The Many Flaws of the 5e Crafting System

[Sacrificial Lamb]

I'm going to try to ignore the massive clusteruck of the ACKS thread, where Frank just keeps self-righteously spreading his libelous verbal diarrhea of viciousness and deception. Instead, I will focus on writing about the many flaws of the 5e crafting system.

For reasons that escape me, nobody seems to tackle this issue......and everyone just pretends that the 5e crafting system works. Quite frankly, it doesn't work at all. Not even a little. We'll start with examining the system for magic item creation in 5e, since we have to begin....somewhere.

Item Rarity___Creation Cost____Minimum Level____Enchantment Time

Common____________100 gp___________3rd_____________4 days
Uncommon__________500 gp___________3rd____________20 days
Rare_____________5,000 gp____________6th____________200 days (6 months + 20 days)
Very Rare_______50,000 gp___________11th__________2,000 days (5 years + 5 months + 25 days)
Legendary_______500,000 gp__________17th_______20,000 days (54 years + 9 months +20 days)

I'm not formatting this very well, but....whatever. I'd like to note that the enchantment time for crafting magic items is not clearly delineated, and is in fact, not listed in the "Crafting Magic Items" table in the DMG on page 129.

It's not there, but is listed below instead. I suspect that the reason for this is that the authors of this book want people to completely gloss over the stupidity of the writing, which subtly discourages DMs and players from having characters actually craft items....at all. The impression is that the PCs are only intended to acquire magic items that the DM allows us to find, and that we should rarely (if ever) craft items ourselves. So the concept of an Artificer class is out. It's gone.

Take note that these rules make the creation of most magic items so monumentally vague and inconvenient, that this logically means that finding most magic items is nearly impossible. There's no precise formula for crafting a +3 weapon, or any other item at all. The DMG only makes vague inferences, under "Crafting A Magic Item", on page 128:

"To start, a character must have a formula that that describes the construction of the item. The character must also be a spellcaster with spell slots and must be able to cast any spells that the item can produce. Moreover, the character must meet a level minimum determined by the item's rarity, as shown in the Crafting Magic Items Table."

There's more vague nonsense like that (if you want to craft a Wand of Magic Missiles, then you probably need to be able to cast the Magic Missile spell), but it doesn't go too much further in detail beyond that.

Multiple casters (that meet the minimum caster level, and that theoretically possess the right spells) can speed up the time it takes to enchant magic items, but not enough for it to reasonably matter. Two casters will halve the enchantment time, and three casters will decrease the enchantment time down to a third. If your character crafts a magic item, he makes progress in 25 gp increments per day, until the total cost is paid. So a "rare" magic item that costs 5,000 gp to craft.....takes 200 days (6 months + 20 days) to enchant. It's a gruelingly slow and unfun process, like having your teeth anally extracted. But that's the system.

The most rare magic items take the longest time to enchant. "Legendary" items like Sovereign Glue, Universal Solvent, Vorpal Swords, Spheres of Annihilation, or Swords of Answering take a VERY long time to enchant:

20,000 days= (54 years + 9 months + 20 days)

Here's the total list. I didn't include sentient magical items, because imbuing an item with sentience does not affect the enchantment time in any way whatsoever. There are a few "legendary" sentient magic items, but I don't include them because.....who cares? Weapons like Blackrazor, Moonblade, Wave, and Whelm are practically treated like artifacts, and literally take approximately 55 years to enchant. So here's the list:

Common Items [4 days to enchant]

(1.) Potion of Climbing [consumable, one use item]
(2.) Potion of Healing [consumable, one use item]
(3.) Spell Scroll (cantrip) [one use item]
(4.) Spell Scroll (1st-level spell) [one use item]

Uncommon Items [20 days to enchant]

(1.) Adamantine Armor
(2.) Alchemy Jug
(3.) Ammunition +1
(4.) Amulet of Proof Against Detection and Location [requires attunement]
(5.) Bag of Holding
(6.) Bag of Tricks
(7.) Boots of Elvenkind
(8.) Boots of Striding and Springing [requires attunement]
(9.) Boots of the Winterlands [requires attunement]
(10.) Bracers of Archery [requires attunement]
(11.) Brooch of Shielding [requires attunement]
(12.) Broom of Flying
(13.) Cap of Water Breathing
(14.) Circlet of Blasting
(15.) Cloak of Elvenkind [requires attunement]
(16.) Cloak of Protection [requires attunement]
(17.) Cloak of the Manta Ray
(18.) Decanter of Endless Water
(19.) Deck of Illusions [34 cards, usually missing 1d20-1 cards, cards cannot be reused]
(20.) Driftglobe
(21.) Dust of Disappearance [1 pinch of dust]
(22.) Dust of Dryness [1d6+4 pinches of dust]
(23.) Dust of Sneezing and Choking [1 pinch of dust]
(24.) Elemental Gem [must break to use, 1 charge and then useless]
(25.) Eversmoking Bottle
(26.) Eyes of Charming [3 charges per day, requires attunement]
(27.) Eyes of Minute Seeing
(28.) Eyes of the Eagle [requires attunement]
(29.) Figurine of Wondrous Power [Silver Raven, can be used up to 12 hours, cannot be used again for another 2 days]
(30.) Gauntlets of Ogre Power [requires attunement]
(31.) Gem of Brightness [50 charges, then useless]
(32.) Gloves of Missile Snaring [requires attunement]
(33.) Gloves of Swimming and Climbing [requires attunement]
(34.) Gloves of Thievery
(35.) Goggles of Night
(36.) Hat of Disguise [requires attunement]
(37.) Headband of Intellect [Intelligence 19, requires attunement]
(38.) Helm of Comprehending Languages
(39.) Helm of Telepathy [requires attunement]
(40.) Immovable Rod
(41.) Instrument of the Bards (Doss Lute) [requires attunement by a Bard]
(42.) Instrument of the Bards (Fochlucan Bandore) [requires attunement by a Bard]
(43.) Instrument of the Bards (Mac-Fuirmidh Cittern) [requires attunement by a Bard]
(44.) Javelin of Lightning
(45.) Keoghtom's Ointment [1d4+1 doses, then useless]
(46.) Lantern of Revealing
(47.) Mariner's Armor
(48.) Medallion of Thoughts [3 charges per day, requires attunement]
(49.) Mithril Armor
(50.) Necklace of Adaptation [requires attunement]
(51.) Oil of Slipperiness [consumable, one use item]
(52.) Pearl of Power [requires attunement by a spellcaster]
(53.) Periapt of Health
(54.) Periapt of Wound Closure [requires attunement]
(55.) Philter of Love [consumable, one use item]
(56.) Pipes of Haunting [3 charges per day]
(57.) Pipes of the Sewers [3 charges per day, requires attunement]
(58.) Potion of Animal Friendship [consumable, one use item]
(59.) Potion of Fire Breath [consumable, one use item]
(60.) Potion of Hill Giant Strength [Strength 21, consumable, one use item]
(61.) Potion of Growth [consumable, one use item]
(62.) Potion of (Greater) Healing [consumable, one use item]
(63.) Potion of Poison [consumable, one use item]
(64.) Potion of Resistance [consumable, one use item]
(65.) Potion of Water Breathing [consumable, one use item]
(66.) Quiver of Ehlonna
(67.) Ring of Jumping [requires attunement]
(68.) Ring of Mind Shielding [requires attunement]
(69.) Ring of Swimming
(70.) Ring of Warmth [requires attunement]
(71.) Ring of Water Walking
(72.) Robe of Useful Items [4d4+12 patches, becomes nonmagical when used up]
(73.) Rod of the Pact Keeper +1 [requires attunement by a Warlock]
(74.) Rope of Climbing
(75.) Saddle of the Cavalier
(76.) Sending Stones [1 charge per day]
(77.) Sentinel Shield
(78.) Shield +1
(79.) Slippers of Spider Climbing [requires attunement]
(80.) Spell Scroll (2nd-level spell) [one use item]
(81.) Spell Scroll (3rd-level spell) [one use item]
(82.) Staff of the Adder [requires attunement by a Cleric, Druid, or Warlock]
(83.) Staff of the Python [requires attunement by a Cleric, Druid, or Warlock]
(84.) Stone of Good Luck (Luckstone) [requires attunement]
(85.) Sword of Vengeance [cursed, requires attunement]
(86.) Trident of Fish Command [3 charges, regains 1d3 charges per day, requires attunement]
(87.) Wand of Magic Detection [3 charges, regains 1d3 charges per day]
(88.) Wand of Magic Missiles [7 charges, regains 1d6+1 charges per day, requires attunement]
(89.) Wand of Secrets [3 charges, regains 1d3 charges per day]
(90.) Wand of the War Mage +1 [requires attunement by a spellcaster]
(91.) Wand of the Web [7 charges, regains 1d6+1 charges per day, requires attunement by a spellcaster]
(92.) Weapon +1
(93.) Weapon of Warning [requires attunement]
(94.) Wind Fan
(95.) Winged Boots [can be used up to 4 hours, boots regain 2 hours of flying capability for every 12 hours not in use]

