The Nice Magic Merchandise Evaluation: Learn how to Describe an Merchandise

It’s been a very long time since I talked about this entire “making magic objects” factor I’m calling AngryCraft, huh? F$&%, it’s been a very long time since I promised this very article would come out. However right here it’s. In the end. Half no matter out of half nonetheless the f$&% many elements I must get this finished. And that’s all I’ve received to say as a lead-in. No Lengthy, Rambling Introduction™ at the moment. I’m simply going to do a recap – extra for my profit than yours – after which get to work.

The AngryCraft Story So Far

Final time, I put the entire magic objects within the Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Grasp’s Information right into a big-a$& spreadsheet. Keep in mind that? I don’t suppose I truly shared the spreadsheet itself, although. Right here it’s. Do what you’ll with it.

DMG Magic Merchandise Checklist (Authentic)

I did that so I might determine how you can correctly worth the supplies that AngryCraft craftspeople would collect and use to make magic objects. Which I then did. First, I discovered what number of models of fabric it could take to make a given merchandise primarily based on its utilization and energy stage. Then I made a decision on a mean price of particular person models of fabric of every rarity. After which I did some mathe-magic to find out the price of the supplies that may go into every merchandise. After that, I used the magic merchandise costs within the core guidelines as the premise for some extra mathe-magic to assign a ‘labor price’ to every merchandise which might decide how a lot PCs must pay NPCs to get them to show obtainable supplies into magic objects. After which I added these numbers up to determine the precise price of every magic merchandise.

And that is what I got here up with.

DMG Magic Merchandise Checklist (With Costs)

I can’t stress sufficient that these costs are tentative averages. And I say that I can’t stress that sufficient as a result of it looks as if I all the time find yourself with individuals asking me about the identical silly s$&% regardless of what number of instances I stress it. Within the remaining model of the system, wooden supplies may be value lower than the typical price and mineral supplies may be value extra. I don’t know the way it will look when it’s finished. I’m not there but. These are simply baselines. Take into account that careworn. Once more. And cease stressing me out with this s$&%.

Take into account us now absolutely recapped. In the event you want extra details about how I figured this s$&% out, return and skim the tens of 1000’s of phrases I’ve already written explaining all of it. Please. As a result of I’m getting sick of explaining the identical issues again and again and answering the identical questions. I swear to f$%&ing Zeus that if have to clarify another time why I can’t use the Sane Magic Merchandise Costs checklist or why faculties of magic aren’t helpful, intuitive descriptors for supplies, I’m going to interrupt out my bespoke Tesla coil and begin capturing bolts of lightning randomly into the gang till the voices go quiet.

What’s in a Recipe

Recall that the explanation I did all of the work I described above is that I need to develop a helpful, intuitive, and – most significantly – systematic checklist of supplies for GMs handy out of their video games. Supplies that gamers can use to craft any merchandise – magical or mundane – that exists within the core sport. And likewise recall that supplies come in numerous varieties – wooden, mineral, herb, fluid, essence, and so on. – they usually come in numerous rarities – widespread, unusual, uncommon, very uncommon, and legendary – and a few of them have particular magical qualities. They’re attuned to sure forms of magic like fireplace or ice or therapeutic or teleportation or no matter.

To make a magic merchandise, a PC merely has to expend the proper amount of the proper forms of the proper supplies with the proper qualities. I’m calling the necessities a components. And I don’t suppose I’ve truly been clear about what a components would possibly appear like. So let me present a TOTALLY HYPOTHETICAL EXAMPLE of what a components MIGHT LOOK LIKE after I’m finished with all of this. An instance I’m TOTALLY PULLING OUT OF MY A$&. And I’ve to emphasise all of that s$&% as a result of every time I say, “so, for instance, that is what the completed product would possibly appear like,” I get a bunch of dumba$&es nitpicking the main points of the instance.

Let me be clear: the next is a complete a$&pull meant to supply an instance of what an AngryCraft magic merchandise components would possibly appear like when the system is completed. It isn’t an precise piece of design.

