price these alchemical items!

[jrients]

Howdy all!

I recently adapted an alchemist written for 3.5 into my campaign and I've decided that she sells the alchemical items you can get in that other edition. But I think the prices for them may be off. I'm going to list the items and a brief write up of how they work in my campaign and I'd love it if some of you nice folks would offer opinions on how to price them in my game.

1) Flask of Acid - when used in combat it does the same damage as a flask of oil and can destroy/damage metal objects

2) Vial of Antitoxin - +2 saves vs poison for 6 turns

3) Smokestick - 5' radius smokecloud, easliy blown away by wind

4) Sunrod - 30' light source for 36 turns, basically a roadflare

5) Tanglebag - when hurled acts a web spell vs one target

6) Thunderstone - when hurled all within 10' radius save or deafened

7) Tindertwig - a match

All these items weigh 1lb or less, except the tanglebag which weighs 4lbs.

I won't prejudice your answers by telling you the canonical prices. One thing that might help you set the price is that in my campaign this same alchemist is established as selling standard potions of healing for 100gp.

Thanks for any help!

[Zulgyan]

I'll give it a try

1) 50 gp
2) 15 gp
3) 15 gp
4) 20 gp
5) 150 gp
6) 150 gp
7) 1 gp

[amityvillemike]

Zulgyan's suggested prices seem to be in the ballpark of what I would price them at. The only difference is that I'd probably bump the cost of the antitoxin up to 50 gp. A +2 bonus to save vs. poison can be a pretty big deal, especially at lower levels, considering most venoms are save or die.

[Zulgyan]

Not a bad point.

[ragnorakk]

for 15 gp, perhaps the smokestick covers a larger area - or maybe the 'pay-off'
is in the duration of smoke produced (? not familiar with 3e gear)

how many matches do you get for 1 gp? I'd hope it was at least 50 strike-anywheres!

The pricings seem reasonable to me.

[yesmar]

Hey, was that alchemist any good? What if, at precisely the most inopportune moment, one of those contrivances failed? The tanglebag misfires and gobbles up your arm for the time being, or the smokesticks all fire at the same time--oops! Perhaps the sunrod fizzles out just as you enter the chamber overflowing with goblins. So, how good was that alchemist, anyway?

[Deleted]

I can't help with the pricing -- I don't really have good benchmarks in my head for OD&D prices. But on the off chance that you haven't looked at it recently, there's a pretty cool treatment of the Alchemist character class in Dragon #2. The reason I mention it is that I think it's the earliest mention of the "tanglefoot" alchemical item (though it's "tanglefoot pills" rather than a tanglefoot bag).

Tanglefoot — Small synthetic fungoid which rapidly expands to fill a 10’ X 10’ area with rubbery tentacles. Men require 3 turns to force their way through, a giant takes one. The tendrils dissipate harmlessly in one hour. Makes 2.

Anyway, I suppose this is slightly orthogonal to the topic, but you might find a couple other items of interest in the item lists. I've been going through the various versions of alchemist in the Dragon Magazine CD-ROM archives for use in my own campaign, and since you're kitbashing anyway, there are alchemists potentially worth stealing from in issues #2, 45, 49, and 130.

[dwayanu]

Welcome to R Forest!

I like to start with an estimate that errs on the side of too high, and with component costs itemized.

Let the market go to work for a while to establish a value. Then, adjust the prices of components (supply and demand) accordingly. To lower costs, a new substitute might be discovered (e.g., any sort of feathers treated with a particular potion might serve as well as gryphon plumage).

"A salad of spindlewort. The broasted homunculus as well, followed immediately by a chilled crab tart."
"The domestic or the wild homunculus?"
"The wild, of course."
"We cannot give it to you, sir. The trappers bring none in. The vampires have lately increased in the hills."
"Do they feed on homunculi?" Hex asked in surprise.
The keep shook his head: "Trappers."
-- In Yana, the Touch of Undying, by Michael Shea

[coffee]

Either costs of living in your world are pretty cheap, or this alchemist is a real altruist!

I would never charge 100 gp for a healing potion, never mind the other stuff. All the market will bear! Unless it only cost about 5gp to make -- then 100 would be okay.

So, just figure what it costs to make each item, and then multiply it by 20.

(And if a pc has a high charisma, you could give them a break. And those who either have a low charisma, or play their characters as offensive, why just charge them the moon!)

[invoker]

Mar 29, 2009 23:37:16 GMT -6 yesmar said:

Hey, was that alchemist any good? What if, at precisely the most inopportune moment, one of those contrivances failed? The tanglebag misfires and gobbles up your arm for the time being, or the smokesticks all fire at the same time--oops! Perhaps the sunrod fizzles out just as you enter the chamber overflowing with goblins. So, how good was that alchemist, anyway?

OMG ~ this is about the truth. There are so many variables but there are good ideas flowing.