does anyone think sunder is too easy?

[S'mon]

Strictly speaking, it's a MW longsword that happens to be a broken Holy Avenger. The "component value" you mention couldn't be applied to crafting a +1 longsword of Speed out of it, for example.

A Holy Avenger normally costs 60,000gp and 4,800xp to craft. You could restore this one for 30,000gp and 2,400xp.

-Hyp.

Yes, I agree fully. The material components needed to create a holy avenger would be different from those needed to create a longsword of Speed - a Solar's feather vs Quickling's blood, for instance. The DMG doesn't bother listing what the components for items actually are (which is strange considering how the PHB spells have them all listed), which is mildly annoying but only in a flavour way. I have the 'Eye of Newt' series from old White Dwarfs, and I can use that, and the attributes tables from the 1e DMG, if I want good ideas for material components.

I'm not sure if the rules support 'half cost & half xp' (have to check), but that's basically what I'll use should it ever come up!
Exception: recharging a wand costs full xp for the charge, but no material component cost, unless the spell itself requires valuable material components.

 

[Hypersmurf]

I'm not sure if the rules support 'half cost & half xp' (have to check), but that's basically what I'll use should it ever come up!

I'm not certain they could be any clearer...

"You can also mend a broken magic weapon, suit of armor, or shield if it is one that you could make. Doing so costs half the XP, half the raw materials, and half the time it would take to craft that item in the first place."

Exception: recharging a wand costs full xp for the charge, but no material component cost, unless the spell itself requires valuable material components.

By the rules, you can't recharge a wand. You make a new wand with 50 charges.

-Hyp.

 

[Celebrim]

And I think all of this talk about spending more money to make your sword more durable is missing the point.

 

[S'mon]

By the rules, you can't recharge a wand. You make a new wand with 50 charges.

-Hyp.

I houserule that wands have 20 charges (putting the cost of a charge midway between that of scoll & potion, rather than cheaper than a scroll) but are rechargeable as per above rule - 1 recharge costs 1/20 xp to create fully charged wand.

 

[orangefruitbat]

Just make it impossible to Sunder a magical weapon unless your sundering weapon has more pluses (including enhancements) than the sundered weapon.
i.e., a +2 sword can sunder a +1 sword, but not a +2 sword

Typically, players have better plusses than the mooks, but less than the big bads. So they still get their fun, but you can still put the fear into them when you want as DM.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

Magic items seem extremely easy to make in 3e, anyway, so I don't see the problem.

A bit of a digression, but I would disagree. Magic is easier to make for PCs in 3e. But judging by the oodles of magic I have seen in every 1e/2e campaign I have played, it was much easier to make powerful magic items in previous editions. Seems to me, magic is harder to make in 3e, only now the PCs are allowed to, too.

 

[Staffan]

I houserule that wands have 20 charges (putting the cost of a charge midway between that of scoll & potion, rather than cheaper than a scroll) but are rechargeable as per above rule - 1 recharge costs 1/20 xp to create fully charged wand.

Just a quick note (and this might belong in the House Rules forum instead): I don't think this is a good idea. The wand is cheaper than 50 scrolls as a form of discount for buying (making) lots of charges at once - you're giving up flexibility by making a wand instead of scrolls. Also, the wand is more limited than scrolls since it can only do spells of 4th level or less. I think wands are pretty well-balanced (vs. scrolls) as it is.

 

[Ravellion]

I like the squared hp and hardness thing actaully. Though perhaps just squaring hitpoint is a better idea?

Heroes of High favour's crafting rules work with masterwork components. I think for a total of 7 masterwork components (which all have different prices) you could make a +10 hardness +10 hp weapon.

Rav

 

[mseds99]

Just for all the evil DM's out there:

A frost giant with the sunder feat and an antimagic field around them goes together VERY well. I just tried it out two weeks ago.

Oh, the misery!

 

[S'mon]

Just a quick note (and this might belong in the House Rules forum instead): I don't think this is a good idea. The wand is cheaper than 50 scrolls as a form of discount for buying (making) lots of charges at once - you're giving up flexibility by making a wand instead of scrolls. Also, the wand is more limited than scrolls since it can only do spells of 4th level or less. I think wands are pretty well-balanced (vs. scrolls) as it is.

It works for me. Scrolls have plenty of disadvantages - bulky, fragile, you actually need to cast the spell, and it can go wrong if you're too low level. A wand of cure light wounds with 50 charges is ridiculously cheap at 750gp IMO. I don't find it well-balanced at all. Maybe if you ignore encumbrance it is.
The 4th-level-spell-or-less limit is not a balancing factor since it needs to be compared with scrolls of 4th level or less.
Anyway, Rules is always a poor place to discuss House Rules since this forum is naturally packed with people who find the rules just dandy as they are!