Armors and crafting times [Archive] - Wizards Community

Armors and crafting times [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Rangermutt
08-04-05, 09:37 AM In my current campaign, the DM has decided that the local armorsmith has roughly a +12 bonus to armorsmithing while using his masterwork tools. Which means that, following the craft rules, after my character is fitted it will take almost a year game time to get the full plate that I have been saving up to buy. Now, in his campaign a year is a very, very long time and I probably will be on my 6th new character by then, and I was wondering if anyone knew of a way to get armor made faster?

And he does not allow us to buy magical items either, so I can't just go and purchase magical full plate unfortunately.

Thanks for any help.
peanut35
08-04-05, 10:22 AM if you are in a city it should be a available. There is fast crafting, by beating the DC by 10, but that just shortens the time by some amount. If your DM wants to be realistic and make it so that the Armor has to be fitted to you exactly, then you are screwed. If that is the case, then what you could do is ask if there is a medium full plate armor that is available to you in the town/city. Then the armorer just needs to refit the armor, not crafting the whole thing from scratch, that is my idea, good luck with that. Just to let you know, this is D&D, and generally people will rule that there is an armor available to you. Since you can't get magical items, that is a problem. You could always find a high level caster that could just create it with some spell that i can't remember at this time, and it doesnt even have to be magical.
Tuneless Bard
08-04-05, 10:28 AM Raise the DC by 10...
+12 with a +2 if you are aided...gives you +14...not too hard to get to 28...

goal is 15000...thats 19 weeks if you hit the 14 every time...
granted if you average it out its still 47 weeks...but thats if you roll average...

So you can take a level in Maester (gives you quick crafting which ive ruled works on any item, not just magic items) which double the output of every roll...
Or...Take Extrordinary Artisan from eberon...decreases crafting time by 25%...

lastly...invest in a magic forge (races of stone)...
SageAdvice666
08-04-05, 10:49 AM Pay extra for a group of smiths to craft two (or even three) shifts per day. The crafting rules assume 8 hours per day of crafting. So the master crafts for 8 hours, then his apprentice crafts for another 8. That cuts the time in half right there. If you can convince the crafter to have someone working on it 'round the clock (via a heck of a Diplomacy check and some extra cash), you can do it in a third of the time.

A +12 to his craft check... Skill Focus (3), Int Bonus (3), Ranks (6)? The guy is third level and pretty smart? You could potentially find a higher level craftsman too.
tarkin
08-04-05, 11:16 AM If you have access to a city, you should be able to buy one ready made.

Or get someone to make a magic item that lets a non-caster use Fabricate 1/day.

Fabricate saves time, it does not save money or allow you to avoid a skill roll.
Rangermutt
08-04-05, 11:24 AM Wow, thanks everybody. Thoses are all great ideas, I'll talk to the DM next session about what options are currently available and what would be available in a bigger city. He may just be waiting for me to come up wih a solution. I do think he's particular about it being fitted perfectly and built from scratch however, so I don't think he'll allow a refitted suit. Oh well, we'll see.

Thanks again.
Fedaykin
08-04-05, 11:50 AM A +12 to his craft check... Skill Focus (3), Int Bonus (3), Ranks (6)? The guy is third level and pretty smart? You could potentially find a higher level craftsman too.

Or the armorsmith could call in the local drunks.

A local armorsmith in a Large Town has about 8 levels of expert (3d4+1 levels, from DMG p139)
So he would have:
11 Ranks
+2 Int 14 (13 base + 1 stat boost @ level 4)
+3 Skill Focus
+2 Masterwork Tools
+2 Helpfull worker
+2 Another helpfull worker
+2 Hell, you're bying a fullplate from this dude, he'd better use another worker
+2 These helper guys only cost 1 silver piece per week
+2 And he's making 7500 silver pieces profit from you, so let's add another.

So, that makes: +28, taking 10 gives a result if 38
We set the DC at 38, make it each week so we add 38*38 = 1444
Is about 10 1/2 weeks and it costs him 50sp for the helpers.

