Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Arvagor 10-21-05, 05:42 PM	I recently received access to, and am considering purchasing, an elvencraft bow (from Races of the Wild). However the pricing for said item is unclear. The favor simply says I can apply the elvencraft enhancement/construction to a bow. Unfortunately, I have now been told three different prices for the cost of this item; 675gp, as well as either 975gp or 1275gp, based on the following arguments: 675gp == 75gp (Longbow) + 300gp (masterwork) + 300gp (elvencraft). This is what I initially came up with. 975gp == (first price) + masterwork 'melee component' 1275gp == (first price) + 600gp (300gp x2, since the melee component is actually treated as a masterwork double weapon, a quarterstaff) RotW, unfortunately, is silent on the issue, saying simply that elvencraft adds 300gp to the cost of the bow, with no mention of what happens when a masterwork version is crafted. The main reason this is a concern is that, if I'm later going to have the bow enchanted for both ranged and melee use, I'll need to know how many enchantments to place on the bow. Given the sizable cost difference -- depending on how exactly you are supposed to craft it, a +1 enchantment on all ranged and melee attacks will end up being anywhere from 4675gp - 9275gp -- I'd like to get it right now, and not have to pay a penalty at a later time when a DM decides I didn't pay enough. Obviously, I'd like the lowest cost :D , but I can see all three arguments: The weapon is a masterwork bow first and foremost, just really sturdy so you can smack things with it The weapon is a bow, but also a melee weapon that sort of behaves like a staff, in terms of weight, damage, and threat range. Therefore, it's a MW bow + MW 'melee bow' The weapon has a MW bow component, but is also treated exactly like a quarterstaff when used as a melee weapon, and so requires it to be crafted as a MW staff, i.e. a double weapon I guess there's also kind of a 4th argument: it's a MW elvencraft bow as far as the crafting cost (675gp) is concerned, but when enchanted, requires you to enchant the ranged portion (+2000) as normal, but the melee portion as a double weapon I'd say I could somewhat simplify my life and get the elvencraft shortbow instead (since it's treated as a club), since there are effectively only two components to enchant, but that still doesn't answer the question of, is it one MW component or two? I also had already put the 675 on my AR on the advice of the DM who ran the mod for us, and need to know what really should go there... TimRat? Circle? Help???
Namarus 10-22-05, 10:04 AM	Actually the rules for it are made clear later on in the magic weapons section of the book. There are sword blades there which are pretty similar to the elven craft bow, instead of turning to clubs or staves, they turn into swords. Anyway looking at those rules I would say that for the longbow version would be: 75(long bow)+300(Elvencraft)+300x3(masterwork) Races of the Wild P.171 is the reference you need.
Arvagor 10-22-05, 12:59 PM	I thought about that and looked at the various swordbows, but the problem when comparing them to elvencraft is that there is actual magic involved (shrink item) in switching back and forth in functionality (between sword and bow), whereas elvencraft does not. Also, in trying to break down the price/cost of the swordbows, the cost also appears to factor in that you are starting with two separate masterwork items -- a sword and a bow -- rather than one item that has multiple ways to use it (i.e., the elvencraft bow).
Namarus 10-22-05, 02:54 PM	I mean the actual rules on enchanting swordbows is included in the text for them. Ie double the cost, so for a shortbow it would be double the enhancement, for a longbow type it would be triple.
Arvagor 10-22-05, 04:54 PM	That's not correct, though, as illustrated by their example -- "improving a +1 swordbow to a +2 swordbow costs 12000gp, just as if you were improving two +1 weapons to +2". To improve a single weapon from +1 to +2 costs 6000gp (the difference between a +1 enhancement and a +2), so to improve the longsword component, it costs 6000gp, and to improve the longbow component is another 6000gp, hence the 12000 cost to upgrade. And it would actually cost the same amount (12000gp) to improve a +1 light swordbow to a +2 light swordbow, or a +1 great swordbow to a +2 great swordbow. A swordbow is also not an elvencraft bow, just that it's similar in that it can convert freely between a bow and a melee weapon. Best to actually leave the swordbow out of the discussion, simply because it's not constructed the same way...
Namarus 10-22-05, 05:46 PM	Your best bet then would be to have a chat with WotC customer service. Their rulings are apparently offical for LG.
solbergb 10-24-05, 07:49 PM	WOTC customer service is NOT official in LG. Only LGCS and FAQ aside from the 3 core books is official. Slightly less official is rules listed in Complete books which can be used if the Judge feels like accepting it. My take on this is to just pay the full price. an extra 600gp is small potatoes compared to having some judge disallow your +1 defending (stave end 1), +1 fortunate (stave end 2), +1 shock/frost/fire composite longbow because you didn't pay for masterwork on one of the ends. This weapon, just the enchantments, is 8k+8k+32k = 48k. Not something you want disallowed. The rules don't say, which means it is a judge decision, and any time a judge doesn't like how much you payed for an item on the MIL he can say "you don't have it for this adventure". For my +4 strength mod composite bow, the price tag is 1700gp (900 for 3 masterworks, 100 for the bow, 300 for elvencraft, 400 for str mod). Which is annoying because it is adventure access only and I gotta come up with the cash right now (3 adventures later, still nearly broke :))