Creating Magic Items

To create magic items, spellcasters use special feats. They invest time, money, and their own personal energy (in the form of experience points) in an item’s creation.

Note that all items have prerequisites in their descriptions. These prerequisites must be met for the item to be created. Most of the time, they take the form of spells that must be known by the item’s creator (although access through another magic item or spellcaster is allowed).

While item creation costs are handled in detail below, note that normally the two primary factors are the caster level of the creator and the level of the spell or spells put into the item. A creator can create an item at a lower caster level than her own, but never lower than the minimum level needed to cast the needed spell. Using metamagic feats, a caster can place spells in items at a higher level than normal.

Magic supplies for items are always half of the base price in gp and 1⁄25 of the base price in XP. For many items, the market price equals the base price.

Armor, shields, weapons, and items with a value independent of their magically enhanced properties add their item cost to the market price. The item cost does not influence the base price (which determines the cost of magic supplies and the experience point cost), but it does increase the final market price.

In addition, some items cast or replicate spells with costly material components or with XP components. For these items, the market price equals the base price plus an extra price for the spell component costs. Each XP in the component costs adds 5 gp to the market price. The cost to create these items is the magic supplies cost and the base XP cost (both determined by the base price) plus the costs for the components. Descriptions of these items include an entry that gives the total cost of creating the item.

The creator also needs a fairly quiet, comfortable, and well-lit place in which to work. Any place suitable for preparing spells is suitable for making items. Creating an item requires one day per 1,000 gp in the item’s base price, with a minimum of at least one day. Potions are an exception to this rule; they always take just one day to brew. The character must spend the gold and XP at the beginning of the construction process.

The caster works for 8 hours each day. He cannot rush the process by working longer each day. But the days need not be consecutive, and the caster can use the rest of his time as he sees fit.

A character can work on only one item at a time. If a character starts work on a new item, all materials used and XP spent on the under-construction item are wasted.

The secrets of creating artifacts are long lost…?

Understanding the Tables

A few abbreviations are used in the following two tables.

Ch: Charges to activate the spell. Staffs can be enchanted so that it takes more than one charge to activate a particular spell enchanted into the staff.

CL: Caster level. This is the level in the class that the magic item maker is using to make the magic item. For a multi-class maker with two or more spellcasting classes, the maker chooses which class (and therefore caster level) to use.

EB: Enhancement bonus. This is used mainly in reference to magic armor, shields, and weapons. It is divided into two categories: EBs, which is starting enhancement bonus of the armor, shield, or weapon and determines the improvement to Armor Class (for armor or shields) or bonus to attack and damage rolls (for weapons). EBp represents the enhancement bonus equivalent of any magical properties added to the armor, shield, or weapon. EB is the sum of EBs and EBp. EB is used to calculate item base prices and to determine item aura strength (see detect magic).

FPC: Fixed property costs. Some properties have fixed costs instead of enhancement bonus equivalents; these are added directly to the item base price.

SL: Spell level. The level of the spell being enchanted into a magic item.

Magic Item Gold Piece Values

Many factors must be considered when determining the price of new magic items. The easiest way to come up with a price is to match the new item to an item that is already priced that price as a guide. Otherwise, use the guidelines summarized on the Estimating Magic Item Gold Piece Values table.

Multiple Similar Abilities: For items with multiple similar abilities that don’t take up space on a character’s body use the following formula: Calculate the price of the single most costly ability, then add 75% of the value of the next most costly ability, plus one-half the value of any other abilities.

Multiple Different Abilities: Abilities such as an attack roll bonus or saving throw bonus and a spell-like function are not similar, and their values are simply added together to determine the cost. For items that do take up a space on a character’s body each additional power not only has no discount but instead has a 50% increase in price.

0-Level Spells: When multiplying spell levels to determine value, 0-level spells should be treated as ½ level.

Other Considerations: Once you have a final cost figure, reduce that number if either of the following conditions applies:

1. Item Requires Skill to Use: Some items require a specific skill to get them to function. This factor should reduce the cost about 10%.
2. Item Requires Specific Class or Alignment to Use: Even more restrictive than requiring a skill, this limitation cuts the cost by 30%.

Prices presented in the magic item descriptions (the gold piece value following the item’s caster level) are the market value, which is generally twice what it costs the creator to make the item.

Since different classes get access to certain spells at different levels, the prices for two characters to make the same item might actually be different. An item is only worth two times what the caster of lowest possible level can make it for. Calculate the market price based on the lowest possible level caster, no matter who makes the item.

Not all items adhere to these formulas directly. The reasons for this are several. First and foremost, these few formulas aren’t enough to truly gauge the exact differences between items. The price of a magic item may be modified based on its actual worth. The formulas only provide a starting point. The pricing of scrolls assumes that, whenever possible, a wizard or cleric created it. Potions and wands follow the formulas exactly. Staffs follow the formulas closely, and other items require at least some judgment calls.

Masterwork Items

Masterwork items are extraordinarily well-made items. They are more expensive, but they benefit the user with improved quality. They are not magical in any way. However, only masterwork items may be enhanced to become magic armor and weapons. (Items that are not weapons or armor may or may not be masterwork items.)

The cost of masterwork armor or a masterwork shield is 150 gp plus the base cost of the armor or shield as determined on the Armor and Shields table. The armor check penalty of masterwork armor and shields is reduced by 1.

The cost of a masterwork weapon is 300 gp (or 600 gp for a double weapon) plus the base cost of the weapon as shown on the Weapons table. Masterwork weapons receive a +1 enhancement bonus to attack rolls. This does not stack with enhancement bonuses from magical enchantment.

Special Materials

In addition to magic items created with spells, some substances have innate special properties. While only a few such materials are presented here, other special materials may exist in a given campaign. If you make a suit of armor or weapon out of more than one special material, you get the benefit of only the most prevalent material. For example, full plate made of both adamantine and mithral will either provide damage reduction or lower weight, not both. However, you can build a double weapon with each head made of a different special material. A dire flail, for example, could have an alchemical silver head for fighting lycanthropes and a cold iron head for fighting fey.

Adamantine: Found only in meteorites and the rarest of veins in magical areas, this ultrahard metal adds to the quality of a weapon or suit of armor. Weapons fashioned from adamantine have a natural ability to bypass hardness when sundering weapons or attacking objects, ignoring hardness less than 20. Armor made from adamantine grants its wearer damage reduction of 1/⁠— if it’s light armor, 2/⁠— if it’s medium armor, and 3/⁠— if it’s heavy armor. Adamantine is so costly that weapons and armor made from it are always of masterwork quality; the masterwork cost is included in the prices given below. Thus, adamantine weapons and ammunition have a +1 enhancement bonus on attack rolls, and the armor check penalty of adamantine armor is lessened by 1 compared to ordinary armor of its type. Items without metal parts cannot be made from adamantine. An arrow could be made of adamantine, but a quarterstaff could not. (However, a quarterstaff could have metal ferrules made of the same or different metals.)

Only weapons, armor, and shields normally made of metal can be fashioned from adamantine. Weapons, armor and shields normally made of steel that are made of adamantine have one-third more hit points than normal; for instance, an adamantine greatsword has 13 hit points instead of the normal 10 for steel. Adamantine has 40 hit points per inch of thickness and hardness 20.

Darkwood: This rare magic wood is as hard as normal wood but very light. Any wooden or mostly wooden item (such as a bow, an arrow, or a spear) made from darkwood is considered a masterwork item and weighs only half as much as a normal wooden item of that type. Items not normally made of wood or only partially of wood (such as a battleaxe or a mace) either cannot be made from darkwood or do not gain any special benefit from being made of darkwood. The armor check penalty of a darkwood shield is lessened by 2 compared to an ordinary shield of its type. To determine the price of a darkwood item, use the original weight but add 10 gp per pound to the price of a masterwork version of that item.

Darkwood has 10 hit points per inch of thickness and hardness 5.

