Master crafter

[B4cchus]

I know 100 craft points is a hard hit. Would a GP loss be better? I think xp loss is even worse than craft points loss. It could be something like a 10% of raw material loss (only for the item, not for the spell).

I thought about giving the MC crafting points but i turned it does for balancing reasons. The 2 bonus feats at lvl 2 and 4 can easily load him up with craft points by taking a craft feat or talented crafter.

I adressed the CL requirements for craftig in the general discussion thread. I am under the impression that magical items don't require CL aside from the spells that are required for the item. I adress that part with the eldritch/cerebral crater ability. again i didn't want to give full caster progression for balacing rules. If it turnes out that a CL is required for items, i'll adress that. Could you point me to the rules stating that a CL is required for items? (i've been looking for that particular part for quite some time!)

I'm working on a fix for magical weapons vs magical armor. I'm leaning towards an alternative table, as the one posted with the class, where i simply adjust the weapon bonus with +1 (so making a keen wepaon cost 2 Imbue Points instead of 1, capping weapon abiliets at 'regular' +3 abilities).

Still to change:
flavour
change craft opint loss for failed eldritch/cerebral crafter
fix on weapon abilites
possible fix on CL for crafting

 

[Rae ArdGaoth]

Caster Level for Weapons

The caster level of a weapon with a special ability is given in the item description. For an item with only an enhancement bonus and no other abilities, the caster level is three times the enhancement bonus. If an item has both an enhancement bonus and a special ability, the higher of the two caster level requirements must be met.

It's right at the top of the Magic Weapons section.

 

[Rae ArdGaoth]

Apparently I'm wrong:

The CL written in the description of the item is use for saving throw of the item and dispel magic. It is in no way a requirement to create the item. So a 5th level caster can create a +5 weapon if he has the requirement (Access to the proper spells, have the good alignement and race if needed, ect...)

 

[Velmont]

If you look here, you'll see that CL and Prerequisit is two different things.

 

[B4cchus]

In that case loosing CL for crafting requirements would really hurt this PrC indeed.
I think i'll expand the master craftsman by granting a bonus to CL for purposes of crafting items as well.

 

[B4cchus]

Another update made!
Changes made in version 0.4:
Added CL bonus for crafting in the Master craftsman ability.
Changed eldritch/cerebral crafter ability: failure now costs 10% of the base price. Changed wording of the max. caster/manifester level of spells cast through this ability/
Changed imbue item: weapon enhancements now cost 1 imbue point more.
Added the Master Crafter Guild background and rules

 

[Rae ArdGaoth]

I'm liking this more and more. I think it has become a viable option for a PC. Upping the cost to Imbue weapons by one is an elegant solution, I like it. The Master Crafter guild is intriguing, though I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I'm always in support of more flavor and historical background, especially when it ties in with already existing organizations. On the other hand, I feel like it's too limiting; independent crafters can't take levels in this class, so a more appropriate name might be Guild Crafter or something. Rilithorne, the Orussian mage crafter, is the only NPC I know who can make magic items in Orussus. He might take levels in this PrC, but if he's forced to be a guildmember... maybe not. I get the feeling that he's a pretty independent guy.

Regarding the Guild, it has been established that Orussus' economy is 20,000gp. It seems unlikely that any group of NPCs could muster up the finances to craft a 100,000gp item, except on special commission from a very wealthy individual (probably a PC). Maybe in the past, the Master Crafters could make such powerful items and even consider making artifacts, but today even semi-powerful magical items are probably out of their reach, and the potential for making artifacts is but a dream of the past. Basically what I'm saying is this: as is, the Guild is a tad too powerful. We're trying to keep the most powerful NPCs in Enworld around level 10. That puts the best crafters in the guild capable of crafting minor and medium wondrous items and maybe a few of the less powerful major wondrous items. I'm thinking the "high priced crafts" should be somewhere around 25,000gp, and they should be pretty rare.

Also, the organization of the guild is a little off. Are the council members elected or not, is the "election process" mostly a formality, and the members are basically already chosen? Because you say...

The Guildmaster is officially (re-)elected every five years, but usually remains guildmaster until he appoints a successor.

So is the guildmaster elected or appointed? He can't be both, unless the election, as I said, is just a formality. And the Chromatic Order rep. gets 5 votes, so he's half the council? I thought the CO's influence had decreased some?

As far as mechanics go, I'm pretty satisfied with them. The only combat ability they have is imbue item, which admittedly is pretty nice. But other than that, they get nothing for combat, so I think it's a fair trade off. The +1 Caster Level is a tad confusing; the table says Levels 1, 3, and 5, but the description implies every level. Also, the table implies that just the Caster Level improves, whereas the description says that spells per day and all that stuff improve.

Perhaps the first level should be attainable without the guild's approval, but the second level should require it. That way, a PC could pick it up in an adventure and then get accepted to the guild in his off-time. The guild benefits don't start until L2 anyway.

Aside from correcting a bunch of spelling/grammatical errors, I'm liking it. I'd like to see someone like Rystil comment on the mechanics and balance, though. And I'm not familiar with crafting at all, especially with our crazy Craft Points system, so somebody should check that stuff out.

