Open Item Crafting

[Milo v3]

Has any had any experience playing in a setting where anyone can craft magic items, with magic items basically being just another form of technology? Are there any conceivable issues with such a setting balance wise?

[frost890]

It sounds a bit like eberron. Honestly in a high magic setting or something like Oriental Adventures. It tends to happen with very well made items. At least as far as I have seen.
Edit- You can also find materials to make the magic items. It may also be the source of the adventures.

[Oberon Kenobi]

Honestly I think it would make more sense to have it this way. I have it on good authority that high-level Wizards have much better things to do with their time than make fancy swords for people to hit things with.

Besides, a setting where most dwarves can only make masterwork equipment? Pull the other one why don'tcha.

[JDL]

Eberron has an NPC class for exactly this. Pathfinder tried to also increase the likelihood of non-spellcaster magic items by including a core feat called Master Craftsman.

[Milo v3]

Eberron has an NPC class for exactly this. Pathfinder tried to also increase the likelihood of non-spellcaster magic items by including a core feat called Master Craftsman.

What? Where? Eberron has only 1 NPC class and it's an arcane spellcaster, not a non-magical item crafter. Even if there was, this is meant to be an option for every character, not just one class.

As for master craftsman, I was basically going to use it's mechanics but reduce the prerequistes to 1 rank, and make it automatically gained by anyone who meets the prerequisites. Edit: also make it work with Artistry.

[unseenmage]

Pathfinder does this. Any character can craft items. The DCs are just higher the more prerequisites you ignore.

[Milo v3]

Pathfinder does this. Any character can craft items. The DCs are just higher the more prerequisites you ignore.

That's not true, you still need the item crafting feats.

[Sagetim]

Master Smith from Magic of Rokugan could do this by being so damn good at smithing that at level 5 in the prestige class they could start enchanting magic weapons and armor by crafting them. As a lead up, they could start making progressively better nonmagical items out of rokugani steel that had enhancement bonuses ranging from +1 to +4. So, yes, this class Could make a +4 katana that doesn't give a **** about antimagic fields or what not, it's so well made that it would retain it's +4 to hit and damage.

Admittedly, it used a variation of item creation rules in the later levels of the prestige class, but it didn't require any caster levels or anything to get into the class. I think it requires at least one samurai level for the ancestral daisho class ability, but I'm not entirely sure without checking the book.

[Milo v3]

Master Smith from Magic of Rokugan could do this by being so damn good at smithing that at level 5 in the prestige class they could start enchanting magic weapons and armor by crafting them. As a lead up, they could start making progressively better nonmagical items out of rokugani steel that had enhancement bonuses ranging from +1 to +4. So, yes, this class Could make a +4 katana that doesn't give a **** about antimagic fields or what not, it's so well made that it would retain it's +4 to hit and damage.

Admittedly, it used a variation of item creation rules in the later levels of the prestige class, but it didn't require any caster levels or anything to get into the class. I think it requires at least one samurai level for the ancestral daisho class ability, but I'm not entirely sure without checking the book.

Would that class work if it was just turned into stuff everyone can do without levels?

[Tvtyrant]

I did it once and not one player bit on it. The thing of it is that 3.5/Pathfinder item crafting sucks. It is almost binary between overly cheap and easy or slow and ineffectual, much like epic level spells.

My one successful replacement was a "masterpiece" system where a player could instantly make a number of magic items at each level based on the level they were at based on their intuitive inspiration. The character has some sort of mad scientist style stroke of genius and crafts an appropriate item in a night of fever mad work, but the process is not replicable.

[GreatDane]

The setting of my current campaign enables crafting without spellcasting (practically a must, since the primary setting is a dwarven country). We have a skill trick you can take around level 5 that allows your Craft ranks to qualify you for item creation feats.

[Nibbens]

Pathfinder does this. Any character can craft items. The DCs are just higher the more prerequisites you ignore.

That's not true, you still need the item crafting feats.

Here we go. Master Craftsman (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/master-craftsman---final) allows anyone with it to ignore 1) being a caster and 2) the craft item feats needed to craft magic arms and armor as well as wondrous items.

[Milo v3]

Here we go. Master Craftsman (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/master-craftsman---final) allows anyone with it to ignore 1) being a caster and 2) the craft item feats needed to craft magic arms and armor as well as wondrous items.

I am aware of master craftsman (see my above posts), but if you reread the feat you will find that you still need to take the craft magic arms and armour and the craft wondrous item feats with master craftsman. It's one of the feats primary issues.

[Nibbens]

I am aware of master craftsman (see my above posts), but if you reread the feat you will find that you still need to take the craft magic arms and armour and the craft wondrous item feats with master craftsman. It's one of the feats primary issues.

Whoops. You are right. LOL.