Crafting Magic Items
Crafting magic items
The exact process of crafting magic items varies widely from campaign to campaign and sometimes from item to item. The GM decides whether crafting is allowed and how it works. These choices should normally be made before play begins and changed only when they create a major problem for the group or setting.
Possible requirements
Tool proficiency: the character must be proficient with a tool relevant to the item’s base form.
Feat: the character must select the ability to craft magic items as a feat or make another comparable investment.
Spellcasting: the character must be able to cast spells, including every spell the item can cast.
Recipe: the character must possess a recipe, often valued at ten times the finished item’s price.
Level: the character must meet a level or spellcasting-level requirement based on the item’s price.
Suggested level requirements
Consumables: level 1 for 0–90 gp; 3 for 91–180 gp; 5 for 181–300 gp; 7 for 301–500 gp; 9 for 501–1,000 gp; 11 for 1,001–2,000 gp; 13 for 2,001–5,000 gp; 15 for 5,001–9,000 gp; and 17 for 9,001 gp or more.
Permanent items: level 3 for 0–1,500 gp; 5 for 1,501–3,000 gp; 7 for 3,001–5,000 gp; 9 for 5,001–9,000 gp; 11 for 9,001–18,000 gp; 13 for 18,001–30,000 gp; 15 for 30,001–79,999 gp; and 17 for 80,000 gp or more.
Gold per day
Traditional crafting produces 25 gp of an item per day and costs 25 gp per day. Standard crafting produces 25 gp multiplied by proficiency bonus and costs the same, with an optional slower rate of 5 gp per day for 2.5 gp in materials. Fast crafting produces 50 gp per day for 50 gp in materials, doubling both amounts at levels 5, 9, 13, and 17. Multiple crafters increase progress linearly.
Special ingredients
Magic items might require a special common ingredient—magic gems, elemental essences, pure hope, or dragonshards—with a value that limits the price of item it can create. Smaller ingredients cannot necessarily combine into a larger one, and larger ingredients cannot necessarily be divided. This lets a GM permit routine crafting while keeping major items quest-gated.
Players choose loot
A character can instead tell the GM which item they hope to make and undertake a quest for its materials. The GM controls the rate of acquisition through adventures rather than a detailed production formula. This option works best when players and GM share expectations about a reasonable rate of magic-item acquisition.