Rare Items [200 days (6 months + 20 days) to enchant]

(1.) Ammunition +2
(2.) Amulet of Health [Constitution 19, requires attunement]
(3.) Armor +1
(4.) Armor of Resistance [requires attunement]
(5.) Armor of Vulnerability [cursed; requires attunement]
(6.) Arrow-Catching Shield [requires attunement]
(7.) Bag of Beans
(8.) Bead of Force
(9.) Belt of Dwarvenkind [requires attunement]
(10.) Belt of Hill Giant Strength [Strength 21, requires attunement]
(11.) Berserker Axe [requires attunement]
(12.) Boots of Levitation [requires attunement]
(13.) Boots of Speed [requires attunement]
(14.) Bowl of Commanding Water Elementals
(15.) Bracers of Defense [requires attunement]
(16.) Brazier of Commanding Fire Elementals
(17.) Cape of the Mountebank
(18.) Censer of Controlling Air Elementals
(19.) Chime of Opening
(20.) Cloak of Displacement [requires attunement]
(21.) Cloak of the Bat [requires attunement]
(22.) Cube of Force
(23.) Daern's Instant Fortress
(24.) Dagger of Venom
(25.) Dimensional Shackles
(26.) Dragon Slayer [sword, requires attunement]
(27.) Elixir of Health [consumable, 1 charge then useless]
(28.) Elven Chain
(29.) Figurine of Wondrous Power (Bronze Griffin) [can be used up to 6 hours, then cannot be used again for another 5 days]
(30.) Figurine of Wondrous Power (Ebony Fly) [can be used up to 12 hours, then cannot be used again for another 2 days]
(31.) Figurine of Wondrous Power (Golden Lions) [created in pairs (2), each can be used up to 1 hour, then cannot be used again for another 7 days]
(32.) Figurine of Wondrous Power (Ivory Goats) [created in sets of three (3), Goat of Traveling has 24 charges and uses 1 charge per hour, when charges used up, cannot be used again for another 7 days; Goat of Travail, can be used for up to 3 hours, then cannot be used for another 30 days; Goat of Terror, can be used up to 3 hours, then cannot be used for another 15 days]
(33.) Figurine of Wondrous Power (Marble Elephant) [can be used up to 24 hours, then cannot be used again for another 7 days]
(34.) Figurine of Wondrous Power (Onyx Dog) [can be used up to 6 hours, then cannot be used again for another 7 days]
(35.) Figurine of Wondrous Power (Serpentine Owl) [can be used up to 8 hours, then cannot be used again for another 2 days]
(36.) Flame Tongue [requires attunement]
(37.) Folding Boat
(38.) Gem of Seeing [3 charges per day, requires attunement]
(39.) Giant Slayer
(40.) Glamoured Studded Leather
(41.) Helm of Teleportation [3 charges per day, requires attunement]
(42.) Heward's Handy Haversack
(43.) Horn of Blasting [each use has 20% chance of causing horn to explode, dealing 10d6 fire damage, and becoming useless]
(44.) Horn of Valhalla (Silver) [2d4+2 Berserkers, can be used up 1 hour, then cannot be used for another 7 days]
(45.) Horn of Valhalla (Brass) [3d4+3 Berserkers, can be used up 1 hour, then cannot be used for another 7 days]
(46.) Horseshoes of Speed
(47.) Instrument of the Bards (Canaith Mandolin) [requires attunement by a Bard]
(48.) Instrument of the Bards (Cli Lyre) [requires attunement by a Bard]
(49.) Ioun Stone (Awareness) [requires attunement]
(50.) Ioun Stone (Protection) [requires attunement]
(51.) Ioun Stone (Reserve) [requires attunement]
(52.) Ioun Stone (Sustenance) [requires attunement]
(53.) Iron Bands of Bilarro
(54.) Mace of Disruption [requires attunement]
(55.) Mace of Smiting
(56.) Mace of Terror [3 charges per day, requires attunement]
(57.) Mantle of Spell Resistance [requires attunement]
(58.) Necklace of Fireballs [1d6+3 beads]
(59.) Necklace of Prayer Beads [once bead's spell is cast, it cannot be used again until the next dawn, requires attunement by Cleric, Druid, or Paladin]
(60.) Oil of Etherealness [consumable, one use item]
(61.) Periapt of Proof Against Poison
(62.) Portable Hole
(63.) Potion of Clairvoyance [consumable, one use item]
(64.) Potion of Diminution [consumable, one use item]
(65.) Potion of Gaseous Form [consumable, one use item]
(66.) Potion of Frost Giant Strength [Strength 23, consumable, one use item]
(67.) Potion of Stone Giant Strength [Strength 23, consumable, one use item]
(68.) Potion of Fire Giant Strength [Strength 25, consumable, one use item]
(69.) Potion of (Superior) Healing [consumable, one use item]
(70.) Potion of Heroism [consumable, one use item]
(71.) Potion of Invulnerability [consumable, one use item]
(72.) Potion of Mind Reading [consumable, one use item]
(73.) Quaal's Feather Token
(74.) Ring of Animal Influence [3 charges per day]
(75.) Ring of Evasion [3 charges per day, requires attunement]
(76.) Ring of Feather Falling [requires attunement]
(77.) Ring of Free Action [requires attunement]
(78.) Ring of Protection +1 [requires attunement]
(79.) Ring of Resistance [requires attunement]
(80.) Ring of Spell Storing [requires attunement]
(81.) Ring of the Ram [3 charges per day, requires attunement]
(82.) Ring of X-Ray Vision [requires attunement]
(83.) Robe of Eyes [requires attunement]
(84.) Rod of the Pact Keeper +2 [requires attunement by a Warlock]
(85.) Rod of Rulership [1 charge per day, requires attunement]
(86.) Rope of Entanglement
(87.) Scroll of Protection [one use item]
(88.) Shield +2
(89.) Shield of Missile Attraction [curse, requires attunement]
(90.) Spell Scroll (4th-level spell) [one use item]
(91.) Spell Scroll (5th-level spell) [one use item]
(92.) Staff of Charming [10 charges, regains 1d8+2 charges per day, requires attunement by a Bard, Cleric, Druid, (93.) Sorcerer, Warlock, or Wizard]
(94.) Staff of Healing [10 charges, regains 1d6+4 charges per day, requires attunement by a Bard, Cleric, or Druid]
(95.) Staff of Swarming insects [10 charges, regains 1d6+4 charges per day, requires attunement by a Bard, Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, or Wizard]
(96.) Staff of the Woodlands [10 charges, regains 1d6+4 charges per day, requires attunement by a Druid]
(97.) Staff of Withering [3 charges, regains 1d3 charges per day, requires attunement by a Cleric, Druid, or Warlock]
(98.) Stone of Controlling Earth Elementals [1 charge per day]
(99.) Sun Blade [requires attunement]
(100.) Sword of Life Stealing [requires attunement]
(101.) Sword of Wounding [requires attunement]
(102.) Tentacle Rod [requires attunement]
(103.) Vicious Weapon
(104.) Wand of Binding [7 charges, regains 1d6+1 charges per day, requires attunement by a spellcaster]
(105.) Wand of Enemy Detection [7 charges, regains 1d6+1 charges per day, requires attunement]
(106.) Wand of Fear [7 charges, regains 1d6+1 charges per day, requires attunement]
(107.) Wand of Fireballs [7 charges, regains 1d6+1 charges per day, requires attunement by a spellcaster]
(108.) Wand of Lightning Bolts [7 charges, regains 1d6+1 charges per day, requires attunement by a spellcaster]
(109.) Wand of Paralysis [7 charges, regains 1d6+1 charges per day, requires attunement by a spellcaster]
(110.) Wand of the War Mage +2 [requires attunement by a spellcaster]
(111.) Wand of Wonder [7 charges, regains 1d6+1 charges per day, requires attunement by a spellcaster]
(112.) Weapon +2
(113.) Wings of Flying [can be used for 1 hour, cannot be reused for 1d12 hours]

