Do your players expect discounts for party made magic items?

[Ambrus]

Considering that the other party members have spent a lot of time protecting the wizards ass, the caster should be expected to provide Items for the party at cost, not inflated market value. Otherewise he can lose the XP he is trying to hoard to being raised from the dead since the tanks won't be protecting someone who does not know how to play on a team. and that is if ther raise his coniving carcas.

I don't think most wizards are usually twiddling their thumbs while other PCs are "protecting the wizards ass"; they're usually buffing the PCs or raining fiery death down on enemies and generally doing their fair share of work like any other PC. Sorry Frank, but I would never take an item creation feat in a campaign with players with your attitude. Such players can just go buy their magic items at a 100% cost from an NPC and leave me be with my metamagic feats. Just because I've selected an item creation feat doesn't mean I've signed up to be the party's gimp.

We've only ever had one PC with item creation feats and we've been giving her 25% of an item's base value beyond the supply cost to keep for herself as compensation, which I think is a fair exchange for her time, effort and loss of xp.

 

[Chimera]

In a homebrew game I play, my Wizard is the only one with Item Creation feats. Scribe Scrolls (automatic) and coming up, Craft Arms & Armor.

The GM allows others to work with me to scribe other scrolls; namely the Cleric and Druid, so I can scribe scrolls for them but they have to work with me for that time. Either of us can pony up the experience cost. I usually expect them to pay the experience for the scrolls they'll use.

After some initial expenditures on my part, I've now convinced the group to count a full share of treasure into a Party Fund, which for the most part will pay for potions, scrolls and other "expendable" items. I also convinced them that such "expendables" should not be counted as treasure unless sold. They're to be distributed and used on behalf of the party. This spares me at least part of the high cost of spell acquisition (ie, I don't have to pay to keep the scroll I'm going to use to save their bacon, like I did at lower levels).

I just got to 5th level and am taking Craft Arms & Armor. I've offered to create a whole boatload of +1 weapons and armor for the group (which is very low on permanent magic items). AT COST. I'll pay the experience without complaint.

Well....the only complaint I have is that one of the players suggested that since it will take me so long to learn new spells and craft items for them...that they go on the next adventure without me. I DO NOT LIKE THAT IDEA. It deprives me of treasure and experience, when I am looking at spending a couple of hundred experience FOR THEIR BENEFIT.


In general, I think it's up to each group to work out. If I was playing a less group-oriented character, I think I'd ask for 70-80% of Market to make up for the experience point cost.

(At 6th level, I'm taking Leadership. A Bard cohort with Brew Potions!)

 

[Peter Gibbons]

I count myself among those who would never, ever take an item creation feat in a campaign that expected me to then craft items for fellow party members, much less at a discount.

The characters I have had take item creation feats have, for the most part, been quite willing to craft items for other PCs upon request, with the understanding that the requesting PC covers the cost and compensates my PC for lost XP at market rate (5 gp per 1 XP). That's as generous as I'm willing to be, barring unusual circumstances.

 

[LostSoul]

I charged 5gp per XP, and cost.

That seemed fair to me. If I got less GP for my crafting I wouldn't have done it.

 

[luke_twigger]

In our group, as *players* we generally pay the crafter the full book price for any items they create for others. This recompenses the lost XP and is also because it's a custom magic item which exactly meets the buyer's requirements rather than some random magic item.

It also keeps more wealth within the group i.e. why pay 2000gp to an NPC for a magic cloak when you can pay the same to a PC, who spends 1000gp on ingredients, and then 1000gp on improving themselves i.e. strengthening the group as a whole.

Upon occasion, a particular *character* may offer items at prices better or worse than book price depending on circumstances, character personality, etc.

 

[ThoughtBubble]

As the rsident item crafter in my campaign, the prices I charged fellow party members wasn't really externally consistant. See, it was largely derrived off of how much my character liked the other characters.

The fighter who lent me the 300 gold so I could buy a blessed book, then told me not to worry about it because "That's what friends do." gets priority treatment and all enchantments at cost. The ranger, who I talk with often, gets a slight mark up. The cleric, who is rude, and really really likes rasing undead (something my character is uncomfortable having around) has to pay even more than the others for the same work. The new, nosy, but friendly rogue pays somewhere in the middle.

Mind you, as I handle most of the money division, I tend to take a % off the top for things like identify spells, material components and other assorted things. It's like a party fund, but just for me.

I do my best to make sure my friends are equipped, but I do more of my best for the ones I know I can count on and the ones who'd do the same for me.

 

[Umbran]

Seems to me that the real major benefits to having item creation feats in the party are:
1)Make profit from making magic items and selling them on the open market
2)Effectively make profit by not having the party pay full market price for items
3)Get exactly the items the party wants.

Teh laws of supply and demand hold - If he can get what he wants elsewhere, you kind of have to charge a lower price, or else there's no reason to buy from you. If he cannot get what he wants elsewhere, you can charge whatever seems fair to you.

Do remember that these characters depend upon each other for life and limb - among most folks, that's worth a discount now and again. Especially when, in the general case, the item helps your mage survive, too.

 

[Kurotowa]

I can't see charging another PC full book price. If you're going to pay that much anyway, why not save the time and XP and just get it from an NPC? In the real world, employee discounts are universal. And aren't PC's fellow members of an adventuring party? Anywhere between cost and 75% of book is reasonable. Asking for more is just being nasty.

 

[SWBaxter]

The only time I ever played a wizard with extensive item creation feats and skills, I set prices for both PCs and NPCs based on how my character felt about them. Some folks got stuff at cost (or even less once, but don't tell the guild!), most got their items at somewhere between cost and full price to compensate me for time and XP, and a few (including one particularly obtuse PC) had to offer me a premium before I'd even consider the job. Of course, in that campaign there was no real cash market for magic items, so prices were harder to pin down - for example, I made a magic sword for a local noble in exchange for his support against a usurper, hard to say whether I got market value or not.

When I DM, I've noticed that most parties expect items at cost from other PCs, and as a result few PCs take item creation feats. Often somebody takes a cohort to fill the item creation role for convenience, but I don't usually allow any cost break in that case.

 

[luke_twigger]

I can't see charging another PC full book price. If you're going to pay that much anyway, why not save the time and XP and just get it from an NPC?

Because your PC buddy gets to reinvest the profit into improving him/herself and hence the party as a whole benefits. (Assuming they're OK paying the XP cost)