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The Compleate Enchanter
as recounted to Andy Wolff by Michael Fitzpatrick, Enchanter.
Good mornin to you! Your cousin Kate told me that youd
be comin over to borrow me lab for the day. Come in and make
yourself at home! I just brewed up a pot o oatmeal and theres
a wee bit o sugar in the cupboard to your right. Tea is on the
fire. Youd best be eating a large breakfast as youve a
full day ahead of you. While I had some dealings with your old master,
I confess I never knew her well. I assume she has taught you the
basics of how to turn a profit at the same time she taught you the
basics of enchanting? Sure and bless your heart, laddie! Just because
you sell an item for more than it cost you to enchant it doesnt
mean you are turning a profit! Consider your own case: You are a rank
13 enchanter, with rank 7 in Mystic Arts. You are going to be working
today in a +2 shop inside of a +1 building. That means you have 13+2+1
= 16 points of production, 56 spell points. Just for the sake of
argument, lets say that you wish to produce a permanent 8 spell
point generator, requiring 36 production and 72 spell points.
You clearly will need more production, and that can be had. For
example:
- Your cousin Kate will sell you distilled water at 10 coppers for
another 2 production. And if she wont I know another chemist,
Vicky, who can do so for you. Of course, you can only use the
distilled water once during the day.
- My friend Monique will sell you a Great Aid gear for another 8
production at a cost of 4 silvers.
- In addition, you have been living well for the last month, and
spent an additional 3 silvers on top of your 1 silver basic
maintenance. Say that you take the extra two levels of maintenance
in production, giving you another 6 production.
- Finally, you recruit an apprentice with rank 5 in enchantments,
which gains you another 4 production points, half their rank (round
down) plus 2. The usual honorarium for an apprentice in enchanting
is 2 silvers, but given your apprentices accomplishments, I
think he might be satisfied with 1 silver.
You have your total of 36 production, just enough to manufacture a
permanent 8 spell point generator.
Of course, you will be needin to be purchasing the item to
enchant, but that cost you can pass along to your customer. Well
be cheap and get a lump of Silversteel for 30 coppers. You are also
about 16 spell points shy, but the city constable is also a
creationist and he can supply you those 16 spell points for another 3
silvers.
So, you have everything you need: Production points (36), spell
points (72), and an item to enchant. Of course, you also have a
commission for the item (well assume), and as is usual, you are
paid half up-front: 10 silvers, 15 coppers. This is good. Now as you
know there are certain consumables used in the enchanting and costing
3 coppers per spell point enchanted. You need to spend 10 silvers, 16
coppers. You then sell the item for list cost: 21 silvers, 10 coppers
(taking into account the silver steel).
You have spent:
- 10 coppers for the distilled water,
- 4 silvers for the Great Aid
- 4 silvers maintenance
- 1 silver for the apprentice
- 30 coppers for the Silversteel
- 3 silvers for the extra spell points
- 10 silvers, 16 coppers for the enchantment.
Your total costs were 24 silvers, 16 coppers. You sold the item for
21 silvers, 10 coppers. You just lost 3 silvers, 6 coppers! Laddie, in
this example, you just bankrupted yourself.
What are you talking about? Such foolishness! Of course you can make
money enchanting! You just can not make it proceedin as
discussed above. There are at least three ways smarter than the above
to do the enchantment.
First, and most preferable, you pass the costs along to the
customer. Youd be wantin to use this technique whenever
your customer is in a great hurry and has a lot of money. If I were to
enter into such a contract, I would be wantin to have the
customer agree to my profit margin up front. Takin the example
of the 8 spell point generator, Id be sayin to the
customer: I would normally be makin a wee bit more than 10
silvers on such an item, although it would be takin me a couple
of months to be finishin it for you. So, If youd be
guaranteein me 10 silvers over cost, Id be willin to
expend the extra effort to be makin it for you today.
Needless to say, Laddie, youd be quotin him a price of 36
or 37 silvers. That way when you come in at 34 silvers he is grateful
that you were so economical in your production. You will be needin
to bear in mind, however, that any merchant could supply him with the
above item at a much more competitive cost if he is willing to wait a
month for it to come in. So, dont even discuss this method of
payment unless the customer has to have it right now. The second way
is to simply take the commission and then spend two or more months
makin the item. It may not be terribly flashy, but at the end of
two months youll be 8 silvers ahead rather than 4 silvers
behind.
Of course you can make money enchanting! You
just can not make it proceedin as discussed above. There are at
least three ways smarter than the above to do the enchantment.