For 10sp he can add another 5 helpers, reducing the time to 6 1/2 weeks

To do it in 1 week he has to beat DC 124 for which he needs 48 helpers,
(15000^.5= +/- 124 -28 (his own ability) = 96 /2= 48 helpers

This actually costs him less as hiring 5 helps, so why wouldn't he hire 50 commoners for a week making that fullplate for you?
Rangermutt
08-04-05, 02:20 PM But, I thought the dc was set by 10 + the ac bonus of the item (in this case, full plate which grants a +8, so 18 total)?

Even if you get a 38, you are multiplying that by 18 which only equals 684 sp per week. Still about 22 weeks, or 5 and a half months? Who expects to stay alive that long in game time?
peanut35
08-04-05, 02:29 PM It really depends on if this is a base of operations and if you are travelling a lot. Just last session lasted just over a month in-game. We had killed a 'dragon' and had its skin/scales, and wanted them for an armor. The village we were in could only prep the hide, not create anything from it, and that prep took just about 3 weeks and cost the player 500 gp. But we ran off, a few of us died, returned and picked the scales back up. So technically, its possible, just depends on teh campaign and if the place that is producing the armor is your 'base of operations' which will help if you have to end up going with a long-term commitment to make the armor.
Fedaykin
08-04-05, 04:35 PM But, I thought the dc was set by 10 + the ac bonus of the item (in this case, full plate which grants a +8, so 18 total)?

I always thought it was possible to add the +10 multiple times.
Tuneless Bard
08-06-05, 12:59 AM You may choose (beforehand) to increase the DC by increments of 10...its harder to hit the DC but the item is crafted faster...

so technically you can shoot for a DC of 58 if you really wanted...it makes it that much quicker to craft...
Rangermutt
08-08-05, 09:20 AM Hey, thanks again for all the advice. Apparently the +10 dc modifier can be added multiple times, so all I have to do is find someone who can make a 38 or 48 while taking 10. Well, big city, here I come. Maybe I'll convince the party to move our base of operations to Greyhawk, we've never been there and we're not too far away.

