Pathfinder Question: Master Craftsman

[Ixahinon]

Master Craftsman

Your superior crafting skills allow you to create simple magic items.

Prerequisites: 5 ranks in any Craft or Profession skill.

Benefit: Choose one Craft or Profession skill in which you possess at least 5 ranks. You receive a +2 bonus on your chosen Craft or Profession skill. Ranks in your chosen skill count as your caster level for the purposes of qualifying for the Craft Magic Arms and Armor and Craft Wondrous Item feats. You can create magic items using these feats, substituting your ranks in the chosen skill for your total caster level. You must use the chosen skill for the check to create the item. The DC to create the item still increases for any necessary spell requirements (see the magic item creation rules in Magic Items). You cannot use this feat to create any spell-trigger or spell-activation item.

Normal: Only spellcasters can qualify for the Craft Magic Arms and Armor and Craft Wondrous Item feats.

Question is: Can a fighter that takes this feat be able to make a +1 Flaming Longsword without knowing the spell Magic Weapon, and Fireball. As well as using his Craft (Weaponsmith) skill instead of Spellcraft skill?

It would be awesome if someone could explain to me - in detail - how a non caster would benefit from this feat.

[Ixahinon]

anyone....?

[EpicEvokerElf]

Patience, Padawan.

It lets you pretend you're a caster for the purposes of qualifying for and utilizing item creation feats. If you're a fighter 6 with 6 ranks in Craft (weaponsmithing) and this feat, you have an effective caster level of 6 for making items and for taking item creation feats. You can use Craft instead of Spellcraft, as the rules indicate, and the DC goes up by 5 for each spell prerequisite you can't cast (although you could probably get your wizard buddy to cast them every day for you).

Essentially, you're selling your feat slot - using it to get items more cheaply by making them. You probably have more spare feats as a fighter than the caster does, but you're limited in what you can make by the DC increases. Try to get a forge of the weaponsmith to offset this (make it yourself!).

That help?

[Ixahinon]

My character is a paladin, and I'm finding this feat more and more invaluable to me. His Craft(Weaponsmith) and Craft(Armorsmith) is a max rank of 4 right now, with a +5 Competence bonus for it being a class skill, and having masterwork Smithing tools.

At level 5, max rank for each will be 5. The DM houseruled that if you have a Rank of 5 in Craft(weaponsmith) you get a +2 synergy bonus to Craft(armorsmith) and visa versa. And if I take Master Craftsman(Weaponsmith). That gives me a +9 Competence bonus.

Rank 5 + Competence 9 + 1 Int = +15 Bonus. Since you have to be triple the level as the weapon bonus, the best I can make right now would be +1 weapons. Since Paladin can cast Magic weapon, the DC remains the same.

However, when I reach a Rank of 6, I can add another +1 bonus, such as Flaming. Since I don't have Fireball, but do have Magic Weapon, the DC would only go up one increment of 5. Thus making the DC 20.

If all this is correct, I'm liking my odds of crafting my own +1 Flaming Longsword at 6th level Paladin.

[EpicEvokerElf]

You are correct.

[QuantumSteve]

Wait, since the Flaming special ability has a requisite Caster Level of 10. Wouldn't you have to be a 10th level Paladin with 10 ranks in Craft? What am I missing here?

[Ixahinon]

crap...that might put a damper on my dreams of having the first +1 weapon in the game. Oh well..Can make +2 weapons at a minimum of 6th level.

It is possible that it is saying Caster level 10 in order to compensate for the use of a Flame Strike spell, rather than a Fireball spell? As a cleric, it would require you to be 10th level..but not as a wizard...fireball is much easier to obtain.

[QuantumSteve]

crap...that might put a damper on my dreams of having the first +1 weapon in the game. Oh well..Can make +2 weapons at a minimum of 6th level.

It is possible that it is saying Caster level 10 in order to compensate for the use of a Flame Strike spell, rather than a Fireball spell? As a cleric, it would require you to be 10th level..but not as a wizard...fireball is much easier to obtain.

Hmm... Dunno. Odd, though, Shock and Frost are only 8th. Holy is only 7th. I'm not sure what they use as guidelines for CL of weapon abilities.

[LibraryOgre]

If all this is correct, I'm liking my odds of crafting my own +1 Flaming Longsword at 6th level Paladin.

Despite what was mentioned, you probably still can... you can craft a +2 flaming longsword, in fact, because you are a Paladin.

Craft a +2 sword. Set your holy sword ability to Flaming. Unleash Sir Stomp-Evil on the world.