Runes for armor and weapons 2E

[xyxrt]

I see that there are runes that get ecthed onto weapons and armor (potency, striking, resilient, etc) to make gear magical. On pg. 580 of the CRB, it sounds like those get etched on using the Crafting activity. My question is this: does a character have to perform this etching themselves, or can they purchase that service? In other words, can they just buy a +1 striking weapon or a +2 resilient armor (provided they meet the level requirements of said gear), or do they have to use downtime to craft this themselves?

Also, if they can purchase these straight out, is it just the cost of the formula or is there an additional cost for the "etching service"?

[Pirate Rob]

Page 600 has prices for things like a +1 striking weapon, so you can just buy it.

The big question is can you upgrade your +1 into a +2 without having to craft it yourself.

[Pirate Rob]

Looking further, I think charts 11-5 and 11-6 let you pay the upgrade cost to improve weapons/armor, with a note you can craft it and what the required/task level is.

[xyxrt]

Awesome, thanks. Somehow missed that.

[Drakaar]

The chart shows going from +1 weapon to +1 striking weapon to +2 striking weapon... without stopping at +2 weapon. Is the +2 weapon priced the same as the +1 striking weapon?

'cause it looks like if you have to follow the progression in the CRB, nobody in PFS will ever have the money for a +3 weapon.

[Pirate Rob]

You're looking at the upgrade chart, which is why there's no +2 weapoon (can't upgrade +1 striking to +2)

Looking at just the weapons:

+1 35gp (level 2)
+1 Striking 100gp (level 4)
+2 935gp (level 10)
+2 Striking 1,000gp (level 10)
+2 Greater Striking 2,000 (level 12)
+3 8,935gp (level 16)
+3 Striking 9,000 (level 16)
+3 Greater Striking 10,000 (level 16)
+3 Major Striking 40,000 (level 19)

You're unlikely to see many +2 weapons without striking due to the very small cost increase at that level.

[Belafon]

Robert Hetherington wrote:

Looking further, I think charts 11-5 and 11-6 let you pay the upgrade cost to improve weapons/armor, with a note you can craft it and what the required/task level is.

I’m not sure that the table is saying that. The text in question is

Quote:

Tables 11–5 and 11–6 summarize the Price of each step, with a number in parentheses indicating the item’s level for the Craft activity.

It’s a thick book, but I’m not seeing any rules for “paying someone to craft for you.” Which seems to result in two unpalatable options for PFS:

1. If you can’t pay someone to craft for you every PC will have to take crafting skills and feats or

2. If you can pay someone just the cost of the upgrade, there’s no point to taking crafting feats. You will always net out at least as much money by using your Downtime to earn income as to craft (usually more) and you don’t have to pay to learn the formula.