I remember reading somewhere in the Downtime rules in Ultimate Campaign that you could pay half the price to build a room/building if you did the labor yourself instead of hiring someone.
I might have read wrong, but maybe someone here might know if I'm missing something?
You can earn capital at a better rate than if you buy it - half the cost. Capital can be spent to build rooms/buildings. This takes time though, 1 point/day/10 on the skill check, so if whatever skill you're using gets a 29 then you get two points of capital at a cost of 20 gp. If you'd bought the capital without spending time then those 2 points would cost 40 gp.
You can earn capital at a better rate than if you buy it - half the cost. Capital can be spent to build rooms/buildings. This takes time though, 1 point/day/10 on the skill check, so if whatever skill you're using gets a 29 then you get two points of capital at a cost of 20 gp. If you'd bought the capital without spending time then those 2 points would cost 40 gp.
...Weird. So why would you ever want to generate something other than gold? Is it harder to generate?
Because it's cheaper to buy things with capital than it is with gold, and the rate you earn gold in Downtime is extremely slow (1/10th the check in gp each downtime day).
So, say you want to buy a house. A house costs 32 Goods, 1 Influence, and 31 Labor.
If you earn that capital yourself, it costs 320 gp for the Goods, 15 gp for the Influence, and 310 gp for the Labor, totalling 645 gp. With a +20 in the skill(s) to earn those types of Capital, it will take a 22 days to earn that much capital, especially if you're starting from scratch, but a few weeks of downtime plus 645 gp gets you a house.
Alternatively, you could spend 1,290 gp on the house and not have to earn the capital for it. Assuming you have a +20 skill bonus in whatever skill you use to earn capital, that's 3 gp per day, so it'll take about 430 days of downtime to earn enough. If you already had the 645 gp (since we're assuming the character using capital has it), then it's only 215 days downtime to earn the extra.
You can earn capital at a better rate than if you buy it - half the cost. Capital can be spent to build rooms/buildings. This takes time though, 1 point/day/10 on the skill check, so if whatever skill you're using gets a 29 then you get two points of capital at a cost of 20 gp. If you'd bought the capital without spending time then those 2 points would cost 40 gp....Weird. So why would you ever want to generate something other than gold? Is it harder to generate?
For the same reason you would want to craft an item instead of buying or commissioning it: to decrease the cost. If you also use the capital to craft, you can reduce it further.
It's terrible for mundane crafting, as labor costs 10 gold (100 silver) to earn one generated point, and spending a point gives you a +2 on that day's check. Even if this +2 is spent supporting a masterwork process (DC 20), its value is only going to be 57 copper (40/7 silver), decreasing your value by a factor of 17.5 (a value loss of 94.28%).
However, for MAGIC crafting, it's different. Though it seems expensive (you need to spend 50 gold to earn a generated point), the rule is different: you spend one magic point to contribute 100 gold toward the Cost.
So suppose you want to create a 2nd level spell potion at CL 4th. This has a Price of 50 x 2 x 4 = 400 gold, and a Cost of 200.
We earn 2 magic points (easily done with 1 day allocated to capital magic gain) and spend those creating the potion. So we've spent 100 gold total, and created an item that by normal rule can sell for 200.
Now why did we increase the potion to CL 4th? Because, as it turns out, creating it at CL 3rd would waste half of a magic point, and thus be less cost-efficient.
Because it's cheaper to buy things with capital than it is with gold, and the rate you earn gold in Downtime is extremely slow (1/10th the check in gp each downtime day).
Wow, that's a big difference, jeez. I'll have to keep that in mind.
For the same reason you would want to craft an item instead of buying or commissioning it: to decrease the cost. If you also use the capital to craft, you can reduce it further.
It's terrible for mundane crafting, as labor costs 10 gold (100 silver) to earn one generated point, and spending a point gives you a +2 on that day's check. Even if this +2 is spent supporting a masterwork process (DC 20), its value is only going to be 57 copper (40/7 silver), decreasing your value by a factor of 17.5 (a value loss of 94.28%).
However, for MAGIC crafting, it's different. Though it seems expensive (you need to spend 50 gold to earn a generated point), the rule is different: you spend one magic point to contribute 100 gold toward the Cost.
So suppose you want to create a 2nd level spell potion at CL 4th. This has a Price of 50 x 2 x 4 = 400 gold, and a Cost of 200.
We earn 2 magic points (easily done with 1 day allocated to capital magic gain) and spend those creating the potion. So we've spent 100 gold total, and created an item that by normal rule can sell for 200.
Now why did we increase the potion to CL 4th? Because, as it turns out, creating it at CL 3rd would waste half of a magic point, and thus be less cost-efficient.
Wow, I didn't realize magic item creation was going to be such a cash cow. I guess I'll have to take advantage of that with my alchemist.
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It is a cash cow if your GM agrees that there is an unlimited market for magic items. I would put a limit to that, as in even in a metropolis you can sell only so many magic items. Theoretically, with the right set up, you can earn 500 gp (minus the help of the labor helping you) every day making magic items and having some helper gathering magical capital. But that requires essentially setting up an assembly line for magic items and selling a magic item with a market price of 2,000 gp at 1,000 gp every day.
Magic firms that do that for a living can exist, probably enchanting buildings to give them more hardness and hit point, making magical safes, extra-dimensional spaces for ships to carry more cargo, and so on. But it would require to change the shape of the world from a pseudo-Renaissance one to something like Eberron.
Some of Golarion lost civilizations reached that level of civilization, but the current setting doesn't depict it.