I know what I would have changed if I could do it over again but would love any feedback from judges or other folks or whoever. Thank you :)

Cloak of the Scrivener
Aura moderate divination; CL 7th
Slot shoulders; Price 29,400 gp; Weight 1lb.
Description
Created and worn by Tengu, who serve as sea witches on ships in the Shackles or as oracles in rookeries in cities, the cloaks are sometimes sold outside those insular communities. These long, feathered cloaks are covered in dozens of used writing quills of many colors hooked onto the cloth, staining it an inky black.

The cloak allows the wearer the ability to mimic voices as per the vocal alteration spell (self only) for 7 minutes per day; the minutes need not be consecutive but must be in 1 minute increments.

Each cloak is made with 25 enchanted quills which allow the wearer to seek oracular wisdom as per the divination spell. The casting time remains 10 minutes with the quill replacing the standard material component; the wearer using it to write out his question. Upon completion, the quill loses its magical properties. When all quills are used, the cloak retains its ability to mimic voices. Found cloaks will have 2d10 enchanted quills remaining.

Each time a quill is used in this manner, the wearer must succeed on a DC 15 Will save (DC 20 if the divination was incorrect) or else be compelled to steal a shiny object or colorful piece of cloth; the value of the object or success of the theft is unimportant as long as an attempt is made. If an attempt is not made, the wearer suffers 1 point of Wisdom drain the next day and each day thereafter until either a theft attempt or successful Will save is made at which time all Wisdom drain is healed.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, divination, vocal alteration; Cost 14,700 gp

I grew up in the Seattle area (I miss living there a lot) ... and my favourite snow moment was walking down from First Hill towards downtown. There was a bit of snow on the ground, which meant no one was driving, cause Sean is right. I heard a slushing sound from behind me and turn around to watch a public bus sliding down the hill sideways. It was the only vehicle on the road and everything was silent except the slushing of its tires slipping down the hill. The people inside were pressed up against the windows and I assume were screaming, but you couldn't hear anything. At the bottom of the hill, it stopped, open its door and everyone walked out eerily calm and shocked.

It was a real haiku moment.

WBL is the guideline for the party...

This right here is the problem with the entire WBL argument. It is not a guideline for the party, it is a guideline for the DM. It is the DM saying to someone joining the party after level 1 or regenning due to character death, "this is how much gold you may spend to purchase gear (purchase gear, not craft gear)". I don't see how that is vague in the information written on the WBL.

It would be nice to have James or another developer come in and say, "yeah we didn't really intend that to mean players can use that to craft stuff", but honestly I don't think its necessary considering the wording used in the book concerning that table.

WBL is not for the party to use ... ever.

EDIT: I'm not directing this at Irontruth or anyone else, just generally at any of these threads where I see people placing the WBL in the hands of players.

@Fergie:

This this and more this. I didn't even think to put up that point last night. The time factor of crafting can't be thrown out the window, which means the above 1st level character be gen'ed can't incorporate crafting into the chargen process.

Thank you Fergie.

In the end I don't understand why the WBL gets so nitpicked when it seems such common sense. You have one of two situations with it:

1. DM: "Hmm... I wonder if I'm giving the players the appropriate amount of loot for their encounters .... oh I can check that."

2. DM: "Welcome to the game Fred, well the characters are level 10, so gen up one of that level. You have X gp to spend, be sure to spread it out amongst different items, not all on one .... <DM sees Fred's eyes gleam> ... and no, you can't use that gold to craft, just purchase gear."

End of story.

Except the first paragraph is not related to the second. The first paragraph has to do with established PCs, not PCs brought in after 1st level, which is what the second paragraph is about.

EDIT: re Tyki: And no I don't read "ordinary gear" or to "budget gear" ... in other words the word gear to mean crafting materials. Gear is quite definitely listed items you purchase, acquire or have on you ... crafting materials generally aren't (unless its an expensive spell component or masterwork weapon, which is entirely different).

Just went through this thread ... and there seems to be some premise or idea that wealth granted post lvl 1 as indicated by the WBL chart (which a DM doesn't even need to use to give wealth to a PC entering after lvl 1) can be used for crafting purposes. From the section on the WBL chart:

Table 12–4 lists the amount of treasure each PC is
expected to have at a specific level. Note that this table
assumes a standard fantasy game. Low-fantasy games
might award only half this value, while high-fantasy
games might double the value. It is assumed that some of
this treasure is consumed in the course of an adventure
(such as potions and scrolls), and that some of the less
useful items are sold for half value so more useful gear can
be purchased.
Table 12–4 can also be used to budget gear for
characters starting above 1st level, such as a new
character created to replace a dead one. Characters
should spend no more than half their total wealth on
any single item. For a balanced approach, PCs that
are built after 1st level should spend no more than
25% of their wealth on weapons, 25% on armor and
protective devices, 25% on other magic items, 15% on
disposable items like potions, scrolls, and wands, and
10% on ordinary gear and coins. Different character
types might spend their wealth differently than these
percentages suggest; for example, arcane casters might
spend very little on weapons but a great deal more on
other magic items and disposable items.

