Cost of creating a Tome of Understanding (and its cousins)

[Jarreth]

Hi, I noticed that the tomes that grants bonuses to stats (understanding, leadership & influence, etc) have less than double the cost of buying a tome than the actually creation cost. Isnt the standard rule that double the cost of creating is the cost of purchase?

EG: Tome of Understanding Cost 26,250 gp (+1), 52,500 gp (+2), 78,750 gp (+3), 105,000 gp (+4), 131,250 gp (+5) to create but its Price is 27,500 gp (+1), 55,000 gp (+2), 82,500 gp (+3), 110,000 gp (+4), 137,500 gp (+5).

As PRD.

Is this correct or an error?

[Ross Byers]

This is correct. The Tomes and Manuals emulate the effect of wish spell, which has an expensive material component.

[Jarreth]

Ross Byers wrote:

This is correct. The Tomes and Manuals emulate the effect of wish spell, which has an expensive material component.

Okay, thanks=)

[Dildrum]

It does seem strange that someone capable of making one of these would want so little reward for their effort though. Is that taken into account? Does potential player abuse trump plausible availability? 1,250gp profit on 26,250gp investment + time and effort seems... off

[Meirril]

Jan Stanek wrote:

It does seem strange that someone capable of making one of these would want so little reward for their effort though. Is that taken into account? Does potential player abuse trump plausible availability? 1,250gp profit on 26,250gp investment + time and effort seems... off

Let me give you 4 answers to that question.

1. Its a game mechanic. It isn't like the GM is spending resources on stuff or goes through extra effort or anything. It is "mechanics of the game say this is fair without the GM being arbitrary.'

Not a very satisfying answer, but the truth.

2. Its a plot point. Most of the time when an item such as a Tome that gets consumed for a one-shot effect is placed in an adventure its because it was created for a powerful NPC that didn't get to finish their ritual, or it was spontaneously created by association with a magically rich or ancient library, or written by a ghost wizard. Something along those lines where the tome came into being and cost wasn't an issue.

3. Because its the only way we can. Technically by rules as long as you have Craft Wondrous Items you can make such a Tome by just upping the DC for each skipped prerequisite. So a low level casting type that has a few assistants (to boost his spellcraft skill) can make any of the Tomes but he can't possibly make a scroll of wish because he can't cast wish.

4. Because you can get full benefit if you have connections. As a player, if you follow the Downtime rules from Ultimate Campaign you can earn Magic Resources. While it takes time and effort to get them, they allow you to effectively double your gold while casting or making magic items. So you could earn 26,250gp worth of Magic Resources and use them to create the +1 Tome, but you'd actually spend 13,200gp on the magic resources needed. When you sold it to a reputable vendor you've basically made a profit of 13,050gp!

Really the only campaign that you're going to be able to do this in is Kingmaker. Those rules are really easy to abuse if you allow players to open multiple businesses. But its definitely a way for a caster to make a lot of money with sufficient investment and downtime.