Crafting Magic Items
Source: The Arcane Forge, p. 2
To create other magic items other than spell scrolls and potions, follow the rules below. In these rules, “you” refers to the character crafting the magic items.
Arcana Proficiency
To craft a magic item, you must have proficiency in Arcana.
Tools
The Magic Item Tools table lists which tool is required to make a magic item of each category. You or one of your assistants must use the required tool to make an item and have proficiency with that tool. For more information on the tools, see Equipment.
| Item Category | Required Tool |
|---|---|
| Armor | Leatherworker’s Tools, Smith’s Tools, or Weaver’s Tools depending on the kind of armor as noted in the tools’ descriptions |
| Potion | Alchemist’s Supplies or Herbalism Kit |
| Ring | Jeweler’s Tools |
| Rod | Woodcarver’s Tools |
| Scroll | Calligrapher’s Supplies |
| Staff | Woodcarver’s Tools |
| Wand | Woodcarver’s Tools |
| Weapon | Leatherworker’s Tools, Smith’s Tools, or Woodcarver’s Tools depending on the kind of weapon as noted in the tools’ descriptions |
| Wondrous Item | Tinker’s Tools or the tool required to make the nonmagical item on which the magic item is based (if any) |
| ^item-category-required-tool |
Spells
If a magic item allows its user to cast any spells from it, you must have all those spells prepared every day you spend crafting the item.
Time and Cost
Crafting a magic item takes an amount of time and money based on the item’s rarity as shown in the Magic Item Crafting Time and Cost table.
- Work per Day. For each day of crafting, you must work for 8 hours. If an item requires multiple days, those days needn’t be consecutive.
- Assistants. Characters can combine their efforts to shorten the crafting time. Divide the time needed to create an item by the number of characters working on it. Normally, only one other character can assist you, but the GM might allow more assistants. Any assistants must have proficiency with the tool required to make the item they are assisting in the creation of.
| Item Rarity | Time* | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Common | 5 days | 50 GP |
| Uncommon | 10 days | 200 GP |
| Rare | 50 days | 2,000 GP |
| Very Rare | 125 days | 20,000 GP |
| Legendary | 250 days | 100,000 GP |
| ^item-rarity-time-cost |
Raw Materials
To craft a magic item, you require rare crafting materials that may be difficult to find. If you’re lucky enough to find yourself in a place that sells such items, they can be bought at the prices listed in the table above. If a magic item incorporates an item that has a purchase cost (such as a weapon or a suit of armor), you must also pay that entire cost or craft that item first.
The time and cost are halved for a consumable item other than a *Spell Scrolls and *Potions of Healing.
The GM determines whether appropriate raw materials are available. Alternatively, the GM can roll 1d100 and consult the material availability table to determine available materials for each magic item being crafted.
| Settlement Size | Uncommon | Rare | Very Rare | Legendary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Village | 50% | 35% | 25% | 15% |
| Town | 80% | 70% | 60% | 50% |
| City | 90% | 90% | 80% | 70% |
| Metropolis | 99% | 95% | 95% | 90% |
| ^settlement-size-uncommon-rare-very-rare-legendary |
Essence
The creation of a magic item can be aided by having an essence appropriate to that item. An essence is a component, usually recovered from a monster, that can be used to aid in the creation of specific magic items, as determined by the GM. If you have an essence, you can spend it while creating the associated magic item to halve the cost of raw materials required to make the item. Additionally, once an essence has been spent on a magic item’s creation, any remaining raw materials should be considered mundane enough to be available at most reasonably stocked stores.
Since there are countless magic items, there’s no definitive list of what essences correspond to what magic items, but you can use the following rules as a framework for finding and using essences in play.
Essence as Loot
Among the noxious fumes and foul reagents on the shelves, Octavia finds a jar full of petrified spider legs. With her arcana, she is able to determine that they could be used as an essence to create Slippers of Spider Climbing.
In this example, the GM gave the player character an essence: a jar full of petrified spider legs, and, after an arcana check from the player, suggested what kind of magic item that could be used to create. But it doesn’t have to end there: the player might follow up and ask if they could instead use it for something like a Cloak of Arachnida. It’ll be up to the GM to decide if that’s okay or not. In this case, since the cloak is a much higher rarity than the slippers, and the players might still be fairly low level, the GM might decide that’s too much. Alternatively, the resources required for such an expensive crafting project might seem an exciting side quest.
Essence as a Goal
“I’m in my tower studying how to craft a Carpet of Flying,” says Anna. “Other than having a carpet to enchant, and the gems and herbs you’ll need, you think you’ll need the essence of some creature that has a fly speed and can hover,” replies the GM, setting a goal for her to achieve.
In this example, the player wanted to make a specific item, and the GM offered a path towards it. If Octavia can either find or harvest the essence from an appropriate creature, she now knows that would aid her in making a Carpet of Flying.
Harvesting Essence from Monsters
When players defeat a monster in battle, they may be able to harvest an essence from it. They do this by a combination of actions:
Study the Creature. You can use the Study action to attempt to identify an essence that could be extracted from a creature. Make an arcana check with a DC of 10 + the creature’s CR. On a success, you learn what part of the creature would have to be harvested to gain that essence.
Harvest the Essence. You can use the Utilize action to attempt to harvest a specific essence from a creature that died within the last round. Make a survival check with a DC of 10 + the creature’s CR. On a success, you harvest that essence. On a failure, the essence is destroyed.
As the GM it’s up to you to take a look at the creature’s monster statblock and determine what useful parts there are and describe the player’s success or failure. Alternatively, you can ask your table to contribute any ideas.
For example, Ankhegs have Acid Spray. Altan the Wizard makes a successful arcana check, identifying that these glands could be used as an essence in the creation of a Potion of Resistance or Armor of Acid Resistance. When the Ankheg dies, he calls out to Maeve the Ranger, telling her to cut out it’s acid glands.
You can also use a creature’s CR as a guideline in determining what rarity of magic items and essence from that creature could be used to create.
| CR | Rarity |
|---|---|
| 1 or higher | Uncommon |
| 5 or higher | Rare |
| 10 or higher | Very Rare |
| 15 or higher | Legendary |
| ^cr-rarity |