D&D 5E What do you want out of crafting rules?

[Mind of tempest]

I'm thinking something more along the lines of "we don't have to buy rations, we can hunt for food along the way" or "yeah the meat of that creature is mildly toxic, but it's better than starvation." Maybe "that creature is really rare! If we properly butcher and salt the meat, we can sell it for X sp back at the market!" Or at the very most, "a tea made from these leaves will let you ignore one level of exhaustion for 1 hour...but be careful, two doses in 24 hours is toxic."

I'm not interested in anything like "this sandwich cures pneumonia and stab wounds" or "carrot stew gives you a +X bonus to Perception because it's good for eyesight or whatever." That's what potions are for, imo.

you act like turning the cave fisher into a giant molotov cocktail is not fun nor that a legendary carps skin flakes giving advantage for one whole day is not fun, not even a simple meal that provides a small bonus to the characters depletable class resources is not a good idea.

 

[Baron Opal II]

So, you're saying the amount of time it takes to make a simple dagger is about 1/6 the time it takes to heal from a broken arm?

I guess I am. Six weeks is the general time required for that to heal, I believe.

I came up with rules for cooking and shelter as it relates to the restoration of hit points. Basically, if you have preserved food and tent-level shelter you regain hit points at a typical rate. This is faster with fresh food and comfortable shelter (an Inn), and slower with iron rations and no shelter. Spices and cooking skill modify this.

 

[CleverNickName]

you act like turning the cave fisher into a giant molotov cocktail is not fun nor that a legendary carps skin flakes giving advantage for one whole day is not fun, not even a simple meal that provides a small bonus to the characters depletable class resources is not a good idea.

That was not my intent. My intent was to describe what I would like to get out of advanced crafting rules, not to suggest what others should want.

 

[Baron Opal II]

I've been wondering about upgrading weapons for example could you first upgrade say a sword and dagger to become moon touched first and then upgrade to a +1 and so on?

Will either need training in the Arcane proficiency or the Smith's Tools Kit proficiency but sounds very possible, how would you look at that?

Start with a high quality sword. Alternatively, a regular sword that has been touched or graced by something thematically appropriate.
Engrave the sword with appropriately themed designs, possibly with inlay of silver wire.
Perform a ritual at the new, waxing half, and full moon.
Spend the appropriate amount of coin in material components.

Research how long it takes to engrave metal and extrapolate to a sword blade's worth of area. To get something really nice, with inlaid wire, probably a couple weeks to decorate roughly half the surface area.
Add 15 days for the lunar rituals.

How much coin? For grins, since a +1 sword is such a basic yet highly useful tool, and we have no real-world comparison, let's say 1000gp for "market price". As a nod to economics (but only a nod) let's say that the total material cost is 60%. This does not include the cost for the sword itself. It does include the silver wire, incense, chalk for magic circles, renting two flautists to provide centering music, &c.

I don't know what moon touched is, so I can't comment on pricing. I would have the character have some amount of ritual knowledge, either proficiency in Arcane or Religion, as well as some training smith's / Jeweler's tools.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

D&D is about adventurers, not blacksmiths.

Every fantasy book I've read with a character who is a blacksmith eventually features them crafting a cool weapon or something for themselves of an ally. That story merits inclusion in dnd.

And DnD is about exactly whatever a given group decides it is about, at their table. Period.

 

[fearsomepirate]

Managing inventory via pen and paper sucks. A magic item crafting system should be less about collecting bits of crap from all over the map or saving up money, and more about giving the DM keys to send the party off questing to forge the blade.

Example:

A simple magical blade or piece of armor is no mere product of skilled craftsmanship. It must be forged from an alloy of equal weights steel and starmetal, the latter of which is naturally attractive to dragons and rarely found outside of their lairs. The higher quality the metal, the greater the bonus. A wyrmling will typically never have any of this wondrous substance, but older dragons will typically have collected the following quantities (a table is presented, and no, you aren't forging your +3 plate armor unless you kill an ancient red dragon):

So rather than presenting an exploitable system by which the players may get any magic item they like, you instead present easy adventure hooks for DMs, ones that are more player-facing, e.g., suppose your typical young black dragon is known to have enough to forge perhaps a +2 blade if you're lucky, players can ask around town if there are known to be any dragons lurking in yonder swamp.

 

[SkidAce]

I have a question why do you assume it would only be used for making money or as a pure magic item farm, lots of others also seem to share your fear.

My answer to this question, because I saw a lot of characters start by making stuff for the group, and then go "hmmmmmm" and start making more than they needed.

It was easy enough to balance, but more work than before.

 

[CapnZapp]

I have no need for them, but I'm going to go ahead and shout out to @CapnZapp here as he has pretty clear ideas about what he/she wants in crafting rules (I think).

To circle back to this (I'm getting reminded each time you like my previous reply, thanks for that) I find this thread talking about crafting in a much too general sense for me to be able to provide any meaningful input.

I mean that for this thread anything goes: using Crafting for adventure seeds, to provide character background, conjure powerful artifacts out of nothing - or anything else. Nothing wrong with that. I just don't have any opinions on any of it, meaning that if you want your character to be a crafter because you feel that makes him much cooler, go for it. The only area where I have opinions (as alluded to by Dave) is specifically after we have agreed to play a version of D&D where crafting meaningfully intersects with the game economy and with magic item availability. In 5E and in this thread those criteria are not meaningfully nailed down. Ask me in the context of 3E or PF2, and it would be another matter.

To phrase this perhaps shockingly bluntly: if crafting is intended as fluff, I have no opinions except I don't think rules are really necessary. Only if crafting is intended as crunch - where it become possible and even necessary to balance it and compare it numerically to other options - call me.

Regards,
Z

 

[loverdrive]

And DnD is about exactly whatever a given group decides it is about, at their table. Period.

That's kinda isn't how game design works....

Though, yeah, I'd agree, D&D has some serious problems with maintaining focus.

 

[dave2008]

To circle back to this (I'm getting reminded each time you like my previous reply, thanks for that)

Sorry! I just remembered you had a lot of ideas over in the PF forum and the lack of crafting is one of your criticisms of 5e.