Codex Professa (Magic Item)

[Iituem]

Codex Professa - The Book of Many Crafts

This miraculous tome has 315 pages; 6 pages on each topic, an index and a cover page. The tome appears to give basic guides to each of a vast number of professions and crafts and contains a 6 page beginner's guide for each of the nine classical bodies of knowledge. Reading through each guide takes 6 minutes and appears to present simple but informative instructions on the basic workings of the craft. In truth, reading through the guide produces a magical effect that grants an intuitive understanding of the craft in question. After completely reading one of the guides, the character gains a +10 competence bonus to the Craft, Knowledge or Profession skill in question for the next 24 hours. The character may read as many guides as he wishes but each guide takes 6 minutes to read. The guide contains information on most professions in the world, but can be amended by a character of caster level 1st with the Craft Wondrous Item feat who has at least 1 rank in the skill he wishes to add a guide for. Each amendment adds 6 pages to the tome and increases its value by 2000gp.

Market Price: 104,000gp. Prerequisites: Caster level 1st, Craft Wondrous Item, at least 1 rank in all 52 professions and bodies of knowledge given in the descriptions for the Craft, Knowledge and Profession skills.

[Yuki Akuma]

Is there any sort of limit on the number of times a character can read a particular guide? Six minutes a day to gain a +10 bonus to any Craft, Knowledge or Profession skill seems a little... off to me.

[Iituem]

Well, reading the same guide twice in one day grants you the same +10 bonus, it doesn't stack. It is essentially 52 +10 skill items (no usage per day limit) combined into one, although given that I should probably double the material price and make it a minor artefact instead, given as it does not take up an equipment slot. It might be better to think of it as 52 separate daily jump spells, but with a different skill bonus and the bonus reduced to +10 from +30.

If the consensus is that it seems overpowered because it is possible to read through the whole book (taking five hours and twelve minutes) and thus gain an intuitive understanding of pretty much every Craft, Knowledge and Profession skill there is, we can restrict it to perhaps 2-5 uses per day for any one person. On the other hand, consider how much use one can get out of Craft, Profession and Knowledge skills. Unless one is in very specific environments, Knowledge in more than one discipline is rarely called upon requiring specific expertise in one day. One cannot use more than one Craft or Profession per week to earn wages or craft items, so the general bonus from this is in minor tasks relating to multiple disciplines that might come in use in a day.

The concept behind this item is perhaps one of a holy book, kept in the principal temple of a trade god, which blessed followers or the priesthood are given permission to peruse for its benefits. Possibly a book kept in stock by a powerful arcane library for 'quick reference'. Although one could potentially gain temporary insight into all 52 disciplines, it is unlikely one would even need more than 5 in 24 hours. If you want a permanent +10 bonus to Craft (armoursmithing), buy yourself a ring of armoursmithy at 2000gp instead.

(Boots of Elvenkind provide a +10 bonus to move silently to the wearer, costing 2000gp.)

[Khantalas]

No? The bonus is +5, not +10.

You might be a 3.0 lover, though.

[Iituem]

Ugh, they've changed the stats on this too? Son of a-

H'okay... Used to be bonus squared by 20. Using 3.5 rules, item value is... 520,000gp, placing it firmly in major artefact territory. Eep!

[Iituem]

Revised for 3.5:

Codex Professa - The Book of Many Crafts

This miraculous tome has 315 pages; 6 pages on each topic, an index and a cover page. The tome appears to give basic guides to each of a vast number of professions and crafts and contains a 6 page beginner's guide for each of the nine classical bodies of knowledge. Reading through each guide takes 6 minutes and appears to present simple but informative instructions on the basic workings of the craft. In truth, reading through the guide produces a magical effect that grants an intuitive understanding of the craft in question. After completely reading one of the guides, the character gains a +5 competence bonus to the Craft, Knowledge or Profession skill in question for the next 24 hours. The character may read as many guides as he wishes but each guide takes 6 minutes to read. The guide contains information on most professions in the world, but can be amended by a character of caster level 1st with the Craft Wondrous Item feat who has at least 1 rank in the skill he wishes to add a guide for. Each amendment adds 6 pages to the tome and increases its value by 2500gp.

Market Price: 130,000gp. Prerequisites: Caster level 5th, Craft Wondrous Item, at least 1 rank in all 52 professions and bodies of knowledge given in the descriptions for the Craft, Knowledge and Profession skills.

[Yuki Akuma]

You know, when you make an item that provides a bonus to a skill, you usually need as many ranks in that skill as the bonus.

So the crafter would need... 260 skill points. Yeah...

[Athenodorus]

Dunno, if they are only reading one section, I wouldn't think they would need proficiency in all areas of knowledge.

[Iituem]

Hmm. 260, eh? Well, if you've got 6+Int skill points and an int of 18, you only need to be... level 26? Eek!

Even needing 52 ranks, you'd still need to be at least level 5. It's not too bad.

[King Cael]

Nice Job! Have a cookie.

[Iituem]

*munches gratefully*

[Glooble Glistencrist]

That would be a very useful item.