Very Rare Items [2,000 days (5 years + 5 months + 25 days) to enchant]

(1.) Ammunition +3
(2.) Amulet of the Planes [requires attunement]
(3.) Animated Shield [requires attunement]
(4.) Armor +2
(5.) Arrow of Slaying
(6.) Bag of Devouring
(7.) Belt of Fire Giant Strength [Strength 25, requires attunement]
(8.) Belt of Frost Giant Strength [Strength 23, requires attunement]
(9.) Belt of Stone Giant Strength [Strength 23, requires attunement]
(10.) Candle of Invocation [requires attunement]
(11.) Carpet of Flying
(12.) Cloak of Arachnida [requires attunement]
(13.) Crystal Ball [requires attunement]
(14.) Dancing Sword
(15.) Demon Armor
(16.) Dragon Scale Mail [requires attunement]
(17.) Dwarven Plate
(18.) Dwarven Thrower [requires attunement by a dwarf]
(19.) Efreeti Bottle
(20.) Figurine of Wondrous Power [Obsidian Steed, can be used up to 24 hours, then cannot be used again for another 5 days]
(21.) Frost Brand [requires attunement]
(22.) Helm of Brilliance [requires attunement]
(23.) Horn of Valhalla (Bronze) [4d4+4 Berserkers, can be used up 1 hour, then cannot be used for another 7 days]
(24.) Horseshoes of a Zephyr
(25.) Instrument of the Bards (Anstruth Harp) [requires attunement by a Bard]
(26.) Ioun Stone (Absorption) [requires attunement]
(27.) Ioun Stone (Agility) [requires attunement]
(28.) Ioun Stone (Fortitude) [requires attunement]
(29.) Ioun Stone (Insight) [requires attunement]
(30.) Ioun Stone (Intellect) [requires attunement]
(31.) Ioun Stone (Leadership) [requires attunement]
(32.) Ioun Stone (Strength) [requires attunement]
(33.) Manual of Bodily Health [study for 48 hours for 6 days to increase Constitution by 2 points, manual regains its magic 100 years later]
(34.) Manual of Gainful Exercise [study for 48 hours for 6 days to increase Strength by 2 points, manual regains its magic 100 years later]
(35.) Manual of Golems
(36.) Manual of Quickness of Action [study for 48 hours for 6 days to increase Dexterity by 2 points, manual regains its magic 100 years later]
(37.) Mirror of Life Trapping
(38.) Nine Lives Stealer [1d8+1 charges, becomes ordinary sword +2 when charges are used up, requires attunement]
(39.) Nolzur's Marvelous Pigments
(40.) Oathbow [while your sworn enemy lives, you have disadvantage on attack rolls with all other weapons, requires attunement]
(41.) Oil of Sharpness [consumable, one use item]
(42.) Potion of Flying [consumable, one use item]
(43.) Potion of Cloud Giant Strength [Strength 27, consumable, one use item]
(44.) Potion of (Supreme) Healing [consumable, one use item]
(45.) Potion of Invisibility [consumable, one use item]
(46.) Potion of Longevity [10% cumulative chance of aging you 1d6+6 years, consumable, one use item]
(47.) Potion of Speed [consumable, one use item]
(48.) Potion of Vitality [consumable, one use item]
(49.) Ring of Regeneration [requires attunement]
(50.) Ring of Shooting Stars [6 charges per day, requires attunement outdoors at night]
(51.) Ring of Telekinesis [requires attunement]
(52.) Robe of Scintillating Colors [3 charges per day, requires attunement]
(53.) Robe of Stars [requires attunement]
(54.) Rod of Absorption [can absorb 50 levels of energy, then becomes nonmagical]
(55.) Rod of Alertness [requires attunement]
(56.) Rod of the Pact Keeper +3 [requires attunement by a Warlock]
(57.) Rod of Security [cannot be used again until 10 days have passed]
(58.) Scimitar of Speed [requires attunement]
(59.) Shield +3
(60.) Spell Scroll (6th-level spell) [one use item]
(61.) Spell Scroll (7th-level spell) [one use item]
(62.) Spell Scroll (8th-level spell) [one use item]
(63.) Spellguard Shield [requires attunement]
(64.) Staff of Fire [10 charges, regains 1d6+4 charges per day, requires attunement by a Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, or Wizard]
(65.) Staff of Frost [10 charges, regains 1d6+4 charges per day, requires attunement by a Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, or Wizard]
(66.) Staff of Power [20 charges, regains 2d8+4 charges per day, requires attunement by a Sorcerer, Warlock, or Wizard]
(67.) Staff of Striking [10 charges, regains 1d6+4 charges per day, requires attunement]
(68.) Staff of Thunder and Lightning [+2 weapon, additional properties can be used once per day, requires attunement]
(69.) Sword of Sharpness [requires attunement]
(70.) Tome of Clear Thought [study for 48 hours for 6 days to increase Intelligence by 2 points, manual regains its magic 100 years later]
(71.) Tome of Leadership and Influence [study for 48 hours for 6 days to increase Charisma by 2 points, manual regains its magic 100 years later]
(72.) Tome of Understanding[study for 48 hours for 6 days to increase Wisdom by 2 points, manual regains its magic 100 years later]
(73.) Wand of Polymorph [7 charges, regains 1d6+1 charges per day, requires attunement by spellcaster]
(74.) Wand of the War Mage +3 [requires attunement by a spellcaster]
(75.) Weapon +3

