Publication:Unearthed Arcana/Craft Points

Craft Points
Summary::This variant is designed specifically for campaigns that don't offer a lot of "downtime" to the PCs. It unifies the rules for crafting items and creating magic items, while also replicating a character's ability to come up with just the thing he needs for a specific task in the nick of time. It glosses over the realities of such work-tool kits, alchemical reagents, laboratories, long hours of toil, and the like-to keep the game moving along at an exciting pace. After all, fighting giants, demons, and dragons is generally a lot more fun than waiting for the wizard to finish crafting a new ring of protection.

To craft an item without spending the normal labor time, a character with the appropriate item creation feat (such as Craft Masterwork Armor, Brew Potion, or Craft Staff; see below) can pay one-tenth the item's market price in craft points (minimum 1 point). He must also pay material costs equal to one-half the item's market price (this replaces the normal material cost for crafting an item). For a magic item, the character must also pay the normal experience point cost for crafting the item. Once the character declares that he is spending these craft points and gold pieces (and experience points, for a magic item), the item is automatically completed one day later (typically the next morning).

Though this makes it appear as if the item was created "instantly," the assumption is that the character has actually been working on it for a while, but only now got around to finishing it. For instance, a wizard might have been tinkering with a fighter's sword for some time, but only now has finished improving on the enhancement bonus. The system simply assumes that characters are always working on various projects in their spare time, whether between forays into the dungeon, while on the road, or even when gathered around the campfire after battling goblins. Thus, when the time comes, they simply spend the requisite gold and craft points, and the item is "finished" one day later.

To spend craft points towards the creation of an alchemical, masterwork, or magic item, you must have the requisite Craft feat (such as Craft Masterwork Armor for creating a masterwork chain shirt) or assist someone who does (see Assisting, below). Crafting nonmasterwork armor and weapons or simple items- tools, chests, saddles, and the like- doesn't require a Craft feat. Anyone who helps with the creation of such an item can contribute craft points at the normal rate.

For nonmagical items, you must make a succesful Craft check to complete the item. For a masterwork item, use the DC of the item or of the masterwork component, whichever is higher. A failed check means you waste one-half of the gold pieces and craft points required for the item, but you may try again as soon as the next day if you still have enough gold pieces and craft points to complete the item. Magic items require no skill checks to complete.

You can reduce the amount of craft points required by increasing the amount of time you spend working on the item. For nonmagical items, reduce the craft point cost by 1 point for every 100 sp of work you contribute to the item's creation(see the Craft skill). For magic items, each 8-hour day spent working on the item reduces the craft point cost by 100.

Example One: A masterwork suit of full plate armor has a market price of 1650 gp. A character with the Craft Armor feat could pay one-third of this price and make daily or weekly Craft (armorsmith) checks to slowly complete the suit of armor, or he could pay one-half of this price and spend 165 craft points to complete it one day later with a succesful DC 20 Craft check. (A failed check at this point would cost him 412 gp and 82 craft points.) Alternatively, he could spend some days or weeks working on the item (making regular Craft checks), then finish it quickly by spending craft poins equal to 165 minus 1 per 100 sp of work he has already completed.

Example Two: A +2 longsword has a market price of 8,000 gp (not including the material cost of the masterwork longsword itself). Assuming you had the Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat (and didn't have to make the masterwork longsword from scratch), you could either spend 8 days of time to craft the item, or you could spend 800 craft points to finish it "instantly." (In either case, you have to spend 4,000 gp in addition to the time or craft points.) If you wanted, you could save 200 craft points by spending two 8-hour days working on the item.

Assisting
In addition to the primary crafter- who must have the appropriate Craft feat- up to three assistants can contribute craft points to the creation of the item.

Assistants who have the appropriate Craft feat contribute craft points at full normal value. For untrined assistants (those who don't have the appropriate Craft feat), each craft point contributed counts as 1/2 point of assistance.

The primary creator must contribute at least half of the craft points required to create an item.

It doesn't matter who contributes the gold piece cost that goes towards creating the item. Only the primary creator can contribute experience points towards the creation of a magic item.

For example, a fighter has 1,000 gp and a masterwork sword, and wants to help the wizard imbue the sword with a +1 enhancement bonus (turning it into a +1 longsword). This task would normally cost 200 craft points. The wizard must supply at least half of this, or 100. The fighter doesn't have Craft Magic Arms and Armor, so he must spend twice as many craft points to achieve the same contribution. Assuming he's the only assistant, he could contribute up to half the effort required to achieve the goal (100 craft points). Since heis craft points only count for half value, he has to spend 200 craft points to contribute 100 points worth of value. When those 200 points are added to the wizard's contribution, the gold spent on materials, and the masterwork longsword, the process is complete.

If the rogue (also untrained) assisted the wizard as well, the two assistants combined could still contribute no more than the equivalent of 100 craft points (half the toal craft point cost). However, each would have to spend only 100 craft points (50 points of value each) to achieve this goal.

Gaining Craft Points
A 1st-level character has 100 craft points. With each class level gained, he gains a number of craft points ewual to his new level x 100. A 2nd-level character can have as many as 300 craft points, and so forth, all the way up to a 20th-level character, who would have a total of 21,000 craft points (assuming he never spent any).

Creatures with Intelligence of 3 or higher have craft points as a character whose level equals their class levels + Hit Dice. A creature with 8HD, for instance, has the craftof an 8th-level character. If that creature gained a class level, it would gain an additional 900 craft points. Of course, not all creatures can use their craft points- despite being at least reasonably intelligent, a griffon or pegasus is unlikely to be in a position to craft an item or assist another character in crafting an item. The DM must use his best judgement when determining whether a creature can use its craft points.

Creatures with Intelligence of 2 or lower (or without an Intelligence score) never gain craft points.

Familiars or special mounts never gain craft points, regardless of their Intelligence or Hit Dice.

Item Creation Feats
Each time you gain an item creation feat, you gain additional craft points as noted on Table 3-7: Item Creation Feats. You don't have to spend these craft points on items appropriate to the feat- you can spend them on any item. For example, Craft Masterwork Weapon grants a bonus of 100 craft points, which you can use to craft weapons, armor, potions, or any other item.

In addition to the item creation feats found in the d20 system, this variant includes a number of feats dedicated to the creation of nonmagic items. Table 3-7 gives appropriate new prerequisites for all item creation feats, including those in the d20 system.

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