Talk:Building a Better Masterwork (3.5e Variant Rule)

Masterwork Buildings?

It may seem like a bizzare question or idea. But I feel that something that's always been missing from D&D's masterwork rules are buildings. I understand that in most cases masterwork items are created by a single artisan, however in the case of certain mythological weapons or such they could only be made by a collection of master crafters. Couldn't a building, built by master builders with the express intention of being of the highest architectural and aesthetic quality be classed as masterwork? These would yes be expensive buildings, so in the real world your looking at things like the Taj Mahal, Imam Mosque, Aya Sofya, city of petra, etc. Can anyone think of rules for something like this(probably to go with Stronghold builders guide)

Health Bonus?

Question: how do weapons confer a health bonus? Armond 16:12, 17 November 2006 (MST)

Health bonus? --Pz.Az.04Maus 22:00, 18 November 2006 (MST)

Table 2-1 and 2-2 (item gives +10 HP and +2 hardness). This, however, is obviously not a quality that the weapon/armor gives the user, but rather that the item itself has. -EldritchNumen 00:55, 19 November 2006 (MST)

Yeah, I figured that out during my multiple-month hiatus after making the account. :P Armond 12:02, 9 April 2007 (MDT)

Enchanting non-masterwork items?

Another idea you could persue from this would be the cost of enchanting non-masterwork items. The reason for enchanting only masterwork items is rather arbitrary in my view, and I always assumed that there was a cost factor which made it foolish not to use masterwork items for enchantment. What you said about masterwork items being easier to enchant explains this. Perhaps the cost to enchant masterwork items is half the cost to enchant mundane items? As even the most minor enchantments are 1000 gp, or 500 gp in materials for the enchanter, spending 100-300 gp to make an item masterwork to save doubling the enchantment cost is a no-brainer. But... If a good crafter is not available, or if a caster wants a non-descript magic item, this lets the caster do so. I don't think this breaks the system any, just adds a new option. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Aaror (talk • contribs) 18:35, 24 January 2007 (MST). Please sign your posts.

Agreed. I say add your version of this variant to this somewhere, as this was not even originally from this site (it was from Wizards.com). Your idea makes sense and seems balanced enough to add. --Green Dragon 23:35, 24 January 2007 (MST)

I'd agree to this. Was thinking of a variant of this (each level of masterwork = the possibility to go one further than +5, etc). You could put it down in the bottom if you wish along with the other variant rules, or, if you got a hold of the guy who created this, edited it directly.--Pz.Az.04Maus 00:28, 25 January 2007 (MST)--

Actually, it is completely okay to edit this without the authors permission because it is not locked, and when permission was asked for this the person that did such a thing should have specified that they wanted or did not want it locked. If this was locked you could not edit it, however it is not locked. Go ahead and change this how you see fit if it makes it more balanced or cooler. --Green Dragon 17:24, 25 January 2007 (MST)

Variant: Temporary Plus

i play a RPG called Abantey, known only in the SF bay area, which has a rule concerning the sharpening of a weapon. to translate this into D&D mechanics, i propose this: for every +20 on a craft (weapon sharpening) check, the weapon gains a +1 to damage. this lasts for a number of rounds of combat equal to 5 times the bonus above the check +. eg: if the sharpener had a check result of 45, 40 of that + would be used to give the weapons a +2 to damage, and the other +5 would give the + a duration of 25 rounds. a smith could also lower the plus used to increase the duration. that same +45 could give a +1, using 20 points of +, for a duration of 125 rounds. the cost of this plus is equal to 50GP times the skill + of the sharpener. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 76.203.48.29 (talk • contribs) 12:49, 1 April 2007 (MDT). Please sign your posts.

Would you like to add this idea into this variant rule while still staying as close as possible to the core idea behind this? --Green Dragon 13:16, 7 April 2007 (MDT)

Hah damn I'll add this if no one else is going to...I just spent like 4 hours sharpening knives for school...I actually have something similar but it takes into account the fact the adamantine weapons are harder to sharpen etc.-Risek 06:18, 6 August 2008 (MDT)

The Price

The prices on these are simply absurd for the minimal benefits they confer; A +5 weapon is not worth 243 million GP, even if the increased threat range is great for lightning maces builds.72.148.112.184 10:12, 13 December 2009 (MST)

If an enhancement bonus grants bonuses to the weapons: attack, damage, hardness, hit-points, saves, and ability to by-pass damage reduction. Why is masterwork so much more expensive. Now if the price was reduced than this is otherwise a great idea.

1st degree - +600, 2nd degree - +2,400, 3rd degree - +9,600, 4th degree - +28,800, 5th degree - +57,600,

It doesn't have to be that, but something along those lines might be good. Also, crafting items costs 1/3 base cost in price not 1/2.

Max. Dex.

I feel that something you left out as far as armor enhancement goes, was the Max. Dex. High degree masterwork armor should be easier to move in and therefore have a higher Max. Dex.

Well done

I'm impressed with the amount of work and thought that has obviously gone into this article. I feel that there are some judgement lapses. But I'm glad someone took the effort and tackled it.

Skill Bonus Pricing

A masterwork instrument or tool granting a +10 bonus costs 81,000,000? Utterly ridiculous. Doing the same with a wondrous item would only cost you 10000gp. Higher degree of masterwork should probably follow the bonus-squared-times-some-value format based on what kind of bonus the masterwork quality confers.

One problem

The one problem with this idea is the fact that I'd feel a need to get ultimate masterwork on a sword for story reasons; it's my character's grandfather's sword and his final blade. So I feel it would need to be masterwork, but it would end up being triple masterwork and I'd never actually make it. That is my one problem. So I don't think I'll use this, but I give you a thumbs up for the idea