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Homebrew and House Rules (D&D) / Crafting, character bonuses, and WBL
« on: November 11, 2011, 10:44:35 PM »
Note: These rules are meant to be used in combination with my other house rules.
This is an attemtp to dole out bonuses by character level, redo the item crafting rules, and limit item ownership to get rid of WBL. I like the notion of low/mid level characters finding a fortune and not breaking the game. I like the idea of people making expenditures without worrying about setting themselves back for that sword upgrade. I like not having to upgrade the sword in the first place to stay on the RNG.
Tell me what you think? Does this seem doable? Does it change too much? Does it accomplish what I want. I may be looking at this through rose-colored glasses.
d20 Bonus rolls
Normally, getting magical items that grant bonuses to your d20 rolls is important to keeping the game functioning as intended. This includes magical weapons, armor, items with ability enhancements, and save boosters, to name a few. Not getting these items leaves your character weaker than the game expects and also has the side-effect of needing to upgrade your items frequently to stay level-appropriate. The following two changes will remove this issue:
Getting rid of “plus” items:
Any item that simply grants a bonus to a d20 roll or ability score or defense (such as a Cloak of Resistance, Ring of Protection, Belt of Giant Strength, or a Tome of Clear Thought) no longer exists. Magical weapons and armor no longer add an enhancement bonus to attack, damage, or AC, although they may still have other properties. In order to figure out crafting costs, figure the magic weapon or armor as a base of +1 in terms of price. So, a Flaming Sword would count as a +2 weapons for figuring cost (+1 for magic and +1 for Flaming). A Flaming Shocking Sword would count as +3.
Character bonuses:
All of the above-mentioned types of bonuses are now intrinsically part of the character. Characters automatically gain the following bonuses:
* This includes weapons, natural attacks, and unarmed strikes, but not spells or spell-like abilities.
In addition, the character picks one of the two following sets of bonuses. Once chosen, the choice cannot be changed.
* This can replace the existing progressions if taken on one of the three ability scores that already has a bonus.
Expendable Items
Potions and oils:
Potions and oils work as normal, except that a user may only benefit from one potion or oil per hour. If someone drinks or applies a second within the hour, its effect is negated and the user must succeed on a Fortitude save, DC 15, or be nauseated for one minute.
Crafting potions: Crafting potions takes one hour per potion and requires a caster to cast the spell being created during the process. This costs 25 gold x the spell’s level x the caster level used for the potion. The caster level must be a minimum of the level required to cast the spell and cannot be higher than the caster’s actual caster level.
Scrolls:
Scrolls no longer exist.
Staves:
Staves are now considered permanent magical items and each contains five charges that renew each day at dawn.
Wands:
Wands are now considered permanent magical items and each contains three charges that renew each day at dawn.
Permanent Items and Crafting Value
Characters can craft one permanent magical item per four character levels, starting at 4th level*. The maximum value of the item crafted is listed in the second column of the table below. This value only factors in the magical enchantment and not the cost of the masterwork item.
At 4th level, the character can craft an item of 4th level or lower. At 8th level, the character can craft one item of 8th level or lower, etc. The character can wait one or more levels to craft the item, but they cannot do this to craft a higher level item. For example, the character could wait until 5th level to craft their first item, but they would still have to craft an item of 4th level or lower*.
For magic weapons and armor, figure a base cost of 1,000 gp for an item with no additional enchantments. To calculate the value of a weapon or armor with additional enchantments, add the total bonuses together, add one (for the base magic weapon or armor), then multiply by 1,000. For example a Flaming sword would have a value of 4,000 gp ((1 base +1 Flaming) x 1,000), and a Shocking Holy sword would have a value of 16,000 gp ((1 base +1 Shocking +2 Holy) x 1,000). For specific weapons listed in the DMG, divide these values by 2 (but not for armor).
If a character does not craft a weapon at a given level, they can always craft it later, but they are still restricted by the value of the original level, not the level they currently are. For example, a 2nd level character crafts one item worth 1,000 or less (a magic sword). At 3rd level, they do not craft anything. At 4th level, they may craft two items: one with a maximum value of 2,250 and one of 4,000.
Note: The character does not actually spend this money. This is just a value used to compare to the market price of the item to limit it by character level.
Crafting Requirements
To craft an item, the character must have a character level and an effective caster level high enough to make an item of the item’s value. Effective caster level can come from several sources:
These are the only requirements the character needs to meet to craft the item. They do not need to meet any caster level or spell requirements listed in the item’s description in the DMG.
