question about minor creation

[Zamtap]

Hi all,

minor creation says that if what you create is complex you have to make a craft check, what i have in mind is a set of wooden stairs 16 foot long slopeing at 45 degrees so the party can go up 10ft. is this complex and if so what DC would you set for the craft check?

if you added a solid ballistrade along one side to give partial cover from ranged attacks from the side does it then become complex and what DC would you set?

( the reason I'm asking is that there are a lot of clockwork horrors behind the walls shooting us with their pressure darts, and we've got two gold opening up with their lightening bolts as well. i can get us through an arrow slit with stone shape but i have to get there)

thanks for the help

 

[Dracomeander]

I hate to disappoint you, but yes building a staicase is a complex project. As someone who has had to build stairways for use on the stage I can tell you, it may be a fairly common project but that doesn't lower its complexity.

The appropriate crafts would be Craft (Carpentry), Craft (Stoneworking), or Craft (Blacksmithing) depending on the materials you are using. A rough, crude stairway would be about a DC 15. A finished stairway with a protective wall along one side would be somewhere around a DC 20 or 25.

 

[Infiniti2000]

I'd have to agree with Dracomeander. Additionally, I'd say that you would not be high enough level to create such a large staircase. Considering a staircase of 16ft in length and 2.5ft wide, that would be 40 cubic feet. There are lots of support structures to the staircase, so even if you cut this in half, you have to be 20th level just to create the staircase. You could say that you can cut it in a quarter and only be 10th level, but IMO that's being generous. The point is that the limit needs to be considered. Also, keep in mind the casting time. You might be dead by the time you finish. The real spell you want for this task, btw, is fabricate.