Earn Income : Bargain Hunter vs Crafting / Lore / Performance

[Waldham]

Hello, I have a question about Bargain Hunter.

Is it more valuable than Crafting/Lore/Performance ?

[graystone]

Waldham wrote:

Hello, I have a question about Bargain Hunter.

Is it more valuable than Crafting/Lore/Performance ?

Bargain Hunter is more valuable by exactly 2 gp. ;)

Bargain Hunter though, might be more limited depending on the amount of trade there is where you are where something like craft you can make items as high as you want if you Craft vs Earn so you might be able to 'earn' more that way.

[Nefreet]

It really depends on how your GM runs Downtown, Task Levels, and how you build your character.

Bargain Hunter won't save an Alchemist more money, for example, because they're going to be better specced for Crafting.

Also, if you play Society, various Boons might affect your character's options.

I've seen attempts to chart out Earn Income vs GP savings, but there's really so many possible variables that it's best to just figure out what's best for your individual situation.

[BloodandDust]

Depends entirely on your character concept. We had a glad-handing swashbuckler in a recent campaign, with bargain hunter. That worked much better for the concept than crafting would... no heads-down time working away in a foundry for this guy; instead he socialized his way into getting what he wanted in the markets, while collecting rumors on the way.
OTOH crafting was the natural for the loner flurry ranger in the campaign.

IMO, make your concept first, then pick feats to match.

As far as which is better (original question): it depends on the character and what you are doing with the skill.
1) Crafting uses INT and Bargain Hunter uses CHA (diplomacy) - for earning income, probably best to go the direction of the attribute (and skill) that you intend to maximize
2) For acquiring items, especially magic items, it's a harder question. Crafting is better in many ways since you will be able to create the item you want. However the investment in feats can be high as compared to buying an item. Bargain Hunter will let you acquire an item directly, with less/no money, and there is no feat chain to invest in, but the item has to be available on the market to begin with...which is subject to DM.

Since the optimization question depends a lot on the character concept (int vs cha, is the crafting feat investment acceptable, etc). IMO it makes more sense to focus on the character concept first.

[Waldham]

What is the task level and DC for this ?

Item level for task level ?

[Nefreet]

Waldham wrote:

What is the task level and DC for this ?

Same as Earn Income.

In Society, your Task Level equals your Character Level – 2 (minimum 0), and can be altered by Boons.

For homegames, it's set by your GM.

Using Item Level in place of Task Level is certainly reasonable.

[breithauptclan]

Nefreet wrote:

For homegames, it's set by your GM.

Using Item Level in place of Task Level is certainly reasonable.

Using the Settlement Level would also be a reasonable choice.

Which is also where the benefit that Graystone was talking about comes in to play. You can craft an item that is higher than the settlement level that you are in because craft is based on your own character level. Bargain Hunter could very reasonably be based on the settlement level instead because it is based on the items that are for sale in the settlement - and therefore would likely be based on either the item level you are buying, or the settlement level that you are buying it in.

On the other hand, if you are in a settlement that has a higher level than your character level, then Bargain Hunter would have the advantage. You could buy an item at a discount with a higher item level than you could craft.

[breithauptclan]

breithauptclan wrote:

On the other hand, if you are in a settlement that has a higher level than your character level, then Bargain Hunter would have the advantage. You could buy an item at a discount with a higher item level than you could craft.

But Bargain Hunter wouldn't have an advantage over Lore Earn Income in that settlement though. You could just Earn Income with the Downtime, then use the money earned to help pay for the item at full price. Assuming the same task level for the Earn Income as for Bargain Hunter.

[The Gleeful Grognard]

Earn an income requires RP and finding a job, you have to then be happy with thr job, put the time aside for it and have it be a level that will make it worth your while.

Bargain hunter doesn't require you to find a job, you know what you will be doing and have control over its duration and the GM still sets the task level.

Crafting, you know what you are doing, you still need to RP out selling for items beyond the settlment level though so if it is just for money you are generally better doing it via earn an income using craft. That said breaking down items above a settlment's level can be a fun way of obtaining extra cash in a pinch.

[Waldham]

And for DC ?

[Nefreet]

Earlier, I wrote:

Same as Earn Income.

[breithauptclan]

Yes, Bargain Hunter uses the DC and results from Earn Income the same as Lore (or Perform) Earn Income does. And the DC depends on what task level the GM decides to use.

So if you are using Bargain Hunter to find a discount on a Wand of Mage Armor (spell level 1) which is a level 3 item, and you are in a level 7 settlement: The GM could have you use the item level (DC 18 and getting a discount of 5sp per day on a successful check). Or the GM could have you use the settlement level (DC 23 and getting a discount of 2gp per day on a successful check). Those would be the two most likely choices.