Dragonhide: Armorsmiths can work with the hides of dragons to produce armor or shields of masterwork quality. One dragon produces enough hide for a single suit of masterwork hide armor for a creature one size category smaller than the dragon. By selecting only choice scales and bits of hide, an armorsmith can produce one suit of masterwork banded mail for a creature two sizes smaller, one suit of masterwork half-plate for a creature three sizes smaller, or one masterwork breastplate or suit of full plate for a creature four sizes smaller. In each case, enough hide is available to produce a small or large masterwork shield in addition to the armor, provided that the dragon is Large or larger.

Because dragonhide armor isn’t made of metal, druids can wear it without penalty.

Dragonhide armor costs double what masterwork armor of that type ordinarily costs, but it takes no longer to make than ordinary armor of that type.

Dragonhide has 10 hit points per inch of thickness and hardness 10.

Iron, Cold: This iron mined deep underground, known for its effectiveness against fey creatures, is forged at a lower temperature to preserve its delicate properties. Weapons made of cold iron cost twice as much to make as their normal counterparts. Also, any magical enhancements cost an additional 2,000 gp. For example, a +2 longsword made of cold iron would cost 10,330 gp, because the price doubles for the longsword itself (15 gp to 30 gp), the masterwork component costs 300 gp, the +2 enhancement bonus costs 8,000 gp, and enhancing cold iron costs an additional 2,000 gp. (Unlike some special materials, the masterwork component is not included in the price of making a cold iron weapon and must be added separately.

Items without metal parts cannot be made from cold iron. An arrow could be made of cold iron, but a quarterstaff could not. (However, a quarterstaff could have metal ferrules made of the same or different metals.)

A double weapon that has only half of it made of cold iron increases its cost by 50%. A two-bladed sword with one end of cold iron and the other end steel would cost 150 gp.

Cold iron has 30 hit points per inch of thickness and hardness 10.

Mithral: Mithral is a very rare silvery, glistening metal that is lighter than iron but just as hard. When worked like steel, it becomes a wonderful material from which to create armor and is occasionally used for other items as well. Most mithral armors are one category lighter than normal for purposes of movement and other limitations (for example, whether a barbarian can use her fast movement ability while wearing the armor or not). Heavy armors are treated as medium, and medium armors are treated as light, but light armors are still treated as light. Spell failure chances for armors and shields made from mithral are decreased by 10%, maximum Dexterity bonus is increased by 2, and armor check penalties are lessened by 3 (to a minimum of 0).

An item made from mithral weighs half as much as the same item made from other metals. In the case of weapons, this lighter weight does not change a weapon’s size category or the ease with which it can be wielded (whether it is light, one-handed, or two-handed). Items not primarily of metal are not meaningfully affected by being partially made of mithral. (A longsword can be a mithral weapon, while a scythe cannot be.) Weapons or armors fashioned from mithral are always masterwork items as well; the masterwork cost is included in the prices given below.

Mithral has 30 hit points per inch of thickness and hardness 15.

Silver, Alchemical: A complex process involving metallurgy and alchemy can bond silver to a weapon made of steel so that it bypasses the damage reduction of creatures such as lycanthropes. On a successful attack with a silvered weapon, the wielder takes a –⁠1 penalty on the damage roll (with the usual minimum of 1 point of damage). The alchemical silvering process can’t be applied to nonmetal items, and it doesn’t work on rare metals such as adamantine, cold iron, and mithral.

Alchemical silver has 10 hit points per inch of thickness and hardness 8.

Even More Exotic Materials

These items found outside the core rulebooks have their book codes and page numbers in braces next to their names for reference.

Blue Ice {Fr 80}: Found only in the depths of the most ancient glaciers, veins of blue ice are often sought out by glacier dwarves. It appears as dark blue, opaque ice that sparkles in light as if it were coated with a tiny film of gemstones; this is merely a thin layer of frost that forms over its surface when exposed to air. The material is cold and feels identical to regular ice upon casual observation, but blue ice only melts under intense and direct application of heat, similar to iron. Those who mine this material from the ancient glaciers often do so simply by melting away the surrounding ice; this is a dangerous procedure, though, since it can rapidly destabilize the surrounding ice. As a result, only the most gifted miners attempt to mine blue ice.

Blue ice can be forged, shaped, and utilized as if it were iron. Blue ice is much lighter than iron, and when forged into a slashing weapon it keeps its edge much longer and is much sharper than an equally forged iron weapon. Slashing weapons made of blue ice have a +1 enhancement bonus on damage. Bludgeoning or piercing weapons can be made of blue ice, but they gain no bonuses to damage. All weapons made of blue ice weigh half as much as normal.

Blue ice isn’t just useful to make slashing weapons, though; it can be used to build anything that is normally built of iron. Many dwarven fortresses in the frostfell make heavy use of blue ice for metal components such as nails, tools, door hinges, utensils, and pretty much anything else they can think of; blue ice goblets and mugs are especially popular for export to warmer climates since they keep their contents chilled. A room lined with sheets of blue ice remains at a constant temperature of about freezing, making for an effective way to create refrigerated chambers for food storage. Items made out of blue ice weigh half as much as normal.

Blue ice armor is much lighter than normal armor, although it can be uncomfortable to wear for creatures not immune or resistant to cold. Only armor normally fashioned of metal can be made from blue ice. Most blue ice armors are one category lighter than normal for purposes of movement and other limitations, so that medium armor counts as light armor, and heavy armor counts as medium armor. Light armor remains light armor. Spell failure chances for arcane spells remains unchanged, with the exception of spells with the cold descriptor, which can be cast while wearing blue ice armor with no chance of spell failure. Maximum Dexterity bonus is increased by 1, and armor check penalties are lessened by 2. If the creature wearing the armor is not resistant or immune to cold, he takes a –⁠1 penalty on Reflex saving throws and initiative checks from the general numbness caused by the armor. The Cold Endurance feat is enough to prevent this effect. Blue ice has 20 hit points per inch of thickness and hardness 10.

Kheferu {Sa 136}: Quarried from rare meteorite craters, kheferu ore is an extremely hard, red substance. When forged as an alloy with iron, carbon, and other trace metals, the resultant material has a consistency and ductility like that of a standard steel alloy. This final product, simply called kheferu, is distinctive in its glossy sheen and crimson hue.

Many kinds of items can be crafted from kheferu, but weapons are the best choice because of the alloy’s particular qualities. A weapon forged from kheferu is bright red. Salt crystals grow on the sides of the weapon if it is left untended for more than a few months, but these are easily wiped away. A kheferu weapon bypasses the damage reduction of any creature of the earth subtype, regardless of the type of damage reduction the creature possesses.

Weapons made of kheferu cost twice as much to make as their normal counterparts. Also, any magical enhancements placed on the weapon cost an additional 2,000 gp. Items without metal parts cannot be made from kheferu. An arrow could be made of kheferu, but a quarterstaff could not. A double weapon that is only half made of kheferu increases its cost by 50%.

Kheferu has hardness 10 and 30 hit points per inch of thickness.

Pandemonic Silver {CW 136}: Mined from thin veins of ore on the plane of Pandemonium, pandemonic silver has all the properties of alchemical silver. In addition, a thin, unearthly scream issues forth from a bladed weapon made of pandemonic silver whenever it’s unsheathed in at least a light breeze. This scream is a sonic, mind-affecting compulsion that is a fear effect. Other than the wielder, those within 30 feet who hear the scream must succeed on a Will save or cower for 1d4 rounds. The DC of the Will save depends on the strength of the wind, as indicated on the table below.

Pandemonic silver can be used to coat the striking surface of any slashing or piercing weapon made of steel. The cost of the weapon increases as shown below.

Pearlsteel {Sto 128}: A strange metal crafted by secretive aventi metallurgists working near volcanic vents in the ocean floor, pearlsteel is gleaming, shining steel covered with a blue-white sheen like mother of pearl. Created from fine steel and rare silvery pearls found only in the ocean depths where the pressures alone would kill a land walker, pearlsteel is highly prized by all undersea races and constitutes a major trade item for the aventi.

Pearlsteel is very light, especially in water. Pearlsteel items weigh 25% less than their normal equivalents.

