Creating magic items in 5e

[CapnZapp]

Collecting magic items in dungeons is not common. Adventurers make up maybe 1% of the population of the world? The number of magic items in a given setting compared to the population of the setting is very, very small.

The rarity of magic items is in relation to other magic items. It has nothing to do with how common they are in the world itself.

Why even have this discussion?

There is no objective stipulation of how rare or common magic items are, and there never have been. No matter of hoaky statistics hurling is going to change that.

It's all up to
a) your DM
b) the adventure
c) the campaign world

The only way to gain a practical feel for how common or uncommon magic items are is to look at a representative scenario for the campaign you're playing in.

Thus the answer is both "common" and "not common" and none of them are more right than the other. For you Ibrantheloth, the answer might be "not common". But it's a folly to try to impose your answer on Yunru, who might be playing Storm King's Thunder, set in the Forgotten Realms.

 

[schnee]

But they are. Rarity starts at uncommon, and even "rare" items are common enough your average adventurer is expected to have collected one by fifth level.

Well, TBH, they needed a system of grading to compare magic items to each other, one that was easy to learn and use.

It would be more accurate, but really unusable, to say:

Really Rare, like your retired Uncle maybe has one
Incredibly Rare, like that one legendary hero of your city has one
Stupefyingly Rare, as in you've heard of it in legends or stories, but that's it
You Have To Be Kidding Me, as in nobody will believe you unless you demonstrate it
Your Life Is Forfeit By Owning This, you are now the envy of every high-level adventurer in the world, and they're all scrying you and plotting how to kill you

--

Also, how many adventurers survive to fifth level in your world?

If it's incredibly common, i.e. Forgotten Realms level, then this is a great home-brew opportunity.

But, the game was seriously compromised by having high wealth and easy magic item prep in 3E. If you add it, good luck DMing.

 

[Jester David]

Oh, it can never be like in 3e...

(It can be routine, yes, but you will never finish an item in the timeframe of official adventure campaigns. And even if you somehow do, you're not likely to appreciate that uncommon thingy you started back at level 5 now that you're level 15)

So change the rate magic items are created.

The rules are the baseline. They're not designed to function perfectly for everyone, they're designed to work as a foundation for hacking and customisation.
If you want more magic item crafting in your games, just change the amount of gp one day of crafting generates.

Let's see... the 3e rules allowed you to craft a +1 sword in two days. So you could go as high as 2500 gp to match that. That allows you to make a rare item in two days of downtime, or a very rare item in 20. (Or 18 if you're "upgrading".)
So crafters could work individually and make themselves a rare item. That seems close to the 3e rules, where going from a +2 sword to a +3 takes 10 days, a +5 to a +6 takes 22 days, and a +7 to a +8 takes 30 days.

 

[CapnZapp]

So change the rate magic items are created.

The rules are the baseline. They're not designed to function perfectly for everyone, they're designed to work as a foundation for hacking and customisation.
If you want more magic item crafting in your games, just change the amount of gp one day of crafting generates.

Let's see... the 3e rules allowed you to craft a +1 sword in two days. So you could go as high as 2500 gp to match that. That allows you to make a rare item in two days of downtime, or a very rare item in 20. (Or 18 if you're "upgrading".)
So crafters could work individually and make themselves a rare item. That seems close to the 3e rules, where going from a +2 sword to a +3 takes 10 days, a +5 to a +6 takes 22 days, and a +7 to a +8 takes 30 days.

Again: Oh, it can never be like in 3e...

Why do you pretend 5e has even a fraction of support for what we are discussing here?

You try what you propose, without a magic item pricing and creation system at least as robust as d20 (preferably more robust), and your 5e game will come tumbling down, guaranteed.

 

[Jester David]

Again: Oh, it can never be like in 3e...

Personally, having done a bunch of fairly RAW Pathfinder not that long ago, I'm glad 5e isn't like 3.X games.
Everyone buying 2-3 CLW wants because it's mathematically the cheapest healing. The Big Six items with everyone having the same cloak, ring, and amulet because they're mathematically superiour. Every small hamelt of more than 50 people having a store that sells magic items. The party always having to take breaks of 2-3 weeks between every couple adventures to craft everyone the appropriate gear for their chosen build. Characters trying to strategically fill each body slot with an item for maximum power.
That was such a pain...

Regardless, 3e still exists. Pathfinder still exists. If you want that kind of magic item in your game, then you can play those games.
Or you can just bring in those magic items directly, using the Pathfinder/3e rules. Pull out the magic item prices and crafting rules and use those.

Why do you pretend 5e has even a fraction of support for what we are discussing here?

You try what you propose, without a magic item pricing and creation system at least as robust as d20 (preferably more robust), and your 5e game will come tumbling down, guaranteed.

I'm not sure how changing the pricing will have any effect on the game system...
How does knowing that a sword of sharpness is exactly 1700 gp rather than 500-5000 gp cause your game to come tumbling down?

Again, WotC isn't going to magically descend on a cloud, wave a wand, and "fix" magic item crafting for you. Not going to happen. They have other content to make.
And if they do make alternate rules for magic item creation, it will probably look a heck of a lot more like the guidelines in 2e's Book of Artifacts than the 3e rules.


If you really want those rules, you're just going to have to make them yourself. There's many on the DMsGuild to use as a foundation or source of inspiration. 1 2 3 4
And if you can't be bothered to put in the effort, then you need to focus your complaints inward rather than at WotC...

 

[hejtmane]

I been making the items usually in theme with the characters; it is my favorite part of being a DM. I do add +x in damage on magical weapons sometimes or it may be a roll. I have removed all too hit bonuses from magic items and some times I put side effects on items. I have one when he touches gems he reduces the value in half so now he is band from searching boxes they did not know that at first and he cut some really big jewels value in half. Oh the fun of being a DM