Warlock Crafting: The Early Years

[bekeleven]

I looked a bit into what Warlocks can make if they select an item creation feat before level 12. In other words, before they can emulate spells. The challenge is, what can you craft when you have no:


Spells
Powers
Turn/Rebuke Undead
Bardic Music
Etc. (Wild Shape, Essentia, Bard levels...)


I checked three sources: The SRD, the magic item compendium, and Complete Arcane, the Warlock primary source, because of course that would have some warlock items in it, right? Right?

Craft Magical Arms and Armor
All +X weapons and armor (CMAA only)
Blueshine [Armor] (CMAA, Alchemy 5)
Aquan/Auran/Ignan/Terran [Weapon] (CMAA, Subtype)
Caster's Shield (CMAA, Scribe Scroll)
Spell Storing Weapon (CMAA, Level 12... somewhat defeats the purpose. Maybe on a multiclass warlock?)
Dwarven Thrower (CMAA, Lv10, Dwarf)
Oathbow (CMAA, Elf)
Mace of Blood [Cursed] (CMAA, Lv9, CE Alignment)

Forge Ring
Ring of Climbing, Jumping, Swimming (FR, 5-10 Ranks in the skill)
Ring of Master Artifice (FR)
Sing of Self-Sufficiency (FR, Autohypnosis 10)

Craft Rod
All metamagic rods (CR, the metamagic feat. Which obviously don't work on invocations.)

Wondrous Items
Boots of Elvenkind (CWI, Elf)
Bracers of Archery (CWI, CMAA)
Elixir of Swimming (CWI, Swim 5)
Ioun Stones, All (CWI, Lv12. Again!)
Silversheen (CWI)
Helm of Opposite Alignment [Cursed] (CWI, Lv12)
Circlet of Rapid Casting (CWI, Quicken Spell)
Crystal Mask of Detection/Discernment/Dread (CWI, Search/Sense Motive/Intimidate 10)
Crystal Mask of Insight (CWI, Search 9, Spot 9)
Crystal Mask of Knowledge (CWI, Knowledge (any) 5)
Crystal Mask of Languages (CWI, know 5 languages)
Crystal Mask of Psionic Craft (CWI, Psicraft 10)
Dragon Spirit Amulet (CWI, Dragon/Dragonblooded)
Dragon Spirit Cincture (CWI, Breath Weapon)
Gauntlets of Eldritch Energy (CWI, Eldritch Blast)
Spare Hand (CWI)
Third Eye Aware/Concentrate/Gather (CWI, Spot/Concentrate/Gather Information 10)
Third Eye Expose (CWI, Sense Motive 5)
Dragon's Draught (CWI, Dragon/Dragonblooded)
Dragondoom Scepter (CWI, Empower Spell)
Skin of Nimbleness (CWI, Tumble 10)
Skill Shard (CWI, Any skill 2/5 Ranks)
Chasuble of Fell Power (CWI, Eldritch Blast)
Gloves of Eldritch Admixture (CWI, 3 spells or 3 mediocre invocations)

Other
Cognizance Crystal (Craft Cognizance Crystal)

Which of these, incidentally, were from complete arcane? The Chasuble of Fell Power and a few metamagic rods. They didn't even let warlocks make the Warlock's Scepter.

In conclusion: If you're a warlock under level 12, and you want to enter the crafting game, start making some +1 weapons. You're a 2+Int skills class with no Int dependency, and half the wondrous items need 10 ranks in different skills, so it's weapons and armor all the way.

[Gruftzwerg]

In conclusion: If you're a warlock under level 12, and you want to enter the crafting game, start making some +1 weapons. You're a 2+Int skills class with no Int dependency, and half the wondrous items need 10 ranks in different skills, so it's weapons and armor all the way.

First let me say thx for your effort to put up the list.

But imho a craftlock can do more in the early game. This is due to the Chameleon 2 dip that most craftlocks take. And if you take those lvls at ECL 6 and 7, you can already start to craft some items. You have your floating feat + access to all lvl 1-2 spells. Enough to craft more items than most other crafting build (excluding artificer).

Craftlocks are front and end loaded. It's just the midgame (lvls) where they fall off a bit (until they complete the Warlock 12/Chameleon 2 combo)

[bekeleven]

Chameleon dip is on the table if you can take two levels off of your everything else, but it does set back everything else. It feels like a move you make when you don't think your campaign will hit level 12, so pushing imbue item to 14 doesn't matter.