Pearlsteel also slices more smoothly through the resistance that water presents. When a slashing weapon made of pearlsteel is used in the water, its damage is reduced by –⁠1 rather than the normal –⁠2 for fighting in the water with a slashing weapon, and its damage is reduced by –⁠2 instead of half. Likewise, damage dealt underwater by a bludgeoning weapon made of pearlsteel is reduced by –⁠2 rather than reduced by half. The market price modifier for such a weapon is +1,500 gp.

Rimefire Ice {Fr 80}: This form of ice is found only in icebergs inhabited by rimefire eidolons. These icebergs are approximately 95% normal ice, but the remaining 5% consists of veins of pale blue ice that glows softly, providing illumination equal to that of a torch. Rimefire ice is especially cold to the touch, and any creature that comes in contact with it takes 1 point of cold damage per round of contact. Any amount of resistance or immunity to cold or the Mark of Hleid feat provides complete protection from this cold damage.

The most unusual aspect of rimefire ice is that it is approximately as flammable as wood; it does not melt when heat is applied to it. Burning rimefire ice does not deal fire damage, though, even if it is ignited by an open flame. Rather, burning rimefire ice deals cold damage on anything unfortunate enough to get too close.

Rimefire ice could make an interesting material to forge weapons out of; rimefire ice has about the same amount of resilience and strength as wood. It cannot be used to make any appreciable armor, but it can be used to create any weapon that is normally made out of wood (or nearly completely of wood, as in the case of a spear or javelin). Rimefire ice weapons glow with blue light, providing illumination to a 20-foot radius. They also deal +1 point of cold damage on each successful hit.

Since rimefire is workable as wood, it can be used to build any object that can normally be made of wood. Rimefire ice objects glow blue, provide illumination as a torch, and retain their ability to cause 1 point of cold damage per round of contact to anything touching it.

Rimefire ice brought into warmer climates does not melt into water; it melts into thick white clouds of water vapor with great rapidity. Each minute a piece of rimefire ice is exposed to temperatures above 40° F, it takes 1d6 points of damage (this damage overcomes the ice’s hardness and is not halved, as is most energy damage applied to objects). For each additional 10 degrees hotter than this, the ice takes an additional 1d6 points of damage per round.

Rimefire ice has 5 hit points per inch of thickness and hardness 3.

Riverine {Sto 128}: This unusual material is made from water under extremely high pressure, usually obtained from the Elemental Plane of Water but sometimes from the blackwater trenches far below the ocean’s surface. The water swirls and flows continuously, sandwiched between fields of magical force.

Half of the Armor Class bonus from armor and shields made from riverine is a deflection bonus (round down). For example, a suit of riverine chainmail would provide a +2 armor bonus and a +3 deflection bonus to AC. This substance is considered masterwork and can be enhanced magically as any other armor.

Riverine is sometimes also used to create walls and even containers. Being enclosed in magical force, it is immune to all damage and is unaffected by most spells. However, disintegrate immediately destroys an item made of riverine, as does a rod of cancellation, a sphere of annihilation, or a mage’s disjunction spell, causing the water to spill out in a sudden rush. Armor and shields made of riverine do not form a complete enclosure, so breath weapons and spells do still affect the wearer. However, walls of riverine block ethereal travel, breath weapons, and spell effects, just as a wall of force does.

Starmetal {Sa 141}: Members of the Green Star adept prestige class {Sa 41} rely on a precious substance called starmetal to gain their distinctive abilities. Starmetal can also be used in the creation of weapons that are potent against creatures not native to the Material Plane, or the manufacture of armor of similar quality to that made from adamantine.

This superior alloy is made from meteoric iron⁠—​specifically, ore refined from meteors that fall during the rare appearances of the comet Alhazarde. Starmetal is extraordinarily hard, and is equal to adamantine for all purposes, including overcoming damage reduction or granting damage reduction when used in armor construction. Starmetal also possesses an inherent magical connection to the Material Plane, meaning that weapons made of the alloy are especially effective against creatures from other planes. Weapons made of starmetal deal an extra 1d6 points of damage to any extraplanar creatures while they are on the Material Plane.

Creating a weapon from starmetal costs 5,000 gp more than creating a similar weapon of steel. Creating armor from starmetal has the same costs as armor created from adamantine.

Stygian Ice {Fr 81}: This extraplanar ice comes from Stygia, the fifth layer of Hell. Infused with the soulless evil of that realm, along with the magical waters of the river Styx, stygian ice is black and constantly crawls with a thin layer of pale blue mist. Stygian ice is much colder than normal ice, and it melts slowly in nonfreezing environs. The coldness that this ice exudes is magical in nature, and freezes the mind much more rapidly than flesh.

Stygian ice deals 1d6 points of cold damage per round of contact. Worse, if a creature takes damage from this supernatural cold, it must make a DC 12 Will saving throw or take 2 points of Wisdom damage as its memories are slowly frozen. If a creature’s Wisdom is reduced to 0, further contact causes Constitution damage. A creature whose Constitution is reduced to 0 by Stygian ice rises as a wraith in 2d4 rounds.

Stygian ice is not much harder than normal ice, so it doesn’t make effective armor. Weapons made of Stygian ice are somewhat fragile, and each time they deal damage the wielder must make a DC 15 Reflex save to avoid dealing the same amount of damage on the weapon itself. Stygian ice weapons deal 1d6 points of additional cold damage on a hit; if the creature hit takes cold damage, it must make a DC 12 Will saving throw or take 2 points of Wisdom damage (or Constitution damage, if Wisdom is at 0). This damage applies to the wielder of the weapon as well; a character who wishes to wield a weapon made of Stygian ice is advised to seek out protection from cold damage.

Stygian ice has 5 hit points per inch of thickness and hardness 3. Magical fire damage is not halved when applied to stygian ice. An object made of Stygian ice takes 1 point of damage per hour it exists in an environment above 40° F; this damage overcomes the ice’s hardness. As it melts, the ice gives off foul vapors that nauseate anyone within 5 feet who fails a DC 12 Fortitude saving throw.

Susalian Chainweave {CW 136}: Made by a technique known only to the greatest elven armorsmiths, susalian chainweave is an elaborate system of chainmail links knitted together to provide additional protection against some blows. When an attack with a slashing or bludgeoning weapon hits a character wearing susalian chainweave, the armor stiffens at the point of contact and disperses the force of the attack. This quality gives the wearer damage reduction 3/piercing as long as the susalian chainweave armor is worn.

Thinaun {CW 136}: This dark, glittering steel alloy holds an attraction to souls recently released from their bodies. Obviously, this has application for melee weapons. If a thinaun melee weapon is touching a creature when it dies, that creature’s soul is sucked into the weapon rather than passing on to its final reward. The soul remains in the thinaun weapon until the weapon is destroyed or another creature dies while touching the thinaun weapon (the new soul displaces the old one). Raise dead, resurrection, and similar spells won’t bring back a creature whose soul is trapped by a thinaun weapon unless the caster has the weapon in his possession. Because the soul is nearby, fewer material components are required for such spells: Reincarnation, raise dead, resurrection, and true resurrection require half as much of the relevant material component (unguents or diamonds) to cast if the soul is within a thinaun weapon.

A thinaun weapon captures a soul from anyone killed while touching the weapon. This means that if the thinaun weapon’s wielder dies, her weapon captures her soul. Only melee weapons made primarily of metal can be crafted as thinaun weapons.

Epic Magic Items

While not truly an artifact, the epic magic item is a creation of such power that it surpasses other magic items. Epic magic items are objects of great power and value. The following are typical characteristics of an epic magic item. In general, an item with even one of these characteristics is an epic magic item.

• Grants a bonus on attacks or damage greater than +5.
• Grants an enhancement bonus to armor higher than +5.
• Has a property with a market price modifier greater than +5.
• Grants an armor bonus of greater than +10 (not including magic armor’s enhancement bonus).
• Grants a natural armor, deflection, or resistance bonus greater than +5.
• Grants an enhancement bonus to an ability score greater than +6.
• Grants an enhancement bonus on a skill check greater than +30.
• Mimics a spell of an effective level higher than 9th.
• Has a caster level above 20th.
• Has a market price above 200,000 gp, not including material costs for armor or weapons, material component- or experience point-based costs, or additional value for intelligent items.

