Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Zar Niln 01-15-04, 12:00 AM	How do you get time as a wizard to scribe scrolls, spells, and craft wands and items?
Eldren 01-15-04, 12:30 AM	I'm hoping I understand your question right; in conjunction with the subject of this thread, you're asking how to find time to scribe scrolls, make magic items, etc., when the rest of the party seems intent on continuous adventuring? There are several ways to do it. You don't have a lot of options as a player other than telling them, "Fine, go adventuring, but you aren't going to have arcane support. I need some time for some personal projects." As a Dungeon Master, I try to build time into the campaign where PCs who are item crafters will have time to use those feats, if they spent slots on them. Otherwise, they're just going to resent having spent slots on feats they can never really use, and they'll eventually come to resent me because I'm not letting them use them. One thing to remember is that adventurers, while not always human, are always (most of the time) mortal, and they have limitations. They can't be adventuring all the time, 7 days a week (or however long the weeks are in the world you're in). They need some downtime. When I say "downtime", I mean more than just resting at camp each night so the warriors can repair armor, and the casters can do the things that eventually result in a couple of new spells once they level. Sometimes the party just needs to take a couple of weeks off, particularly after a long-term adventure that they completed, so they can rest, recharge, and consider where they want to go from there. Weather is a Dungeon Master's friend in this respect. I was running a Forgotten Realms campaign in the Silver Marches, and the group was forced to winter in Silverymoon, because conditions were too treacherous to risk poncing about the mountains and whatnot that comprise the Silver Marches. This gave the item crafters time to make items, gave the warrior type the time to have items made for them, etc. Talk to your DM about this, and see what he/she has to say, and ask that maybe some time get built in so your character can do the things he/she wants. The whole time doesn't have to be role played; the DM can simply decide that the party has no meaningful encounters for a month, and can then ask the other party members what they want to do with their downtime. Maybe someone in the party is an armorsmith, and wants to take some raw mithril and make some full plate out of it. *shrug* At any rate, the long and short of it is the DM says "This amount of time passes", then tells you to subtract the appropriate XP and gold from your totals, and lets you add the item(s) you crafted to your inventory.
Mitchell 01-15-04, 02:00 AM	Eldren has some good ideas. If the DM is content to let the players just keep on going, and you want to make a magic item, huddle up with them and see if they are willing to wait. If not, then you have to decide whether to go adventuring or make an item. If there is an abundance (or even a fair amount) of magic shops in your campaign, then at low levels, it's probably better to purchase them. High levels are a bit dicier as you will have a harder time finding the most valuable items. In our campaign, I encouraged the DM to restrict the availability of items "off the shelf" at a minimum. It makes crafting for a particular item more worthwhile, and even if you do decide to buy it, it will still have to be made, meaning that you can continue adventuring, but won't get what you want for a while and will have to pay full book $, if not more, once it is done.
the_heart 01-15-04, 04:00 AM	i must adventure with some generous guys, as i just need to say that we need to rest up for a week, and everyone just camps up, and finds stuff to do. none of them have thought to ask me to craft items for them yet either. on reflection, maybe that 'generous' should read 'dumb' :D