Legendary Items [20,000 days (54 years + 9 months +20 days)]

(1.) Aparatus of Kwalish
(2.) Armor +3
(3.) Armor of Invulnerability [requires attunement]
(4.) Belt of Cloud Giant Strength [Strength 27, requires attunement]
(5.) Belt of Storm Giant Strength [Strength 29, requires attunement]
(6.) Cloak of Invisibility
(7.) Crystal Ball of Mind Reading [requires attunement]
(8.) Crystal Ball of Telepathy [requires attunement]
(9.) Crystal Ball of True Seeing [requires attunement]
(10.) Cubic Gate
(11.) Deck of Many Things
(12.) Defender [sword, requires attunement]
(13.) Efreeti Chain [requires attunement]
(14.) Hammer of Thunderbolts [need Belt of Giant Strength and Gauntlets of Ogre Power to fully use it, requires attunement to fully use it]
(15.) Holy Avenger [requires attunement by Paladin]
(16.) Horn of Valhalla (Iron) [5d4+5 Berserkers, can be used up 1 hour, then cannot be used for another 7 days]
(17.) Instrument of the Bards (Ollamh Harp) [requires attunement by a Bard]
(18.) Ioun Stone (Greater Absorption) [requires attunement]
(19.) Ioun Stone (Mastery) [requires attunement]
(20.) Ioun Stone (Regeneration) [requires attunement]
(21.) Iron Flask
(22.) Luck Blade [requires attunement]
(23.) Plate Armor of Etherealness [requires attunement]
(24.) Potion of Storm Giant Strength [Strength 29, consumable, one use item]
(25.) Ring of Djinni Summoning [requires attunement]
(26.) Ring of Air Elemental Command [5 charges per day, requires attunement]
(27.) Ring of Earth Elemental Command [5 charges per day, requires attunement]
(28.) Ring of Fire Elemental Command [5 charges per day, requires attunement]
(29.) Ring of Water Elemental Command [5 charges per day, requires attunement]
(30.) Ring of Invisibility [requires attunement]
(31.) Ring of Spell Turning [requires attunement]
(32.) Ring of Three Wishes [3 charges, then useless]
(33.) Robe of the Archmagi [requires attunement by a Sorceror, Warlock, or Wizard]
(34.) Rod of Lordly Might [requires attunement]
(35.) Rod of Resurrection [5 charges, regains 1 charge per day, requires attunement by a Cleric, Druid, or Paladin]
(36.) Scarab of Protection [provides advantage on saves vs spells, 12 charges, can expend 1 charge to turn a failed save against a necromancy spell or Undead creature into a successful one, destroyed when last charge expended]
(37.) Sovereign Glue [1d6+1 ounces]
(38.) Spell Scroll (9th-level spell) [one use item]
(39.) Sphere of Annihilation
(40.) Staff of the Magi [50 charges, regains 4d6+2 charges per day, requires attunement by a Sorcerer, Warlock, or Wizard]
(41.) Sword of Answering [requires attunement by a creature with the same alignment as the sword]
(42.) Talisman of Pure Good [non-good creatures take radiant damage when touching it, good Cleric or Paladin can use it as holy symbol, 7 charges (can be used to destroy target), talisman destroyed when charges used up]
(43.) Talisman of the Sphere [requires attunement]
(44.) Talisman of Ultimate Evil [non-evil creatures take radiant damage when touching it, evil Cleric or Paladin can use it as holy symbol, 6 charges (can be used to destroy target), talisman destroyed when charges used up]
(45.) Tome of the Stilled Tongue [requires attunement by a Wizard]
(46.) Universal Solvent
(47.) Vorpal Sword [requires attunement]
(48.) Well of Many Worlds [once opened, cannot be reopened for 1d8 hours]

I'm tired, so.....to be continued.

[Libertad]

You should have rules for crafting an argument about how repeatedly using the phrase "chimp out" is not racist.

[phlapjackage]

If I read this thread and am aware of OP's racist shitbag views, am I a Nazi?

[Username17]

First of all, no one is gong to forget or forgive the fact that Sacrificial Lamb is a proudly ignorant racist troll. He is never going to be respected or treated as someone who has intelligent things to say because he does not deserve our respect and he is demonstrably not n intelligent person.

That out of the way, the entire premise of this thread is wrong. The 5e item creation rules don't have many failure points, they just have one failure point: the 5e item creation rules have no design goals and therefore cannot succeed on any metric as there are no metrics for them to succeed on.

Like, I can tell you what the flaws of 3rd edition or 4th edition item creation are. Because those editions had ideas about what item creation was supposed to do. About what it was supposed to be used for and about what the player characters were supposed to be like after it was performed. The fact that a 3rd edition Fighter isn't up to facing a CR 11 Dragon before or after having purchased or crafted a spear and magic helmet with gold equivalent to the 'wealth by level' of an 11th level character means that the costs and wealth by level demonstrably fails to make up the power differential between the Fighter character class as written and the expected power level of a contributing character at 11th level. The fact that a 4th edition character who junks all their treasure for pixie dust and converts it all into weapons, armor, and cloak with the appropriate plus is still playing padded sumo at 16th level means that the item system has failed to provide the 'math fix' it's supposed to be.

But what's a 5th edition magic item creation supposed to do? How much treasure is a character supposed to have? How much time are they supposed to have? How much better are they supposed to be after they've taken however much time off to make an item? The different items are all over the place in cost and benefit, and the amount of time involved for most things on the list is far too long to fit into any cooperative story that isn't about Elvish farmers who declare 'six months passed' over and over again, and essentially meaningless to one that is. But since there's not even a goal for what these things are supposed to do, it doesn't matter. Any of those parameters could be different and it would still be a complete failure because it never created a framework in which it could be said to succeed.

If we took the log value of the timeframes such that 'Very Rare' items took four times as long instead of five hundred times as long to make, would that be better? No. It would be exactly the same because if a game can't tell you whether a character should have an item in less than 2,000 days there's no way to say that a character having or not having access to the item in less than 2,000 days is good or bad. Without assigning expected values for the GP and the Day, the costs are valueless.

-Username17

[OgreBattle]

Do any of those popular D&D play podcasts ever get into crafting? I figure they'd hand waive it, which seems to be the intention.

Like you have a diplomacy roll just so you can say you don't use it you RP instead

[Grek]

Given the lack of stated terminal values for the 5e ruleset, you have to judge it based on the instrumental values. Is there any plausible set of metrics for which the 5e item crafting rules would produce an acceptable result?

