4.10 Creating Magic Items

All permanent magical items are difficult to make. Even if the item is nothing more than a tankard that keeps its contents perpetually chilled, making that tankard is every bit as difficult as forging an enchanted sword. As a consequence, very few sorcerers bother to make petty items; if it’s going to be as hard to make a trifling token as a significant one, why make trifles?

Magical items are exceedingly expensive to build. The rare components, expensive rituals, and costly processes involved eat up vast amounts of silver and great labor on the part of the mage. These components must be bought at some major city or salvaged from the dungeons or ruins that the PCs are exploring. They form many of the same components that are used in building Workings or researching new spells, so the same general pool of magical components can be used for any of those purposes.

Magical items are also complex and difficult to create. A novice mage cannot fashion them and even an expert might find it difficult to get an item to come out just right. Flaws can creep into the construction process, forcing the PC to either start over or cope with an item that isn’t exactly what was intended.

4.9.1 Designing the Item

To build a magic item, the player first describes what it is that the item is supposed to do. It’s up to the GM to decide whether or not the item fits with their campaign and is an acceptable introduction.

For item designs, it’s recommended that the GM be careful not to allow magic items that simply solve whole categories of problems. A set of magic earplugs that make it impossible to hear lies may seem clever, but it also immediately solves any challenge revolving around detecting deceit. Boots that grant perpetual flight, apotropaic wands that banish specific types of creatures, and other items that simply remove certain problems from the party’s concerns should probably be denied. Even if they’re charged or limit-use items, they’ll probably be available whenever the party really needs them, which means those challenges that would otherwise be the most critical become the ones they most easily bypass.

A GM should also be careful about items that simply add bonuses to the PC’s rolls, whether skill checks or combat rolls. Magical weapons and armor do exist, and there are some items that do simply add numbers to the PC, but these should be avoided in other cases. There’s a reason that most veteran Warriors are eager to find a magical weapon; such a weapon simply makes them better at their most important function. If other items exist that simply increase critical numbers, then the other players will feel obligated to hunt them down.

If the item’s concept passes muster, the GM should compare it to the adjacent table to see what kind of price and minimum difficulty level should be required to make it. Spellcasting wizards can generally make any kind of magic item, while non-casters such as Vowed or Healers are usually restricted to making items appropriate to their particular concepts, whether those are magical scriptures or healing elixirs. A GM should always feel free to adjust prices and difficulties to reflect their own sense of what’s appropriate for their campaign.

In addition to the minimum level and money involved, permanent magic items always require at least one adventure to acquire the necessary components. The wizard will have researched the item sufficiently to know where they need to go and what they need to fetch, but it will always be dangerous and difficult to do so. Very capable underlings or hired adventurers might be able to fetch the required component, but it’s up to the GM whether such efforts are successful. From a GM’s perspective, this required adventure is to ensure that a wizard who makes a permanent magic item provides at least one session worth of adventure grist in exchange for the new gear, and it also ensures that not too many permanent magic items will be made unless the party agrees to constantly be out adventuring for parts.

4.9.2 Creating the Item

If the creator is capable, the coin is at hand, and any adventuring components have been fetched, the mage can attempt to make the item. They spend the time given on the adjacent table and then make an Int/Magic skill check against the appropriate difficulty. If they’re making a batch of limited-use items, such as a batch of magic potions, they can make two doses for a +1 difficulty or four doses for a +2 difficulty. If they have an apprentice to aid them, they can add +1 to their skill check.

If the check is a success, the item is made. If it’s a failure, they have a choice; they can start over from the beginning, spending the money and time anew, though not needing to repeat any adventure the item might have required. They can then make a second attempt at creating the item. If they are reluctant to do this, the item incurs some kind of flaw or unfortunate side effect to its power, suffering that hindrance to the item’s eventual effect as adjusted by the GM. If that flaw isn’t intolerable, they may spend half the time they originally took to make another skill check to make the item at a cumulative +1 bonus. No additional coin need be paid. They can repeat this process, adding a new flaw each time and paying half the original time, until they either succeed or the flaws become intolerable.

A mage can generally keep adventuring while crafting a magic item, as the work doesn’t eat up all their spare time. Particularly massive or powerful magic items might require the use of a dedicated laboratory, forcing the wizard to remain there while the work is under way lest the process be spoiled. Any special tools or resources such a laboratory requires are assumed to be part of the item’s creation cost.

Magic Item Creation Costs

Type of Item	Creation Difficulty	Creation Cost in SP	Creation Time
A single-use item, such as a potion or scroll	8–10	250–2,500	1 week
A multi-use item that still contains limited charges, such as a wand	9–11	5,000–25,000	1 month
A low-powered but permanent magic item, such as a Sword +1	10	12,500	1 month
A significant item that creates a situation-changing effect	12	50,000	3 months
A powerful item or one with multiple significant abilities	14	250,000	6 months