Crafting a Secret Chest

[TYPO5478]

The secret chest spell carries the following language in its description:

The chest must be exceptionally well crafted and expensive, constructed for you by master crafters. The cost of such a chest is never less than 5,000 gp. Once it is constructed, you must make a tiny replica (of the same materials and perfect in every detail), so that the miniature of the chest appears to be a perfect copy.

What do you suppose the Craft subcategory would be for the large chest? How about the Craft DC? Would they be the same for the replica?

Strict-reading rules lawyer bonus question: Must the crafter of the replica be the spellcaster?

 

[GwydapLlew]

Craft: Woodworking. It's a complex, masterwork item.

By RAW, the caster would have to make the replica. By common sense, I'd say the same people who make the chest can make the replica.

 

[Bad Paper]

I just let the PC buy the damn set in town.

 

[lukelightning]

The only reason for a PC to have this spell is as a prerequisite for crafting a bag of holding or handy haversack. 5000 gp on a chest? You could buy two haversacks or a type 2 bag of holding for that! Or make a type 4 bag of holding.

 

[TYPO5478]

So you think it would just be the regular Craft DC of 20 for complex items? You don't believe the references to "master crafters" making an "exceptionally well crafted and expensive" item justify a Craft DC more like 25 or 30?

If it's entirely made of wood, why should you have to buy ~1,666 gp worth of wood in supplies? That much material would produce a lot more than one chest (even if it is really nice). And if there are other, more expensive materials that drive up the cost, why only the woodworking check? Why not metalworking or gem cutting as well?

I just let the PC buy the damn set in town.

I'm the PC and I'm trying to determine whether making the thing myself will be more advantageous than trying to buy one in a town. So far, our party's access to towns (much less merchants) has been pretty limited by our circumstances. We're getting ready to leave the only real city we've found since we set out and I don't know when we'll find another one. My character isn't high enough level to even take the spell yet, not to mention the cost of acquiring the set (5,050 gp) would be an exorbitant strain on our party funds. It's likely that I'll have the opportunity to take the spell before we find another town, and possible that I'll have access to raw materials to make the focus. I'm kind of counting on that more than being able to just find someone who will sell it to me.

The only reason for a PC to have this spell is as a prerequisite for crafting a bag of holding or handy haversack. 5000 gp on a chest? You could buy two haversacks or a type 2 bag of holding for that! Or make a type 4 bag of holding.

Yes, that's the idea. If I myself can build the focus and one handy haversack for each of the 8 party members, it should cost a little less than 10,000 gp; much better than the 16,000 gp we'd have to spend buying 8 haversacks (provided we can find someone with 8 haversacks to sell)!

 

[Shayuri]

I didn't think you -needed- the focus to use the spell in crafting... Components, yeah, but foci?

Man, that'd really bite.

My hatred for Secret Chest just escalated to dangerous levels.

 

[Bad Paper]

So you commission the chest from someone in town. Give him 2525gp, tell him you'll be back in a month with the other half.

I've done this in two campaigns with mithral armor. It tends to make the DM happy, what with you being down a few thousand with nothing to show for it, and motivation to get out there and make some money. Also, it prevents the "suddenly I have a suit of adamantine full-plate" problem, or in your case, "suddenly I have this obscure spell focus."

Crafting mundane items is never a valuable use of a PC's time. Adventuring is.

 

[Dross]

So you commission the chest from someone in town. Give him 2525gp, tell him you'll be back in a month with the other half.

I've done this in two campaigns with mithral armor. It tends to make the DM happy, what with you being down a few thousand with nothing to show for it, and motivation to get out there and make some money. Also, it prevents the "suddenly I have a suit of adamantine full-plate" problem, or in your case, "suddenly I have this obscure spell focus."

Crafting mundane items is never a valuable use of a PC's time. Adventuring is.

Given the OP's later comments, I'm not sure that this is a viable option (I could be wrong).

I do agree though that this should be an option in most cases.

 

[TYPO5478]

Given the OP's later comments, I'm not sure that this is a viable option (I could be wrong).

I do agree though that this should be an option in most cases.

You're right, Dross. I don't know that we'll be coming back to this town. It's entirely possible that we'll follow the trail of who we're after and never get a chance to return.

Shayuri, I'm pretty sure you need foci for crafting. After all, you have to prepare the spell and it is discharged during the process of crafting. If you have to cast the spell to craft the item, and the spell requires a focus to cast... seems pretty simple.