I have a player in my group who absolutely loves the idea of a character that crafts things. For him, it's a way to personalize every weapon and piece of armor he uses. One problem...the crafting system in Pathfinder takes too long!
Now, I've looked at the crafting rules in the First Printing of the Core Rulebook and it seems as though it takes a good number of weeks in game time to make a masterwork item.
The campaign I'm currently DMing is very much at the low level of things (level 3).
My question is this: Is there any way to speed up crafting so that low level PC's can be able to see the fruits of their labor while adventuring?
Is there a game balance reason for making it take around 5 weeks to make a masterwork item at low level?
I appreciate any and all suggestions
Now this looks interesting. I'll pick it up and see how it goes. Thanks for the reply :)
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Good link.
You could also just declare part of his costs would be the hire of others to do some work, and he puts on the finishing touches that need a master's hand, thus resulting in reduced time. Or, you could just declare that because you'd like to allow players to see the fruits of their labors, you'll just speed up crafting for players. Finally, you could create a minor magical item, like a portable magic forge, and have it as treasure.
if you dont mind using 3PP, there's a pdf called Advanced Feats: Feats of the Alchemist, that has a feat the let's u craft WHILE adventuring and another feat that helps you speed up the time for crafting magical equipment. Check it out. Worth every penny. Sold on Paizo too.
One other suggestion is a house rule we use. This takes a bit of hand waving on the part of the DM and the party as it follows absolutely no logic. We use this rule for both normal and magical gear.
For normal items (or masterwork): If you have the skill or feat and are making it for yourself you make items at a rate of 2XGP in place of SP. If you are making it for a party member you make it at a rate of GP in place of SP. And if you are making it to sell you make it in SP as normal... but we allow you to RP the sell value when in town.
For magic items: If you have the skill or feat and are making it for yourself you make the normal daily rate while adventuring. If you are making it for a party member you can make 500 GP per day while adventuring. If you are making it to sell you must be in town or a crafting facility and you make it at the normal rate. You can then RP the sell with the DM.
The above rules clearly require the party to play nice (be honest) with each other and the rules as outlined. It does reward a player who spends SP or feats for their own character while still allowing teamwork.
Another though is if the player can get a Homunulous from the Ebberon setting that helps him craft. Put that guy in a portable hole or bag of holding and he can work on it while you adventure. At night, the character gets everything out and helps the little guy with the 'big ticket' things like the needed spellcasting/spellcraft.
I actually gave my players a magic tower for such things. Not the one from the book (the adamantine one), but something somewhat similar made from stone. They then had the opportunity to put anything in it and pop it out at night. So, full day traveling, pop out the tower, shut the doors, cook on the stove while the crafters used the crafting room for 4 hours (gaining full credit due to the crafting room).