Weapons Crafting - How does it really work?

Discussion in 'General Modification' started by Sol Invictus, Oct 10, 2003.

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  1. Sol Invictus

    Sol Invictus Beholder Watcher Veteran

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    You know how there's people on the Atari forums who say that their Clerics can craft weapons and armor that require mage-only spells like Lightning Bolt, Fireball and so forth? And then there's those who say they can't craft the aforementioned items.

    My theory is this: these people don't know what the heck they're talking about and this aspect of craft is working just as it should by taking into equation the spells of ALL PARTY MEMBERS (except for NPCs) during weapons and armor crafting.

    I.e. a cleric with no fire spells can make a flaming blade (though not a fire burst blade - that's level 12) if he has a mage in his party with the ability to throw fireballs.

    Can anyone verify if what I'm saying is truly what's happening?
     
  2. zhuge

    zhuge Established Member Veteran

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    Did a couple of quick tests with available saved files.
    1)Gave my Cleric 7/Fighter 2, Craft Arms and Armor:
    - could add +1 and +2 enchantments
    - could not add Frost/Shock/Flaming
    My Sorc level 9 has Fireball

    Reasons: Cleric needs level 8 to craft elemental damage enchantments

    2)Gave my Sorc 9, Craft Arms and Armor
    - could add +1, +2, Shock and Frost
    - could not add Flaming, Shocking Burst, Icy Burst
    My Sorc only has Fireball. No Lightning Bolt/Call lightning
    No Icestorm/Chill metal. Nobody in the party has the above lightning and cold damage spells either.

    Yes, I confirmed this by actually making a Frost Hammer +1 from a Masterwork Warhammer and it does the usual Bludgeoning damage as well as Cold damage when it hits.

    Reasons: Sorc needs level 10 to craft Flaming and burst enchantments but how he can craft Shock and Frost enchantments without having the requisite spells is a wonder to me.

    Conclusion: Caster level restrictions on crafting seem to be working. Spell restrictions on crafting do not seem to be working.

    Additional insights are most welcome.
     
    Last edited: Oct 10, 2003
  3. Shinigawa

    Shinigawa Member

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    Actually, these caster level restrictions are non-existant [at least according to my certain understanding of 3.0 rules, intended 3.5 rules - as I do not have the books to check - and the WotC D&D boards]. It may be, however, that they changed it [wrongly or not] in the 3.5 rules and may or not erratae it.

    So the caster level requirement which shouldn't be there is - but the spell requirement which should be there isn't.


    As for personal experience, my mage couldn't craft other than a +3 weapon [only +3 enhancement bonus, no special abilities], but I tested it from levels 5-7 only. [and, btw, he shouldn't be able to craft more than a +1 weapon on lvl 5 nor more than a +2 on lvls 6 and 7, as there is a caster level requirement equal to 3 times the enhancement bonus on the weapon - with special abilities not taken into account].
     
    Last edited: Oct 10, 2003
  4. zhuge

    zhuge Established Member Veteran

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    Caster level and spell requirements are all taken from the 3.5e SRD and are implemented in the item_creation.mes file of the rules section of ToEE3.dat

    Have a look here at the online 3.5e reference:
    http://www.wizards.com/D20/article.asp?x=srd35

    Check on Magic ItemsII (arms and armor) and you should find caster level, spell and alignment requirements.
    An example is:
    [quoting from 3.5e SRD]
    Holy: A holy weapon is imbued with holy power. This power makes the weapon good-aligned and thus bypasses the corresponding damage reduction. It deals an extra 2d6 points of damage against all of evil alignment. It bestows one negative level on any evil creature attempting to wield it. The negative level remains as long as the weapon is in hand and disappears when the weapon is no longer wielded. This negative level never results in actual level loss, but it cannot be overcome in any way (including restoration spells) while the weapon is wielded. Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the holy power upon their ammunition.
    Moderate evocation [good]; CL 7th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, holy smite, creator must be good; Price +2 bonus.
    [unquote]

    It is clear however that many (if not all) people have had bugs with them and these requirements may not be working properly.

    Many people have reported that +3 items are not working correctly (they only give a +2 enchantment). Please verify that yours really is a +3 item by striking an opponent and looking at the details of the roll.
     
