Pathfinder 1E Crafting

kaldric2020

First Post
I'm a bit confused about crafting..or rather the DC of it all. it says 5+caster level. if I am caster level 3 then do i only need to roll a spellcraft/craft check of 8 and more? or what..I also got craft wonderous items too.. but I'm still a bit confused x.x HELP!
 

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The caster level for an item is included with each item, even on d20pfsrd.com. For example, here's a link to the Belt of Giant Strength, a common enough Wondrous Item. See the part that says "CL 8th"? There's your item caster level. Caster level is not dependent on the feats required to cast. A ring of feather falling, for example, is CL 1 despite the fact that you can't take Forge Ring until your caster level is 7. Likewise, sovereign glue has a caster level of 20 despite it being a Wondrous Item.
 

Ah I see so I would have to find the Item i want to craft first to see the caster level and I got to roll crafting or spell craft to get above that DC of say 25 if I wnat to make the sovereign glue
 

Ah I see so I would have to find the Item i want to craft first to see the caster level and I got to roll crafting or spell craft to get above that DC of say 25 if I wnat to make the sovereign glue

Correct.

Also if you fail your craft check by a certain amount you get a cursed item, so some DMs will want to make this roll for you.
 


Yes, pretty much. Well, you also need to have the relevant item creation feat, the time it takes to make it (which can be modified by some feats), and the gold you need to create it (which can also be modified by feats and traits). Also, you have to be able to cast the spells or hire someone else to cast the spells for you. Sovereign Glue requires Make Whole, which is a 2nd level spell.

There's another wrinkle you need to talk to your DM about before you start creating things. The PFSRD indicates that caster level is an indicator of an item's relative power. It's used to determine the item's saving throw bonus, range and other level-dependent aspectsof the item, and the level that must be contended with should the item come under the effect of a dispel magic. Sovereign Glue can be - technically - made by a third level character, since all it requires is Craft Wondrous Item, Make Whole, and 1,200gp. But it has a caster level of 20, indicating that its power is pretty much just short of artifact-level. It doesn't make sense to me, at least, that a third-level character should be able to make something that powerful.

So you need to talk to your DM. What I've seen used sometimes is that your own power level limits what you can make. So that third level character would be able to make items that have caster levels up to 3.

On the flipside of this is items like the Pearl of Power, which lists a caster level of 17. There is a specific FAQ about this which suggests the CL should be the minimum level for the spells to be cast (1 for a 1st level Pearl, 3 for a 2nd level Pearl, and so on and so forth).

In the end, by the rules as written, the item caster level is NOT a requirement for anything but setting the DC of the roll to create it. But whether your DM restricts this further is probably something you need to know. Skill levels can outstrip a DC fairly quickly. My own Artificer has a Spellcraft of +10 at 2nd level, and he's nowhere near completely optimized for item creation. This means he could theoretically make an item with a caster level of 6 or lower with no chance of failure right now, all other things being equal. At 10th level, that number will be 16, and that's only if he doesn't have an item that boosts his Spellcraft, which he likely will.
 

As Keldin notes, it's pretty easy to ramp up Spellcraft. With Take 10, his L2 artificer can reliably make Sovereign Glue, assuming he has the prerequisite spell.

To me, this just means that the real restricting factors on Crafting are gold and time, but not everyone is OK with that.

That said, if you can pop down to the Local Magic Emporium, and buy Sovereign Glue for 2,400 gp, what's the big deal about being able to Craft it at L3?
 

With Take 10, his L2 artificer can reliably make Sovereign Glue, assuming he has the prerequisite spell.

Well, not really. He won't get Craft Wondrous until 4th level... or until he somehow becomes mythic (in which case he'll be a dual pathed trickster/archmage and take Crafting Mastery, which will basically make him considered to have ALL of the item creation feats). Also, Tome of Secrets artificers do not get spells at all, unlike Eberron's artificer. Instead, they get Weird Science. Otherwise, they're very similar.


what's the big deal about being able to Craft it at L3?

It's not really a big deal. For me, it's that whole thing about creating an item that is nearly as powerful as some artifacts at third level. By the letter of the law, it's perfectly fine. It just offends my sense of the spirit of the thing, y'know? Either way, it's probably something that he needs to know from his DM.
 

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