Rules for crafting armor and weapons

[Sharkon]

So a +1 armor or shield costs 1000 gps extra if you want to buy it
If however you want to enchant a +1 buckler and a +1 full plate would the cost be the same (1000/2 = 500 gp) or does the base market price of the item influence the total market price ?

 

[radmod]

Yes.
Technically the price for a the cost of the armor is:
MW armor + enhancement(s) + size adjustment.

Likewise when crafting the price is:
"you must spend 1/25 of its features’ total price in XP and use up raw materials costing one-half of this total price"
MW item + enhancement(s) + size adjustment.

Many DMs only gig your xp for the enhancement(s) to make it easy.

So to be more precise:
+1 full plate for a human is 1650 + 1000 = 2650.
+1 HS shield for a human is 170 + 1000 = 1170.

To craft:
+1 buckler for human:
(1000 + 165) / 2 = 582gp and 23 xp.
+1 full plate for a human:
(1000 + 1650) / 2 = 1325 gp and 53 xp.

 

[Persiflage]

Yes.
Technically the price for a the cost of the armor is:
MW armor + enhancement(s) + size adjustment.

Likewise when crafting the price is:
"you must spend 1/25 of its features’ total price in XP and use up raw materials costing one-half of this total price"
MW item + enhancement(s) + size adjustment.

If I've understood the question correctly (which I may not have done), the answer is actually "no", for the reason highlighted in bold above. You don't pay XP cost for 1/25th of the cost of a masterwork weapon; you pay 1/25th of the cost of its features. "Features" correlates to base price, which is - for all intents and purposes - the cost of the enhancements you're putting on it, making the calculations radmod has displayed incorrect.

Armor, shields, weapons, and items with a value independent of their magically enhanced properties add their item cost to the market price. The item cost does not influence the base price (which determines the cost of magic supplies and the experience point cost), but it does increase the final market price.

The item creation section is quite unnecessarily confusing in its wording and I may not have properly understood the question because you're using a term that doesn't feature. There's no "base market price", there's a base price and a market price. In the case of a weapon or suit of armour, the XP cost is derived from the base price, which does not include the value of the masterwork item.

Market Price: This gold piece value, given following the word 'Price,' represents the price someone should expect to pay to buy the item. The market price for an item that can be constructed with an item creation feat is usually equal to the base price plus the price for any components (material or XP).

So, the market price of the item is the base price, i.e. the cost of the enhancements, plus the item cost: i.e. the cost of the masterwork weapon or shield.

Hope that helps

 

[radmod]

Yeah, you're right, Pars, that's what I get for not using my books. It also probably explains why I have my PCs pay only the xp or 1/2 gp cost for enhancements.
Also from the SRD (next line - duh, I'm an idiot!):
"The weapon, armor, or shield to be enhanced must be a masterwork item that you provide. Its cost is not included in the above [crafting] cost. "

So the incorrect:
"To craft:
+1 buckler for human:
(1000 + 165) / 2 = 582gp and 23 xp.
+1 full plate for a human:
(1000 + 1650) / 2 = 1325 gp and 53 xp."

would actually be:
To craft:
+1 buckler for human:
(1000 / 2) = 500 gp and 20 xp.
The total price would be 500 + 165 (for the MW) = 665 gp.
+1 full plate for a human:
(1000 / 2) = 500 gp and 20 xp.
The total price would be 500 + 1650 (for the MW) = 2150 gp.

I'm going to check it later against my books, because the SRD seems to be worded slightly incorrectly (or rather it needs to be worded slightly to make it correct). Specifically, about the base price listing for armor/shields.