Thanks again.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Rangermutt 08-04-05, 09:37 AM	In my current campaign, the DM has decided that the local armorsmith has roughly a +12 bonus to armorsmithing while using his masterwork tools. Which means that, following the craft rules, after my character is fitted it will take almost a year game time to get the full plate that I have been saving up to buy. Now, in his campaign a year is a very, very long time and I probably will be on my 6th new character by then, and I was wondering if anyone knew of a way to get armor made faster? And he does not allow us to buy magical items either, so I can't just go and purchase magical full plate unfortunately. Thanks for any help.
peanut35 08-04-05, 10:22 AM	if you are in a city it should be a available. There is fast crafting, by beating the DC by 10, but that just shortens the time by some amount. If your DM wants to be realistic and make it so that the Armor has to be fitted to you exactly, then you are screwed. If that is the case, then what you could do is ask if there is a medium full plate armor that is available to you in the town/city. Then the armorer just needs to refit the armor, not crafting the whole thing from scratch, that is my idea, good luck with that. Just to let you know, this is D&D, and generally people will rule that there is an armor available to you. Since you can't get magical items, that is a problem. You could always find a high level caster that could just create it with some spell that i can't remember at this time, and it doesnt even have to be magical.
Tuneless Bard 08-04-05, 10:28 AM	Raise the DC by 10... +12 with a +2 if you are aided...gives you +14...not too hard to get to 28... goal is 15000...thats 19 weeks if you hit the 14 every time... granted if you average it out its still 47 weeks...but thats if you roll average... So you can take a level in Maester (gives you quick crafting which ive ruled works on any item, not just magic items) which double the output of every roll... Or...Take Extrordinary Artisan from eberon...decreases crafting time by 25%... lastly...invest in a magic forge (races of stone)...
SageAdvice666 08-04-05, 10:49 AM	Pay extra for a group of smiths to craft two (or even three) shifts per day. The crafting rules assume 8 hours per day of crafting. So the master crafts for 8 hours, then his apprentice crafts for another 8. That cuts the time in half right there. If you can convince the crafter to have someone working on it 'round the clock (via a heck of a Diplomacy check and some extra cash), you can do it in a third of the time. A +12 to his craft check... Skill Focus (3), Int Bonus (3), Ranks (6)? The guy is third level and pretty smart? You could potentially find a higher level craftsman too.
tarkin 08-04-05, 11:16 AM	If you have access to a city, you should be able to buy one ready made. Or get someone to make a magic item that lets a non-caster use Fabricate 1/day. Fabricate saves time, it does not save money or allow you to avoid a skill roll.
Rangermutt 08-04-05, 11:24 AM	Wow, thanks everybody. Thoses are all great ideas, I'll talk to the DM next session about what options are currently available and what would be available in a bigger city. He may just be waiting for me to come up wih a solution. I do think he's particular about it being fitted perfectly and built from scratch however, so I don't think he'll allow a refitted suit. Oh well, we'll see. Thanks again.
Fedaykin 08-04-05, 11:50 AM	A +12 to his craft check... Skill Focus (3), Int Bonus (3), Ranks (6)? The guy is third level and pretty smart? You could potentially find a higher level craftsman too. Or the armorsmith could call in the local drunks. A local armorsmith in a Large Town has about 8 levels of expert (3d4+1 levels, from DMG p139) So he would have: 11 Ranks +2 Int 14 (13 base + 1 stat boost @ level 4) +3 Skill Focus +2 Masterwork Tools +2 Helpfull worker +2 Another helpfull worker +2 Hell, you're bying a fullplate from this dude, he'd better use another worker +2 These helper guys only cost 1 silver piece per week +2 And he's making 7500 silver pieces profit from you, so let's add another. So, that makes: +28, taking 10 gives a result if 38 We set the DC at 38, make it each week so we add 38*38 = 1444 Is about 10 1/2 weeks and it costs him 50sp for the helpers. For 10sp he can add another 5 helpers, reducing the time to 6 1/2 weeks To do it in 1 week he has to beat DC 124 for which he needs 48 helpers, (15000^.5= +/- 124 -28 (his own ability) = 96 /2= 48 helpers This actually costs him less as hiring 5 helps, so why wouldn't he hire 50 commoners for a week making that fullplate for you?
Rangermutt 08-04-05, 02:20 PM	But, I thought the dc was set by 10 + the ac bonus of the item (in this case, full plate which grants a +8, so 18 total)? Even if you get a 38, you are multiplying that by 18 which only equals 684 sp per week. Still about 22 weeks, or 5 and a half months? Who expects to stay alive that long in game time?
peanut35 08-04-05, 02:29 PM	It really depends on if this is a base of operations and if you are travelling a lot. Just last session lasted just over a month in-game. We had killed a 'dragon' and had its skin/scales, and wanted them for an armor. The village we were in could only prep the hide, not create anything from it, and that prep took just about 3 weeks and cost the player 500 gp. But we ran off, a few of us died, returned and picked the scales back up. So technically, its possible, just depends on teh campaign and if the place that is producing the armor is your 'base of operations' which will help if you have to end up going with a long-term commitment to make the armor.
Fedaykin 08-04-05, 04:35 PM	But, I thought the dc was set by 10 + the ac bonus of the item (in this case, full plate which grants a +8, so 18 total)? I always thought it was possible to add the +10 multiple times.
Tuneless Bard 08-06-05, 12:59 AM	You may choose (beforehand) to increase the DC by increments of 10...its harder to hit the DC but the item is crafted faster... so technically you can shoot for a DC of 58 if you really wanted...it makes it that much quicker to craft...
Rangermutt 08-08-05, 09:20 AM	Hey, thanks again for all the advice. Apparently the +10 dc modifier can be added multiple times, so all I have to do is find someone who can make a 38 or 48 while taking 10. Well, big city, here I come. Maybe I'll convince the party to move our base of operations to Greyhawk, we've never been there and we're not too far away. Thanks again.