Wrapping my head around item upgrading...

[Bags]

Hello,

I am making a character with Eldritch Archer archetype for my buddy's campaign. At level 1 they get the bonded weapon like Wizard but without the ability to cast the free spell. On the Wizard page it says it is always masterwork and masterwork weapons get the +1 enhancement bonus to hit, so I'm going to start with a masterwork musket (spellslinger).

I am trying to figure out upgrading it later with reliable/greater reliable. Reliable says it has a +1 bonus cost, so does that mean the weapon would end up being a +3 weapon? And then the cost would be (+3 cost - +1 cost)/2? Do I lose the enhancement bonus so it's just the normal musket with a lower misfire now?

And then later, if I do greater reliable, since it's +3 bonus cost, now it would be (+6 weapon - +1 cost) / 2 cost?

And is that all I can put on a weapon, just that one bonus?

I am trying to find a good table of information such as costs for this but I can't seem to find it if it exists on the SRD. Thanks for any help.

[Coventry]

Hello,

I am making a character with Eldritch Archer archetype for my buddy's campaign. At level 1 they get the bonded weapon like Wizard but without the ability to cast the free spell. On the Wizard page it says it is always masterwork and masterwork weapons get the +1 enhancement bonus to hit, so I'm going to start with a masterwork musket (spellslinger).

I am trying to figure out upgrading it later with reliable/greater reliable. Reliable says it has a +1 bonus cost, so does that mean the weapon would end up being a +3 weapon? And then the cost would be (+3 cost - +1 cost)/2? Do I lose the enhancement bonus so it's just the normal musket with a lower misfire now?

And then later, if I do greater reliable, since it's +3 bonus cost, now it would be (+6 weapon - +1 cost) / 2 cost?

And is that all I can put on a weapon, just that one bonus?

I am trying to find a good table of information such as costs for this but I can't seem to find it if it exists on the SRD. Thanks for any help.

A basic +1 dagger actually has two different "+1 enhancement bonus to hit" options on it, one from the +1 enchantment, and one from the item being masterwork. The trick is that both of bonuses are of the same type, so only the "best" one applies. A +3 dagger will still have the +1 enhancement bonus to hit on it from being masterwork, but the +3 is clearly better, so it wins. Until you find yourself standing in an anti-magic field, where the +1 from being masterwork will still apply.

The enchantment costs are separate, over and above the masterwork costs. In your case, since you are starting with a masterwork musket, your cost is 0.

Magic weapons and armor must have at least a +1 magical enhancement bonus before adding anything else, so the minimum enchantment you are describing is "+1 Reliable". To figure out the value of the enchantment, take all enchantment bonuses that are "+", add them together, square the result, and multiply by 2000 gp. To that number, add any "gp" enchantment bonuses to get a final enchantment value. "+1 Reliable" has 2 "+", and 0 added gp cost, so the enchantment value is (2*2 * 2000 + 0 =) 8,000 gp.

The total weapon value is the sum of the base item, the special materials cost, the masterwork cost, and the enchantment cost. (1,500 gp + 0 gp + 300 gp + 8,000 gp = 9,800 gp)

If you later come back and increase the weapon to be "+3 Reliable", the enchantment value would be 32,000 gold (4*4 * 2000). As a +1 Reliable weapon to start, it already has 8,000 of that, so the second enchantment would add 24,000 value.

If you are doing the enchantment yourself, the cost in materials is half the value, but might be modified by other feats or traits. If you are hiring some NPC to do the work, they may charge you more if they don't like you.

[Bags]

Thanks, I'm still not entirely sure I'd know how to figure out the cost of arbitrary items in the future, but since I know those are things I'll want to look into having those examples for later will be a big help. Thank you.

[Firest Kathon]

Figuring out the cost of weapons and armor is one of the more easy things in pathfinder :smallwink:.

The only prerequisite is that the item is masterwork, otherwise you cannot add any magic enchantments. Then you follow these simple steps:


Calculate the current price of the weapon (before the upgrade)
Calculate the new price of the weapon (after the upgrade)
Subtract the current from the new price

The result is the cost you have to pay for the upgrade, 50% of it if you can do it yourself (i.e. you have the required feats or a special ability such as the bonded item).


Example 1
Base weapon: Masterwork musket, price: 1500gp (musket) + 300 gp (masterwork) = 1800 gp
Target weapon: +1 reliable musket, price: 1500gp (musket) + 300 gp (masterwork) + 8000 gp (+2 weapon [ +1 enchantment, reliable ] ) = 9800 gp
Upgrade cost: 8000 gp

Example 2
Base weapon: +1 reliable musket, price: 1500gp (musket) + 300 gp (masterwork) + 8000 gp (+2 weapon [ +1 enchantment, reliable ] ) = 9800 gp
Target weapon: +1 greater reliable, price: 1500gp (musket) + 300 gp (masterwork) + 32000gp (+4 weapon [+1 enchantment, greater reliable ] ) = 33800 gp
Upgrade cost: 24000 gp

Example 3
Base weapon: +1 greater reliable, price: 1500gp (musket) + 300 gp (masterwork) + 32000gp (+4 weapon [+1 enchantment, greater reliable ] ) = 33800 gp
Target weapon: +2 greater reliable impervious, price: 1500gp (musket) + 300 gp (masterwork) + 3000gp (impervious) + 50000gp (+5 weapon [+2 enchantment, greater reliable ] ) = 54800gp
Upgrade cost: 21000 gp

Note: technically it is not possible to upgrade a reliable weapon to a greater reliable weapon, as you can only add new abilities and the greater reliable ability explicitly states that I cannot have the reliable ability. I think that most GMs would allow it, but you should clarify before.

[Bags]

Thanks for the examples. my confusion was less about doing the math, but more about where the #s came from. didn't realize that the +1 enhancement stacked with reliable etc and that you can have reliable and other things on a weapon.