Definitely. The rules do an excellent job of making sure that the players do not attempt to buy, sell or craft magic items in any significant quantity without ever explicitly stating that doing so will break the game. It's a fig leaf covering a gaping hole in the rules. Just like everything else in this half-finished system.

[merxa]

I had started a 5e crafting ruleset. My players weren't especially interested so I never finished it, but the skeleton is there. I used the sane magic prices guide for costs.


https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bmf ... p=drivesdk

[Sacrificial Lamb]

Ok, so I missed something about crafting "consumables", such as potions, oils, and scrolls. S'mon, from the rpgsite, pointed this out to me....as I completely missed it. From my point of view, the 5e DMG is very inefficiently written, as this should all be clearly explained in one section....and not spread out in the book. The DMG makes a vague statement, under "Rarity", on page 135:

"Suggested values are provided in the Magic Item Rarity table. The value of a consumable item, such as a potion or scroll, is typically half the value of a permanent item of the same rarity."

Why didn't they write this on page 129, with the other stuff? I don't know; it's all a mystery. So.....I am GUESSING that this implies that the creation costs and enchantment times are halved as well. However, the book doesn't explicitly say that. At all. Technically, creation costs and "value" are two different concepts....if I am reading this correctly. So does this mean that it costs 100 gp (and 4 days of enchantment time) to craft a Potion of Healing, after which a vendor sells it for 50 gp? Or does this mean that it costs 50 gp (and 2 days of enchantment time) to craft a Potion of Healing, after which a vendor sells it for 50 gp?

After reading this, I'm not completely sure.

What I see on page 135 doesn't make a lot of sense. The "value" of a magic item is usually less than the creation cost of a magic item. This makes no logical sense. In the Player's Handbook, a Potion of Healing is sold for 50 gp. However, the creation cost of a Potion of Healing is either 100 gp or 50 gp, depending upon how you interpret the rules....as "creation cost" and "value" are not necessarily the same thing. This means that the vendor who creates this potion is either losing 50 gold pieces every single time that he sells a potion, or just not making any money whatsoever.....ignoring the reality that time is money, which makes the selling of Potions of Healing into a massive time sink and money sink.

This doesn't make any sense.

If we look at the "Magic Item Rarity" table on page 135 of the 5e Dungeon Master's Guide, we see this:

Magic Item Rarity

Rarity_________Character Level________Value

Common_________1st or higher___________50-100 gp
Uncommon_______1st or higher___________101-500 gp
Rare____________5th or higher___________501-5,000 gp
Very Rare________11th or higher__________5,001-50,000 gp
Legendary________17th or higher__________50,001+ gp

As you can see from the table, "creation costs" and "values" are different.....with "values" often being less than "creation costs". It's very strange. I have some stuff to do, so....to be continued.

[deaddmwalking]

It's very strange. I have some stuff to do, so....to be continued.

I highly recommend you spend all of your free time in the foreseeable future exhaustively researching item creation rules instead of reading crazy conspiracy theories that you honestly believe are so dangerous to know that you would be executed for actually revealing.

[WiserOdin032402]

I'm going to sort-of ignore the existence of the OP and highlight my own problem here:

The problem with D&D 5e I'm seeing here is, fundamentally, what magic items do. The potion of flying is in the same rarity as the belt that gives you 25 strength, but the winged boots, a non-consumable item that gives you flight, is uncommon.

Then the Wings of Flying are Rare and give less flight than the Winged Boots, and they're in the same category as the Cloak of Displacement, which is an objectively better item because it gives your enemy constant disadvantage on rolls to hit you.

And all of these fucking items are competing with magic weapons and armor, which are all incredibly fucking powerful in this edition in the first place because of the obsession with bounded accuracy, and the fact that if you're a sucker who didn't pick a full casting class, you basically can't hurt golems without a magical weapon.

Now, let's talk about the fucking manual of golems reeeeeeeeeal quick. The manual of golems lets you spend time making golems, requires you to have two 5th level spell slots for you to even read it without taking psychic damage, and the manual you get is random. It could be flesh, clay, iron (only 5% chance of that one, you can only get it if you roll an 18), or stone. This item is the only way to craft a golem, and there's no way by the rules as written you can craft another manual of golems because the manual gives you the spell to make the golem. So when you finish crating your golem (Maximum possible time and money spent: 100,000 GP for an iron golem and 120 days to craft) the manual sets itself on fire and you have to sprinkle the ashes on the golem to animate it.

Just one problem. An Iron Golem is capable of killing most things in the monster manual because golems are immune to, as the book puts it, Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing From Nonmagical Attacks That Aren't Adamantine, and poison damage. And it has one kind of damage immunity related to the kind of golem it is that instead heals the golem. So the example Iron Golem is immune to and healed by fire damage. And every golem's attack is magic damage, so they get to bypass DR/DI magic. Did I mention it takes a shorter time to craft this than it does to craft a very rare or legendary item?

So some items completely fuck game balance over a barrel. Hell, the way stat items work in 5e just annihilates game balance entirely. Strength is a sucker's game because the ogre gauntlets, which you are more likely to get than the items that actually benefit you, and they flat out set your strength score to 19. They aren't even for fighting types! Rogues benefit more from them. So many of the basic items just shit on people for investing in stats up to 20. Then there are the strength boosters that set your strength higher than 20, and they, again, don't really do anything for people who invested their stats into strength, unless they're one of the tomes which outright boost a stat and up the total cap by 2, but those are the same rarity as the belt that just makes your strength 25 with zero investment.

From the outset everything is fucked from the ground up because magic items aren't supposed to be integral to the game until they are, and they're supposed to be powerful rare items until they're not. And they're not supposed to be number boosters until they are. Consumables are just as rare as permanent items and cost the same as permanent items because abloogy woogy woo which are just as rare as the golem manual which busts the game in half because abloogy woogy woo. All of these items, all of these rules, all of these rarities, and all of the games monsters, were made in separate broom closets with the amount of coherence anything has.

[maglag]

From the outset everything is fucked from the ground up because magic items aren't supposed to be integral to the game until they are, and they're supposed to be powerful rare items until they're not. And they're not supposed to be number boosters until they are. Consumables are just as rare as permanent items and cost the same as permanent items because abloogy woogy woo which are just as rare as the golem manual which busts the game in half because abloogy woogy woo. All of these items, all of these rules, all of these rarities, and all of the games monsters, were made in separate broom closets with the amount of coherence anything has.

So, just like 3.5 with stuff like the Candle of Invocation?

[tenngu]

....

I mean part of the problem is that I bet mearls wrote the item rarities over lunch when he realized the book needed to be sent to the printers next week, but another one is the Eberron book coming out will be the fourth book in 5e to change or alter the way crafting works (phb, dmg, xanathar's, and like I said, eberron).

So not only have they not said what magic items are supposed to accomplish, they've basically changed the acquisition part of this several times over the course of the edition. It's like skill challenges except people don't care about the rules for 5e.

You'd basically have to do what merxa is doing and go back to first principles and re-engineer the magic item system to have a crafting system (ps, I like what you have so far merxa).

