Crafting & Imbuing Lite

Version 0.6

Crafting and Imbuing Lite is a lightweight ruleset for use in D&D 5e campaigns featuring item crafting. The complexity and mechanical heft of other crafting rules are traded for streamlined simplicity.

The intent is to provide a flexible framework for characters to construct mundane items and imbue them with magical enhancements, while facilitating intermittent progress rather than requiring contiguous downtime.

Created by Eric J. Earley using GM Binder

Last updated 2020/01/15

Tracking Progress

For items with short crafting times, progress can feasibly be tracked in a player's session notes. However, for more expensive items and especially magic items, players can track progress using the simplified symbology described below.

Crafting & Imbuing Lite uses two separate, yet related, progress systems. Artisans crafting mundane or magic items from a blueprint or formula need only track their total number of Successes. A simple notecard with the appropriate number of empty circles accomplishes this purpose. Below is an example of an item which has accumulated 7 of a total of 10 required Successes:

For artisans who choose to research their own designs and formulae, failures can be catastrophic, undoing all of the hard work accomplished to that point and requiring progress to be restarted from scratch. Thus, artisans must track their Successes and Failures. A notecard denoting required Successes with an empty circle and maximum Failures with an empty square accomplishes this. Below is an example of an item requiring 10 Successes before accumulating 5 Failures; the artisan has accumulated 7 Successes and 3 Failures:

DMs and players using this system to track progress may find it helpful to add relevant information to the notecard for quick reference, such as the relevant ability check, crafting DC, and material cost per check.

Part 1 | The Vocation of Creation

Base Value

The first step to crafting an item is to determine the Base Value of the item. The value of an item crafted of standard materials (iron, wood, leather, cloth, common herbs, etc) is considered the Minimum Base Value. Items listed in the PBH are made of standard materials, and thus their listed costs are the Minimum Base Value.

However, experienced artisans may wish to use more expensive materials, such as precious or rare metals, gemstones, or monster parts. These materials increase the Base Value of the crafted item. Items with a higher Base Value will take longer to craft.

Item Quality

Two items made from the same materials can vary in crafting quality, and those additional flourishes and details will increase the Value of the item. Crafting higher-quality items requires greater skill and carries with it a greater risk of ruining crafting materials. Item Qualities and their respective Crafting DC and Value Modifier are as follows:

Crafting the Item

Multiply the Base Value by the Value Modifier; this is the Item Value, which determines the crafting time.

If you are crafting an item with an Item Value of less than 10gp, you can complete the item with a single artisan check, using up half the Item Value in crafting materials.

If you are crafting an item with an Item Value of 10gp or more, you make progress in 10gp increments until you complete the item, using up half the progress amount worth of crafting materials. Divide the Item Value, in gp, by 10; this is the number of Crafting Successes necessary to complete the item.

An artisan check consists of an appropriate ability check and your artisan's tools proficiency bonus. For example, stoneworking with mason's tools may require a STR (mason's tools) check, while mixing a healing salve may instead require a WIS (herbalism kit) check.

For every 8 hours of crafting, make an artisan check:

Once all Successes have been made, the item is complete.

Crafting Example: Zoshindria the Rogue

Zoshindria, a rogue, is preparing for a masquerade ball to be held by a local lord, and wants to create a set of fine clothes to ensure she fits in without drawing too much attention.

Fine clothes have a Minimum Base Value of 15gp. Because Zoshindria wants to blend in with the upper echelon who will be attending, she decides to use rare materials, increasing the Base Value to 30gp. She also wishes to take advantage of the fine materials by crafting her fine clothes to be exceptional, further increasing the Value of the clothes to 60gp.

Because the crafting rate is 10gp per 8-hour crafting check, this means that Zoshindria must accumulate 6 Successes to craft her exceptional fine clothes. She expects to use 30gp in materials.

To keep track of crafting Successes, the DM has given Zoshindria’s player a notecard listing the item, the Crafting DC of 20, and 6 empty circles to track the Successes needed to complete the item. The player is instructed to fill in a circle for each Success.

Zoshindria spends 8 crafting checks crafting the clothes. During three checks, she rolls 3 Failures, wasting materials during one of these checks. On another four checks, she rolls Successes and makes progress at the normal rate. On the final day, she has remarkable Success and makes double progress of what she was expecting.

In total, Zoshindria spent 64 hours and 30 gp of materials, and is now the proud owner of exceptional fine clothes.

