Baby's first Crafting skill

[Draconi Redfir]

Considered putting this in the general pathfinder Q&A, but after thinking about it i realized it probably wouldn't fit in there, so i'm making a thread for it.

I'm considering putting the last skill point my paladin gets this level into craft (weapons), as i acquired a large T-rex skeleton some time ago and considered using it's bones to craft various bone-weapons. and considering due to a recent resurrection I’m kind of flat-broke, it could be a decent way to make some cash while not adventuring. I've read the skill description on page 92 and 93, and i think i understand the basic gist of it, but as I’ve never done this before, I’m a bit concerned it might be too much for me. Any general advice? Do you think I’d need to pay for weapon materials if I’m making them out of bones I’m already in possession of?

[ArcturusV]

Usually it says "materials worth..." in crafting lines. This means if you already have the materials you wanted to use on hand, you could use them, without having to take only half price on selling them in order to buy the materials you already have for crafting.

[Mr Adventurer]

Yeah, you'd have to agree with your DM that the bones could be used in this way and how much they're worth for crafting purposes - if he's happy with it you're good to go.

Make sure to review how long Crafting stuff takes though, it's quite a while.

[Draconi Redfir]

yeah, like a week or something. That'd probly get in the way of adventuring unless he did a little bit of crafting every day or somethin.

[Phelix-Mu]

yeah, like a week or something. That'd probly get in the way of adventuring unless he did a little bit of crafting every day or somethin.

I'm from 3.5, but I think progress can be broken up into a day here, a day there.

The value of the bones and of bone weapons stands to be a big deal here. Bone weapons are largely only valuable in societies where access to metal is restricted; this is just my common sense speaking, if you have a source that says they are worth x by the rules, the DM pretty much should respect that without some kind of setting justification for an alternate price.

Consider offering the DM some role play in the selling of the item. Also, talk to the DM about pricing for other things you could make with T-rex bones (like decorative art or some such). Ostensibly, rare items aren't always best used for practical stuff, but more for luxury (and can demand a higher price in that kind of market). While craft (weapon) is more broadly useful, it's not necessarily more profitable.

Mechanically, though, craft is money in (in value of raw materials), time invested/skill checks, money out. The DM is the final arbiter of the value of anything you find, by default you spend money on raw materials, and make a fair profit if your crafting succeeds.

[Draconi Redfir]

Mmm... Maybe i should just put the skill point into something else then, it's starting to sound like a bit too much for me, working with it might not fit in with the setting too. I already have Craft (Necklace) as a bit of a character-skill, but i don't really use it, just have it since my character has been stringing together teeth of now-dead allies and formidable opponents.

[ArcturusV]

Magic fetishes, or just a fetish for the sake of having a fetish?

But yeah, Crafting typically isn't worth it unless your campaign is structured in such a way that you have long interludes of rest between adventures. Something like requiring players to actually study/train when they level up (Thus why you might not be adventuring for a few months and have time to craft), etc.