Niche D20Equipment, such as weapons and armor, can be made into masterwork versions of themselves. A masterwork version is a higher quality than normal, with varying degrees of masterwork. This is separate magical enhancements on a weapon, and rather are mundane modifications and boosts that can be made to a weapon to make a greater version of itself. The following are the quality levels for weapons:
| Quality | Base Cost Increase | Craft DC Increase | Base Progress per Day | Modification Slots |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Common* | 0 | 0 | +0 gp | 0 |
| Uncommon | 200 gp | 10 | +4 gp | 1 |
| Rare | 3,200 gp | 20 | +64 gp | 2 |
| Exceptional | 16,200 gp | 30 | 324 gp | 4 |
| Legendary | 51,200 gp | 40 | 1024 gp | 7 |
*While listed, common is considered the base quality of a weapon and this is not actually yet masterwork.
The craft DC increase is the increase over the existing crafting DC to create the weapon or armor; while the base cost increase is added to the base price of an item when creating it anew. Progress per day is added on top of the existing progress per day for the weapon. Most weapons and armor have their cost, DC, and progress split between its simple, martial, or exotic versions. Each level of quality increases the base crafting price of an item significantly, while also providing additional benefits. For each rank of quality above common, the item gains an additional 1 Hardness and 10 hit points over the base hardness and hit points of the item.
In addition each rank of quality adds modification slots. This allows for additional modifications without compromising the quality or structure of the equipment. Some modifications potentially cost more than one modification slot. Unless otherwise specified a modification cannot be added to an item more than once. Modifications must be chosen to be added at the time the weapon is upgraded, and if not chosen it is assumed Durable was chosen to fill any unused modification slots.
Masterwork Shields
Shields are primarily treated as weapons first for the purposes of crafting, enhancement, and masterwork abilities, though enhancements and modifications may exist that can only affect shields.
Masterwork and Double Weapons
When applied to a double weapon, unlike enchanting, the entire weapon benefits from the masterwork rank and all modifications are applied to both ends. If one end would be eligible for a benefit while another wouldn’t, only the end that qualifies may benefit from this.
Masterwork and Combination Weapons
Unlike double weapons, combination weapons work slightly differently. The entire weapon still benefits from the masterwork rank, but the overall cost is increased. In addition modifications are applied to each end separately and utilize slots separately, but each end receives less than a normal weapon would.
See the chart below for the changes:
| Quality | Base Cost Increase | Modification Slots |
|---|---|---|
| Common* | 0 | 0 |
| Uncommon | 300 gp | 1 |
| Rare | 4,800 gp | 2 |
| Exceptional | 24,300 gp | 3 |
| Legendary | 76,800 gp | 5 |
Masterwork Implements
Implements that are not weapons can be made masterwork but unless they are a weapon cannot receive the same modifications as a weapon. Otherwise masterwork implements receive the same bonus to hit points and hardness a weapon would. Like other masterwork equipment, its modifications and benefits are entirely mundane, as a result most masterwork implements do not grant a direct benefit to spellcasting for being masterwork, but may be modified to grant other utility benefits.
List of Modifications
Below are links to various modifications for different types of equipment:
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List of Weapon Modifications
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List of Shield Modifications
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List of Armor Modifications
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List of Implement Modifications
Reforging Existing Equipment
The above system assumes you have an item being specially crafted for, or by, you. When upgrading to the next tier of quality you may take the difference between the current quality of your weapon and the next quality and pay the difference in cost. Doing this does not remove or modify existing modifications, simply adds the slots to add in new modifications.
When looking to modify an existing weapon to change its modifications, you must pay 10% of the cost of the item’s current rank to reforge its existing modifications into new ones.
When looking to upgrade in quality, but also replace all existing modifications applied, you must pay the difference in price, plus the 10% cost of the current rank to both increase the quality and allow for changing of existing enhancements it possesses.