Designing a Prototype

Before aimlessly building prototypes and wasting materials, you will want to formulate a Design for your prototype. A Design check consists of an INT (artisan’s tools) check, and the Design DC is 10.

Divide the Minimum Base Value of the item, in gp, by 20. This is the number of Successes you must accumulate to complete a prototype design.

Divide the number of Successes in half. This is the maximum number of Failures you can accumulate before you must restart your Design.

For each 8-hour Design period, roll a Design check:

If you must restart your Design, but you have accumulated at least as many Successes as Failures, you make the next iteration of Design checks with advantage.

Once you have accumulated the required number of Successes, the prototype design is complete and you can begin Crafting a Prototype.

Crafting a Prototype

Once you have a Design that you think will work, you have to craft the Prototype to test it. A Prototype check is the same as an artisan check, comprising an appropriate ability check and your artisan's tools proficiency bonus.

Divide the Minimum Base Value, in gp, by 20; this is the number of Successes you must accumulate to complete a Prototype.

Divide the number of Successes in half. This is the maximum number of Failures you can accumulate before you must restart the Prototype.

The DC for Prototyping checks depends on the complexity of the item and the leniency of tolerances:

For each 8-hour Prototyping period, you consume 5gp worth of crafting materials and roll a Prototype check:

If you must restart your Prototype, but have accumulated at least as many Successes as Failures, you make the next iteration of Protptype checks with advantage.

Once you have accumulated the required number of Successes, the blueprint is complete, and you can now craft the item (see Crafting).

Blueprint Example: Stefan the Fighter

Stefan, a fighter has an idea to create a recurve bow which takes advantage of his strength during ranged combat. However, while Stefan is skilled at woodworking, he is not confident in drawing Blueprints, and so he asks Val, a ranger, for help.

The DM decides that a recurve bow has a Prototype DC of 15 and a Minimum Base Value of 100gp. Dividing this by 20, this means that 5 Successes must be accumulated before 3 Failures during the Designing a Prototype and Crafting a Prototype phases are necessary to complete the prototype.

Val draws up a set up plans for Stefan’s prototype. He spends 7 8-hour sessions drawing up plans. His very first check is a 4, which is less than the DC-5; thus, he accumulates 2 Failures within the 8-hour session. Across the next 3 sessions, he accumulates 3 Successes. His final check is a 20, which exceeds the DC+5; thus, he marks 2 Successes. This finishes the design phase with 2 Failures and 5 Successes, and has taken 56 hours of work.

Stefan takes the design and sets about crafting a prototype. He accumulates 3 Successes, but then reaches 3 Failures and must restart the Prototype phase. The 30gp he spent on prototype materials are unrecoverable; however, because he accumulated at least 3 Successes, he has advantage on prototype checks during the next prototype iteration.

On his next attempt, he accumulates the 5 required Successes with only 2 Failures. Thus, he has spent 35gp in prototype materials and completed the Blueprint, and can now begin crafting his recurve bow.

Imbuing Value

The strength of the magical effect determines the value of the imbued item, as well as the minimum mundane item quality and character level required to complete the magic item. The Imbuing Strength, Imbuing Value, Minimum Item Quality, Minimum Character Level, are shown in the table below.

Magical Foci

A magic item requires more than mundane materials to hold an imbued magical effect. Items need to be crafted with Magical Foci to store arcane energy. Often, these exotic materials come in the form of gems, rare and precious metals, or materials from magical or extraplanar creatures.

Consult the table below for general suggestions of the Challenging Rating (CR) of a creature or encounter that characters may need to face to acquire a Magical Focus.

Facing a creature can have different meanings, depending on the necessary Magical Focus. Some Foci may need to be harvested from a creature’s corpse, while others may only be guarded by the creature, or given by a creature in exchange for a favor.

Imbuing Process

Imbuing is an intensive process, and noticeable progress can only be made every 8-hours of work, though these 8 hours can be broken up into smaller periods. The table below breaks down the Imbuing DCs and Imbuing Rates.

Divide the Imbuing Value, in gp, by the Imbuing Rate; this is the number of imbuing Successes necessary to complete the item.

For each 8-hour imbuing period you consume half of the Imbuing Rate in imbuing materials. Roll an imbuing check consisting of a d20, plus your spellcasting ability modifier, plus your proficiency bonus.

Consult the table below:

Once all Successes have been made, the item has been imbued with the magical effect.

