"Replicate Magic Item doesn't reference the crafting rules at all. You just create a magic item from thin air."
Copy paste the section of rules containing the reference "from thin air".
Copy and paste the section of rules in Create an Item feature that contains the reference to the Crafting Rules or describes any material requirements. All that is required is Tinker's Tools in hand. You can be naked as a jaybird in the sparsest environment imaginable and you can Create a Magic Item as long as you have Tinker's Tools. There are no other requirements to meet.
The rules would need to explicitly state that the base item was required, which Infuse Item did, but Replicate Magic Item does not. This is a change from the prior version. Artificers have gone from crafters and enchanters of items to item summoners. I don't like it and have house ruled otherwise, but RAW is that they do not need the base item.
"Copy and paste the section of rules in Create an Item feature that contains the reference to the Crafting Rules or describes any material requirements."
It doesnt say ANYTHING about materials. It doesnt say you create the thing as part of the replication, it doesnt say you need the material beforr replicating.
Thr material requirement is completely outside of the replication rules. So insisting it must be one way, thay it must create thr material as part of replication is not raw.
But we DO know when you craft a magic item with no cost, you bamf it into existence with time and money, and if the mundane version has a gold value, then you get thr mundane version first and bamf thr mundane into magical.
Your interpretation isnt raw. Neither is mine. Its.completely devoid of details in the replication rules.
Your interprrtation could be rai, based on what youwant to focus on.
My interpretation could be rai, based on what i focus on.
Once again, you insist your approach is raw when it isnt in the actual rules. And you are unable to even acknowledge that other interpretations different from your own could even remotely be valid.
"Replicate Magic Item doesn't reference the crafting rules at all. You just create a magic item from thin air."
Copy paste the section of rules containing the reference "from thin air".
Here you are, the 2025 Replicate Magic Item:
Creating an Item. When you finish a Long Rest, you can create one or two different magic items if you have Tinker's Tools in hand. Each item is based on one of the plans you know for this feature.
That's all there is. You don't need metal, you don't need any supplies, you don't need an existing similar item. Just Tinker's Tools, and voila.
"You don't need metal, you don't need any supplies, you don't need an existing similar item."
Excelent. You dont NEED materials.
Now, where does it explicitly prohibit the use of material?
Rules for crafting magic items have a time requirement and a gold requirement. There is a material requirement for mundane versions of magic items that have a cost, such as armor. There is no material requirement to craft a magic item that has no mundane cost.
Which says, when crafting a magic item, the part of the process that converts something from mundane to magical can work WITH an existing mundane version or WITHOUT.
Artificers dont NEED a material component for their infusion. The question is whether the rules PROHIBIT a preexisting material component.
The reason for the hair splitting is because some folks are arguing that an artificer armorer who created arcane armor with a lightning laumcher or flail or force fists, those weapons are preexisting material components, so the artificer cant use Replicate Magic Item to creatr a +1 version of those weapons. Because, those people argue, replicate magice item REQUIRES the artificer magicify the item from nothing.
But nothing in the rules actually REQUIRES that.
The rules are clear that you do not NEED a material mundane weapon to statt with. But nothing says applying Replicate Magic Item to an existing mundanr object is against the rules.
Actually, a simpler solution is this. An artificer uses Replicate Magic Item to create a +1 lightning launcher (which is a non magical weapon), and then mounts it next to their existing non magical lightning launcher.
A lighting launcher is a simple, ranged, nonmagical weapon. So, the artificer can create a new lightning launcher as part of the "Replicate Magic Item" process, and bolt it to their arcane armor.
"You don't need metal, you don't need any supplies, you don't need an existing similar item."
Excelent. You dont NEED materials.
Now, where does it explicitly prohibit the use of material?
Where does it explicitly allow the use of an existing item? Look at Pact of the Blade, you can conjure a weapon or you can bond to an existing magic weapon. You cannot bond to an existing nonmagic weapon because it does not explicitly allow it.
Rules for crafting magic items have a time requirement and a gold requirement. There is a material requirement for mundane versions of magic items that have a cost, such as armor. There is no material requirement to craft a magic item that has no mundane cost.
Which says, when crafting a magic item, the part of the process that converts something from mundane to magical can work WITH an existing mundane version or WITHOUT.
Artificers dont NEED a material component for their infusion. The question is whether the rules PROHIBIT a preexisting material component.
Infusion Item require an existing item. Replicate Magic Item does not allow for one.