Frost Model Greatsword

• eight Very Uncommon Supplies (6 Very Uncommon Metals)
• four Chilly Supplies
• Can not Use: Frequent, Unusual, Wooden, Plant, Bone, Disguise, Hearth

The PC can use any variety of any form of supplies so long as the mixed pile of supplies satisfies all of the situations established within the components. To make the frostbrand greatsword, the craftsman should have a minimal of eight models of very uncommon supplies and at the very least 6 of these supplies should be very uncommon metals. Can they use eight metals? Positive. Can they use 10 whole supplies? Positive. So long as there’s at the very least eight very uncommon supplies and at the very least 6 of these very uncommon supplies are metals, they’re good.

The craftsman additionally wants to produce four supplies with the chilly high quality. Can these chilly high quality supplies be a part of the pile of eight very uncommon supplies? Positive. Can they arrive from the 6 very uncommon metals? Positive. Are you able to add four very uncommon chilly minerals to the 6 very uncommon metals? Positive.

After all, there’s additionally restrictions. Highly effective magic objects may be spoiled by widespread elements. And natural materials is unlikely to outlive the method of forging a sword. You possibly can infuse a sword with powdered minerals and quench it in fluid, however when you add some leaves to the combination, they’re simply going to deplete. And the leather-based or wood grips are too small a element to have an effect on the merchandise’s magic by hook or by crook. And including fireplace magic to an ice sword would in all probability f$&% issues up.

So, that’s a components.

Now, because of the work I’ve finished, I’ve already discovered the whole variety of supplies required to craft any merchandise within the DMG. And I do know the required rarities. The following step is to determine the magical traits. The qualities.

Solid a Huge Web, Then Draw It Tight

I maintain saying that I need this entire AngryCraft factor to make some form of sense. I need gamers and GMs to really feel like that there’s some form of underlying logic to all of it and to really feel like that logic is someway linked to how magic truly works on the earth. The components I shared above is an instance of what I imply. It makes logical sense. Why is that vital? As a result of it means the gamers don’t should memorize all the things or reference all the things. They’ll have a conceptual understanding that helps information their choices.

Think about {that a} high-level get together clears out an adamantium mine within the coronary heart of a glacier. It was overrun by ice devils who had been forging weapons to arm the infernal legions preventing the Blood Battle. On the finish of the journey, the get together has a bunch of very uncommon metallic and a bunch of cold-infused satan blood and possibly some ice diamonds or frost sapphires or no matter. And now the get together has to look over that pile of supplies and resolve what to do with it.

As a result of the system is smart, the PCs don’t should look over all the magic merchandise checklist and study each components. The logic of the system helps them provide you with a shortlist of issues they will in all probability make. They’ve numerous metallic, to allow them to in all probability make weapons and armor. And so they have numerous cold-infused supplies, to allow them to in all probability make issues that deal chilly injury. Simply by the title alone, a frost model weapon is a fairly possible candidate.

I’ve already mentioned I don’t need too many alternative magical qualities within the sport. The gamers and the GM ought to be capable to bear in mind many of the checklist with out having to look it up. And once they come throughout one thing with a specific high quality, it must be simple to recollect what that high quality is and what it does, even when they’d forgotten that high quality existed till they discovered a fabric with it. If there are 50 completely different attainable magical qualities they usually embody effervescent and scintillating and discombobulating, nobody will ever know what they will make from something.

Finally, I refuse to have greater than 20 qualities. I personally suppose even that’s too many, however I don’t have a selection. I would like 10 qualities simply to cowl the injury varieties within the sport and one to cowl therapeutic. Which means I’ve so as to add simply 9 extra qualities which might be adequate to intuitively describe each magic merchandise that exists within the sport.

