Mal-2's page

My personal preference is to either allow free choice of the "Profession" category on the Archives of Nethys, or to dictate a small list of allowed archetypes based on the campaign setup for the characters' first Free Archetype. Once they've taken the dedication plus two subsequent archetype feats, they can do what they like.

I don't really think there's a balance issue, it's just my attempt to encourage them to branch out into some things they probably wouldn't normally pick up.

1. Free Archetype

Are there specific Archetypes I should be restricting due to issues of balance, or are they all reasonably balanced? Any that I should keep my eye out for to ensure they don't break my game?

I don't think there's much of a balance concern with Free Archetypes. For the most part, they allow characters to do more things, but not be much better at the things they already do.

There are a couple of exceptions, with the fighting style type archetypes, where maybe martial characters end up getting all of the class feats they would want instead of having to pick and choose. Even that doesn't seem like a huge deal, though.

My personal preference is to dictate a couple of choices for a character's first archetype, then let them choose freely once they've taken the required dedication plus two additional feats. Typically, any restriction would either be based on some sort of shared background for the campaign, something I thought was particularly appropriate for the background they came up with, or maybe just anything from the "Profession" tab on the Archives of Nethys.

I don't think you'll break anything if you just give them free rein, though.

Let's say that I am an expert crafting a level 5 magic item worth 160 gp. My work per day is 1 gp. After 4 days I spend 160 gp worth of materials and I have an item worth 160 gp. If I sell it for the "market price", I make no profit and I have spent 4 gp worth of labor.

I think if I was looking to find a profit, the place I'd look is at the "160gp worth of materials". I take that to mean something like "160 gp of materials, purchased at retail prices, in exact quantities, then discarding all scrap material along with any jigs, toolwork or dies you may have built along the way". There's probably some room for a craftsman with a workshop to eke out a living in that.

For a PC, maybe offer to do some side work for a supplier in exchange for a discount on the materials, or using materials you may be able to get as loot on adventures.