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Inspired by the Dragonlance Master (Crafter) class's multpile levels of masterwork and with my work with the Avatar D20 Project overtaking this forum, I have developed a mundane system of weapon and armor enhancement. I have decided to open this beyond the Avatar Project and have it as a variant or add-on for any D20 game. So, here it is:
Masterwork Items
All weapons, armor, shields, and tools can gain up to 5 levels of masterwork. This levels are as follows in order: Item of... Masterwork, Renown, Fame, Glory, Legend. All bonuses that the masterwork quality applies are multiplied by the level of masterwork of the item. Additional levels of masterwork cannot be gained, only created as such. You must meet the prerequisite level to benefit from a certain level of masterwork as shown by the table below.
Character Level
Maximum Masterwork Level
1-3
1
4-7
2
8-11
3
12-16
4
17-20
5
In addition to the masterwork levels, any weapon or armor can gain craftsmanship bonuses up to twice their masterwork level. These bonuses can be applied during crafting or afterwards with a 10% price increase with the exception of the AC and Damage increases. Each bonus cost 1000gp base cost.
No item can have more than 1 craftsmanship bonus of the same name at a time. Additionally, if a bonus has different ranks as indicated by roman numerals, you may apply a higher rank over the lower rank by only paying the difference in cost.
Masterwork cost by level:
Level
Weapon Cost
Armor Cost
Tool Cost
1
300
300
50
2
630
630
105
3
960
960
160
4
1290
1290
215
5
1620
1620
270
Formula for over level 1: Cost = base_cost*(level+(level-1)/10)
Craftsmanship cost by level (take the total level of all bonuses):
Level
Weapon Cost
Armor Cost
1
1000
1000
2
2000
1500
3
4500
3375
4
6000
4500
5
7500
5625
6
9000
6750
7
10500
7875
8
12000
9000
9
13500
10125
10
15000
11250
Weapon formula for over level 1: Cost = base_cost*(level+level/2)
Armor formula for over level 1: Cost = base_cost*(level+level/2)*3/4
Note: Ammunition counts as a Weapon for determining cost except it applies to 50 units. Additionally, you may add 1/2 (rounded up) of the ammunition's masterwork bonus on attack rolls to the masterwork bonus from the weapon.
I like being more realistic so here are the special materials. This is under development.
Special Materials
Metals: (All multipliers are based off steel)
Material Name
Real-World Equivalent
ACP Change
AC Change
DR Change
To Hit Change
Damage Change
Hardness/HP per inch
Weight Multiplier
Cost Multiplier
Steel
Carbon-Iron
+0
+0
+0
+0
+0
10/30
x1
x1
Cold/Wrought Iron
Iron
+1
+0
+1
-1
+0
10/30
x1.25
x0.75
Cast Iron
Iron
+1
+1
+0
-1
-1
10/25
x1.25
x0.5
Wootz Steel
Phosphorous-Iron Alloy
+0
+1
+1
+1
+0
15/30
x1
x2
Stainless Steel
Chromium-Nickel-Iron Alloy
+0
+1
+1
+1
+0
18/30
x1
x2.5
Copper
Copper
-1
-1
-1
+1
+0
8/20
x0.8
x0.5
Bronze
Copper-Tin Alloy
-1
-1
+0
+1
+0
9/20
x1.1
x1
Mithral
Aluminum Alloy
-2
+0
+2
+2
-1
15/30
x0.25
x10
Adamantium
Titanium-Iron Alloy
-2
+2
+3
+2
+1
20/40
x0.5
x20
Woods: (All multipliers are based off Elm wood)
Material Name
Real-World Equivalent
ACP Change2
AC Change2
To Hit Change1
Range Change1
Hardness/HP per inch
Weight Multiplier
Cost Multiplier
Elm
European White Elm
+0
+0
+0
+0%
5/10
x1
x1
Yew
Italian Yew
-2
-1
+2
+20%
4/10
x0.75
x3
Ash
European Ash
-1
-1
+1
+10%
4/10
x1
x1.5
Ironwood
Southern Live Oak
+2
+4
-2
-10%
10/25
x1.5
x4
Bamboo
Bamboo
-3
+1
-5
-50%
6/12
x0.25
x1
1- To hit bonus and range multiplier apply only to straight bows. 2- The ACP and AC changes apply only to shields.
