If I may weigh in on this old question, I have a use for it.
My Wizard has Smithing Tool Proficiency (picked it for Folk Hero Background tool proficiency since I thought it could be helpful), so I buy the raw materials for Plate Armor, turn it into Plate Armor, and then sell the Plate Armor for MASSIVE PROFIT.
I love it when players try to do this repeatedly. Once or twice is fine, but eventually the Guilds or Merchant groups catch wind of this and start to make life hell for the players if they can't talk them either into signing on, or selling through official Guild channels.
I honestly think my players put more effort into fighting off a Dwarven Blacksmiths' Consortium than they did the BBEG over mass-producing weapon and armor on the cheap to supply militias with equipment during said BBEG's invasion ...
Honestly I wasn’t planning on doing it too often. I mainly just wanted the money because our DM hasn’t given me much, and since I’m playing a wizard, I need money so I can learn new spells beyond leveling up.
Nah, that is just lazy game master stuff. I am not the first 7th level wizard; what did they do about all of THEM? Magic really breaks the game apart if you try to apply normal economics to it. So just...don't. Or do - you have 1,000 suits of Plate. Cool story...no one wants it. We all have enough plate, thank you very much. Or perhaps they don't all have a 15str and their battle tactics need maneuvering that the reduction in speed will not allow for.
Or maybe people do want it, but can't afford it; do you maybe have a quest they could go on instead? Kind of funny to turn the adventuring thing on its head.
It's the joke of the Mona Lisa - you could never sell it for what it is worth, because no one could afford it.
Nah, that is just lazy game master stuff. I am not the first 7th level wizard; what did they do about all of THEM? Magic really breaks the game apart if you try to apply normal economics to it. So just...don't. Or do - you have 1,000 suits of Plate. Cool story...no one wants it. We all have enough plate, thank you very much. Or perhaps they don't all have a 15str and their battle tactics need maneuvering that the reduction in speed will not allow for.
Or maybe people do want it, but can't afford it; do you maybe have a quest they could go on instead? Kind of funny to turn the adventuring thing on its head.
It's the joke of the Mona Lisa - you could never sell it for what it is worth, because no one could afford it.
Or the Wizard finds that they can't get their hands on the raw Steel either because the price is cost prohibitive or the Merchants band together with the Crafters and force the Suppliers not to give you any.
There are just so many solutions, that are surprisingly real world, that can stop this kind of behavior. Wizards gonna have bigger problems that don't have to actively hunt them if they create a steel shortage in the area making all their suits of Plate armor that they then can't sell because the normal person can't afford them or has any need of Plate mail.
There are rare set moments when such mass production actually is in any way effective or logical and going to be supported by anybody else.
I've always just assumed most guilds/blacksmiths had access to the spell or similar mechanic themselves so basically the market always has as much plate etc as the market demands. You could try to undercut them I guess but when buying plate for 1500GP do you go with the blacksmith in town with a great rep for quality goods or do you go with some wizard who showed up 3 days ago promising its just as good but only 1300gp. Maybe lesser items you take that risk on but I suspect most people who have 1500gp to spend on armor want quality work not a deal.
Making a construct is a dm decided process and coating bones in metal, no unless bones are raw materials.
One thing fabricate can do is with the alchemial compendium you can turn gems into refined gems, then more expensive unrefined gems and repeat to infinity.
fabricated can be used to make electronics-gamebreaking in itself
How exactly are you obtaining electronics proficiency? Because the spell specifically says "you also can't use it to create items that ordinarily require a high degree of craftsmanship, such as jewelry, weapons, glass, or armor, unless you have proficiency with the type of artisan's tools used to craft such objects". 😝
electronics just become a lot simpler when magic is involved
That still feels like a bit of a leap though; sure, medieval blacksmiths had a form of welding that's not unlike soldering, but there's a world of difference between joining pieces of metal together to create more complex shapes versus creating some kind of electrical circuit board, not to mention all the other components you'd need.
That's also still centuries worth of knowledge, experimentation, refinement etc. before you could be considered to have the expertise needed to make electronics, such that the spell could replicate that expertise.
You could also argue that electronics would never develop in a magical world as there are "easier" ways to do a lot of what you might use them for; automatons for example already exist in D&D, with no electronics required. Why use magic to build electronics when you can just use magic to make the thing you'd use the electronics for?
Worth keeping in mind that there are things that are commonplace today that we all might understand to a degree, that people in a medieval (or pseudo-medieval fantasy) setting simply wouldn't be able to conceive of.
Not wanting to seem like I'm just rubbishing the idea; in general I love creative uses of magic, my current Wizard (Edward Merryspell) is pretty much 100% built around doing that in every situation he faces (usually with lots of bad options that he somehow makes work) – I don't think this spell is intended to allow the creation of things that aren't normal for the setting, i.e- smith's tools proficiency lets you make weapons and armour, jeweller's tools lets you make complex jewellery etc.
(did you paint that Chaplin?)
Yeah, one of the few models I've got around to actually painting (compared to the 99.9% that's just bare grey plastic/metal/whatever). 😂
Many posters have said that Fabricate has "unlimited" uses.
Has anyone ever heard even just half-a-dozen examples used in actual games that made a difference in the story rather than just being role playing color? If so, what were they?
Depends on what tool proficiencies you have and how big your imagination is. I've heard of people making steady income from fabricating iron ingots into plate armor for selling to making a door and new hallway out of the stonework in a dungeon.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
If I may weigh in on this old question, I have a use for it.
My Wizard has Smithing Tool Proficiency (picked it for Folk Hero Background tool proficiency since I thought it could be helpful), so I buy the raw materials for Plate Armor, turn it into Plate Armor, and then sell the Plate Armor for MASSIVE PROFIT.
