The new lodge that I'm leading is really into this crafting thing, so I created this crafting guide for them. Maybe it can help you too? Fair warning, this will give you a headache.
This document is meant to organize many of the Pathfinder Society specific, and general rules of downtime crafting from the Pathfinder Remastered rules set, into a more cohesive crafting guide.
Sources referenced are collected from the Player Core, the GM Core, the Treasure Vault, Lorespire, and Archives of Nethys.
1. Pathfinder Society Crafting: Need-To-Know
The First Rule Of Crafting - There’s No Profit From Crafting: In Pathfinder Society, crafting is a tool for item access and gold-saving, but never for profit. Any item you craft can only be sold back for 50% of its Price. Since you paid 50% in materials, the net profit is always 0 gp, unless you paid for a formula, then it’s actually a net loss.
No PC to PC Exchanges: A PC cannot buy, sell, trade, or donate items to another PC. (Bequeathal Boons come close to allowing this, but not quite.)
Crafting Benefit: The benefit of crafting is saving on the cost of the item you’re crafting. Allowing you to afford it sooner than you normally could. You could pay only 15g for a suit of full plate mail armor instead of 30g. You pay half the price up front in raw materials costs, and then work off the remaining 50%. The other benefit is the thematic benefit, saying that your character crafted this.
Tools & Equipment: In Pathfinder Society, it is assumed that between adventures, you have access to the tools and workshop necessary to craft equipment.
Downtime Exclusive: In Pathfinder Society, Crafting is an activity that can only be performed during Downtime. Repairs can be made in game, but crafting is downtime only.
Downtime Units: In PFS, Downtime is earned in 8-day units for a standard scenario. Each unit is treated as a separate block of time. Any additional days over 8, start a new downtime unit.
Activity Sequencing: Within any single downtime unit, activities must follow a specific order. Crafting projects and retraining must always be completed first. Earning Income must always be the last item completed in any downtime unit using any remaining days.
Project Limit: Only one crafting project can be started during a single Downtime Unit. This means you can’t just retry if you fail a crafting check. You have to wait for the next downtime unit to try again.
Item Access: You can only craft items that are "Standard" access or unlocked via boons, or chronicles.
Tracking: Record all crafting projects on the Chronicle sheet(s), or a dedicated crafting notebook like a steno pad, spiral notebook, or a diary if you’re super dedicated.
Practical Guidance: There are detailed examples of crafting at the end of this document.
2. The Core Mechanics
Prerequisites To Start Any Crafting Project:
Trained in Crafting: At a minimum, you must be trained in crafting.
Specialized Feats: Magical Crafting, Alchemical Crafting, and Tattoo Artist (Treasure Vault, or Secrets of Magic) are required for crafting magic, alchemy, and tattoos. There are many other feats related to crafting. There are also many ITEM BONUSES that improve your crafting modifier.
Formulas General: A basic crafting book costs 1 sp and includes formulas for all 0 level items in the Player Core 1. A blank formula book costs 1 gp and it holds 100 formulas of any level.
Mundane Formulas: Formulas are not required to craft mundane common items. The only time I recommend buying a mundane formula is when you’re crafting 0 level common items from the Basic Crafting book, otherwise you’re throwing away money. If you’re crafting a mundane common item, and the cost of the formula is more than you can save per day (which is “always”), you’re throwing away money.
i.e. You’re level 3, crafting a level 1 item. At level 3, you can save 5 sp per day. A level 1 item formula costs 1gp.
Buying the formula only saves you 1 day of preparation time. That equals a loss of 5sp.
If it’s a mundane item, it just doesn’t make sense to buy the formula, unless you buy the basic crafters book so you’re getting all level 0 formulas at once, and you’re crafting common level 0 items.
That’s the only way you save money using formulas on common mundane items.
Magic Formulas: If you intend to craft magic, alchemy, tattoo, uncommon, or rare items, you must have the formula for the item. Formula costs are found in the Formulas Table on Archives of Nethys.
The Process Once You've Satisfied the Pre-Requisites:
Material Cost: Pay 50% of the item's total price up front in raw materials.
Preparation: Spend the required preparation days (1 or 2).
With a Formula: 1 Day of preparation.
Without a Formula: 2 Days of preparation.
The Crafting Check: Roll against the DC for the item's level, found on Table 4-2: Income Earned on Archives of Nethys. Note: The Task Level on the table is equal to the item level you are crafting, when looking up the DC.
Critical Success: Reduce the remaining 50% crafting cost using the "Earn Income" value for YOUR LEVEL and your Proficiency Level, not the item level. On a critical success, treat your PC level as 1 higher to determine results, to a minimum level of 3rd level. The values in this table are PER DAY.
Success: Reduce the remaining 50% crafting cost using the "Earn Income" value for YOUR LEVEL and your Proficiency Level, not the item level. The values in this table are PER DAY.
