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Here's the DM-created magic item in question:

Mask of three faces photo

Mask of Three Faces

When worn, the mask attaches to the wearer's face and cannot be removed by normal means. At next sundown, the mask falls off. At each time of attachment, the mask chooses a mode at random which is effect for the duration of the attachment:

Allure - +2 to Charisma, +3 Competence Bluff, +3 Competence Diplomacy

Frendliness - +2 to Wisdom, +5 Competence Sense Motive.

Madness - -2 to Wisdom, -2 to Charisma, +2 to Dexterity, +2 to Strength, and a +5 competence bonus to the following skills: Sleight of Hand, Climb, and Tumble.

About how much gold would you say this DM-created item is worth? Can you break down your analysis?

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    \$\begingroup\$ What can the mask be removed by (i.e. what are the non-normal means implied by the text), if the recipient gets an effect that they did not want? If it is removed, does it become inert for the day, or available to wear again? Asking because if is known that for instance Remove Curse could be used, then the item has wider appeal amongst spellcasting classes. \$\endgroup\$
    – Neil Slater
    May 8, 2019 at 19:48
  • \$\begingroup\$ Edited the response to Chan's question, not sure about the answer to your question, Neil, but I'll get an answer from the DM and edit it in. That's actually a really good point in terms of potentially exploiting its mechanics. \$\endgroup\$
    – JoshuaD
    May 8, 2019 at 19:57
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    \$\begingroup\$ Middle mask is batman. \$\endgroup\$
    – ShadowKras
    May 8, 2019 at 20:22
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    \$\begingroup\$ If you've ever see Jim Carrey in "The Mask", it seems that the mask in the movie gives all of these bonuses at once. \$\endgroup\$
    – TheCentaur
    May 8, 2019 at 22:42

1 Answer 1

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You're looking for the text about creating magic items: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/creatingMagicItems.htm

  • Stat bonuses are 1000*bonus^2.
  • Skill bonuses are 100*bonus^2.
  • For multiple bonuses on the same item, the cheaper bonuses cost 50% more.

We can estimate costs as:

  • Allure: +2 stat bonus (4000gp), +3 skill bonus (900gp * 1.5), +3 skill bonus (900gp * 1.5) = 6700gp
  • Friendliness: +2 stat bonus (4000gp), +5 skill bonus (2500gp * 1.5) = 7750gp
  • Madness: +2 stat bonus (4000gp), +2 stat bonus (4000gp * 1.5), three skills (3 * 2500 * 1.5) = 21250gp

There's no mechanism for pricing the stat penalties, and that's okay -- a WIS and CHA penalty aren't going to be very relevant for someone who wants to use physical stat bonuses.

We're not told how to price a magic item that does random things instead of predictable things, but I think it probably makes sense to take the average price across all three. The average is 11900, so a strict by-the-book pricing might price this at 12000gp.

There's some side discussion we could have here about what happens when the mask is removed with remove curse and then reattached. If this works, it's a partial (though expensive) fix for the mask's main drawback. If this doesn't work, we might subtract a bit from the price since it's so hard to get a relevant feature from the mask.

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