D&D 5E The Crafting Rules in the PHB are just fine.

[Asisreo]

I see the PHB, DMG and D&D in general get alot of flack for their rules on crafting but they're actually pretty good, all things considered.
Okay, not good for a player who just wants to craft that +1 weapon before sundown but for more reasonable projects, they aren't that bad. I could reasonably craft 10 javelins in a day with only woodcarving tools. Nonmagical items aren't usually too costly to make unless they are a bold project that would reasonably require alot of time and help to make like plate armor. If you want to do that, you'll need to wait until the DM allows you downtime. This is also to keep things balanced and not have people making plate armor day 1 of adventuring.
Magical Items should be difficult to make. They can literally break a campaign. You've seen the havoc an alchemy jug has wreaked in a campaign with a somewhat loose GM. Giving the players the ability to rip control over the pacing of the campaign completely can invalidate the GM's hard work. And there is a difference between railroading the players and keeping the pacing and power levels in control.

 

[RangerWickett]

I've played the FFG Star Wars, where a PC tweaked his favorite gun with all the options the game allowed - a sight, a scope, a stabilizing spare handle, a custom grip - while another PC tried and repeatedly failed skill checks to upgrade her light saber.

It was kind of amusing as a joke that the gunner rolled a handful of extra dice, but it didn't add anything to the narrative or tactical gameplay of the campaign.

I'm kinda over 'gear' as a concept, honestly. I think my favorite RPG for gear was Gamma World 4e, where every heavy weapon had the same stats, and every light weapon, every gun, etc. So my big hulking mutant carried a cannon from a shipwreck, your robot had a laser rifle, and they used the same stats. Tabletop RPGs aren't the place for fiddly gear mechanics.

Now, magic items that do fun stuff are great treasure, or great items for a GM to seed to set up a specific bit of adventure -- like something out of a Metroidvania game -- but I'm not really interested in PCs crafting magic items as a matter of course.

 

[Shiroiken]

In general, I don't have any issue with the standard crafting rules. Crafting magic items can be problematic, as I've decided that some items won't ever be given out (for example, I'll never give out a +x Shield, unless it's a campaign specific artifact plot item). The simplest rule I've added onto it crafting magic items is that the formula to create one must also be researched (taking even more downtime, and I can just prevent inappropriate items from ever being formulated).

 

[shadowoflameth]

My players were doing almost no crafting; Wondered what to do with the gold. I ruled that the times in the DMG were the longest it would take. That losened it up a little. Then I allowed the to craft alchemy items from prior editions. Still not a lot of excitement but they use crafting some. That's OK. The gold is the characters resource and the character should use it as makes sense and makes the game fun. 3rd edition where you had to do algebra to make anything and where you either didn't craft much or ended up with a +3 Holy flaming speed silvered longsword wasn't always a perfect situation either IMO

 

[Stoutstien]

Eh, i wish they had some example recipes for magical items as potential treasure/loot. XGTE helped a ton for those who want to craft little things like arrows.

 

[billd91]

I'm kinda over 'gear' as a concept, honestly. I think my favorite RPG for gear was Gamma World 4e, where every heavy weapon had the same stats, and every light weapon, every gun, etc. So my big hulking mutant carried a cannon from a shipwreck, your robot had a laser rifle, and they used the same stats. Tabletop RPGs aren't the place for fiddly gear mechanics.

I'm not sure I'd agree that tabletop RPGs aren't the place for fiddly gear mechanics... depending on the genre of the game involved. For superhero games with gadgeteers or for cyberpunk-style games, then a certain amount of fiddliness is kind of necessary. Perhaps not down to the small % changes in effect like you see in computer RPGs like Mass Effect - at least I would hope not. That is too fiddly for tabletop. I think there's a threshold of too fiddly - some games cross it, some genres shift it around (and some games cross it leaving it a Jump-1 behind even with a higher threshold set - Hello, most recent edition of Traveller).

 

[rmcoen]

I don't want "+2% critical damage" as a trait on an item. But I would like to see characters able to craft useful consumables. Like Herbalism and Alchemy for potions/bombs, Carpentry maybe for specialty arrows, Blacksmithing for armor repair (just had first instance of armor damage in my game) and custom weapon mods... So far (5th level PCs), they have bought some "natural remedies" (Herbalism from NPCs), and the ex-marine with Carpentry skills has crafted a couple ladders from handy trees; the dwarven cleric with blacksmith prof will be repairing the ballista-bolt-hole in the fighter's armor as soon as he can get to a forge. It would appear that my players are content with just that - but I'm stingy with true magic items, so I want them to have options.

I'm torn between 5e's "KISS" design goal and my natural inclination to make complicated versatile rule systems...

 

[auburn2]

I see the PHB, DMG and D&D in general get alot of flack for their rules on crafting but they're actually pretty good, all things considered.
Okay, not good for a player who just wants to craft that +1 weapon before sundown but for more reasonable projects, they aren't that bad. I could reasonably craft 10 javelins in a day with only woodcarving tools. Nonmagical items aren't usually too costly to make unless they are a bold project that would reasonably require alot of time and help to make like plate armor. If you want to do that, you'll need to wait until the DM allows you downtime. This is also to keep things balanced and not have people making plate armor day 1 of adventuring.
Magical Items should be difficult to make. They can literally break a campaign. You've seen the havoc an alchemy jug has wreaked in a campaign with a somewhat loose GM. Giving the players the ability to rip control over the pacing of the campaign completely can invalidate the GM's hard work. And there is a difference between railroading the players and keeping the pacing and power levels in control.

The way I have looked at it (and the way my players have looked at it) is we are playing dungeons and dragons and they are adventurers. This isn't blacksmiths and horseshoes and the game is about adventuring, not building and crafting.

The backgrounds do add some flavor and maybe if you are in a keep during a seige the guy with woodcarver tools can pitch in to make arrows, while the guy with smiths tools can help repair armor and the guy with carpenters tools can work on the catapults. Other than that though they aren't making stuff on down time because that is not the game we play. When one adventure is over the story is moving on.

Heck my players have enough trouble finding time to make it to the shop and buy some studded leather or a chain shirt to upgrade from the original leather armor the were born with.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Eh, i wish they had some example recipes for magical items as potential treasure/loot. XGTE helped a ton for those who want to craft little things like arrows.

One of the two projects I am working on is basically this, a "recipe" book (for lack of a better term) for all the magical items presented in the DMG. I am not doing other sources as I am concerned mostly with just what is "core" to 5E. I am hoping to finish the text this year, and if there is interest, maybe commission artwork and present it as a finished product.

I'll post information about it on EnWorld eventually, so (hopefully) look for it sometime this year. FWIW it also has slightly more complex crafting rules for mundane things as well as magical.

 

[el-remmen]

One of the two projects I am working on is basically this, a "recipe" book (for lack of a better term) for all the magical items presented in the DMG

I am doing something similar, but not being as systematic about it. I am creating "recipes" for items when they become relevant (like found in the notes of a enemy wizard's spellbook or in the margins of a cleric's holy book).

I am also doing something similar for non-core cantrips and spells. The PCs have found notes for figuring out how to prepare/cast them. Otherwise, non-core spells are not available.