Item creation from horseback?

[dcollins]

What physical aspect of enchanting a piece of armor is there? I mean, the armor is already there, you're just putting power into it, right?

You need to look at the rulebook. There is no difference for Brew Potion versus Scribe SCroll versus Craft Wand or anything else. The rule is the same for all of them:

The creator also needs a fairly quiet, comfortable, and well-lit place in which to work.

As DM, exactly what this entails is up to you to describe. I assume for all types of things a wizard (et. al.) needs materials, a vice, mortars for grinding up gemstones and herbs, filters of enchanted liquid, burners and a forge, pots of magic glue, notes in his spellbook, tweezers and brushes, etc., etc., etc.

Frankly I think even doing it in a wagon or a ship is being generous. Seems like it's the equivalent of building a computer system in the back of a van on a shaky road. But probably most DMs would allow it.

The days you spend on creating an item do not have to be consecutive.

One note: this assumes you're playing by 3.5 rules. In any previous edition, the creation would be ruined by any day's delay.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Just cast "tenser's floating disc" and then ride around on it. Stable, flat, not bumpy...

At higher levels, use magic to be wherever the party is going, and just wait there crafting the whole time.

 

[dcollins]

Just cast "tenser's floating disc" and then ride around on it. Stable, flat, not bumpy...

The caster cannot ride on the Disc. The Disc always follows the magic-user.
1st Ed. DMG, p. 45, (c) 1979

Feel free to ask the Sage and see if this ruling has ever changed in the last 30 years.

 

[Thanee]

As long as you don't rage...

Bye
Thanee

 

[Herpes Cineplex]

...I guess you'd have to have someone else cast Tenser's Floating Disk, then. That way you could ride on it without any trouble.


I might let a guy with a nice cabin on a ship (or an airship, I guess) set it up for crafting. A small crafter in a big wagon, maybe, if the roads are good. But not otherwise, I don't think.

Generally, I'd just say that you can't travel and work on crafting an item at the same time, period. And yeah, that sucks, particularly in games where the party is always on the move and working under a deadline; those kinds of games are just murder on wizards, since wizards need so much downtime and so much money to really take advantage of all their nifty abilities.

If the campaign's pace is making it impossible to take advantage of crafting feats, that's a really good thing to discuss with the GM and with the other players. Maybe everyone else is hoping to have their characters get a little vacation time in from travelling and adventuring, and the GM will be willing to address that desire.

--
hey, it worked in our game
ryan

 

[Bauglir]

Feel free to ask the Sage and see if this ruling has ever changed in the last 30 years.

If not otherwise directed, it maintains a constant interval of 5 feet between itself and you.

Apparently it has. The disc can move any way the caster desires, as long as it is within spell range, and no more than 3ft off the ground. However, this requires concentration, so riding on the disk serves little purpose beyond impressing the villagers by crossing your arms and floating along like Magneto.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Frankly I think even doing it in a wagon or a ship is being generous. Seems like it's the equivalent of building a computer system in the back of a van on a shaky road. But probably most DMs would allow it.

I would not allow it either. In my mind, enchanting a suit of armor requires writing runes on the surface (whether or not they are visible at the end of the process,) making complicated gestures over the surface, etc. etc. IMC, no kind of item creation can be accomplished on horseback. Of course, other DMs' mileage will vary.

 

[Gnimish88]

You can add me to the camp that doesn't think crafting in the saddle or a moving wagon is feasible.
On a side note, unless you are force marching, you can only travel 8 hours a day, so after regular travel and rest, you still have 8 hours left over for crafting. Granted, that could get cut into if you stop to explore, but if all you are doing is traveling between locations, no problems. Granted you need to have the workshop, but for smaller items I would think a wagon set up for that purpose would work.

 

[dcollins]

Apparently it has. The disc can move any way the caster desires, as long as it is within spell range, and no more than 3ft off the ground.

That quote is practically directly from the 1st Ed. PHB, which still didn't allow riding in the disc. Not one whit of difference:

It maintains a constant interval of 6' between itself and the magic-user if unbidden. It will otherwise move within its range... at the command of the magic-user.
AD&D 1st Ed. PHB, p. 69, (c) 1978

Has this effect changed at all in the last 25 years? Seriously, until someone asks the Sage and gets a different response the chances of a wizard officially riding in a disc are nil.

 

[mikebr99]

...I guess you'd have to have someone else cast Tenser's Floating Disk, then. That way you could ride on it without any trouble.

ryan

Sure, share the spell with your toad familiar... have it pull you around.

That visual is just so kewl!


Mike