Quote Originally Posted by mcv View Post
I've got a question about item creation in Pathfinder. To create a magic item, you need to meet certain prerequisites. For example, to create a Handy Haversack, you need to have the feat Craft Wondrous Item, and the spell secret chest. The rules also state that if you don't meet one of the prerequisites, you can still create it, but the DC goes up by 5.

Handy Haversack is not a terribly expensive item. You could create it pretty early, except for the fact that secret chest is a level 5 spell, so you need to be level 9 to create it. However, the rules say that I can still create it without that spell, but with +5 DC. So does that really mean I don't need to be level 9 anymore?
Yes, there are exceptions for potions (you must have all spells to do it can't bypass with a +5 DC).

But Wonderous can be bypassed.
Of course the DC depends on the caster level of the item. So how do you determine that for a Wondrous Item? Is the caster level of a Handy Haversack 9 because of the secret chest prereq? I assume that would remain the same if I skip that prereq? So my DC would be 5 + 9 + 5 = 19, right? If I'm allowed to take 10, that'd still be an automatic success.

Do I have this correct?
Yes, in most cases it is still easy to perform the DCs.