Jon Tweet - Magic Item Creation

[MerricB]

From his gleemax blog:
http://www.gleemax.com/Comms/Pages/Communities/BlogPost.aspx?blogpostid=2032&pagemode=2&blogid=2076

Here’s a question that a fan recently raised to me.

Q. Why does it cost XP to create magic items in D&D 3.X?

A. The XP-cost rule is one of the most successful bad rules in 3.X. It’s bad enough that a good house rule is often better. I used a house rule in my 3.X campaign. Spellcasters got “build points” they could use to create items, sort of like an artificer’s craft reserve in Eberron. The XP-cost rule was successful because its two main purposes. First, it explained how magic items are made. Second, it kept magic item creation to a minimum.

One goal of 3.0 was to describe an internally consistent world, with minimal explicit differences between PCs and NPCs. If NPCs could make magic items, we had to describe, at least in theory, how a PC could do so. And our policy was not to wave our hands and say that it’s up to the DM, so we had to spell it out.

For magic items, I wanted to err on the side of a system that would make it too rare for PCs to make magic items instead of too common. Even if PCs never made any magic items, the game would still work. But if we’d accidentally made it too easy to make magic items, that could have really hurt campaigns.

For the sake of the world’s believability, we needed a way for PCs to make magic items. For the sake of campaign economy, we needed a system that would keep PC-made items rare. The XP-cost system did both.

XP seemed like the right cost because it’s permanent and personal. Using time as a limiting factor is a problem because “off stage” time is arbitrary. Other RPGs had permanent costs for magic item creation. RuneQuest had a character sacrifice points from their “spirit” attribute, called Power. Adventures in Fantasy, a quirky, colorful RPG by Dave Arneson, had a magic item cost points measured against a wizard’s lifetime limit. In D&D, XP is permanent but replaceable, so I picked it as the resource expended to make magic items.

The main problem with magic item creation is the same problem with magic item buying: scrolls and potions are so useful that it makes sense to crowd your character sheet with lots of them, and they become a pain to track.


Jon Tweet's Gleemax page: http://www.gleemax.com/Comms/Pages/Communities/DisplayProfile.aspx?blogid=2076&userid=10562

 

[thorian]

I don't understand why spending XP on magic item creation is a bad idea. To me, it represents the crafter having to pour in part of his essense to make the item. Magic item creation is a difficult process whereby the crafter must "donate" some of his personal power to make the item.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

I agree with Thorian and fo rthe same reason.
What I don't like is the crafting rules. They're just kinda naff. Not to mention awkward to use.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I don't understand why spending XP on magic item creation is a bad idea. To me, it represents the crafter having to pour in part of his essense to make the item. Magic item creation is a difficult process whereby the crafter must "donate" some of his personal power to make the item.

Because in any campaign where they're used, one character, for the good of the group, gets to permanently slow his or her advancement. If the XP was taken from the character benefiting, it would be fair. But that fighter isn't giving up anything more than cash for that +5 vorpal greatsword, while the wizard is permanently weaker because of it.

It's a great idea if one was just, say, writing novels about these characters. At the table, though, it's crap.

 

[Li Shenron]

I don't understand why spending XP on magic item creation is a bad idea.

It is not a bad idea, and Jon Tween just explained why

Gamers were pissed off by the limit in item creation. They simply wanted to create more items to increase the power of the PC group, and the XP cost succeeds at stopping them. If the limit was the purpose, the XP cost was very successful.

GP cost doesn't really set a limit. It sets a limit on what you can CURRENTLY craft, but not on what you can POTENTIALLY craft since you can always think about waiting until you get more GP to spend. And you can alwyas choose to save up GP by not spending them in any other way. Not so with XP, because even if you can wait until you are higher level, after you've created enough magic items you are forced to stop if you don't want to dangerously lag behind.

 

[an_idol_mind]

I personally like the XP cost for item creation. I actually use it to explain why PCs can't just go into market and buy magic items in my game. There are few enough spellcasters to begin with, and they have to essentially give up some of their soul to imbue an item with magic. Why, then, would they mass produce items to sell to complete strangers?

At the same time, I can see why the rule draws some criticism, and it would have been good if the DM's Guide had included at least some variant rules on the subject.

 

[Cassander]

I personally like the XP cost for item creation. I actually use it to explain why PCs can't just go into market and buy magic items in my game. There are few enough spellcasters to begin with, and they have to essentially give up some of their soul to imbue an item with magic. Why, then, would they mass produce items to sell to complete strangers?

At the same time, I can see why the rule draws some criticism, and it would have been good if the DM's Guide had included at least some variant rules on the subject.

The DMG did include an optional rule on the subject - power components.

 

[DaveMage]

The rule makes sense to me.

Good stuff.

 

[Nellisir]

I've been on both sides of the screen, and I don't like expending xp as a player, or making players' do it. There are better ways, that don't require the player to make a sacrifice (which is what's happening).

 

[DragonLancer]

I like the XP & GP costs to make items because it helps to stop players making items, which is one aspect of 3.X that I don't like. Sure, it can eat into their gold but whats the point of me placing treasures when the players just make almost whatever they want?

In D&D I've always prefered the idea that the golden/age of magic has been and gone. Back then ancient wizards and priests could create magic items by the bucketload, but these days its a rarity to find anyone who could make anything other than potions, scrolls and wands.