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Pathfinder Unchained / Alternate Crafting and Profession Rules / Crafting

Special Raw Materials

Source Pathfinder Unchained pg. 75
Crafting items requires a certain ratio of raw materials to start. Typically, these raw materials are some sort of trade good that is required to make the item. Making a suit of chainmail, for instance, requires 37 gp and 5 sp worth of steel (assuming you are using the alternate Craft skill presented above). But not all raw materials are the same—some raw materials are better suited for crafting. These are special raw materials.

Unlike normal raw materials, special raw materials have both a cost and a crafting cost. The cost of the special raw material is the amount for which it can be purchased and sold. Special raw materials are trade goods, and like all trade goods, they can be bought and sold for the same price. The crafting cost is the amount of gold they are considered to be worth for the purposes of crafting. For example, flawless steel’s cost is 8 gp per pound, but its crafting cost per pound is 4 gp. It can be bought and sold for 8 gp per pound, but when used as the raw material for crafting items, it is considered to be worth only 4 gp per pound.

While special raw materials can be bought and sold, they work best when handed out as treasure. As the GM, if one of the PCs in your group has invested in the Craft skill, consider giving out these special trade goods in place of coin treasure every so often.

Special raw materials’ crafting costs are always half their actual cost. They also have special traits when used as the raw material for crafting in the alternate Craft skill rules presented above. A special material cannot have more than one of the following special traits.

Easily Worked Raw Materials: This type of raw material makes it easier to craft items faster. When using this raw material, the item’s base progress per day is doubled. For example, if you are creating a suit of chainmail using easily worked steel, your base progress per day is 4 gp rather than 2 gp.

Flawless Raw Materials: This material is so flawless that it can be used to create high-quality items with ease. When using flawless raw materials to create either masterwork or specialmaterial items, the crafting difficulty doesn’t increase. For example, if you craft a suit of masterwork chainmail using flawless steel, the difficulty of the check remains normal (DC 15) rather than becoming complex (DC 20).

Malleable Raw Materials: This type of special raw material can withstand crafting errors better than other normal materials of the same type. If you fail a Craft check by 5 or more when using malleable raw materials, you don’t lose an amount of raw material equal to the item’s base progress per day.

Pure Raw Materials: This raw material makes it easier to craft an item. When using this raw material, you roll twice when attempting your Craft check and take the better result.

Table 2-6: Special Raw Material Cost

Special Raw Materials (1 lb.)Easily WorkedFlawlessMalleablePure
Adamantine600 gp600 gp375 gp450 gp
Alchemical silver20 gp20 gp12 gp, 5 sp15 gp
Angelskin200 gp200 gp125 gp150 gp
Blood crystal80 gp80 gp50 gp60 gp
Bone2 gp2 gp1 gp, 2 sp, 5 cp1 gp, 5 sp
Bronze10 gp10 gp6 gp, 2 sp, 5 cp7 gp, 5 sp
Cloth8 gp8 gp5 gp6 gp
Cold iron100 gp100 gp62 gp, 5 sp75 gp
Darkleaf cloth20 gp20 gp12 gp, 5 sp15 gp
Darkwood20 gp20 gp12 gp, 5 sp15 gp
Dragonhide100 gp100 gp62 gp, 5 sp75 gp
Eel hide250 gp250 gp156 gp, 2 sp, 5 cp187 gp, 5 sp
Elysian bronze400 gp400 gp250 gp300 gp
Fire-forged steel300 gp300 gp187 gp, 5 sp225 gp
Frost-forged steel300 gp300 gp187 gp, 5 sp225 gp
Gold100 gp100 gp62 gp, 5 sp75 gp
Greenwood100 gp100 gp62 gp, 5 sp75 gp
Griffon mane80 gp80 gp50 gp60 gp
Leather6 gp6 gp3 gp, 7 sp, 5 cp4 gp, 5 sp
Living steel200 gp200 gp125 gp150 gp
Mithral800 gp800 gp500 gp600 gp
Obsidian6 gp6 gp3 gp, 7 sp, 5 cp4 gp, 5 sp
Steel8 gp8 gp5 gp6 gp
Stone6 gp6 gp3 gp, 7 sp, 5 cp4 gp, 5 sp
Viridium400 gp400 gp250 gp300 gp
Whipwood300 gp300 gp187 gp, 5 sp225 gp
Wood2 gp2 gp1 gp, 2 sp, 5 cp1 gp, 5 sp
Wyroot400 gp400 gp250 gp300 gp