Craft- Gemcutter
- Thread starter kayn99
- Start date
Ambrus
Explorer
Hm. This could get rather sticky. The profit made from exercising the skill is best left as an amount earned weekly or monthly based on a successful skill check; that's the easiest way to handle it. Otherwise you risk having PCs effectively pulling money out of thin air as they improve gems which by the RAW have a set and unalterable value. I believe the assumption is that most gems are either already cut when found, or that the cutting process doesn't significantly alters a gem's value; meaning that a gem has a set value based on its size and quality regardless of whether it is cut or fresh out of the ground. For those who wish to improve "flawed" gems by recutting them, then you could simply assume that the set value of the gem doesn't change through the process; what a gem gains in quality it loses in size and mass from the process.
If you want to devise you own uncut/cut quality rules then you've got a bit of work to do. Each type of gem might have its own gemcutting check DC based on its relative worth:
10 gp = DC 15
50 gp = DC 17
100 gp = DC 19
500 gp = DC 21
1,000 gp = DC 23
5,000 gp = DC 25
A successful check might increase a gem's value by 10%, beating the DC by +10 could increase it by 25%. Failing the check by five or less wouldn't adversely affect the gem's value. Failing by five or more would reduce the gem's value by 25%. Tweak the numbers however much or as little as you want to reflect how much you want this one skill to affect your players' overall treasure.
If you want to devise you own uncut/cut quality rules then you've got a bit of work to do. Each type of gem might have its own gemcutting check DC based on its relative worth:
10 gp = DC 15
50 gp = DC 17
100 gp = DC 19
500 gp = DC 21
1,000 gp = DC 23
5,000 gp = DC 25
A successful check might increase a gem's value by 10%, beating the DC by +10 could increase it by 25%. Failing the check by five or less wouldn't adversely affect the gem's value. Failing by five or more would reduce the gem's value by 25%. Tweak the numbers however much or as little as you want to reflect how much you want this one skill to affect your players' overall treasure.
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Why would it be sticky?
Take the gem you've got, use it as raw materials for a craft check, make your craft check every week and triple the value of the gem.
Take your gem, cycle it back in, make weekly craft checks until the end of time...
In short, it's not worth preventing, because Craft checks are a horrible way to make money compared to adventuring...
Take the gem you've got, use it as raw materials for a craft check, make your craft check every week and triple the value of the gem.
Take your gem, cycle it back in, make weekly craft checks until the end of time...
In short, it's not worth preventing, because Craft checks are a horrible way to make money compared to adventuring...
Patryn of Elvenshae
First Post
A cut gem's value is what it is.
An uncut gem's value is ~1/3 of what it would be if you were to cut and polish it; use it as the raw materials cost for that particular Craft skill (note that I'd never use Craft (Gemcutter); I'd just subsume it into Craft (Jeweler)).
An uncut gem's value is ~1/3 of what it would be if you were to cut and polish it; use it as the raw materials cost for that particular Craft skill (note that I'd never use Craft (Gemcutter); I'd just subsume it into Craft (Jeweler)).
The Thayan Menace
First Post
Logos!
-Samir
Excellent adjudication; logical and consistent with the RAW.Pyrex said:
-Samir
SteelDraco
First Post
I agree with this. An uncut gem is (at least partially) the raw material required for Craft (Jeweler).Patryn of Elvenshae said:
However... how does this work when you want to make a piece of jewelry? Say I've got a nicely-cut ruby worth 100gp and 100gp worth of gold to use as 'raw materials'. How nice a piece can I make from this? 600 gp? 400 gp? My vote would go to 400 - triple the cost of the gold raw materials, plus the already-cut ruby.
In the RW, gems are often recut to increase their value.
A gemstone's value is partially determined by rarity, of course, but relative to others of its kind, it is based on the "4 C's"- Cut, Clarity, Carats, and Color.
For example, a rose cut diamond has a lot of mass (Carats), but may be increased in value by recutting to a brilliant cut if it is well done, despite losing a lot of its mass. Why? Because brilliant cuts have more visual appeal- the brilliant cut was designed to work better with diamond's refraction, so it has more fire and play of light. Its a prettier stone.
It may also increase in value if the material excised was of lesser quality. Cut off a couple of cloudy layers or excise some inclusions, and all of a sudden, the smaller stone looks much better than the larger original.
As for the methodology...Pyrex's suggestion seems sound to me.
A gemstone's value is partially determined by rarity, of course, but relative to others of its kind, it is based on the "4 C's"- Cut, Clarity, Carats, and Color.
For example, a rose cut diamond has a lot of mass (Carats), but may be increased in value by recutting to a brilliant cut if it is well done, despite losing a lot of its mass. Why? Because brilliant cuts have more visual appeal- the brilliant cut was designed to work better with diamond's refraction, so it has more fire and play of light. Its a prettier stone.
It may also increase in value if the material excised was of lesser quality. Cut off a couple of cloudy layers or excise some inclusions, and all of a sudden, the smaller stone looks much better than the larger original.
As for the methodology...Pyrex's suggestion seems sound to me.