There’s two fundamental methods to sort out this downside. First, there’s what I name the Dumba$& Silly Methodology. That methodology entails simply arising with an inventory of 20 magical-sounding phrases primarily based on no matter magical results and key phrases I can bear in mind from the sport after which slapping these descriptors haphazardly onto the entire completely different magical objects and utilizing no matter arbitrary moon logic I must make all the things match.

You possibly can in all probability guess primarily based on my title for that methodology and the overall tone of my description that it’s not the tactic I plan to make use of.

The second manner, The Completely Proper Means, is to run by means of all the magic merchandise checklist and assign every merchandise a number of intuitive descriptors impressed by what the merchandise does, the way it does it, what it appears to be like like, and the way it’s named. Clearly, if there’s an current sport time period that works, I’ll use that. As soon as I’ve assigned intuitive descriptors to each merchandise, I’ll make an inventory of all of the descriptors I assigned and see what number of there are after which attempt to pare it down to simply 20.

To place this in pretentious design communicate, as a result of I’m working from an inventory of current objects and magical results, I’ve to be descriptive somewhat than prescriptive. That’s the easiest way to finish up with one thing remotely intuitive.

That mentioned – and it kills me that I’ve to clarify s$&% like this – that mentioned, I do know everybody’s instinct is completely different. I don’t should be reminded of that, thanks. My intuitive descriptions might not match yours. Or anybody else’s. You would possibly disagree with my descriptors and there’s nothing I can do about that.

What I can do, although, is to ensure there’s a constant, logical sample that underlies my instinct. That may appear to be a loopy factor to count on given most individuals suppose instinct is the other of cause. However instinct truly arises from an unconscious recognition of patterns. And patterns are what consistency is all about. I’ve to watch out, subsequently, to not overthink issues. I’ve to go together with my intestine. Which is one thing numerous avid gamers completely f$&%ing hate doing. As a result of most avid gamers overvalue logic and cause and undervalue all the remainder of the methods their mind can do.

I may do my finest to attract on established sport ideas every time attainable. Like utilizing these injury varieties. They’re fairly sturdy descriptors. They arrive up lots within the guidelines they usually make good, logical sense. In truth, as a result of a lot of D&D magic entails dealing injury, you may in all probability describe 50% of the magical results within the sport with simply these ten phrases. Plus therapeutic.

Doing these issues will assist make up for the truth that intuitive understanding isn’t common. So, whereas there’s the possibility that any given participant will initially suppose my understanding of extraplanar magic is bizarre or unintuitive, if my understanding is utilized persistently and whether it is in step with all the things that already exists within the sport, the participant will be capable to reframe their understanding rapidly sufficient. Instinct received’t all the time aid you be taught one thing new, however it does facilitate fast studying and plenty of ‘a-ha moments’ the place patterns and connections all of a sudden change into clear.

With all of that very clearly mentioned, it’s time to explain some magic objects.

Describe All of the Gadgets!

And finished.

Critically.

Take a look.

DMG Magic Merchandise Checklist (With Preliminary Descriptors)

Right here’s the factor: it’s actually arduous to clarify how I did this. Initially, I used to be going to report myself going by means of each merchandise on the checklist and assigning descriptors. However you understand what? It was boring as f$&%. As a result of I simply type of did it. I checked out every merchandise, learn its description, and assigned a number of fantasy descriptors that felt proper. That’s all.

Properly, that’s not QUITE all.

All proper. Let me attempt to clarify with out having to run by means of each one of many 800 objects. First, let me seize a screenshot so we have now some context and so that you don’t should hunt by means of that whole crappy spreadsheet. This one will work:

Discover that I added three columns to the checklist. The second new column, Vitality, is the place I put any injury sort related to the merchandise. I do know they’re going to finish up within the remaining checklist of qualities, so I stored them separate. The primary new column is the place I put the varsity of magic that I felt finest suited the merchandise. I do know I mentioned I wasn’t going to make use of the colleges of magic as descriptors, however the fact is a few of these faculties truly do present helpful descriptions of magical results. The issue is that they’re not all created equal.

