Suggestion for improved crafting rules

[Spacehamster]

So as many agrees, crafting is kinda useless and anytime you could craft anything remotely expensive is if the group has spent a year or so between adventures. Im thinking to use how high proficiency you have affect how much gold worth per day you can make. Prof + ability modifier connected to the type of crafting tool! for example blacksmithing tools would fit with STR and jewelcrafting tools maybe DEX.

Prof 0-3 = 10g/day
Prof 4-5 = 20g/day
Prof 6-7 = 30g/day
Prof 8-9 = 40g/day
Prof 10-11 = 50g/day

Anything higher would be from having expertise and gives the same increase of +10 every 2 prof you get. Also if you can choose expertise in any skill as you can as bard and rogue you can also choose it for any tool you are proficient in, allowing for a pc specialized in crafting.

[Fwiffo86]

It takes master smiths in this modern era, over a full year to make a suit of armor. I am not seeing a discrepancy in time tables here.

[Spacehamster]

It takes master smiths in this modern era, over a full year to make a suit of armor. I am not seeing a discrepancy in time tables here.

And this is real world simulator 5th edition? Crafting rules as is is worthless cause most will never bother to use them due to things getting finished about 10 lvls later when the thing you crafted is no longer of any use. :) crafting rules should be like a mmo, where gathering the materials is the hard part. Once you get mats it should finish right away or at least loads quicker then a year. Getting mats to craft something character defining could be a quest line/hook for the party.

[pwykersotz]

And this is real world simulator 5th edition? Crafting rules as is is worthless cause most will never bother to use them due to things getting finished about 10 lvls later when the thing you crafted is no longer of any use. :) crafting rules should be like a mmo, where gathering the materials is the hard part. Once you get mats it should finish right away or at least loads quicker then a year. Getting mats to craft something character defining could be a quest line/hook for the party.

That's certainly one way to play it. :smallsmile:

I think your rule works well based on your intended purpose. It functions identically to increasing player downtime as you level, but disguised as a buff.

[Easy_Lee]

It takes master smiths in this modern era, over a full year to make a suit of armor. I am not seeing a discrepancy in time tables here.

Gonna have to cite your source on that, since we see tons of custom armor in Game of Thrones, LoTR, various documentaries, etc which sure doesn't take a year for anyone to make.

The real answer is it depends heavily on the armor, the blacksmith, and how custom it has to be in real life. In FR, established smiting clans, dwarves in particular, probably have molds for just about every kind of armor, naturally expediting the process.

As for your player, bear in mind that wizards can just cast a spell to turn raw materials into finished product. I wouldn't make your players spend longer than a few weeks crafting something.

[Slipperychicken]

And this is real world simulator 5th edition? Crafting rules as is is worthless cause most will never bother to use them due to things getting finished about 10 lvls later when the thing you crafted is no longer of any use. :) crafting rules should be like a mmo, where gathering the materials is the hard part. Once you get mats it should finish right away or at least loads quicker then a year. Getting mats to craft something character defining could be a quest line/hook for the party.

Fullplate wouldn't be so expensive if it wasn't so time-intensive. If it just took 50 pounds of metal and a few days, it wouldn't cost 1500gp.


Also, if you can recall how broken crafting was in 3.X, then you'd probably know why they decided to nerf it in 5e. Crafting basically halves the price of many goods, which can essentially double a characters' wealth if he doesn't have to sacrifice much for it.

[Fwiffo86]

Gonna have to cite your source on that, since we see tons of custom armor in Game of Thrones, LoTR, various documentaries, etc which sure doesn't take a year for anyone to make.

The real answer is it depends heavily on the armor, the blacksmith, and how custom it has to be in real life. In FR, established smiting clans, dwarves in particular, probably have molds for just about every kind of armor, naturally expediting the process.

As for your player, bear in mind that wizards can just cast a spell to turn raw materials into finished product. I wouldn't make your players spend longer than a few weeks crafting something.

