Drake Helm

These helms are highly prized by sorcerers and bards, because they use specially attuned dragonshards to expand a spontaneous caster’s spells known.
Lore: Drake-helms hold spells within them that expand the repertoire of sorcerers (Knowledge [arcana] DC 15). The draconic styling of the helmet suggests that the helms were gifts from ancient dragons, or that the giants made the helms to honor that relationship (Knowledge [arcana] DC 30).
Description: This black metal helmet is fashioned to look as if it were made out of reptile scales. Folded dragonwings guard both ear-holes, and a spiny crest runs from the forehead over the crown to the nape of the neck. Along the crest are sockets, each holding a faintly glowing Siberys dragonshard.
Prerequisite: You benefit from a drake-helm only if you’re a spontaneous arcane spellcaster such as a sorcerer or bard.
Activation: A drake-helm provides its benefit whenever you wear it. You can change the spell within a Siberys dragonshard by casting a spell into it (see below).
If you’re wearing a drake-helm, you can attach or remove a dragonshard as a move action that provokes attacks of opportunity. Others cannot remove the dragonshards.
Effect: A drake-helm does nothing by itself, but it is a secure receptacle for the attuned Siberys dragonshards set into its crest. Drake-helms have between one and four receptacles for dragonshards.
Each attuned Siberys dragonshard attached to your drake-helm gives you an extra arcane spell known; the spell within the dragonshard is on your spell list just as if you had chosen it normally. You must still provide the spell slot, so you can’t cast a high-level spell within the dragonshard if you couldn’t cast it normally.
Different attuned dragonshards exist for granting you an extra spell known of each level from 1st through 9th. Many spellcasters who own drake-helms attune their own Siberys dragonshards to give them options beyond those offered by the dragonshards that came with the drake-helm.
The spell within an attuned dragonshard can be changed once per month by casting a spell into it (as with a ring of spell storing). Because you probably want the dragonshard to have a spell you don’t already know, consider casting the spell from a scroll, or having a PC or NPC wizard cast the spell into the dragonshard for you. An attuned dragonshard will also hold a spell of less than its maximum level.
If found as treasure, each dragonshard within a drakehelm has a spell of the relevant level in it, determined randomly from the spells on the arcane scroll tables on page 239–241 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide.
Aura/Caster Level: The drake-helm itself is always strong transmutation, CL 12th. The attuned dragon shards are faint (1st–2nd), moderate (3rd–5th), or strong (6th–9th) transmutation, CL 2nd (1st), 4th (2nd), 6th (3rd), 8th (4th) 10th (5th) 12th (6th), 14th (7th), 16th (8th), 18th (9th).
Construction: Craft Wondrous Item, creator must have caster level equal to four times the number of dragonshard sockets. For other construction requirements, consult the following table:

Drake-Helm Sockets Cost XP Cost Days to Construct
1 socket 500 gp 40 XP 1 day
2 sockets 4,000 gp 320 XP 8 days
3 sockets 9,000 gp 720 XP 18 days
4 sockets 16,000 gp 1,280 XP 32 days

You can attune your own dragonshards for the drake-helm—a good idea if you’re a significantly higher- or lower-level caster than the drake-helm’s previous owner. Only the finest Siberys dragonshards can be attuned to accept spells for a drake-helm. Attuning the dragonshard requires the Craft Wondrous Item feat, and the creator must be able to cast spells of the relevant level. For other construction requirements, consult the following table.

Max Spell Level Cost Dragonshard Cost XP Cost Days to Construct
1st 5,000 gp 500 gp 40 XP 1 day
2nd 5,000 gp 2,000 gp 160 XP 4 days
3rd 5,000 gp 4,500 gp 360 XP 9 days
4th 10,000 gp 8,000 gp 640 XP 16 days
5th 10,000 gp 12,500 gp 1,000 XP 25 days
6th 10,000 gp 18,000 gp 1,440 XP 36 days
7th 20,000 gp 24,500 gp 1,960 XP 49 days
8th 20,000 gp 32,000 gp 2,560 XP 64 days
9th 20,000 gp 40,500 gp 3,240 XP 81 days

Weight: 3 lb., plus 1 lb. per dragonshard.
Price: The drake-helm itself costs 1,000 gp (one socket), 8,000 gp (two sockets), 18,000 (three sockets), or 32,000 gp (four sockets).
An attuned Siberys dragonshard costs 6,000 gp (1st), 9,000 gp (2nd), 14,000 gp (3rd), 26,000 gp (4th), 35,000 gp (5th), 46,000 gp (6th), 69,000 (7th), 84,000 (8th), or 101,000 (9th).

Source: Explorer's Handbook

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