I have decided to allow the magic item creation rules from Xanathar's, with some modifications on time and gold required (the campaign uses the Gritty Realism variant, so they have lots of downtime and I didn't want to make the item creation overpowered). However, I am struggling to find ideas for the particular components needed for various magic items. I have allowed +1 weapons to be crafted without needing a special ingredient, while elemental weapons (+1/+1d6 or +2d6) need the heart of a corrisponding elemental or paraelemental (homebrew inspired from 3.5). However, I need some ideas!
Like, I know they will want to do some +1 armor, probably +2 shields soon, and other stuff... I can come up with random stuff on the spot, but I'd prefer to have an idea beforehand.
Any suggestions? Don't be afraid to suggest parts of creatures or stuff from non-MM, bc I have most of the handbooks (apart from the adventures like Dragon Heist etc).
For simple +X armor, shields, and weapons, you can make that something simple like powdered gems of a GP value equal to half the item rarety cost, a special spell written out on a scroll (different for type of item), and a non-magical base equipment you want to enhance.
If you want to get more exotic, you can replace the non-magic weapon part with a special ore from a monster infested, made-like mine.
I believe that what most DMs are trying to do is allow Players to create items, but create a crafting system so that it makes sense why these things aren't being cranked out in factory lots, and every farmer doesn't have a +1 plow of furrowing - and to keep the Players from spamming out multiple copies of items so the whole Party isn't outfit with vorpal blades and necklaces of fireballs.
So we try and create barriers or gateways to their creation, to explain this. Usually it's components, but you can also use barriers of time and circumstance.
Ultimately, we want to make overcoming each gateway something we can work in as an adventure, as well.
Here's some categories that should allow you to create your own specifics, and adventure seeds:
Substances that can only be created by people of rare skill: super refined Dwarven metals, ultra-pure glass only possible for the best artisans, holy water sanctified by super-high-level Clerics, etc. It may be a quest just to find the artisan who can do this. Then you need to convince them to help, and meet their price.
Substances from rare locations: Powdered stone from the elemental plane of Earth, wood from a tree in the Feywild, powdered kelp from the bottom of the ocean near the Kuo-toa city, etc. - lots of travel and adventure opportunities here.
Substances created in rare circumstances: Meteoric iron, wood charred by a Red Dragon's breath ( from an ancient dragon to make it more difficult ), dirt from the grave of an ancient wood Elf, etc. - a quest just to find these.
Normal substances with unusual qualifiers: The mummified hand of a murderer, hair from a drowned girl, certain herbs harvested under certain phases of the moons or under certain astrological circumstances, dust from a marketplace where there has been a riot ( or a recent festival, to go less morbid ) - again, highly questable.
Time Restrictions: Certain steps of the creation can only be performed at certain times, moon phases, astrological conjunctions, etc.
Location Restrictions: Certain steps of the creation can only be done in certain places.
Circumstance Restrictions: Certain steps can only be done under certain circumstances: there is a festival nearby, there must be at least one couple truly in love living within a mile, there must be a sea storm in progress, etc.
Personal Restrictions: The creator of the item has to be in a certain state: recently bathed in a mountain pool, blessed by a druid, not eaten meat in the last 14 days, etc.
If you start mixing and matching these, it becomes clear why even Wizards aren't cranking these out on an assembly line, and finding the substances, locations, and circumstances needed to advance each step of fabrication along the way can lead to all sorts of adventure possibilities.
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I believe that what most DMs are trying to do is allow Players to create items, but create a crafting system so that it makes sense why these things aren't being cranked out in factory lots, and every farmer doesn't have a +1 plow of furrowing - and to keep the Players from spamming out multiple copies of items so the whole Party isn't outfit with vorpal blades and necklaces of fireballs.
So we try and create barriers or gateways to their creation, to explain this. Usually it's components, but you can also use barriers of time and circumstance.
Ultimately, we want to make overcoming each gateway something we can work in as an adventure, as well.
Here's some categories that should allow you to create your own specifics, and adventure seeds:
Substances that can only be created by people of rare skill: super refined Dwarven metals, ultra-pure glass only possible for the best artisans, holy water sanctified by super-high-level Clerics, etc. It may be a quest just to find the artisan who can do this. Then you need to convince them to help, and meet their price.
Substances from rare locations: Powdered stone from the elemental plane of Earth, wood from a tree in the Feywild, powdered kelp from the bottom of the ocean near the Kuo-toa city, etc. - lots of travel and adventure opportunities here.
Substances created in rare circumstances: Meteoric iron, wood charred by a Red Dragon's breath ( from an ancient dragon to make it more difficult ), dirt from the grave of an ancient wood Elf, etc. - a quest just to find these.
Normal substances with unusual qualifiers: The mummified hand of a murderer, hair from a drowned girl, certain herbs harvested under certain phases of the moons or under certain astrological circumstances, dust from a marketplace where there has been a riot ( or a recent festival, to go less morbid ) - again, highly questable.
Time Restrictions: Certain steps of the creation can only be performed at certain times, moon phases, astrological conjunctions, etc.
