What Parts Of Price Are Reduced By Magical Item Restrictions?

Question

My question here is that, for creating magical items in Pathfinder 1e, when applying item price reductions due to restrictions (like only for certain classes, or requiring skill usage), do you apply the price reduction at the very end of calculating up the items cost (thus also reducing the included base item's price, the masterwork addition and any special material cost components)? Or, do you only apply the reductions to whatever portion of the price is derived from magical enhancements?

So, for example, for a ranger's flaming longbow +1, would the final price be 5,975 gp (8,000 x 0.7 = 5,600, + 75 + 300), or 5,862 gp and 5 sp (8,375 x 0.7)?

I was applying the reductions at the very end, but on second thought, have realized that may not be right. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Answer 1

When talking about custom magic item creation we usually enter in the world of "GM decides" so the first thing you should do is to ask at your table what is working better for you.

Anyway, as far as i know, the problem you are thinking on is not directly explained in the pathfinder books but my big suggestion is to keep as simple as possible.

So yes, discount everything. The reason for this suggestion are 3:

1. It is easier to keep track of the cost of the item: simply add up all the costs and finally discount everything

2. Even with the example you provided if you do the calculation you will note that the difference between a full discount and a discount only on the "magic"...is near to none. We are talking about ~110 gp for an item that you pay ~5900. And keep in mind that the more the item will costs...the more this difference will flatten.

3. If the discount for restriction rule says "cut the cost by X %" without further detail..well cut whole cost since there is not exception to this price cut.

Short answer: keep it simple and discount everything.

Have a fun time playing!

Marco

Answer 2

Items add in the costs of their item separately from the magical properties.

If we look at the rules for creating magic items, we see:

Magic supplies for items are always half of the base price in gp. For many items, the market price equals the base price. Armor, shields, weapons, and items with 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), but it does increase the final market price.

So when making +1 flaming longbow it would cost \$4375\$ gp (\$8000\$ gp [base magic price] x \$0.5\$ [crafting] + \$75\$ gp [longbow] + \$300\$ gp [masterwork]), and any price reductions for making magic items would only apply to the magic portion of its cost. E.G. Spark of Creation would further reduce it's cost by \$200\$ gp = \$8000\$ gp x \$0.5\$ x \$0.05.\$

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Some additional details:

In addition, some items cast or replicate spells with costly material components. For these items, the market price equals the base price plus an extra price for the spell component costs. The cost to create these items is the magic supplies cost plus the costs for the components. Descriptions of these items include an entry that gives the total cost of creating the item.

This means that when you craft a scroll of Wish, it costs \$1,912.5\$ gp (25 gp x 9 (spell level) x 17 (caster level) x 0.5 (crafting)) for the magic supplies for the scroll, and \$25,000\$ gp for the spell component cost of Wish for a grand total of \$26,912.5\$ gp.

If you wanted to buy a scroll of Wish (or other spell completion item of wish) that's only usable by wizards (a \$30\$% reduction), it would instead cost \$1,338.75\$ gp (\$25\$ gp x \$9\$ (spell level) x \$17\$ (caster level) x \$0.5\$ (crafting) x \$0.7\$ (class restricted)) for the magic supplies for the scroll, and \$25,000\$ gp for the spell component cost of Wish for a grand total of \$26,338.75\$ gp. Note that this is not the \$18,838.75\$ gp that it would cost if you just reduced the whole price by \$30\$% (a savings of \$8,073.75\$ gp).