An epic magic item that grants a bonus beyond those allowed for normal magic items has a higher market price than indicated by the formulas for non-epic items.

Epic magic items are not artifacts. They are not unique, though they are certainly very rare, and anyone with the proper item creation feats can build them. Even an epic magic item can never grant a dodge bonus, and the maximum inherent bonus that can be applied to an ability score is +5. An epic magic item cannot be created that uses or mimics an epic spell. A major artifact might be able to mimic such a spell, however.

Creating Epic Magic Items

The process of creating an epic magic item is very similar to creating a nonepic magic item. However, certain important differences exist.

Caster Level

Spells with an effective level (due to the inclusion of metamagic feats) of 10th or higher are possible at epic levels. Because these spell slots aren’t automatically gained at a particular level like 0- to 9th-level spells are, they don’t have a minimum caster level. For this reason, the minimum caster level for any spell of 10th level or higher is set at 11 + spell level.

Prerequisites

In addition to the materials and tools required for nonepic magic items, any epic magic item requires at least two item creation feats: the epic and nonepic version. For example, to create an epic scroll⁠—​a scroll whose included metamagic feats raise its spell level above 9⁠—​you must have both Scribe Scroll and Scribe Epic Scroll.

Market Price

Use the guidelines for nonepic magic items to determine the market price of an epic magic item, with one addition: If the item gives a bonus beyond the limit allowed in for normal, nonepic magic items, multiply the portion of the market price derived from that characteristic by 10. Some epic characteristics, such as caster level, don’t trigger this multiplier.

When improving a nonepic magic item to an epic level one, the full difference in market price must be applied. For example, a headband of intellect +6 (the normal limit for the nonepic version of this) has a market price of 6 × 6 × 2,000, or 72,000 gp. A headband of intellect +8 has a market price of 8 × 8 × 2,000 × 10, or 1,280,000 gp(!), so the cost to improve the a +6 headband to a +8 one is 1,280,000 – 72,000, or 1,208,000 gp. (“Watch that last step; it’s a doozy!”)

Experience Point Cost

The experience point cost to create an epic magic item is determined differently than for a normal magic item. For all epic magic items other than scrolls, divide the market price by 100, then add 10,000 XP to the result. The final number is the experience point cost to create the item.

For epic scrolls, divide the market price by 25 (as normal for creating a nonepic scroll), then add 1,000 XP to the result. The final number is the experience point cost to create the epic scroll.

Creating Magic Armor

To create magic armor, a character needs a heat source and some iron, wood, or leatherworking tools. He also needs a supply of materials, the most obvious being the armor or the pieces of the armor to be assembled. Armor to be made into magic armor must be masterwork armor, and the masterwork cost is added to the base price to determine final market value. Additional magic supplies costs for the materials are subsumed in the cost for creating the magic armor—half the base price of the item.

Creating magic armor or shields requires that its maker fulfill each of the following requirements, considered seperately:

• Have a caster level of at least 5th level and gain the Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat,
• Have a caster level of at least three times the enhancement bonus of the armor or shield,
• Have a caster level equal to or exceeding the caster level of each property enchanted into the armor or shield as shown in each property’s statistic block under Caster Level..

Magic armor or a magic shield must have at least a +1 enhancement bonus to add a magical property. See the Armor Properties list.

Example: A wizard who wants to make studded leather armor +1 would, by the criteria listed above, have to be at least 3rd level to enchant it. Because the necessary feat for making the armor, Craft Magic Arms and Armor, can’t be acquired until he is 5th level; this is the actual minimum level for him because of that feat.

If he wanted to make wild studded leather +1 for his druid friend, he would have to be at least 9th level, as the wild property has a +3 enhancement bonus equivalent.

(As the armor is for the wizard’s druid friend, the studs on the armor should not be made of metal to avoid the armor stricture for druids.)

If the wizard later wanted to add 30 points of fire resistance to the armor by way of the greater energy resistance (fire) property, he would have to be at least 11th level because of the caster level requirement on that property. He would also have to add improved energy resistance (fire), as that is a synergy prerequisite property for greater energy resistance (fire), and energy resistance (fire), as that is the synergy prerequisite property for improved energy resistance (fire). All told, that would cost the wizard 33,000 gp (the sum of 18,000 gp + 24,000 gp + 24,000 gp divided by 2), 2,640 XP, and 66 days. He may want to do each of these energy resistances separately over time as that would be quite an outlay for an 11th level wizard.

If spells are involved in the prerequisites for making the armor, the creator must have prepared the spells to be cast (or must know the spells, in the case of a sorcerer or bard), must provide any material components or focuses the spells require, and must pay any XP costs required for the spells. The act of working on the armor triggers the prepared spells, making them unavailable for casting during each day of the armor’s creation. (That is, those spell slots are expended from his currently prepared spells, just as if they had been cast.)

Creating some armor may entail other prerequisites beyond or other than spellcasting. See the individual descriptions for details.

Crafting magic armor requires one day for each 1,000 gp value of the base price.

Cost and Requirement Summary for Magic Armor or Shields

Item Creation Feat Required: Craft Magic Arms and Armor.

Base Armor Price: Item price as shown in the Armor and Shields Table, plus 150 gp masterwork item price or special material price. The creator pays this full price unless he crafts the armor or shield himself.

Enchantment Price: EB × EB × 1,000 gp + FPC, where EB is the sum of the enhancement bonus to AC and any property bonuses, and FPC is the sum of any fixed property costs⁠—​property costs that are expressed as a straight gold piece cost and not an enhancement bonus. The creator pays half this Enchantment Price in costs.

Market Price: The sum of the Base Armor Price and the Enchantment Price.

XP Cost: 1⁄25 of the Enchantment Price, rounded up.

Creation Time: The days needed to enchant the armor or shield is the Enchantment Price divided by 1,000, rounded up.

Creating Epic Magic Armor or Shields

Any armor or shield is considered epic if it has one or more of the following characteristics:

• An enhancement bonus to AC exceeding +5,
• Any single armor property with a market price bonus exceeding +5,
• A sum of enhancement bonuses to AC and enhancement bonuses from armor properties exceeding +10, or
• One or more prerequisite spells exceeding 9th level due to metamagic feats.

The costs and requirements of making epic armor or shields are summarized below.

Cost and Requirement Summary for Epic Magic Armor or Shields

Item Creation Feats Required: Craft Magic Arms and Armor and Craft Epic Magic Arms and Armor.

Base Armor Price: Item price as shown in the Armor and Shields Table, plus 150 gp masterwork item price or special material price. The creator pays this full price unless he crafts the armor or shield himself.

Enchantment Price: EB × EB × 10,000 gp + FPC, where EB is the sum of the enhancement bonus to AC and any property bonuses, and FPC is the sum of any fixed property costs⁠—​property costs that are expressed as a straight gold piece cost and not as an enhancement bonus. The creator pays half this Enchantment Price in costs.

Market Price: The sum of the Base Armor Price and the Enchantment Price.

XP Cost: 1⁄100 of the Enchantment Price, rounded up, plus 10,000 XP.

Creation Time: The days needed to enchant the armor or shield is the Enchantment Price divided by 1,000, rounded up. Divide by 10,000 instead if you have both the Efficient Item Creation (Craft Magic Arms and Armor) and Efficient Item Creation (Craft Epic Magic Arms and Armor) epic feats.

You can never craft magic armor or shields that contain epic spells.

Creating Magic Weapons

To create a magic weapon, a character needs a heat source and some iron, wood, or leatherworking tools. She also needs a supply of materials, the most obvious being the weapon or the pieces of the weapon to be assembled. Only a masterwork weapon can become a magic weapon, and the masterwork cost is added to the total cost to determine final market value. Additional magic supplies costs for the materials are subsumed in the cost for creating the magic weapon—half the base price given on Table: Weapons, according to the weapon’s total effective bonus.

