Crafting Permanent Magic Items

Crafting a permanent magic item is a goal that many spellcasters aspire to. These rules provide a guideline for how that procedure might go.

Find information on crafting scrolls and potions on other pages.

Crafting any magic item has these requirements:

• A Lead Artisan – An artisan who is proficient enough to craft the masterwork item to be enchanted.
• A Lead Enchanter – A spellcaster who has the Magic Item Creation proficiency who will enchant the item.
• Crafting Materials – The materials the instructions call for, mundane or otherwise.
• Means of Production – Crafting a permanent magic item requires an enchanter’s furnace of the appropriate scope.
• Instructions – Either memorized instructions, written blueprint/recipe detailing the materials and the process, or research in a library or laboratory.
• Labor – Once all four of the previous conditions are satisfied, the crafting process can begin. The enchanter works over a number of weeks to contribute progress measured in GP.

Crafting an item requires an artisan with proficiency associated with crafting the item to be enchanted. As long as you have a Lead Artisan, NPCs who are not necessarily proficient in crafting magic items are still able to contribute to the crafting process. Masterwork items typically cost ten times the amount mundane items cost (there are a few exceptions, such as heavy armor).

Most Zealots and Scholars gain proficiency to create permanent magic items beginning at 5th level. Their job in the process is to oversee the artisan’s work on the magic item as it is being made and then reforged in the furnace.

Instructions for making a magic item can be found “easily” by using the Divine Spell Commune or the Arcane Spell Infernal Call and asking an angel or demon, but these spells are available only to a very few high-level casters. Most casters must do research from books. Some books will have the Instructions for particular magic items listed as part of their descriptions and thus possessing the book, means possessing the Instructions.

If no such Instructions are possessed, the researcher may do magical research on their own to create the required Instructions. This study toward creating a set of working instructions is measured in the number of “study points” which must equal the GP value of the item to create a working set of instructions. Each week of study and research a spellcaster does contributes a number of “study points” equal to half the value of their magical library in gold, or the full value of their library in gold if they succeed in an Arcana Check (scholars) or Religion Check (zealots).

Each set of instructions should have its own special ingredients. However, only one “dose” of special ingredient can be harvested from any particular animal, plant or monster. For example, if a Ring of Fire Resistance has a special ingredient of red dragon scales, only one ring can be made from any particular dragon.

It requires an Enchanter’s Furnace, also known as a Cosmic Energy Chamber to create permanent magic items. This chamber is a box of biotite granite with a solid lid. The box must be in the proportions of 5 x 4 x 3 to be effective. Furthermore, the box must be permanently installed in a location that is either 39 feet above ground level (say in a tower) or 39 feet below ground level (say in a dungeon chamber) in order to act as an Enchanter’s Furnace.

These furnaces burn pure molten gold (and it must be gold metal, not merely the monetary equivalent) to function. As the gold is added it is slowly changed into a monatomic zero-spin state, releasing binding magical energy and becoming a worthless white powder.

Larger, more powerful furnaces are able to burn gold faster to imbue more magical energy into the item than smaller ones, cutting down creation times and allowing crafters to create more powerful items. Typical furnaces can be created to a crafter’s specification using the following schedule:

The furnace must be tended during the weeks that magical items are forged. The caster places the item to be enchanted into the Enchanter’s Furnace, together with a special ingredient determined by the DM. They must continue to add pure molten gold to the process in a value equal to the price of the item. Larger forges allow gold to be burned and the magic imbued at a faster rate. The caster can have an apprentice mind the furnace for 1 day in 7, but any more than that will end with the item ruined. At the end of each week, the creator must make an Arcana Check (scholars) or Religion Check (zealots) for the week's work to count. If the creator fails the checks 3 weeks in a row, the creation process is ruined. Once the appropriate amount of gold is burned, the item is complete and ready for use.