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<blockquote data-quote="Spatzimaus" data-source="post: 1094902" data-attributes="member: 3051">(blatant plug for house rule system upcoming)There are four reasons for the discrepancy:1&gt; You have to separate &quot;raw material cost&quot; from &quot;finished item cost&quot;, usually.According to the Craft skill, raw materials are 1/3rd the item's cost.&nbsp; So, if heavy Mithral armor costs +9000 gp, that means the Mithral itself should only cost 3000, and the other 6000 is the labor needed to use it.&nbsp;&nbsp; The problem with this, of course, is that under the core rules Mithral isn't any harder or more time-consuming to work with than masterwork steel, so the labor costs shouldn't vary for armor and weaponry.2&gt; You have to separate &quot;raw material weight&quot; from &quot;finished item weight&quot;When you're making plate armor, relatively little of the metal is lost in the crafting process.&nbsp; When you're making a tiny trinket, a lot more is lost.&nbsp; So, a small item (like most of what falls into that &quot;other&quot; category) will, on a pound-by-pound basis, cost more.3&gt; When they say &quot;500 gp/lb&quot;, do they mean the listed PHB weight for that item type, or the actual weight (reduced by 50% for Mithral)?&nbsp; When they say &quot;+4000 gp&quot; for medium armor, do they mean for items normally treated as medium armor (Breastplate, for example), or things that are medium armor because of the material (Mithral Full Plate)?It's not an obvious thing.&nbsp; For the first question most people would say &quot;duh, the second answer&quot;, but when you get to the second you see the flaw in this.&nbsp; There are no actual &quot;heavy&quot; mithral armors, since it reduces all weights by one category, so the fact that they bothered to list a price for it means they mean weight class BEFORE the characteristics of mithral are taken into effect.&nbsp; Meaning a Breastplate is +4000, not +1000.&nbsp; Which then implies that the 500/lb means BEFORE the 50% weight reduction, not after...4&gt; Items aren't made entirely from one material.&nbsp; A &quot;Mithral breastplate&quot; isn't all mithral; there's leather for the rest of the body, padding under the breastplate itself, and chain for the joints, and it's probably trimmed with other metals.&nbsp; So, while the mithral may weigh 50% less, the item as a whole probably shouldn't drop by quite as much.&nbsp; Maybe half of the total weight will be the material used for the breastplate itself.Now, for the plug:Use a house rule system.&nbsp; You'll be happier in the long run, and a lot of these headaches go away.&nbsp; There have been plenty listed on the House Rules forum, or in books like the Artificer's Handbook, or whatever.&nbsp; If you go to the House Rules forum and ask, I'm sure someone *cough* could help you out.For example, the system I use gives every material a cost in gp/lb, a DC modifier for the Craft check, and then a list of bonuses.&nbsp; Then, there are two fairly small tables that say how much material a weapon or armor actually uses, based only on its effectiveness (average damage, AC, etc.).&nbsp; To make a longsword might require 12 pounds of metal, to make a dagger might require 8, even though the finished products weigh far less.&nbsp; So, you find out how much material is needed for creation, pay by the pound, then you're done.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Spatzimaus, post: 1094902, member: 3051"] (blatant plug for house rule system upcoming) There are four reasons for the discrepancy: 1> You have to separate "raw material cost" from "finished item cost", usually. According to the Craft skill, raw materials are 1/3rd the item's cost. So, if heavy Mithral armor costs +9000 gp, that means the Mithral itself should only cost 3000, and the other 6000 is the labor needed to use it. The problem with this, of course, is that under the core rules Mithral isn't any harder or more time-consuming to work with than masterwork steel, so the labor costs shouldn't vary for armor and weaponry. 2> You have to separate "raw material weight" from "finished item weight" When you're making plate armor, relatively little of the metal is lost in the crafting process. When you're making a tiny trinket, a lot more is lost. So, a small item (like most of what falls into that "other" category) will, on a pound-by-pound basis, cost more. 3> When they say "500 gp/lb", do they mean the listed PHB weight for that item type, or the actual weight (reduced by 50% for Mithral)? When they say "+4000 gp" for medium armor, do they mean for items normally treated as medium armor (Breastplate, for example), or things that are medium armor because of the material (Mithral Full Plate)? It's not an obvious thing. For the first question most people would say "duh, the second answer", but when you get to the second you see the flaw in this. There are no actual "heavy" mithral armors, since it reduces all weights by one category, so the fact that they bothered to list a price for it means they mean weight class BEFORE the characteristics of mithral are taken into effect. Meaning a Breastplate is +4000, not +1000. Which then implies that the 500/lb means BEFORE the 50% weight reduction, not after... 4> Items aren't made entirely from one material. A "Mithral breastplate" isn't all mithral; there's leather for the rest of the body, padding under the breastplate itself, and chain for the joints, and it's probably trimmed with other metals. So, while the mithral may weigh 50% less, the item as a whole probably shouldn't drop by quite as much. Maybe half of the total weight will be the material used for the breastplate itself. Now, for the plug: Use a house rule system. You'll be happier in the long run, and a lot of these headaches go away. There have been plenty listed on the House Rules forum, or in books like the Artificer's Handbook, or whatever. If you go to the House Rules forum and ask, I'm sure someone *cough* could help you out. For example, the system I use gives every material a cost in gp/lb, a DC modifier for the Craft check, and then a list of bonuses. Then, there are two fairly small tables that say how much material a weapon or armor actually uses, based only on its effectiveness (average damage, AC, etc.). To make a longsword might require 12 pounds of metal, to make a dagger might require 8, even though the finished products weigh far less. So, you find out how much material is needed for creation, pay by the pound, then you're done. [/QUOTE]

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