Master smith Gaber bustled around his shop, tidying this, straightening that. Today, Sir Berowhin was due back, and not one day too soon. The blade commissioned months ago had been completed that very morning. A loud rap at the door summoned his attention. “Hu, Petre, get the door!” The two apprentices jumped from polishing the tools to do their master’s bidding.
The door was opened and a quick, whispered conversation followed. Hu turned and said, “Master Gaber, Sir Berowhin is here.”
Gaber carried the cloth-wrapped bundle himself, with Hu and Petre flanking him. One of Sir Berowhin’s men was helping him down from a massive black destrier. A score of others, including a few other, less savory looking men, awaited on horseback. Gaber approached where the knight stood and knelt, holding up the bundle.
Sir Berowhin accepted the bundle and drew forth its contents. When the blade was held up to the sun it nearly glowed. The blade had taken three pounds of the best steel and a third as much of mithral. No one could match the alloy for sharpness and strength. The sword had been forged with over a hundred folds and sharpening it had worn out three grinding wheels bought just for its forging.
“I thought you said it would be serrated, master smith,” said Sir Berowhin.
“It is, it is, here, look through the glass,” replied Gaber.
The glass would reveal hundreds of tiny teeth carved into the metal. Not even adamantine would hold teeth that small. Finally, Sir Berowhin nodded.
“Very well, master smith, you have earned your money.”
One of the difficulties facing a DM attempting to run a low/non-magical campaign is that CR values presume the availability of magical equipment. If that equipment is not available, the PCs are unlikely to be up to the challenges you set forth without significantly recalculating monster and trap CRs. Unfortunately, there are no easy-to-follow guidelines for this sort of recalculation.
Instead of a messy CR overhaul, a DM can make the improved equipment available. However, this harms the feel of a campaign that’s supposed to have little or no magic. Instead, why not adapt the existing mechanic for masterwork items? This article expands the crafting rules to cover the bonuses normally requiring magical enhancement. Such enhanced items are referred to as “items of quality” instead of magical items.
Whether it’s due to unusual alloys, painstaking workmanship or a combination of both, weapons of quality offer bonuses far in excess of masterwork items. Weapons and armor of quality must also include the base and masterwork components. Added to these is the quality component. This component works similarly to the masterwork component. Weapons gain an enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls. Armor gains an enhancement bonus to AC. Note that, as with enchantments, weapon bonuses do no stack with the masterwork bonus. Raw materials cost half the base value. Follow the rules in the SRD or Player’s Handbook for crafting times. Use the charts below to find the raw material cost for a given enhancement. The level of enhancement must be chosen before the roll is made and cannot be changed or upgraded.
This system is designed to replace the existing D20 rules for crafting magical weapons and armor. Unlike the normal creation of magical weapons and armor, creating a weapon of quality does not incur an XP expenditure. Any cost for special materials are added to the total cost of the item of quality.
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Weapons
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Armor
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|
| Bonus |
Raw Materials Cost (gp) |
Craft DC |
Bonus |
Raw Materials Cost (gp) |
Craft DC |
| Masterwork |
150 |
20 |
Masterwork |
75 |
20 |
| +1 |
1,150 |
25 |
+1 |
575 |
25 |
| +2 |
4,150 |
30 |
+2 |
2,075 |
30 |
| +3 |
10,150 |
35 |
+3 |
4,575 |
35 |
| +4 |
20,150 |
40 |
+4 |
8,075 |
40 |
| +5 |
35,150 |
45 |
+5 |
12,575 |
45 |
Example 1
+3 Quality Longsword
Raw materials come to 10157.5 gp (10150gp for the +3 quality, 7.5gp for the longsword), DC 35 Craft (weaponsmith) check..
Item (medium sized): +3 longsword, 1d8+3, 19-20/x2, 4lbs
Example 2
+2 Quality Mithral Shirt.
Raw materials come to 3175gp (2075 for the +2 quality, 1100 for the mithral shirt), DC 30 Craft (armorsmith) check.
Item (medium sized): +2 mithral chain shirt, light armor, AC +6, Base speed 30ft, spell failure 10%, Max Dex +6, AC penalty 0, 10lbs.
