I have a player who wants to buy masterwork tools as opposed to buying magic items that boost his skills.
The reason being, masterwork tools grant a +2 bonus to a skill and cost 50gp.
Magic items that grant bonuses to skills cost (bonus) squared x 100, meaning a +2 magic item costs 400gp.
So i guess my question is…. what is the difference between a masterwork tool and a magic item that grants the same bonus? Are there certain skills you cannot have tools for? Was that the intent?
Best Answer
Usually a masterwork tool and a magic item offer different types of modifiers so they stack
A masterwork tool typically grants a circumstance bonus that's usually just a +2 circumstance bonus. However, circumstance bonuses, unlike most other named bonuses, stack with other circumstance bonus from different sources. A magic item commonly grants a competence bonus (but sometimes another kind of bonus) that—with enough gp, effort, and Dumpster-diving—can be quite high (although +30 is the usual limit). However, most named bonuses—like competence and insight—don't stack.
For example, the player may want to buy for his PC a masterwork tool for the skill Spellcraft first because it's less expensive then buy a magic item that grants another kind bonus on Spellcraft skill checks because the magic item's bonus will likely stack with the circumstance bonus.