Magic Item Recipes

[Kane0]

Hey there everyone!

So my group has tried out 5e, and we really like it. Our one shot looks like its going to turn into a full campaign, and I am playing a smith that would like to make himself a magic item or two. He has found himself a magic warhammer during his adventures (we are level 5) and he's looking into a shield or some armor that can grant him some extra protection.

Now we have no problem with doing so, we have some regular downtime between treks through the surrounding lands and he is wealthy enough to get started, but the problem is what should the recipe's cover? Our DM is also stumped.

Acquiring the knowledge is not the problem (there is a nearby community of magically inclined goblinoids that are a powerful mercantile force in the area), its just that we want a list of ingredients that make sense, especially for more generic items like +1 weapons/armor and cloaks of protection.

Does anyone have any ideas or can recommend some ingredient lists?

[Madfellow]

Dragon scales. :smallamused:

[Fwiffo86]

Ore refined thrice in purified water containing 7 drops of quicksilver for metal weapons (blessed water for holy weapons) : Wood from a tree hit by lightning or given from a dryad's tree for wooden ones.

Embers from a fire that burned for a year (to anchor fire enchantment)
Water from a stream that dried up and was reformed (to anchor water)
Air captured from the top of the world's highest mountain (to anchor air)
Earth from the deepest un-mined hole (to anchor earth)
Bone fragments from a 1000 year old grave (to anchor necrotic)

etc, etc, etc.

It sounds as if magic items are significantly more common in your game world. Adjust material frequency accordingly.

[archaeo]

Acquiring the knowledge is not the problem (there is a nearby community of magically inclined goblinoids that are a powerful mercantile force in the area), its just that we want a list of ingredients that make sense, especially for more generic items like +1 weapons/armor and cloaks of protection.

Does anyone have any ideas or can recommend some ingredient lists?

Sorry, just to clarify, are you wondering about fluff or mechanics?

For fluff, whatever works; magic-laden metals, lost artificer's tomes, arcane gemstones, dragon heartstrings, whatever floats your boat/seems appropriate. Mechanics are trickier and depend on what you want out of the game; you can attach quests to crafting missions, but you risk the game becoming "about" making magic items instead of, whatever, saving the world.

[Inevitability]

Maybe the armor has to be forged from small pieces of [amount the DM likes] other suits of armor, all of which have been worn into combat? Acquiring those may present a small challenge, and I feel it presents the right level of fluff.

[Endarire]

To my understanding, a magic item recipe in 5E kinda works like a phone number when called from a payphone. You pay the money, dial the number, and get the item.

[Feldarove]

I think like everyone seems to be saying,if its just fluff, you (or your DM) can come up with whatever they want. You can quest for some items, perhaps buy some (all). The total cost (currency or time) should be equivalent to what the DMG presents for magic items.

If you have ever played video game RPGs, often magic items are created from regular material plus arcane bits. So for a shield, you would have your base metal (s) and then maybe some stardust, dragon tears, and some displacer beast droppings.