Crafting Costs (Permanent Items)
Base item:
To craft a permanent magical item, first the character must start with a masterwork version of the item.
Material cost:
Crafting a magical item requires expensive components to help infuse the magic into the item. These components cost one tenth the market value of the item.
Crafting time:
Crafting a permanent item requires a minimum of 8 hours effort in one day. This increases by one eight hour day for every 10,000gp of cost. This time must be spent in consecutive days. If the time is interrupted, the character needs to start over from the beginning, although the material costs are not lost.
Reagents:
Each item also requires some rare, special component to complete creation. This can be done before or after the crafting time listed above. This extra component might be some rare material or a process that must take place at a particular location. Below are suggestions based on the minimum character level required to create the item (see the Permanent Items and Crafting Value table above). If possible, the reagent should be thematically appropriate to the item. For example, troll’s blood makes sense for a Ring of Regeneration, but not for a Flaming Sword. Skin of a salamander or forging the sword in a volcano makes more sense for the sword. In any sense, it should involve going out on some sort of quest for the reagent.
Siphoning Magic and Crafting
It is possible to take a magic item and siphon its energy to create a new item. To do so, you must have the original magic item in your possession and you must have a masterwork item ready to receive the energies. You must still meet the requirements for being able to craft the new item and have the half the material costs of the items. You do not, however, need to provide any reagents during this process; the siphoned magic is sufficient.
The new item must be of equal or lower level to the original item (see the above chart Permanent Items and Crafting Value). You may only siphon energy from one item to create another; you cannot siphon from multiple items to create a single, more powerful item. Crafting in this fashion takes the normal amount of time for creating an item and does not count against your normal limit for how many items you can craft. The original magical item then becomes a masterwork version with no magical properties.
Repairing Magic Items
It is possible to repair a damaged or destroyed magical item, providing the physical pieces can be partially recovered. So, it would be possible to repair a sundered sword or a cloak partially burnt by a Fireball, but not an item that was disintegrated or burnt wholly.
To repair an item, you must be capable of crafting it in the first place (by meeting the appropriate level and caster level requirements listed above). Repairing must be done within one week of the item being damaged or destroyed, or the magic is lost forever. The repair process takes as much time as crafting and requires one half the material cost of crafting, but does not require any reagents; the magic is still contained in the item. Also, repairing the physical item requires half the cost of the masterwork version of the item. Once the repair is complete, the item is fully functional and restored to full hit points.
Repairing items does not count against your normal limit for how many items you can craft.
Attuning
Characters can only use so many permanent magical items at a time. To use a permanent item, the character must first attune it. A character may attune three items plus one for every four hit dice*. If a character attunes an item when they are at their maximum allotment, they lose attunement of one item of their choice.
To attune it, the character must spend one minute focusing on the item and then keep it in their possession for 24 hours. After this time, the item is considered attuned to the character. It stays attuned to them even if they do not have the item in their possession. If someone else attunes a particular item, the first character no longer has it attuned to them. It is possible to attune multiple items during the same 24 hour time period, but each must be focused on separately for one minute.
*Modifications on Crafting and Attuning Numbers
In some campaigns, the DM might want the players to have access to more or fewer magic items then the rules presented here allow. The easiest way to do this is to alter how many items the PCs can craft and/or attune. For example: perhaps the PCs can craft one item every level, and they can attune three items plus one per two Hit Dice. The numbers listed above in the rules assume much fewer items exist than what the normal D&D rules assume.
This is an attemtp to dole out bonuses by character level, redo the item crafting rules, and limit item ownership to get rid of WBL. I like the notion of low/mid level characters finding a fortune and not breaking the game. I like the idea of people making expenditures without worrying about setting themselves back for that sword upgrade. I like not having to upgrade the sword in the first place to stay on the RNG.
Tell me what you think? Does this seem doable? Does it change too much? Does it accomplish what I want. I may be looking at this through rose-colored glasses.
d20 Bonus rolls
Normally, getting magical items that grant bonuses to your d20 rolls is important to keeping the game functioning as intended. This includes magical weapons, armor, items with ability enhancements, and save boosters, to name a few. Not getting these items leaves your character weaker than the game expects and also has the side-effect of needing to upgrade your items frequently to stay level-appropriate. The following two changes will remove this issue:
Getting rid of “plus” items:
Any item that simply grants a bonus to a d20 roll or ability score or defense (such as a Cloak of Resistance, Ring of Protection, Belt of Giant Strength, or a Tome of Clear Thought) no longer exists. Magical weapons and armor no longer add an enhancement bonus to attack, damage, or AC, although they may still have other properties. In order to figure out crafting costs, figure the magic weapon or armor as a base of +1 in terms of price. So, a Flaming Sword would count as a +2 weapons for figuring cost (+1 for magic and +1 for Flaming). A Flaming Shocking Sword would count as +3.
