C RAFTING Calligrapher’s Supplies.

Calligrapher’s supplies are

needed for the exquisite and precise penmanship that is
used among high courts, as well as the careful inscription
When players have downtime
of magic into scrolls.
between, or even in the middle
of campaigns, it will be the Carpenter’s Tools. Carpenters are wood-workers. But
case from time to time that they don’t just carve it, they can shape it and turn it into
they will want to use their furniture, structures, containers etc. While often looked
skills to create something, down upon a Carpenter can ply their craft toward car-
either for themselves, or to ving a shield or length of pole for a pole-arm as well.
sell and turn a profit while Cartographer’s Tools. Cartographer’s make maps by
they wait out their next big adv- precisely surveying the land and accurately recording the
enture. The rules developed here are wondrous landscapes they find.
designed to provide a more comprehensive method for Cobbler’s Tools. Cobbler’s tools are necessary for ma-
crafting items, be they magical or mundane, as well as king any good footwear from simple boots to fine dress
provide the DM with some ability to more precisely gage shoes.
the value of certain magical items they might provide to Cook’s Utensils. Cooks can prepare and preserve fine
their players within their adventures. meals, cheese, bread, meat, or entire banquets.
Glassblower’s Tools. The most common use for a
W HAT TO C RAFT ? glassblower is to provide vials and flasks, though
their skills also extend to hourglasses, lamps, lanterns,
What is better for making a Quarterstaff, Carpenter’s spyglasses and magnifying devices.
tools or Woodcarver’s Tools? Ultimately the decision lies Jeweler’s Tools. Jewelers tools are required to take an
with the DM, but the following is a set of guidelines for uncut, natural valuable stone, and turn it into a gem full
what each set of tools can be used to do, and the table be- of splendor. They can fashion necklaces, bracelets, and
low indicates the relevant ability score to use in crafting other decorative structures out of soft, valuable metals
checks with each set of tools. and other adornments.
It should be noted neither the tools nor the proficiency Leatherworker’s Tools. Leatherworkers work with the
brings with it any structural requirements if they exist. A skinned hides of various creatures, turning them into
Smith will still need a forge to properly apply their craft. slings, armor, bags, and even leather clothes.
Mason’s Tools. Masons are good at designing and con-
Relevant Ability Score structing some of the most sturdy structures made by
Alchemist’s Supplies Intelligence man, as well as being capable of carving stones into spe-
Brewer’s Supplies Wisdom cific shapes.
Calligrapher’s Supplies Dextrity Painter’s Tools. Artists trained with the brush can cap-
Carpenter’s Tools Strength ture the beauty and essence of what they see and transfer
Cartographer’s Tools Intelligence it into the canvas. They are typically also adept at decora-
Cobbler’s Tools Dexterity ting and enhancing the appearance of whatever objects
Cook’s Utensils Wisdom they can take their brushes to.
Glassblower’s Tools Constitution Potter’s Tools. Using clay, potters can craft jugs, pots,
Jeweler’s Tools Intelligence flasks, vases and other ceramic containers.
Leatherworker’s Tools Dexterity Smith’s Tools. Smiths tools are some of the most va-
Mason’s Tools Strength luable tools and are used to shape metal into armor, wea-
Painter’s Tools Charisma pons, and any other form of metal instrument.
Potter’s Tools Dexterity Tinker’s Tools. Tinkers are capable of crafting more
Smith’s Tools Strength complicated items that often involve some mechanical
Tinker’s Tools Dexterity work such as scales, fishing tackle, and other rudimen-
Weaver’s Tools Dexterity tary mechanical marvels.
Woodcarver’s Tools Dexterity Weaver’s Tools. Weavers work with fabrics, spinning
them into strings and chords and then weaving them into
Alchemist’s Supplies. An Alchemist specializes is all manor of clothes, sacks, robes, rope, etc.
using rare or magical ingredients and turning them in- Woodcarver’s Tools. Woodcarvers are simple wood-
to various potions and elixirs that can aid the noble ad- workers. As long as they start with a large enough piece
venturer. Virtually any liquid except healing potions and of wood they can carve it into a myriad of shapes allowi-
poisons can be made with these supplies. ng them to create arrows, bolts, bows, staves, and even
Brewer’s Supplies. Are useful for crafting ales, stouts, some shields.
wines, and other alcoholic beverages. Herbalism Kit. Used by healers and medics, the Her-

