Schematics are a special type of magic item which provide information on how to construct other magic items. Schematics generally take the form of scrolls or books but may also exist as frescoes, encoded texts, or even an oral tradition. Each schematic corresponds to a specific magic item with a specific caster level. A creature who consults a schematic while crafting is treated as having the feats, spheres, and caster level necessary to craft the schematic’s associated magic item (but only for the purpose of crafting this specific item) and gains a +5 competence bonus on skill checks made to craft the item. The character must have access to the schematic for the entire duration of crafting. When using a schematic, the character must still expend resources to craft the magic item as normal.
The price of a schematic varies depending on the price of the item it allows the user to craft as well as the number of times the schematic can be used. The price of a schematic is equal to 40% of the item’s market price x the number of times the schematic may be used before its magic fades. Once a schematic’s magic fades, it no longer grants feats, spheres, or a caster level for the purpose of item creation but still provides a +2 competence bonus on skill checks made to craft its associated magic item (schematics with no magical uses remaining can be purchased for 50 gp apiece). A schematic which would be crafted with 5 or more uses instead has an unlimited number of uses.
It is possible to bundle multiple schematics into a single magic item known as a folio. A folio’s cost is equal to the sum total of the costs of all schematics contained within the folio. Uses of a given schematic are not shared with other schematics in the same folio.