Masterwork
For every additional 50% of time is spent creating an item, the crafter can improve the quality of the item by one unit. Each of these units is called a Masterwork Unit, or MU.
Because cost is a result of the time spent crafting, each MU increases the price by half of the original. An item with 4 MU would cost three times what a normal item of the same kind would cost.
Each MU increases the HP of an item by 2.
An item must be created by a Craft check to be able to be made masterwork.
The GM may always rule that some items cannot be made masterwork - Lead Bullets, for example, is so simple it cannot be really modified in any meaningful, gainful way. The GM may also rule that certain improvements cannot be made to certain items. Reducing armor check cannot be done on armor with no penalty, for example.
Improvements
Improvements are designated by three factors - first, what the base improvement is. Second, how many MU it requires to make this improvement. Third, what the maximum amount of improvement may be in this area.
An item must be MADE masterwork - a non-masterwork item cannot be improved by any sort of normal means, nor can a masterwork item be made "more" masterwork. An item is stuck with the number and configuration of MU it had at creation.
General
General can be applied to any item not in the other categories
| Base | MU cost | Maximum |
|---|---|---|
| +1 to hardness | 1 | +2 |
| 10% less weight | 1 | 50% less (five times) |
Tools
See tools under Mundane Equipment.
| Base | MU cost | Maximum |
|---|---|---|
| +2 to checks involving the tools | 1 | +4 |
Weapons
| Base | MU cost | Maximum |
|---|---|---|
| +1 to attack | 1 | +2 |
| +1 to damage | 1 | +4 |
| 25% less weight | 1 | 50% less (twice) |
| +1 to Disarm and Trip attempts (if applicable) | 1 | +2 |
When applied to ammunition, masterwork increases are done for a batch (e.g. 20 for most arrows). Bonuses from weapons and ammunition stack - arrows with +2 to attack stack with a bow with a +2 to attack, giving a total of +4. This is, of course, very expensive, as ammunition is quite often destroyed.
Armor
| Base | MU cost | Maximum |
|---|---|---|
| +2 to hardness | 1 | Once |
| 1 less Armor Penalty | 1 | 2 less |
| 10% less weight | 1 | 30% less (thrice) |
The bonus against Armor Penalty only applies if the armor is fitted to the character. Masterwork armor with this quality is fitted to a specific person at creation, but this may be changed with a craft check of 10 less than the check to create the armor and 1d4 days' work. Masterwork armor that is not fitted to you does not gain this benefit.
Shields
| Base | MU cost | Maximum |
|---|---|---|
| +1 to AC | 1 | Once |
| 5 lower arrow block DC | 2 | Once |
| 1 less Armor Penalty | 1 | Once |
| 5 lbs less | 1 | 10 lbs less (twice) |
Cloth Wraps and Cloaks cannot be made masterwork as a shield.
Special
Some items have special rules concerning being made masterwork. These will be noted under their descriptions.
