Craft magic item -- for the whole party?

[Bullgrit]

I don't know if this feat/concept exists still in D&D4, so this thread may be solely about a D&D3 phenomenon.

Have you found that taking a craft magic items feat seems to come with the expectation that you'll make stuff, free (other than the half price) of charge, for everyone else in the party?

Have you ever told another player, "No, I'm not making items for anyone but me."? What was the reaction?

Bullgrit
Total Bullgrit

 

[Mercule]

I've seen it, and it never went well. The crafter didn't expect it to, and was generally easily "converted". I think the best way of handling it that I've seen is the crafter saying he'd craft items, but make a profit doing it (75% cost, IIRC). The trick is to get the rest of the group to realize that XP is a very real cost.

 

[Runestar]

From personal experience, crafting magic items for other PCs at no additional charge is not as bad as it seems.

Assuming I spent enough xp such that I am 1 lv below the rest of the party, this means that I am getting more xp than them whenever we complete a challenge. Which in turn means more xp I can funnel towards crafting additional magic items. Which in turn sucks up the xp so as to ensure that I consistently remain 1 lv behind. The only problem is that the DM rarely ever gives us enough downtime to make this viable.

The end result is that the party is able to access much more gear than otherwise suggested by their wealth guidelines, since someone is subsidizing part of the gp costs with xp, which is being replenished at a non-linear rate.

If you can somehow get to 2 lv below the party average, the extra xp you acquire this way is insane, though you may be frustrated at how weak you are relative to the rest of the party. But I am still comfortable with 1 lv lost.

 

[Remathilis]

Haven't had the problem since we found this.

Web Enhancement - PHB II Web Enhancement: Magic Items: Transferring XP Costs

 

[Starfox]

In 4E this is mot certainly the expectation. On the other hand, as long as you start with the Ritual Casting feat, the cost is minimal.

In 3E, there is the matter of xp cost and compensation - you can't expect people pay to spend xp to give others a discount on magic items. The question is, what is a fair exchange rate? The game says 1 xp = 5 gp, which seems awfully low. More likely is 1xp = 10 gp, which means 90% of normal price.

10% discount for having a friend who can craft is not bad, but not great either. The crafter loses xp, but ends up with more gold, which lets him make even more magic items.