[jt]

What are items supposed to accomplish? Narratively? Mechanically? I usually stumble on this in my own designs. Here are all my guesses:

Narrative:
[*] People like stories about figuring out super clever uses for Immovable Rods and a blade that can transform into any mundane sword.
[*] A treasure pile is just descriptive text and a GP value unless you have something in it with a mechanical relevance to your character.
[*] Having Excalibur or a flying carpet is a major character trait for some folks in the source material.

Mechanical:
[*] Chamomile had a proposal at some point where magic item slots were what creatures like a Medusa had to give up, if you wanted one with class levels.
[*] In a system that used feat chains instead of classes, I had a magic item be one of the ways you could gain a level-feat.
[*] D&D 4E attempted to use magic items to fix some math that could've been okay otherwise.

Perhaps interestingly, when I write roguelikes, items come naturally and I instead struggle with a reason to include levels/experience.

[WiserOdin032402]

So, just like 3.5 with stuff like the Candle of Invocation?

Man, the Candle of Invocation was fucked from day 1 but that probably has to do with the 'didn't playtest past level 10' bit. 5e's magic items came after the player's handbook and the monster manual, from what I understand. There was no reason to make this mistake. There was no reason for most items to end up either a Potion of CLW or a Candle of Invocation, but here we are.

I mean part of the problem is that I bet mearls wrote the item rarities over lunch when he realized the book needed to be sent to the printers next week, but another one is the Eberron book coming out will be the fourth book in 5e to change or alter the way crafting works (phb, dmg, xanathar's, and like I said, eberron).

So not only have they not said what magic items are supposed to accomplish, they've basically changed the acquisition part of this several times over the course of the edition. It's like skill challenges except people don't care about the rules for 5e.

You'd basically have to do what merxa is doing and go back to first principles and re-engineer the magic item system to have a crafting system (ps, I like what you have so far merxa).

Boy fucking howdy you probably hit it right on the head. But what makes all of this infinitely worse is that the items aren't meant to be bought because the game was supposed to not be reliant on magic items anymore. So we're back to 3.5 all over again, but in a worse position because most of the classes are utterly gimped, so when the enemies that you do need magic items to fight show up most of the players are utterly fucked. Mearls has managed to not just hit himself in the face with a rake, but kickflip the rake down the stairs and still hit himself in the face.

(Also most modules and adventurer's league apparently hand out magic items somewhat like candy so like this is all kinda fucking moot-ish?)

Good Points

Bruh like. Fuck I dunno. All I know is that if want to treat magic items like they're rare and powerful don't make a whole bunch of enemies that just shit on you if you don't have them?

[Username17]

What are items supposed to accomplish? Narratively? Mechanically? I usually stumble on this in my own designs.

Stochastic rewards are more 'exciting' than scheduled rewards. People are more excited by winning at bingo than they are at getting their paycheck, despite the fact that there's normally more money in the paycheck than the gambling payout.

An ability that is hardcoded onto a character sheet is more difficult to add or subtract from a character than an ability tied to an explicitly transferable ring found in the mud. And that can include when an ability needs to be added to address balance issues or when a player's idea of what they want their character doing has changed.

Those two facts support random treasure and placed treasure respectively. And what you want the magic items to accomplish depends heavily on what you want them to do.

Let's consider the Fighter in 2nd Edition AD&D and 3rd Edition D&D:

The 2nd Edition Fighter is actually really powerful but extremely boring. They don't get anything except hit points and improved attacks. Armor Classes and Hit Points are pretty constrained for team monster, so getting an extra attack every other round and a reduction in THAC0 is a pretty big deal. But there's no thrill of advancement as a Fighter because you don't actually get any interesting abilities or meaningful advancement choices.

The 3rd Edition Fighter has a lot going on, with feat trees and prestige classes and shit. But they aren't good at their job. Hit point inflation and AC inflation and shit makes the basic hitting things with a longsword wildly impractical as a means of making progress. Where the 2nd edition Troll has 33 Hit Points, the 3rd edition one regenerates faster and 63.

The 2nd edition Fighter needs to find helmets of true seeing and tridents that command fish and stuff because otherwise it's boring to play them and there's no anticipation or excitement generated by the advancement rewards. The 3rd edition fighter needs an artifact sword designed and given to them specifically because otherwise they aren't good enough to pull their weight.

Magic items can fill a number of voids in character advancement and player experience. And different assumptions of what they, how they are placed, and how the player characters interact with them will determine what paradigms are good, bad, or flawed or whatever.

-Username17

[Chamomile]

[*] Chamomile had a proposal at some point where magic item slots were what creatures like a Medusa had to give up, if you wanted one with class levels.

Point of order: This wasn't actually my idea, I just put more effort into fleshing it out than whoever did come up with it (I think Frank? But I'm not sure), and even then I only ever half-finished it.

[SeekritLurker]

One of the hacks for 3e I've considered (and never implemented) was the [Magic] tag for weapons and armor. The idea is that a +1 sword is just not exciting, but a flaming sword or one that strikes true against elves is awesome.

The [Magic] tag means that you get your +1 or +3 based on your character level, and it's universal to all items - which means you can have that neat Dagger of Blinding just be your signature weapon through the entire campaign, because it goes from +1 when you're at level 3, up to +4 at level 16 or whatever.

It also removes the silliness of a +1 Wounding Keen Venom rapier getting Greater Magic Weapon cast on it every day. You just get a Wounding Rapier, and it has the [Magic] tag.

The problem then becomes one of "Well, how does that interact with the economy" and I throw my hands up and don't bother.

[Foxwarrior]

I think Red Rob items did that (our Tome games have moved on to divorcing the pluses out of magic items entirely), but you'll still probably want to trade out your Dagger of Blinding for a Dagger of Planeshifting People to Hell eventually.

[Username17]

One of the hacks for 3e I've considered (and never implemented) was the [Magic] tag for weapons and armor. The idea is that a +1 sword is just not exciting, but a flaming sword or one that strikes true against elves is awesome.

The [Magic] tag means that you get your +1 or +3 based on your character level, and it's universal to all items - which means you can have that neat Dagger of Blinding just be your signature weapon through the entire campaign, because it goes from +1 when you're at level 3, up to +4 at level 16 or whatever.

It also removes the silliness of a +1 Wounding Keen Venom rapier getting Greater Magic Weapon cast on it every day. You just get a Wounding Rapier, and it has the [Magic] tag.

The problem then becomes one of "Well, how does that interact with the economy" and I throw my hands up and don't bother.

That was the basis of the Book of Gears rules that K and I wrote twelve years ago. That part works fine. And the economy portion isn't a problem at all. We instituted an eight item limit for bonus swag and the whole thing is actually much smoother.

The part we floundered on was actually wands and scrolls. Those things are a huge problem because they are in your possession when you haven't used them and leave your possession when they are used up. A character who follows the urge to preserve has demonstrably less effect on the game than someone who blasts through wand charges like they were toilet paper - but their listed wealth is higher.

And then there's the problem that some spells are primarily balanced by the action cost to cast them, while others are primarily balanced by the limited number of times they can be used in a day. Even if the spells were actually balanced, having functionally unlimited access to haste would be a much bigger deal than having functionally unlimited access to slow.

But yeah, magic swords should just give a scaling magic bonus and not have to be upgraded to treadmill level appropriate bonuses at all. This is pretty well established at this point.