Failure: You fail to complete the item. Per Lorespire, you can only start one crafting project per downtime unit. Since earning income must be the last activity in a downtime unit, you may spend the remaining days of this unit retraining or earning income instead.
Critical Failure: You fail and lose 10% of the raw materials (5% of the total item Price).
Completion: Pay the remaining balance or spend more Downtime days from the same or subsequent units to work off the cost at the determined PER DAY rate. This means you do not roll another crafting check for the next downtime unit, you continue with your previous success.
3. Runes: Etching and Transferring
Requires Magical Crafting and the mandatory formula. Runes are reviewed starting on page 224 of the GM Core. This is not in the Player Core in the Remaster, although it WAS in the pre-remaster Core Rulebook.
Understand that the number of property runes any item may have, depends on the potency modifier the item has. (i.e. +1 , +2, +3, etc.)
Also understand that runes can be transferred from one item to another. The Pathfinder Society has rune smiths that can transfer runes for free with no crafting check needed, but you still have to pay 10% of the rune value in raw materials to make the transfer. If you were not a member of Pathfinder Society in game, you would need to hire an NPC and pay them for 1 day of service to transfer the rune. So you're saving the cost of the labor cost for the NPC, you're getting an automatic success, and you're not spending downtime days.
Types of Runes
Fundamental Runes
Weapon Potency +1 to hit (level 2)
Striking adds 1 damage die (level 4)
Reinforcing rune +1 AC to your shield (level 4)
Armor potency rune +1 AC to your armor (level 5)
Resilient rune +1 to Saving Throws (level 8)
Armor Property Runes
Shadow (level 5)
Slick (level 5)
Invisibility (level 8)
Winged (level 13)
Weapon Property Runes
Ghost Touch (level 4)
Flaming (level 8)
Frost (level 8)
Holy (level 11)
4. Precious Materials: i.e. Silver, Cold Iron, Adamantium
Crafting of specific magic items with precious materials, armor, and weapons is detailed in the GM Core in the Treasure Trove chapter, starting on page 219. (It’s worth buying this book, just for the shopping experience of magic items.) Silver, Cold Iron, and adamantium are considered “magical” when crafted into a weapon, armor, or item.
Grade Requirements:
Low-grade: Expert.
Standard-grade: Master.
High-grade: Legendary.
Material Costs: You do NOT add the Crafting Requirements amounts to the cost. Such as with Cold Iron or Silver weapons on p. 240 of the GM core. Crafting Requirements do not apply in Pathfinder Society Crafting.
5. Consumables & Batches
Consumables: Items with the Consumable trait are crafted in batches of 4.
Non-Magical Ammunition: Non-magical items with the Ammunition trait are crafted in batches of 10.
Batches & Math: Pay 50% of the total price for the entire batch up front. One check covers the entire batch.
6. Retail Incentive: Improved Downtime
Under the Paizo Organized Play Retail Incentive Program, players can opt to earn the Improved Downtime alternative benefit, instead of the critical success on earned income benefit. Note that any amount of downtime days past the original 8 days that come with a scenario, starts a new downtime unit. i.e. 8 days + 4 days = 2 downtime units.
Basic Version ($10 - $49.99): Gain 2 additional days of downtime.
Enhanced Version ($50 - $99.99): Gain 4 additional days of downtime.
Heroic Version ($100+): Gain 8 additional days of downtime (effectively a second 8-day Downtime Unit).
7. Treasure Vault
Shopping the Treasure Vault is a great way to spend a rainy day. Most of what’s inside is uncommon or rare though. First you need to discover if you have access to it. That’s a whole puzzle on it’s own. Then look up the Avid Collector boon for Treasure Vault on the Pathfinder Society FAQ to discover what’s available to Pathfinder agents. Now, if you have access, and there’s a boon, you can craft it!
The following Treasure Vault features are not available in Pathfinder Society per Character Options
Complex Crafting
Critical Crafting
Nature Crafting
Story-Based Crafting
Quick Setup Feat
8. Uncommon Items
Lookup Corpse Ward Pendant (Treasure Vault - p.153)
It’s uncommon with no “Access” entry. What do we do to find out if we can have it?
Is it restricted? Look on Character Options to find out.
If it’s not restricted, check the Pathfinder Society FAQ to see if it’s “Available”
If it’s available, you’ll need a boon. Likely the “Avid Collector” boon for that specific book.
Check your boons page in your Paizo account for “Avid Collector - Treasure Vault”
There are a handful of boons with this title.
Go back to your Treasure Vault, and find out what section of the book this Pendant is in.
It’s in Trappings of Power, so you need “Avid Collector–Treasure Vault Trappings of Power”
The boon is 20 AcP, and that lets you get just 1 item from the list!
This works the same way if you find an uncommon magic item in any other book.
