D&D 3E/3.5 Magic Item Creation

[haakon1]

One of my players wants to make a lot of magic items, and he’s concerned about the time it takes. We all agree it cost 1/2 of market price in gp, and 1/25 of market price XP.

But says 1/1000 of the “base price“ in days, means 1/2000 of the market price. I say 1/1000th of market price.

So does Keoghtom’s Ointment (4000 gp market price) take 4 days or 2?

Does +2 plate mail (4000 gp) take 4 days or 2? Since that one literally says Base Price on the chart, gotta be 4 days, right?

 

[Sword of Spirit]

If I recall the only reason the market price is different than base price is because it might include the price of a masterwork item or other expensive component. But you are correct that "base price" does not refer to the halved price. In those situations, unless I've completely forgotten how it works, it should be 4 days.

 

[haakon1]

Thanks. That's exactly what I thought.

 

[Alzrius]

The SRD is pretty clear on this:

Magic supplies for items are always half of the base price in gp and 1/25 of the base price in XP. For many items, the market price equals the base price.


Armor, shields, weapons, and items with a value independent of their magically enhanced properties add their item cost to the market price. The item cost does not influence the base price (which determines the cost of magic supplies and the experience point cost), but it does increase the final market price.


In addition, some items cast or replicate spells with costly material components or with XP components. For these items, the market price equals the base price plus an extra price for the spell component costs. Each XP in the component costs adds 5 gp to the market price. The cost to create these items is the magic supplies cost and the base XP cost (both determined by the base price) plus the costs for the components. Descriptions of these items include an entry that gives the total cost of creating the item.


The creator also needs a fairly quiet, comfortable, and well-lit place in which to work. Any place suitable for preparing spells is suitable for making items. Creating an item requires one day per 1,000 gp in the item’s base price, with a minimum of at least one day. Potions are an exception to this rule; they always take just one day to brew. The character must spend the gold and XP at the beginning of the construction process.