Question reegarding Craft (Armorsmithing) & Starting equipment

Angel Tarragon · Sep 8, 2005

Starting a new adventure soon and I have a new player in my group. He has worked up a small potion of his character putting maximum ranks in Craft (Armorsmithing) and believes he should have the liberty of being able to construct his own armor without having to pay the full cost of it. He has taken a feat that allows him extra starting funds and with it he is spending 200 gp on the construction cost of the armor (Half-Plate). Should I allow this? Wait, scratch that, reverse it. Has any other DM allowed a player to do such a thing?

tingbudong · Sep 8, 2005

I'd say as long as the crafting DC can be reached by the character (assuming he took 20) and he has the costs for the raw materials, I don't see why a character who can make his own stuff would not do so before he goes out adventuring. Also, it would give an incentive for players to use less popular skills, which is always a good thing in my book.

tbd

Angel Tarragon · Sep 8, 2005

Makes sense. Thanks for commenting.

genshou · Sep 12, 2005

This issue has come up a lot with a certain player of mine (namely, the one in Pledge of Tyranny). My favorite player *most* of the time...

A character's starting equipment represents items they've acquired through any[/] means, including self-crafting, gifts, larceny, etc. "Buying" starting equipment is an abstraction; it's not like the PC walks into a store with 200 gp. "Hmm, I wonder if they're having a sale on sunrods today..."

When the issue came up, I sent it on to custserv@wizards.com and they confirmed my decision. You cannot use Craft to reduce the effective cost of starting equipment.

Of course, never forget about Rule-0. Just giving the RAW for reference.

Sledge · Sep 12, 2005

While the rules as written don't support discounts, I always allow it as a reward for the character's investment in crafting.

genshou · Sep 12, 2005

Sledge said:
While the rules as written don't support discounts, I always allow it as a reward for the character's investment in crafting.

Do you allow the same "reward" for a character's investment in kleptomaniacal tendencies?

tingbudong · Sep 12, 2005

Well, stealing equipment is much harder to quantify than crafting. If there was a balanced way, I could allow it. On the other hand how many other classes other than rogues are likely to be based around stealing? If there are none, it is safe to say that the rogue's starting gold factors in stolen equipment. Craft however is not tied to a specific class, so that argument does not hold for crafting gear.

tbd

genshou · Sep 12, 2005

tingbudong said:
Well, stealing equipment is much harder to quantify than crafting. If there was a balanced way, I could allow it. On the other hand how many other classes other than rogues are likely to be based around stealing? If there are none, it is safe to say that the rogue's starting gold factors in stolen equipment. Craft however is not tied to a specific class, so that argument does not hold for crafting gear.

tbd

Hmm, point taken. But investing ranks in Craft just to get more stuff at 1st-level still seems to me just to be a way of trying to get more and better stuff than the other PCs. "And as an environmentalist, I'm against that." Yeah, that TV show quote is entirely unrelated, but it popped into my head. Can anyone name the source?

tingbudong · Sep 12, 2005

As long as the character is not created considerably above 1st level, I never found starting equipment to be more than the basics to get the character going with all he needs to fulfill his role, with the special stuff found or bought as the game progressed. On the other hand I always seem to have too few skill points no matter what character I play so I wouldn't think of spending skill points just to save a few bucks in the short run. Is that such an exotic view?

genshou · Sep 12, 2005

tingbudong said:
As long as the character is not created considerably above 1st level, I never found starting equipment to be more than the basics to get the character going with all he needs to fulfill his role, with the special stuff found or bought as the game progressed. On the other hand I always seem to have too few skill points no matter what character I play so I wouldn't think of spending skill points just to save a few bucks in the short run. Is that such an exotic view?

A +1 to AC is a lot more effective at 1st-level than it is at any other. The ability to afford a better armor is a more serious issue then.

Still, if it's not an issue to you, feel free to allow it in your own games. I just had too many experiences with sneaky players trying to get away with as much as they could, so I outlawed the idea from the beginning.

Question reegarding Craft (Armorsmithing) & Starting equipment

Angel Tarragon

Dawn Dragon

tingbudong

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Angel Tarragon

Dawn Dragon

genshou

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Sledge

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genshou

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tingbudong

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genshou

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tingbudong

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genshou

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