Beyond Masterwork: Master Craftsmanship Items (P.E.A.C.H)

[nonsi]

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While trying to elevate the 'Master' class to PC-level quality, I went back into War of the Lance and gave the Master a more thorough look.
What I realized is that beyond the inherent Focus bonuses, the class doesn't really bring anything new to the game that other classes don’t already bring with better results.
- The Craftsman is outclassed by the Artificer and virtually any fullcaster
- The Performer is outclassed by the Bard
- The Professional is outclassed by the Ranger/Rogue/Scout
- The Sage is outclassed by the Bard and virtually any fullcaster with divination

Any benefits where they're not at disadvantage are situational/storyline benefits (e.g. substitute ranks, fame and leadership), or are trivial and require most of your class levels and resources to be of any significance.



I eventually decided to go for the approach that sometimes it's the tools of the trade that make the difference among equals.
Therefore, I devised the following rules for beyond-masterwork equipment – which basically kill the need for the Master class altogether.


Master Craftsmanship Items:

Items of higher than masterwork quality exist, though they're rare, because they have hard to achieve requirements.

There are four categories of master craftsmanship items:

- Weapons:			bonuses to attack and damage rolls
- Armors:			bonuses to AC and ACP
- Performance instruments:	bonuses to Perform checks
- Work tools:			bonuses to relevant skill checks

There are 5 steps of master craftsmanship – with corresponding modifiers and corresponding "level" requirements and DC increases (see more below)

- Item of Distinction:	+1 (level 4; DC +5). At this point, regular masterwork items cost 1/2 as much (i.e. item's regular price +150 gp). You produce items of distinction like other crafters produce regular masterwork items (item's regular price +300 gp).
- Item of Renown:	+2 (level 7; DC +10). These items' creation costs +900 gp.
- Item of Fame:		+3 (level 10; DC +15). These items' creation costs +2,700 gp.
- Item of Glory:	+4 (level 13; DC +20). These items' creation costs +8,100 gp.
- Item of Legend:	+5 (level 16; DC +25). These items' creation costs +24,300 gp.

Special: The bonuses granted by items of master craftsmanship stack with any other bonuses (magical or otherwise), but not with masterwork quality.
Note: A master craftsman cannot craft an item of a given level of master craftsmanship before crafting an item of the lower level.

"Levels" and tools of the trade:
To reach a certain level of master craftsmanship, a crafter must both possess the highest possible Craft ranks of the given requirement level, as well as the highest possible usage qualifications of that level (of any class in the game).

Examples:
- In order to create a sword/armor/shield of distinction, a character must have 7 ranks in Craft (weaponsmith), BAB +4 and proficiency with the corresponding sword/armor/shield.
- In order to create a flute of distinction, a character must have 7 ranks in Craft (wind instruments) and 7 ranks in Perform (wind instruments).
- In order to create burglar tools of distinction, a character must have 7 ranks in Craft (wind instruments) and 7 ranks in Disable Device (and Open Locks, if that skill hasn't been nixed by the group).

Explanation:
The first requirement details the required level of skill to be able to physically craft the item.
The second requirement details the understanding of what will be required in practice to bring out the best out of the item's users.

[nonsi]

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So, what's the verdict....... Good - Bad - Ugly (??)

[Lanth Sor]

Ugly, :D

I like the simplicity

[Altair_the_Vexed]

It looks like you've set the costs as simple multipliers for the base cost of an item.

That would mean that there is still no cost or crafting time for a Legendary Club, or Quarterstaff, or any other 0-cost items. So, as has been pointed out by many people before me, by the RAW, you can create a zero cost item in zero time...
So in theory, because you can make a club in zero time, due to its zero cost - meaning you could make a club of distinction, followed by a club of renown, club of fame, club of glory and finally a club of legend ... all in a single round (assuming your skill was high enough).
Obviously, any sensible GM would tell you to get lost if you tried such rules-lawyerly shenanigans - but it's best to fix the rule so that the lop hole doesn't exist, rather than leave it up to the GM to have to refuse it.

I suggest you add in a minimum cost for each step of improvement - or at least a minimum time.

[nonsi]

It looks like you've set the costs as simple multipliers for the base cost of an item.

That would mean that there is still no cost or crafting time for a Legendary Club, or Quarterstaff, or any other 0-cost items. So, as has been pointed out by many people before me, by the RAW, you can create a zero cost item in zero time...
So in theory, because you can make a club in zero time, due to its zero cost - meaning you could make a club of distinction, followed by a club of renown, club of fame, club of glory and finally a club of legend ... all in a single round (assuming your skill was high enough).
Obviously, any sensible GM would tell you to get lost if you tried such rules-lawyerly shenanigans - but it's best to fix the rule so that the lop hole doesn't exist, rather than leave it up to the GM to have to refuse it.

I suggest you add in a minimum cost for each step of improvement - or at least a minimum time.

Surprisingly, that one didn't slip my notice (even though I am guilty of missing out on details here and there).

Self Quote (from the OP):

- Item of Distinction: +1 (level 4; DC +5). At this point, regular masterwork items cost 1/2 as much in time and money. You produce items of distinction like other crafters produce masterwork items.
- Item of Renown: +2 (level 7; DC +10). These items cost x2 as much more (on top of the item's regular price) to produce in time and money.

Notice that there's a lot of accumulation here, where the price of each grade of Master Craftsmanship is accumulated to that of one level below.

Now, if you click here and go to the last topic at the bottom of the page, you'll notice that adding the Masterwork property to an item costs 300gp.
I didn't name the actual number 300 to hint that it's alright for the DM to play with the numbers.


But maybe it would be better to say that the different levels of Master Craftsmanship add the following values on top of the item's regular price:

- Distinction:	+ 300 gp
- Renown:	+ 300 + 600 = +900 gp
- Fame:		+ 900 + 1800 = +2,700 gp
- Glory:	+ 2,700 + 5,400 = +8,100 gp
- Legend:	+ 8,100 + 16,200 = +24,300 gp

And now that I'm looking at the actual numbers, I can just say that each step above Distinction triples the previous value (and the numbers add up nicely - considering level, DC and production time).

[nonsi]

Ugly, :D

I like the simplicity

You know, it never ceases to amaze me how many times simple results tend to arrive only after a complicated process of research
You wouldn't believe how many times I tried to resolve crafting and came out empty-handed