Level Up (A5E) Crafting and Enchanting Items

[Galahadred]

Im hopeful you get an answer!

It doesn't look like I am. Hmm.

 

[Doskious]

It's interesting, because I actually think that the rules might be serendipitously written, just as they are, in a way that positions them to be able to support both:

• pre-renaissance societies
• post-renaissance societies

By which I mean, "societies in which the vast majority of things are made bespoke, with a purpose and a buyer already identified, and items being made available for sale to the general public are items on which the seller is likely trying to primarily avoid a loss", and "societies in which the majority of goods are, if not mass-produced, at least produced under the premise that there is enough demand to price the supply such that profit margins are sustainable even without the direct bespoke connection between the act of creation and the act of acquisition."

For the former, you use the interpretation that results in bespoke items crafted to spec costing more than whatever you can find for sale; for the latter, you use the interpretation that results in bespoke items costing less than the list price for the same thing were it bought in a shop.

(Note that I'm grossly generalizing in my attribution of the renaissance as the fulcrum point in history at which the balance shifted.)

 

[Doskious]

Ah man I had a similar question to this last month, this was my math

Level Up (A5E) - Question about Crafting Magical Weapons.

I'm going over a few things in the reddit, but I'll post it here since it might get an expert answer: Abbreviations: AG = Adventurer's guide, TT = Trials and Treasures Hypothetically, Lets say I want to make a +1 Longsword. I need a fine longsword, to start, since +1 weapons are uncommon, and...

www.enworld.org

Basically what I think this boils down to is, "If we have the base-item (a fine or masterwork item) for magical item crafting, does it reduce the cost of making an item, or is it still 500 gp? b/c 500 gp is just the value of a +1 weapon."... OR is it "you need an enchantable (fine or masterwork) item, plus 500 gp?"


Im hopeful you get an answer!

Based on what I'm reading in TT, though, it will always be less expensive to craft your own magical items than to get someone else to craft them for you.

The TT rules say:

To craft a magic item a character must first acquire base materials equal to half the magic item’s cost; this includes special metals, wood, leather, and other substances which make the basic item, plus a mixture of common alchemical reagents, arcane components, or divine ingredients. These materials can be purchased easily as long as the character has the requisite funds and usually do not need to be accounted for individually.
...
Costs for an item’s quality are included in a magic item’s base cost.

To me, this reads as "you, the player, are making an item from scratch (raw materials) and enchanting it with magic, all at once."

A +1 weapon is listed with a cost of 500 gp and requires a cubic inch of rare metal as a special component (to be quested for or which costs 25% of the base cost of the item). Assuming that access to the appropriate tools is not something that will incur additional costs, the crafting of a +1 weapon yourself will cost 250 gp, and will take a week to accomplish, if you have obtained the special component without resorting to the expenditure of funds and you have unfettered, cost-free access to a smithy.

Personally, the implications of this functionality, juxtaposed with the idea that if I wanted someone else to do that for me, I'd need to shell out the same 250 gp in materials, plus 50 gp as the crafter's fee, plus the 500 gp for the standard price for the item ... simply does not make sense, despite that being the formula indicated on AG 350.

In light of the need for 50% of the base cost of the item in reagents, the sidebar also does not make sense.

To me, what would make sense is that commissioning someone to enchant existing nonmagical gear (per the sidebar) would cost:

• the crafter's fee calculated on the listed cost of the magical item being crafted
• materials costing 50% of the the difference between the listed cost of the desired magical item and the listed cost of the non-magical item being enchanted

To me, what would make sense is that commissioning someone to fabricate from scratch and enchant totally new gear would cost:

• the crafter's fee calculated on the listed cost of the magical item being crafted
• materials costing 50% of the the listed cost of the non-magical item being enchanted

But hey, nothing requires a Fantasy Economy to make sense...