Creating a magic weapon requires that its maker fulfill each of the following requirements, considered seperately:

• Have a caster level of at least 5th level and gain the Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat,
• Have a caster level of at least three times the enhancement bonus of the weapon,
• Have a caster level equal to or exceeding the caster level of each property enchanted into the weapon as shown in each property’s statistic block under Caster Level.

A magic weapon must have at least a +1 enhancement bonus to add a magical property. See the Weapon Properties list.

If spells are involved in the prerequisites for making the weapon, the creator must have prepared the spells to be cast (or must know the spells, in the case of a sorcerer or bard) but need not provide any material components or focuses the spells require, nor are any XP costs inherent in a prerequisite spell incurred in the creation of the item. The act of working on the weapon triggers the prepared spells, making them unavailable for casting during each day of the weapon’s creation. (That is, those spell slots are expended from his currently prepared spells, just as if they had been cast.)

At the time of creation, the creator must decide if the weapon glows or not as a side-effect of the magic imbued within it. This decision does not affect the price or the creation time, but once the item is finished, the decision is binding.

Creating magic double-headed weapons is treated as creating two weapons when determining cost, time, XP, and special abilities.

Creating some weapons may entail other prerequisites beyond or other than spellcasting. See the individual descriptions for details.

Crafting a magic weapon requires one day for each 1,000 gp value of the base price.

Cost and Requirement Summary for Magic Weapons

Item Creation Feat Required: Craft Magic Arms and Armor.

Base Weapon Price: Item price as shown in the Weapons Table, plus 300 gp masterwork item price (600 gp if a double weapon) or special material price (doubled if for a double weapon). The creator pays this full price unless he crafts the weapon himself.

Enchantment Price: EB × EB × 2,000 gp + FPC, where EB is the sum of the enhancement bonus to attack and damage and any property bonuses, and FPC is the sum of any fixed property costs⁠—​property costs that are expressed as a straight gold piece cost and not an enhancement bonus. The creator pays half this Enchantment Price in costs.

Market Price: The sum of the Base Armor Price and the Enchantment Price.

XP Cost: 1⁄25 of the Enchantment Price, rounded up.

Creation Time: The days needed to enchant the armor or shield is the Enchantment Price divided by 1,000, rounded up.

Creating Epic Magic Weapons

Any magic weapon is considered epic if it has one or more of the following characteristics:

• An enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls exceeding +5,
• A sum of enhancement bonuses to attack and damage rolls and enhancement bonuses from weapon properties exceeding +10,
• One or more prerequisite spells exceeding 9th level due to metamagic feats.

The costs and requirements of making epic weapons are summarized below.

Cost and Requirement Summary for Epic Magic Weapons

Item Creation Feats Required: Craft Magic Arms and Armor and Craft Epic Magic Arms and Armor.

Base Weapon Price: Item price as shown in the Weapons Table, plus 300 gp masterwork item price (600 gp if a double weapon) or special material price (doubled if for a double weapon). The creator pays this full price unless he crafts the weapon himself.

Enchantment Price: EB × EB × 20,000 gp + FPC, where EB is the sum of the enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls and any property bonuses, and FPC is the sum of any fixed property costs⁠—​property costs that are expressed as a straight gold piece cost and not as an enhancement bonus. The creator pays half this Enchantment Price in costs.

Market Price: The sum of the Base Weapon Price and the Enchantment Price.

XP Cost: 1⁄100 of the Enchantment Price, rounded up, plus 10,000 XP.

Creation Time: The days needed to enchant the weapon is the Enchantment Price divided by 1,000, rounded up. Divide by 10,000 instead if you have both the Efficient Item Creation (Craft Magic Arms and Armor) and Efficient Item Creation (Craft Epic Magic Arms and Armor) epic feats.

You can never craft magic weapons that contain epic spells.

Creating Magic Siege Weapons

(This section is summarized from Magic Siege Engines starting on page 133 of Heroes of Battle.)

Making magic siege weapons is much like making magic weapons: the creator must have the Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat, the siege weapon can have enhancement bonuses to hit as well as weapon properties, the siege weapon to be enchanted must be masterwork, and so forth.

They also are treated as magical weapons in most ways: a siege engine must have at least a +1 enhancement bonus to hit to be able to add properties, enhancement bonuses to a siege engine and its ammunition overlap but do not stack, these enhancement bonuses improve their saves just as they do for magic weapons, siege engines with enhancement bonuses to hit are treated as magic for overcoming damage reduction, just to name a few. There are a few notable differences; these are summarized below.

• A siege engine’s enhancement bonus to hit (but not from properties) also applies to any skill check needed to operate the siege engine.
• Siege engines may have any ranged weapon property except speed or any property that does not match the ammunition they use. For example, a ballista may not use the stunning property because its bolts do piercing damage, not bludgeoning damage. Siege engines have a few properties unique to themselves.
• Ammunition for siege engines is priced individivually, not in lots of 50.
• Magical siege weapon ammunition loses its magic after it is used whether or not it hits even if it is later recovered.

Magical Siege Weapon Properties

These weapon properties are unique to siege engines.

Specific Magical Siege Engines and Ammunition

The names in tables below are hyperlinks to full descriptions of the engines or ammunition listed.

Creating Potions

The creator of a potion needs a level working surface and at least a few containers in which to mix liquids, as well as a source of heat to boil the brew. In addition, he needs ingredients. The costs for materials and ingredients are subsumed in the cost for brewing the potion—25 gp × the level of the spell × the level of the caster.

All ingredients and materials used to brew a potion must be fresh and unused. The character must pay the full cost for brewing each potion. (Economies of scale do not apply.)

The imbiber of the potion is both the caster and the target. Spells with a range of personal cannot be made into potions, nor can the spell exceed 3rd level.

The creator must have prepared the spell to be placed in the potion (or must know the spell, in the case of a sorcerer or bard) and must provide any material component or focus the spell requires.

If casting the spell would reduce the caster’s XP total, he pays the XP cost upon beginning the brew in addition to the XP cost for making the potion itself. Material components are consumed when he begins working, but a focus is not. (A focus used in brewing a potion can be reused.) The act of brewing triggers the prepared spell, making it unavailable for casting until the character has rested and regained spells. (That is, that spell slot is expended from his currently prepared spells, just as if it had been cast.) Brewing a potion requires one day.

Item Creation Feat Required: Brew Potion.

Prices assume that the potion was made at the minimum caster level.

Costs assume that the creator makes the potion at the minimum caster level.

Creating Rings

To create a magic ring, a character needs a heat source. He also needs a supply of materials, the most obvious being a ring or the pieces of the ring to be assembled. The cost for the materials is subsumed in the cost for creating the ring. Ring costs are difficult to formularize. Refer to the Estimating Magic Item Gold Piece Values table and use the ring prices in the ring descriptions as a guideline. Creating a ring generally costs half the ring’s market price.

Rings that duplicate spells with costly material or XP components add in the value of 50 × the spell’s component cost. Having a spell with a costly component as a prerequisite does not automatically incur this cost. The act of working on the ring triggers the prepared spells, making them unavailable for casting during each day of the ring’s creation. (That is, those spell slots are expended from his currently prepared spells, just as if they had been cast.)

Creating some rings may entail other prerequisites beyond or other than spellcasting. See the individual descriptions for details.

Forging a ring requires one day for each 1,000 gp of the base price.

Item Creation Feat Required: Forge Ring.

Creating Epic Rings

A few rings, such a those which grant deflection bonuses that normally cap at +5 (rings of protection), can exceed those caps if enchanted as epic rings.

You can never craft magic rings that contain epic spells.

Creating Rods

To create a magic rod, a character needs a supply of materials, the most obvious being a rod or the pieces of the rod to be assembled. The cost for the materials is subsumed in the cost for creating the rod. Rod costs are difficult to formularize. Refer to Estimating Magic Item Gold Piece Values table and use the rod prices in the rod descriptions as a guideline. Creating a rod costs half the market value listed.

