Monsters that craft

[CIDE]

Hello all,

I'm looking for creatures or templates out there within the wide world of 3.5 to see what sorts of monsters out there are good at crafting this. I'm being intentionally broad here since it can go multiple ways. I'm aware of things like the Midgard Dwarf for conventional items or the Silthilar for special grafts. I'd even include monsters that could simply naturally qualify for crafting with feats or monsters unnaturally good at using magic items (like Eldritch Giants).

It's a semi story focused reason for some world building but I don't want to force too much or homebrew too much just because it's my world.

I do want to stay away from methods that explicitly require just taking class levels to craft. If it were that easy it'd just be a bunch of human Artificers.

Thanks

[MisterKaws]

Aranea, Couatl, Drider, Gloura, Nymph, True Dragons and other caster-creatures all qualify by virtue of having equivalent class-levels in caster classes, but I'm not sure that's what you're looking for.

I don't think there's many monsters that have innate crafting abilities. Aside from those you mentioned, I personally only remember the Dedicated Wright, which still requires you to have all the item creation pre-requisites, and just excludes the work time.

[Thurbane]

Sibriex (FC1 p. 52) can apply grafts for free 3/day.

[Efrate]

Githyanki. Silver swords explicitly, other stuff implicitly. Genies via crafting or wish; salamanders make their own weapons. Pixies make their sleep arrows so conceivably they can do arms and armor. Titans. Angels and devils, most varieties. Drow and duegar. Firbolg and Fire Giants are noted craftsmen. Formions.

[DrMotives]

Clockwork Horrors craft to increase their numbers, they're an in-game model for an evil Von Neumann machine. Maug don't have the same "evil Von Neumann" trope, but also are constructs that build and animate more of their species to reproduce. They also make grafts available to other races.

[jdizzlean]

it's not "any" crafting, but Myconid Sovereign's (CR 7) from MM2 get mundane potion making as a racial ability

[daremetoidareyo]

There's those trees in ghostwalk that make potions

[jdizzlean]

There's those trees in ghostwalk that make potions

spirit trees

used in the Iron Chef round for Arboreal Guardian round.

my build was illegal (stupid Dragon material), but still got Honorable Mention, you can get some info here, and/or link to the original round for more

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22334534&postcount=53

[Telonius]

Marruspawn (from Sandstorm) have their own particular items called "Zymes." They're actually mundane biological items that you need to have Craft (Spawncrafting) in order to make.

Shadar-Kai (from the Fiend Folio) have several specific Shadar-Kai items listed.

Githyanki (MM1) have their Silver Swords.

[Thurbane]

Kaorti (FF) and their special resin, from the web enhancement.

Hags have their special item, a Hag Eye (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/hag.htm).

[radthemad4]

Rejkars from Monster Manual 3 have Fabricate at will as an SLA. The default statblock has ranks in Craft Armorsmithing, Carpentry and Weaponsmithing

[Saintheart]

The chain devil, Kyton, statblock gives them a +17 at Craft (blacksmithing) and they get a racial +8 at Craft skills involving metalwork.

[CIDE]

There's a hell of a lot more going on here than I thought there'd be. Thanks for all the responses, guys.

[unseenmage]

Is there a way to cram Fabricate and Guidance of the Avatar or similar onto a Shield Guardian, Runic Guardian, or Spellstitched undead?

[Saintheart]

Is there a way to cram Fabricate and Guidance of the Avatar or similar onto a Shield Guardian, Runic Guardian, or Spellstitched undead?

Runes, as always, provide a partial solution. A permanent rune of Guidance of the Avatar will set you back a market price of 2 x 2 x 2,000 = 8,000 gp (Ur-Priest/Runecaster creator; magic item rules say you always price at the lowest possible level for casting the spell) and allows you to cast the spell anytime you want. A permanent rune of Fabricate you'd likely have to get either via Anyspell or Alternative Source Spell, and it'd be pricey: 5 x 5 x 2,000 = 50,000 gp (again, Ur-Priest/Runecaster creator). However, by the strict wording of Runecaster you could only do this in respect of one item, since Inscribe Rune requires that you make any of the selections you would otherwise make while casting the spell when making the rune, i.e. Fabricate is going to be locked down to one item you can create at-will, and Guidance of the Avatar locked down to one skill. But otherwise, a rune is a slotless item which you can either paint on the guardian/undead or just inscribe it on a sharktooth hung around the minion's neck.

[Falontani]

Daelkyr create symbiomts, which function as magical items.

Iirc spell like abilities can be used to meet prerequisites for item creation feats, and to create magic items that have their spell like as a prerequisite.

[Karl Aegis]

Tin Golems are made specifically to craft.

[Telonius]

(Nevermind, already mentioned)

[ShurikVch]

Yuan-Ti Anathema (Fiend Folio) with their Attach Grafts

[WhamBamSam]

Many types of grafts (illithid, yuan-ti, fiendish, aboleth) can only be made by a creature of the corresponding kind or a Fleshwarper. Others have mentioned creatures that can make some of them for free.

The Flame of the Forge Sovereign Archetype makes dragons better at crafting.

Ethergaunts and Grell have some weird items that they craft. It looks like anyone can take the necessary feat for Grellcraft items.

Hoarder (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070307b) is a kind of undead dragon that can, among other things, activate a magic item in its hoard 1/round as a free action.

[One Step Two]

While not as notable as some for magical gear, Azer's have "Craft (Any two) +6" in their stat-block, making them moderately proficient craftsmen, given their Fire Subtype, and have a Racial Ex ability to heat metal through their bodies, they are flavorful Blacksmiths. Combined with low HD, great candidates for Lesser Planar binding.