Acquiring epic items

[moritheil]

It should take a long time; but per RAW a +5 Sword costs 50,000 gp and normally takes 50 days, a +6 Sword costs 720,000gp (the full wealth of a 20th level PC!) and normally takes 720 days. Rather than fiddling with craft rolls I'd rather just have it take 72 days, that seems plenty long to me, and I reduce the cost to x2 standard = 144,000gp.

That's because things should get nonlinear at some point, and WOTC chose epic levels to be 21+. This is the point of diminishing returns.

If things didn't get nonlinear, we would have a proliferation of 5,000,000th level characters - the problem mentioned by the previous poster where the exp and loot just keep on coming and the characters can be 30th level by their 21st birthdays.

 

[AntiStateQuixote]

It should take a long time; but per RAW a +5 Sword costs 50,000 gp and normally takes 50 days, a +6 Sword costs 720,000gp (the full wealth of a 20th level PC!) and normally takes 720 days. Rather than fiddling with craft rolls I'd rather just have it take 72 days, that seems plenty long to me, and I reduce the cost to x2 standard = 144,000gp.

Yes, but the +5 sword is not nearly as powerful as the +6 sword. Sure, it's only a single extra point of damage and a single point added to the attack roll, but the +6 sword does full damage to creatures with DR/epic while the +5 sword doesn't. The ability of the +6 sword to ignore DR 30/epic against the Tarrasque makes the +6 sword a really special weapon. This is supposed to be a crazy uber powerful, not just a little better than the +5 sword. So, if you want to maintain some semblance of special for epic level weapons (and other gear) then you need them to be significantly more expensive. If they are not grossly expensive then eventually that +6 holy flaming vorpal greatsword will be just another +6 holy flaming vorpal greatsword.

 

[S'mon]

Yes, but the +5 sword is not nearly as powerful as the +6 sword. Sure, it's only a single extra point of damage and a single point added to the attack roll, but the +6 sword does full damage to creatures with DR/epic while the +5 sword doesn't. The ability of the +6 sword to ignore DR 30/epic against the Tarrasque makes the +6 sword a really special weapon. This is supposed to be a crazy uber powerful, not just a little better than the +5 sword. So, if you want to maintain some semblance of special for epic level weapons (and other gear) then you need them to be significantly more expensive. If they are not grossly expensive then eventually that +6 holy flaming vorpal greatsword will be just another +6 holy flaming vorpal greatsword.

Double cost works fine for me. I run a game with a 1e flavour, and in 1e "+6 Defender" swords were on the random weapons table, and a few NPCs & deities had +6 or +7 gear, especially in the 1983 World of Greyhawk box. As far as DR goes I tweak it anyway, I use elemnts of the 3.0 system eg I'd let either Adamantine or +6 weapon bypass Tarrasque DR and some Epic critters IMC would have DR X/+8 or DR X/+10. As you say indicate, leaving aside its DR-beating and a +6 weapon isn't actually very powerful, certainly not much better than +5. At most, with 2-handed Power Attack, it's +3 damage.

 

[S'mon]

That's because things should get nonlinear at some point, and WOTC chose epic levels to be 21+. This is the point of diminishing returns.

If things didn't get nonlinear, we would have a proliferation of 5,000,000th level characters - the problem mentioned by the previous poster where the exp and loot just keep on coming and the characters can be 30th level by their 21st birthdays.

This is a non-sequitur, and anyway the standard formula isn't linear, it's a multiplier.