If spells are involved in the prerequisites for making the rod, the creator must have prepared the spells to be cast (or must know the spells, in the case of a sorcerer or bard) but need not provide any material components or focuses the spells require, nor are any XP costs inherent in a prerequisite spell incurred in the creation of the item. The act of working on the rod triggers the prepared spells, making them unavailable for casting during each day of the rod’s creation. (That is, those spell slots are expended from his currently prepared spells, just as if they had been cast.)

Creating some rods may entail other prerequisites beyond or other than spellcasting. See the individual descriptions for details.

Crafting a rod requires one day for each 1,000 gp of the base price.

Item Creation Feats Required: Craft Rod.

If the rod is also a magic weapon, the Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat is required. See the Cost and Requirement Summary for Magic Weapons for details and additional market prices and costs. These prices and costs are calculated separately and added to the the total prices and costs of the rod.

Creating Epic Rods

This follows the same procedure as shown above, with the following differences:

If the rod has any prerequisite spells that exceed 9th level, the Craft Epic Rod feat is required.

If the rod is to be enchanted as an epic magic weapon, the Craft Epic Magic Arms and Armor and Craft Epic Rod feats are required. See Cost and Requirement Summary for Epic Magic Weapons for details and additional market prices and costs. These prices and costs are calculated separately and added to the the total prices and costs of the rod.

You can never craft magic rods that contain epic spells.

Creating Rune Circles {RoS}

A rune circle is created by fusing magic runes into the ground or into the floor of a chamber. Once it is placed, a rune circle cannot be moved. Moving the stone that a rune circle is engraved upon always ruins the rune circle. Because the creation process creates a threefold connection between the location, the magic energy expended in the creation, and the physical earth or stone in which the runes are drawn, there’s no way to create a mobile rune circle. Even vehicles large enough to contain an entire rune circle do not allow for the creation of a mobile rune circle.

In game terms, creating a rune circle works just like creating a magic item. Refer to Estimating Magic Item Gold Piece Values table and use the item prices in the item descriptions as a guideline. Creating an item costs half the market value listed.

Additional factors affect the price of a rune circle, such as the size of the circle, but otherwise the creation process is the same. To create a rune circle, a character must have the Craft Rune Circle feat. Other feats may also be required⁠—for instance, if a metamagic feat is included in the effect of a rune circle. See the Rune Circle list for examples of this.

To estimate the gold piece value of a rune circle, start by estimating the value of a standard magic item with the powers of the rune circle. Since a rune circle is an immovable item, divide this value by 4. This calculation provides a reasonable estimate for a rune circle with a 10-foot radius, which is the typical size for a rune circle.

If the rune circle is smaller or larger than 10 feet in radius, the DM may choose to reduce or increase the cost according to the Variant Rune Circle Sizes table.

In some cases, the estimated gold piece value might not fully represent the appropriate value for a rune circle. For instance, a rune circle that grants a bonus on Craft checks is worth more than the estimate would suggest, since the circle’s lack of portability isn’t a significant factor in its utility. Feel free to multiply the price for such a rune circle by 2 or even 4 to arrive at a more appropriate value.

Item Creation Feat Required: Craft Rune Circle.

Creating Scrolls

To create a scroll, a character needs a supply of choice writing materials, the cost of which is subsumed in the cost for scribing the scroll—12.5 gp × the level of the spell × the level of the caster.

All writing implements and materials used to scribe a scroll must be fresh and unused. A character must pay the full cost for scribing each spell scroll no matter how many times she previously has scribed the same spell.

The creator must have prepared the spell to be scribed (or must know the spell, in the case of a sorcerer or bard) and must provide any material component or focus the spell requires. If casting the spell would reduce the caster’s XP total, she pays the cost upon beginning the scroll in addition to the XP cost for making the scroll itself. Likewise, a material component is consumed when she begins writing, but a focus is not. (A focus used in scribing a scroll can be reused.) The act of writing triggers the prepared spell, making it unavailable for casting until the character has rested and regained spells. (That is, that spell slot is expended from her currently prepared spells, just as if it had been cast.)

Scribing a scroll requires one day per each 1,000 gp of the base price.

Item Creation Feat Required: Scribe Scroll.

Prices assume that the scroll was made at the minimum caster level.

Costs assume that the creator makes the scroll at the minimum caster level.

Creating Epic Scrolls

A scroll can contain a spell whose level with metamagic feats exceeds 9th level. The following are the criteria for scribing such epic scrolls.

Item Creation Feats Required: Scribe Scroll and Scribe Epic Scroll.

Market Price: The market price for epic scrolls is calculated the same as for regular scrolls: P = L × L × 25 gp, where P is the scroll’s market price in gold pieces and L is the spell level of the spell on the scroll after all metamagic feats are applied.

XP Cost: The formula for the XP cost to make an epic scroll is X = P / 25 + 1000, where X is the cost in experience points and P is the market price (see above).

You can never craft scrolls that contain epic spells.

Creating Staffs

To create a magic staff, a character needs a supply of materials, the most obvious being a staff or the pieces of the staff to be assembled.

The cost for the materials is subsumed in the cost for creating the staff—375 gp × the level of the highest-level spell × the level of the caster, plus 75% of the value of the next most costly ability (281.25 gp × the level of the spell × the level of the caster), plus 50% of the value of any other abilities (187.5 gp × the level of the spell × the level of the caster). Staffs are always fully charged (50 charges) when created.

If desired, a spell can be placed into the staff at only half the normal cost, but then activating that particular spell costs 2 charges from the staff. The caster level of all spells in a staff must be the same, and no staff can have a caster level of less than 8th, even if all the spells in the staff are low-level spells.

The creator must have prepared the spells to be stored (or must know the spell, in the case of a sorcerer or bard) and must provide any focus the spells require as well as material and XP component costs sufficient to activate the spell a maximum number of times (50 divided by the number of charges one use of the spell expends). This is in addition to the XP cost for making the staff itself. Material components are consumed when he begins working, but focuses are not. (A focus used in creating a staff can be reused.) The act of working on the staff triggers the prepared spells, making them unavailable for casting during each day of the staff’s creation. (That is, those spell slots are expended from his currently prepared spells, just as if they had been cast.)

Creating a few staffs may entail other prerequisites beyond spellcasting. See the individual descriptions for details.

Crafting a staff requires one day for each 1,000 gp of the base price.

If a staff is also crafted as a magic weapon, its market price includes that of a masterwork double weapon⁠—​600 gp for a quarterstaff plus any enchantment bonuses and properties placed on each end. It must have at least one end with an enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls of +1 to qualify as a magic weapon. These separate market prices and costs are added to the cost of making the staff itself. See Creating Magic Weapons for details and additional market prices and costs.

Item Creation Feat Required: Craft Staff. If it is to be enchanted as a magic weapon, Craft Magic Arms and Armor is required as well.

Creating Epic Staffs

This follows the same procedure as shown above, with the following differences:

If the staff has any prerequisite spells that exceed 9th level (due to the addition of metamagic feats), the Craft Epic Staff feat is required.

If the staff is to be enchanted as an epic magic weapon, both the Craft Epic Magic Arms and Armor and Craft Epic Staff feats are required. See Cost and Requirement Summary for Epic Magic Weapons for details and additional market prices and costs determined separately of the staff’s price and costs for spell storage.

You can never craft staffs that contain epic spells.

Creating Runestaffs {MIC 224}

If you want to create a runestaff of your own design, it should have two to five arcane spells associated with it, and the spells should be thematically linked in some way. The lowest-level spell in a runestaff should be at least 3rd level. (These are only suggestions, not rules; the example runestaff below has a 1st-level spell, and the runestaff of abjuration has six spells.)

Crafting a runestaff requires the Craft Staff feat, along with any spells held by the runestaff. You don’t need to supply any material components or foci required by the spells in a runestaff, nor do you need to pay any XP cost required by the spells, since the wielder of the staff pays those costs.

