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First off, Creepy, if your reading this, STOP. This thread is not for you.
Sorry, one of my players of active on the boards and I need some advice.
So I have this wizard who for his first 5 levels has been collecting random bits and pieces off the everything the party has killed, looted or found. Things like "the bones of ancient Thassolonion Architects" or "the blood of a Sin Spawn" or "the water of a Wrath Well" (yes we are playing RotRL).
Now, at level 5 he has taken Craft Wondrous Item and has asked a surprising question: Can he use these unique and powerful components that he already has in place of normal components for crafting. Such as using the bones of architects, smashed and pressed into ivory (or an ivory like material) and then carved with the runes for intelligence to make his headband of intelligence? This would reduce the cost because he already has some of the material components.
My initial response was just NO because magic item creation feats has the ability to debalance a game anyways because of item access at much lower levels. But I like to reward creative solutions and role play so I told him I would think about it. So now I am here looking for a house rule that would allow for unusual materials and methods without further damaging the game.
Does anyone have any experiences with this type of thing? What kind of balances can I set to allow for this kind of creative solution?
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You could allow him a bonus to his spellcraft roll for item creation, or possible reduce the crafting cost. That would be one of the easiest solutions.
Something more in-depth, would be that using non standard material components may have a secondary effect on the item in question that you chose. A Headband of vast intelligence +2 might also convey +2 on Profession (architect) if made using the bones of architect. The "water of a Wrath Well" might allow you to increase the DC of one wrath based spell (Evocation) by +1 once per day, but suffer -1 to all saves from Greed based spells. There's nothing specifically RAW that I can think of like they had in 3.5. Just some ideas.
On a final note, playing around with Rune magic from a powerful fallen empire is no joke. And could have severe consequences if used without the proper knowledge and preparation. I would allow it, but add some juicy hooks that will make the player question *if* it’s a good idea to tap into the power of the Runelords, untrained. In the end, any secondary powers you grant the item should be carefully considered to not be overbalancing an should mostly be used for flavor and to advance the campaign. After all, if you're going to give the player a bonus to architecture based on the imparted memories. Why not have the player occasionally get flash backs of designing parts the city of Xin Shalast as a precursor to later events?
I would allow it, though I did not allow my players the freedom to determine what components could be used. In essence, I took the metamagic components list from pages 140-149 of the Unearthed Arcana (3.0) and used it as a basis to determine what components could replace what spells.
It boils down to this: if you trust your players, you can probably get away with what you are considering. It is inventive and should be rewarded. Just be careful as this sets a precedent in your setting and can easily get away from you under the right (or wrong) circumstances.
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@Celeador
I love the idea of awarding secondary effect depending on what items they use. Not everything he has is rune magic based and he hasn't actually tried to craft with it yet. But if he does it will be a thing.
@Da'ath
I am considering adding bonuses to spell craft but he asked for it to replace the material(not spell) components. He question was if he could lower the crafting cost of the item be using other materials.
On letting it count towards gp, consider this question. What would you have done if they went to some university (or other congregation of wizards) and said they want to sell off this rare and valuable loot?
If you didn't instantly say no, there's no reason to do so when they want the equivalent of gp elsewhere. The question then becomes, how much is this worth? I can't answer that, but somewhere in the range of a portion of the original creature's standard treasure sounds about right.
Now, if you wouldn't allow them to sell it (or possibly even if you would), secondary effects sound like an interesting possibility. If these are potentially or partially negative effects, you might include a difficult Knowledge (Arcana) or Spellcraft check (either before or during creation) to know what they might be. You might also prepare for the question "Is there any way to avoid the extra effects?"
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Thanks for all the advice. Here is what I think I will do:
Special Materials will reduce the crafting cost by 5%, ad 1 to the caster level of the item (cause it isn't standard) and add an additional minor effect to the completed item. The crafter does not know what it will be and it could be positive or negative or both depending on the material and the item. It will be a case by case basis and can be avoided entirely if the item is made from standard materials.
Any suggestions or alterations I should make?
I am in favor of replacing turning a pile of cash into an item, with adventuring and roleplaying, whenever possible.
May I suggest using the water in a potion of false life, or in cooling a ring of negative energy resistance?
The only thing I can think of would be that a flat 5% would (theoretically) encourage people to harvest from easier encounters since there's no benefit to getting parts from harder stuff. I say theoretically though because I think most groups would just collect bits as they went along regardless of the difficulty. (Still, if they run out of parts and want more, it'd make sense to look for the weakest thing they can use.)