Item pricing and limitations

[Greenfield]

I might be tempted to split the difference.

While items do get custom made, and therefore the limits don't really limit, the items may well get sold off later on, to make room for bigger/better toys.

At that time, the limitations do affect the actual resale price.

 

[anest1s]

I might be tempted to split the difference.

While items do get custom made, and therefore the limits don't really limit, the items may well get sold off later on, to make room for bigger/better toys.

At that time, the limitations do affect the actual resale price.

If I craft a potion of cure light wounds I pay 25 gp as materials. If I sell it I get 25gp

If I craft a potion usable only by humans, I pay 17.5 gp and if I sell it I get 17.5 gp.

 

[IstraRaugir]

From an in-game perspective the item would actually take more effort/material to make. After all: a restriction is something that you add to the item not substract from it. So in my opinion if you craft something with a class/race restriction you pay full price for crafting it. When you sell it to a general store it won't sell for full price (smaller market potential). Then again someone or some group of the race/class in question may pay a little extra for an item specifically geared to them.

Just my two cents.

 

[James the Newbie]

I imagine magic items work by being attuned to manipulation by all beings, it is probably easier to make a spell which only works for one type of being, fluff wise.

And in response to it being just, If you had house ruled it at the start of the game, it would be fair, but if you threw it on your players, it would not be very just at all.

 

[kitcik]

If I craft a potion of cure light wounds I pay 25 gp as materials. If I sell it I get 25gp

If I craft a potion usable only by humans, I pay 17.5 gp and if I sell it I get 17.5 gp.

This would be true in a game of Crafters and Peddlers, but in D&D, if you allow your adventurers to craft stuff useable by themselves and get full value from their use, but only pay a discounted price, your campaign is in for a rude awakening.

 

[delericho]

Much like the CR/EL system, high-level play, multiclassing, and monsters-as-PCs (or even just polymorph), the 3e rules for crafting items pretend to a mathematical rigour that they don't actually possess. The end result is that if you allow a certain type of player to use them without close oversight, they will break your game.

So, I recommend treating the formulae for cost just as the CR rules - as very loose guidelines to be treated with a great deal of suspicion. Ideally, you should judge the power of the item overall with similarly-powerful items in the game, and assign the cost accordingly.

In the specific case of restrictions for race, class, or alignment, I simply banned them from my game - no, you can't craft items with these restrictions; but by the same token, I won't use them either. However, if you do want to use them, then I agree with the "Champions" example that was given in the first reply - if something isn't a real restriction then it isn't worth a price break.

 

[Greenfield]

One issue with alignment restricted items is that a character's alignment can change. Once he/she has a race and class established, they're pretty much unchangeable.

So it seems odd that the major discount is applied to the unchangeable parts of a character, the ones they can't lose, and the minor discount is applied only to things that can change.

Now, think about this: Items in the game that are alignment linked give a far more substantial penalty for changing alignment. Turn towards the dark side, and suddenly your armor doesn't like you.