50% off/on Crafting prices [Archive] - Wizards Community

50% off/on Crafting prices [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Deviston
09-14-06, 06:34 PM Is it feasable to set a "flaw" or some mechanic (say you just put effort into it or some storyline reason) that allows one to Craft one set of items from a crafting feat at Half Price and all of the others at X1.5 the price?
Artector
09-14-06, 06:54 PM Sure, anything's possible when you houserule it.

I think something like that may work.

A feat...

Cheap Craftsman
Prerequisties: Any 2 magic item creation feats, Craft (Any) 5 ranks
Benefit: You make items at .5 of the cost it'd normally take. (So an item that costs 1000 GP market costs 500 GP Base, and you craft it at 250 GP) But all other costs are multiplied by 1.5. (The item mentioned would be 20 xp normally, instead it is 30 XP)

That's the basic idea I think you're getting at. I may be off in my magic item creation costs in general though.
Deviston
09-14-06, 07:44 PM cool . . . i like it! although i think this is what ill use, any other ideas?
Daosus
09-14-06, 08:07 PM The only problem I'd see with this is if you had only one Item Creation Feat. For example, let's say I play a Wizard, who has no intention of crafting anything other than scrolls. Why shouldn't I take this instead of, say, Magical Artisan from FRCS.

This feat allows you to get a concrete and useful benefit, while providing a drawback that is not necessarily relevant. It thus becomes relatively easy to min/max with it. Then again, it's not something that'll break your game, it's just the principle of the thing.

If you wanted to remove this problem, make the prereqs be any TWO Item Creation Feats. That'll force your player to sacrifice something, either gold or a feat slot.
wonlee76
09-14-06, 08:16 PM I would've suggested a penalty of doubling the XP cost to crafting in exchange for the cheaper crafting costs. THat way you couldn't "bypass" the penalty by choosing only one item creation feat to get the benefit and not bothering with the others to completely avoid the penalty.
Artector
09-14-06, 08:54 PM There ya go, I edited the prerequistites.
The Simbul
09-15-06, 09:53 AM We already have something in the rules that lets you craft items at a reduced gp cost but at double XP...and by "reduced gp cost" I mean no gp cost; its the wish spell :mage:

And no, the extra 5,000 XP in its base components is nothing when you consider that;

A) A 17th+ level PC, in a group of three, at four encounters per day, can earn 6,800 XP per day.
B) Even if said PC falls behind in XP, and in the rest of the group goes up a level, the system will ensure that the PC catches up quickly by gaining more XP per equal EL encounter.
C) Crafting a medium power wondrous item takes about a week at the minimum, while major wondrous items start with a crafting time of around a month, while casting a wish spell is a standard action.
chitzk0i
09-15-06, 11:35 AM My brother and I once worked out a system based on some Rules of the Game article that would let you vary the crafting time, gp cost, and exp cost. Reducing one would increase another, and we agreed that it was fairly balanced.

We also had another idea: what if you could substitute less valuable components, but there's a chance that it will have a negative side affect. Perhaps the chance of having a curse or defect would be equal to the discount you want. Want a 50% discount? Fine, but there's a 50% chance that it has a defect. You could also apply this system to the crafting time. You could get an item for 25% cheaper and in 25% less time, but there would be a 50% chance that I'd get to roll on the Random Magical Defects table, which has a chance of carrying over to the Random Major Curses table. You might want to limit the discount to 50 or 75%. Then again, you might say that if the reduction is more than 75%, you start off rolling on the Major Curses table, skipping the Minor Defects.