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. CRAFTING
 balism kits have the necessary equipment to create the Common materials are readily available materials, that
magical healing potions, and other basic medical aids. are essential to a functioning society. Copper, Iron, Oak,
Poisoner’s Kit. The Poisoner’s kit is often just a con- cow hide, and granite are examples of such easy to find,
verted Herbalism kit, capable of crafting concoctions de- and relatively cheap materials. The base price assumes
signed to end a life rather than save it. common materials resulting in no modification to the va-
lue or time to craft an item.
P ROPER TIES Uncommon materials are still available if you have the
money. They are more difficult to prepare, and generally
The following properties of the crafting process should valued above simple common items which adds to the
be determined by the players and DM’s before or during time and cost to craft with Uncommon items, but leads to
the crafting process, as these will affect the time and cost greater value as well. Garnets, Dwarven Steel, Common
to produce an item, as well as how much that item might Mithril, Silver, Iron-Oak, and Marble are all examples of
be worth if the players then decide to sell it. Uncommon materials.
Rare materials can sometimes be found from the occa-
B ASE C OST sional vendor for extreme prices, but most typically these
The first thing to assess when crafting a new item is the materials require quests to go out and track them down.
base cost for a simple standard version of that item. Ex- Many adventurers just starting out will take quests from
amples of base costs for many items can be found in the Guilds in search of these rare items for their benefactors
Player’s Handbook and Dungeon Masters Guide. This base to turn into profitable creations. Such items include Gold,
cost assumes a standard quality item made of common Rubies, Emeralds, Noble Mithril, Adamantine, and Wy-
materials and with no special enhancements involved. A vern hides.
regular steel longsword is a standard item. A masterwork Very Rare materials cannot be found for sale. Those
Mithril Plate Mail is not standard. The effects of different that have time guard their treasures carefully. Quests for
types of materials and quality of the crafting will provi- such materials often require experienced adventurers ca-
de different modifications to the either the cost (price to pable of spending months fighting through monstrosities
craft in gp and time) or the value (the worth of the finis- that now inhabit an ancient mine. Examples include le-
hed product at market). gendary gemstones like the Star Ruby, Royal Mithril, or
The following table can provide general guidelines for Dragon Hide.
the average costs for some common types of items. This Legendary materials have a mythical status. Only the
table is not complete, nor is it meant to be a replacement most powerful of adventurers are typically capable of
for the listed prices of objects when given in an official locating and surviving the quest to retrieve such items.
publication. Such materials are often thought of as being priceless,
and much of this class of material are remnants of Titans,
Light Armor 20 gp and other Primordial beings scattered though the planes.
Medium Armor 250 gp The examples provided above are designed to give a
Heavy Armor 450 gp rough guideline for what kinds of materials would be-
Simple Melee Weapon 17 sp long to each category. Ultimately the rarity and proper-
Simple Ranged Weapon 13 gp ties of any materials in the campaign world is at the dis-
Martial Melee Weapon 16 gp cretion of the DM.
Martial Ranged Weapon 37 gp The following table describes the cost per day of craf-
Robes/Cloaks/etc 15 gp ting for using each material, as well as a multiplier in the
Boots/Belts/Hats/etc 5gp time required to craft the item, and a multiplier on the
Helms/Bracers/etc 10gp final value of the item when finished.
Wand/Staff 10 gp
Rings 5 gp Material Daily Cost Time x Value x
Instrument (Music) 18 gp Common 1gp 1x 1x
Figurine 25 gp Uncommon 5gp 2x 2.5x
Rare 30 gp 3x 15x
Very Rare 200 gp 5x 100x
M ATERIAL Legendary 1000gp 10x >500x
After determining a base cost for the item, the next step
is to consider what materials it will be made out of. There For complex items that use different multiple tiers of
are countless different materials that can be used for any materials on different parts of the item, it is up to the DM
number of projects, but overall they can be split into five to decide how much of the item will be crafted from each
distinct categories: common materials, uncommon mate- tier and then average together their different properties
rials, rare materials, very rare materials, and legendary to come up with the item specific daily cost, time multi-
materials. plier, and value multiplier.