-Username17

[SeekritLurker]

One of the hacks for 3e I've considered (and never implemented) was the [Magic] tag for weapons and armor. The idea is that a +1 sword is just not exciting, but a flaming sword or one that strikes true against elves is awesome.

The [Magic] tag means that you get your +1 or +3 based on your character level, and it's universal to all items - which means you can have that neat Dagger of Blinding just be your signature weapon through the entire campaign, because it goes from +1 when you're at level 3, up to +4 at level 16 or whatever.

It also removes the silliness of a +1 Wounding Keen Venom rapier getting Greater Magic Weapon cast on it every day. You just get a Wounding Rapier, and it has the [Magic] tag.

The problem then becomes one of "Well, how does that interact with the economy" and I throw my hands up and don't bother.

That was the basis of the Book of Gears rules that K and I wrote twelve years ago. That part works fine. And the economy portion isn't a problem at all. We instituted an eight item limit for bonus swag and the whole thing is actually much smoother.

The part we floundered on was actually wands and scrolls. Those things are a huge problem because they are in your possession when you haven't used them and leave your possession when they are used up. A character who follows the urge to preserve has demonstrably less effect on the game than someone who blasts through wand charges like they were toilet paper - but their listed wealth is higher.

And then there's the problem that some spells are primarily balanced by the action cost to cast them, while others are primarily balanced by the limited number of times they can be used in a day. Even if the spells were actually balanced, having functionally unlimited access to haste would be a much bigger deal than having functionally unlimited access to slow.

But yeah, magic swords should just give a scaling magic bonus and not have to be upgraded to treadmill level appropriate bonuses at all. This is pretty well established at this point.

-Username17

Then I probably just had the idea rattling around in my head from when I read the Tomes... 8 years ago or so? I'm bad at attributions.

My bad.

[LR]

And then there's the problem that some spells are primarily balanced by the action cost to cast them, while others are primarily balanced by the limited number of times they can be used in a day. Even if the spells were actually balanced, having functionally unlimited access to haste would be a much bigger deal than having functionally unlimited access to slow.

I don't think there's any real solution to that other than having a tag on spells that are 'okay' to be used over and over again. Something that requires going through at least the PHB Spell List and manually marking them (something that should have been done when writing the spells.) Then you can just have them on at-will items that count against your limit rather than as part of a character's consumables.

I have been working on my own version of consumable/spell use items that hopefully greatly reduces the amount of wealth players have to blow on these things while keeping rogues and savvy casters with permissive DMs from running away with the game. No idea how portable it is to 5e, but I don't really care.

Design Goals

• 1. Potions are useful for everyone, but more useful for melee-focused characters.
  2. Wands, Scrolls, and Staves are useful for both casters and skillful characters.
  3. No infinite uses/day at all.
  4. Potions and scrolls are fundamentally consumable, even in the Wish economy.
  5. No cheating effects before they're supposed to be available.
  6. Downtime for crafting is reasonable.
  7. Wands and staves are used while casting spells.
  8. Try to make UMD not world-altering to use.

Brew Potion [Item Creation]
Prerequisites: Ability to cast spells

Benefit: You can brew a batch of potions, allowing characters to benefit from beneficial spells with no further investiture from you. Brewing a Potion requires the proper ingredients and a number of hours equal to the spell level (cantrips require a mere minute of brewing time) and a Craft (alchemy) check; DC 15 + (Spell Level *2). A spellcaster during the brewing process must have access to the spell in question, expending it during the process. Failure of the check or an interruption lasting longer than an hour ruins the batch, wasting the spell and the materials. The spell in the Potion is cast at a caster level equal to the character level of the caster, and targets only the imbiber. Most of the liquid must be swallowed to benefit from the spell, and doing so renders any remaining liquid entirely mundane.

A normally brewed Potion has a shelf life of a number of days equal to the character level of the brewer. When the Potion expires, it becomes entirely mundane. Potions that can be stored indefinitely can be created, but require materials and equipment that cannot be magically created for Potions of spells above 3rd level. Some powerful instantaneous effects may not be granted by temporary Potions, such as Wish or Awaken.

A character can benefit from a number of ongoing Potion effects equal to their unmodified Constitution modifier (min 1). A character can benefit from a number of Potions with instantaneous effects equal to their unmodified Constitution modifier (min 1) per hour. A character can only benefit from Potions with a spell level equal to the total of their odd character levels or lower. A Potion that can benefit characters that do not meet the level requirements can be created, but requires equipment and materials that cannot be magically created. Because of this, potions for any spell above 3rd level are rare in the common market.

Brewing a Potion requires ingredients that can be purchased (for spells of no higher level that available to the local alchemist) or located with the Survival skilll (DC 10 + twice the spell level). The materials for one Potion are worth the square of the spell level of the Potion times ten. A stabilizer for a batch of 3rd level or lower costs 1000 gp per spell level. You can brew as many Potions in one batch as equipment and materials allow, expending the spell only once during the brewing process. The equipment for basic potionmaking is only a cauldron and a heat source, while scaling up production requires increasingly complex equipment to keep the batch stable for the entire duration. A typical potion contains a pint of liquid, usually reduced down from a gallon or more of water.

Note: This represents the classical alchemist implementation of this feat. Other versions might exist, but typically should only be purchasable by characters who have access to the support networks required to make use of it at low levels.



Scribe Scroll [Item Creation]
Prerequisites: Ability to cast spells

Benefit: You can create a physical version of a prepared spell, usually represented as a large rolled scroll containing the magical formula of the spell. You can prepare a number of Scrolls equal to your unmodified primary spellcasting modifier during a normal spell preparation process, expending materials worth the square of the spell level of the Scroll times ten. If the character does not prepare spells, they must still undergo the preparation process, receiving no benefit other than the Scrolls.

A Scroll, when used by a spellcaster, allows the spellcaster to expend a normal casting of a spell to instead cast the spell prepared in the Scroll. The expended spell must be of the same level or higher than the spell cast from the Scroll. The spell is otherwise cast normally, using the caster level and primary spellcasting stat of the spellcaster, just as if the spellcaster prepared or knew the spell. A character can use a number of Scrolls per day equal to their unmodified primary spellcasting modifier.

Scrolls above 4th level are purchasable with mere gold equivalents, but only through special channels because of the potential power of the spells.

A DC 15 + (Spell Level * 2) Use Magic Device check allows a non-spellcaster to use a spell from a Scroll by expending a charge from a Living Stone. They can activate a number of Scrolls per day equal to their unmodified Charisma modifier.



Craft Wand [Item Creation]
Prerequisites: Ability to cast spells

Benefit: You can create a Wand, a basic spellcaster's tool used to as both a weapon and an aid to concentration. When used as an attack action by a spellcaster, a Wand fires a Ray out to Close range that deals 1d6 damage of fire, electricity, ice, or acid damage (chosen when the Wand is created) for every odd character level the user possesses. The character adds their Primary Spellcasting modifier as a bonus to the damage dealt.. Any spellcaster can use a Wand, and it's treated as a magical weapon. The Ray fired by a Wand is treated as a 1st level spell with a caster level equal to the character level of its user.

The use of a Wand greatly simplifies the somatic components of a spell, and when used for those purposes, provides a competence bonus to Concentration checks equal to the character level of its wielder.