Masterwork Crafting Feats
Item of Fame [Crafting] Prerequisite: Item of Renown, Craft (specific skill) 9 ranks Benefit: With this feat, the craftsman improves upon his existing talent at creating superior masterwork items. The master
craftsman can create masterwork items that are three times as effective as standard masterwork items – weapons confer a +3
bonus to attack rolls, armor check penalty is lessened by 3, and skill bonus items confer a +6 bonus. These items of renown
take three times as long to create. Normal: Masterwork weapons confer a +1 bonus to attacks, armor check penalties are decreased by 1, and skill bonus
items confer a +2 bonus.
Item of Glory [Crafting] Prerequisite: Item of Renown, Item of Fame, Craft (specific skill) 12 ranks Benefit: With this feat, the craftsman improves upon his existing talent at creating superior masterwork items. The master
craftsman can create masterwork items that are four times as effective as standard masterwork items – weapons confer a +4
bonus to attack rolls, armor check penalty is lessened by 4, and skill bonus items confer a +8 bonus. These items of renown
take four times as long to create. Normal: Masterwork weapons confer a +1 bonus to attacks, armor check penalties are decreased by 1, and skill bonus
items confer a +2 bonus.
Item of Legend [Crafting] Prerequisite: Item of Renown, Item of Fame, Item of Glory, Craft (specific skill) 15 ranks Benefit: With this feat, the craftsman improves upon his existing talent at creating superior masterwork items. The master
craftsman can create masterwork items that are five times as effective as standard masterwork items – weapons confer a +5
bonus to attack rolls, armor check penalty is lessened by 5, and skill bonus items confer a +10 bonus. These items of renown
take five times as long to create. Normal: Masterwork weapons confer a +1 bonus to attacks, armor check penalties are decreased by 1, and skill bonus
items confer a +2 bonus.
Item of Renown [Crafting] Prerequisite: Craft (specific skill) 6 ranks Benefit: With this feat, the craftsman improves upon his existing talent at creating superior masterwork items. The master
craftsman can create masterwork items that are twice as effective as standard masterwork items – weapons confer a +2
bonus to attack rolls, armor check penalty is lessened by 2, and skill bonus items confer a +4 bonus. These items of renown
take twice as long to create. Normal: Masterwork weapons confer a +1 bonus to attacks, armor check penalties are decreased by 1, and skill bonus
items confer a +2 bonus.
so...this would be for d20 modern or some other non-magic game? Or would you propose introducing such into a regular DnD setting?
hmm...do note that such items would need to be either in a low magic or no magic dnd for them to really be viable cost wise...even in high magic they should be rare...requiring great expertise, exotic ingredients, and lots of careful time in crafting such arms and armor. Do note that if such things are available, 'create blah' spells are able to create a great many 'non-magical' objects permanently and for no cost. Polymorph any object would also be useful with a handful of materials that are in the same catagory (metal).
in a magical setting, such objects would need to have some sort of restriction on their creation...such as only being forged at a certian time in a volcano and chilled in the blood of a dragon to imbue the metal with innate poperties beyond just magic. You know that people will take these objects and then further enchant them...so be prepared for epic powered weapons and armor below 'epic' levels. Beware of equipping a big bss NPC with such arms...else the PC's will get them for free unless that is your plan.
I will say, the thought of an adamantium full plate suit that is legendary with an innate 5/- DR on top of the 3/- DR of the adamantium is pretty neat..even if it is capped at 6/-...that is sweet...ergonomic and enchanted or made of mithril even...you have thieves in mithril brestplate with a dex mod of +10 and happy they can use it all...
Anyways...an interesting idea...not sure how it would play in normal DnD...the cost of such items would be tricky to balance.
so...this would be for d20 modern or some other non-magic game? Or would you propose introducing such into a regular DnD setting?
hmm...do note that such items would need to be either in a low magic or no magic dnd for them to really be viable cost wise...even in high magic they should be rare...requiring great expertise, exotic ingredients, and lots of careful time in crafting such arms and armor. Do note that if such things are available, 'create blah' spells are able to create a great many 'non-magical' objects permanently and for no cost. Polymorph any object would also be useful with a handful of materials that are in the same catagory (metal).
in a magical setting, such objects would need to have some sort of restriction on their creation...such as only being forged at a certian time in a volcano and chilled in the blood of a dragon to imbue the metal with innate poperties beyond just magic. You know that people will take these objects and then further enchant them...so be prepared for epic powered weapons and armor below 'epic' levels. Beware of equipping a big bss NPC with such arms...else the PC's will get them for free unless that is your plan.
