To create a
wondrous item, a character usually needs some sort of equipment or tools to work on the item. She also needs a supply of materials, the most obvious being the item itself or the pieces of the item to be assembled. The cost for the materials is subsumed in the cost for creating the item.
Wondrous item costs are difficult to formularize. Refer to
Table: Estimating Magic Item Gold Piece Values and use the item prices in the item descriptions as a guideline. Creating an item costs half the market value listed.
If spells are involved in the
prerequisites for making the item, the creator must have prepared the spells to be cast (or must know the spells, in the case of a
sorcerer or
bard) but need not provide any material components or focuses the spells require, nor are any XP costs inherent in a prerequisite spell incurred in the creation of the item. The act of working on the item triggers the prepared spells, making them unavailable for casting during each day of the item's creation. (That is, those spell slots are expended from his currently prepared spells, just as if they had been cast.)