Transmutation, for instance, is an effective, helpful faculty. It’s all of the magic that transforms. And the conjuration faculty nearly all the time entails stuff teleporting or shifting between completely different planes of existence. These are good faculties. However then you’ve abjuration. It looks as if it’s received a great, helpful definition. It’s magic that wards or protects, proper? However once you truly take into consideration how the magic works on the earth – what the magic truly does – it rapidly turns into a large number. You’ve received protecting spells like mage armor and protect that challenge magical fields of drive. However you’ve additionally received spells like sanctuary that create some type of psychological aversion to attacking the goal as evidenced by the Knowledge save and the truth that it doesn’t hedge out space results or environmental hazards. And then you definitely’ve received spells like move with out hint that alter sensory info like an phantasm whereas additionally someway remodeling the world to wipe away indicators of passage after the topic has moved on. You possibly can argue that the drive fields may very well be evocation, the aversions may very well be enchantment, and the concealment spells may very well be phantasm or transmutation primarily based on what they really do.

I as soon as complained that there’s two completely different sorts of courses within the sport they usually look bizarre being in the identical sport when you suppose too arduous. Warlocks and fighters don’t belong in the identical sport collectively. Properly, it’s the identical with the colleges of magic. A few of them are primarily based on the fluffy, flavorful manner the magic works on the earth. Others are primarily based on the mechanical results of that magic. Solely spells that truly rework one thing within the sport world rely as transmutation, however any spell that gives safety mechanically counts as abjuration no matter the way it works.

That mentioned, a number of the faculties ARE helpful descriptors. And I do must acknowledge the existence of faculties in my checklist of qualities. Nevertheless weakly, they ARE part of the D&D world. And there are magic objects which might be mainly simply spell batteries. Gadgets like scrolls and wands. And the system wants a fast method to pair up spell results with supplies. So, I assigned each magic merchandise to a particular faculty of magic primarily based on my understanding of the colleges and my studying of how the merchandise labored. It was fairly hamfisted in some instances – this isn’t just like the previous days the place magical results, magical objects, and faculties of magic all align coherently – however that’s okay as a result of I knew it could solely be helpful when it was helpful and I’d ignore the varsity in all different instances.

The third new column was the enjoyable one. That’s the one the place I put in all types of made-up descriptors primarily based on my studying of the merchandise and my subjective feeling about how the magic labored. You’ll discover that numerous phrases from the D&D lexicon are in there. There’s references to means scores, creature varieties, completely different planes of existence, the non-fire airtight parts, and so forth. And there’s additionally a number of different odd little bits of lore from fantasy literature or that incorporate widespread fantasy tropes.

Enjoyable because it was to provide you with this s$&%, there’s not likely lots to say concerning the course of itself. That’s why I nixed the video thought. However a number of attention-grabbing patterns did emerge and people are value mentioning. In any case, this entire course of was about permitting an underlying, emergent logic to, you understand, emerge.

The phrase ‘inert’ pops up lots. And I prefer it. Initially, it was simply my phrase for something unyielding or motionless. But it surely regularly expanded. You’ll see how and why that occurred later. The phrase itself is a really obscure reference to a single throwaway line of textual content within the first chapter of one among my favourite humorous fantasy guide sequence, the Fable-Adventures of Aahz and Skeeve, by Robert Lynn Asprin. I extremely advocate checking it out and I extremely advocate stopping after Asprin handed away and different authors took over.

Anyway, inert ultimately grew to become a synonym for antimagic. Within the D&D universe, it is smart. Lead – probably the most inert metals I can think about – blocks detection spells. And in European mythology, iron repels evil spirits and can be utilized to bind or hurt magical creatures like fairies.

