Artificer crafting. Need craft skill? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Artificer crafting. Need craft skill? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Elderich
03-14-05, 10:38 PM Something in my brain is telling me I need a craft feat, and a craft skill to craft an item. But my eyes refuse to find the spot in the rules.

Which body part is playing games with me?

If it is the eyes, please reference the SRD, or DMG. Hard to prove a negative (wiley brain). Guess i will have to assume if no one quotes it, its not there...?
jnormandin
03-14-05, 10:53 PM When making a magic item, you can either craft the object to be enchanted, or buy it. You then pay all kinds of coin to spice it up with your mojo.

If you want to make items yourself, you CAN use the craft skill untrained (without dropping any points into it), since it doesn't have the 'Trained Only' notation as specified on page 66 of the PHB.

Since you can Take 10 on crafting checks, check the DC of the stuff you're looking to make. Many items have a DC of 15 or so, which means you could get by with Taking 10, your int bonus, and a scroll of Magecraft. If you DO drop skillpoints into crafting skills, think seriously before pushing any of them above a rank of 5 or so.
Tempest Stormwind
03-14-05, 11:01 PM You need a skill to make a nonmagical item. The feat's for the imbuing.

And technically, it IS in the rules -- "You also need materials -- the most obvious being the [item] or the pieces of the [item] to be assembled."

The Craft check is usually either ignored (you buy or commission the base item to be made while you prepare the magic rituals, and the cost is subsumed in the item generation cost), or handled behind-the-scenes (an effective "take 20" on the craft check with no other rules attached). Some DMs call for a craft check if you actually assemble the pieces -- mine do -- but this is minor.

In short, only worry about the skill if you want your staff to be personalized.

I usually only go 5-8 ranks in individual craft skills, maybe a bit more in very useful ones (ranging from armorsmithing to sculpting). I make it a point to use Fabricate or Minor Creation when I can (I typically play a shaper, though the effect is the same), so these do come in handy. Plus, my DMs all use the "attempt similar craft checks at -2" optional rule from the DMG (i.e. a skilled armorsmith can make horseshoes or swords by taking -2 on his craft check to emulate Blacksmithing or Weaponsmithing).

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Elderich 03-14-05, 10:38 PM	Something in my brain is telling me I need a craft feat, and a craft skill to craft an item. But my eyes refuse to find the spot in the rules. Which body part is playing games with me? If it is the eyes, please reference the SRD, or DMG. Hard to prove a negative (wiley brain). Guess i will have to assume if no one quotes it, its not there...?
jnormandin 03-14-05, 10:53 PM	When making a magic item, you can either craft the object to be enchanted, or buy it. You then pay all kinds of coin to spice it up with your mojo. If you want to make items yourself, you CAN use the craft skill untrained (without dropping any points into it), since it doesn't have the 'Trained Only' notation as specified on page 66 of the PHB. Since you can Take 10 on crafting checks, check the DC of the stuff you're looking to make. Many items have a DC of 15 or so, which means you could get by with Taking 10, your int bonus, and a scroll of Magecraft. If you DO drop skillpoints into crafting skills, think seriously before pushing any of them above a rank of 5 or so.
Tempest Stormwind 03-14-05, 11:01 PM	You need a skill to make a nonmagical item. The feat's for the imbuing. And technically, it IS in the rules -- "You also need materials -- the most obvious being the [item] or the pieces of the [item] to be assembled." The Craft check is usually either ignored (you buy or commission the base item to be made while you prepare the magic rituals, and the cost is subsumed in the item generation cost), or handled behind-the-scenes (an effective "take 20" on the craft check with no other rules attached). Some DMs call for a craft check if you actually assemble the pieces -- mine do -- but this is minor. In short, only worry about the skill if you want your staff to be personalized. I usually only go 5-8 ranks in individual craft skills, maybe a bit more in very useful ones (ranging from armorsmithing to sculpting). I make it a point to use Fabricate or Minor Creation when I can (I typically play a shaper, though the effect is the same), so these do come in handy. Plus, my DMs all use the "attempt similar craft checks at -2" optional rule from the DMG (i.e. a skilled armorsmith can make horseshoes or swords by taking -2 on his craft check to emulate Blacksmithing or Weaponsmithing).