D&D 5E What do you want out of crafting rules?

[Charlaquin]

@Dausuul @Charlaquin raise good points. I want a crafting system to be something that makes my payers flip through magic items & enchantment types like a kid with a bucket of legos or who got the new sear catalog back in the day. 5e made crafting skills almost the default & pointless in that it pretty much just saves you some pointless money in exchange for spending time crafting an item you could probably have otherwise just bought. both 2e & 3.5 had good points to their crafting while 4e made it too easy to just break down some undesired items to make a desired one.

Yeah, I imagine something like the crafting systems in a lot of CRPGs. A sword is made of 3 metal, 1 wood, and 1 leather, with an optional rune slot. Mix and match materials of those types to create one with the stats you want.

 

[The Green Hermit]

Rules for crafting that actually make sense so you can add them to your character sheet as actual skills instead of for example left having to pick up the Xanathar's Guide just for hints about how its done but ignore things like you can brew healing potion using the Herbalist Kit but that proficiency bonus would be strictly an Intelligence check or an Arcana check for something that would otherwise scream Nature check?

Apparently if you train long enough you can pick up a new tool kit proficiency without having to use a feat to obtain it.

That deserves being emphasized.

One of my players is using this to slowly gain proficiency in more languages and weapon types.

 

[toucanbuzz]

Magic item formulae.

XGE left it ambiguous (need a quest + formula) because we don't have a "wealth by level" system anymore and DMs will know what will and won't break their game. Still, some actual, specific examples and any associated costs (e.g. a 1,000gp value ruby worn in battle...) would be nice.

I don't see the point of crafting most mundane items. It's largely penny-pinching.

 

[Stormonu]

I want the ability to make mundane* and magical items in a reasonable amount of time. And I don’t want to HAVE to be a spellcaster to make something magic. Being able to go on quests to gather sympathetic magic components (such as Red Dragon blood for a potion of Fire Resistance) is a must - but not to the point where PCs are becoming taxidermists or walking to the local magic mart for eye of newt.

* mundane or the ability to take all that gold and gems and make something spiffy, like a long sword carved from a dragon’s tooth, a suit of bejeweled plate or a hat with a roc feather in it.

 

[aco175]

I would like some sort of daily, weekly, and maybe longer benefits. Maybe you can make a healing potion each day that only stays fresh for one day. This way you are encouraged to use it and you cannot make more than one. Maybe you can reroll an attack once per day since you have done something special to your weapon. Something small that makes your skill unique and worthwhile.

 

[Bawylie]

Crafting system needs to take stuff/loot we find on an adventure and turn it into stuff we want.

So at the base level I want loot that has a ready GP value such that if I DONT craft, I can sell the loot for cash equivalent. Even at the point of acquisition. DM can say “you snag X coins and 3 steel ingots (whatever) worth Y coins,” and then I can either write down X+Y coins or track the materials. Of course that means either deliberate treasure placement on monsters or in adventures.

It also implies a wealth-by-level advancement. More likely by tier.

And I want to take that loot, compare it to a crafting list in the book, and “buy” the crafted item by exchanging the loot and the time for the item. That means each item needs a “recipe” of its own. Although those recipes can be formulaic. So I also want a table with those collected recipes so that I can quickly go through.

I want crafting to grant access to items that are not traditionally available through the market, and to equate to something like a 10% to 25% discount from the market price of those things that ARE traditionally available (the time spent as an opportunity cost accounts for the price drop). So I can get platemail at a 20% discount but it’ll take 2 or 3 weeks (or whatever) - do we HAVE 2 or 3 weeks to spare right now? Or I can supply some potent healing potions that I know we’ll need but nobody is selling, and we’ll need to wait a few days to brew them.

 

[Scribe]

Some people complain about 5e’s crafting rules. Others think it’s just fine. What do you want out of them?

Adventure hooks. Certainly not any minutiae around time and cost, so much as 'how do we find what we need, what is it, and where?'

 

[ccs]

An odd diametrically opposed combo.
•Something easy enough to use
Yet
•something that'll actively discourage players from wanting to waste time doing it.

 

[CleverNickName]

Personally, I want a simple, straightforward, and fun means of creating consumable items like alchemical compounds, healing salves, interesting foods, maybe the occasional magic potion or scroll.

I'm not really interested in creating the same boring lineup of +x Whatevers.

 

[auburn2]

Some people complain about 5e’s crafting rules. Others think it’s just fine. What do you want out of them?

I don't think there should be crafting rules in D&D. I don't think players should spend time crafting and except in unusual cirrcumstances (helping make swords to arm the townsfolk because the orc army is only 3 days away). The character backgrounds and artisan tools add nice flavor, but for the most part that should be something the left behind when they became adventurers.