    Last edited: Oct 10, 2003
  5. Sol Invictus

    Sol Invictus Beholder Watcher Veteran

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    You can verify if your weapon is a +3 item by clicking on its properties and if the +3 is on the list towards the right, then it's working as it should. Right now, I have made several +3 items and they only show up to +2 on the list.

    I've also found another bug which does not allow you to add effects to your weapon if it is at +2 or +3. You have to craft it into a +1 weapon first - add the spells, and onyl then can you craft it to +2 with the spells onboard. It's a real waste of items like that.
     
  6. Shinigawa

    Shinigawa Member

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    I didn't even try to craft them [as I didn't have the money to spare nor wanted to spend experience].


    And I did check the SRD before posting, and I know what it says. That being said, I looked on the WotC boards to check what was the rule according to the book, and apparently it is different [or the 4 or 5 people who posted on that topic were on something] to the SRD.

    I'm not as familiar to 3.5 rules as I'm to 3.0, but in 3.0 caster level being a requirement was a often made mistake when crafting items - it wasn't required, but as it was listed there most people assumed it was. I'll check it better and see if I can confirm what the 3.5 DMG says in any way, because I *think* in 3.0 the caster level requirement had to be errata'ed or the sage had to explain the correct ruling [or it was mentioned on the official faq], and there might be a similar error on 3.5.


    And just a little something that was what caused people to realise it wasn't a requirement on 3.0 [but it is a wondrous, not a weapon]:

    [taken from MagicItemsV of SRD]
    Ioun Stones
    [....]
    Moderate varied; CL 12th; Craft Wondrous Item, creator must be 12th level.
    [/taken]


    See? They specify that it is a requirement there.


    However, I'm not going to speculate if that was just a reminescent [sp?] of the 3.0 dmg or if one of the two is a mistake [otherwise, it wouldn't be necessary to specify that the creator must be 12th level]. If I can confirm the rules, I will.


    But, even so, there is a mistake in the crafting of +2/+3 weapons leve requirement.

    A question: is the +3 functioning as +2 bug only when crafting on lower levels or on any level?
     
  7. Phalzyr

    Phalzyr Established Member Veteran

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    I just went solo cleric and when turning 10th level she could Make a +2 flaming weapon.

    I never could get a true +3 item.
     
  8. Commoner

    Commoner Member

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    I have a wizard with the Craft Wondrous feat, and a druid in the party who has access to both Barkskin and Magic Fang. I'm certain that the wizard cannot craft Amulet of Natural Armor (Barkskin) or Amulet of Mighty Fists (Magic Fang). They are greyed out on the crafting dialog.
     
  9. zhuge

    zhuge Established Member Veteran

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    For Craft Wondrous Item, the spell requirements seem to work well. Similarly, I had a Cleric with Bull's Strength but my Sorc couldn't make any Gauntlets of Ogre Power until he took Bull's Strength himself as a spell. I think Craft Wondrous Item works Ok after the excellent patch by the Co8 gang corrected the syntax errors (leaving out apostrophes in spell name).

    I am still very doubtful if spell requirements work in Craft Arms and Armor at all. So far much evidence shows that it does not. Atari forumers also do not seem to give any findings to the contrary.

    Without restrictions the Crafting feats are rather overpowered.
    I would have liked to see a time restriction as well (1 day to craft 1000 G worth of an item) as per 3.5e rules and a time limit for the entire campaign (after all isn't the Temple already beginning to rise), in addition to caster level, spell and alignment requirements.
    I understand that this would most probably be impossible to implement but hey, I can dream, can't I. :)
     
    Last edited: Oct 11, 2003
  10. Hicks

    Hicks Member

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    i need help, i got a Masterwork katana, my paladin has a +12 with it, i gave it to my sorcerer and i want to create katana +3, i use first a +1, then +2 and after that a +3, i cant select +3 until i select a +1 and +2 first, well i finally get a Katana +1 +2 +3 i my paladin try to use i only got a +13 with it, what wrong? i try the same thing with a full plate and i got from the 24 to 27 AC, that seems to works fine. please help me.
     
  11. zhuge

    zhuge Established Member Veteran

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    Masterwork items confer a +1 to attack bonus and that is already incorporated in the total to hit bonus of your Paladin (+12).
    Although you have enchanted it to become a +3 weapon, +3 enchantments for weapons don't stick. They still function as +2 weapons (which confer +2 attack bonus). That's a difference of only 1 from a Masterwork Item. Therefore your Paladin now as +13 to hit bonus.
     
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