To set the price of a runestaff, multiply the level of the highest-level spell in the runestaff by itself, then by 400 gp. For each additional spell in the runestaff, square that spell’s level and multiply by 200 gp. Add the values together to find the final price of the runestaff. If a spell can be used less than three times per day, reduce the gp multiplier for that spell by 100 per use below three (or 50 per use below three, for spells after the first).

Example: A sorcerer wants to invent the runestaff of speedy travel, which would provide dimension door (4th), fly (3rd), and expeditious retreat (1st). The price for this item would be 6,400 (4 × 4 × 400) plus 1,800 (3 × 3 × 200) plus 200 (1 × 1 × 200), or 8,400 gp. If he only wanted to be able to use dimension door once per day, the price would be reduced to 6,800 gp (4 × 4 × 200 gp for dimension door, plus the other costs as normal).

If a runestaff is also crafted as a magic weapon, its market price includes that of a masterwork double weapon⁠—​600 gp for a quarterstaff plus any enchantment bonuses and properties placed on each end. It must have at least one end with an enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls of +1 to qualify as a magic weapon. These separate market prices and costs are added to the cost of making the runestaff itself. See Creating Magic Weapons for details and additional market prices and costs.

Item Creation Feat Required: Craft Staff. If it is to be enchanted as a magic weapon, Craft Magic Arms and Armor is required as well.

Creating Epic Runestaffs

This follows the same procedure as shown above, with the following differences:

If the runestaff has any prerequisite spells that exceed 9th level (due to the addition of metamagic feats), the Craft Epic Staff feat is required.

If the staff is to be enchanted as an epic magic weapon, both the Craft Epic Magic Arms and Armor and Craft Epic Staff feats are required. See Cost and Requirement Summary for Epic Magic Weapons for details and additional market prices and costs determined separately of the staff’s price and costs for spell storage.

You can never craft runestaffs that contain epic spells.

Creating Domain Staffs {CC 143}

Domain staffs, from a calculation standpoint, are absurdly easy to make. They always allow each spell of a particular cleric domain spell list to be cast once daily, so they are all have the same prerequisites (Craft Staff and access to the domain to be used), the same market price (36,000 gp), and the same costs to create (18,000 gp, 1,440 XP, and 36 days). Just tag it with a name (Domain staff of [Insert Domain Name Here]) and you’re done.

It should be possible to enchant a domain staff as a magic weapon as well, if the maker has the Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat. In such cases, its market price includes that of a masterwork double weapon⁠—​600 gp for a quarterstaff plus any enchantment bonuses and properties placed on each end. It must have at least one end with an enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls of +1 to qualify as a magic weapon. These separate market prices and costs are added to the cost of making the runestaff itself. See Creating Magic Weapons for details and additional market prices and costs.

Creating Epic Domain Staffs

Because domain spells end at level 9, domain staffs cannot be crafted as epic staffs. However, if they can be enchanted as magic weapons, they should also be able to be epic magic weapons. For this, the Craft Epic Magic Arms and Armor and Craft Epic Staff feats are required in addition to the prior feat requirements. See Cost and Requirement Summary for Epic Magic Weapons for details and additional market prices and costs determined separately of the domain staff’s price and costs for spell storage.

You can never craft domain staffs that contain epic spells.

Creating Spellbooks {CA 140, modified}

An apprentice or journeyman wizard often has to make do with a mundane spellbook that suffers the travails of use and abuse. Masters of arcane lore have much more to protect, and do so jealously, infusing their grimoires with all manner of magical protection⁠—​so much so that many are magical items in their own right. Some are even made into intelligent items that guard themselves again unauthorized use and damage.

Spellbook Construction

Aside from ornamentation and spurious false writings, all spellbooks require one page per spell level (minimum one page) to record any particular spell. The pages of most spellbooks have been treated for durability and protection against fire, mold, water, parasites, staining, and other hazards. These procedures make even a blank spellbook relatively expensive.

The base cost of 15 gp buys a well-bound leather volume of 100 parchment pages, a style also typically used for other high-quality books such as the genealogies of noble families or the master copies of sages’ published writings. Exotic materials increase the cost and weight of a spellbook accordingly, and these materials are usually reserved for grimoires, not arcanabula.

The weight, hardness, hit points, and cost of a spellbook of unusual construction is the sum of its cover and page construction. For example, a book made with a steel plate cover (hard metal) and copper foil pages weighs 25 pounds, has hardness 8, 13 hit points, and costs 700 gold pieces.

All fine books can be purchased with a waterproof double slipcase of chased and tooled leather, strong enough to protect against driving rain or burial in snow but not against prolonged immersion. Special physical treatments (such as baths in secret herbal tinctures and alchemical solutions designed to retard fire and mold damage) are included in the above costs.

Spellbook Properties

Any wizard with the means to do so will carefully safeguard her spellbooks against accident, battle damage, or theft. Most arcanabula feature cheap and inexpensive protections (often a simple explosive runes or fire trap), but for most wizards, the risk of losing a workbook isn’t enough to justify the expense of high-level protection.

Grimoires, on the other hand, are generally stored in the most secret hiding places (sometimes even on other planes) and equipped with mechanical traps, loyal guardians, and deadly spells of defense. The protections applied to a greatbook can take virtually any form, from magically sustained poisonous spiders or snakes, to bladders of paralyzing or sleep-inducing gases, to scything blades or poisoned needles concealed in the locks, lids, or frames of the coffers and cabinets the books are hidden in. These traps are never of a design or nature that might endanger the book, but otherwise are almost limitless in the kinds of damage they can inflict on the uninvited.

For the truely paranoid wizard, no expense is spared in protecting his knowledge, particularly if his grimoire contains unique spells of his or her own creation. Such wizards imbue their grimoires with an array of magical properties, much like those enchanted into magic weapons, armor, and shields.

These magical protections can add thousands of gold pieces to the cost of even the simplest tome. Some of the most common spellbook properties include the following.

Creating Wands

To create a magic wand, a character needs a small supply of materials, the most obvious being a baton or the pieces of the wand to be assembled. The cost for the materials is subsumed in the cost for creating the wand—375 gp × the level of the spell × the level of the caster. Wands are always fully charged (50 charges) when created.

The creator must have prepared the spell to be stored (or must know the spell, in the case of a sorcerer or bard) and must provide any focuses the spell requires. Fifty of each needed material component are required, one for each charge. If casting the spell would reduce the caster’s XP total, she pays the cost (multiplied by 50) upon beginning the wand in addition to the XP cost for making the wand itself. Likewise, material components are consumed when she begins working, but focuses are not. (A focus used in creating a wand can be reused.) The act of working on the wand triggers the prepared spell, making it unavailable for casting during each day devoted to the wand’s creation. (That is, that spell slot is expended from her currently prepared spells, just as if it had been cast.)

Crafting a wand requires one day per each 1,000 gp of the base price.

Item Creation Feat Required: Craft Wand.

Prices assume that the wand was made at the minimum caster level to cast the spell.

Costs assume that the creator makes the wand at the minimum caster level to cast the spell.

Creating Wondrous Items

To create a wondrous item, a character usually needs some sort of equipment or tools to work on the item. She also needs a supply of materials, the most obvious being the item itself or the pieces of the item to be assembled. The cost for the materials is subsumed in the cost for creating the item. Wondrous item costs are difficult to formularize. Refer to Estimating Magic Item Gold Piece Values table and use the item prices in the item descriptions as a guideline. Creating an item costs half the market value listed.

Many wondrous magic items grant some form of enhancement bonus, with particular caps on the various sorts of enhancements. The Enhancement Bonus Cost table summarizes these. The market price of such items is equal to the square of the enhancement bonus (EB) multiplied by the base price (BP) from the table below.

If spells are involved in the prerequisites for making the item, the creator must have prepared the spells to be cast (or must know the spells, in the case of a sorcerer or bard) but need not provide any material components or focuses the spells require, nor are any XP costs inherent in a prerequisite spell incurred in the creation of the item. The act of working on the item triggers the prepared spells, making them unavailable for casting during each day of the item’s creation. (That is, those spell slots are expended from his currently prepared spells, just as if they had been cast.)

