Magic Item Creation

In Theeurth, each magic item has a history, and if not unique, is at least uncommon and worthy of special consideration.  Thus, the formula to create each item is different, and laced with some mystery.

The Rarity of Magic Items
No magic items are common in Theeurth, and most small villages will have few if any. Magic potions and scrolls are the least rare items, available at most towns and country fairs.  Next in rarity are magic wands and arms or armor which contain minor enchantments.  All other magical items are rare and are objects of wonder in all but the largest cities.

The Elements of Magic Item Creation
Creation of every magic item requires the following elements:

• the appropriate feat. 
• a known or researched recipe or set of instructions
• unusual or expensive materials
• an appropriate skill and skill check

The Feats
In Theeurth, there are only five item creation feats: Scribe Scroll, Brew Potion, Craft Wand, Forge Magic Arms and Armor, and Craft (Theme) Item.  Each is addressed individually below.

Scribe Scroll - This feat works identically to the feat of the same name found in the Core Rules. However, a Spellcraft skill check is required.

Brew Potion - This feat works identically to the feat of the same name found in the Core Rules. However, an Alchemy skill check is required.

Craft Wand - This feat works identically to the feat of the same name found in the Core Rules. However, a Spellcraft skill check is required.  

Despite the name, the items crafted with this feat need not be wands, but may be any sort of spell-completion item appropriate to the culture (orbs or rune-stones, for instance).  

Forge Magic Arms and Armor - Similar to the Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat found in the Core Rules, except that the special abilities are limited to the following:

• Enhancement Bonuses
• Bashing
• Defending
• Fortification 
• Invulnerability
• Keen
• Mighty Cleaving
• Any other ability which the DM deems to be more like armor or weaponry and less like another theme.

Other abilities may be added to arms and armor only by those with both this feat and an appropriate Craft (theme) Item feat.  As with the Core rules, the creator’s caster level must be at least three times the enhancement bonus of the weapon or armor, and magic weapons or armor must have at least a +1 enhancement bonus to have any special abilities.

In addition, forging magic arms and armor requires a Craft (Magic Arms and Armor) skill check.

Craft (Theme) Item - This feat replaces the Forge Ring, Craft Staff, Craft Rod and Craft Wondrous Item feats of the Core rules.  It requires as prerequisites that the character be at least an 8th level spellcaster and possess at least one other Item Creation Feat.  

When the character takes this feat, he chooses a theme, such as Fire, clockworks, or travel, which will be the theme of his magic items.  This theme can be almost anything, subject to the approval of the GM.  

With the appropriate formulae, materials, time and skill, the character with this feat can create almost any type of item within the theme that he has chosen.  Thus, a character with the Fire theme could theoretically create a Staff of Fire or an Amulet of Fire Protection, but without another themed feat, could not create a Staff of Earth Mastery. 

Research and Formulae
Merely having the feat and skill is not enough.  In order to create any magic item, the creator must use a precise mixture of arcane materials and follow an exacting ritual.  For scrolls, potions and wands, these formulae are relatively simple, and anyone with the subject spell and appropriate feat knows the material and rituals.  However, for permanent items, the formulae are rarer and more complex.

In order to make any item (other than a simple +1 weapon or armor) with either the Forge Magic Arms and Armor or Craft (Theme) Item feats, the creator must either locate the appropriate formula (perhaps finding a teacher, or discovering the notebook of a long-lost wizard) or must create the formula themselves through research.  Research is definitely the harder route, and some have sought in vain for a desired formula all their lives.

To research the formula for magic item creation, the researcher need access to a well-stocked library, typically in a large city or metropolis.  Research requires a minimum expenditure of 1,000 Traders per month.  The length of research required is up to the GM, and varies by the complexity and rarity of the item being researched.  Some factors which will influence the chance for success are the amount of time and money invested, the quality of the research materials available, and the skill of any assistants used.

Success in research is rarely straightforward, and may involve several preliminary failures, or may reveal only that the desired secret lies in some moldy, forgotten tomb or jealously-guarded brotherhood. 

Magical Materials
Magic is an Art, not a Science.  It is an attempt to capture the indefinable.  However, one ancient rule of magic is well known - that ordinary matter is incapable of holding the essence of magic.  For that, it is necessary for the creator to avail himself of rare and wondrous materials, each different.  A Ring of Feather Falling, for instance, may require the tail feathers of the white tern, which only roost on the most inaccessible cliffs of the north.  The creation of a Staff of the Waves may demand shell inlays cut from the shell of the Moonbeam nautilus, which comes from the warm (and shark-infested) waters of the distant south.  Regardless of the actual materials, they are never mundane, and rarely for sale.

The Skills
The creation of every magic item involves a skill check.  If successful, the item is completed.  If not, the item is ruined and the time, money and materials wasted.  On a roll of a "1", the item may be flawed or cursed in some way.  If a second roll would be a failure, then the item is flawed or cursed.  For this reason, the DM rolls the skill check in secret.  

The appropriate skill for brewing potions is Alchemy.  For scribing scrolls and crafting wands, it is Spellcraft.  For forging magic weapons and armor, it is Craft (Magic Arms and Armor).  For any themed feat, it is Craft (Theme), where that theme is appropriate to the item (i.e., Craft (Sonic Item) for a Horn of Blasting).

The DC for potions, scrolls and wands is 10+(2 x level of the spell) (i.e., scribing a 5th level scroll carries a DC of 20). The DC for arms and armor is 15+(5 per +1 bonus).  

The DC of themed items is set by the DM to reflect the general power and complexity of the item.  For example, if a wizard with the Craft (Clockwork) Item feat found the formulae for both a small messenger bird and a big semi-autonomous guardian, he could in theory build either, but the DC for the former might be a 15, while for the latter it might be a 35.

In each case, clerics and specialist wizards have a +2 inherent bonus to the skill roll for a scroll, potion or wand that uses a spell within the caster's specialty or domain.  Likewise, they have a similar bonus to the creation of themed items if the is identical to their specialty or domain. 

Example

Vedregar desires to create a Flying Carpet.   He petitions the Wind Wizards of the Skane March for admittance, and after a year of hard adventuring, is accepted into their arcane brotherhood.   From them, he learns both the theory and practice of crafting magical items which harness the power of the air (he gains the Craft (Air) Item feat and 12 ranks of the Craft (Air) Item skill).

Yet the Wind Wizards do not use carpets - they have no interest in allowing others to fly with them.  So Vedregar will have to research the formula for the item he desires.  He moves to Tirgonia, where he joins the Arcaneum and sets up a laboratory to begin his research.  In order to improve his chances, he hires a master weaver and an apprentice.  He also spends an extra 200 Traders a month to buy new research materials and to correspond with distant sages.  After six months, he has a breakthrough - a formula for just the sort of item he desires was known to be in possession of Zargen the Blackhearted, who died over 60 years ago in Rhavais.  Vedregar travels to Rhavais and bargains with the loremaster who has taken up possession of Zargen's tower.

With the formula at last in hand, Vedregar returns home and impatiently gathers the necessary materials.  Months later, he has spent a further 10,000 Traders on materials.  When all is in readiness, he begins the weaving of his miraculous carpet, using only the finest silks, and weaving into it the tail feathers of a griffon. The DM secretly decides that the item is moderately powerful and sets a DC of 26.  Vedregar has +12 for his ranks in Craft (Air) Item, +3 for his Intelligence modifier, +2 for the master weaver, for a total of +17.  Vedregar will have to roll a "9" or better to succeed...