Pricing follows the canon/ALFA formula:
Spell Level x Caster Level x 750 gp (assuming 1 charge per use, 50 charges total. Value scales up down linearly according to charge cost and number of charges remaining).

Rods/Charged Misc items: Most miscellaneous base item types and Magic Rods (baseitemtypes) will price using the Command Word structure, which is more expensive due to the lack of class restrictions. The formula is:
Spell Level x Caster Level x 900 gp (1 charge / use, 50 charges, scaling)

Rods/Misc Items, useable/day: Other miscellaneous items, boots, gloves, cloaks, hats, rods, etc with Cast Spell (x), 1-5 times/day, will price according to the canon/ALFA formula here:
Spell Level x Caster Level x 360 gp x uses per day

All of the above should price correctly, automatically, using these new 2das (once I'm done editing the itemproperty spell listing and add the new set to the haks). Old items which had been adjusted manually for cost may need to be fixed, though in most cases they shouldn't be far enough off the mark to require replacing items owned by PCs already.

Notes:

• 0th level cantrips count as 0.5 for spell level in these calculations.
• Not all spells are available at minimum caster level, though I have been adding these as I go.
• Pricing tends to be based on the lowest spell level/CL combination, which may or may not be appropriate based on class of the crafter or user, as some spells appear at lower levels in other classes' spell lists.
• The "Added Cost" field will still be usable to manually adjust the total value of the item, but for charged items, this will not taper down with use.
• Base Cost calculations will not take into account bonus cost/value for stacking multiple Cast Spell properties on a single item. It is recommended to avoid multiple spell-cast items, where they must be used, Added Cost will still be needed to adjust to proper canon/ALFA pricing.

[HEEGZ]

Awesome.

[Curmudgeon]

On confirmation with you, AL, I'll start on redoing the scrolls. I hope we don't have to go out and replace items that are already instanced in the Live mods.

We need to make it clear to builders and DMs that they should be using only the ABR-compliant items.

[AcadiusLost]

Oddly enough, this 2da revamp would probably make the standard creator/blueprint Cast Spell items price properly.

But, that's neither here nor there for the moment.

[AcadiusLost]

Update: Spent the entirety of yesterday evening continuing work on the iprp_spells.2da repricing and relabeling work (must have been 5 hours or so of editing). Turns out there were long stretches of Cast Spell Itemproperties that were never labeled with what caster level they were (and still others that were labeled, but incorrectly), as well as a few that were in as an impossible spell level /caster level combo (5th level spell at Caster Level 7?). All those should appear correctly after the hak update, which I'm hoping to apply on Friday or Saturday.

I've got the whole file repriced now for spells of levels 1-3, with most of it done for higher level spells as well, I'm just still in the process of filling in the remainder of the high-level spell rows.

I've put together a temporary hak and tlk file for those who wish to help with repricing existing magic items, scrolls, potions, etc: contact me on IRC for details if you wish to help out.

[dergon darkhelm]

Update: Spent the entirety of yesterday evening continuing work on the iprp_spells.2da repricing and relabeling work (must have been 5 hours or so of editing). Turns out there were long stretches of Cast Spell Itemproperties that were never labeled with what caster level they were (and still others that were labeled, but incorrectly), as well as a few that were in as an impossible spell level /caster level combo (5th level spell at Caster Level 7?). All those should appear correctly after the hak update, which I'm hoping to apply on Friday or Saturday.

I've got the whole file repriced now for spells of levels 1-3, with most of it done for higher level spells as well, I'm just still in the process of filling in the remainder of the high-level spell rows.

I've put together a temporary hak and tlk file for those who wish to help with repricing existing magic items, scrolls, potions, etc: contact me on IRC for details if you wish to help out.

Thank you, AL! All the work .......just...thanks

[ElCadaver]

900 bucks for a first level spell twice a day! sweet... Kert will be the most spellcastery fighter ever!

[AcadiusLost]

Got through the last of the rows last night.

Also got Grende-like items (Holy water, Acid Flasks, Firebombs, Acid bombs, Tanglefoot bags, Caltrops, etc) to price according to the v10 manual pricing standards for ALFA, at least as #uses/day on Miscellaneous Items.

May have to juggle the baseitems compensation factor to get the single-use throwables to price correctly as well.

Haven't had time to start working through the magical item palettes of TSM or BG yet to get them adjusted to the new Base Costs.

[AcadiusLost]

These fixes are in now. Builders may run Worldgate to see the new pricing in their toolsets.

[Veilan]

Just one small clarification:

Scrolls, too, should have spell trigger restrictions. Scrolls that don't are effectively potions, and get priced accordingly.

[AcadiusLost]

Correct. Though this cannot be managed directly via the 2da files, it is understood that appropriate "Required Class" restrictions need to be placed on the scrolls in order for them to be compliant.

On the off change that these are missed out, the ACR scroll system might still block their use based on lack of an appropriate Caster Level with which to activate the scroll, unless the user has Use Magic Device ranks (under which conditions skill checks would have to be passed).