Crafting Rules 2023

To create magic items, spellcasters invest time, money, and their own personal energy in an item’s creation. The creator also needs a fairly quiet, comfortable, and well-lit place in which to work. Any place suitable for preparing spells is suitable for making items.

Formulas

Before creating a magical item, the crafter needs to obtain the crafting instructions or formula for the item.

Purchasing a Formula

This can be done in a few ways. If the crafter has access to an individual or organization which may conceivably have the formula on hand, they can buy the formula. The cost of a formula is half the item's base value. Sometimes the seller may require a service from the crafter, either for the opportunity to purchase the formula, or sometimes to offset the cost of the formula.

Reverse Engineering the Formula

A crafter who has access to a magical item, and no chance to purchase the formula may reverse engineer the formula from a copy of the item. To reverse engineer the formula, it takes half of the time it would take to create the item. At the end of that time, the item is destroyed, but the crafter has the formula to create more.
Most items fall under three categories, Arcane, Divine or Primal. If the item is an arcane item, the crafter makes an Arcana Check. Religion is used for Divine Items, while Nature is used to Primal Items. The primary (and secondary) crafter(s) must be trained in the skill used to craft the item.

Unique Formulas

Sometimes the crafter character would like to make a truly unique item. In that case they need to work with the GM to define the item. The most important considerations are Rarity and Base Value, which should be based on a comparison with items of similar power. The GM may assign a side-quest for an important Reagent to create the unique item, or the character may already have reagents from previous adventures that they planned on using to construct the item. Once the GM and player have written up an agreed upon description of the item and any side quests are wrapped up, the rest of the process plays out as written here.
Once the character learns a formula, it is assumed to be written down in a spellbook, formula book, or other medium. The character may craft as many of that item as needed, and even share the formula with others. A Common Formula requires 2 pages to record, and Uncommon Formula, 5 pages, a Rare Formula, 10 pages, a Very Rare Formula, 20 pages and a Legendary Formula, 50 pages (often a book unto itself).

Materials (Reagents)

The formula for a magic item will include the materials (called reagents) needed to craft the item. Reagents can be purchased or acquired through adventuring. The crafter needs at least 50% of the item's base value in Reagents to craft the item, and may need more than that in the case of some bad luck (see the Resolution section below). In the interest of keeping the system simpler, individual spells and Reagents will not be listed for each item.
Note: I have a simple system for determining the base value of all magical items for now. When a character asks about creating an item, I will share the value. I've heard that the revised core rulebooks in 2024 will have item values. At that point, we will use the revised rulebook values.

Crafting Time

The time needed to craft an item is dependent on the base value or selling cost of the item, magical or mundane. More expensive items may not necessarily take more time to craft, but may require more expensive materials.

• When crafting an item which has a value of up to 250 gp, progress is made in 25 gp increments per day.

• When crafting an item which has a base price between 251 gp and 1,000 gp, progress is made in 50 gp increments per day.

• When crafting an item which has a base price between 1,001 gp and 5,000 gp, progress is made in 100 gp increments per day.

• When crafting anything with a base price between 5,001 gp and 25,000 gp, progress is made in 250 gp increments per day.

• When crafting any item with a base price between 25,001 and 50,000 gp, progress is made in 500 gp increments a day.

• When crafting any item with a base price over 50,000 gp, progress is made in 1,000 gp increments a day.

Each day, the crafter uses Reagents equal to half the daily increment. So for that Bag of Holding (25 gp per day), each day, the crafter uses 12.5 gp in Reagents.
The days spent crafting do not have to be consecutive. A crafter could start an item, go adventuring, then return and finish the item.

Secondary Crafters

Multiple characters can combine their efforts. For example, a Bag of Holding (250 gp) can be completed in 10 days at a rate of 25 gp per day. If two people spend five days each on the crafting process, it would only take them those 5 days. If a secondary crafter helped out for three days, the primary crafter would need seven days (the three working together, plus an additional four days) to craft the item. If multiple crafters are working, each one uses Reagents.
The other possibility for a secondary crafter would be to help aid the primary crafter. If a secondary crafter uses the "Aid Another" action, they wouldn’t reduce the time needed to craft the item, but the primary caster may make the completion roll with advantage.
The primary crafter may have a secondary crafter aiding their work, while other secondary crafters help to complete the items quicker.