If the PCs use these rules, their items would certainly be more quirky and maybe more memorable.
risner
09-15-06, 11:55 AM You might also want to not allow the discount to stack with other gp reduction feats, so you don't end up at 0 gp for expensive items.
Deviston
09-18-06, 05:07 PM Wonderful ideas! (Sorry Simbul, 17 is an unatainable star)

and please, post the rules for the "reduce one and increase the others", that intrigues me

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Deviston 09-14-06, 06:34 PM	Is it feasable to set a "flaw" or some mechanic (say you just put effort into it or some storyline reason) that allows one to Craft one set of items from a crafting feat at Half Price and all of the others at X1.5 the price?
Artector 09-14-06, 06:54 PM	Sure, anything's possible when you houserule it. I think something like that may work. A feat... Cheap Craftsman Prerequisties: Any 2 magic item creation feats, Craft (Any) 5 ranks Benefit: You make items at .5 of the cost it'd normally take. (So an item that costs 1000 GP market costs 500 GP Base, and you craft it at 250 GP) But all other costs are multiplied by 1.5. (The item mentioned would be 20 xp normally, instead it is 30 XP) That's the basic idea I think you're getting at. I may be off in my magic item creation costs in general though.
Deviston 09-14-06, 07:44 PM	cool . . . i like it! although i think this is what ill use, any other ideas?
Daosus 09-14-06, 08:07 PM	The only problem I'd see with this is if you had only one Item Creation Feat. For example, let's say I play a Wizard, who has no intention of crafting anything other than scrolls. Why shouldn't I take this instead of, say, Magical Artisan from FRCS. This feat allows you to get a concrete and useful benefit, while providing a drawback that is not necessarily relevant. It thus becomes relatively easy to min/max with it. Then again, it's not something that'll break your game, it's just the principle of the thing. If you wanted to remove this problem, make the prereqs be any TWO Item Creation Feats. That'll force your player to sacrifice something, either gold or a feat slot.
wonlee76 09-14-06, 08:16 PM	I would've suggested a penalty of doubling the XP cost to crafting in exchange for the cheaper crafting costs. THat way you couldn't "bypass" the penalty by choosing only one item creation feat to get the benefit and not bothering with the others to completely avoid the penalty.
Artector 09-14-06, 08:54 PM	There ya go, I edited the prerequistites.
The Simbul 09-15-06, 09:53 AM	We already have something in the rules that lets you craft items at a reduced gp cost but at double XP...and by "reduced gp cost" I mean no gp cost; its the wish spell :mage: And no, the extra 5,000 XP in its base components is nothing when you consider that; A) A 17th+ level PC, in a group of three, at four encounters per day, can earn 6,800 XP per day. B) Even if said PC falls behind in XP, and in the rest of the group goes up a level, the system will ensure that the PC catches up quickly by gaining more XP per equal EL encounter. C) Crafting a medium power wondrous item takes about a week at the minimum, while major wondrous items start with a crafting time of around a month, while casting a wish spell is a standard action.
chitzk0i 09-15-06, 11:35 AM	My brother and I once worked out a system based on some Rules of the Game article that would let you vary the crafting time, gp cost, and exp cost. Reducing one would increase another, and we agreed that it was fairly balanced. We also had another idea: what if you could substitute less valuable components, but there's a chance that it will have a negative side affect. Perhaps the chance of having a curse or defect would be equal to the discount you want. Want a 50% discount? Fine, but there's a 50% chance that it has a defect. You could also apply this system to the crafting time. You could get an item for 25% cheaper and in 25% less time, but there would be a 50% chance that I'd get to roll on the Random Magical Defects table, which has a chance of carrying over to the Random Major Curses table. You might want to limit the discount to 50 or 75%. Then again, you might say that if the reduction is more than 75%, you start off rolling on the Major Curses table, skipping the Minor Defects. If the PCs use these rules, their items would certainly be more quirky and maybe more memorable.
risner 09-15-06, 11:55 AM	You might also want to not allow the discount to stack with other gp reduction feats, so you don't end up at 0 gp for expensive items.
Deviston 09-18-06, 05:07 PM	Wonderful ideas! (Sorry Simbul, 17 is an unatainable star) and please, post the rules for the "reduce one and increase the others", that intrigues me