I will say, the thought of an adamantium full plate suit that is legendary with an innate 5/- DR on top of the 3/- DR of the adamantium is pretty neat..even if it is capped at 6/-...that is sweet...ergonomic and enchanted or made of mithril even...you have thieves in mithril brestplate with a dex mod of +10 and happy they can use it all...
Anyways...an interesting idea...not sure how it would play in normal DnD...the cost of such items would be tricky to balance.
It is meant for low- to no-magic D&D and other D20 games with similar mechanics. This is a variant to the magical enhancement system, but can be implemented with a normal D&D campaign, but the DM would have to restrict it as you said. Also, the system assumes you are using the Armor as DR variant, otherwise the note about the DR increase should say that you cannot increase the DR above 1/2 the AC value rounded up.
I've added the table for different materials, but balancing and such is needed.
The table looks like a good starting point, but there are a couple things that need clearing up.
Hardness and hit points per inch are separate qualities
Do you apply to cost modifier before or after masterwork and craftsmanship bonuses? (I personally prefer the RAW method of pricing for special materials)
Asterisks need to be put in for things like the weight of mithral equipment and the hardness-ignoring power of adamantine.
I don't see Damage Reduction on the table there; was that an oversight?
As always, you're outdoing yourself, Tataraus. It's easy to keep track of what material affects what in what way and it adds to regional flavor of warfare (Greek supremacy due to mastery of bronze, anyone?). Nicely done!
I've added the Wood materials table, have a look! There are more woods to come, but they are much harder to find than metals.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eighth_Seraph
The table looks like a good starting point, but there are a couple things that need clearing up.
Hardness and hit points per inch are separate qualities
Do you apply to cost modifier before or after masterwork and craftsmanship bonuses? (I personally prefer the RAW method of pricing for special materials)
Asterisks need to be put in for things like the weight of mithral equipment and the hardness-ignoring power of adamantine.
I don't see Damage Reduction on the table there; was that an oversight?
As always, you're outdoing yourself, Tataraus. It's easy to keep track of what material affects what in what way and it adds to regional flavor of warfare (Greek supremacy due to mastery of bronze, anyone?). Nicely done!
Thanks for the tips, I've fixed those, and for the compliment! As for the pricing, it is supposed to apply to the base cost of the item. I personally don't like the current special materials pricing at all, why does a dagger made of admantine increase in cost as much as a Greatsword?!
[rant]
It makes no since that a 8" dagger (lets make it easy and say 1" wide and .25" thick) costs 2000gp extra for the ~2 in3+ of the metal used when a 78.75" greatsword (make it easy and say 8" wide and 1" thick) costs 2000gp extra for the 630 in3+ of the metal used??? Doesn't make any sense...
[/rant]
A few questions. You seem to refer to armor as giving Damage Reduction, but under a DND system Armor does not give DR normally seems like how would you clarify this?
Also Aluminum=Mithral whats up with that. I think you need a Aluminum alloy as I don't thing regular Aluminum is going to stand up for much as an armor. It makes for light strong alloys when mixed with other metals but on its own I don't think its armor worthy.
A few questions. You seem to refer to armor as giving Damage Reduction, but under a DND system Armor does not give DR normally seems like how would you clarify this?
I answered this question before. This system assumes you are using the Armor as DR variant. If not, calculate max DR based on 1/2 the AC value rounded up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by StickMan
Also Aluminum=Mithral whats up with that. I think you need a Aluminum alloy as I don't thing regular Aluminum is going to stand up for much as an armor. It makes for light strong alloys when mixed with other metals but on its own I don't think its armor worthy.
I'm no expert but my dad has a PhD in Materials Engineering. He says that, based on various fantasy descriptions including Tolkien, the qualities of Mithral describe Aluminum perfectly. Of course, its not pure Aluminum, it probably has a few other elements, but have you ever seen the strength of Aluminum sheet tested? The reason a lot of people have trouble comprehending this is because when they think of Aluminum, they think of soda cans which are extremely weak, but that's because they are extremely thin. Aluminum made into armor would be very thick, resulting in a very strong structure but also a very light one. The reason Aluminum was never made into armor or weapons (and how it gained popularity in the Middle Ages as a winder material) is because it is extremely difficult to extract without electricity, thus even though it was well know for centuries, it was extremely rare and no one could get enough to do something with it.
