D&D (2024) D&D Beyond Article on Crafting

[Paul Farquhar]

Skyrim: advance to level 20 by crafting one million scented candles.

 

[TiQuinn]

Crafting is done between adventures and at that point who cares how long it takes.

Plus, by the time they can just buy what they need with all of the excess gold clogging their backpacks/wagons/keep/etc.

Only time crafting has ever been needed was for making scrolls, potions, enchanting, and magic items which again is usually in “off time”.

At least in my experience since 2E.

I can’t think of a single time a player wanted to use crafting to make armor or a weapon. It’s always been the wizard brewing potions and making scrolls. Armor and weapons has always been out of reach because of treasure, not because of unavailability.

 

[Yaarel]

When people use magic to produce an item like plate armor, such as via a Fabricate spell, they can complete it as part of a 10 minute ritual.

But I still want the spellcaster to need to make proficiency checks, to see if the plate armor comes out right.

I dont like when magic obsoletes proficiency checks. Spellcasters should need to know what they are doing too.

Maybe it is ok if there exists a ritual created by a mage who knows how to make plate armor. But then ritual is highly specialized, and does nothing except make plate armor. The success of the armor production depends on the proficiency of the mage that created the ritual. Proficiency checks (for skill or tool) are still being made for each product, each time.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Survival, navigation, is the "Geography" skill, and is awkwardly Wisdom.

I would prefer to see Intelligence (Survival) for calculating sea travel by maps and constellations, and so on.

Human geography, as in “what’s the capital city of Cormyr?” is lumped under history skill.

 

[Yaarel]

but for time and cost, breastplate should be dirt cheap.

Finding someone who makes armor well enough that you would trust your life with, might be a bit more expensive.

 

[Yaarel]

Human geography, as in “what’s the capital city or Cormyr?” is lumped under history skill.

You are right that History makes sense for cartography.

Still, officially, Survival is "navigating".

For something like a sea voyage, I would lean toward Survival. But History can work too.

One might also use Nature to handle weather patterns, star charts, and geography.

 

[TiQuinn]

Finding someone who makes armor well enough that you would trust your life with, might be a bit more expensive.

But what in the game has ever made that something to worry about? Have we ever seen an adventure where someone goes into a blacksmith shop but due to poor rolls or shoddy equipment, the breastplate has worse AC than a standard breastplate?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

You are right that History makes sense for cartography.

Still, officially, Survival is "navigating".

For something like a sea voyage, I would lean toward Survival. But I History works too.

I was thinking more about winning the tavern quiz than actually travelling there.

 

[Yaarel]

But what in the game has ever made that something to worry about? Have we ever seen an adventure where someone goes into a blacksmith shop but due to poor rolls or shoddy equipment, the breastplate has worse AC than a standard breastplate?

The prices in the Players Handbook are very modern, with standardized products at stable prices.

But in game, a DM can make bartering and bargaining part of the culture, and only use PH prices as a guideline.

 

[TiQuinn]

The prices in the Players Handbook are very modern, with standardized products at stable prices.

But in game, a DM can make bartering and bargaining part of the culture, and only use PH prices as a guideline.

They could…but that’s a problem put on the DM that’s just more likely to be forgotten about. Players tend to see that kind of stuff as arbitrary.