 

[Rystil Arden]

So is the guildmaster elected or appointed? He can't be both, unless the election, as I said, is just a formality. And the Chromatic Order rep. gets 5 votes, so he's half the council? I thought the CO's influence had decreased some?

This Guild was founded by the Chromatic Order though, so it makes sense that they have a high influence here. I suggest tying it in with apprentices of the archmage Omega (one of the founders of the Chromatic Order)--those of Omega House are said to be the best magic item craftsman in the world.

Also, it's a bit odd that there are guildhouses in Orussus and Fallon but not Medibaria. I'd make it Orussus and Medibaria. Fallon is quite an odd choice.

egarding the Guild, it has been established that Orussus' economy is 20,000gp. It seems unlikely that any group of NPCs could muster up the finances to craft a 100,000gp item, except on special commission from a very wealthy individual (probably a PC). Maybe in the past, the Master Crafters could make such powerful items and even consider making artifacts, but today even semi-powerful magical items are probably out of their reach, and the potential for making artifacts is but a dream of the past. Basically what I'm saying is this: as is, the Guild is a tad too powerful. We're trying to keep the most powerful NPCs in Enworld around level 10. That puts the best crafters in the guild capable of crafting minor and medium wondrous items and maybe a few of the less powerful major wondrous items. I'm thinking the "high priced crafts" should be somewhere around 25,000gp, and they should be pretty rare.

Not only do I agree that 100k is really high, I was planning on saying something similar until I saw that you already did.

 

[B4cchus]

I'll polish up the background a bit. The inclusion of Omega is a really good idea!
As far as the order's (reduced) influence: i'll elborate on that a bit more. The reduced influence mostly applies to the influence in individiual members, not so much the counsel. It's not that they don't have any influence these days but that used to run the entire show in the earlier days. I agree that the wording is a bit poor on that.

I'll reduce the 100K limit. It started out more as a flavour thing (and remnant of old days). As far as the power limit: the fact that there is a cap on 100K items doesn't mean they are created on a daily basis. The Orussus house is only the second house. The main power lays in Fallon. I choose Fallon for it's history (powerfull wizards casting protection magic against comets and whatnot). I've got to admid i don't know anything about Medibaria. I'll look into that!

I'll also polish up the mechanics of the guild's political structure (it got a bit sloppy after some revisions). Basicly the counsel and guildmaster are elected. In practice it is usually pretty clear who get's the position. The election process is indeed mostly a formality. I'll eleborate more on this.

Perhaps the first level should be attainable without the guild's approval, but the second level should require it. That way, a PC could pick it up in an adventure and then get accepted to the guild in his off-time. The guild benefits don't start until L2 anyway.

That is exactly what i had in mind. I'll review my wording to state this more clearly.

All in all i'll review the text and correct errors where i can to make it more clear. Many factors, like sloppy tiyping, too little time and not being a native english speaker, result in the text being less clear than i wish it to be.
Thanks for the comments! Any more oponions on the mechanics?

 

[Rystil Arden]

I'll polish up the background a bit. The inclusion of Omega is a really good idea!
As far as the order's (reduced) influence: i'll elborate on that a bit more. The reduced influence mostly applies to the influence in individiual members, not so much the counsel. It's not that they don't have any influence these days but that used to run the entire show in the earlier days. I agree that the wording is a bit poor on that.

I'll reduce the 100K limit. It started out more as a flavour thing (and remnant of old days). As far as the power limit: the fact that there is a cap on 100K items doesn't mean they are created on a daily basis. The Orussus house is only the second house. The main power lays in Fallon. I choose Fallon for it's history (powerfull wizards casting protection magic against comets and whatnot). I've got to admid i don't know anything about Medibaria. I'll look into that!

I'll also polish up the mechanics of the guild's political structure (it got a bit sloppy after some revisions). Basicly the counsel and guildmaster are elected. In practice it is usually pretty clear who get's the position. The election process is indeed mostly a formality. I'll eleborate more on this.

That is exactly what i had in mind. I'll review my wording to state this more clearly.

All in all i'll review the text and correct errors where i can to make it more clear. Many factors, like sloppy tiyping, too little time and not being a native english speaker, result in the text being less clear than i wish it to be.
Thanks for the comments! Any more oponions on the mechanics?

Medibaria == Where the Chromatic Order's Academy is located. The seat of Chromatic Order power. The clear logical choice for a Chromatic Order-based organisation.

Fallon == upstarts who think they're all great because of that meteor thing, but would be nothing if not for Chromatic Order graduates who helped teach them magic in the first place back when Medibaria was an empire that included present-day Fallon.

(At least that's what a Chromatic Order person would say )


Admittedly, this isn't as clear as it could be because someone ran an adventure in Fallon that El Jefe got to before he gave up on the Places thread, whereas my adventures with good Medibarian history were never delved for info.

By the way, here are some people of Graduate Student-level or higher who are involved with Omega. I don't have info on them in my collection, but I can give additional details as desired--

Garrick Thendrin, Enchantment Graduate
Rowan Aranah, Enchantment Graduate
Dorian Grywald, Omega Professor
Mikam Erlis, Omega Professor
Friesa Dralkin, Omega Professor
Cedric Branwen, Omega Housemaster
Adrianna Branwen, Omega Professor (Cedric's wife)