I'm tinkering with masterwork details for a campaign setting and I've got some ideas percolating but want to mull them over with a bit of input. Setting is LOW magic (and only divine at that) with a 10-level cap; its not a fantastic fantasy world, so I want to keep the occurrences of super-awesome-world-changing-magical-items to a bare minimum, story elements for the few that are appropriate (as we view the Holy Grail, Ark of the Covenant, etc.) This has me falling back on masterwork items and some appropriate special materials, the general expectation that they'll be more common and in use for much longer than in other settings.
A) I see stuff quite a bit for darkwood shields, but not for darkwood weapons. This is something that would turn up in the setting, and honestly I've never seen one statted up before. Would it get the +1 enhancement bonus (add 10 gp x pound to the value of a masterwork version of the item) or does it just get the benefits of the darkwood material? The shields in the Core book lack the armor penalty, appropriate for a masterwork item, but again haven't seen a darkwood weapon.
B) I'm constantly tinkering for a consistent economy with the setting and with working on masterwork items I'm finding simple weapons driving me up the wall. 302 for a masterwork dagger or 315 for a masterwork longsword? Seems...wrong to me. Looking at other masterwork items over in the tools and adventuring gear we don't see that 300 gp boost; it comes out around 3.3~ times the original cost. Manacles, 15 gp normal or 50 gp masterwork. Thieves kit, 30 gp normal, 100 gp masterwork (and a pound heavier, which probably also means more tools).
I'm *thinking* following suit with the special materials, going with an "exceptional material" outlook and saying 35 gp per pound to craft a masterwork simple item; 600 gp for a mwk quarterstaff, which is by the rules a stick, is a bit out there, but 140 gp for a nicely crafted quarterstaff a bit more reasonable.
Setting wise I don't mind the bit of imbalance that cheaper masterwork items would have as players generally won't have the awesome magical tech they're used to in other settings. And, this applies only to simple weapons, an attempt to bring costs more in line with how the rest of the "tools" are established. And, as I grapple with some other economic concerns, this could end up being fairly priced in the end.
That's round one of pondering~ Say it makes sense, say I'm insane for considering it, whichever ^_^ Feedback is always a good thing!
Since you are already tinkering a good bit with the rules and assumptions of the game, I don't see any problem with making masterwork items cheaper/more common, or incorporating more special material items, rather than magical items.
On the low, clerical only magic, you might want to also consider some way to limit spell availability/reliability for the clerics/druids if you want to prevent them from ruling the world as the only ones with access to magic.
In general, as a professional policy wonk, I admitted long ago that the D&D/PF economic system was hopelessly illogical and couldn't be salvaged without far more work than I was willing to put into it. So I just go with it and try not to think about it.
Good luck. Sounds like an intriguing campaign.
Agreed on the economics ^_^ I'm just trying to align it with a few of the assumptions better and for my own needs. The generic cash generation (1/2 gp of profession check with average abilities) is *alright* and I can run with it, I'm just working to extend it across the larger sense of the world and see how it falls out.
Agreed, I like the use of special items, masterwork if you will for all manner of goods. It gives the players a reward that has both thematic and practical use in the game world, and often for some player more meaning than a magical weapon.