Just wondering how people handle item creation. It seems rather ridiculous how much time must be spent on some items. Do people actually wait around for their friend to make boots, etc? What about items that might need to be made during an adventure(scrolls, potions)? I was not sure what forum to post this in, so if it should be in HR, feel free to move it.
How do you handle time with item creation?
- Thread starter Sithobi1
- Start date
Crothian
First Post
why do scrolls and potions need to be made during an adventure?
Its called down time, no one adventured every day of the year. In betweent adventures they enjoy the fruits of their labor. And if someone needs a few weeks to make a high powered magical item then I say let them. With that item the adventure will be that much easier, and hey they might be making it for me!!
Its called down time, no one adventured every day of the year. In betweent adventures they enjoy the fruits of their labor. And if someone needs a few weeks to make a high powered magical item then I say let them. With that item the adventure will be that much easier, and hey they might be making it for me!!
shilsen
Adventurer
What Crothian said. A pet peeve of mine is campaigns where PCs never have any down time and are perpetually running around from adventure to adventure, so I always make sure when DMing to give my PCs enough opportunity to rest, relax and do other things than adventuring, whether that be item creation or anything else. As a PC, if it's at all possible, I'm very happy to take time off to either create items myself or allow others to do so. Even if the items being created have nothing to do with me specifically, as long as they make the other PC(s) stronger and keep them alive longer, they benefit me by extention.
beaver1024
First Post
What's wrong with having no downtime? It all depends on the campaign story, quests etc etc. Unlike character wealth, DMG doesn't even really provide any guidelines on this.
They really need to state big assumptions like downtime and clerics using their spells only for support into the core rules.
They really need to state big assumptions like downtime and clerics using their spells only for support into the core rules.
iwatt
First Post
Sithobi1 said:
Why wouldn't they? To many other thinhs to do?
A question that should be asked more often is why DMs set a campaign pace that would kill even a Demigod? Typical games have the PCs defeating the Dungeon, rushing to town, buying imeadiately their stuff and then rushing off . I want my characters to rest, to breathe, to brag. When the wizard is out crafting, believe me that my character is doing something. Not every single moment of my PCs life is a chapter of 24.
Delemental
First Post
beaver1024 said:
Well, if you have a campaign where you intend the action to be nonstop with few breaks, I think its only fair that the DM state this up front, and tell the players not to bother taking any item creation feats or craft skills because they'll never have the chance to use them.
I don't think this requires an entry into the core rules; its just common sense that occasionally people need to rest for some period of time (kind of like there's nothing in the core rules about regional availability of goods, but it'd be pretty silly of my character to journey to the frigid Northlands and expect the street vendors to be selling bananas and mangos). And if you have a PC that is capable of making magic items, why wouldn't you allow your ally a chance to do that? Throg the Barbarian can always go off drinking and whoring while Pontificus the wizard magics up his greataxe. I get annoyed by DMs who think that they have to 'entertain' the other characters during downtime for item creation. What's wrong with a simple "two weeks pass, you all relax and celebrate your victories while the wizard works in the lab, and then you pack up and leave town"?
(I'm also not sure what you mean by the 'clerics only use their spells for support' comment. Not to hijack the thread, but can you elaborate?)
iwatt
First Post
Delemental said:
This is exactly what happened in a campaign I'm playing in. We're just 3 PCs, two of which have a lot invested in crafting. The DM wont give us any time to Craft items at all. So currently we're going into the City of the Spider queen with subpar equipment and apparently a huge tiem constraint to hurry up. All my cleric (with 10 ranks each in craft armor + crfaft weapons, and craft armor and weapons feat) wants is time to upgrade the magic in his sword and his armor, while the Wizard just wants enough time to get some scrolls ready and even make a headband of intellect.
Perdonally I have no problem with the non-stop action that has you rising from Lev 1 to Lev 20 in 80 days (except for some verosimilitude) but I wish we'd been asked before.
And before someone tells me to leave the game: I enjoy playing this game because the DM taxes me with tough encounters, and this problem only appeared since we switched from 2e to 3e. Next campaign will probably have me asking him for some background on tone and pace.
I heartily recommend the alternate Crafting rules in Unearthed Arcana.
The system is designed for those campaigns where there is no down-time, but is perfectly usable where there *is* down-time.
The basics are: Characters have a pool of "Craft Points". They receive 100 CPs x their new level each level they advance. (So, the base pool for a 1st level character is 100, a 2nd level character is 300 {1x100 + 2x100}, etc.) Each Item Creation Feat also adds several hundred CPs to the character's pool.
Making items is done "overnight" by paying 1 CP per 10 gp of the Market Price. It is presumed that this represents the Crafter having worked on the item over time while resting and such. Only 1 item can be made per crafter per night.
If the party has time, the CP cost of making an item can be greatly reduced (but not eliminated) by spending the normal amount of time.
Other characters can "assist" by paying up to 1/2 the CP cost for the item (so those Fighters and Rogues can still help improve their goods, and have a use for the CPs they will accumulate over time).
Some new Feats are added to the mix: Craft Masterwork Arms and Armor, Craft Masterwork Weapon, Craft Masterwork Ranged Weapon, Craft Alchemical Item, and Talented Craftsman. The Masterwork feats are required to be able to make Masterwork items (which I like, because it gives the 5th level Expert Armorsmith villager a Feat that represents his dedication to his craft and makes it less likely that a wandering Fighter will be able to craft better armor than a Professional); Craft Alchemical Item allows non-spellcasters to make Alchemical goods. All add more CPs to the character's pool (the formula appears to be 500 CPs x the Minimum Caster Level requirement for the feat). Talented Crafter just adds 500 CPs to the pool, but can be taken over and over.
[Edit: Oh, and the system is used for crafting non-magic items as well as magic items.]
The system is designed for those campaigns where there is no down-time, but is perfectly usable where there *is* down-time.
The basics are: Characters have a pool of "Craft Points". They receive 100 CPs x their new level each level they advance. (So, the base pool for a 1st level character is 100, a 2nd level character is 300 {1x100 + 2x100}, etc.) Each Item Creation Feat also adds several hundred CPs to the character's pool.
Making items is done "overnight" by paying 1 CP per 10 gp of the Market Price. It is presumed that this represents the Crafter having worked on the item over time while resting and such. Only 1 item can be made per crafter per night.
If the party has time, the CP cost of making an item can be greatly reduced (but not eliminated) by spending the normal amount of time.
Other characters can "assist" by paying up to 1/2 the CP cost for the item (so those Fighters and Rogues can still help improve their goods, and have a use for the CPs they will accumulate over time).
Some new Feats are added to the mix: Craft Masterwork Arms and Armor, Craft Masterwork Weapon, Craft Masterwork Ranged Weapon, Craft Alchemical Item, and Talented Craftsman. The Masterwork feats are required to be able to make Masterwork items (which I like, because it gives the 5th level Expert Armorsmith villager a Feat that represents his dedication to his craft and makes it less likely that a wandering Fighter will be able to craft better armor than a Professional); Craft Alchemical Item allows non-spellcasters to make Alchemical goods. All add more CPs to the character's pool (the formula appears to be 500 CPs x the Minimum Caster Level requirement for the feat). Talented Crafter just adds 500 CPs to the pool, but can be taken over and over.
[Edit: Oh, and the system is used for crafting non-magic items as well as magic items.]
Last edited:
the Jester
Legend
Silveras said:
Uh, this isn't sounding at all familiar to me- could it be in Arcana Unearthed instead?
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