Craft arms and armour

[Lichemaster]

Had this e-mailed to me and don't have my book handy so can anyone answer it for me?
It's 3rd ed. if that matters.

a question for you about a feat - With craft arms & armour, can I
>add something to an already established item? I know that I can only
>create something up to +2 if I do it on my own, but if I took an item
>that is already enchanted (for example, my +3 greatsword), could I add
>in the "keen" ability to it (which adds either one or two "pluses" to
>the item). I would think that I still need to pay whatever it would
>take to create a +4 or +5 weapon from scratch and take the same amount
>of time, but could I do that?

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Generally, yes, you can add abilities on to pre-existing items.

The way you do this is by calculating the cost of the new item, subtracting the cost of the existing item, and spending 1/2 of that amount in gold on raw materials and 1/25 of that amount in XP.

Take the example in the e-mail.

The existing item is a +3 greatsword, which costs 18,000gp + a masterwork greatsword.

The desired item is a +3 keen greatsword. Keen has a cost of +1, so you treat the +3 keen greatsword as a +4 greatsword for pricing purposes. That costs 32,000gp + a masterwork greatsword.

The difference between the two is 14,000gp.

Therefore, in order to turn a +3 greatsword into a +3 keen greatsword, you need 7,000gp worth of raw materials, 560xp, and access to the Keen Edge spell. It will take you two weeks of continous work.

 

[AuraSeer]

You are allowed to add abilities to an existing item. You don't need to pay the whole price over again, only the difference between the current price and the target price.

In your example, a +3 greatsword is worth 18,350 gp. A +3 keen greatsword is worth 32,350 gp (because the keen ability is a +1 equivalent). The difference in price is 14,000 gp, so to add keenness to the existing sword, you'd pay as if crafting a new item worth 14,000.

Caster level only limits the actual bonus of the item, not the effective bonus. Even though a 6th-level wizard cannot create a +3 weapon, he can create +2 keen weapon, or a +2 flaming keen dancing weapon. All he needs to do is fulfill the spell requirements and pay the crafting cost (in gold and XP).

 

[Lichemaster]

Thanks!

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Welcome!