I'm not sure this is in the right place (though I can't see where else it should go). I posted this on Paizo's forums but haven't seen a response yet, so I figured I'd post it here too.
I'm a bit confused on crafting masterwork items. The short version of the question is: when figuring out whether you've completed the item or not, do you calculate base progress against the base price of the item, or the masterwork price of the item?
For example, let's say that you want to craft two longswords, one normal, one masterwork. No additional help, no masterwork workplace, just you doing it on your lonesome. Let's say that you have a +10 in Craft (weapons), just to make it nice and even, and that you don't have any way at the moment of having Crafter's Fortune cast.
In core, the DC to craft a longsword (15gp) is 15, like all martial melee or throw weapons. And the masterwork component (300gp) is DC 20. If you take 10, you make (20 * 15) = 300sp per week, so it takes about 3.5 days to make a regular longsword. The masterwork component takes (20 * 20) = 400sp per week, so it takes 7.5 weeks (52.5 days) to make the masterwork component, and therefore 56 days to make a masterwork longsword.
In unchained, a longsword is a 'normal' complexity item, so creation is successful at a rate of 2gp per day, which is doubled because you beat the DC by 5, so 4gp per day. As such, it takes about 3.75 days to make a longsword. The wrinkle comes when we look at making a masterwork longsword. Masterwork increases the complexity of an item by one step, so a masterwork longsword is complex (DC 20). When taking 10, you can still make that DC, so that's fine. But the question is... are you trying to hit 15gp (which would result in the same 3.75 days above) or 315gp (which would take 78.75 days)?
I'm inclined to think it's the latter, but part of me is saying that having the difficulty be higher and the time it takes even longer than core doesn't 'sound' right. So, opinions?
I'm a bit confused on crafting masterwork items. The short version of the question is: when figuring out whether you've completed the item or not, do you calculate base progress against the base price of the item, or the masterwork price of the item?
For example, let's say that you want to craft two longswords, one normal, one masterwork. No additional help, no masterwork workplace, just you doing it on your lonesome. Let's say that you have a +10 in Craft (weapons), just to make it nice and even, and that you don't have any way at the moment of having Crafter's Fortune cast.
In core, the DC to craft a longsword (15gp) is 15, like all martial melee or throw weapons. And the masterwork component (300gp) is DC 20. If you take 10, you make (20 * 15) = 300sp per week, so it takes about 3.5 days to make a regular longsword. The masterwork component takes (20 * 20) = 400sp per week, so it takes 7.5 weeks (52.5 days) to make the masterwork component, and therefore 56 days to make a masterwork longsword.
In unchained, a longsword is a 'normal' complexity item, so creation is successful at a rate of 2gp per day, which is doubled because you beat the DC by 5, so 4gp per day. As such, it takes about 3.75 days to make a longsword. The wrinkle comes when we look at making a masterwork longsword. Masterwork increases the complexity of an item by one step, so a masterwork longsword is complex (DC 20). When taking 10, you can still make that DC, so that's fine. But the question is... are you trying to hit 15gp (which would result in the same 3.75 days above) or 315gp (which would take 78.75 days)?
I'm inclined to think it's the latter, but part of me is saying that having the difficulty be higher and the time it takes even longer than core doesn't 'sound' right. So, opinions?
