Magic item (ring) costs

[pbd]

So anyway, I am looking at the costs of magic item creation, specifically a ring of darkvision. It would be fine if it worked only once or twice per day and I am wondering what it would cost. I looked in the SRD (i don't own the DMG) and this is what I came up with...

Ring of darkvision:
2 (2nd level spell) x 3 (minimum caster level of the spell) x 2000 (multiplier for a continuous, non-charged effect) = 12,000 gp for a continuous ring of darkvision

This changes to:
2 (2nd level spell) x 3 (minimum caster level of the spell) x 1800 (multiplier for a command word activated, non-charged effect) = 10,800 gp for a ring of darkvision; x 2/5 (for 2 uses a day) is 4320 gp or x 1/5 (for 1 use per day) is 2160 gp

Or:
2 (2nd level spell) x 3 (minimum caster level of the spell) x 750 (multiplier for a spell trigger, 50 charged item) = 4,500 gp for a 50 charge ring of darkvision (as a fighter could my character even use this item?)

First off, this seems mighty expensive for just a ring of darkvision. Is this math correct? My DM initially thought that the caster level in the equation was minimum caster level required to produce the item (12th) and the price for the continuous effect ring would be 48,000 gp, which seems WAY too much for this item.

Another strange thing is the price for a ring of invisibility is 20,000 gp (10,000 x 2 since the spell duration is 1 minute per level?). The spell level and minimum caster level are the same as for darkvision, but darkvision has a spell duration of 1 hour per level, which has no costs multiplier, versus the invisibility multiplier of 2 x. This suggests that the ring of darkvision should be half the cost of the ring of invisibility, but this item doesn't seem to fit with any equation.

So ae my calculations correct? If so why is this so expensive for a fairly innocuous item?

Lastly, in lieu of this seemingly expensive solution, what are some ways to get darkvision for a character (seems strange that it can't be made permanent on things other than the caster...)?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

pbd

 

[Antoine]

Basic continuous ring = right at 12 kgp.
See the goggles of night. Same effect, same price. CL 3.

2 (2nd level spell) x 3 (minimum caster level of the spell) x 1800 (multiplier for a command word activated, non-charged effect) = 10,800 gp for a ring of darkvision; x 2/5 (for 2 uses a day) is 4320 gp or x 1/5 (for 1 use per day) is 2160 gp

Precisely.

2 (2nd level spell) x 3 (minimum caster level of the spell) x 750 (multiplier for a spell trigger, 50 charged item) = 4,500 gp for a 50 charge ring of darkvision (as a fighter could my character even use this item?)

Which is precisely a CL 3 wand of darkvision disguised as a ring. And no, your fighter couldn't use except if multi-classing or through use magic device skill.

 

[Antoine]

Lastly, in lieu of this seemingly expensive solution, what are some ways to get darkvision for a character?

Prestige classes, reincarnation…

 

[dcollins]

So anyway, I am looking at the costs of magic item creation, specifically a ring of darkvision.

First guideline is always to compare it to an existing item.

As previous poster noted: goggles of night, value 12,000 gp. The price could be reduced a bit for a ring (higher level feat needed), maybe 10,000 gp if I were DM.

Keep in mind this isn't just magic item creation, it's inventing a new item per "Variant: New Magic Items" (DMG p. 214), so whatever the DM says goes.