I love what DragonStar did with Spellware, now the user, not the creater invests the xp to create an item, it makes more sense that way.
I've never been a big fan of DND's Alchemy/Craft rules. I like what they did in their mini game d20 Pulp in Dungeon 90, and in D20 Deadlands. d20 DL rules are more my style.