composite bows

[irdeggman]

Well in all fairness the adventure to date had taken place on an insular island. We had just run an adventure wherein the thieves guild had it's ass pulled out of the fire by the characters. An earthquake had recently caused some ground in the marketplace to collapse revealing one of the of many secret tunnels beneath the town. Part of a network of an ancient dungeon that the thieves guild had cleared in order to move stolen good around town. Political clout prevented the local military from exploring and mapping it, (as the leader of the thieves guild sat on the town council) So the job had to be farmed out. The characters lied and created a false maps thus the thieves guild in return rewarded them handsomely and granted them the ability to buy just about anything that was available in the entire realm at 15% off. So basically i told them to open there Magic item compendiums and DMG's and happy shopping.

Based on the OP it sounded like it wasn't available "to you" as opposed to being not available to the PCs. As in your PC was taking something the others thought was "unfair" to them.

Don't know why the player's are arguing about not being able to gain "a gift from the DM" - something about looking in the mouth and all that.

 

[s-dub]

Don't look a gift centaur in the mouth, as they object to being bought and sold?

 

[Hypersmurf]

I'd also like to point out weapon's (in the MIC) such as the Bow of the Wintermoon (3,400 gp) which acts as a +1 composite longbow which furthermore always adjusts to your strength whatever that is.

True, although "Relics are generally not available for purchase", and "These items are rarer than other magic items; usually no more than a half dozen copies of each relic exist", and "Item descriptions provide market prices for each relic, but a PC will never find a price tag on a relic".

Bow of the Wintermoon isn't something you can just pop down to WalMart and pick up for 3400gp.

-Hyp.

 

[eamon]

True, although "Relics are generally not available for purchase", and "These items are rarer than other magic items; usually no more than a half dozen copies of each relic exist", and "Item descriptions provide market prices for each relic, but a PC will never find a price tag on a relic".

Bow of the Wintermoon isn't something you can just pop down to WalMart and pick up for 3400gp.

True enough. As a DM, I'm not too bothered with that distinction of course . In any case, it's still an interesting concept with an interesting price. Even without the relic power, the item is still interesting. You can't expect to find a bow of the wintermoon perhaps, but if you're looking for something like it, then it's an interesting starting point for a custom item.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Even without the relic power, the item is still interesting.

I would be flabbergasted if even 2% of PCs out there with Bow of the Wintermoon had the relic power activated.

-Hyp.

 

[Bumamgar]

A craftsman of sufficient skill to make such bows is going to be exceedingly rare.... You're talking about a 10th-level or so fellow, who for whatever reason is willing to waste his time on crafting 900-gp bows for other people rather than conquering some small town all by himself or making his own little barony or something.

By 10th, he could have 13 ranks, +3 Skill Focus, +2 MW Artisan's Tools, +2 Intelligence maybe, and +2 from an assistant Aiding Another. Or maybe it's a 10th-level Wizard with high Intelligence and all those ranks, tools, and feat. You can't really have a bunch of assistants aiding another, because there's a limit to how much help additional people will be in the crafting of one item (and we're not talking about building a house or something, we're talking about crafting a 5-8 foot long collection of composite materials in a stave-like form).

You might be able to assume 2-3 assistants could help with the task, but it's still a rather high-level craftsman doing the bulk of the work.

Or he could simply be a 10th level expert, of which there is pretty much guaranteed to be a couple of in any large (or larger) town.

Don't forget, it's not just PC classes that get skill ranks.

 

[calighis]

Or he could simply be a 10th level expert, of which there is pretty much guaranteed to be a couple of in any large (or larger) town.

Don't forget, it's not just PC classes that get skill ranks.

You took the words right out of my mouth. Not everyone that can craft a bow is interested in slaying dragons, clearing dungeons and building keeps.

That bow of Silvermoon sounds awesome. How much do you think it would go for if crafted without it's relic power?

 

[eamon]

That bow of Silvermoon sounds awesome. How much do you think it would go for if crafted without it's relic power?

Ask your DM. It's a pretty sensitive ability. If the rest of your party is happily optimizing, and the DM is A-OK with it, the normal list price is probably a fine price to pay even without the relic power. If the rest of your party isn't, and you're pretty powerful, then I wouldn't even bother asking, it's not a standard item, and you're not the player he should be giving any extra leeway ;-).

Of course, you can always ask. I wouldn't reduce the list price in any case, if the relic power were removed (this is generally true for most relic items).