Infusing an Item (Eberron: Rising from the Last War / Tasha's Cauldron of Everything): "Whenever you finish a long rest, you can touch a nonmagical object and imbue it with one of your artificer infusions, turning it into a magic item."
Replicate Magic Item, Creating an Item (Eberron: Forge of the Artificer): "When you finish a Long Rest, you can create one or two different magic items if you have Tinker's Tools in hand. Each item is based on one of the plans you know for this feature."
As of 2025, you no longer touch an existing item, you create it without any materials. There is no allowance for using an existing item because, unlike the earlier version, it does not explicitly say you can. Also, since it does not explicitly reference the crafting rules, they do not apply and do not require you to provide an existing item or pay a GP cost. Your argument saying that the class feature just overrides the time requirement but still requires the base item would logically still require paying 50 GP to 2,000 GP per item. These are temporary, long-term but still temporary, items that are created, transmuted, and destroyed by the Artificer's class features.
The rules are clear that you do not NEED a material mundane weapon to statt with. But nothing says applying Replicate Magic Item to an existing mundanr object is against the rules.
The rules don't allow for it to target an existing item.
The special weapons are class features and can't really just be slapped on. Even if they could, they would lose some of their properties, like attacking with Intelligence.
I house ruled that it requires an existing item like the old Infuse Item version (and effects that destroy the item just disenchant it). While your suggestion isn't RAW or RAI, I may update the house rule to simply allow it to target an existing item as an option. However, that's a house rule and I still don't like Artificers being item conjurers so I might not. I'll give it some thought.
"I still don't like Artificers being item conjurers"
Thats exactly what the rules say they can do. Tinkers magic conjures all sorts of items from nothing. Several times a day.
We agree now that RAW stating "creating an item using Tinker's Tools" means "conjures all sorts of items from nothing."
Tinker's Magic
As a Magic action while holding Tinker's Tools, you can create one item in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of yourself, choosing the item from the following list:
Replicate Magic Item, Creating an Item
When you finish a Long Rest, you can create one or two different magic items if you have Tinker's Tools in hand. Each item is based on one of the plans you know for this feature.
RAW, a weapon isn't de facto nonmagical unless the rules specifically say it's magical. Where does it say that in the rules? That is an assumption you're making.
RAW, if the rules say it's magical, then it's magical. If the rules say it's nonmagical, then it's nonmagical. Otherwise, it's up to your interpretation.
I came across this while looking up something else. Sage Advice & Errata is considered RAW when discussing rules in Rules & Game Mechanics forum.
Game text explicitly states if an effect is magical. Effects created by spells and magic items are always magical. See “Magical Effect” in appendix C of the Player’s Handbook.
Sage Advice references the Magical Effect rule from the glossary and reinforces what it states there, that in order for an effect to be magical, it must be stated by a rule. I hope that helps.
Copy and paste the section of rules in Create an Item feature that contains the reference to the Crafting Rules or describes any material requirements. All that is required is Tinker's Tools in hand. You can be naked as a jaybird in the sparsest environment imaginable and you can Create a Magic Item as long as you have Tinker's Tools. There are no other requirements to meet.
The rules would need to explicitly state that the base item was required, which Infuse Item did, but Replicate Magic Item does not. This is a change from the prior version. Artificers have gone from crafters and enchanters of items to item summoners. I don't like it and have house ruled otherwise, but RAW is that they do not need the base item.
How to add Tooltips.
My houserulings.
"Copy and paste the section of rules in Create an Item feature that contains the reference to the Crafting Rules or describes any material requirements."
It doesnt say ANYTHING about materials. It doesnt say you create the thing as part of the replication, it doesnt say you need the material beforr replicating.
Thr material requirement is completely outside of the replication rules. So insisting it must be one way, thay it must create thr material as part of replication is not raw.
But we DO know when you craft a magic item with no cost, you bamf it into existence with time and money, and if the mundane version has a gold value, then you get thr mundane version first and bamf thr mundane into magical.
Your interpretation isnt raw. Neither is mine. Its.completely devoid of details in the replication rules.
Your interprrtation could be rai, based on what youwant to focus on.
My interpretation could be rai, based on what i focus on.
Once again, you insist your approach is raw when it isnt in the actual rules. And you are unable to even acknowledge that other interpretations different from your own could even remotely be valid.
Life is too short.
Here you are, the 2025 Replicate Magic Item:
That's all there is. You don't need metal, you don't need any supplies, you don't need an existing similar item. Just Tinker's Tools, and voila.