The third way is to cooperate with another enchanter in town and
split the profits based upon the production and spell points
contributed. For example, say there were two of you, one a rank lower
in Enchantments than you, but with the same number of ranks in Mystic
Arts. The lower rank would apprentice to you, but at the same time
supply out of his own pool of production and spell points the rest of
the points needed to produce the item. Whether or not an apprentice
honorarium or partial honorarium is applied is between the two of you,
but my personal feeling is that you are bringing the ability to make
the item to the table (note that a rank 12 enchanter can not produce a
permanent spell point generator), and that ability ought to be worth
something. Should it be that either of you can make the item on your
own, perhaps the apprentice production points might be credited evenly
between you and no honorarium paid. So, he supplies 12, you supply 16
(remember that the shop can only add to the production of one
enchanter unless you buy one big enough for more than one enchanter),
and in addition you get the 8 from his apprenticeship. Now, as you
well know, production is only half the issue here, there is also spell
points. Since you are both evenly matched in that regard with 7 ranks
apiece in Mystic Arts, say you agree to each provide 36 spell points.
From where I stand it would appear to me that half the profit should
be split evenly because of the spell points, and the other half, based
on production, should go 2/3 (or 24/36) to you and 1/3 (or 12/36) to
your apprentice. Your apprentice gets about 3 silvers, 17 coppers and
you get 5 silvers, 7 coppers. Now, lad, I can see your eyes beginnin
to glaze over, so I will sum all this up for you in simple terms.
Every production point has the potential to earn you 12 coppers.
However, for permanent items every production point will cost you six
coppers to enchant it. So, your profit per production point is 6
coppers. If you are paying more than 6 coppers per additional
production point, you are losing money. Less, and you are making
money. Similarly, each spell point has the potential to gain you 3
coppers after expenses. Pay more than 3 coppers per spell point and
you are losing money. Pay less, and providing you are not paying extra
for the production points, you are profiting. If you are buying both,
spending more than 6 coppers total for a production point and 2 spell
points is going to put you in the poor house. Now in the real world,
you can get spell points much faster than twice the speed you can
accumulate production points, so spell points will seldom be your
limiting economic resource.
Thus, spending a silver for 3 production points is actually costing
you 2 coppers for the privilege of using the production. Spending 2
silvers for a rank 8 apprentice is the same thing. However, spending 2
silvers for a rank 16 apprentice is the same as spending 1 silver for
5 production points, or 4 coppers apiece, leaving you a 10 copper
profit. So, if you bear in mind that break-even is 18 copper per 3
production, you will do fine.
Did I mention that this break-even point changes when you start
enchanting the higher rank permanent items or non-permanent items? I
use this slate to remind myself of what I need when I am bidding on a
new job:
Single Shot Items
| Ranks: |
Profit per Production Point |
Profit per Spell Point |
| 1 |
6 Coppers* |
3 Coppers |
| 2,4, |
12 Coppers* |
3 Coppers |
| 7 |
14 Coppers* |
3 Coppers |
| 5,10 |
15 Coppers* |
3 Coppers |
| 8 |
16 Coppers* |
3 Coppers |
| 11 |
16.5 Coppers* |
3 Coppers |
| 3,6,9, |
18 Coppers |
3 Coppers |
| 2 Spell Points |
9 Coppers |
3 Coppers |
| 4 Spell Points |
18 Coppers |
3 Coppers |
| Key Stone |
5 Coppers |
Not Used |
* Note that the profit is less than 18 Coppers per production point
for these ranks because production points are wasted in rounding up
for one-shot items. Therefore, if you always insist on 3 charges of
whatever rank you are making, you will make maximum use of your
production points and maximum profit (18 Coppers) per production