Creating some items may entail other prerequisites beyond or other than spellcasting. See the individual descriptions for details.

Crafting a wondrous item requires one day for each 1,000 gp of the base price.

Item Creation Feat Required: Craft Wondrous Item.

Creating Epic Wondrous Items

A few wondrous items can be crafted as epic level items. Usually these are items that grant enhancement bonuses as listed on the Enhancement Bonus Cost table above.

Item Creation Feats Required: Craft Wondrous Item and Craft Epic Wondrous Item.

Enchantment Price: For epic items with enhancement bonuses (EB), the price is the same for the corresponding nonepic item multiplied by 10. See the Enhancement Bonus Cost table above. The market price for any item with an EB in excess of the EB cap is EB × EB × BP × 10.

The creator pays half this market price in costs.

Combining Enhancement Bonuses: The original Epic Level Handbook rule (page 124) states that adding a second enhancement bonus, even if it is not in excess of the EB cap, doubles the cost of that second bonus. This should be superseded by the later published Magic Item Compendium rules on page 233, “Adding Common Item Effects to Existing Items”, and the table on the following page. (These can be found here.) There, as long as the separate enhancement bonuses can be used in the same body slot as shown in the Adding/Improving Common Item Effects table, there would be no increase in price, aside from the epic enhancement bonus price. Examples: Strength and Dexterity bonuses on an item worn on the arms, or Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma enhancement bonuses added to an item worn on the head.

In the former case, a set of bracers granting enhancement bonuses of +8 Strength and +6 Constitution would cost ( 8 × 8 × 2,000 × 10 ) gp for the Strength component (because that bonus is epic as it exceeds +6), but the Constitution component would cost only ( 6 × 6 × 2,000 ) gp, not twice that as shown in the Epic Level Handbook, because the Adding/Improving Common Item Effects table shows that both enchantments can be put on an item slotted for the arms. If the Constitution component was later enchanted to +8, it would cost ( 8 × 8 × 20,000 ) – ( 6 × 6 × 2,000 ) gp, or 1,208,000 gp. That first step to epic level is a doozy!

XP Cost: 1% of the Enchantment Price, rounded up, plus 10,000 XP, only for the parts of the enchantment that are epic. Use the regular rules for nonepic components, if any.

Creation Time: The days needed to enchant the item is the Enchantment Price divided by 1,000, rounded up. Divide by 10,000 instead if you have both the Efficient Item Creation (Craft Wondrous Item) and Efficient Item Creation (Craft Epic Wondrous Item) epic feats.

You can never craft wondrous items that contain epic spells.

Intelligent Item Creation

To create an intelligent item, a character must have a caster level of 15th or higher. Time and creation cost are based on the normal item creation rules, with the market price values on the Item Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, and Capabilities table treated as additions to time, gp cost, and XP cost. The item’s alignment is the same as its creator’s. Determine other features randomly, following the guidelines in the relevant section. See Intelligent Items for more on this, including rules for epic intelligent items.

Improving Magic Items

You can add new magical properties to a magic item with virtually no restrictions. The cost and prerequisites to do this are the same as if the item was not magical. Thus, a +1 longsword can be made into a +2 vorpal longsword, with the cost to create it being equal to that of a +2 vorpal longsword minus the cost of a +1 longsword (98,315 – 2,315 = 96,000 gp). The character improving the magic item must meet the same prerequisites as if he were creating the item from scratch.

It’s recommended that you add new magical abilities only to items that occupy the same body slot as the added effect would normally occupy. For example, it’s OK to add the power of boots of striding and springing to slippers of spider climbing, since both of those items occupy the same body slot. However, adding the power of boots of striding and springing to a cloak of resistance doesn’t make much sense. This isn’t a hard and fast rule, but it’s a reasonable guide that helps maintain some level of flavor and verisimilitude in the magic item system.

In most cases, if the item is one that occupies a body slot, the cost of adding any additional ability to that item is 1½ times the value of the added power (or the value of the added power plus ½ the value of the existing item, if the added power normally costs more than the existing item). For example, if a character adds the power to confer feather fall to her ring of jumping, the cost of adding this ability is 3,300 gp, the same as for creating a ring of feather falling × 1½. On the other hand, if she were adding the power of a ring of force shield to that ring of jumping, the cost of adding the ability would be 9,750 gp (8,500 gp for the ring of force shield plus half of 2,500 gp, the price of a ring of jumping).

Another (and perhaps simpler) way to consider this: when combining magic item effects into a single item, the cost of the most expensive magic item effect remains unchanged; all cheaper effects cost 50% more. So a ring of jumping/feather fall/force shield would cost 8,500 gp for the force shield part, 3,750 (2,500 × 1½) for the jumping part, and 3,300 gp (2,200 × 1½) for the feather falling part, for a total of 15,550 gp.

These added costs don’t necessarily apply when adding some common effects to existing items; see below.

Adding Common Item Effects to Existing Items {MIC 233}

One of the most frustrating roadblocks to using interesting, unusual magic items is that they take up body slots that you need for an ability-boosting item (such as gauntlets of ogre power), a ring of protection, or another must-have item.) To address this issue, use these official rules (from the Magic Item Compendium) for adding common item effects to existing magic items.

The Adding/Improving Common Item Effects table presents a list of common item effects, from ability score enhancement bonuses to energy resistance, and the price to add that effect to an item.

The table also indicates the appropriate body slot (or slots) for each effect. For example, you can add an enhancement bonus to Charisma only to an item that occupies the head or shoulders body slot (such as a headband or cloak). A DM can choose to deviate from this guideline, but should avoid nonsensical combinations (such as gloves that provide a bonus to Wisdom).

Adding one of these effects to an existing item works much like creating an item from scratch. The crafting character must meet the given prerequisites, must expend gold equal to one-half the price and XP equal to 1⁄25 the price, and must spend 1 day per 1,000 gp of the price.

Example: a rogue has a pair of boots of striding and springing, and she wants to add a Dexterity bonus (rather than buying gloves of Dexterity). Her wizard friend isn’t around, so the rogue must track down a stranger to do the work. She pays the wizard 4,000 gp, and four days later her boots now also grant her a +2 enhancement bonus to Dexterity. When the rogue later decides to improve the bonus to +4, she manages to talk her wizard friend (who has the Craft Wondrous Item feat and knows the cat’s grace spell) into performing the work. After spending eight 8-hour days of work and expending 6,000 gp of components (likely supplied by the rogue) and 480 XP, the wizard succeeds in increasing the +2 enhancement bonus to Dexterity to +4.

For those who seek a justification for this in their settings, magic item creators can be said to have learned shortcuts and more efficient techniques for combining certain common item effects with more uncommon enchantments such that they do not need to take extra (and more expensive) precautions to make sure that the different enchantments do not disrupt (and ruin) each other.

Body Slots and Body Slot Affinities

Each location on the body, or body slot, has one or more affinities: a word or phrase that describes the general function or nature of magic items designed for that body slot. Body slot affinities are deliberately broad, abstract categorizations, because a hard-and-fast rule can’t cover the great variety among wondrous items.

You can use the affinities in the list below to guide your decisions on which magic items should be allowed in which body slots. And when you design your own magic items, the affinities give you some guidance for what form a particular item should take.

Some body slots have different affinities for different specific items.

Wondrous items that don’t match the affinity for a particular body slot should cost 50% more than wondrous items that match the affinity.

Each body slot can accommodate only a single active magic item (except for the rings body slot, which allows two active rings, worn one on each hand or both on the same hand). Additional magic items could be worn in the same body slot, but only the first-worn item confers its magical abilities upon the wearer.

Some body slots are described as a matched pair of body parts (such as arms, feet, or hands). If an item uses one of these body slots, it takes up both “halves” of the body slot even if worn on only one of the pair. For example, a glove of storing takes up the entire hands body slot, even though it’s only one glove. Similarly, items that come in pairs must be worn together in order to function⁠—​wearing a single gauntlet of ogre power has no effect.

Not all creatures possess all body slots. See Size and Shape.