The new Dungeon Master’s Guide, due out in mid-November, will change how players craft magic items in Dungeons and Dragons. Wizards of the Coast spilled at least a moderate amount of beans about it, in an October 8 livestream on the magic items chapter of the updated book.
Traditionally, DnD magic items have usually been rewards dished out by the DM, not something that players make for themselves. As a result, crafting arcane artifacts was rather haphazardly discussed in the original version of the DMG. Each rarity of item had an associated gold cost required to craft it, but that was about it. Later DnD books, specifically Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, added time to this rudimentary system.
Just as regular crafting got a much-needed update in the Players’s Handbook, so magic item crafting has been added to in the Dungeon Master’s Guide.
“It’s pretty straightforward,” according to game designer James Wyatt. “It works the same as the crafting of regular items that’s in the player’s handbook. You use your tool proficiencies, and arcana proficiency and the spells you know to help you make the items you want.”
To craft magic items under the 2024 version of the rules, you need to have the Arcana skill. And you need the appropriate tool and tool proficiency for the specific kind of item you’re trying to craft.
Also, designer Chris Perkins explains, “If a magic item allows you to craft a spell through the item, like a Wand of Magic Missile, you also need the magic item’s spell.”
And like before, you need plenty of gold and free time. Gold represents the materials used for crafting, and it’s down to the DM’s discretion if and where they are available.
Whereas previous books represented crafting time in working weeks, it’s now clear that having more helpers reduces crafting time significantly. This is one way the system ties in nicely with the new DnD Bastions, home bases which – funnily enough – also have lots of specialist rooms for crafting in.
Though it works pretty much exactly like the regular DnD tools and item crafting rules, there’s a good reason this section is found in the DM-facing book instead of the PHB. “This is unlocked by the Dungeon Master,” Perkins says. “The Dungeon Master determines whether or not the materials are available, whether or not the characters can build these items.”
One limitation to crafting is that you can’t make Artifacts, the most powerful and unique level of magic item. The designers joke that the player’s shouldn’t feel like Sauron; in most DnD games, that role should be filled by the DM.
The new DMG has tracking sheets for everything, and here is no exception, with a handy checklist to track how many magic items you’ve handed out to each player. We’re also excited to see the new tables that’ll help you make unique magic items of your own with weird combinations of interesting properties.
The new Dungeon Master’s Guide is on the way, releasing in November 12, 2024. Check out our DnD release schedule to see what else is coming up, and you might also enjoy our comprehensive guides to DnD classes and DnD races.
Source: Wargamer