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C RAFTING T IME
The last step before beginning the Crafting itself is to
determine the work rate and the crafting time. The work
rate, is also the crafting modifier and is given by

Prof. Bonus + Relevant Mod. + Crafting Bonus

This number will be the modifier used in crafting

checks (see Crafting Items below), and is the rate in
gp/day that you are able to make progress on items.
To determine the crafting time you take the base cost
divided by the work rate, and multiply the time modifier
from the material, rounded up:
At the end of each day spent crafting, players must
Base Cost mark off the daily cost, and make a crafting check.
× Time Modifier The modifier for this check is the same as the Work
Work Rate
Rate calculated under Crafting Time. Once crafting is
This number represents the minimum number of days complete, take the average of all crafting rolls made on
required to finish the item. Players may continue wor- that item and compare it to the table below to determine
king on at item for any amount of time after they meet the Quality and value multiplier.
this minimum requirement as long as they continue to
pay the daily crafting costs and make crafting checks. Item Quality

AREN THE BLACKSMITH Average Quality Value x

0-4 Ruined 0x
Aren is a retired adventurer that has decided to become 4.01 - 12 Shoddy 0.1x
a blacksmith using a set of +1 Smithy tools he found 12.01 - 14 Poor 0.5x
as an adventurer. He was a fairly strong (16 Strength) 14.01 - 17 Standard 1x
3rd level fighter when he retired and has since gained 17.01 - 19 Superior 1.2x
proficiency with blacksmithing tools. Aren’s work rate 19.01 - 21 Exceptional 1.5x
is: +2 (Prof) + 3 (Str Mod) + 1(Tools) = +6gp/day. 21+ Masterwork 2x
Aren has heard of a Barbarian adventurer soon to be
arriving in town and wants to try and make a Greata- Players can get an approximate feel for the Quality of
xe out of Dwarven Steel to sell to the individual. With their item during work to decide if they wish to conti-
a base price of 30gp (PHB pg 149), it will take Aren nue working or finish the crafting process; however, the
30gp/6gp/day x 2(Uncommon Materials) = 10 days to final Quality and Properties are unknown until after the
craft the Greataxe. crafting is complete.
Crafting the Greataxe will cost Aren 10days x 5gp/day
(Uncommon Materials) = 50gp minimum to craft the
weapon. This Greataxe will have a Standard Value of AREN THE BLACKSMITH
30gp (base) x 2.5(Uncommon Materials) = 75gp. Aren must spend 10 days working on his Dwarven Steel
Greataxe. At the end of each day he makes a Crafting
Check with a +6 modifier since he is using his +1 Smi-
thing tools. Using this modifier he rolls the following:
10, 19, 15, 15, 24, 19, 17, 20, 13, 21. This averages to
C RAFTING I TEMS 17.3 making it Superior Quality. This increases the value
Once the daily cost, minimum crafting time, and stan- of the Greataxe to 75 (standard value) x 1.2 (Superior
dard value have been determined, the characters can be- Quality) = 90gp.
gin crafting their new item. Characters must spend a mi-
nimum of 8 continuous hours for the time spent to count
toward a crafting day. Multiple days do not have to be E NCHANTING I TEMS
done consecutively for them to count however.
Enchanting items with magical powers and properties
has great potential both as a future aid to the party, or
as a great value to sell. Like most things with magic, the

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. CRAFTING
 process of crafting enchanted items can complicate the If a character successfully crafts an item, then they can
crafting process considerably. record their process thereby creating a formula for that
The high precision that must be had within the quali- magical item, and removing the penalty for any additio-
ty of the item, as well as the spellwork means that it is nal items. Note that each combination of spell and mate-
often teams of experts working together to create these rial requires a different formula. A formula to cast fly on
powerful items. a carpet, does not translate into a formula to cast fly into
a ring.
E NCHANTMENT T IERS
There are three tiers of enchantments when it comes to S PELLWORK
crafting these magical items. The table below details each Each day that the item undergoes spellwork two things
of these tiers. must occur. First, the requisite spell(s) must be cast on the
Increasing the level of the spell you are using to en- object. The Caster must also make a Spell check in order
chant the items will increase the Enchantment tier. This to properly lay the spell across the object. If they are being
in turn increases the cost of special materials involved assisted by someone who has proficiency in the material
in the embedding, as does the minimum crafting quality they can make this check with advantage.
necessary to properly hold the enchantment. For an item to be properly enchanted, the caster must
have a number of successful Spellwork checks equal to
Tiers or greater than the level of the spell being cast into the
Spell Material item. Crafting can be extended to meet this; however, the
Tier Levels Cost Item Quality crafter must continue to work on the object during this
Basic 1-3 90gp Superior time, making crafting rolls that will affect the final quali-
Advanced 4-6 450gp Exceptional ty. The DC for these Spellwork checks are shown on the
Mastercraft 7-9 4,000gp Masterwork following table.

