Creating Magical Items Sooner or later, players in high-level campaigns start thinking about how their characters can manufacture their own enchanted items. The sheer difficulty involved in item creation should be sufficient to deter characters driven by simple greed, especially if the DM follows the advice on controlling magic in Chapter 1. In a well-run campaign, creating magical items not only consumes more resources than it generates, it keeps the characters busy trying to find what they need to complete the process.

Characters with a true interest in creating magical items shouldn’t find the effort too costly; some things are more important than money or power. They may be driven by a thirst for fame or a desire to create magical items they have never found in a treasure hoard. They might even be required to create a magical item to achieve a particular goal, which creates a variety of adventuring possibilities as the character struggles to gather the required material components in time to complete his goal.

This section presents a system that allows the DM to quickly determine how long creating a magical item takes, how much it costs, and how likely the attempt is to fail. This system is more detailed and complex than the one detailed in the Dungeon Master Guide, and it is intended for high-level campaigns in which several player characters wish to create standard magical items.

This material is generally compatible with the rules for creating magical items presented in the Book of Artifacts; this system is a little simpler but doesn’t give the DM as much control over how difficult items are to make. If your players are content to create only a few standard items, this book’s system should work better for you.

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