Character bonuses:
All of the above-mentioned types of bonuses are now intrinsically part of the character. Characters automatically gain the following bonuses:
Ability Advancement Rate Maximum Bonus
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Enhancement bonus to weapon attack and damage rolls * +1 per 3 levels +5 at 15th level
Enhancement bonus to armor bonus to AC +1 per 3 levels +5 at 15th level
Enhancement bonus to shield bonus to AC +1 per 3 levels +5 at 15th level
Resistance bonus to saves +1 per 3 levels +5 at 15th level
Enhancement bonus to three ability scores +1 per 3 levels +4 at 12th level
Inherent bonus to three ability scores +1 per 3 levels +3 at 18th level
starting at 12th
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
* This includes weapons, natural attacks, and unarmed strikes, but not spells or spell-like abilities.
In addition, the character picks one of the two following sets of bonuses. Once chosen, the choice cannot be changed.
Ability Advancement Rate Maximum Bonus
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Deflection bonus to AC +1 per 4 levels +5 at 20th level
Natural bonus to AC +1 per 4 levels +5 at 20th level
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ability Advancement Rate Maximum Bonus
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Enhancement bonus to an ability score* +2 per 5 levels +6 at 15th level
Inherent bonus to an ability score* +1 per 2 levels +5 at 20th level
starting at 12th
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
* This can replace the existing progressions if taken on one of the three ability scores that already has a bonus.
Expendable Items
Potions and oils:
Potions and oils work as normal, except that a user may only benefit from one potion or oil per hour. If someone drinks or applies a second within the hour, its effect is negated and the user must succeed on a Fortitude save, DC 15, or be nauseated for one minute.
Crafting potions: Crafting potions takes one hour per potion and requires a caster to cast the spell being created during the process. This costs 25 gold x the spell’s level x the caster level used for the potion. The caster level must be a minimum of the level required to cast the spell and cannot be higher than the caster’s actual caster level.
Scrolls:
Scrolls no longer exist.
Staves:
Staves are now considered permanent magical items and each contains five charges that renew each day at dawn.
Wands:
Wands are now considered permanent magical items and each contains three charges that renew each day at dawn.
Permanent Items and Crafting Value
Characters can craft one permanent magical item per four character levels, starting at 4th level*. The maximum value of the item crafted is listed in the second column of the table below. This value only factors in the magical enchantment and not the cost of the masterwork item.
At 4th level, the character can craft an item of 4th level or lower. At 8th level, the character can craft one item of 8th level or lower, etc. The character can wait one or more levels to craft the item, but they cannot do this to craft a higher level item. For example, the character could wait until 5th level to craft their first item, but they would still have to craft an item of 4th level or lower*.
Character Maximum
level value
________________________
2 1,000
3 2,250
4 4,000
5 6,250
6 9,000
7 12,250
8 16,000
9 20,250
10 25,000
11 30,250
12 36,000
13 49,000
14 64,000
15 81,000
16 100,000
17 120,000
18 140,000
19 170,000
20 200,000
________________________
For magic weapons and armor, figure a base cost of 1,000 gp for an item with no additional enchantments. To calculate the value of a weapon or armor with additional enchantments, add the total bonuses together, add one (for the base magic weapon or armor), then multiply by 1,000. For example a Flaming sword would have a value of 4,000 gp ((1 base +1 Flaming) x 1,000), and a Shocking Holy sword would have a value of 16,000 gp ((1 base +1 Shocking +2 Holy) x 1,000). For specific weapons listed in the DMG, divide these values by 2 (but not for armor).
If a character does not craft a weapon at a given level, they can always craft it later, but they are still restricted by the value of the original level, not the level they currently are. For example, a 2nd level character crafts one item worth 1,000 or less (a magic sword). At 3rd level, they do not craft anything. At 4th level, they may craft two items: one with a maximum value of 2,250 and one of 4,000.
Note: The character does not actually spend this money. This is just a value used to compare to the market price of the item to limit it by character level.
Crafting Requirements
To craft an item, the character must have a character level and an effective caster level high enough to make an item of the item’s value. Effective caster level can come from several sources:
- Caster level (for all items).
- Base Attack Bonus (for weapons and armor)
- Use Magic Device ranks – 3 (for rods, staves, and wands)
- Knowledge (Arcana) ranks – 3 (for weapons, armor, rings, and wondrous items that have a Sorcerer/Wizard spell listed in the requirements).
