Inventory/Manage Magic Items - confused
 

Hello.
I need some help please to understand how to manage magic items.

I am OK with regular gear... bought a backback, bought some rope, moved the rope into the backback. And that 'gear' shows up in the PLAY tab under "Gear".

But I also bought a Bag of Holding I. It only shows in the FORMULAS area where it was purchased... not in my PLAY tab??. It does print as part of my PC stuff, but with nothing other than the name of the item.

Questions:
1) Why are magic items in a Category named FORMULAS?
2) Bag of Holding is a HELD item. So I find what I want... buy it. then what?
2a. how do I show this in the PLAY tab?
2b. If I equip it or not is managed in the FORMULA area only?
3) How do I get more than just the name of the item to display
3a. in HLO
3b. in the PC printout.

Appreciate any input. Hope I've explained this well.....

My own answer
 

OK... I think I see what's happening.

I was purchasing the FORMULA to the Bag of Holding, not the item itself.

To get a Bag of Holding:
Equipment tab > Gear > Special Items >> + > Select a Category = Hand Held > pick what you want > Buy (75gp).
This item now shows up in the PLAY tab/Gear/Magic Items.

To get the formula for a Bag of Holding:
Equipment tab>Formulas>Held >> + > Category list, choose item > Buy (5gp). And this is listed in the HELD window.
Then somehow you craft this and convert it?

Issue??: If you sell back the item from the HELD window, then
1. You only get to sell it back at 50% (no choice for 100%?), and
2. It is 50% of the full item, not the cost of the formula. ?? You are getting back more money....??

Thanks for your answer)

I think you're misunderstanding the rules. A formula is just a how-to guide on how to craft a given item, not an ingredient in crafting the item. You need a formula to craft the item (and a basic crafter's book contains all the formulas for common items in the core book, the equivalent of a general-purpose handyman's guide), but it isn't consumed or converted into the item or any way: it's just the game abstraction for having a woodworker's reference guide, the schematic to a trap, or whatever. See page 293 of the core book.