Crafting a Magical Item
Since time immemorial when the first spellcasters learned to manipulate the Weave, practitioners have worked to imbue crafted items with the power of magic. The techniques for crafting such magical items have been passed down from master to apprentice over the centuries, and as such the world is filled with the fruits of these labors, often lying in wait within forgotten dungeons for hapless adventurers to stumble upon.
However, not all adventurers want to scour through an endless series of forgotten dungeons in the hopes of finding one specific magical item; some would rather craft the item themselves. The rules provided within this document provide a robust framework for adventurers and Dungeon Masters to follow when crafting their own magical items. These rules are based on the crafting rules found within Xanathar's Guide to Everything.
The Crafting Process
The process for creating a magic item is straight-forward, though very expensive and time consuming. All efforts made in the creation of the magic item are measured 5-day workweeks, with each workday being no less than 8 hours long. Material costs spent during the crafting of the magic item are also made at the end of the workweek.
Some magical items also require a formula for the adventurer to follow in order to properly craft the item. Adventurers must have a formula for any of the magical items found within the Dungeon Master's Guide and Xanathar's Guide to Everything in order to craft them.
There are two parts to the process of crafting a magical item. The first is crafting the physical object that will contain the magical effect. This object is known as a "masterwork item", and is nearly indistinguishable from a mundane version of the same item. The only difference is that the masterwork item is able to contain a magical effect without being destroyed by the effect's power.
The second step of the process is to enchant the masterwork item with a "magical effect". Often this magical effect resembles a spell that the adventurer is capable of casting, but the Dungeon Master has wide latitude to allow other effects. The enchanting process is done by expending a spell slot of an appropriate level at the end of each workday. If the magical effect produces the same result as a spell that requires a material component with a gold value, or consumes the component as part of the spell, the adventurer must provide that component during each workday spent enchanting the item.
The Right Tools for the Job
Just like when crafting a mundane item, adventurers need to be proficient in the right tools to craft the masterwork item. Adventurers must have proficiency in Arcana, and they are required to complete their work within a workshop specialized for their needs. Adventurers can either pay someone to rent their workshop for each workday, or build one within a stronghold that they own or control.
Workshops provide not only the specialized tools necessary for crafting magical items, but also — depending on the level of the workshop — a bonus to the "crafting check" made when crafting the underlying masterwork item.
Details about crafting checks are found later on in this document. Building costs and the related crafting check bonus are found in the Workshop table below.
Workshop Table
| Workshop | Building Cost | Weeks to Build | Renting Cost | Crafting Check Bonus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rudimentary | 2,500gp | 1 | 12gp | -- |
| Standard | 3,000gp | 3 | 50gp | +1 |
| Superior | 5,000gp | 6 | 500gp | +2 |
| Exemplary | 13,000gp | 16 | 5,000gp | +3 |
| Flawless | 21,000gp | 20 | 25,000gp | +4 |
Note that the cost to upgrade a workshop is not cumulative. For example, when upgrading a Standard Workshop to a Superior Workshop, the adventurer must pay the full 5,000gp cost by the end of the 6-week upgrade period. During that time, the workshop cannot be used to craft any items.
Crafting a Masterwork Item
Before crafting a masterwork item, the adventurer must first acquire raw materials worth the full amount of a mundane version of the item. Then they must spend some amount of workweeks in the workshop assembling, forging, building, or otherwise making the physical masterwork item. To determine the amount of workweeks necessary to spend, divide its gold piece cost by 25.
At the end of each workweek, the adventurer must make and record a "crafting check" to determine the masterwork item's quality. Higher quality masterwork items can be enchanted with more powerful magic effects. To resolve the crafting check, roll a D20 and add the adventurer's Intelligence modifier along with any workshop bonuses if applicable. If the adventurer is following a formula, they can also add their Proficiency bonus.
After the masterwork item has been assembled and all of the crafting checks have been resolved and recorded, the adventurer must then determine the item's final "quality score". To do so, simply take the average of all of the crafting checks and compare that average with the value found in the Quality Score table below.
