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Hello Folks,
I understand the majority of purchasing magic items, 75% chance to find an item at or below gp values, and other items are available listed by settlement size.
I need advice on going for upgrading items.
If a settlement has the maximum gp value of say 16,000 gp, can a player purchase suit of armor up to 16k then have it upgrade for another 16k?
If it restricted by spell casting services available in the settlement.
How do folks deal with upgrading gear.
If I have missed a pertinent rules section I welcome the community pointing it out so I can bring this to my players.
Thanks in advanced.
Me, I figure "availability" of upgrades is a separate thing.
There are two ways to upgrade:
1. "Hey, Mr. Wizard, I have this suit of +4 chainmail and I see you are selling a suit of +5 chainmail. Mine is in perfect, mint condition, would you allow me to trade mine for yours and I'll pay the extra 9,000gp to make up the difference?"
2. "Hey, Mr. Wizard, I have this suit of +4 chainmail and I want to hire you to enchant it to +5. I'll pay you 9,000gp and leave it with you for 9 days while you work your magic crafting hocus pocus and then I'll be back to pick it up."
Now, option 1 requires the store to have a suit of +5 chainmail in their current inventory. This can fall squarely under the rules about resource limits of the community - if the community has a cap of 16,000gp then there is no way any store here would have +5 chainmail in it.
Option 2 doesn't require anybody to have a valuable item in their inventory. However, it does require there to be someone in town capable of enchanting +5 armor. Since that means the crafter needs to be 15th level (or he has to take a penalty to his roll to make the enchantment), this won't be available in every small farming village - only in places where craftsmen are that good. Sure, it's all fine and good for a PC adventurer to have a ton of points in Spellcraft and invest other feats and such to get to the point that they can Take-10 and automatically make anything they want with zero chance of failure, even if they're not high enough level and have to eat that penalty, but I don't play NPCs that way; NPCs don't min-max in my games. YMMV. But, for me, if it doesn't make sense for the town to have a level 15 crafter in the community, then there isn't likely that anyone would take that job.
There are two ways to upgrade:
1. ...
2. "Hey, Mr. Wizard, I have this suit of +4 chainmail and I want to hire you to enchant it to +5. I'll pay you 9,000gp and leave it with you for 9 days while you work your magic crafting hocus pocus and then I'll be back to pick it up."
....
Option 2 doesn't require anybody to have a valuable item in their inventory. However, it does require there to be someone in town capable of enchanting +5 armor. Since that means the crafter needs to be 15th level (or he has to take a penalty to his roll to make the enchantment), this won't be available in every small farming village - only in places where craftsmen are that good. Sure, it's all fine and good for a PC adventurer to have a ton of points in Spellcraft and invest other feats and such to get to the point that they can Take-10 and automatically make anything they want with zero chance of failure, even if they're not high enough level and have to eat that penalty, but I don't play NPCs that way; NPCs don't min-max in my games. YMMV. But, for me, if it doesn't make sense for the town to have a level 15 crafter in the community, then there isn't likely that anyone would take that job.
Actually, it is not that hard to get enchanting services.
DC to make +5 armor is 20. If you don't have CL15, the DC is 25.Per this thread, an average 5th level NPC Wizard can reliably hit DC 35.
A Wizard NPC uses the heroic array so he has a high stat of 15. Add the Human +2 Bonus, and the 4th level stat point on top of this, and you can get 18 for a normal NPC. Lets see the skill build:
* Int Mod: 4
* Skill Ranks: 5
* Class Skill: 3
* Skill Focus(Spellcraft): 3
* Masterwork Tools: 2
* Apprentices' Aid Another: 2
* Armillary Amulet (2500gp): 5
* Headband +2 (4000): 1
Add this up: 4+5+3+3+2+2+5+1 = 25. Using Take 10, lets him hit a DC of 35.
The Wizard's Apprentice has:
* Int Mod: 2
* Skill Ranks: 1
* Class Skill: 3
* Skill Focus(Spellcraft): 3
Total is 9, with any roll he gets 10+ and automatically gives aid.
/cevah