Crafters & Casters

Magic items don't get enough love. They really don't. I mean, sure, you can go online and find a list of magic items over a hundred entries long easy. But that doesn't mean that they're all appropriate for your players or setting (nevermind actually being good). And has anyone really fallen in love with D&D's magic item creation system? If you know of a good one, send it my way. Otherwise, I've had to make due with nebulous and poorly structured GM fiat, and that's no bueno for the soul.

It's simple to slap a +1 on a dagger and throw it at your players as a quick bone, but does that dagger really carry any meaningful weight behind it? Does it have a history? Does it have character?

It probably doesn't, and I'll admit that something as banal as a dagger probably doesn't need it. But you know who had a cool sword that had a ton of history for the better? Guts from Berserk. Demon Breaker was s-i-c-K with a capital "K for Kill". That sword spilled so much demonic blood that when it came time for wraiths and the like, there was no question - the sword had obviously leveled up enough to wound what had no physical form to cut. And when you get down to it, a sword growing in power next to the person wielding is just *badass*, no arguing it.

And you know what else was cool? Harry Potter's wands. Come to think of it, Rafiki's staff was pretty cool, too. The concept that building a magic item requires a certain number of prestigious ingredients - and that each item contributes to specialty in a certain field of magic - was also badass. Don't even try to shut that fact down, gentle reader.

Between these two tropes and the usual enchantment aspect of various non-weapon, non-wandish items, I came to a crossroads in my game when a player asked how I wanted to rule magical item creation. I really wanted to separate and make distinct the different realms of magical items as well as the ways one could go about imbuing equipment with supernatural forces. The Focus is the classic wand, fetish, staff, what have you, that a magic-user uses as a buffer between themselves and the arcane spirits they intend to command. The Companion is the weapon that grows with the warrior, baptized in blood. And the Enchanted is... well, everything else. Whether it's crafted from the skin of a giant naga or bombarded by wizardly radiation, enchanted items are just as valid as the first two admittedly cooler schools of magic item.

Anyway, magic items don't get enough love. So, I showed them some love. Here's an OSR mod with a few different ways to let players loose in your game and make the magic items they really want - no more digging through 10d100 charts ever again. Unless, y'know, you're into that sort of thing, you weirdo. It assumes you've read my Spirit Magic post, but feel free to replace the word "Spirit" with "Spell" for easier parsing

It's called Crafters & Casters, and it's +1 better than D&D's magic item creation.

Enjoy.

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The Magic-User’s Focus
Throughout time, Magic-Users have used fetishes, ceremonial items and totems as foci to help present their requests to the Spirits. The Magic-User decides the item that serves as a totem, either a statue or weapon. Foci channel the power of Tokens to appeal to the Spirits.

Statue
A magic-user may commission the creation of a fetish to be used as a focus. Statues may take any form, but must be stone and of a size that can be easily carried from place to place. The statue must have one of the two features:

• Be made of or have embedded in it some valuable mineral
• Exquisite marksmanship, in which case the Crafting roll takes -2 (or more depending on your system) to the crafter’s skill

Ceremonial Weapon
A magic-user may commission the creation of a ceremonial weapon to be used as a focus. The creation of the weapon must use two of the following materials:

• The teeth of a large predator
• The feathers of a powerful bird
• The tusk of a great herbivore
• Some other material from a dangerous beast

A focus naturally gives a magic-user +1 to self-imposed saves against magic. In addition, the ceremonial weapon only does half-damage and has a 1-in-6 chance to break with a melee attack.

Tokens
In order to actually gain the benefit of a Focus, it must be decorated with tokens. A Token gives the magic-user +1 to casting the related spell. Tokens are unique to each Magic-User and Spirit, so they cannot be traded - they may, however, be studied for secrets of the Spirit or magic-user.

• The Magic-User must create the token over the course of a full day.
• The Magic-User may create only one token for each known Spirit, but can create a token for any Spirit they know.
• The Magic-User can replace tokens on their Focus during travel or downtime.
• The Focus has a number of slots for tokens equal to the base number of Spirits known by the Magic-User which increase alongside this number as the character levels up

The Warrior’s Companion
Anyone is capable of sacrament in blood - violence is the first way many learned to appease the Spirits. This tradition evolved into sacrifice, and eventually, war. Any weapon can grow to new strengths with persistent use and upkeep, as well plenty of fresh blood. After landing the finishing blow on a remarkable opponent, there is a 1-in-6 chance that the weapon will gain one of the following features randomly:

1. A superficial trait reflecting the opponent slain
2. +1 to damage and +1 to hit
3. An elemental affinity that starts at 1d4, and goes up to the next die each time this result is won
4. A magical effect reflecting the opponent slain
5. A Spirit that may be conversed with inhabits the weapon
6. Player’s Choice

The Enchanted
Separate from the Focus that is used to cast a variety of spells and distinct from a blood-hungry Companion, the Enchanted item is one that only channels a single magical effect with grand potency.
Enchanted items may be initially crafted by anyone, but only given magic by magic-users

• To enchant an item takes a month, during which the magic-user may not participate in any other processes or affairs to a meaningful degree.
• Enchanted items may only be given abilities that are feasibly attributed to a Spirit known by the magic-user.
• If ingredients that come from a remarkable source are used, the item may reflect that with an appropriate effect and may not necessarily warrant the full month.