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I'm playing a paladin and the game is already in motion. I just need some input on how viable people think it is to shoot for item creation feats as a paladin?
They're not the best at it, but if you have feats to spare go for it. The most useful are generally Craft Wondrous Item and/or Craft Arms & Armour - the others are generally not useful enough to be worth the feat, especially for a paladin. Make sure you'll be getting at least a little downtime in which to work.
I'll probably be going for an Angelic Wings-Death From Above build and would need an item that boosts the flying skill to be able to reliably hover in combat for example. Also, I haven't found any items of bonus to the Fly skill for example. Is it only certain skills that can be enhanced with magic items or can all of them, just that pregenerated magic items might not exist for it?
In theory, they can exist, but it requires your GM to approve a custom magic item. Skill-boosting items are some of the easiest custom items - a +5 competence bonus costs 2500. Guidelines are here. They're very helpful but you'll need final GM approval and some effects are harder to figure out.
Since paladins get monstrous saves an item giving evasion to really gain something from the reflex-save would be pretty nice to have as well.
Putting it on the same ring would be even more awesome.
By custom item crafting rules this will cost 28,750 gp, or 14,375 to craft. That's 25000 for the Ring of Evasion + (1.5 * 2500) for adding a +5 Fly bonus - every ability beyond the most expensive gets a 50% increase to its price when being added onto a slotted item.
If I dip Oracle at high lvls for Nature's Whispers or Sidestep Secret (if the power level of enemies and our party Barbarian is high enough that GM approves) getting a Celestial Armor and improving its enhancement bonus would be pretty nifty too.
It's a bit trickier to improve special weapons and armour - you'll really need to talk to your GM on this one. The basic crux is deciding whether all the extra abilities on the item are set cost abilities or whether they're effective +X enhancements that ought to make further enhancement more expensive.
I'm hesitant to ask the GM if I can retcon in Magic Knack: Paladin to make item creation more effective. Mostly because last session when I changed a racial feature and another player changed from Fighter to Barbarian on lvl 2 he said we were done changing lvl 1 stats which seems reasonable. What I wonder is then, if I don't have magic knack, will the caster lvl gimp me in making items to the point where it is not worthwhile?
No, caster level is actually not very important in crafting once you qualify for the feats. Your Spellcraft skill is more important since that's the skill you ultimately use to complete the item. The caster level only affects the level of spells you can craft into scrolls, potions, and wands, and occasionally if an item has a caster level prerequisite you'll need to add +5 to the Spellcraft check to make the item.
Will I be able to add a weaker skill bonus of Fly onto an already stronger item that I could not create myself?
Yes, if you have the right feat to work with the item (Forge Ring if you're adding to a Ring of Evasion) and if your GM allows you to make a custom item with the combined powers (again, for a 50% cost increase on the added ability)
Note that your crafting cost for this purpose would be the cost to craft an item with the new ability plus 50% - you don't have to pay any part of the ability already on the item being improved, just the cost of the improvement (and the "combined abilities surcharge" if applicable).
Does not having the spell list required myself but having a Mystic Theurge and an Arcane Trickster in the group make up for it or will I just be miserable trying to pull off the Spellcraft DCs instead?
Yes, your party members can contribute spell prerequisites - they don't even need craft feats, though it's often assumed they have to be present throughout the crafting time.
Can you work around requiraments of the type "Creator must have 5 ranks in the Climb skill." by increasing the DC or are they set in stone?
Yes, missing those prerequisites just increases your DC by 5.
Can the party Barbarian or Rogue/Arcane Trickster supply the climb/swim skill needed, increasing the DC as with spells, so I can make a "Ring of Quality of Life" so the next time we're dropped 40ft into the water off of a bridge the threat of drowning in the water is not more severe then the encounter lurking there itself?
I am pretty sure your party members can contribute skill prerequisites in the same way they can contribute spell prerequisites. Here's the relevant section.
A spell prerequisite may be provided by a character who has prepared the spell (or who knows the spell, in the case of a sorcerer or bard), or through the use of a spell completion or spell trigger magic item or a spell-like ability that produces the desired spell effect. For each day that passes in the creation process, the creator must expend one spell completion item or one charge from a spell trigger item if either of those objects is used to supply a prerequisite.
It is possible for more than one character to cooperate in the creation of an item, with each participant providing one or more of the prerequisites. In some cases, cooperation may even be necessary.
Since it doesn't place any particular limitations on which prerequisites can be cooperated on or who is eligible to provide prerequisites, I'd assume your friends can assist freely as long as they also have the free time to spend crafting. However, some GMs might interpret the line "creator must..." to specifically mean that the primary crafter/creator (you) must fill that prerequisite.
I believe Ultimate Campaign will have a more detailed treatment of this subject.
Take Craft Wondrous Item, max Spellcraft, try to get Magical Knack through. You win.
Have you spoken with your GM in depth about item creation? It's absolutely necessary, in my opinion, or you could end up with a feat anywhere on the power scale between "utterly useless" and "so strong the GM hates me now". Item creation is among the most misunderstood rule sets, and the most often house-ruled.
Questions to ask:
- I'm considering taking some item creation feats. How do you feel about that?
- How do you handle treasure and wealth?
- How do you handle magic item availability?
- Will we have opportunities for item creation?
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Have you spoken with your GM in depth about item creation? It's absolutely necessary, in my opinion, or you could end up with a feat anywhere on the power scale between "utterly useless" and "so strong the GM hates me now". Item creation is among the most misunderstood rule sets, and the most often house-ruled.
Agreed. Magic item creation is very easy in the PF system. Some GMs feel it is too easy or gives too much of an advantage, especially in a game where magic items are rare or unavailable for sale. These GMs may place additional restrictions on item crafting - for example, placing more strict caster level prerequisites or making it more difficult to craft items for which you do not meet the prerequisites. Even if the rules are followed precisely, the amount of downtime you get can have a big impact on how much crafting you can do and thus how much use you get out of the feat. And it's particularly important to talk to your GM if you want to make any custom items (like a Ring of Flying +5 or enhanced Celestial Armor), since their existence depends on GM approval.