Imo if you're using chameleon to take crafting feats AND to cast spells to craft the items, you don't need warlock at all and there are probably better chasses.

[ShurikVch]

Excluding the very expensive items with the long craft time - what's wrong with UMD for crafting? (Sure, it's a bit costly - but besides that?)

[bekeleven]

Excluding the very expensive items with the long craft time - what's wrong with UMD for crafting? (Sure, it's a bit costly - but besides that?)

The two main reasons to craft are to save money and to gain access to specific items in absence of a magic mart. So a solution like "you can craft more items, but it costs a bunch and you need to buy a specific magic item to do it" is a tool that solves significantly fewer problems.

[Troacctid]

I did add a column for this in my spreadsheet, FWIW. It might be of interest. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sJRCphWkrtLm8Q6iD6_YPp00MggiAT556j9231uu5Lg/edit#gid=0&fvid=955698118

[Endarire]

If your game uses the Pathfinder-based crafting system where a high bonus to Spellcraft is the most important factor in crafting, then your crafting becomes much easier regardless of class.

[ShurikVch]

Spells
Powers
Turn/Rebuke Undead
Bardic Music
Etc. (Wild Shape, Essentia, Bard levels...)


Magical Training, Minor Divine Spellcaster?
Hidden Talent?
Divine Channeler?
Essentia not just can be gained via Bonus Essentia, but inherently present in Azurins and Dusklings


Craft Rod
All metamagic rods (CR, the metamagic feat. Which obviously don't work on invocations.)
By the popular interpretation, +0 metamagical feats are work with SLA. Why rods shouldn't?

[Shinoskay]

I like to use craft bypasses for bards, even though they dont normally need it, because of how thematical it is.

toil craft, master crafter, or poppy craft are great lead ins to crafting magical items of varied natures... especially if you have a floating feat.

[bekeleven]

By the popular interpretation, +0 metamagical feats are work with SLA. Why rods shouldn't? I was talking about the crafting prerequisites (take Extend Spell on a single-classed warlock if you like; do any canon metamagic rods require +0 feats?), not the rods themselves, which RAW obviously don't work with things that aren't spells. I was actually trying to make a build work the other week that used +0 metas on a warlock and even when I squinted really hard, it didn't work and nobody bought it (https://i.imgur.com/laWQguq.png).

So RAW, neither metamagic feats (+0 or otherwise) nor rods work with invocations. I think a lenient DM might allow you to use one or both of them, especially if you're in a party with higher-tiered classes, but that's a kindness more than a reading.



Oh also, thanks Troacctid! Looks quite useful.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

If you have ranks in Craft (Alchemy), you should be able to craft any alchemical item you have a high enough bonus for.

The Create Device feat (from Ravenloft: Legacy of the Blood) doesn't actually require casting, so anyone can make Devices.

[Bohandas]

Wait, which book is CWI? nvm, that's the feat, craft wondrous item, isn;t it

I was confused because it's so similar to the abbreviations for the splatbooks

[ShurikVch]

I was talking about the crafting prerequisites (take Extend Spell on a single-classed warlock if you like
Craft it - then retrain?..


do any canon metamagic rods require +0 feats?
Five rods of Energy Subtitution (Sonic was available in the Tome and Blood)


rods themselves, which RAW obviously don't work with things that aren't spells. I was actually trying to make a build work the other week that used +0 metas on a warlock and even when I squinted really hard, it didn't work and nobody bought it (https://i.imgur.com/laWQguq.png).

So RAW, neither metamagic feats (+0 or otherwise) nor rods work with invocations.

Complete Arcane, pg. 71-72:

Sudden Metamagic Feats: These metamagic feats don't require modified spell slots, and so they work as well with spell-like abilities or invocations as they do with spells (though because spell-like abilities don't have verbal or somatic components, Sudden Silent Spell doesn't apply and Sudden Still Spell applies only to invocations).
Complete Arcane is primary source for all things arcane: if it says this works - then this works
(Also, they published errata for the book. If the part about SLA and Sudden Metamagic wasn't intended - why they don't fixed it?)

[Chronicled]

(Also, they published errata for the book. If the part about SLA and Sudden Metamagic wasn't intended - why they don't fixed it?)

May have just been an oversight. It's easy to miss stuff, even in the errata phase; if nobody has called it out as a problem, it will probably get overlooked.