Crafting (magic) items - still confused

[Wibs]

Hello,

I have read numerous threads on the topic and I am still a bit confused so I would be thankful if someone could take their time and explain it to me (CRB-based, please).

So, to make a magic item I need a feat + Craft skill, correct?
Now let's concider two options: 1) I am making the magic item from components and 2) Say, I have a masterwork weapon in my hands and want to make it magical.

Let us assume an example for the first option: it will require me to spend 1/3 of the normal item cost and a Craft(Armor) roll result × the (shield) DC that equals the price of the item in sp. Then since the item has to be Masterwork, I have to pay additional 150 gold and make a DC20 for Craft(Armor). So, to craft myself a mwk Shield, light steel it would cost me 150+(9/3)gp and two Craft(Armor) skill checks of DC(10+1) and DC(20). Istead of just buying it at the shop for 150+9gp. Correct?

Now I want to make it an enchanted +2 light steel shield. I need my caster level to be (2x3)=6, pay (who? for what?) 4000gp and have the Craft magic armor and weapon feat. Is there any roll involved and at what DC? Does it need some speacial spell?

Let's assume now I want to add Blinding to the +2 shield. I am a level 5 cleric. So the cost for this will be Spell level × caster level × 1,800 gp = 2x5x1,800 gp. This is 18 days of work, right? What skill checks do I roll for it? Spellcraft? Or I can do this with Craft (Armor)?

Does the same system apply for wonderous items?

Also, I understand that if I ask another person to do this, the cost would be doubles. I am trying to figure out how much profit can be made.

Thank you

[Fuzzy-Wuzzy]

Wibs wrote:

So, to make a magic item I need a feat + Craft skill, correct?

You absolutely need the relevant feat (Craft Magic Arms & Armor for a shield), but you can use either a relevant Craft skill (Craft(Armor) for a shield) or Spellcraft. Casters usually go for high Spellcraft, purchase mwk items, and don't bother with Craft skills. Of course you do need Craft(Armor) if you want to make the base mwk shield and not just enchant it.

Wibs wrote:

Let us assume an example for the first option: it will require me to spend 1/3 of the normal item cost and a Craft(Armor) roll result × the (shield) DC that equals the price of the item in sp. Then since the item has to be Masterwork, I have to pay additional 150 gold and make a DC20 for Craft(Armor). So, to craft myself a mwk Shield, light steel it would cost me 150+(9/3)gp and two Craft(Armor) skill checks of DC(10+1) and DC(20). Istead of just buying it at the shop for 150+9gp. Correct?

Close. The mwk "component" is made with the same 1/3 cost rule, so you only pay 53 gp (instead of buying it at the shop for 159).

Remember that you can Take 10 on those Craft rolls!

Wibs wrote:

Now I want to make it an enchanted +2 light steel shield. I need my caster level to be (2x3)=6, pay (who? for what?) 4000gp and have the Craft magic armor and weapon feat. Is there any roll involved and at what DC? Does it need some speacial spell?

You procure half of 4000 gp worth of Unspecified Appropriate Mystic Stuff from unspecified sources. This is swept under the rug (unless your GM homebrews something for it, of course).

There is always a roll to make a magic item. The base DC is CL+5 (=11 in this case). You can do this with Craft(Armor) or Spellcraft as you choose. No spells are required. You can always Take 10, and usually should.

Wibs wrote:

Let's assume now I want to add Blinding to the +2 shield. I am a level 5 cleric. So the cost for this will be Spell level × caster level × 1,800 gp = 2x5x1,800 gp. This is 18 days of work, right? What skill checks do I roll for it? Spellcraft? Or I can do this with Craft (Armor)?

No, do not consult the Estimating Magic Item Gold Piece Values table unless you have to (and a player never really has to, it's really for the GM). It is for making custom items that aren't in the books (nor really similar to anything that is). The blinding property is in the CRB, which says it's price is "+1 bonus." That means a +2 blinding shield costs the same to enchant as a +3 shield with no special properties. A +3 shield would be (3^2)*1000 = 9000, so the upgrade price is 9000 - 4000 = 5000 gp. You pay half of this (2500) for more Unspecified Appropriate Mystic Stuff. This takes one day per 1000 in the price (not the cost), so 5 days.

You can still use either Craft(Armor) or Spellcraft for the upgrade. The base DC = 5+CL again, the blinding property being listed as being CL 7. But the blinding property is also listed as requiring the spell searing light. If you have that spell available on a daily basis throughout the crafting, all is well, roll against the base DC. If you don't have it, you can craft the shield anyway, but the DC increases by 5 for each such prereq you skip.

Wibs wrote:

Does the same system apply for wonderous items?

Yes, except the relevant feat is Craft Wondrous Item and the relevant Craft skill(s) varies wildly depending on the item.

Wibs wrote:

Also, I understand that if I ask another person to do this, the cost would be doubles. I am trying to figure out how much profit can be made.

Other people sell things to you at market price. You craft mundane things at a cost of 1/3 market price and enchant them at 1/2 market price. You can sell things to other people at half market price. This means you can make a slow profit by crafting and selling mundane items, but not magic items. (It is assumed that the NPCs who make most magic items are full-time crafters and have economies of scale or something going on that lets them make a profit.) Generally the reason to craft a magic item is that you or your buddies want the item itself and either don't want to pay full price or can't find it for sale.

Hope that helps!

[Meirril]

There are ways to make money by creating magic items, but it requires preparation.

If you take the Trait "Hedge Wizard" you make magic items for 5% less than the normal creation cost. That means you can make a 5% profit or 50gp for every 1000gp in creation cost with just this one trait. A bit underwhelming, isn't it? But it certainly beats the 2gp per day you can usually make from doing a profession. Though being commissioned to cast a spell means you can make a lot more.

If your GM allows the use of Downtime Rules and for you to earn Magic Resources, this is a much better way to earn cash! Every day you can work in town and make a skill check. If you get less than 20 you earn the opportunity to buy a Magic Resource for half price. 50gp for 100gp you can spend later to do 'Magic' stuff. If you get a 20, you can buy up to 2 resources. For ever 10 more your skill check you can add 1 more resource.

10 resources costs you 500gp, but can be used as 1000gp for enchanting. So you make a cheap Wonderous Item market price 2000gp, materials is 1000gp, you paid 500gp for that, you sell it for creation cost (1000gp), and you net a profit of 500gp. At low levels you'll only be able to buy 1 or 2 magic resources per day, so it means 5-10 downtime days working in town and 1 or 2 days enchanting (up the DC +5 to cut it down to 1 day) so 6 to 12 days to make 500gp.

You can open a business to create Magic Resources for you. I'd suggest hiring a single magic caster that basically gathers materials for you. An Acolyte is the cheapest at 440gp. After setting one up the Acolyte will continue to produce 1 opportunity to purchase a magic resource per day. Read the rules behind it though. If you don't check up on the Acolyte often they will run off and you'll lose your investment.

Generally speaking, this will test your GM's patience if you do too much of this. It is suppose to be an adventuring game, not an accounting one!