point.
Rechargable Items
| Rank |
Profit Per Production Point |
Profit Per Spell Point |
| All Ranks |
12 Coppers |
3 Coppers |
Permanent Items
| Rank |
Profit per Production Point |
Profit Per Spell Point |
| 1-5 |
6 Coppers |
3 Coppers |
| 6-10 |
9 Coppers |
4 1/2 Coppers |
| 11-15 |
11.5 Coppers |
5 3/4 Coppers |
| 16-20 |
14 Coppers |
7 Coppers |
| 21-25 |
16.5 Coppers |
8 1/4 Coppers |
| Spell Points |
6 Coppers |
3 Coppers |
Sure'n now would you look at this! My old worksheet! One thing I
must allow, my old master knew how to pinch a penny. The first thing
he had me do was work out costs and prices and write them all down,
neat as you please! Well, lad, I am certain you know all this already,
but for it's amusement value and just to remind me that I was an
apprentice once myself, I keep it around. As you can tell, penmanship
was never my strong suite:
Item Costs and Prices
Note: Production fractions always round up
One-shot Items (Per charge)
| Rank |
Spell Points |
Production |
Coppers |
Retail (CP) |
| 1 |
2 |
0.333 |
6 |
12 |
| 2 |
4 |
0.667 |
12 |
24 |
| 3 |
6 |
1 |
18 |
36 |
| 4 |
8 |
1.333 |
24 |
46 |
| 5 |
10 |
1.667 |
30 |
60 |
| 6 |
12 |
2 |
36 |
72 |
| 7 |
14 |
2.333 |
42 |
84 |
| 8 |
16 |
2.667 |
48 |
96 |
| 9 |
18 |
3 |
54 |
108 |
| 10 |
20 |
3.333 |
60 |
120 |
| 11 |
22 |
3.667 |
66 |
132 |
Spell Points (per 2)
Keystone
Rechargeable Items (Per Charge) (Requires Enchantable Item)
| Rank |
Spell Points |
Production |
Coppers |
Retail (CP) |
| 1 |
4 |
1 |
12 |
24 |
| 2 |
8 |
2 |
24 |
48 |
| 3 |
12 |
3 |
36 |
72 |
| 4 |
16 |
4 |
48 |
96 |
| 5 |
20 |
5 |
60 |
120 |
| 6 |
24 |
6 |
72 |
144 |
| 7 |
28 |
7 |
84 |
168 |
| 8 |
32 |
8 |
96 |
192 |
| 9 |
36 |
9 |
108 |
216 |
| 10 |
40 |
10 |
120 |
240 |
| 11 |
44 |
11 |
132 |
264 |
Spell Points (Per 2)
Recharging Items
| Spell Points |
Production |
Coppers To Make |
Retail Price (CP) |
| 1 |
0.125 |
3 |
6 |
| 2 |
0.25 |
6 |
12 |
| 3 |
0.375 |
9 |
18 |
| 4 |
0.5 |
12 |
24 |
| 5 |
0.625 |
15 |
30 |
| 6 |
0.75 |
18 |
36 |
| 7 |
0.875 |
21 |
42 |
| 8 |
1 |
24 |
48 |
| 9 |
1.125 |
27 |
54 |
| 10 |
1.25 |
30 |
60 |
| 11 |
1.375 |
33 |
66 |
Recharging Spell points (Per pair)
Permanent Items (Per Instance) (Requires Enchantable Item)
| Rank (Example) |
Spell Points |
Production Points |
Coppers to Make |
Retail (SS) |
| 1 |
16 |
8 |
48 |
05 |
| 2 (+1 Resist) |
32 |
16 |
96 |
10 |
| 3 |
48 |
24 |
144 |
15 |
| 4 (+1 Effect) |
64 |
32 |
192 |
20 |
| 5 (+2 Resist) |
80 |
40 |
240 |
25 |
| 6 (+1 DR) |
96 |
48 |
288 |
36 |
| 7 |
112 |
56 |
336 |
42 |
| 8 (+3 Resist) |
128 |
64 |
384 |
48 |
| 9 (+2 Effect) |
144 |
72 |
432 |
54 |
| 10 |
160 |
80 |
480 |
60 |
| 11 |
176 |
88 |
528 |
77 |
| 13 (+2 DR/+4 Resist) |
208 |
104 |
624 |
91 |
| 16 (+3 Effect) |
256 |
128 |
768 |
128 |
| 18 (+5 Resist) |
288 |
144 |
864 |
144 |
| 24 (+3 DR) |
384 |
192 |
1152 |
216 |
| 25 (+6 Resist/+4 Effect) |
400 |
200 |
1200 |
225 |
Permanent Spell Points
| Rank (Example) |
Spell Points |
Production Points |
Coppers to Make |
Retail (SS) |
| 2 |
16 |
8 |
48 |
5 |
| 4 |
32 |
16 |
96 |
10 |
| 6 |
48 |
24 |
144 |
15 |
| 8 |
64 |
32 |
192 |
20 |
| 10 |
80 |
40 |
240 |
25 |
| 12 |
96 |
48 |
288 |
30 |
| 14 |
112 |
56 |
336 |
35 |
| 16 |
128 |
64 |
384 |
40 |
| 18 |
144 |
72 |
432 |
45 |
| 20 |
160 |
80 |
480 |
50 |
| 22 |
176 |
88 |
528 |
55 |
| 24 |
192 |
96 |
576 |
60 |
| 26 |
208 |
104 |
624 |
65 |
| 28 |
224 |
112 |
672 |
70 |
| 30 |
240 |
120 |
720 |
75 |
| 32 |
256 |
128 |
768 |
80 |
| 34 |
272 |
136 |
816 |
85 |
| 36 |
288 |
144 |
864 |
90 |
| 38 |
304 |
152 |
912 |
95 |
| 40 |
320 |
160 |
960 |
100 |
| 42 |
336 |
168 |
1008 |
105 |
| 44 |
352 |
176 |
1056 |
110 |
| 46 |
368 |
104 |
1104 |
115 |
| 48 |
384 |
192 |
1152 |
120 |
I see you've finished your oatmeal, and I have business to attend to
at the capitol. So I'll be leavin' me shop in your hands now. Wash up
your dishes before you leave. If you be needin' anything, ask Kate or
my co-worker, Darial. You have me wishes for a profitable day!
Problems with the page? Email Ken
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