Crafting Magic Items

Crafting Items

To craft a magic item using your Downtime Activity (DTA), there are certain requirements that must be met. Be sure to read the general rules about magic items HERE before embarking on your craft. Once you're ready, the process is as follows:

1. DM Approval: Let Jess know what item you'd like to craft. If the item is approved, you may proceed in finding what you need to craft the item.
2. Formula: A formula is needed to know how to craft the item. This requires using at least one DTA to research and find the formula.
   
3. Materials: Exotic materials are required, like skin of a Yeti or a vial of water from a whirlpool in the Elemental Plane of Water. Finding these materials should take place as part of a session and be thematically-congruent with the item you are trying to make. Want hand wraps or a cloak? Then maybe skin or a hide is needed. Wanting a necklace or ring of some kind? Perhaps you'll require a harder material, like teeth or bone. If you need ideas for what kinds of materials make sense for your item, ask Jess. See the Harvesting Materials and Crafting Requirements tables for more information.
4. Tool and Skills Proficiencies: In order to craft Common, Uncommon, or Rare items, you need to be proficient in both Arcana and with any tool or tools appropriate for creating the item, although only the Tool Check is needed to craft. Mundane and Masterwork items only require tool proficiency. If you do not have Arcana or tool proficiency, you may hire another PC to make the item for you (see "Working with Other PCs" for more information). The following is just a sample of tool checks for various items. If you have questions about which tools you need to have proficiency with, ask a DM.
   
5. Gold Cost and Time Required: There is a cost and time required associated with item rarity. See the Crafting Requirements table for more information.

Harvesting

Harvesting a creature’s components must be started within one hour of death. The number of components that can be harvested depends on the size of the creature, per the table below. Each component requires one character working for 10 minutes per component to harvest. At the end of each ten-minute period, the character must make a DC 15 Arcana or Survival Check per component to successfully harvest it.

Working with Other PCs

If you find that you are not proficient in the skill or tool required, you can ask another PC to craft the item for you. For example, because of their skill set, Artificers are equipped to craft almost any magic item. Whomever you go to for your crafting project, you must use a Downtime the first week of the project to help get the crafting started.

You may also work with another PC to combine your skillsets. If one PC has proficiency with Arcana and another has proficiency with the tool required, you may both use your DTA to craft the item. Each person must make their respective Arcana or Tool Check, and both must meet the appropriate DC to succeed.

Commissioning an NPC

If no PCs are available or able to assist you in your crafting, some items may be able to be crafted by an NPC. Springreach has specific crafters available for hire, depending on your needs. Once you have successfully found a blueprint/formula to provide to the crafter, you must roll a d20 to determine if the crafter has time in their schedule to meet your request. A DC13 may find you an Expert Craftsman capable of crafting your item. A Persuasion Check must then be made to determine the cost of hiring the craftsman, per week of crafting (this is on top of the crafting cost of the item itself and whatever components are needed). Expert Craftsmen are capable of the work, so there are no further tool check rolls necessary and they will successfully craft the item each week that is required. Because of this, no additional hirelings are available to cut down on crafting time, and the item will take the full number of weeks, as is determined by its Rarity level. If you have already commissioned a project from a crafter, future projects with that same crafter may be easier. On your second commission, you may roll the d20 to get onto their schedule at Advantage. On your third commission, and all commissions after that, you may roll the scheduling d20 and your Persusion roll for commission cost at Advantage.

Hired Help

Crafting items can take time, but Springreach has laborers and craftsmen available for hire to assist you in your crafting. The level of skill needed by a hireling is dependent upon the rarity of the item, and the more skilled, the higher the cost per week. Although a PC still needs to do the work of crafting, paying for a hireling every week can cut down the time of production by up to half. Please note that hirelings are NOT available if you have commissioned an NPC to craft your item.

Crafting Requirements

Crafting Potions, Antitoxins, or Poisons

Potions and other consumables require slightly different times and requirements in order to craft. Proficiency in Arcana is not needed, but different tool proficiencies are, depending on the type being made.

Healing Potions

To craft healing potions, proficiency with the Herbalism Kit is required, although no roll is needed.

Antitoxins and Poisons

Antitoxins require proficiency with an Herbalism Kit and are the equivalent of a Common potion for price and DC purposes. Poisons require proficiency with a Poisoner's Kit, but specifically require knowledge of the ingredients and process to craft the poison. The recipe for poisons can be researched based on rarity according to the Researching Formula/Blueprint chart, or a vial of the poison can be distilled in order to reverse-engineer it to learn the formula. Distilling the poison will consume it. Once the recipe is known, the poison can be crafted. The DC for both distilling and crafting is dependent upon the rarity, and costs half the market value, as displayed in the following table:

Potions (other than Healing)

Those with proficiency in Alchemist's Supplies may craft potions. Recipes for potions can be researched or reversed-engineered through distilling (which consumes the potion). The DC for distillation and crafting is based on rarity, and costs half the market value. If the potion has a specific price according to the DMG, use that price as the market value; those with unspecified prices will use the prices stated in the following table:

For Antitoxins, Poisons, and Potions, the following shows the results of rolls other than successes:

Those with Alchemist's Supplies proficiency may also want to craft specialized alchemical formulas from the essences of harvested creatures.

The instructions for Alchemical Crafting can be found HERE.

Crafting Items

Crafting items takes time, money, and expertise in the required tool, but it can be rewarding to create your own magical arsenal or armor.

The results of rolls other than successes are as follows:

_{Loss of Materials: You will need to find and replace the lost materials with equivalent material of a similar CR. Once it is aquired, the project can resume where it was left off.}

For more information regarding Masterwork Weapons, go HERE.