Myatar_Panwar
2008-08-21, 06:45 PM
Magical items have always been a staple of the fantasy genre. But, so are these items being crafted. Whether its a blacksmith at his prime, creating an item of legend, a mighty wizard weaving a robe of immense power, or a druid using the skins of dragons to create a suit of armor which turns aside even the sharpest of blades.
In 3.5, the creation of magical items is basically restricted to only the wizard and divine classes, as well as the artificer, of course. Any spontaneous casters might have some trouble getting their hands on the spells needed for creation. Another problem with crafting, is that it costs XP! No one ever wants to give up XP for something they could just buy.
I am trying to improve crafting to make it more acsessable to other classes, as well as not shy away potential crafters because of the XP loss. I can't tell you the number of characters I've had, and wished that I could just craft an item or two to use. Not because its convienent or cheap or anything, but because it adds just a little more to your character. Having the generic +2 fullplate you bought from a store is alot less epic than the +2 Green Dragon Plate whose runes were inscribed by you. Just as a cloak of resistance +1 isn't as epic as the cloak you crafted using bits and pieces of troll skin from the southern marshes. It just... adds something. Also, I'm not trying to say that all gear you find normally will be so generic, but for those slots which arn't filled with something cool, here ya go.
So heres how my method works:
No individual crafting feats. Instead there is only 1 crafting feat. It is required to create magical items, and its only prerequisite is 5 ranks in a crafting skill.
Every item creation is judged by a coresponding skill. This may depend heavily on your DM, but you pick a craft skill (blacksmithing, etc.) and that skill dictates what kinds of items you can create.
The base cost for components, a place to work, and other non-magical variables is Half of the Market value of the item. You may reduce this cost by 50% if the item in question uses a specific material, and you have come across this item in your travels (such as dragon scales for dragon plate).
The other half of the price comes from the materials needed for you to carve in the magical encriptions needed. You do this by carving small common runes of power into the item in question (or whatever you want really. this is just fluff, you can word it however you want), and then sprinkling Residuum over them (stealing this from 4e. Basically a concentrated magical substance found in the remnents of destroyed magical items). Some enhancements may require a specific focus item, but this is largely dictated by your DM (such as a rare flower found only at the base of volcanoes for a flaming weapon).
Thus the object of crafting is no longer to get items at a cheaper value (you can but not always), but to get a little more personal with your character.
I will include the skill checks needed to create items later, but am unsure on how to do that. By price or what? Also, was thinking of further reducing cost by some amount depending on how well the check succeeds.
Also, this post was done relatively quickly. Just had to get the idea down. Tell me what you think. Good idea, broken, what? I will add more later such as coresponding skills and the time it takes to craft after I can think of a method.
In 3.5, the creation of magical items is basically restricted to only the wizard and divine classes, as well as the artificer, of course. Any spontaneous casters might have some trouble getting their hands on the spells needed for creation. Another problem with crafting, is that it costs XP! No one ever wants to give up XP for something they could just buy.
I am trying to improve crafting to make it more acsessable to other classes, as well as not shy away potential crafters because of the XP loss. I can't tell you the number of characters I've had, and wished that I could just craft an item or two to use. Not because its convienent or cheap or anything, but because it adds just a little more to your character. Having the generic +2 fullplate you bought from a store is alot less epic than the +2 Green Dragon Plate whose runes were inscribed by you. Just as a cloak of resistance +1 isn't as epic as the cloak you crafted using bits and pieces of troll skin from the southern marshes. It just... adds something. Also, I'm not trying to say that all gear you find normally will be so generic, but for those slots which arn't filled with something cool, here ya go.
So heres how my method works:
No individual crafting feats. Instead there is only 1 crafting feat. It is required to create magical items, and its only prerequisite is 5 ranks in a crafting skill.
Every item creation is judged by a coresponding skill. This may depend heavily on your DM, but you pick a craft skill (blacksmithing, etc.) and that skill dictates what kinds of items you can create.
The base cost for components, a place to work, and other non-magical variables is Half of the Market value of the item. You may reduce this cost by 50% if the item in question uses a specific material, and you have come across this item in your travels (such as dragon scales for dragon plate).
The other half of the price comes from the materials needed for you to carve in the magical encriptions needed. You do this by carving small common runes of power into the item in question (or whatever you want really. this is just fluff, you can word it however you want), and then sprinkling Residuum over them (stealing this from 4e. Basically a concentrated magical substance found in the remnents of destroyed magical items). Some enhancements may require a specific focus item, but this is largely dictated by your DM (such as a rare flower found only at the base of volcanoes for a flaming weapon).
Thus the object of crafting is no longer to get items at a cheaper value (you can but not always), but to get a little more personal with your character.
I will include the skill checks needed to create items later, but am unsure on how to do that. By price or what? Also, was thinking of further reducing cost by some amount depending on how well the check succeeds.
Also, this post was done relatively quickly. Just had to get the idea down. Tell me what you think. Good idea, broken, what? I will add more later such as coresponding skills and the time it takes to craft after I can think of a method.