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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DM_Blake" data-source="post: 3894070" data-attributes="member: 57267">I disagree with both of you.PCs should be able to make magical items. What arbitrary rule says "That NPC wizard in town can make magical items, but you can't because you're a PC wizard"? If the player wants to do it, let them do it, or give them story reasons why they can't "Well, sure you can make that magical ring, but the fair princess will surely be eaten by that troll before you finish".As for labor of a lifetime, that's pretty harsh. Basically you're saying "sure, you can make a +1 sword, but you must give up being an adventurer and devote the rest of your life to your labor."Obviously, nobody is going to do that. No fun to show up every game session and watch the other guys go out on adventures while your character sits at his forge making his labor of a lifetime.Making magical items needs to fall somewhere between those extremes. PCs should be able to make them just like any other NPC could. But they also shouldn't have to trade away their lives for it.As for me, I'm always for any rule system that allows PCs total freedom to do what they want, certainly to do what other NPCs can do, and doesn't punish them for wanting to do that. In fact, the 3.x version of crafting magical items seems to punitive to me. It's bad enough that the mage has to ask his party to stick around town while he makes the item - there's nothing for those characters to do but get into tavern brawls. But it's worse that the mage must also sacrifice his own XP to make the item:"Here you go, Mr. Fighter, I've made your magical sword to match the magical bow I made for you last week, and the magical rapier I made for the rogue the week before, and the magical mace for the cleric last month." "Sure, thanks Mr. Mage for all you've done, we've been adventuring while you did all that and we've gone up levels, while you've actually lost XP, and now we need to fire you and replace you with this other Mage who is actually the same level as the rest of us. We like you, but we've outleveled you and you're useless to us now. Sorry, life is tough."And how does that open up crafting?There's no way I would ever do that. This kind of rule system basically says "no PC will ever want to create magic items, except in the rare occasions where the entire group decides to take a month-long vacation while the mage recuperates".And the first time I did that, and my DM decided to throw a surprise attack by some BBEG 2 weeks into my recovery, that would be the last time I would ever make a magical item in that campaign. Even the thought that he might do that would likely keep me from making magical items to begin with.Why even create rules for doing something, and print them in the books, and waste space in those books that could have contained useful rules, if the rules you're creating are there only to discourage PCs from ever trying to use them?I sure hope WotC doesn't waste paper printing "you might do this, but you'd be screwed if you do" rules.</blockquote>

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