Resolution

At the end of the minimum days crafting, the primary crafter makes a check. Most items fall under three categories, Arcane, Divine or Primal. If the item is an arcane item, the crafter makes an Arcana Check. Religion is used for Divine Items, while Nature is used to Primal Items.
The DC checks for the items are based on its Rarity

• Common Items are successful with a DC of 12

• Uncommon Items require a DC of 15

• Rare Items require a DC of 18

• Very Rare Items Require a DC of 21

• Legendary Items Require a DC of 25

On a successful Roll vs. the Items Crafting DC, the item is finished. If the roll is not successful, the crafter may spend another day (and use another day's allotment of Reagents) and repeat the roll. This can continue to happen until the crafter has used Reagents equal to the full base value of the item. Once the full base value is reached, the item is completed regardless of the crafting roll.
Remember that if a secondary crafter is using Aid Another during the entire crafting process, the Crafting roll is made with advantage.

Putting it all together

Elyot, a wizard who has reached the ability to cast 6th-order spells finally gets tired of her party members in the Venatore whining that they don't all have Bags of Holding. Not knowing the formula, she uses her Bag of Holding and reverse engineers the formula. It takes 5 days to deconstruct, at which point she records the Uncommon item formula into the next 5 pages of her spellbook.
As an Uncommon Item with a Base Value of 250 gp. The item will take 10 days to create at a rate of 25 gp daily increments. It will have a creation DC of 12. Elyot has an Arcana skill of +9, so she's not too worried.
The first three days, she's helped out in her laboratory by Rostram, who is also proficient in Arcana. Each spends 12.5 gp in Reagents each day, for a total expenditure of 75 gp in Reagents. They complete 6 days of item creation before their fortress of Mav Mayot is attacked by local bandits.
The Venatore respond in kind, flush out the bandits and trace them to their lair and wipe them out. After a week away from the lab, Elyot returns. Rostram chooses to head to the city, so Elyot is on her own. With six days done, Elyot needs four days minimum to complete the Bag of Holding. The final four days cost Elyot another 50 gp in Reagents before she gets the chance to complete the Bag.
On the final day, Elyot confidently makes the Arcana check, and rolls a 2. Swearing under her breath, after all, how difficult could a Bag of Holding be, she spends another day (and another 12.5 gp), and rolls a 1. Cursing fate and everyone else who gets in her way, she spends another day (and another 12.5 gp) and rolls a 15. The Bag is completed. It took 12 days of labor (cut to 9 thanks to Rostram's help) and 150 gp, but that is still far less it would cost to buy the Bag from the gnome in the village of Hommlet.
If Elyot had continued to roll 1's and 2's, the maximum it would have taken her is an additional 10 days, at which point she would have used 250 gp in Reagents, the cost of purchasing the Bag of Holding instead of spending her time trying to craft it.

An Alternate Scenario

Tired of being a pincushion in the Temple of Elemental Evil, Elyot wants to create a unique item. Elyot's Glamerweave Robes. Together, the player and GM define the item. Robes which have a base AC of 13 and can cast shield 1/day. The GM sets the rarity as Rare, these are certainly better than a Cloak of Protection (uncommon), they certainly will require attunement by an arcane caster, and sets the value at 3,000 gp. Elyot gathered handfuls of feathers from the Ironfeather Owlbear they faced in the temple dungeons and is planning on using them to make the robes. At a value of 3,000 gp, Elyot can progress at a pace of 100 gp per day, each day using 50 gp in Reagents. It takes 30 days and will require a Arcana check DC 18 at the end of the 30th day. With a Arcana of +9, she only needs a 9 to succeed. It may take a few more days that 30, but she's got better than a 50% chance to succeed each day.