Official 'Alter Self' item?

[calypso15]

Is there an official (meaning, roughly, Core, Complete, or, in my case, Forgotten Realms) item that grants continual Alter Self? Maybe even a specialized version of it?

Basically, I'm making a character that uses constant Alter Self to appear human, but an item of Alter self is pretty pricey.

Calypso

 

[domino]

Is there an official (meaning, roughly, Core, Complete, or, in my case, Forgotten Realms) item that grants continual Alter Self? Maybe even a specialized version of it?

Basically, I'm making a character that uses constant Alter Self to appear human, but an item of Alter self is pretty pricey.

Calypso

Maybe a Hat of Disguise.

 

[Staffan]

How about a hat of disguise? That's disguise self instead of alter self, but that should be preferable if all you want to do is look different.

 

[calypso15]

Well, I plan on having a hat of disguise as well, to change my equipment and whatnot. But Alter Self is a transmutation, so it stands up to scrutiny much, much better than an illusion.

Calypso

 

[Mistwell]

Alter self is a very powerful spell. You could change from a creature that flys to a creature with a burrow speed to a creature with a swim speed to a creature with a climb speed to a creature with many natural attacks to a creature with a high natural armor bonus to a creature with massive racial bonuses to skills...etc., an infinite number of times. That would be a VERY pricey item, and not worth it based on your stated goals.

 

[calypso15]

Alter self is a very powerful spell. You could change from a creature that flys to a creature with a burrow speed to a creature with a swim speed to a creature with a climb speed to a creature with many natural attacks to a creature with a high natural armor bonus to a creature with massive racial bonuses to skills...etc., an infinite number of times. That would be a VERY pricey item, and not worth it based on your stated goals.

Right, it would be 18k gold. That's why I was hoping there might already exist an item that was limited in some way. You know, you can only turn into humans or something. If not, I might be able to talk my DM into making one, though I doubt it. I think he's getting sick of me.

Calypso

 

[Mistwell]

Right, it would be 18k gold. That's why I was hoping there might already exist an item that was limited in some way. You know, you can only turn into humans or something. If not, I might be able to talk my DM into making one, though I doubt it. I think he's getting sick of me.

Calypso

It would be 18K for use activated for 30 minutes at a time by the guidelines, though I might personally up that cost due to the utility of the spell.

If I am not mistaken you are looking for a constant-on alter-self. That's the equivelent of a persistent spell alter self, which is I believe an 8th level spell (and even that would end after 24 hours, requiring a new use).

I really think a hat of disguise is what you are looking for.

 

[calypso15]

It would be 18K for use activated for 30 minutes at a time by the guidelines, though I might personally up that cost due to the utility of the spell.

It's continuous. You don't have to reactivate it. It would be 12k if I was making a use-activated item.

Under "Creating Magic items":

"Use-activated or continuous, Spell level × caster level × 2,000 gp, Lantern of revealing"

"This type of item simply has to be used in order to activate it. A character has to drink a potion, swing a sword, interpose a shield to deflect a blow in combat, look through a lens, sprinkle dust, wear a ring, or don a hat. Use activation is generally straightforward and self-explanatory.

Many use-activated items are objects that a character wears. Continually functioning items are practically always items that one wears. A few must simply be in the character’s possession (on his person). However, some items made for wearing must still be activated. Although this activation sometimes requires a command word, usually it means mentally willing the activation to happen. The description of an item states whether a command word is needed in such a case."

Calypso

 

[Mistwell]

It's continuous. You don't have to reactivate it. It would be 12k if I was making a use-activated item.

Under "Creating Magic items":

"Use-activated or continuous, Spell level × caster level × 2,000 gp, Lantern of revealing"

"This type of item simply has to be used in order to activate it. A character has to drink a potion, swing a sword, interpose a shield to deflect a blow in combat, look through a lens, sprinkle dust, wear a ring, or don a hat. Use activation is generally straightforward and self-explanatory.

Many use-activated items are objects that a character wears. Continually functioning items are practically always items that one wears. A few must simply be in the character’s possession (on his person). However, some items made for wearing must still be activated. Although this activation sometimes requires a command word, usually it means mentally willing the activation to happen. The description of an item states whether a command word is needed in such a case."

Calypso

First, the section you bolded has no meaning for this debate. We are not discussing whether this item is worn or carried, and that is what that sentence is about. If it is worn, it can be either use-activated or continuous. Just because almost all continuous items are worn doesn't mean almost all worn-items are continuous (and the sentence before the one you bolded says that).

Back to he main argument: The guidelines state "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."

Based on the DMG guidelines, and comparing it to similar items, this should be a use-activiated item (like a command word or willing acivation to happen) and not a continuous-on item. The reason I am saying this is, in particular, the spell Alter Sellf must have a TON of choices selected at the time of use, and it if is always on, then you really are talking about a different spell.

In addition, I think it would be overpowered to do it strictly by the guideline prices as it is not a true guage of the exact power of this particular item. Multiply by 1.5 vasting underrates the power of a continuous use alter self, as it does not account for the number of different forms you can take all in the same day.

Much like a ring of invisibility, this item should be acitivated, and have the effect of a spell that has a limited duration before it has to be activated again.

 

[Jack Simth]

I know of no specific item that does that kind of thing, but a big part of how I'd price it depends on exactly what you want.

An item that turns you into a specific human while worn, with the specific appearence set at the creation of the item? That shouldn't be too terribly pricy; I'd probably let it go for under five grand, personally. Sure, it's useful - five large nets you an extra identity to wear around town - but a Hat of Disguise will fill most those needs, and let you change faces every round (but has an interaction Will save - under most situations, most people won't qualify as interacting).

A command-word item that gives you Alter Self at will? That one's a scoch over the top - replaces way too many fairly expensive items. It would be more expensive than guidelines suggest.

Or you could play a Changling or something.....