Crafting Rules

These rules work best for small scale, crafting of individual items “as needed”. For rules involving continuous crafting such as a tradesperson might perform to earn a living, please refer to the official rules for lifestyles.

Materials

The first thing a crafter needs to create an item is materials. For most items, these will be fairly standard materials: iron or steel, leather, wood, spices, stone, fabric, etc. Such items can be acquired at all but the smallest towns. If the item is especially intricate, magical, or requires some sort of luxury, exotic item, the DM may rule that the cost is increased or even that the materials cannot be purchased at all at the character’s current location.

A player pays 10% of the item’s final cost in gold to purchase such resources. This does not need to be itemized specifically. It is assumed the character knows what to purchase and buys the correct amounts of the correct goods. The DM may allow a character to purchase “crafting supplies” in advance while in town and determine their nature at a later date when they wish to craft an item or even to purchase such things retroactively.

Space

The second thing a craft needs is a work area. Typically, crafting items should be performed in a stable, semi-stationary area: a workshop, a long-term camp, a ship, a caravan wagon. Some place where the item and its respective parts may sit undisturbed when not currently being worked on. The DM may allow or disallow various environments as they see fit. A crafting area also requires appropriate furnishings. For some items, such as sewing, this may not apply. For others, such as smithing, tanning, weaving, and cooking (among others) this requires certain furnishings that are not included in the artisans tools: a cookfire, a forge, a loom, a tanning rack, etc. It is up to the DM and the player what, if any, furnishings are required to craft an item.

Time

Finally, the craftsperson needs time. Crafting an item takes a minimum of 8 hours of work. This work must be performed in a place where the crafter is largely free of distractions and must continue uninterrupted (except for basic needs) for the full 8 hours. A craftsperson may talk, eat, or other similar activities while crafting. A craftsperson may not sleep, cast any spells, ready or study (beyond what might be necessary to craft the item), identify magic items, or attune to magic items during this time. The DM may also disallow any other activities which they deem require too much focus and take away from the crafter’s concentration on the task at hand. The DM may allow brief interruptions for combat (similar to a long rest). A character heals and recovers the use of abilities while crafting as if they were taking a short rest. After each 8-hour period, the character rolls a skill check with a relevant proficiency. The DM is encouraged to allow the use of an ability modifier as a bonus to this roll, if applicable. The results of this roll are listed on the table below. If the character rolls high enough to make progress in their crafting, they add this roll to a cumulative total which determines their overall progress with this item. Once their progress total reaches the value given in the table for the item they are crafting, the item is complete! If the character ever rolls exceptionally poorly, their efforts to create the item fail and half of the materials they purchased are lost. The table below shows the results for this roll. Please note that the values listed are the final results of the rolls, not the number shown on the die. A critical failure on this roll always results in the item being destroyed and its materials lost.

Works of Art

A character may deliberately set a higher total cost for the item, resulting in a higher cost for materials. This incurs a similar increase in the total progress necessary to complete the item. For example, if a character were to attempt to craft an item 10% more expensive than the standard price listed in official rules, the total progress necessary would also increase by 10% (rounded down). This increase may not exceed twice the base value without the DM’s permission. The DM and the player may discuss if such items have any differences in terms of game mechanics (increased damage, etc), but this is not recommended. Such crafting represents an exceptionally well-made item of its type often decorated with artistry and fine craftsmanship, though providing no tangible, in-game, mechanical benefit.

Category	Item Ruined	No Progress Made	Progress Made	Total Progress Necessary
Simple	0 or Lower	1	2 or higher	10
Moderate	1 or Lower	2-5	6 or higher	20
Intricate	3 or less	4-9	10 or higher	30
Special	7 or less	8-13	14 or higher	50 (or more)

Item categories represent the broad level of difficulty and expense necessary to craft a given item. Before beginning to craft an item, the player and the DM must decide which category they feel is most appropriate for the item.
Simple: The most rudimentary items. Spears, basic daggers, etc.
Moderate: Average complexity items. Most of the non-magical items listed in the standard rules fall under this category.
Intricate: Complex, but mostly non-magical items. Crossbows, spyglasses, hourglasses, and other such items which either have a lot of moving, mechanical parts or require precise measurement and instrumentation to function properly. This may also include basic potions and alchemical items such as poisons, tanglefoot bags, and smokesticks.
Special: Typically, this includes most magical items and any item from a technology level beyond what is typical in the setting (such as an assault rifle or a computer in a standard medieval fantasy setting). As the name implies, these items often do not follow the same basic rules as the other categories. The target DCs, total, and materials cost rules for special items are meant as more of a loose guideline than for other categories. DMs and players should feel free to adjust the target DCs, total progress, and materials cost as they see fit. Such items typically should be handled on a case-by-case basis. Such items may also have additional crafting requirements such as knowing a particular spell or crafting it in a particular location or under specific conditions (by the light of the full moon, etc). Such requirements may alter the ability for the character to craft the item on a daily 8-hour basis as they can for items of other categories.  

Crafting Magic Items

Magical items are rare and powerful. The methods for creating them are no longer well understood. Such items often defy the laws of physics by their very nature: teleportation, energy from nothing, summoning or creating matter, all things which can be accomplished by a skilled sorcerer or wizard, but typically not the sort of thing an average craftsman can create using mundane materials. As such, the rules for crafting regular items should be used as a jumping off point for crafting magical items. They will likely include additional requirements and the player and the DM should work together and come to an agreement about which requirements are applicable to the item. Recommended requirements (which I would use) are:

• Ability to cast relevant spell(s) or have access to someone who can. For example, making a weapon which can set itself on fire might require a spell such as scorching ray or burning blade. Any required spell(s) must be cast daily during the crafting process, which requires an investment of spell slots and material components on behalf of the person casting them. These material component costs are NOT included in the standard crafting cost. The spell should be of a sufficient level that it can replicate or exceed the intended effects of the item, if not the duration. For example, a pair of goggles that lets you see in the dark up to 120 feet, should require a spell of a higher level than the basic darkvision spell, which limits its darkvision to 60 feet. There may not always be an exact match, so try and determine what matches most closely and always err on the side of a higher level spell. In the above example, such goggles would require darkvision cast as a 3rd or 4th level spell, rather than just a 2nd level spell, to account for the increased range the item provides. This also requires the crafter (or the caster) to use material components for each casting of the spell, if applicable.
• A special set of artisan’s tools and proficiency with them.
• A relevant Feat, such as “Craft Ring” (Each category of magic items should have its own feat: Armor, Potions, Scrolls, Weapons, Wands, Rods, and Wonderous Items. A wizard may gain the benefits of the “Scribe Scroll” feat for their chosen school of magic when they choose a specialization at level 2).
• A free attunement slot which the crafter must use to attune to the item while it is being created. The item may be un-attuned once it is complete. If the creator un-attunes to the item at any point before its completion, it is ruined, all progress is lost, and half of the materials used are wasted.

Other possible requirements include:

• A minimum caster level
• Unique materials. This may be included in the standard crafting cost, but the player must specifically purchase or find these materials rather than buying generic “crafting supplies”. However, these special materials may be in addition to the standard crafting costs, especially if they are items which may not be readily available for purchase. Something rare and valuable like the heart of a dragon, a lich’s phylactery, or the feather of a roc, is unlikely to be purchased at a local market and may even require its own adventure to secure.
• A unique location or time requirement (“on the top of a volcano”, “during the light of a full moon”, etc)
• The ability to bind ghosts, spirits, elementals or other such creatures to the item to provide its magic.

Remember that magic items are often unique (or, at least, rare and not mass-produced). The requirements for one item may not be applicable for others.