D&D (2024) Magic Items & Crafting In The New Dungeon Master's Guide

"Extended crafting rules and a lot of magical items!"

• Treasure themes discuss different kinds of treasure--arcana, gems, relics, implements, armaments, etc.
• You can craft potions and scrolls in the Player's Handbook.
• The Dungeon Master's Guide expands that to other magical items.
• Uses tools proficiencies and Arcana proficiency and the spells you know.
• You can craft any magical item in the DMG, as long as it's not an artifact.

First you need to have the Arcana skill. Then, depending on the magical item, you need the appropriate tool. For example, wands need woodcarver's tools. Then if the item allows you to cast a spell, you must also know that spell. Then you need gold and time. The rarity of the item determines how much gold or time it takes to create. The time required is measured in person-hours, so assistance can help reduce that time.

Magic items can also have randomly determined histories and creators. Creators include species and creature types--a dwarf, an aberration, a giant, and so on. Histories include being part of a religion, a symbol of power, something sinister, a prophecy, and more. Magic items also get minor properties and quirks, to round them out.

 

[Kinematics]

How are the magic items in the new DMG costed? A specific sum or a range based on rarity?

They said that they put prices in the previous DMG, but the new one makes it easier to find, so my first thought is that it's still based on rarity.

Also, from the pictures they showed during the video, the individual magic item entries do not appear to have individual prices. They list the item name, then a line of traits (EG: Ring, Rare (Requires Attunement)), then the description, but no additional info lines either above or below the description block that I could see, so no place to put individualized pricing info.

They might still put a table somewhere with a list of items and their prices, but if so, it wasn't part of what was shown in the video. Since they did say that crafting an item depended on its price, it might be slightly different than just a general pricing range per rarity tier.

 

[Rabulias]

Also, from the pictures they showed during the video, the individual magic item entries do not appear to have individual prices. They list the item name, then a line of traits (EG: Ring, Rare (Requires Attunement)), then the description, but no additional info lines either above or below the description block that I could see, so no place to put individualized pricing info.

They might still put a table somewhere with a list of items and their prices, but if so, it wasn't part of what was shown in the video. Since they did say that crafting an item depended on its price, it might be slightly different than just a general pricing range per rarity tier.

The prices might be listed in the random treasure tables, as they were in the old AD&D DMG:

 

[Kurotowa]

I like that they said they're clarifying what you need to qualify for crafting a magic item. Name, the Arcana skill and the appropriate Artisan Tool proficiency and possibly a relevant spell. I just hope there's a clause for collaborative item creation where multiple people can collectively supply those things. Otherwise it's going to really narrow things down and push some wonky character creation choices.

 

[sevenbastard]

I'm not a fan of magic items shops, but crafting can be a great especially when the DM can pick the ingredients and scatter them throughout the sandbox. I like my players to be pushing the next adventure and good crafting rules do that.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Will we can to create our construct companions?

Will be relics like the ones from 3.5 complete divine?

I love the simbiotic crafts, but the penalty.

 

[abirdcall]

I'm not a fan of magic items shops, but crafting can be a great especially when the DM can pick the ingredients and scatter them throughout the sandbox. I like my players to be pushing the next adventure and good crafting rules do that.

I'm happy for item creation if the ingredients are rare enough that they can't easily be bought because there just isn't enough of them.

It's kind of like finding a magic item in pieces at that point only with a cooler narrative.

 

[billd91]

I was very relieved that they weren't in 2014, esp. for purchasing, to get away from the 3e mindset of magic items just being mundane, albeit expensive, items.

I agree. I don't think anybody expected the addition of easy magic item creature rules and the standardized magic item economy to transform the D&D mindset so dramatically as it did with 3e. I was thrilled that the item crafting rules were as rudimentary as they were, though there were still some parts of the magic item rarity pricing that didn't work very well.
I'm certainly going to continue to be fairly strict about what can be created and what its properties can be and how easy it is to buy/sell items with the 2024 rules.

 

[Stalker0]

I played a magic item cleric who basically armed the other party member (an astral deva from Savage Species). The downside to 3.x crafting is the sheer amount of personal XP you had to spend to make items for people. They weren't using milestone levelling, where hypothetically I could craft one cool thing a level. I was burning through XP and falling behind a PC who was beyond the pale unruly to begin with.

The idea that a character has to trade in one form of personal power (XP) to gain another form of power (magic items) honestly made a lot of sense. It explained why magic items aren't all over the place.

But xp is simply clunky as a mechanic, especially as many groups use milestone leveling now and don't really go with xp.


The problem with all crafting since then is its hard to balance making rules that players will want to use but ensure rules that a world wouldn't abuse. If magic items just cost gold and time (and the time is not excessive), it would seem strange not to quickly have magic items everywhere after a few generations. Being able to convert gold directly into power would be a very interesting action for anyone of means.

I think my perfect blend of crafting would go back to 4e's residdum concept but with a new twist.

You don't make magic items with gold, you make it with essence. Essence is gotten from killing certain monsters of power, special ingredients, etc. Its not something that is commonly bought or sold.

Essence keeps magic item creation simple. You don't have to track if you need a green dragon fang or a giant hornet's tail, its all simplified with "essence". But essence keeps magic crafting more controllable. The DM can choose to give the players essence for killing a certain monster as an alternate form of treasure. Players "might" encounter a dealer that can get them a certain amount of essence, but that would be suitably rare (and likely the dealer would only have so much, players that want to craft legendary items are not going to buy their way to the essence no matter how much money they have acquired). Because players are often in the monster hunting and finding lost weird stuff, it explains why they might have access to way more crafting ingredients than Wardo the Wizard who just lives in town. and so players can craft a decent amount, but it explains why they remain an exception to the rule rather than the norm.

 

[pukunui]

I’m wishing they’d leaned more into the magic item creation formula idea. Yet another undercooked idea from 2014 that they’re just abandoning. It would be cool if items needed special ingredients beyond Arcana, tool proficiency, and a spell known.

Like if a flame tongue weapon required being dipped in elemental fire or something, you know?

Something that could require a quest as part of the crafting!

 

[Superchunk77]

I'm not a fan of magic items shops, but crafting can be a great especially when the DM can pick the ingredients and scatter them throughout the sandbox. I like my players to be pushing the next adventure and good crafting rules do that.

I am, as it gives you a use for all that treasure you find. However, there have to be good reasons for creating items instead of just buying them too. In 3.5e I would simply use a handy online magic item shop generator whenever the PC's would go shopping. The store had specific magic items for sale, and if you didn't find the thing you wanted, you had to either create it yourself, or go check other stores.