View source for Item Crafting Guide

=Item Crafting 101=
This is a simple guide to follow for all aspiring crafters.  The point of this guide is to help others understand how to navigate the process of knowing the difference between devices and artifacts, planning out an item, prerequisite abilites to create items, and pricing your items after you create them.

==The Two Types of Craftable Items==
===Artifacts===
Artifacts are the more expensive types of items a character can construct.  The reason for this is because anyone may use an artifact, and artifacts abilities are based on the Potential Level of the character that created it.  
 Example: Vor crafts an artifact that fires a blast of flame at an enemy that does 50% of his Potential Level in fire damage, and moves at 100% of his Potential level in speed.  Vor's PL when he crafts this item is 5,000, Vor gives this item to a new potential buddy of his who is relatively weak, Mike whom only has 500 PL.  Mike get's in trouble and waves the wand Vor gave him releasing the fireball.  This fireball does 2,500 damage moving at a speed of 5,000 (5,000x0.5 / 5,000x1) rather than 250 damage at 500 speed.
Obviously this gives Mike a huge advantage for a long time.  For this reason in order to make an artifact it always costs the full price of the ability to make a new one.  More than likely until you get a few tiers under your belt (tier 3 or 4) you probably won't be looking at making this type of item.

===Devices===
Devices tend to be less expensive than their counterpart.  The reason for this is because there are many limitations on whom may use a device and how a device is used.  The first most important thing to remember is that a device may only be used by one category (Technic/Prefector/Summoner).  If you're a Technic crafter only other Technic's can use your devices. Add ontop of that even if your category is the same but your Motiff isn't the very similar they take a penalty to use it!   You might think that makes these items all but useless, but with some clever tricks some use may still be found in them.
 Example: Vor makes a frost grenade.  Since it's a throw weapon it can be delivered by the user throwing it.  Since that isn't part of the function of the device that means that the speed of throwing the grenade isn't effected by the tier penalty.  The ability of the grenade is that if it hits it's target it lowers the speed of the person it hit by the amount of energy put into it.  So Vor gives Abe (PL 5000, Tier 4) the frost grenade.  Abe tosses it at a bad guy @ 2500 speed (5000x.05)  but can only put 1750 points of energy into.  The reason for this is because Abe's motiff is different and that restricts is PL to the highest PL of Tier 3 (3500) and his 50% energy generation at 3500PL would be 1750 points.
In that example the grenade isn't as strong as if Abe had the ability to slow like that himself, but maybe that isn't Abe's thing.  Also it's likely he bought that grenade for much cheaper than he would have paid for his own ability todo so.  There are other ways to make devices useful even to those that might not share your Motiff and I hope you explore them.