Look. Be honest and upfront.
Do you actually want answers, or do you want to make snippy comments?
Pielorinho said:
By the rules, I said. And you're telling me by the rules it's just as difficult to repair a 1 HP scratch to a sword as to repair a sword shattered into pieces? Hmm. My common sense is tingling.
I quoted the damn rules. The DC to repair Masterwork weapons is 20. The cost to repair an item from "Completely Broken" to "Completely Fine" is 1/5th of the items base price.
However, most DMs I've been involved with rule that the price is applicable only to the "CB to CF" repair. Therefore, the less you actually need to repair, the less the raw materials should cost.
The rules do not specifically state this, however - as I mentioned before.
You said:
Me said:
1. No - magical items which are damaged (but not destroyed) can be rebuilt using the appropriate Craft skill.
I'm not interested in costs for "completely destroyed" weapons; I understand how those work. I'm not sure how you arrive at point #1, though.
I arrived at it by the rules I quoted to you, which you saw fit to just ignore. I'll quote them again.
SRD - AKA said:
REPAIRING MAGIC ITEMS
Some magic items take damage over the course of an adventure. It costs no more to repair a magic item with the Craft skill than it does to repair its nonmagical counterpart. The make whole spell also repairs a damaged—but not completely broken—magic item.
This +5 longsword was damaged over the course of the last adventure. Gee, how do I repair it? Hmm ... It looks like it costs no more to repair this magic item with the Craft skill (that's Craft (Weaponsmithing) from above, BTW) than it would be for a completely mundane masterwork longsword.
In other words, Craft (WS) DC 20, 62gp in materials (possibly prorated if your DM allows it).
Or, my friend the Cleric can just cast the
make whole spell, which will repair this damaged - but not completely broken - magic item.
Mending doesn't reference healing hit-point damage, and Make Whole doesn't either, although I can see what you're saying; presumably it'll heal all HP damage on a magic sword. So I'll grant you this.
Make Whole doesn't need to call it out - it's referenced in the Repairing Magic Items rules.
Make Whole also says it "functions like
mending, except that make whole completely repairs an object made of any substance."
Mending has tighter limitations:
SRD said:
Mending repairs small breaks or tears in objects (but not warps, such as might be caused by a warp wood spell). It will weld broken metallic objects such as a ring, a chain link, a medallion, or a slender dagger, providing but one break exists.
Ceramic or wooden objects with multiple breaks can be invisibly rejoined to be as strong as new. A hole in a leather sack or a wineskin is completely healed over by mending. The spell can repair a magic item, but the item’s magical abilities are not restored. The spell cannot mend broken magic rods, staffs, or wands, nor does it affect creatures (including constructs).
So, if I've got a damaged magic shield (which, miraculously, weighs less than 1 lb.), Mending will make it "as strong as new." If it's completely broken, then Mending will make it "as strong as new," but it will be a non-magical masterwork shield. I'll then need a caster with Craft Magic Arms and Armor to come by and re-enhance it - using the rules I pointed out later on in my last post.
If, however, my sword is damaged, Mending will only take care of "small breaks."
Is that in the SRD somewhere? I'm not seeing it--help me out.
From the description of the Craft skill:
SRD said:
Check: You can practice your trade and make a decent living, earning about half your check result in gold pieces per week of dedicated work. You know how to use the tools of your trade, how to perform the craft’s daily tasks, how to supervise untrained helpers, and how to handle common problems.
"Is this blade going to fall apart?" - also known as, "Do I need to repair this sword before I can use it?" - is a "common problem" of the Craft (Weaponsmithing) skill.
Hold on--this is a vital characteristic that's gonna come up in combat, and there's charts to determine other vital stats (the enhancements on a weapon, the spells present in a ring of storing, etc.) I have never seen an adventure with the current HP stats of a weapon encountered, although almost all adventures with wands as treasure mention how many charges are left in the wand. Why the glaring gap?
DM Fiat. Also, "Using a charge from this wand" is more likely to come up than "Sunder this sword." Thus, it's more important from an adventure-writing perspective.