I even have to attract consideration to the truth that, although my major aim is to construct an intuitive system, I additionally need to construct a system knowledgeable by the sport’s fiction. One thing I want D&D cared extra about. Given the selection between a descriptor that matches the sport mechanics and a descriptor that matches the world’s fiction, I nearly all the time went for the latter. For instance, it could have been simple to categorise weapons just like the sword of sharpness and the vorpal sword as necrotic results as a result of, mechanically, they dismember and kill and immediate loss of life is just about the unique area of necromancy. However the truth is that each of these weapons work as a result of they’re supernaturally sharp. Sharper than any mundane sharp factor. They’ve been magically reworked from regular sharp swords to the sharpest of sharp swords ever. See what I imply?

What else ought to I make notice of? Oh, the ‘magic’ descriptor. Some magic objects received that one. It doesn’t imply they’re magical. The entire magic objects are, ipso facto, magical. However magic objects with the magic descriptor are objects that magically have an effect on magic itself. They alter the principles of magic. The pearl of energy is a superb instance. It permits a spellcaster to recuperate spell slots. Sure, I might have known as it metamagic and I in all probability will in the long run, however I hate that phrase.

Lastly, I assume I ought to point out the ‘chaos’ descriptor. That grew to become the descriptor for magic objects that may generate a number of completely different results which might be decided by random die roll or by pulling playing cards from a deck or beans from a bag or no matter. However, like each the inert and the magic descriptors, the chaos descriptor developed lots. You’ll see that in a minute.

So, anyway, I went by means of the entire checklist of magic objects and assigned descriptors primarily based on snap judgments and intestine emotions. That’s the purpose.

I Can Craft That Merchandise in Twenty Phrases

It would shock you to be taught that after I received finished assigning arbitrary, flavorful descriptors to each one of many 800 magic objects within the DMG, I had much more than 20 phrases. Particularly after I included the creature varieties, injury varieties, faculties of magic, and airtight parts.

The explanation I included creature varieties, by the best way, isn’t as a result of I plan to have supplies with the ‘ooze’ high quality, however as a result of I’m going to wish a straightforward method to pair up magical merchandise qualities with the entire beasts within the Monster Guide so I can inform GMs what crap could be harvested from what corpses. That’s lots simpler if there’s a easy algorithm like “golems and constructs all the time have some theurgic materials that serves as their magical coronary heart.”

Anyway, I ended up with an inventory of descriptors that seemed lots like this checklist. And that’s as a result of this can be a image of the precise checklist I ended up with.

Now, how the hell might I probably prune that checklist of descriptors down to simply 20 qualities with out shedding the power to explain each magic merchandise within the sport? Properly, it’s simple if you understand something about astrology or alchemy. Each of these – and they’re extremely interconnected, complementary programs, thoughts you – each of these historical sciences are primarily based on the thought of mystical correspondences. The concept is that there’s sure patterns of mystical forces that persist throughout all of the completely different ranges of actuality. Saturn is related to lead is related to fireplace is related to the spleen is related to the choleric humor is related to mustard and so forth.

I simply wanted to take all of the descriptors on my checklist and mix them into 20 completely different groupings. After which, I’d simply have to determine a great title for every grouping that captured the essence of all of the descriptors in that group.

It sounds simpler than it’s. However I did discover a method to streamline the method. I wrote each descriptor onto a separate index card, laid all of them out on a desk, after which I bodily rearranged them into completely different teams till I favored what I noticed. Biscuit helped. Till I made her get the hell off the desk and get out of my manner so I might truly get some work finished.

Right here’s some footage of the method.

As above, so proper right here: I don’t have something to say about this course of. Not something attention-grabbing anyway. I simply stored shuffling issues round till they seemed good. And none of these footage present the top consequence. I don’t know what occurred to that image. But it surely actually doesn’t matter. As a result of it resulted on this remaining checklist.

Besides that wasn’t the ultimate checklist both.

The Finish…?

That must be it, proper? All that’s left now could be simply to open the spreadsheet and use the search and change operate to exchange every of the handfuls of descriptors with their corresponding qualities.

If solely it had been that easy.