I'm no expert but my dad has a PhD in Materials Engineering. He says that, based on various fantasy descriptions including Tolkien, the qualities of Mithral describe Aluminum perfectly. Of course, its not pure Aluminum, it probably has a few other elements, but have you ever seen the strength of Aluminum sheet tested? The reason a lot of people have trouble comprehending this is because when they think of Aluminum, they think of soda cans which are extremely weak, but that's because they are extremely thin. Aluminum made into armor would be very thick, resulting in a very strong structure but also a very light one. The reason Aluminum was never made into armor or weapons (and how it gained popularity in the Middle Ages as a winder material) is because it is extremely difficult to extract without electricity, thus even though it was well know for centuries, it was extremely rare and no one could get enough to do something with it.
Oh don't get me wrong it fits fine, just so long as its not pure Aluminum it should be fine I"m just being nit picky. And on a science note, 2% of all electric used in the united states is for the production of of Aluminum.
The idea is very good, I would very much prefer to play with these in a low-magic setting.
A bit of nitpicking, though:
-The masterwork costs, craftsmanship costs and crafting time would be better if they exponentially increase, or something similar to that. It's an unspoken rule in stuff that are advancing.
-Pure aluminium, as it's already said, is both lighter and softer than iron, let alone steel. I knew that, but wasn't really sure of it, until I went and looked it up in Wikipedia to see their hardness factors. Now, there are aluminium alloys that resemble what you want, but pure aluminium is out of question.
Oh, and, as a new effect, maybe a serrated blade improvement, which gives a small damage bonus to slashing weapons?
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Last edited by Assasinater : 11-30-2007 at 03:58 AM.
The idea is very good, I would very much prefer to play with these in a low-magic setting.
Well it was originally designed for the Avatar Project and was supposed to replace the Magic Item system, so that makes since.
Quote:
-The masterwork costs, craftsmanship costs and crafting time would be better if they exponentially increase, or something similar to that. It's an unspoken rule in stuff that are advancing.
Actually, the masterwork cost and crafting times are all pulled straight from official wizard's material, so I'm not going to change that. As for the Craftsmanship costs, they are much less powerful than magic enhancements, and definitely don't scale in power like magic does. That's why I felt it was best to use the formulas I did. I did try many formulas before using this one, but the exponential was just too much.
Quote:
-Pure aluminium, as it's already said, is both lighter and softer than iron, let alone steel. I knew that, but wasn't really sure of it, until I went and looked it up in Wikipedia to see their hardness factors. Now, there are aluminium alloys that resemble what you want, but pure aluminium is out of question.
As said before, it is most likely some form of alloy, I don't know exactly which one or what the ratios are, all I know is that fantasy Mithral has all the qualities or aluminum (meaning an alloy that is mostly aluminum).
Quote:
Oh, and, as a new effect, maybe a serrated blade improvement, which gives a small damage bonus to slashing weapons?
That's what the damage increase basically is, except its a flavorless enhancement that can be added to anything. So if you get a damage increase on your scimitar you can say its serrated.
As said before, it is most likely some form of alloy, I don't know exactly which one or what the ratios are, all I know is that fantasy Mithral has all the qualities or aluminum (meaning an alloy that is mostly aluminum).
Oh, okay then.
It was because you carefully wrote the others down as alloys, that it had made me notice. No problem.
Quote:
Actually, the masterwork cost and crafting times are all pulled straight from official wizard's material, so I'm not going to change that. As for the Craftsmanship costs, they are much less powerful than magic enhancements, and definitely don't scale in power like magic does. That's why I felt it was best to use the formulas I did. I did try many formulas before using this one, but the exponential was just too much.
I'm not saying direct exponential, but at least with a positive acceleration.
It not only makes sense both fluff and crunch-wise, but, it'd be cool for example for a master craftsman to work on a legendary weapon for months, or more.
An example of what I'm talking about:
For "masterwork cost by level": Instead of 300, 630, 960, 1290, 1620, it could be 300, 600, 1000, 1500, 2100. Not a major difference.