Level DC Level DC
If an item fails to meet the requisite Item Quality, then C 8 1 12
the enchantment will fail. The form of that failure is up to 2 16 3 19
the DM. It could range from a complete failure resulting 4 22 5 24
in a mundane item, or simply a temporary enchantment 6 26 7 28
that slowly fades. 8 29 9 30
The daily enchantment cost does not add to the Craf-
ting time. When you attempt to enchant an item with multiple
spells you must make separate Spellwork checks for each
M AGICAL P ROFICIENCY spell, using the DC of each spells level individually.
In addition to someone proficient with tools for craf- At the end of crafting, casters can make one additional
ting the physical object, magical items need their crafter crafting check without expending the spell slot or com-
to be proficient with Arcana, Nature, or Religion depen- ponents. This seals the item from further manipulation
ding on the type of magic used, as well as be capable of in order to seal in a successful enchantment. If the caster
casting the spell which will empower the object. failed to pass the necessary number of Spellwork checks,
Multiple people can be involved in the crafting of an the DM will decide the form of the failure. Mundane en-
item in order to meet all requisite proficiencies. chantments could show up as temporary effects with li-
mited uses per day, or simply having the spell rejected
E NCHANTING F ORMULAS from the now mundane item. More complicated enchant-
There exists for every magical item an optimal method ments could catastrophically fail, ripping the object apart
to lay an enchantment to ensure the stability and effec- in the process, or transporting it and anyone nearby into
tiveness of the spellwork. This prescription to ensure that the Astral Sea.
the crafted item is imbued with the power of the enchant-
ment is called an Enchanting formula. THE ENCHANTED ARMORY
Some formula are more common than others, though After retiring from adventuring, the wizard Yurial and
even the most common requires some inquiry and work his barbarian friend Dar decide to make a go at creating
to locate. Other formulas are known to only a single cas- and selling magical weapons. Yurial was an 8th level Wi-
ter, waiting for the right student to learn its secret. Many zard with a 16 Intelligence and Proficiency with Arcana.
others have simply been lost to time itself. Dar was a 9th level Barbarian with 18 Strength and Pro-
If a character doesn’t have a formula for an item they ficiency with Smith’s tools.
are crafting then the Spellwork DC increases by 4 to ac- For their first project they decide they want to make
count for the trial-and-error approach to learning how to a +1 Longsword. They will start simple with a regular
properly lay these enchantments (see Spellwork below).

4
Steel weapon. Dar has a work rate of 8gp per day and a Author: C. Stapleford
Longsword has a base price of 15gp meaning it will take Art: Fire Pit from pixabay.com
him 2 days to finish the blade, and it will only cost 2gp Blacksmith’s Shop by Alexandra Malmquist
in materials. Since Magic Weapon is a 2nd level spell, (http://zanariya.deviantart.com/)
Yurial only needs the materials for a Basic Enchantment Last Updated: 27. Dezember 2018
(90 gp per day), and he will need to succeed on the check
both days of its crafting or extend the work. Fortunately Legal: DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards
he also has a formula recovered from their adventuring of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, the dragon ampersand,
days. Player’s Handbook, Monster Manual, Dungeon Master’s
At the end of the first day, Dar pays his 1 gp for Guide, D&D Adventurers League, all other Wizards of
smithing materials and Yurial pays 90 gp for Spellwork the Coast product names, and their respective logos
materials. Dark makes a Crafting check and rolls a 15 are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the USA
with a +8 modifier for 23 (average 23). Yurial simul- and other countries. All characters and their distinctive
taneously casts Magic Weapon at 2nd level and makes likenesses are property of Wizards of the Coast. This
a Spellwork (Arcana) check and rolls an 11 with a +6 material is protected under the copyright laws of the
modifier for 17 (1 success). United States of America. Any reproduction or unaut-
At the end of the second day, Dar pays another 1 gp for horized use of the material or artwork contained herein
smithing materials and Yurial pays 90 gp for Spellwork is prohibited without the express written permission of
materials. Dar then makes his second Crafting Check, 12, Wizards of the Coast.
+8 for 20 (average 21.5). Yurial also does his Spellwork 2016
c Wizards of the Coast LLC, PO Box 707, Ren-
and makes the Spellwork (Arcana) check, rolling an 8 ton, WA 98057-0707, USA. Manufactured by Hasbro
+6 for 14 (fail). SA, Rue Emile-Boéchat 31, 2800 Delémont, CH. Repre-
After finishing up the second day, Yurial makes his sented by Hasbro Europe, 4 The Square, Stockley Park,
final weaving of the spell, sealing it into the item and Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB11 1ET, UK.
making one last Spellwork (Arcana) check rolling 12 +
6 = 18(2 successes). As the spell fades into the Master-
work steel blade, the enchantment takes hold.
As an uncommon magic weapon, they can sell their
+1 Longsword for 200 - 300 gp after costing them a
total of 182gp.

5
. CRAFTING