"You don't need metal, you don't need any supplies, you don't need an existing similar item."
Excelent. You dont NEED materials.
Now, where does it explicitly prohibit the use of material?
Rules for crafting magic items have a time requirement and a gold requirement. There is a material requirement for mundane versions of magic items that have a cost, such as armor. There is no material requirement to craft a magic item that has no mundane cost.
Which says, when crafting a magic item, the part of the process that converts something from mundane to magical can work WITH an existing mundane version or WITHOUT.
Artificers dont NEED a material component for their infusion. The question is whether the rules PROHIBIT a preexisting material component.
The reason for the hair splitting is because some folks are arguing that an artificer armorer who created arcane armor with a lightning laumcher or flail or force fists, those weapons are preexisting material components, so the artificer cant use Replicate Magic Item to creatr a +1 version of those weapons. Because, those people argue, replicate magice item REQUIRES the artificer magicify the item from nothing.
But nothing in the rules actually REQUIRES that.
The rules are clear that you do not NEED a material mundane weapon to statt with. But nothing says applying Replicate Magic Item to an existing mundanr object is against the rules.
Actually, a simpler solution is this. An artificer uses Replicate Magic Item to create a +1 lightning launcher (which is a non magical weapon), and then mounts it next to their existing non magical lightning launcher.
Problem solved.
The magic item plans for +1 weapon says:
"Weapon (any), uncommon"
A lighting launcher is a simple, ranged, nonmagical weapon. So, the artificer can create a new lightning launcher as part of the "Replicate Magic Item" process, and bolt it to their arcane armor.
Problem solved.
Rules as Written
Where does it explicitly allow the use of an existing item? Look at Pact of the Blade, you can conjure a weapon or you can bond to an existing magic weapon. You cannot bond to an existing nonmagic weapon because it does not explicitly allow it.
Infusion Item require an existing item. Replicate Magic Item does not allow for one.
Infusing an Item (Eberron: Rising from the Last War / Tasha's Cauldron of Everything): "Whenever you finish a long rest, you can touch a nonmagical object and imbue it with one of your artificer infusions, turning it into a magic item."
Replicate Magic Item, Creating an Item (Eberron: Forge of the Artificer): "When you finish a Long Rest, you can create one or two different magic items if you have Tinker's Tools in hand. Each item is based on one of the plans you know for this feature."
As of 2025, you no longer touch an existing item, you create it without any materials. There is no allowance for using an existing item because, unlike the earlier version, it does not explicitly say you can. Also, since it does not explicitly reference the crafting rules, they do not apply and do not require you to provide an existing item or pay a GP cost. Your argument saying that the class feature just overrides the time requirement but still requires the base item would logically still require paying 50 GP to 2,000 GP per item. These are temporary, long-term but still temporary, items that are created, transmuted, and destroyed by the Artificer's class features.
The rules don't allow for it to target an existing item.
The special weapons are class features and can't really just be slapped on. Even if they could, they would lose some of their properties, like attacking with Intelligence.
I house ruled that it requires an existing item like the old Infuse Item version (and effects that destroy the item just disenchant it). While your suggestion isn't RAW or RAI, I may update the house rule to simply allow it to target an existing item as an option. However, that's a house rule and I still don't like Artificers being item conjurers so I might not. I'll give it some thought.
How to add Tooltips.
My houserulings.
" it does not explicitly say you can."
It doesnt say anything about material compinents at all.
" There is no allowance for using an existing item "
That isnt im the rules anywhere.
"The special weapons are class features and can't really just be slapped on"
They are declared in the rules to be simple weapons.
"Even if they could, they would lose some of their properties, like attacking with Intelligence."
Says who? Where is that written?
"I still don't like Artificers being item conjurers"
Thats exactly what the rules say they can do. Tinkers magic conjures all sorts of items from nothing. Several times a day.
We agree now that RAW stating "creating an item using Tinker's Tools" means "conjures all sorts of items from nothing."
Tinker's Magic
Replicate Magic Item, Creating an Item
How to add Tooltips.
My houserulings.
I came across this while looking up something else. Sage Advice & Errata is considered RAW when discussing rules in Rules & Game Mechanics forum.
Sage Advice references the Magical Effect rule from the glossary and reinforces what it states there, that in order for an effect to be magical, it must be stated by a rule. I hope that helps.
How to add Tooltips.
My houserulings.