Imbuing Example: Kyne the Wizard

Kyne, a 4th level wizard, has a Formula to imbue a Wand of Magic Detection, an uncommon magic item. She has already commissioned a quality engraved mahogany wand and has several pristine quartz gems worth 50gp each from her adventures, which will serve as the Magical Foci.

An uncommon magic item has an Imbuing Value of 400gp, and the Imbuing Rate is 40gp per 8-hour check. Thus, Kyne must accumulate 10 Successes to imbue the wand with the magical effect. She expects this process will only consume 200gp of imbuing materials.

To keep track of imbuing successes, the DM has given Kyne’s player a notecard listing the item, Imbuing DC, and 10 empty circles. The player is instructed to fill in a circle for each Success.

Kyne spends 13 days imbuing the wand. On 5 days, she makes no progress, wasting materials on 2 of these days. On another 6 days, Kyne makes progress on her item at the normal rate. However, on the remaining 2 days she has remarkable Success and makes double progress of what she was expecting.

In total, Kyne spent 13 days and 200gp worth of materials, and is now the proud owner of a Wand of Magic Detection.

Researching a Formula

Divide the Imbuing Value, in gp, by the Research Rate; this is the number of Successes you must accumulate to Research the Formula.

Divide the number of Successes in half. This is the maximum number of Failures you can accumulate before you must restart the Research.

A Research check consists of an INT (arcana) check. The table below breaks down the Research DCs and Research Rates.

For each 8-hour Research period, roll a Research check:

If you must restart your Research, but you have accumulated at least as many Successes as Failures, you make the next iteration of Research checks with advantage.

Once you have accumulated the required number of Successes, the Formula is stable, and you can begin testing (see Testing a Formula).

Testing a Formula

Divide the Imbuing Value, in gp, by the Research Rate; this is the number of Successes you must accumulate to finish testing the Formula.

Divide the number of Successes in half. This is the maximum number of Failures you can accumulate before you must restart Testing.

Testing a Formula requires an Testing check consisting of a d20, plus your spellcasting ability modifier, plus your proficiency bonus. The table below breaks down the Testing DCs and Research Rates.

For each 8-hour imbuing period you consume a quarter of the Research Rate value in imbuing materials.

If you must restart your Testing, but you have accumulated at least as many Successes as Failures, you make the next iteration of research checks with advantage.

Once you have accumulated the required number of Successes, the Formula is complete, and you can now imbue the item (see Imbuing)

Formula Example: Taurin the Bard

Taurin, a 7th level bard, is interested in creating a Formula for a Potion of Heroism. This rare consumable magic item has an Imbuing Value of 2,000gp and an Imbuing Rate of 160gp per 8-hour check. Thus, 13 Successes must be accumulated before 7 Failures during each of the Research and Testing phases to complete the Formula.

Taurin starts by Researching the Formula, reading through texts and working out the calculations to balance the effects of each reagent. A rare magic item has a Research DC of 15. His very first check is a 9, which is less than the DC-5; thus, he accumulates 2 Failures within the 8-hour session. Across the next 7 checks, he accumulates 4 Failures and 9 Successes. During the final two checks, he rolls a 20 and a 22, both of which are at least the DC +5, netting him 4 Successes. This finishes the Research phase with 6 Failures and 13 Successes, and has taken 152 hours.

Taurin takes his research and sets about testing it. He accumulates 6 Successes, but then reaches 7 Failures and must restart the Testing phase. The 520gp he spent on testing materials are unrecoverable, and he did not accumulate enough Successes to gain advantage on the next iteration. However, during his next Testing iteration, he accumulated the required 13 Successe with only 4 Failures. Thus, he has spent 136 hours and 680gp in materials, and can now begin imbuing his potion.

Changing Item Quality

A fledgling artisan may set out to craft a exceptional item, only to find it too difficult. Alternatively, perhaps an artisan has accepted a contract to renovate an standard family heirloom to masterwork quality. During (or after) the crafting process, you can decide to change the quality of an item you are crafting.

If you change your project to a lower quality, you keep your current Successes. However, if you change your project to a higher quality, you lose half of your current Successes (rounded up). Thus, if you have a finished item and want to improve its quality, you start with half the required number of Successes.

You can decide to change the quality of an item you are crafting immediately following a Failed crafting check. If you do so, you can apply the crafting check as if it applied to the new Crafting DC.

Gemstone Foci

Different gemstones are known to have particular affinities to different schools of magic, which make them prime choices as magical foci. Below are the schools of magic and their affiliated gemstones. Gemstones can be used for simpler magic effects, but not more complex effects.