And for crafting time, what about 1,2,4,7,10? Yes, this is a bit much than the original, but it just makes more sense in my opinion.
__________________
\"Ring is on, ring is off!\"
Last edited by Assasinater : 11-30-2007 at 10:01 AM.
This is just an IMO nitpick... but shouldnt the 'Razored' ability be more like 'Barbed' or 'Serated'? Clean cuts heal better than jagged rips, which seems more like what you're going for.
Stellar work, btw. I'm going to incorporate something similar to my world, which is going to be very low-magic.
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Awesome Daemonhost avatar by Fin.
This is just an IMO nitpick... but shouldnt the 'Razored' ability be more like 'Barbed' or 'Serated'? Clean cuts heal better than jagged rips, which seems more like what you're going for.
Stellar work, btw. I'm going to incorporate something similar to my world, which is going to be very low-magic.
Ah yes, good point. The ability has evolved the most of all of them (I don't remember what it originally did) but the name never changed, I'll do that.
How about a "barbed" quality for ammunition, like Wounding (con damage, or just extra damage like Razored is).
Excellent stuff; I'm thinking about doing a low-magic campaign with Enter the Hero, and this stuff fits nicely. Only difficulty is that system uses damage conversion, so I don't think it would fit well with also using armor as DR, not really sure how to reconcile that.
One minor nitpick: for the Weighted quality, it seems like that should increase the critical multiplier, not the threat range. Maybe I'm just interpreting it differently from what you meant.
Just a question: Adamantium actually is described as while very hard, also very heavy. So shouldn't there be Vanadium in it?
While traditionally adamantine is very heavy, I decided to go with a real-world material that makes more sense for weapons. Titanium-Iron has all the strong and none of the weight, a win-win situation. I never really cared for adamantine as it was originally.
I think you could make a tripping, disarming and maybe even a sundering enhancement for the weapons.
Armor enchantments have a few issues I think.
Ergonomic seems a little to cheap for its price, reducing ACP is just way to appealing for that cost level.
Also does the cost multiplier increase just the weapons base cost or does it also effect any enhancements and masterwork bonuses. Also does Cold Iron, Mitheral and Admantum maintain there special qualities from the game as normal.
I think you could make a tripping, disarming and maybe even a sundering enhancement for the weapons.
Hm...such as what? I can't think of anything that does that in normal D&D...
Quote:
Originally Posted by StickMan
Armor enchantments have a few issues I think.
Ergonomic seems a little to cheap for its price, reducing ACP is just way to appealing for that cost level.
Well, originally this was based off a lower WBL progression. Remember that Craftsmanship bonuses have a 10% increase in price if the option is added on after the item has been crafted. If you wish, you may increase it by 1 level for your games.
Quote:
Originally Posted by StickMan
Also does the cost multiplier increase just the weapons base cost or does it also effect any enhancements and masterwork bonuses. Also does Cold Iron, Mitheral and Admantum maintain there special qualities from the game as normal.
How about adding in bonuses for Ammuntion?
Like:
- Explosive: (+2 "bonus") By adding in alchemical components you can have the ammuntion ignite upon impact, dealing an extra 1d4 damage of a chosen element to the target and 1 point of splash damage to everyone in adjacent sqares. Because of the bulk involved the ammunitions range is cut in half.
- Aerodynamic: (+1 "bonus") The ammunition is specifically designed to fly farther than normal. Increase the ammunition's range by 50% (Can also be applied to a melee weapon, it deceases it's damage by 1)
How about adding in bonuses for Ammuntion?
Like:
- Explosive: (+2 "bonus") By adding in alchemical components you can have the ammuntion ignite upon impact, dealing an extra 1d4 damage of a chosen element to the target and 1 point of splash damage to everyone in adjacent sqares. Because of the bulk involved the ammunitions range is cut in half.
- Aerodynamic: (+1 "bonus") The ammunition is specifically designed to fly farther than normal. Increase the ammunition's range by 50% (Can also be applied to a melee weapon, it deceases it's damage by 1)
Distance can be applied to ammunition, I'll add a clause to make that more apparent. As for the explosive idea, that's better suited as a different type of arrow and in that form it already exists (well, technically they're bolts, but I don't see why you can't make them arrows).
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