Below are some magic items for my Eberron campaign but I would like some suggestions as to improving the formula for calculating the price for the items. The DMG does not have any mention of how to create magic items that grant or simulate feats. The items below perform this function.
Let me know your thoughts please.
Tools of the Magewright: This set of craftsman’s tools appears as a set of exceptionally well maintained tools of masterwork quality. When used to make an item they give the user a +4 competence bonus on Craft checks.
Faint Alteration; CL 3rd; Craft Wondrous Item, magecraft; Price 1,600 gp; Weight 5 lb.
Tools of the Exceptional Artisan: This set of craftsman’s tools appears as a set of exceptionally well maintained tools of masterwork quality made from mithril or adamanitium. When used to make an item they give the user a +4 competence bonus on Craft checks and the effects of the Exceptional Artisan feat i.e. -25% on GP cost for item creation.
Faint Alteration; CL 6th; Craft Wondrous Item, magecraft; Price 3,600 gp; Weight 5 lb.
Tools of the Extraordinary Artisan: This set of craftsman’s tools appears as a set of exceptionally well maintained tools of masterwork quality made from mithril or adamanitium. When used to make an item they give the user a +4 competence bonus on Craft checks and the effects of the Extraordinary Artisan feat i.e. -25% on time taken for item creation.
Faint Alteration; CL 6th; Craft Wondrous Item, magecraft; Price 3,600 gp; Weight 5 lb.
Tools of the Legendary Artisan: This set of craftsman’s tools appears as a set of exceptionally well maintained tools of masterwork quality made from mithril or adamanitium. When used to make an item they give the user a +4 competence bonus on Craft checks and the effects of the Legendary Artisan feat i.e. -25% on XP cost for item creation.
Faint Alteration; CL 6th; Craft Wondrous Item, magecraft; Price 3,600 gp; Weight 5 lb.
Only one set of tools can be used at a time.
Jason - the Arms & Equipment guide offers general guidelines on how to craft a magic item that grants to benefits of a feat. That book isn't open content, though, so I'm not sure how much info Paizo is comfortable with me sharing on this thread. If one of the Paizo guys says it's OK to post the basic info from that Sidebar in A&EG, I'll be happy to share the info with you and give you a hand.
In the meantime, though, I've offered a handful of other comments below.
Tools of the Magewright: This set of craftsman’s tools appears as a set of exceptionally well maintained tools of masterwork quality. When used to make an item they give the user a +4 competence bonus on Craft checks.
Faint Alteration; CL 3rd; Craft Wondrous Item, magecraft; Price 1,600 gp; Weight 5 lb.
The price fits right in with the guidelines in the DMG (bonus squared * 100). Requiring magecraft is a nice touch in an Eberron game. :) Your school is incorrect, though - it should mention one of the schools of magic. Transmutation seems like a good choice for this one.
One potential abuse with this item is that - as written - it applies to any craft check. That means that within one group the armorsmith, weaponsmith, painter, sculpter, etc can all use the same tools to gain a +4 bonus. You might be OK with that; if not, you'll need to specify that a given set of tools is only good for one craft skill.
In fact, it seems the "alteration/transmutation" thing and the specific craft thing apply to all your items - so I'll only mention it once.
Tools of the Exceptional Artisan: This set of craftsman’s tools appears as a set of exceptionally well maintained tools of masterwork quality made from mithril or adamanitium. When used to make an item they give the user a +4 competence bonus on Craft checks and the effects of the Exceptional Artisan feat i.e. -25% on GP cost for item creation.
Faint Alteration; CL 6th; Craft Wondrous Item, magecraft; Price 3,600 gp; Weight 5 lb.
Generally speaking, it's reasonable to require somebody who crafts an item that grants a sklll bonus or a feat to have that skill level or feat. So I would go ahead and add Exceptional Artisan to your list of pre-reqs. You can probably keep the caster level on this item the same as the previous - as it's not going to really grant much of a benefit to the item to have a higher caster level. In fact, it's going to work to most likely make the item even more expensive.
In fact, this advice applies to all the remaining items.
These items have nice flavor. It wouldn't be horrible to have an item that combines two or more of these feats - though remember that the price rises significantly.
Once a Paizo person mentions the "rules" on posting closed content, I'll share some pricing tips with you on the last three items, as well as any item you might want to add that combines feat effects. These are nice, though - good job! :)
Thanks for that. I haven't invented a magic item since 2nd Edition. How would you rule on stacking the effects of the Tools and someone who already has the feat?
My inclination would be to not allow them to stack. However, it's been a while since I've read through my ECS. If somebody can take that feat multiple times - each time reducing the cost, time, etc - then I'd allow the two to stack.
There is an errata that states that the feats cannot be taken multiple times so an item probably should not stack with the feat. However (there is always a however), are there any rules on more than one person creating a magic item.
I am thinking of something similar to Aid Another but for magic item creation rather than combat. Forgive me if this is covered in 3.5 PHB but I am in the process of upgrading my books and haven't got the PHB yet.
How would the costs be divided out?
I am specifically thinking of the use of magewrights and artificers in the Eberron campaign setting that effectively mass produce magic items and generally work for large organisations (the Dragonmarked Houses).
I can't think of any reason why two or more people can't collaborate on magic item creation and share the XP, GP and time costs. Not even games balance
My party has an Artificer and a warforged fighter with ranks in Craft: Weaponsmith who wants to create a magic axe as soon as the Artificer gets to the right level. My question is: Why can't he help and if he can then can he benefit from the Tools of the Artisan given above?
A house rule at the very least.
Skip Williams just did a series of 7 articles on Making magic items. They're on the Wizards board. I highly recomend them. They're well worth the read. The first and last article has some rules on cooperating to make new items. They're not official, but seeing how Skip Williams himself wrote it, it's as official as you can get without reprinting the core books.