Exercise 1: Crafting a Cold Iron Weapon (GM Core p. 240)
Scenario: A Level 3 Dwarven Fighter has 8 days of Downtime.
Goal: Craft a Low-Grade Cold Iron Warhammer (Level 2, Common).
Full Item Price: 44 gp (40 gp hammer + 4 gp cold iron bulk). Found in GM Core.
Formula Price: 2 gp (AoN Formula Prices)
Workflow:
Unit A (Days 1-8):
The Fighter buys the formula for 2 gp.
The Fighter adds the formula to his formula book. (1 hour)
The Fighter pays 50% (22 gp) up front.
The Fighter spends 1 day for setup.
The Check: Success on DC 16. (AoN DC Chart) (GM Core p.52)
Check the Earn Income chart for daily savings amount. (Player Core 1, p.229)
Completion: The Fighter spends 6 days working.
6 days x 0.5 gp = 3gp reduction.
Pays the remaining 19gp to finish immediately. Original price was 44gp, outcome paid is 41gp.
Exercise 2: Etching a Striking Rune (GM Core p. 236)
Scenario: A Level 4 Ranger has 12 days of Downtime (8 standard + 4 Enhanced Retail Bonus).
Goal: Etch a Striking Rune (Level 4, Common) onto a +1 Shortbow.
Full Rune Price: 65 gp.
Formula Price: 5 gp (AoN Formula Prices)
Workflow:
Unit A (Days 1-8):
The Ranger buys the formula for 5 gp.
The Ranger spends 1 hour adding the formula to his formula book.
The Ranger pays 50% (32.5 gp) up front.
The Ranger spends 1 day for setup.
The Check: Critical Success on DC 19. (AoN DC Chart) (GM Core p.52)
A critical success means he checks the Earn Income chart at level 5 instead of level 4. (Player Core 1, p.229)
7 days of work at 1gp = 7gp savings towards 32.5 gp total
Unit B (Days 9-12):
The Ranger continues work at the 1gp rate from Unit A.
4 days of work at 1gp = 4gp savings towards 32.5 gp total
Marks chronicle sheet with: "Striking Rune 11g towards 32.5g needed to complete".
The Wizard will continue the project in his next downtime unit after his next game.
Exercise 3: Crafting a Demon Mask (GM Core p. 288)
Scenario: A Level 4 Wizard has 16 days of Downtime (8 Chronicle + 8 Heroic Retail).
Goal: Craft a Demon Mask (Level 4, Common)
Full Mask Price: 85 gp.
Formula Price: 5 gp (AoN Formula Prices)
Workflow:
Unit A (Days 1-8):
The Wizard buys the formula for 5 gp.
The Wizard spends 1 hour adding the formula to his formula book.
The Wizard pays 50% (42.5 gp) up front.
The Wizard spends 1 day for setup.
The Check: Fail against DC 18. (AoN DC Chart) (GM Core p.52)
Consequence: Wizard cannot retry this unit; spends remaining 7 days on Earn Income.
Unit B (Days 9-16):
Wizard retries the project.
Initial Setup: Spend 1 day (Day 9) for setup.
The Check: Success against DC 18. (GM Core p.52)
Wizard spends 7 days working after checking the Earn Income chart. (Player Core 1, p.229)
7 days x 0.5 gp = 3.5 gp reduction.
Tracking: Marks chronicle: "Demon Mask - 3.5gp towards 42.5gp total to complete project.
The Wizard will continue the project in his next downtime unit after his next game.
Exercise 4: Crafting a Crafters Eyepiece (GM Core p. 288)
Scenario: A level 5 Ranger has 16 days of downtime (8 Chronicle + 8 Heroic Retail)
Goal: Craft a Crafters Eyepiece (Level 3, Common)
Full Eyepiece Price: 60gp
Formula Price: 3gp (AoN Formula Prices)
Workflow:
Unit A (Days 1-8):
The Ranger buys the formula for 3gp.
The Ranger spends an hour adding the formula to his formula book.
The Ranger pays 50% (30gp) up front.
The Ranger spends a day for setup.
The Check: Crit Success against DC 18. (AoN DC Chart) (GM Core p.52)
The crit means he checks Earn Income at level 6 instead of level 5. (Player Core 1, p.229)
That’s 2gp per day x 7 days, which means 14gp saved this downtime unit.
The Ranger will continue the project in his next downtime unit.
Unit B (Days 9-16):
The Ranger continues saving at 2gp per day from Unit A. 8 days means 16gp saved.
That completes the possible savings of 30gp. 14gp saved in the first downtime unit, 16 in the second.
Completion: A total of 15 days of crafting was completed.
Unit A 14g + Unit B 16g = 30g
30g for setup + 3g for formula = 33g paid. Savings of 27g.
Total paid = 33gp instead of 60gp.