Wands are created in a weeklong ritual and crafting process, requiring a DC 20 Crafting check appropriate to the materials of the Wand and costing no less than 500 gp. Most of the process can be performed by a spellcaster without the feat, usually an apprentice. The final ritual takes one hour and the full attention of both spellcasters.

A DC 15 Use Magic Device check allows a Wand to be used by a non-spellcaster. They gain no bonus to the damage when using a Wand in this way.

Note: Other versions of Wands, primary favored by bards, take the form of masterwork magical instruments and are used as tools for the Verbal component of a spell. Such a instrument deals Sonic damage when used as a weapon.



Craft Staff [Item Creation]
Prerequisites: Caster Level 7, Craft Wand

Benefit: You can create a Staff, a powerful spellcaster's tool. A Staff functions as a Wand except that its Ray extends out to Long range and the Concentration bonus is applied whenever the character is holding the Staff.

Additionally, with a hour of preparation, a spellcaster can place a number of spells that they know into a Staff, allowing them to expend a normal casting of a spell to instead cast one of the spells stored in the Staff. The expended spell must be of the same level or higher than the spell cast from the staff. Doing so does not remove the spell from the Staff, and there is no limit to how many times a spellcaster may use a Staff to cast a spell. Allied spellcasters may contribute one of their spells to the Staff, or a spell from a Scroll may be added to the Staff, destroying the Scroll.

A Staff must be attuned to the user in a ritual that takes 1 hour to make use of it as anything but a weapon. A character may be attuned to only one Staff. If a Staff is broken, the user must take an 8 hour rest before attuning a new Staff. An attuned Staff may be recalled to the hand of the owner, flying 30 feet towards the caster with perfect maneuverability every round. Unintelligent Staves that are blocked by a barrier will exhaustively and mindlessly search for an alternate path, making no attempt to break the barrier. A typical Staff functions as a magical quarterstaff, with an enchantment bonus to attack and damage equal to the character level of the wielder.

A DC 20 + (Spell Level * 2) Use Magic Device check allows a non-spellcaster to use a spell from a Staff without attuning it by expending a charge from a Living Stone. They can activate Staves a number of times per day equal to their unmodified Charisma modifier.

Staves are created in weeklong rituals using components that cannot be obtained on any common market. Staves themselves cannot be obtained on the common market.

Note: There are many different versions of Staves, and the crafter should discuss the properties of a custom Staff of equivalent power with their DM. Possession of this feat is intended to guarantee access to staves to any character with planar currency.



Living Stone: A powerful gemstone recoverable from a spellcaster that died with most of their magical power not expended. The spell takes various forms depending on the type of spellcaster or their specializations, such as Living Black Onyx created from crystallized magical power of a Necromancer. Each Living Stone has its own caster level and maximum spell level which are used when they are used to power a spell. Spells powered by Living Stones use the Charisma modifier of the user to set Save DCs.

Living Stones gradually lose their power as they are used, holding a number of charges equal to the caster level of the spellcaster. Lower level Living Stones are essentially expendable, but Living Stones from spellcasters able to cast 4th or higher level spells can be recharged at places of power where leylines cross. Such Living Stones are prized by the mighty and cannot be found on the common market. A character may only attune to one Living Stone, and may only attune another after an 8 hour rest in a ritual that takes one hour. Attuning with a Living Stone requires the attuner's character level to meet or exceed its caster level.

Expendable Living Stones cost 100 gp multiplied by their caster level.


Alchemic Heavyweight [General]

Benefit: You can accept an additional three instantaneous effects per hour and three extra ongoing effects from potions.


Scroll Aficionado [General]

Benefit: You can cast an extra two spells per day from scrolls.


Wand Expert [General]

Benefit: You need not make a Use Magic Device check to use a Wand, and add your Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma modifier to damage with the Ray (choose one when taking this feat) even if you have no spellcasting ability.


Staff Master [General]

Prerequisite: Wand User, 7th level

Benefit: You can cast an extra two spells per day from Staves. You need not make a Use Magic Device check to fire a Ray a Staff, and add your Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma modifier to damage with Ray (choose one when taking this feat) even if you have no spellcasting ability.

[/u]

[Username17]

I don't think there's any real solution to that other than having a tag on spells that are 'okay' to be used over and over again. Something that requires going through at least the PHB Spell List and manually marking them (something that should have been done when writing the spells.) Then you can just have them on at-will items that count against your limit rather than as part of a character's consumables.

Monte Cook's half-baked redo of 3rd edition, Arcana Unearthed takes exactly this approach. It runs into a number of problems. The first is that Monte Cook didn't really have a lot of insight into why some spells were very game altering when put into belts of continuous use and others were not.

The more general and harder to deal with problem is that every ability has its value change with different resource management systems and magic items have a lot of different resource management systems. Let us consider even just a few objects: the winged boots, the wand of haste, and the cloak of displacement. All of those deliver to the player the benefits of a third level buff spell. But one can be used a number of times per day every day, one can be used fifty times, and the third is simply always active. Shuffling those would be significant, but how significant? haste doesn't last very long and you only want to activate it during some combats, so X/Day and 50/Ever aren't really different, but continuously active would be different in that it would never eat into combat actions. Spells with longer durations like magic circle against evil aren't normally cast during combat either way, so 3 times a day wouldn't be much different than continuous.

This all goes down to the Warlock issue. There are abilities that you can give a radically different resource management schedule to and have that be basically OK, and ones you can't. And the answers will be different for every ability and for every resource management schedule.

What it comes down to is that for every resource management schedule you have to write a new set of abilities that take that resource management schedule into account. A flaming sword shouldn't be backformed out of Sword + Burning Hands or whatever, it should have its own mechanics. And the same holds true for wands and potions and shit. If a wound-curing potion happens to have the same mechanical effect as a cure moderate wounds or whatever, that should be a happenstance, not a default assumption. A wand of fireballs should be written from scratch as a weapon that shoots fire at people, not written as a function call to the Sorcerer spell list.

-Username17

[Lago PARANOIA]

I'm wondering at this point whether higher-power consumables should even purchasable. I'm on the fence about this for permanent magic items, but the more I think about it for limited-use magical items like Potions of Cure Critical Wounds the less I like it.

Even beyond how consumables can have a wildly different balance point depending on how they interact with the action economy and workday, they have a wildly different effect on how they're used.

[*] You have the hoarders. You know the type. They don't use Megalixers even when half the party is down and they're out of MP because 'what if the post-game boss is even harder'. These people fuck with game balance when consumables are expected to be heavily used.
[*] You have the budgeteers. They're the people who calculate the amount of healing a party will need going from level 9 to 11 and buy exactly fourteen wands of Cure Light Wounds. These people fuck with game balance by having consumables available when they're not expected to be used.
[*] You have the spenders. They just use a consumable first remotely relevant opportunity, either because of inexperience or because they're afraid of wasting it by growing too powerful for the consumable. These people fuck with game balance by not having consumables available when the game does want you to have one.

What's to be done?

[deaddmwalking]

I'm wondering at this point whether higher-power consumables should even purchasable.

Or maybe they shouldn't be consumable? 1/day or 1/week encourages you to use it because every day you DON'T use it is a waste.

[jt]

Everyone here accepts that "suck now to be good later" is bad balance in class design, and I don't see any difference between that and permanently hoardable consumables.