It seems pretty clear to me in the second paragraph that that money granted by the DM to the PC is to be spent on items, not crafting materials. I'm not sure where an interpretation that the money can be or the DM should allow it to be spent on crafting materials is implied or even intended. Seems very clear, RAW (a silly term to use for a table that is for DM use only as a guide to assist them in their encounter development ... I discourage my PCs from even looking at it so they won't think its some sort of benchmark) that that wealth in the WBL table is to purchase items (already crafted) for your above 1st lvl PC. So the discussion is rather moot. Any DM who allows their players to use that wealth to craft stuff is making a critical error in what that table is for, and that it will have a direct impact on the challenges in the game.

EDIT: And no, "disposable items" here is not intended to be interpreted as "crafting materials".

I'm still not sure what the issue here is. If you're the DM and you introduce a character and you, as the DM, think there is a wealth discrepancy between some characters, you, as the DM, have the ability to fix it ... by dropping loot that is geared to a particular PC.

Again, that table is not FOR players. It is for the DM to get a general guideline. What the characters do with their wealth after the pick it up is up to them. If a character decides to do be all paladiny and give it all to some IC charity does that mean it is now unfair because he has less wealth? No ... its the repercussions of his actions. The DM has full control over where they want these wealth levels to be. You don't even have to use that chart for an incoming new PC if you don't want to, its just there as a guideline.

If one wanted to determine a PC's wealth at some point, in order to compare it with the chart or an incoming character, then it looks like...

The most important bit here .... if the "one" you are talking about is the DM than using that chart to determine how much gold to spend an incoming PC gets is perfectly valid, and they can follow the chart ... or not, as is up to the DM.

An incoming PC or the existing PCs should not be using that chart to compare what they have, the value of what they have or whats fair for the newly arrived PC. That is not the intention or purpose of that chart. I generally tell my players to ignore it completely as it has nothing to do with them ... as in the information there is only important to the DM and only to the degree the DM wants to make it important. Going into the math of WBL is number crunching that the DM is free to engage it ... players using the WBL chart to number crunch only breeds unpleasantness and unfun-ness ... that's not a word but you know what I mean. And a DM who directs players to that chart is not helping matters.

The DM should tell an incoming PC: "You get X gp to spend, make sure no one item is worth more than 1/4 or 1/2 or whatever of that amount" ... and leave everything else to "stuff that happens behind the curtain". You want your players paying attention to the big booming green head Wizard, not the charlatan behind the screen. Toto would make a bad PC. :)

My creative process as I await the results on Round 1 have been to wake up in the middle of the night for the last four nights and while working on an outline for an Adventure proposal for the last round ... I'm an optimist so sue me ... I've discovered that I've created an outline for an Adventure Path. Gah ... I need to stop waking up in the middle of the night.

Last night I kept myself from doing it but came up with a great idea that I *knew* I'd forget if I didn't do anything about. So I turned my alarm clock upside down to remind me about it in the morning. Strangely enough it worked. Now there's a creative process :)

I've been writing up drafts using the faction listings in the Inner Sea World Guide as a sort of template. I know its probably way over the word count, but it allows me a benchmark for creating a lot of information that I can then pare down to fit the format and word count of the actual competition.

Also some of the information listed in the Faction Guide I've been working on for my drafts as well. Again, in the end I'll have too much information, but I'd rather have details which I can then edit, fine-tune and perfect rather than too little.

But that's just me ... and I like doing this creative stuff in my head anyway all the time, now I'm just writing it down :)

We don't take that kind of writing as a sign of your creativity. Instead, we take that as a sign that you can't present a wondrous item the way it's done in the Core Rule Book.

Hi Neil ... sorry if I shouldn't ask this in this thread or what have you, but about this section of your comments. I understand a bunch of backstory on an item is not welcome, but I remember seeing in another thread (I forget if may have been in comments on previous years' wondrous item entries from judges) that a touch of flavor is fine ... a line like "Originally crafted by the Knights who say Nee, for the sake of their shrubberies.... <then onto mechanical and descriptive text>" *. Also I thought I had seen positive comments when someone might have included a line with Golarion flavor.

So just for clarification ... any reference to Golarion or flavor should be stripped away? Cause that doesn't seem to parse with what I've seen in the past?

* reference used so it has no relation to an entry :)