Animated Object Base item cost

[Elaserdar]

So I'm playing a gnome spellslinger using a double hackbut as his gun... Who is also going down the craft construct line... With clockworks...

Now that we have established that I am a masochist... I'm trying to figure out the cost of an item I want to animate. I want him to ride around on a medium sized object that is essentially a small table with a comfy chair mounted to it. Mount the hackbut to the front to avoid the setup issues an whalah. Cackling gnome gun platform of doom.

Medium animated clockwork object.
Mithral 4cp (mainly for the extra hardness)
Fast 1cp
Climb 1cp
This is 4 extra cp giving a CR of 5.

So to enchant I get (5^2)x500x1.5 (clockwork)=18750 base price
Or 9375 enchanting cost self crafting.

Now... How much does it cost to craft the item I'm animating? What weight should I use to determine the 500/lb mithril cost? My obsessive trait is for craft clockwork... So the crafting dc's aided by crafter's fortune will be a non issue.

I'm assuming the cost of the item is not included in the crafting cost.

[VRMH]

Wait... an Animated Object isn't a Clockwork Construct, is it? Even if you animated a clock, it still wouldn't be a Clockwork Construct.

So are you making a Clockwork Construct that happens to be in the shape of a comfy chair, or are you animating a comfy chair that happens to have a clockwork inside?

[Elaserdar]

I am applying the clockwork construct template to the animated object, which is a construct.

Quote:

Clockwork Traits: While you can create a clockwork construct from scratch, you can also turn any existing construct into a clockwork construct by simply applying clockwork traits to the construct. Adding these traits to a construct does not affect its CR.

My intention is to animate a medium construct in the form of a table with 8 legs, his gun mounted to the front, a comfy chair mounted to the back.

As far as vital statistics go, I'm mainly concerned with the hardness for durability, and the 40' move / climb. The thought of the gnome tinkerer blasting you with his experimental gun from the back of his clockwork spider platform climbing up a wall amuses me greatly.

[Splendor]

Quote:

Alternate Construction Rules

Magic-users can create permanent animated objects in one of two ways, either by using the animate objects spell in conjunction with permanency, or by making use of the Craft Construct feat. Using the Craft Construct feat requires the creator to construct or purchase the object he wishes to animate. He must then spend an amount of gold on reagents—to determine the amount, add the animated object’s HD to its CP, and multiple the total by 1,000. The creator must be of a caster level equal to or higher than the animated object’s Hit Dice.

Since your want to ride it the table has to be medium, so we can start there.

Medium Animated Object-3d10+20Hp, CP 2, CR 3
Fast: +10 move, Cost: 1 CP
Climb: Additional Movement (Climb), Cost: 1 CP
Mithril: Metal (Mithril), Cost: 4 CP

3'tall, 4' long, 2' wide stainless steel table weighs 50lbs. Table on Amazon. You want one that would be slightly bigger, 6' long, 3'wide? So 70lbs? Or 35lbs of Mithril.
[(HD+CP)*1000]+Material Costs
[(3+6)*1000]+ (35lbs * 500gp/lb)=26500 gp
Hardness 10, AC:16 HP:36
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A cheaper way would be.
Medium Animated Object-3d10+20Hp, CP 2, CR 3
Fast: +10 move, Cost: 1 CP
Climb: Additional Movement (Climb), Cost: 1 CP
Hardening Spell Caster level 14, 840gp: +7 Hardness
Fortifying Stone +5 hardness + 20 Hp
Wood table on Amazon 4' x 2.5' x 2.42' is 60lbs. So for 100lbs make it a 6' x 5.92' x 2.42'.
[(HD+CP)*1000]+Material Costs
[(3+2)*1000]+ 20gp (table) + 840 (hardness spell) + 1000 fort. stone = 6820gp.
Hardness: 17, AC:14, Hp:56

[Elaserdar]

I don't think the hardening spell would work. Since you would need to pay a CP cost for the increased hardness. The spell seems balanced around this concept.

The fortifying stone is cool though. Since it is acting as a buff. It can only be applied to objects though. Does the construct still count as an object once animated? Isn't it a creature at that point? The construct traits seem to imply that it is no longer an object, despite the name.

Quote:

Immunity to any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects, or is harmless).

[Paulicus]

I had a similar character (spell slinger is so bad, but fun!) that wanted to animate a wicked trap that we found and disabled. The pricing for animated objects is weird though, and can give multiple answers depending on how you do it.

I think I ended up using a permanent animate objects (and shrink item so I could carry it around).

[Splendor]

-Shrink Item: Does not work on Magical item, nor creatures.

-Hardening:

Quote:

Metal (Ex, 2 CP): The object is made of common metal. Its hardness increases to 10, and it gains a +2 increase to its natural armor bonus. Mithral objects cost 4 CP, and gain hardness 15 plus a +4 increase to natural armor. Adamantine objects cost 6 CP, gain hardness 20, and receive a +6 increase to natural armor.

Talks about metal, not about hardness. Infact look up "Irespan basalt" in the book "Magnimar, City of Monuments". You can use this specific stone when making constructs and it gives them a hardness of 10, +2 STR and double the bonus HP for being a construct for 5sp/lb. It doesn't mention increasing the CR or CP.

-Fortifying Stone: Since the magical items' construction uses the spell "Stoneskin" which can only target creatures, it should be usable on a construct.