So, I am on some different thread on another website where someone is trying to by RAW get the most bang out of his buck with arcane bond.
His stipulation is the following:
Get a Masterwork Pepperbox(300GP Masterwork + 3000Gp gun price)
Sell it for half price.
Get a new bonded object like a MW dagger, or a MW ring. Pocket the rest.
The most obvious answer being "If your GM allows"
Mind you this would not be for a pathfinder sanctioned game.
Looks like a loophole. But only relevant if your campaign stops at 3rd level. Otherwise its not that important.
But it should be clear that this may be RAW, but clearly not RAI, so the DM should simply say "No." to this behaviour. This is exactly what a DM's judgement call is there for.
The most obvious answer being "If your GM allows"
This.
As a Gamemaster, if a character tried this in my campaign, they would start the game with their pepperbox, be able to sell it immediately.
And then find no applicable masterwork items available for sell, stealing, or as loot for at least a level or two. Without the bonded item, they would have to make that concentration check for each spell.
That, of course, is assuming that I did not just prohibit them from trying to "game the system" right out, and the player in question was not getting the notion of game play and balance or the concept of working the game master to make sure everyone had fun, thus needing a clear lesson.
I say this to my players: "If you don't try to wreck my game, I won't wreck yours. If you do, all bets are off..."
Any player who comes to my table with the idea that he can "beat the system" by exploiting some loophole in the rules will find a house rule slammed down before he gets any benefit form his exploit. And he'll be having a talk with me. If he keeps trying it, he won't be invited to my table anymore.
We're here to play a game and have fun together, not to see if we can beat or break the system and/or prove we're smarter than Paizo developers, or whatever. Exploiting a loophole doesn't take smarts - refraining from exploiting a loophole is a much smarter option. I have little patience for players who cannot or will not understand that.
In this specific instance, I would tell the player he gets to keep his bonded pepperbox. It's bonded. That should mean something. It should be valuable to him not just for its sale price. If he insists on selling it, he won't find a suitable buyer until I can count that 3,000gp as part of his WBL (and yes, I'll probably remove a few arcane scrolls or other ideal arcane treasure that his character might have wanted from the upcoming loot, so that he won't have his 3,000gp AND loot and be wealthier than the other characters - I'll balance his share of looted treasure to account for an extra 3,000gp).
I say this to my players: "If you don't try to wreck my game, I won't wreck yours. If you do, all bets are off..."
I am so stealing this line.
Wow Blake, you're nice. I'd just kick the guy from the start, don't want to deal with that s#**.
Sometimes I find a, er, uh, exploitative player who, with a gentle nudge, becomes a better player and a welcome addition to our gaming group. Sometimes not so much. But I'm always willing to try.
Call it my Buddha nature...
Once he was teaching in the White Horse Temple in Luoyang. He’d been there for many years, for time is of no consequence to the Buddha, and he had many devoted students. A new student came to the temple to learn. A few days later, this new student was caught stealing from the temple. The Buddha was asked to punish the student but he heeded not this request. The next day the new student was caught stealing again. The other students came to the Buddha and begged him to punish the new student, but again the Buddha did not agree. The next day the student was caught stealing for the third time. All the students came to the Buddha and said “Send away this thief or surely we must all leave this place!”
The Buddha gazed upon his students for a time, then he replied, “You are truly wise, and I shall understand if you must seek your enlightenment elsewhere. But this new student, this poor brother, does not even know right from wrong. If I turn him out, who then is to teach him? Who will teach him if I do not? No, I shall teach this student even if you must all leave.”
A torrent of tears cleansed the face of the new student, and all desire to steal had forever left his heart.