Artificer Crafting Rules?

[Jarmen4u]

Hi all, I'm making an Artificer/Alchemist Savant for an upcoming game, and I'm pretty new to magic item crafting. The main question I need answered is, do I need Craft skills correlating to the mundane version of the item I wish to craft? For instance, Craft (Armorsmithing/Weaponsmithing) for making a +1 chain shirt or +1 longsword.
I don't see anything in the rules about it, but I'm still curious, as I know some game rules can be a bit weird. I'm just trying to picture the entire crafting process in my head. Assuming I have all the raw materials and XP, am I only making the UMD check for the spell mimic and that's it? Or do I have to make a check for the equivalent masterwork item, or otherwise any other type of Craft skill?

Thanks in advance!

[Telonius]

If you're making the whole item from scratch, you would use the craft skill first to make the weapon. Then, when you're done, you would use the Magic Item Crafting rules to change the MW item into a magic item.

[Jarmen4u]

If you're making the whole item from scratch, you would use the craft skill first to make the weapon. Then, when you're done, you would use the Magic Item Crafting rules to change the MW item into a magic item.

So, I have to craft the masterwork item beforehand? If I use fabricate, will that be sufficient to make a masterwork item for me to subsequently enchant?

[Troacctid]

You can craft the item beforehand if you want to. But if you already have an item to enchant, you can skip that step.

[Tvtyrant]

So, I have to craft the masterwork item beforehand? If I use fabricate, will that be sufficient to make a masterwork item for me to subsequently enchant?

Or acquire one. They aren't that expensive. You could also make some Marvelous Pigments and just paint the items.

[Jarmen4u]

Or acquire one. They aren't that expensive. You could also make some Marvelous Pigments and just paint the items.

I might consider that. Although, how would I keep track of how much I've used? It says there is enough in one pot to make a 1000 ft3 item via a 100 ft2 surface. How much of that would be used by certain items? I guess I'd have to talk it over with the DM?

[Tvtyrant]

I might consider that. Although, how would I keep track of how much I've used? It says there is enough in one pot to make a 1000 ft3 item via a 100 ft2 surface. How much of that would be used by certain items? I guess I'd have to talk it over with the DM?

Basically. I might just ask how much weight in material you can make, since we know how much weapons weigh.

[Afgncaap5]

One of the weird things about item crafting is that Mundane crafting and Magic crafting have two different rule sets. Magic crafting tends to be an assured process if you have all the component pieces and proper feats, but mundane crafting requires weeks, rolling, converting the base cost of the item to silver pieces (twice, in the case of masterwork items) and trying to hit a "score" based on that silver piece number. It's like a weird minigame hidden in the D&D rules.

I like it myself, but it always seems to stick out strangely.