Apparently I posted this originally in the wrong location, so I am re-posting here.
I'm vaguely familiar with some other systems but have never used 3.5 or Pathfinder, so naturally I joined a PF game with random background descriptions and rolled a desert-dwelling Undine artificer. Needless to say I've been doing a lot of reading. I'm working on my character and trying to finish out gear and meet the random background requirements. I'm supposed to dress like a noble, so I figured I'd start out with a couple of masterwork rings of various materials (likely with gems) that I can later upgrade (not spending tons of gp on them now, mostly because I don't have tons left). This is essentially for fluff-fulfilling purposes, but I've been driving myself crazy trying to figure out how to price these things. The rules aren't really clear to me, and I've been unable to find the specific information I want online. I'm trying to price a masterwork shell (which is equivalent to bone) ring with a pearl, and a masterwork gold ring with carnelian.
One thing that does seem generally agreed on is that almost any item can serve as a masterwork tool, even if the circumstances that trigger its bonus are extremely limited. To be honest, I don't even care about those bonuses at this point. I simply want to make these masterwork rings so my guy looks fancy and I can make them better later. So, for my purposes, I'm assuming I can add 50 gp (the cost for masterwork tool) to the price.
Ultimate Equipment/Gear/Clothing/Jewelry seems simple if vague:
The price of jewelry varies wildly by its quality. Many cultures, particularly nomads, consciously use jewelry as a form of portable wealth, most notably with belts and bangles made from coins. A commoner's ornaments may only be worth a few copper pieces, an artisan's a few silver pieces, and a merchant's a few gold pieces, while nobles rarely wear jewelry worth less than 100 gp.
It doesn't really say anything about using special materials or gems, but whatever. Here's where I get slightly confused. Gems and Jewelry: Creating Jewelry says:
Jewelry consists of worn ornamental pieces typically adorned with gemstones. To determine the price of a piece of simple jewelry with a single gemstone, treat the piece of jewelry as one grade higher to determine its price (5,000 gp plus 2d4 × 1,000 gp for a grade 6 gemstone). For ornate jewelry with a large number of gemstones (typically 2d6 gemstones of one grade and one gemstone of a grade higher than the others), determine the highest grade gemstone in the item and price the item as if it were two grades higher (25,000 gp plus 2d4 × 5,000 gp for a grade 6 gemstone).
Pieces of jewelry without gemstones are typical worth 10 gp (in the case of copper or silver jewelry), 50 gp (in the case of gold or platinum jewelry), or 100 gp (in the case of mithral, adamantine, or more exotic metals).
Is the cost of items with gems strictly based on the value of the gem, or do I add the price of other materials? If I add the cost of special materials, how do I do that, since rings "have no appreciable weight"? Is a bone ring "half the price of a normal weapon or armor of its type?" Is a cold iron ring twice as much? It appears the price is only gem-related, but I'm not sure if other people read it that way.
Possible costs for masterwork shell ring with saltwater pearl (grade 3 gem):
50 gp (masterwork)
1/2 cost (shell)
250 gp + 2d4 × 10 (grade 4) or 500 gp
Possible costs for masterwork gold ring with carnelian (grade 2):
50 gp (masterwork)
10x cost (gold)
50 gp + +2d4 × 5 (grade 3) or 100 gp
Based on what's written, it seems that the price of special materials is not considered for gemmed jewelry, so I'm thinking they'll be 550 and 150 gp. Is that correct?
After reviewing this post, I apologize for the ridiculous length of this ridiculously trivial question. If you managed to finished it, thanks in advance!
Morning bump. Any opinions?
I don't think there is any such thing as a masterwork gem or piece of jewelry. The price is just based on the quality of gem.