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Ricksnest wrote:

Crafting, is still broken in one regard, even with the treasure vault. You are still working for no compensation for "x" number of days (4 in the core rulebook). The standard argument is that 4 days is the cost of access to the item but this argument has a flaw. The formula and material cost is the cost of access to the item. Time should be paid for every day you work on crafting an item at your established earned income rate. So if you are crafting 4 3rd level scrolls and finish them in 4 days, your cost should be 120gp each minus 4 days of your earned income. This is a minor tweak and will not harm game balance but it does allow a crafter to earn income equal to someone working at another job and not give their first 4 days away for free.

Crafting is not a way to get rich. In fact, right now it earns less than any other side job because you are giving some amount of days away for free (4 in the core rulebook and 1-6 under the alt rules). In a correctly balanced system, crafting should be the most profitable of the possible "professions" because it costs you feats and skill increases that either mostly or completely are income generators. As it is, if you are crafting magical items, for example, you have at least one feat used up for magical crafting and you are earning less per day than anyone doing anything else.

Bottom line is that investments in crafting are a losing proposition. Maybe in a campaign with no access to appropriate leveled gear it is a necessary evil, but it is an evil nevertheless.

The 4 days is the cost of making the item from scratch, and not just purchasing it from Ye Olde Magicke Shoppe.

Crafting is also represented as putting your tools of the trade to work at an establishment that is willing to commission you for your services, i.e. downtime earning income. You don't just spend 4 days straight making something and selling it, treating the income as your profit, the rules for selling items from PCs is clear on that.

The point is your 4 days (core rules) are not compensated, that is a problem because the rest of the party is earning income and you are not because you are the one with the crafting skill. If you are producing items for yourself, your party or for sale, your time should be valued the same.

Crafting, is still broken in one regard, even with the treasure vault. You are still working for no compensation for "x" number of days (4 in the core rulebook). The standard argument is that 4 days is the cost of access to the item but this argument has a flaw. The formula and material cost is the cost of access to the item. Time should be paid for every day you work on crafting an item at your established earned income rate. So if you are crafting 4 3rd level scrolls and finish them in 4 days, your cost should be 120gp each minus 4 days of your earned income. This is a minor tweak and will not harm game balance but it does allow a crafter to earn income equal to someone working at another job and not give their first 4 days away for free.

Crafting is not a way to get rich. In fact, right now it earns less than any other side job because you are giving some amount of days away for free (4 in the core rulebook and 1-6 under the alt rules). In a correctly balanced system, crafting should be the most profitable of the possible "professions" because it costs you feats and skill increases that either mostly or completely are income generators. As it is, if you are crafting magical items, for example, you have at least one feat used up for magical crafting and you are earning less per day than anyone doing anything else.

Bottom line is that investments in crafting are a losing proposition. Maybe in a campaign with no access to appropriate leveled gear it is a necessary evil, but it is an evil nevertheless.