Crafting 101

The following is all the info I can find in D&D 5e books.

Crafting General Items

All crafting must be done during a players downtime. The amount of time needed to make a single item is vast, and not possible on a traveling adventure. (unless otherwise changed by DM).

Resources

All general use items do not need a schematic, unless it's a unique item created by an NPC. (unless otherwise changed by DM). All general use items and equipment are listed in the players manual 5e with a gold amount listed.

Resources needed to craft an item depends on the gold value of the item. Anything under 1g can be found on an adventure, in a dungeon, or any marketplace. Items between 1g and 100g can be found during an adventure as the DM dictates, but materials can easily be found on humanoid type creatures and settlements. Anything over 100g must be mined (1-6g per hour in a mine), bought at a market, or smelt/breakdown existing items or equipment (with DM permission).

Time and Requirements

To determine how many workweeks it takes to create an item, divide its gold piece cost by 5O. A character can complete multiple items in a workweek if the items' combined cost is 5O gp or lower. Items that cost more than 5O gp can be completed over longer periods of time, as long as the work in progress is stored in a safe location. Multiple characters can combine their efforts, like in a guild of a certain craft. Divide the time needed to create an item by the number of characters working on it. Use your judgment when determining how many characters can collaborate on an item. A particularly tiny item, like a ring, might allow only one or two workers, where as a large, complex item might allow four or more workers.

A character needs to be proficient with the tools needed to craft an item and have access to the appropriate equipment. Everyone who collaborates needs to have the appropriate tool proficiency. You need to make any judgment calls regarding whether a character has the correct equipment. The following table provides some examples.

Proficiency Items Herbalism Kit Antitoxin, potion of healing Leatherworker's Tools Leather armor, boots Smith's Tools Armor, weapons Weaver's Tools Cloaks, robes

If all the above requirements are met, the result of the process is an item of the desired sort. A character can sell an item crafted in this way at its listed price.

Crafting Magic Items

Creating a magic item requires more than just time, effort, and materials. It is a longterm process that involves one or more adventures to track down rare materials and the lore needed to create the item. (As needed by DM)

Formula/Schematic

Magic items that are created from scratch will need a type of forumla, or schematic that was made by the original creator of the item. If one is not available, the adventurer can invent one.

A character who is inventing a device rather than following a schematic must make a successful Intelligence (Arcana) check each day of crafting. The difficulty of the check is determined by the rarity of the item: DC 10 for a common or uncommon item, DC 15 for a rare or very rare item, or DC 20+ for a legendary item. On a failed check, the character still spends the 25 gp for that day’s work, but that day does not count toward completing the item. If a group of characters is working together to invent an item, each character who is contributing can attempt the Intelligence (Arcana) check. If any character succeeds, the group makes progress toward inventing and completing the item. The amount of days needed to invent an item is determined by the DM, but they can use the table below as an example.

Rarity Workdays Common 1-5 Uncommon 1-25+ Rare 25-50+ Very Rare 50-75+ Legendary 75 -150+

The alternative way to develope a formula or schematic is to take an existing magic item, and study/disassemble it. The time this would take and gold can be a fraction of what is listed above and the item is destroyed. This must be determined by a DM.

Rare Materials

An item invariably requires an exotic material to complete it. This materia l can range from the skin of a yeti to a vial of water taken from a whirlpool on the Elemental Plane of Water. Finding that material should take place as part of an adventure. The Magic Item Ingredients table suggests the challenge rating of a creature that the characters need to face to acquire the materials for an item. Note that facing a creature does not necessarily mean that the characters must collect items from its corpse. Rather, the creature might guard a location or a resource that the characte rs need access to.