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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Timeboxer" data-source="post: 1757543" data-attributes="member: 21471">Except that, as explained, this past item creation is not actually a part of creating the character, mechanically speaking.  You use the XP to create your character now, in quantifiable terms -- apportioning classes and creating items and so forth -- but there's no reason to think that that expenditure has anything to do with an extramechanical concept (backstory).  Backstory is abstracted and distilled into XP and Wealth, so that the actual backstory, i.e. the unquantifiable literary aspect, is ignored.Essentially what you're doing is transplanting all of the historical item creation/spellcasting/other into the present, so that you are penalized now for a past event.  But again, I don't see how this is explicitly the "correct" way to do things, and to do so would be inconsistent with a "real" understanding of the actual result of XP expenditure at a lower level (see the Souljourner's posts).Based on the RAW, it seems to me, you can either take the abstraction interpretation, in which case backstory (undefined and unimportant) distills into XP and Wealth which you use to create your character through specified XP and gp equivalencies (and referring to an item as a "self-created item" is merely a backstory issue); or you can focus on the minutiae of XP and gp expenditure, in which case you could have your backstory reflect the fact that you created an item at a pivotal point that resulted in your having more XP than the rest of the party.  I find it unfathomable that having your past expenditures of any sort affect your current total in the way you describe should categorically be the standard.But hey, if you want to make a Backstory to XP Deduction Conversion Table, I'm sure a lot of people would appreciate it.Try this: You're running Eberron and an Artificer decides to put in his history that he found an exotic magic item and drained it of its power.  Would you then be obligated to allocate more XP into his Craft Reserve as a result of this historical incident?</blockquote>

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