Ditching crafting XP?

[Albions_Angel]

One feature of our games is that no one crafts anything. This is down to a 3 part problem. The first is time. We often dont have much down time. Our campaigns are story driven. But every now and then (every couple of sessions, about once a level after about level 4 to about level 11, more per level after that) we get a couple of weeks off in game terms. I seek to change this by having a more player driven adventure.

The second is money. We are loot heavy, money light. Things sell for half their value. Usually there is something for everyone in the loot. Yay us. But it sucks if you want to change things up of have a build in mind. I seek to change this by having bigger rewards and money loot.

The third is XP. We all like to level up together. Crafting prevents us from doing that. Sure, the rogue disarming a trap earns a little extra, while jokes and interesting roll play will net you 10 or 20 xp, but no one is going to be outleveling the others that way. But if the wizard slips off to make some wands, or some items, or something, well that wizard is coming back most of a level behind everyone else and with no way to catch up outside of xp offsets. And our games are low op enough that the wiz is then at a significant disadvantage until the extra xp they get from encounters pulls them up. Its also annoying as all hell.

I want to ditch XP. I want people to craft their own stuff. Or have it crafted for them. I was wondering though, do I need to increase the money cost of crafting to compensate, or just kill the xp component?

[inuyasha]

Well, Pathfinder has no XP requirement for item crafting, and even back when I was playing 3.5 regularly (I still switch back occasionally), we always ditched crafting XP. It really doesn't make a difference, and it allows characters to level together in a system that's designed for them to level together (if this were an older edition, with different EXP charts per class, then it would be a different-ish story).

I'd highly recommend just ditching crafting XP and not changing anything else.

[Troacctid]

XP costs are a terrible, unfun mechanic. I would remove all xp costs and replace them with gp costs.

[ryu]

XP costs are a terrible, unfun mechanic. I would remove all xp costs and replace them with gp costs.

I would recommend still making total gold costs lower than just buying the completed item though. After all remove that basic tenet of economy and the entire shell of it may collapse. The illusion is not durable.

[DeadMech]

Another alternative would be to let the crafter use xp from which ever party member they are crafting to benefit. Similar to how you can have another person provide the spell required.

[DrStubbsberg]

Another, another alternative would be for Crafting XP to be a separate resource from Levelling XP - basically their current 'real' XP total is a hard cap on their maximum potential item creation, without actually reducing their XP/Level.
Ditching Crafting XP altogether is probably the best answer, but it's nice to have options.

[Zakier]

Another, another alternative would be for Crafting XP to be a separate resource from Levelling XP - basically their current 'real' XP total is a hard cap on their maximum potential item creation, without actually reducing their XP/Level.
Ditching Crafting XP altogether is probably the best answer, but it's nice to have options.

Not a bad idea.


If you want a mix of this and the above mentioned point of pulling the xp from the person its going to benefit.

There is a way to do both within the current mechanics.

http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060526a

This web article discusses this in detail

[Âmesang]

I would recommend still making total gold costs lower than just buying the completed item though. After all remove that basic tenet of economy and the entire shell of it may collapse. The illusion is not durable.
If I remember correctly the experience cost, when translated into gold (1 XP = 5 gp), comes out to being 20% of the base price, giving a self-created item a price of 70% of its base; I believe this is what the DUNGEON MASTER'S Guide used when determining the wealth of NPCs with craft feats.


Another alternative would be to let the crafter use xp from which ever party member they are crafting to benefit. Similar to how you can have another person provide the spell required.
So basically play as/hire an artificer? :smalltongue: