Craftopolis

[GutterFace]

Ok so i've been trying to figure out how Crafting a magical item works. I've read all the books and have tried to piece this together, and i am pretty sure i understand most of it. Except!

A magical item costs Gold (cash, money, $)...yes but it also costs XP???

how does this XP cost work? If i am a level 5 wizard (15k total experience) and i craft a Level 3 wand...will i go down a level because i eroded my XP by crafting?

Perhaps someone can clarify??? please?

[Duke of URL]

The cost to craft a magical item is 1/2 of its base cost in GP and 1/25 of its cost in XP (unless the item has unusual material/focus/XP costs of its own). You cannot craft the item if it means losing enough XP to lose a level -- but when you reach enough XP for the next level, you may defer leveling and use the XP for item crafting (or XP spell components) instead.

Or you can be an Artificer and recycle magical junk to create new stuff.

[GutterFace]

That makes much more sense. thank you!

[Kansaschaser]

In Pathfinder, they removed the XP requirements for crafting. I liked that so much, I removed the XP requirements for crafting in my 3.5 games. Plus, as a DM, I like to keep all my players at the EXACT experience level for ease of play.

[Agent 451]

So what would you do if someone insisted on playing an artificer?

[Kansaschaser]

So what would you do if someone insisted on playing an artificer?

They get to play an Artificer, but without craft points since no XP is necessary. If they complained about the loss of the craft points, I'd probably convert it into raw materials (i.e. gold) that they can use to make items instead.

[GutterFace]

Very interesting, i dig it!