jgsugden
Legend
(To note the obvious, the rules have been tweaked through the years - below is how they are represented in 5E because the rules as written proved to be very compatible with my approach).Errr...if someone has to spend a lifetime just getting to 5th level mage, what level of magic is going into making these things? (and if it's that low, can PCs do it also and make some coin on the side?)
Or does God-touched extend to NPCs?
God-touched does extend to notable NPCs. The world has 12 times the surface area of the Earth, and a 'Dyson Sphere' type Underdark Surface that is nearly as large (with much less water on the 'surface'). The population of humanoids is well over 80 billion. On that world, there are about a million God-touched, currently (and some God-touched living on other planes or planets, now). Most beings spend their entire life without ever meeting a God-touched. Most people on the world do not understand the concept of God-touched. They refer to those that excel beyond reason as prodigies or something similar.
Some God-touched are master crafters, and tend to be the source of more powerful magical items (although on rare occasion, a legendary event can result in magic infusing an item via supernatural magics - this is where relics originate, but the process can spawn things as basic as a common item). God-touched are 1 in 80,000 overall, but more concentrated in certain populations (mostly human - where they can be a handful living in a massive city of 100,000 people). Some of these are crafters that create some of the most notable items.
Beyond God-touched, most crafters are of the much longer lived races - especially giants, elves and dwarves.
Non God-touched Humans that craft magic items start to learn magic at a young age (8) and craft their first magical items around age 40. Once they master the skills required, they make a very good living making common and uncommon magic items. That wizard may spend 30 years making one uncommon item and 3 common items each month... over 300 uncommon items and 1000 common items in their lifetime.
However, the (Non God-touched) dwarven smiths.... they may spend a hundred years making common and uncommon items at an even greater rate (due to greater focus) before achieving the masterful capability of crafting rare items - and then spend centuries making 1 or 2 rare items a year. Elves only craft a small number of uncommon and common items, but they do hone their skills and create rare and even very rare items (which can take decades to craft a single one).
Magic items are also very durable. So, once made, they tend to stick around for a loooooooong time. Many are family heirlooms passed down from parent to child for many generations before someone sells it, or it is stolen. While Arcane magic and wizards have only existed for 2800 years, divine and nature magic (druidic magic) has been around for over 4000 years.
Having a common magic item is the sign of an upper middle class family. Having multiple common or even an uncommon item is expected of an upper class family. The truly wealthy will have magic items in the possession of every family member, and perhaps a signature rare - or even very rare - heirloom. The legendary items are generally one of a kind and there are less than 300 in the entire world. Artifacts and relics are insanely rare, and few manage to be held by someone in the open for long before they are lost.
I'll also note that dusts, potions, oils, and scrolls have separate processes for creation and can be far more common. Some are even (super)naturally occurring that are harvested.