Location Restrictions: Certain steps of the creation can only be done in certain places.
Circumstance Restrictions: Certain steps can only be done under certain circumstances: there is a festival nearby, there must be at least one couple truly in love living within a mile, there must be a sea storm in progress, etc.
Personal Restrictions: The creator of the item has to be in a certain state: recently bathed in a mountain pool, blessed by a druid, not eaten meat in the last 14 days, etc.
If you start mixing and matching these, it becomes clear why even Wizards aren't cranking these out on an assembly line, and finding the substances, locations, and circumstances needed to advance each step of fabrication along the way can lead to all sorts of adventure possibilities.
Have fun! :)
Thanks a lot man! Lots of cool ideas! I especially like the "rare circumstances" "time restrictions" and "unusual qualifiers", especially because in this campaign the moon cycle and astral events are quite a big deal (one of the pgs is a werewolf), so this is quite interesting...
Also, the "rare places" might be interesting, because the campaign is at a certain point going to become very plane-hopping based (there are spelljammer-like ships in my setting), so this is as good an excuse as another to spark the interest in other planes. Thanks :)
I had a player that had a bow made from his own loxodons tusks after he lost them in battle. The handle was created from a thick dragon bone and the bow string was originally made from Dragon tendon. Later unicorn Pegasus and Nightmare tail hairs were added to the mix. Rooms to improve distance give attack bonus and to make it a finesse weapon were added. To strengthen these attributes the rooms were inlaid with Enchanted metals and blades added to the tips. To add other damage types Enchanted gemstones were inlaid into the bow as well. The player began work on this bow at level 2 and did not finish until around level 15. While it was an extremely powerful weapon, the player put in the work time and coin during an extremely long, difficult, and unforgiving campaign.
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I have decided to allow the magic item creation rules from Xanathar's, with some modifications on time and gold required (the campaign uses the Gritty Realism variant, so they have lots of downtime and I didn't want to make the item creation overpowered). However, I am struggling to find ideas for the particular components needed for various magic items. I have allowed +1 weapons to be crafted without needing a special ingredient, while elemental weapons (+1/+1d6 or +2d6) need the heart of a corrisponding elemental or paraelemental (homebrew inspired from 3.5). However, I need some ideas!
Like, I know they will want to do some +1 armor, probably +2 shields soon, and other stuff... I can come up with random stuff on the spot, but I'd prefer to have an idea beforehand.
Any suggestions? Don't be afraid to suggest parts of creatures or stuff from non-MM, bc I have most of the handbooks (apart from the adventures like Dragon Heist etc).
For simple +X armor, shields, and weapons, you can make that something simple like powdered gems of a GP value equal to half the item rarety cost, a special spell written out on a scroll (different for type of item), and a non-magical base equipment you want to enhance.
If you want to get more exotic, you can replace the non-magic weapon part with a special ore from a monster infested, made-like mine.
Ah - crafting in games ...
I believe that what most DMs are trying to do is allow Players to create items, but create a crafting system so that it makes sense why these things aren't being cranked out in factory lots, and every farmer doesn't have a +1 plow of furrowing - and to keep the Players from spamming out multiple copies of items so the whole Party isn't outfit with vorpal blades and necklaces of fireballs.
So we try and create barriers or gateways to their creation, to explain this. Usually it's components, but you can also use barriers of time and circumstance.
Ultimately, we want to make overcoming each gateway something we can work in as an adventure, as well.
Here's some categories that should allow you to create your own specifics, and adventure seeds:
If you start mixing and matching these, it becomes clear why even Wizards aren't cranking these out on an assembly line, and finding the substances, locations, and circumstances needed to advance each step of fabrication along the way can lead to all sorts of adventure possibilities.
Have fun! :)
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Thanks a lot man! Lots of cool ideas! I especially like the "rare circumstances" "time restrictions" and "unusual qualifiers", especially because in this campaign the moon cycle and astral events are quite a big deal (one of the pgs is a werewolf), so this is quite interesting...
Also, the "rare places" might be interesting, because the campaign is at a certain point going to become very plane-hopping based (there are spelljammer-like ships in my setting), so this is as good an excuse as another to spark the interest in other planes. Thanks :)
https://blogofholding.com/?p=7241 or https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q5uGSxwEE70_c4GUz7ZE3YVtDfCVKQiB/view?usp=sharing are two good references I've come across myself.
I had a player that had a bow made from his own loxodons tusks after he lost them in battle. The handle was created from a thick dragon bone and the bow string was originally made from Dragon tendon. Later unicorn Pegasus and Nightmare tail hairs were added to the mix. Rooms to improve distance give attack bonus and to make it a finesse weapon were added. To strengthen these attributes the rooms were inlaid with Enchanted metals and blades added to the tips. To add other damage types Enchanted gemstones were inlaid into the bow as well. The player began work on this bow at level 2 and did not finish until around level 15. While it was an extremely powerful weapon, the player put in the work time and coin during an extremely long, difficult, and unforgiving campaign.