See, as you undergo a course of like this, your understanding of the underlying logic you’re making use of retains altering. And as you juggle ideas round and affiliate various things and begin to think about the the explanation why sure issues may be related, you begin to see new patterns and connections. As you’re employed, the system is evolving organically. And that actually helps it really feel like a constant, logical algorithm as a substitute of an arbitrary pile of sport phrases.

To benefit from that, I didn’t simply search-and-replace primarily based on the correspondences between the completely different descriptors and the 20 qualities I’d provide you with. As an alternative, I began with a brand new copy of the magic merchandise checklist and went by means of and assigned a number of of the 20 qualities on the ultimate checklist to every magic merchandise with contemporary eyes. And, as I did so, I ended up renaming a number of qualities and shifting a number of correspondences round in order that they’d work higher when utilized to the precise merchandise checklist. It’s like a suggestions loop.

As soon as once more, I used to be going to report the entire thing. And, as soon as once more, it turned out to be actually uninteresting busywork. However, that’s design. 1% inspiration, 99% operating by means of the identical f$&%ing spreadsheet seventeen instances regularly iterating. There have been a number of attention-grabbing moments although. And it’s simple sufficient for me to sum these up in a pair thousand phrases. So, let me provide the Cliff’s Notes model.

First, let me notice that this remaining move isn’t actually the ultimate move. It’s the preliminary remaining move. I’m going to finish up sweeping over all of this once more at the very least as soon as to show all of those little particulars into precise, remaining formulae. And I’ll possible return over the checklist at the very least as soon as earlier than that simply to see if all the things nonetheless is smart as soon as my mind has labored on different s$&% for every week or two. And I’ll in all probability make adjustments. And issues will get additional refined after I try this.

Second, let me deal with the f$&%ing ‘resistance downside.’ There’s a bunch of magical objects that grant resistance or immunity to particular sorts of injury. And there’s a number of other ways – relating to a system of magical correspondences – to deal with these objects. The essential factor I needed to resolve was whether or not a chain shirt of fireside resistance would require fireplace supplies as a result of it entails the manipulation of fireside or whether or not it could require chilly supplies as a result of chilly magic opposes fireplace magic. After all, I might cop out and simply say that every one objects that grant resistance contain the identical form of materials. One related to common safety in all its types. However no.

Now, most avid gamers – particularly these raised on video video games – would say that you must use chilly supplies to make flame retardant pants. And I might completely agree. IF I had been working with a system that already had an in-built system of magical oppositions. Video games like Ultimate Fantasy and Pokemon, for instance, have rock-paper-scissors-type elemental oppositions constructed proper into them. And understanding these oppositions is both a serious a part of the sport – as in Pokemon – or it at the very least grants a considerable benefit to gamers who be taught to capitalize on it – as in Ultimate Fantasy.

However D&D is haphazard and scattershot and has no such underlying logic already baked in. What, pray inform, is the other of poison injury? What’s the correct magical spell to make use of on an acidic ooze to deal additional injury? What sort of injury would you utilize to destroy a magical crystal that sends out waves of psychic injury?

With some work, you would provide you with an inventory of elemental oppositions. However there’d undoubtedly be a number of bizarre, arbitrary selections on that checklist. You’d hit a degree the place you’d should invoke some twisted-a$& logic to clarify simply how the motherloving f$&% poison is a logical antonym for drive. And no matter your moon logic, the actual cause can be, “these had been the final two parts you had left to match up.”

And even when you did provide you with a great, logical system, there’s nothing within the sport that may reinforce that system. It’d solely work for magic merchandise crafting. Simply since you determined that poison supplies are simply the factor to create a potion of drive resistance, that wouldn’t imply you would all of a sudden dissolve a wall of drive with Melvin’s non-copyright-infringing acid projectile. And it wouldn’t make oozes any extra inclined to magic missile.

As I mentioned earlier than, when you can’t take essentially the most intuitive strategy, you may at the very least take essentially the most constant strategy. So, fireplace resistance comes from fireplace supplies. Chilly resistance from chilly supplies. And so forth.