- Knowledge (Nature) ranks – 3 (for weapons, armor, rings, and wondrous items that have a Druid spell listed in the requirements).
- Knowledge (Religion) ranks – 3 (for weapons, armor, rings, and wondrous items that have a Cleric spell listed in the requirements).
These are the only requirements the character needs to meet to craft the item. They do not need to meet any caster level or spell requirements listed in the item’s description in the DMG.
Crafting Costs (Permanent Items)
Base item:
To craft a permanent magical item, first the character must start with a masterwork version of the item.
Material cost:
Crafting a magical item requires expensive components to help infuse the magic into the item. These components cost one tenth the market value of the item.
Crafting time:
Crafting a permanent item requires a minimum of 8 hours effort in one day. This increases by one eight hour day for every 10,000gp of cost. This time must be spent in consecutive days. If the time is interrupted, the character needs to start over from the beginning, although the material costs are not lost.
Reagents:
Each item also requires some rare, special component to complete creation. This can be done before or after the crafting time listed above. This extra component might be some rare material or a process that must take place at a particular location. Below are suggestions based on the minimum character level required to create the item (see the Permanent Items and Crafting Value table above). If possible, the reagent should be thematically appropriate to the item. For example, troll’s blood makes sense for a Ring of Regeneration, but not for a Flaming Sword. Skin of a salamander or forging the sword in a volcano makes more sense for the sword. In any sense, it should involve going out on some sort of quest for the reagent.
- Fresh body part of a creature of CR equal to the minimum crafting level for the item.
- Item imbued with the essence or power of a creature of CR equal to the minimum crafting level for the item. This could be a spell-like ability or even simple willing concentration from the creature.
- Imbued in a certain location:
- Level 1 – remote forest spring, hidden cave
- Level 3 – top of a tall mountain, deep underground
- Level 5 – bottom of a large lake, in the clouds
- Level 7 – active volcano, lake of acid
- Level 9 – outer layer of one of the outer planes
- Level 13 – deep in one of the outer planes
- Level 17 – specific, contested location of one of the outer planes
Siphoning Magic and Crafting
It is possible to take a magic item and siphon its energy to create a new item. To do so, you must have the original magic item in your possession and you must have a masterwork item ready to receive the energies. You must still meet the requirements for being able to craft the new item and have the half the material costs of the items. You do not, however, need to provide any reagents during this process; the siphoned magic is sufficient.
The new item must be of equal or lower level to the original item (see the above chart Permanent Items and Crafting Value). You may only siphon energy from one item to create another; you cannot siphon from multiple items to create a single, more powerful item. Crafting in this fashion takes the normal amount of time for creating an item and does not count against your normal limit for how many items you can craft. The original magical item then becomes a masterwork version with no magical properties.
Repairing Magic Items
It is possible to repair a damaged or destroyed magical item, providing the physical pieces can be partially recovered. So, it would be possible to repair a sundered sword or a cloak partially burnt by a Fireball, but not an item that was disintegrated or burnt wholly.
To repair an item, you must be capable of crafting it in the first place (by meeting the appropriate level and caster level requirements listed above). Repairing must be done within one week of the item being damaged or destroyed, or the magic is lost forever. The repair process takes as much time as crafting and requires one half the material cost of crafting, but does not require any reagents; the magic is still contained in the item. Also, repairing the physical item requires half the cost of the masterwork version of the item. Once the repair is complete, the item is fully functional and restored to full hit points.
Repairing items does not count against your normal limit for how many items you can craft.
Attuning
Characters can only use so many permanent magical items at a time. To use a permanent item, the character must first attune it. A character may attune three items plus one for every four hit dice*. If a character attunes an item when they are at their maximum allotment, they lose attunement of one item of their choice.
To attune it, the character must spend one minute focusing on the item and then keep it in their possession for 24 hours. After this time, the item is considered attuned to the character. It stays attuned to them even if they do not have the item in their possession. If someone else attunes a particular item, the first character no longer has it attuned to them. It is possible to attune multiple items during the same 24 hour time period, but each must be focused on separately for one minute.
*Modifications on Crafting and Attuning Numbers
In some campaigns, the DM might want the players to have access to more or fewer magic items then the rules presented here allow. The easiest way to do this is to alter how many items the PCs can craft and/or attune. For example: perhaps the PCs can craft one item every level, and they can attune three items plus one per two Hit Dice. The numbers listed above in the rules assume much fewer items exist than what the normal D&D rules assume.