Quality Score Table
| Quality Check Average | Quality Score |
|---|---|
| 1 - 8 | Inferior |
| 9 - 14 | Poor |
| 15 - 22 | Standard |
| 23 - 27 | Superior |
| 28 - 30 | Exemplary |
| 31+ | Flawless |
Enchanting Table
| Min. Item Quality | Magic Item Rarity | Material Cost | Expended Spell Slot | Max Spell Level | Charges (Recharge Rate) | Additional Crafting Time (Workweeks) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poor | Common | 25gp | 1 | Cantrip* | Unlimited | 1 |
| Standard | Uncommon | 100gp | 3 | 2 | 1d6 (1d4 + 2) | 2 |
| Superior | Rare | 1,000gp | 5 | 4 | 1d4 (1d4) | 10 |
| Exemplary | Very Rare | 10,000gp | 7 | 6 | 1d3 (1d6 / 2) | 25 |
| Flawless | Legendary | 50,000gp | 9 | 8 | 1d2 (1) | 50 |
*Cannot be a spell that deals damage to a target.
Enchanting the Masterwork Item
The process of enchanting a magical effect into a masterwork item occurs after the adventurer has finished crafting the physical item itself. The total amount of additional crafting time needed to enchant a magical effect into the masterwork item depends on both the item's quality score and the chosen magical item rarity. See the Enchanting table above for the full details.
The Enchanting table also details how powerful the magical effect being enchanted can be relative to the item's quality and chosen rarity. For each workday spent during the enchanting process, the adventurer must expend a spell slot of the given level in order to imbue a magical effect up to the listed maximum spell level. If the magical effect being enchanted is the same as that of a spell, the effect is enchanted at the lowest possible spell level, and the item has a number of charges available to cast that spell as indicated in the Enchanting table. The charges regenerate at the indicated rate at either dawn or dusk, as chosen by the adventurer, and always recharge at least 1 charge. Adventurers must be able to cast the spell before being able to enchant it.
When choosing a magical effect to enchant into the masterwork item, adventurers can treat the item as it were lower quality for the purposes of expending resources and adding additional crafting time. In the case of enchanting a cantrip spell effect into a masterwork item, the item itself must be of at least Standard quality to enchant a damage-dealing cantrip.
Once the adventurer has finished crafting the magic item, they also create a corresponding formula, which makes crafting the item easier to do once again in the future.
Magical Items from First-Party Materials
If the adventurer wishes to craft a magical item found in official, first-party materials such as the Dungeon Master's Guide or Xanathar's Guide to Everything, they must have a formula for the item before they're able to craft it. Formulas can be found in the same way that magical items are normally discovered: found hidden within dungeons, for sale in magical shops, or as rewards for completing quests. It's up to the Dungeon Master to provide magic item formulas and place them within the world.
Example: Crafting Robes of Mage Armor
Anixu, a 6th level wizard with proficiency in weaver's tools and 18 Intelligence, would like to make a set of robes and enchant them with the 1st level spell mage armor. He has struck a deal with the proprietor of The Fluffy Hag apothecary, Brilinae Drisglyn, to make use of her Standard workshop which has been built into the back of her shop.
Since robes only cost 1gp, the masterwork robes can be assembled in only one workweek, after which he makes a quality check. He rolls 1d20 and rolls quite well: an 18! He then adds +4 to the roll for his Intelligence modifier, and adds +1 again for using a Standard workshop. Adding it all together, he got 23 on his quality check, resulting in a Superior set of masterwork robes. After the workweek, he pays Brilinae 50gp for rent of her workshop.
Despite the fact that his Superior masterwork robes can contain the effect of up to a 4th level magical effect, Anixu isn't able to expend 5th level spell slots necessary to create a Rare magical item. He instead chooses to treat these robes as if they were of Standard quality to create an Uncommon magic item, thus expending 3rd level spell slots in order to enchant the robes with mage armor. Since the item is an Uncommon magical item, it can store up to 1d6 charges, starting with 1d4 + 2 charges.
Anixu spends 2 additional workweeks renting the workshop from Brilinae to finish enchanting the robes. He spends 100gp in rent along with 200gp for the necessary components to channel the spell. After working for 3 workweeks, spending a total of 351gp in material and rental costs, and casting mage armor a total of 10 times, Anixu has successfully crafted his very own set of Robes of Mage Armor. The robes can hold up to 1d6 charges, and recharge at a rate of 1d4 + 2 charges every day at dawn.