Initially, I had this concept to designate one high quality of fabric as a type of ‘inverter’ high quality. Mainly, when you mix that materials with some fireplace materials, you get anti-fire. That’s, you get fireplace resistance. It sounded good in idea, however it meant that the formulae for all of the objects that offered some form of injury resistance grew to become extra difficult. And I didn’t like that. I didn’t prefer it as a result of elemental resistance is a fairly minor, fairly specialised factor to start with. It didn’t should be additional arduous to slap collectively some potions of fireside resistance simply to raid the pink dragon’s tropical volcano resort dungeon one week. And I didn’t prefer it as a result of some magic objects that grant elemental resistances additionally grant a bunch of different magic results and people formulae would change into prohibitively complicated. I needed to err on the aspect of “one high quality, one impact” as a lot as I might.

Which brings me round to the three-quality restrict and what occurred to chaos supplies. And, by the best way, these will in all probability get renamed to wild magic supplies. Let me clarify that saga.

As a result of I needed to maintain the complexity of the person merchandise formulae beneath management, I didn’t need any components to require too many alternative sorts of supplies. So I resolve that no merchandise’s components might contain greater than three distinct qualities of supplies. There might be some in-universe clarification about magic fields interfering or some s$&% like that, however that’s simply the lore excuse for the mechanical rule. I hate doing it, however generally you need to invoke the Conservation of Time Speculation. And at the very least I’m TRYING to clarify magical legal guidelines in-world.

However generally, once you make a rule and clarify it in-world, you uncover one thing actually cool. That arbitrary restrict – not more than three magical qualities in a single components – created an issue. Some objects would completely want 4 or 5 or much more completely different qualities of fabric simply because they did so many alternative issues. Just like the f$&%ing devices of the bards. To maintain these formulae under the three-quality restrict, I’d should resolve which of the seventeen completely different f$&%ing spells the doss lute might puke out represented its major utilization and which spells had been simply ancillary. And that may be utterly arbitrary.

So I needed to suppose like a wizard on the earth. What would I do if I needed to create a magical merchandise that required 4 sorts of magic?

Properly, I already type of had my reply. As a result of these silly magic objects which have large, random tables of results required chaos supplies. Possibly chaos supplies had been helpful exactly as a result of chaos supplies contained an ever-shifting miasma of all of the completely different sorts of magic. They offered a loophole. They had been everymagic so they might circumvent the three-kinds-of-magic-per-item restrict. Utilizing them, an artificer might create an merchandise that required greater than three sorts of magic with out introducing instabilities within the thaumaturgic discipline that may result in a cascade resonance magical bulls$&% technobabble wand core breach.

And that led to the concept that possibly chaos supplies might additionally act as a type of wildcard materials. Possibly a craftsman might substitute one unit of chaos supplies for one unit of fabric with another high quality. If the craftsman didn’t have sufficient ice metallic for his frostbrand, he might use some chaos metallic. Chaos supplies thus ended up with this particular, additional use that may additionally make them dearer and precious than different supplies.

Now, I had one other, associated concept that I completely can’t use as a result of it could take an excessive amount of additional f$&%ing work. And I’m unhappy about that, however that’s the way it goes. Possibly chaos supplies are how cursed objects occur. That’s, the chance of utilizing wildcard supplies is that generally you get an merchandise that looks as if the one you tried to make, however it isn’t. It’s one thing else. The issue is, to implement that, I’d want cursed analogs for all of the objects within the sport. Or at the very least an inventory of curse results that may very well be utilized to cursed weapons, cursed armor, cursed potions, cursed scrolls, and so forth.

The vestiges of this concept do present up in my lists, although. The few cursed objects within the sport all require chaos supplies to craft. Not that you just’d need to make them. However cursed objects have gotten actually bizarre anyway because of the general pussification of D&D. I want the designers had the balls to simply excise the s$&% they don’t need from the sport. However I digress.

