XP costs --- not a problem!

[candidus_cogitens]

Considering crafting a powerful magic item that would cost a big sum of XP? Don't worry about it! If you fall behind the rest of your party in XP, it won't amount to anything significant. You'll only be a fraction of a level behind.

Let's say that the next time the party levels, your character is a few hundred XP short. Big deal. You have to wait one more session to level up. It's not likely to be more than one session. Think of it this way ... the party level is going to be higher now, you'll face bigger foes, and get larger XP rewards in comparison to what you got when the rest of the party was at the same level as you. So, you'll level up in no time.

Plus, once a few levels are reached, the amount of XP you spent before will matter less and less.

 

[LokiDR]

true enough. Make a wand or two, and the xp cost doesn't matter. Start churning out wonderous items though, and it might add up. 400 xp for a 10,000 gp item is fine. Make 10 though, and you are down 4000 xp. That still hurts.

For me, time has always been more limiting in creating magic items. 10 days out of adventuring for a low power item? I would rather find or buy the item.

 

[Li Shenron]

It's a trade-off between better characters and better equipments!

Don't ever create a magic item, and you'll get an equipment with value proportionate to your PC.
Create magic items and you'll double the value of the invested treasure, but you'll slow your progression.
Quite fair...

Of course, if you turn ALL your cash-treasure into magic items, you'll eventually have more than you can use

But you have also comrades to make magic items for... How much are you going to slow your progression to improve THEIR equipment. Of course, you'll get indirect help from better equipped friends. But I suggest my players to sell self-created magic items at FULL MARKET PRICE to the comrades; friends still have the advantage of getting exactly what they need (not random as in treasures).

 

[Shallown]

I play a LN cleric that scribes scrolls and will eventually take arms and armor creation. He charges the other characters full price for the item or scroll. He is burninghis life (XP) to make something so he turns a little profit. Right now it makes little difference since it is only scrolls but he believes in setting the rules precedent up front. when he starts making arms and armor and maybe wands or potions (That's sitting on the fence still) he'll have a policy set. You may ask why not go get it somewhere else. Well our GM lets us buy magic but seldom is it guarunteed to be available or at book price.

I find this works out pretty good for me. This is also the first time I have played a caster who created anything, I usually GM.

Later

 

[candidus_cogitens]

true enough. Make a wand or two, and the xp cost doesn't matter. Start churning out wonderous items though, and it might add up. 400 xp for a 10,000 gp item is fine. Make 10 though, and you are down 4000 xp. That still hurts.

For me, time has always been more limiting in creating magic items. 10 days out of adventuring for a low power item? I would rather find or buy the item.

Making 10 would be kinda ridiculous though, unless your primary goal, as a PC, was to make money. And in that case ... why would you care about XP?

But I could imagine wanting to make an item that cost 100,000gp (market value), and 4000 XP. But I wouldn't be making too many of those! Probably only once in my career. And it would be at a relatively high character level, when 4000 XP would still only be a fraction of a level.

 

[bensei]

It's a trade-off between better characters and better equipments!

You can also invest XP for other character improvement, e.g. a Wizard pays 25000 XP for a +5 in intelligence (5 wishes). What do you think about this?

 

[Shard O'Glase]

Making 10 would be kinda ridiculous though, unless your primary goal, as a PC, was to make money. And in that case ... why would you care about XP?

My last PC was a wizard and i made more items than 10 by the time I was 7th level. I enchanted the fighters spiked chain(+2, flaming), his armor(+2), the clerics armor(+2), made my self bracers of armor(+4), some boots of cheat for the entire party(5 pairs), gogles of darkvision, gogles of see invis,3 wands(knock, invis, detect secret doors), and god knows how many scrolls. And I kept making items as I went up levels, we stopped aorund level 11 and I started Dming.

And it wasn't ridicualius in our minds it cost me the XP, but the party got some really nice equipment that was more cutomized for the party than the stuff we loted off the corpses of the fallen.

 

[LokiDR]

Making 10 would be kinda ridiculous though, unless your primary goal, as a PC, was to make money. And in that case ... why would you care about XP?

But I could imagine wanting to make an item that cost 100,000gp (market value), and 4000 XP. But I wouldn't be making too many of those! Probably only once in my career. And it would be at a relatively high character level, when 4000 XP would still only be a fraction of a level.

10 different items in the 10,000gp range for a party of 5 over a few months is not hard to believe at all. Like I said, you only feel it if you are outfitting your whole party. A few items, the time and feat are a much greater cost.

 

[LokiDR]

My last PC was a wizard and i made more items than 10 by the time I was 7th level. ....

And it wasn't ridicualius in our minds it cost me the XP, but the party got some really nice equipment that was more cutomized for the party than the stuff we loted off the corpses of the fallen.

I'll bet you spent a decent portion of your time below their level, and this was probably fine by you. XP costs are only there to prevent people from churning out huge quantities of materials, not prevent them from leveling at all.

 

[Magic Rub]

You can also invest XP for other character improvement, e.g. a Wizard pays 25000 XP for a +5 in intelligence (5 wishes). What do you think about this?

I think that for a Wizard this is a good investment. At 17th lvl (I think it is anyhow) inplace of uping to 18th, taking a "set back" ( ) in XP to gain a +5 to int is well worth it. What PC wouldn't want to put off a level to gain +5 to thier fav. stat ? For a wizard it's better then the level gain (which you'll still get later on) You'll gain in all of your Int based skills, get bonus spells amost across the board, & your spell saves will get harder for others to res. It's all win . You then you kill a few more things with your party, & bing! Level 18 before you know it.