Craft and Special Material - A sensible Solution

[Laurefindel]

How to Circumvent the Problem of Special Materials by RAW.

The solution is actually rather simple: don’t add the special material’s cost modifier on the base item’s market price for the purpose of determining crafting time. For example, a longsword made out of alchemical silver is crafted as a typical longsword (15 gp). Don’t forget to charge 1/3 of raw materials form the special material however (in this case, +30 gp to raw materials).

In the case of adamantine, darkwood, dragonhide, mithral, and other special materials granting masterwork benefits, calculate the base item’s market price as if the item was of masterwork quality. While the rules are silent on the Craft DC for unusual materials, assume that the virtual masterwork component also comes with a DC of 20. Do not consider the price of the masterwork component to calculate raw material costs, but do include the supplementary costs for the special material itself. For example, an adamantine longsword is crafted as a masterwork longsword, but add +1000 gp for raw materials instead of the +100 gp for the masterwork component.

Apply the same concept to objects of art. Lets take a 10 lbs solid gold chandelier as an example. While the PHB has no base price for a mundane chandelier, lets assume it would cost 5 gp (… the same chandelier would weight less than 5 lbs if made of iron by the way, but that’s irrelevant anyway).

Lets assume that as far as looks goes, making it out of gold gives it masterwork benefit (+2 bonus to be looked at). According to the PHB, giving a masterwork quality to “just about anything else” – from the description of the item listed as Tool, Masterwork on Table 7-8: Goods and Services– involves a supplement cost of 100 gp. Our craftsman will thus calculate his daily or weekly progress against a value of 105 gp. The raw material part of the chandelier (excluding the “made out of solid gold” part) is only a third of 5 gp however; so 1,67 gp.

Now for the gold part. We know from Table 7-3: Trade Goods that 10 lbs of gold cost 500 gp; that’s our raw materials for the golden part right there. Since raw materials = 1/3 of market price, we can calculate that gold as a special material has a price modifier of +1500 gp for a 10 lbs object (or 150 gp per pound if you prefer).

So in conclusion, our 10 lbs solid gold chandelier has:
A market price tag of 1505 gp
Costs 501.67 gp in raw materials but is otherwise created as an item worth 105 gp
Has a craft DC of 10 for the first 5 gp, and a DC of 20 for the remaining 100 gp.
Is worth 752.5 gp if sold to your friendly local merchant
Is worth 500 gp if melted for the gold

‘hope that can be helpful to anybody.

‘findel

[Freesword]

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

This is indeed helpful to me.

I think it fixes the last bit of oddity for me that special material price inflation caused for crafting. Much more elegant than the approach I was pursing which was to reduce the cost of some special materials.

Thank You!

[Kevin Andrew Murphy]

Very elegant. I'd decided on a similar solution myself, but hadn't gotten around to statting it out.

And of course you can plug in the same formulae for a silver chandelier, or a mithral one with Continual Flame light bulbs and rock crystal danglies.

And the same thing for addling additional bling to weaponry.