Hey, I'm going with the guys who aren't using lathes, modern furnaces, metal working tools, etc. and are doing it old school style like you see in Ren faires, etc. Take away the modern tools, and you can see what I mean. One person takes a very long time to craft a set of armor.

But since you need a source, let me hunt for it....

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/aams/hd_aams.htm#time_b

Scroll down a bit, and click
How long did it take to make a suit of armor?

Here is a forum post where they are discussing this very thing
http://www.heavengames.com/cgi-bin/forums/display.cgi?action=ct&f=10,320346,780,all

Look for Stoffel's Post, should be the first one. He says he can make generic custom full plate in three months working full time, but that he uses an electric grinder.

[JNAProductions]

For my two cents, I'd put gameplay over realism. It's better to have a fun, functioning crafting system that isn't true to life than to have a more realistic, less fun system.

Think of HP. Does it make sense? Not even close. But it's a fun system that works great with D&D.

[Spacehamster]

Fullplate wouldn't be so expensive if it wasn't so time-intensive. If it just took 50 pounds of metal and a few days, it wouldn't cost 1500gp.


Also, if you can recall how broken crafting was in 3.X, then you'd probably know why they decided to nerf it in 5e. Crafting basically halves the price of many goods, which can essentially double a characters' wealth if he doesn't have to sacrifice much for it.

Wealth in 5th ed does not do that much tho since no magic item shops anyways? As reccomended setting anyways. :)

[Seruvius]

I like this idea, makes crafting and skills like say medicine useful for crafting potions, rather than just being outclassed by the medicine kit. I will defs suggest this to my DM as a possible houserule.

[Easy_Lee]

Me personally, I too subscribe to the "gameplay over realism" notion. One of my players is an aspiring blacksmith; when this comes up, the plot will decide how long it takes him to craft X, and I'll just remember that number for later.

[Naanomi]

Would other modifiers add to that result? Bardic Inspiration and the like?

If not, the highest one could get would be (30 in the stat, proficiency, Ioun stone of mastery... not possible to have expertise in a tool skill right now other than thief's tools) +17; or 80g/day

[Kane0]

So as many agrees, crafting is kinda useless and anytime you could craft anything remotely expensive is if the group has spent a year or so between adventures. Im thinking to use how high proficiency you have affect how much gold worth per day you can make. Prof + ability modifier connected to the type of crafting tool! for example blacksmithing tools would fit with STR and jewelcrafting tools maybe DEX.

Prof 0-3 = 10g/day
Prof 4-5 = 20g/day
Prof 6-7 = 30g/day
Prof 8-9 = 40g/day
Prof 10-11 = 50g/day

Anything higher would be from having expertise and gives the same increase of +10 every 2 prof you get. Also if you can choose expertise in any skill as you can as bard and rogue you can also choose it for any tool you are proficient in, allowing for a pc specialized in crafting.

Making progress at 5gp/day per +1 of your prof bonus (starts at 10, rises to 30) seems fair.
You could also extend that to magic item crafting, doing 10gp/day per +1 of your prof bonus (starts at 20, rises to 60).

[Doug Lampert]

I like this idea, makes crafting and skills like say medicine useful for crafting potions, rather than just being outclassed by the medicine kit. I will defs suggest this to my DM as a possible houserule.

Since the amount of downtime you get is TOTALLY arbitrary and set by the DM I simply don't see how this can possibly make crafting potions more or less outclassed by things like medicine kits. No downtime, the change makes no difference at all; adequate downtime to craft what you need, the change makes no difference at all.

You won't have time DURING an adventure either way, and the time between adventures is set by the GM based partly on how useful downtime is.

"Long" craft times make for long down-times, which I find FAR more realistic and reasonable and in-line with most fiction than the level 1 to level 20 "what I did on my summer vacation" adventure timescale.

[JNAProductions]

Right, and if you're playing with Hoard of the Dragon Queen, you never get that downtime without some serious restructuring of the chronology.

The crafting mechanics with massive time works fine on adventure-of-the-week, go out whenever you want to adventures, less so on ones with a quicker timescale.