I love it when players try to do this repeatedly. Once or twice is fine, but eventually the Guilds or Merchant groups catch wind of this and start to make life hell for the players if they can't talk them either into signing on, or selling through official Guild channels.
I honestly think my players put more effort into fighting off a Dwarven Blacksmiths' Consortium than they did the BBEG over mass-producing weapon and armor on the cheap to supply militias with equipment during said BBEG's invasion ...
Honestly I wasn’t planning on doing it too often. I mainly just wanted the money because our DM hasn’t given me much, and since I’m playing a wizard, I need money so I can learn new spells beyond leveling up.
Though the points you raised are interesting.
Nah, that is just lazy game master stuff.
I am not the first 7th level wizard; what did they do about all of THEM?
Magic really breaks the game apart if you try to apply normal economics to it. So just...don't. Or do - you have 1,000 suits of Plate. Cool story...no one wants it. We all have enough plate, thank you very much. Or perhaps they don't all have a 15str and their battle tactics need maneuvering that the reduction in speed will not allow for.
Or maybe people do want it, but can't afford it; do you maybe have a quest they could go on instead? Kind of funny to turn the adventuring thing on its head.
It's the joke of the Mona Lisa - you could never sell it for what it is worth, because no one could afford it.
Or the Wizard finds that they can't get their hands on the raw Steel either because the price is cost prohibitive or the Merchants band together with the Crafters and force the Suppliers not to give you any.
There are just so many solutions, that are surprisingly real world, that can stop this kind of behavior. Wizards gonna have bigger problems that don't have to actively hunt them if they create a steel shortage in the area making all their suits of Plate armor that they then can't sell because the normal person can't afford them or has any need of Plate mail.
There are rare set moments when such mass production actually is in any way effective or logical and going to be supported by anybody else.
I've always just assumed most guilds/blacksmiths had access to the spell or similar mechanic themselves so basically the market always has as much plate etc as the market demands. You could try to undercut them I guess but when buying plate for 1500GP do you go with the blacksmith in town with a great rep for quality goods or do you go with some wizard who showed up 3 days ago promising its just as good but only 1300gp. Maybe lesser items you take that risk on but I suspect most people who have 1500gp to spend on armor want quality work not a deal.
Can fabricate be used in the making of a construct?
Can it be used to coat bones in metal?
Making a construct is a dm decided process and coating bones in metal, no unless bones are raw materials.
One thing fabricate can do is with the alchemial compendium you can turn gems into refined gems, then more expensive unrefined gems and repeat to infinity.
I am leader of the yep cult:https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/82135-yep-cult Pronouns are she/her
fabricated can be used to make electronics-gamebreaking in itself
How exactly are you obtaining electronics proficiency? Because the spell specifically says "you also can't use it to create items that ordinarily require a high degree of craftsmanship, such as jewelry, weapons, glass, or armor, unless you have proficiency with the type of artisan's tools used to craft such objects". 😝
Characters: Bullette, Chortle, Dracarys Noir, Edward Merryspell, Habard Ashery, Legion, Peregrine
My Homebrew: Feats | Items | Monsters | Spells | Subclasses | Races
Guides: Creating Sub-Races Using Trait Options
WIP (feedback needed): Blood Mage, Chromatic Sorcerers, Summoner, Trickster Domain, Unlucky, Way of the Daoist (Drunken Master), Weapon Smith
Please don't reply to my posts unless you've read what they actually say.
sodering is very similar to smiths tools
tinkerers tools might be useful
electronics just become a lot simpler when magic is involved
(did you paint that Chaplin?)
The Real BBEG is Capatilism!
"Anyone can smith at the cosmic anvil, yet only I can forge a weapon as good as thee."
My Homebrew Please click it, they have my family.
That still feels like a bit of a leap though; sure, medieval blacksmiths had a form of welding that's not unlike soldering, but there's a world of difference between joining pieces of metal together to create more complex shapes versus creating some kind of electrical circuit board, not to mention all the other components you'd need.
That's also still centuries worth of knowledge, experimentation, refinement etc. before you could be considered to have the expertise needed to make electronics, such that the spell could replicate that expertise.
You could also argue that electronics would never develop in a magical world as there are "easier" ways to do a lot of what you might use them for; automatons for example already exist in D&D, with no electronics required. Why use magic to build electronics when you can just use magic to make the thing you'd use the electronics for?
Worth keeping in mind that there are things that are commonplace today that we all might understand to a degree, that people in a medieval (or pseudo-medieval fantasy) setting simply wouldn't be able to conceive of.
Not wanting to seem like I'm just rubbishing the idea; in general I love creative uses of magic, my current Wizard (Edward Merryspell) is pretty much 100% built around doing that in every situation he faces (usually with lots of bad options that he somehow makes work) – I don't think this spell is intended to allow the creation of things that aren't normal for the setting, i.e- smith's tools proficiency lets you make weapons and armour, jeweller's tools lets you make complex jewellery etc.
Yeah, one of the few models I've got around to actually painting (compared to the 99.9% that's just bare grey plastic/metal/whatever). 😂
Characters: Bullette, Chortle, Dracarys Noir, Edward Merryspell, Habard Ashery, Legion, Peregrine
My Homebrew: Feats | Items | Monsters | Spells | Subclasses | Races
Guides: Creating Sub-Races Using Trait Options
WIP (feedback needed): Blood Mage, Chromatic Sorcerers, Summoner, Trickster Domain, Unlucky, Way of the Daoist (Drunken Master), Weapon Smith
Please don't reply to my posts unless you've read what they actually say.
guess I need to find another way to make my prawn suit
Depends on what tool proficiencies you have and how big your imagination is. I've heard of people making steady income from fabricating iron ingots into plate armor for selling to making a door and new hallway out of the stonework in a dungeon.