Crafting - Masterwork or Exceptional Craft

[Bad_Bud]

I read a post by Helaman

Me? I'd also love to see "Masterwork" templates. Insanely priced (or even DM provided) that have very high DCs but make something out of the box... so boots that give +4, not +2 move sliently, Cloaks that give +10 cold resistance and weapons and armours that are even lighter or do a little more damage. I'd love to make a Masterwork Katana that bought its wieght down to 5-6 lbs or a Set of Plate that wieghted 30-36lbs or acted as Medium armour (-7 skill bonus, not the full -10)... properly controlled (maybe DM quest is best - you gather the best raw materials, the GM exchanges it for the appropriate template) these items would be highly sought and valued beyond the current mass produced current crafter items.

and I went into deep thought for three days (less than a minute)...

I think it would be cool to see smithed items have a slight uniqueness to them.  I know absolutely nothing about how smithing works or the DC's involved in armor or weaponcraft, so the numbers I throw out are for example only and are ballpark figures.

What I would like to see is if someone crafted a steel fullplate and surpassed the DC by rolling a 20 and surpassing the DC by a significant amount like, perhaps 30 or so.  This success would create an exceptionally well made suit of armor, one where the stars aligned at the moment of its creation.  Like a suit of armor that feels like it was made for the person wearing it.  "More comfortable than my pajamas!"  The actual results I would be looking for in game would be simple skill additions like +2 to discipline or parry on a suit of armor.  It would be more interesting if the skill being used was a random choice out of a set of potential skills.

Bucket of skills = [Discipline, Parry, Concentration (maybe the other armors are uncomfortable)]

Result = Get +1 to +3 skill bonus to one of the above, chosen at random

The same thing could happen with leather armors and the like, but of course the skills would be different there.

It would feel even extra special if an armor with a magical hide managed to get exceptionally produced, as not as many of those are made.

Please drop suggestions.  The goal with this idea is to give "christmas presents" to crafters and armor buyers.  The goal is not to make something so powerful that the crafters would farm and grind to make one, because a +2 to those basic skills shouldn't be exciting anyone, but rather something that would come by surprise and get the smith a few extra coins in the sale.  Players would also feel special for owning something unique.

[Helaman]

DMs can also create custom items for crafters as well - so there is a sort of mechanism for it.

If I went to one of the DMs and said "Hey, I want to make a Katana with 40% reduction in wieght but same abilities as the current steel katana" (not a bad idea), three things are possible.

1) DM: No
2) DM: Whats your justification for it Helaman - Me: "I make a DC60 on even rolling a 1 and I am a specialist in making Katana, its been my character focus since the beginning, the DC is 45 for the steel katana, I can do that without a roll". DM: Ok, make a roll [d20] and tell me if you get over x OR Ok but we need to get you some special iron to make the steel... let me throw together a quick quest for you. At the end of it, the GM gives me the requested item.
3) As above BUT the item is tweaked for additional balance in someway, so there is a MINUS to a skill or save etc. Personally I am not a fan of this but the GMs sometimes have to create internal balances... the more uber the item, the more likely you are gonna cop the penalty.