There’s a number of different issues that developed in comparable methods. For instance, theurgic – metamagic – supplies grew to become magical batteries. They’re required for any merchandise that has costs and might recharge itself periodically. Additionally they energy constructs, animates, and golems. However my thought course of is much less attention-grabbing than the definition it led to.

I also needs to in all probability point out that I made a decision that +1, +2, and +three magical weapons, armor, and ammunition don’t require any particular magical qualities in any respect. You simply want supplies of the correct rarity. If you wish to make a +2 longsword, you simply want some orichalcum or one thing.

With all of that mentioned and with the understanding that all the things is in a state of flux, right here’s my remaining move spreadsheet. The entire magic objects within the DMG, every with as much as three qualities, and every with prices assigned. That’s what I’ll be working off to create the formulae for all of the magic objects.

DMG Magic Merchandise Checklist (With Ultimate Qualities)

And at last, right here’s a fast checklist of the 20 materials qualities and a really transient, working definition of every. In parentheses, I’ve included alternate names I’m contemplating.

• Acidic. Related to acid injury, evocation spells that deal acid injury, conjuring acid, acid resistance, rusting, and corrosion.
• Chaotic (Wild Magic). Related to wild magic, randomness, unpredictability, and be used as an alternative choice to different qualities.
• Chilly. Related to chilly injury, evocation spells that deal chilly injury, conjuring ice, and chilly resistance.
• Dimensional (Planar, Extraplanar). Related to teleportation, portals, conjuration magic, summoning, bigger-on-the-inside areas, and pocket dimensions.
• Fiendish. Related to fiends, the decrease planes, evil results, and the warlock fiend pact.
• Fiery. Related to fireplace injury, evocation spells that deal fireplace injury, conjuring fireplace, fireplace resistance, the component of fireside, and fireplace elemental creatures.
• Forceful. Related to drive injury, evocation spells that deal drive injury, drive resistance, drive fields, many abjuration spells that ward or hedge, pushing or shoving, and the Power means.
• Inert (Antimagic). Related to magic resistance, antimagic, magic deflection, the component of earth, earth elemental creatures, and giants. Additionally related to resilience and immovability.
• Lightning. Related to lightning injury, evocation spells that deal lightning injury, and lightning resistance.
• Mercurial. Related to transmutation magic, shapeshifting, fluidity, the component of water, and the Dexterity means.
• Necrotic. Related to necromancy magic, necrotic injury, necrotic resistance, and animating or summoning undead creatures.
• Phantasmal (Fey, Glamered). Related to phantasm magic, senses, consciousness, notion, music, the fey, the Feywild, the Knowledge means, and the warlock archfey pact.
• Toxic. Related to poison injury, evocation spells that deal poison injury, poison resistance, conjuring poison, inflicting the poison situation, or defending from and neutralizing poison.
• Pyschic. Related to psychic injury, enchantment magic, spells that deal psychic injury, thoughts studying, thoughts shielding, and the Charisma means.
• Radiant. Related to radiant injury, evocation spells that deal radiant injury, gentle, celestials and upper-planar creatures, the gods, divine blessings, and good.
• Theurgic (Metamagic). Related to the principles of magic, spell slots, magical storage, divination, information, and the Intelligence means. Related to assemble creatures and everlasting animated objects. Required for any merchandise that has costs and might recharge itself.
• Thundering. Related to thunder injury, evocation spells that deal thunder injury, thunder resistance, and loud noises or explosive sound.
• Important (Quickened, Dwelling, Life-Giving). Related to therapeutic, regeneration, purification, remedy of illness, longevity, and the Structure means.
• Void. Darkness, destruction, insanity, nonexistence, aberrant creatures, and the warlock Nice Previous One pact.
• Zephyrous (Windy, Ethereal). Related to wind, elemental air, air elemental creatures, flight, respiratory, and objects that may float or hover beneath their very own energy.