How Magic Armor and Weapons Work in PF

First Steps

Before beginning, it is important to know that:

• Only a masterwork item may be enchanted
• An armor or weapon must first possess a +1 Enhancement bonus before gaining an Effect bonus (explained below)
• The PRD does not refer to Enhancement and Effect bonuses separately; the meanings must be inferred from the text
• This tutorial uses the different terms for enhanced clarity, though the rules do not differentiate from that of the PRD

Types of Bonuses

Enhancement bonuses: An enhancement bonus on an armor or weapon is a "flat" bonus that adds to an armor or weapon's general effectiveness.

An armor Enhancement bonus:

Adds to the armor's AC (a +2 breastplate would have an AC 2 higher than normal)

Adds to the armor's hardness

A weapon Enhancement bonus:

Adds to the weapon's to-hit and to-damage (a +2 longsword has +2 to hit and damage)

Adds to the weapon's hardness

Increases the weapon's ability to overcome Damage Reduction

Effect bonuses: An effect bonus does sparkly things.

An armor's or weapon's Effect bonus:

Does a unique thing, such as resisting or causing fire damage

The value of this "thing" is expressed in a +X value

Pricing Armor or Weapons

Armor and Weapons are enchanted, and priced, according to their total bonuses. For example, a piece of armor can possess a +2 Enhancement bonus, and a "+3" ghost touch Effect bonus. These bonuses operate slightly differently from one another. In addition, the total "value" of an armor or weapon's bonus determines its value. So, in our example, the armor is worth +5 in total bonuses.

The basic price of a magic armor or magic weapon is:

Armor: Basic Armor + 150 gold for Masterwork Quality + Value of Total Bonuses

Weapon: Basic Weapon + 300 gold for Masterwork Quality + Value of Total Bonuses

Example:

+1 Breastplate: 100 + 150 + 1000 = 1250 gold

+2 Flaming Greataxe: 20 + 300 + 18,000 = 18,320 gold

The "enchantment value" of the +2 Flaming Greataxe is 18,000. This is because the Flaming effect bonus is valued at "+1." Adding +1 to the already-existing +2 Enhancement bonus gives us a total value of +3, or 18,000 gold.

Special Materials

Special materials may be used for creating the armor or weapon, though this will change the price. When using a special material, consult the Equipment section of the PRD for details. An armor or weapon may not be retroactively made from a special material.

Adding Enchantments to Existing Weapons or Armor

The basic rules when adding enchantments are:

1. A weapon or armor must have a +1 Enhancement bonus before adding any type of Effect bonus

2. To determine the cost of adding an additional bonus to the armor/weapon:

(Value of Existing bonuses + Value of New bonus) - Existing bonuses

Example:

To add Frost to a +2 Flaming Greataxe, it would cost 14,000 gold. Or: 32,000 (total value of existing bonuses + new bonus) - 18,000 (value of existing bonuses).

Rules for Crafting Magic Arms and Armor

If you want to craft armor or weapons, you will need:

1. The Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat

2. A Caster Level of at least 3x the Effect or Enhancement bonus

3. Some skill ranks in Spellcraft or Craft/Artifice, or an applicable Craft skill related directly to the item type to be created (such as Craft/Weaponsmithing)

Rule #2 means that a 9th level caster could craft up to a +3 Armor of Ghost Touch, but could not make a +4 Armor of Ghost Touch.

Limitations are:

1. You may not add an Enhancement or Effect bonus higher than 3x your Caster Level

2. Any armor or weapon may not possess higher than a +5 Enhancement bonus, though it may go up to a +6 Effect bonus. Higher than either of these values is Epic.

3. The total bonuses attributed to an armor or weapon may not go above +10. Higher than this value is Epic.

The crafting process

This is where I'll place some notes about the Spellcraft or Craft skill roll, and the use of Caster Level. I am very tired right now, though. So, what follows is a very bad summary. -.- - Lah

1. The time to craft an item is 1 day per 1,000 in its price, rounded up.

2. To successfully craft an armor or weapon, you make a skill roll using Spellcraft, or the appropriate Craft skill. The DC of this roll is:

5 + Caster level of the item + 5 for each pre-req skipped

3. A failure on the roll in #3 results in a cursed item.

4. The only pre-reqs which may not be "skipped" in this way are the crafting feat, and for items such as scrolls, potions the crafter must have the ability to cast the spell.